It is time to start thinking about Back to School. For those of us who homeschool it is actually back to homeschool time! Are you getting overwhelmed at the thought of homeschooling kindergarten? Are you homeschooling for the first time? It’s not that bad. Below are some of my thoughts on my take on kindergarten.
Then, keep reading! I have an amazing gift basket for someone who needs some fun kindergarten learning resources!Continue Reading
I am becoming more creative at noticing ways to use items destined for the trash as learning tools and games in our homeschool. One rescue from the garbage was an empty tissue box. My daughter and I made it into one of our alphabet recognition activities by creating upcycled boxes monsters that likes eating ABCs. Our ABC Monster keeps coming out of his “home” (in the cabinet) for more letter eating fun!
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It was a difficult decision to not do a community preschool again. Strawberry thrived in preschool last year. She loved her teachers. She loved the people. She loved the crafts, the toys, and the anticipation that she was going again. Our choice to do preschool at home came down to the fact that I missed having a free homeschool schedule, and preschool was a huge cost each month.
With community preschool, we had to say no to playdates and field trips. We had to make sure to be somewhere at a certain time. We could not do storytime at the library. We could not take impromptu walks or bake cookies on days when we felt like it. Instead, we had to make sure to keep preschool schedules on the calendar. This year we’ll be doing preschool at home and with friends, and I hope the atmosphere of spontaneous learning, reading, and playing will translate into a love for learning at home.
It’s that time of year again: time to examine what homeschool curriculum choices we have for fourth grade for 2016-2017. In our busy house, self-directed learning is paramount! With a fourth grader, a preschooler, and a soon-to-be toddling baby, it’s sure to be an active year. Using various tools for self-directed learning is a key focus of our choices for the fourth grader.
My fourth grader, Raisin, has showed lots of initiative in working independently this year. I think it helps that we have dropped regular handwriting assignments from his schoolwork. Instead of asking him to handwrite answers, he is able to type and print them out, taping them into the notebook. This eliminated lots of the battles. He will do another year of Keyboarding without Tears. Already, at age 8, he is typing 14 wpm. Not too shabby!
