After an amazingly busy, jammed packed spring and summer, we made it to my favorite time of year, back to school time. Yes, I am that crazy person that gets excited over notebooks and planners. I get giddy over new highlighters and binders and desk organizers. It means that life should be settling down back into a routine and no major surprises. It also means that it is time for me and Conner, my oldest, to start putting school back into the day.
The great thing about homeschooling my kids right now is everyone is under five years old, which translates to a lot of playing and learning though playing. Also I haven't gotten to the point where I have to notify the school board of homeschooling intentions. In Mississippi, I have to give written notice that my kindergarten age children and up are to be home schooled and what curriculum I intend to use. Since we are still a young household, most of the day I am un-schooling my children. I mostly talk with them about our daily life and let it go from there.
Most of our learning comes from being outside. Conner's vocabulary is expanding exponentially right now, so as we talk, I correct him on his sentence structure and phrasing so he is more comprehensible. He gets really excited when he finds a new caterpillar or colored leaf, and begins stumbling over his words. I gently encourage him to slow down and think about what he is saying. It does get down right amusing when he memorizes songs that he hears. His dad is a big fan of Pit Bull and Robin Thicke, so I am always giggling about what lyrics he thinks he is hearing.
My second child, Miranda, is only 18 months, but even she is learning every day. She is very much in the middle of everything. Her favorite thing is to help in the kitchen. She has her stairs to get up to the counter and her rag for wiping messes up. She is also my go for girl. She is at that age where simple requests are finally understood and she preforms them fairly well. I can ask her to bring me diapers for her baby brother and she will for the most part.
This year, I am starting to add more structure into our day. In the past, before the third pregnancy, I had started a preschool curriculum with Conner called Letter a Week, it's a free online curriculum and even has baby and toddler curriculum on there as well. I left the web address at the bottom of this post. I hope to reinstate that curriculum, as Conner seemed to love it and I hope to incorporate the other programs offered with my younger ones to give them a head start if they show an interest.
Interest is the key to homeschooling, it is the keystone to if this will work or not. With all of my babies still being very young, I don't have a large window of opportunity for attention time for structured learning. If I spend too much time trying to get them to sit still and behave then they are learning what I put together for them. It took a lot for me to get to that revelation, even with everyone giving me advise on the subject.
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/preschool_age_3.html
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