I like to read through different blogs to learn what it is that I like to read and look at; in order to make my blog more appealing. As I was reading through a couple of blogs I came across a Blog Hop and followed the link back to iHomeSchoolNetwork to learn a bit more. I have quite a few different topics that I enjoy writing about, but I realized homeschooling is one that I very rarely touch on. Naturally I thought this a good way to get started sharing a bit more about that area of this Mom’s Handbook. So here goes …
This 2012 – 2013 school year is coming quite quickly and I have a Pumpkin the 1st grader, a Sweet Pea my preschooler, and a Who-Rae my cuddly toddler. Each year I get the jitters about our schooling curriculum wanting of course to make certain our kids are going to be well rounded and that I am organized enough to stay on task throughout the year. Although they are quite young, I want to establish good habits early.
This year we already have our curriculum choices picked out, purchased, organized, and ready to be used. I have a deep desire to switch over to Ambleside’s rich literature curriculum, and will probably sooner than later. The one thing that has prevented me is my own lack of experience. I wanted to make sure I had something I could do with the dynamics that our family has at present, that was creative and yet still rich with literature and of course organized well enough to handle stops, starts, naps, spilled milk, and emergency field trips.
Who-Rae
Who-Rae likes to color, she is quick in learning her colors, and she is drawing circles on paper as often as she gets hold of it. She can sing most of the numbers 1-20 and picks up on a few letters here and there. She will get sung to a lot this year, and I am excited to see what else she learns in the process!
Sweet Pea
Sonlight
Explode the Code starting with book A
Puzzles
Scissors
Blocks
Joint learning as we go with her big brother and his curriculum
Pumpkin
Sonlight along with-
Singapore Math
A Reason for Writing
Apologia Science – Botany
Pumpkin worked from 100 Easy Lessons last year, and although we saw quick progress, I felt like the extra reading characters was more confusing to him than helpful. We took a break from that particular book, only to find out that he was relieved. Our summer time sessions have been light, but more relaxed with his not dreading my removing that particular book from the shelf. So something I read, was told, and expected to be a wonderful tool did not quite work for him.
That all looks much more simple to me than it feels at times. I am a bit eclectic in my teaching style but for the most part I really appreciate Charlotte Mason’s teaching method. We obviously add a great deal into school with nature, art, cooking, sports activities, music, and crafts. We have a bible lesson added in as well as character development and we all work on building healthy habits together.
Just as there are many methods of teaching there are lots of different curriculum’s out there. However, even with a curriculum there are always differences in teaching. I am learning as I go that I can be more confident in my curriculum choices, obviously after for my own reasons I have researched it! I am sure the dynamics of time will make our homeschooling experience and our curriculum choices richer.
~Shy Willow