Nerding out
I got most of the home school stuff I ordered in the mail. I am totally nerding out, home-school style! I am seriously so excited. I don't know what my problem is. I hope I'm still this excited at this time next year. ;)
I got a book on how to teach your kids to read. I think I am going to try (TRY!) to get Y reading at least basic, easy stuff before this summer. If I can get him going before I really start home schooling C then I feel like that will be a little bit of a burden off of me. So we will be working on reading for only a few minutes every day, I'm not going to push it hard but we will spend time doing it daily. And if Miss M wants to join us for lessons that is OK, and if not then that is OK too. We are using "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington. It looks pretty simple so far and it looks like something I will be able to teach. I'm excited to get started.
I also got a book for C to start teaching him piano. I play the piano sort of. I have no idea how many years I took lessons or how much money my parents wasted while I was being stubborn and refusing to practice (haha!) but it is something I do enjoy now and wish I was better at. I certainly play well enough (and know enough) to teach him for a while at least. I think piano will be mandatory in our house for the littles, once they get old enough. Not forever, but for a while at least. He is excited to get started, but we will see how excited he is in a few weeks. ;)
So I also got a calendar with the month, day of the week, seasons, weather, etc. on it and I am really excited to start using that too. It was pretty cheap and has cards for different holidays, birthdays, etc. I am going to try to have a sort of "circle time" in the morning with M and Y and talk about the date, day of the week, weather, and maybe sing some songs and work on a Bible memory verse? I don't want to overwhelm myself with stuff but I honestly do better when I have a plan and have some structure to work with. I think the kids will do well with it also. I kind of want to start getting into a rhythm before it's actually "go time".
I selected Saxon Math as our math course and got the manipulatives kit as well, which is for grades K-3 so I felt that it was a decent deal. I love math. I am not really sure why, it just makes so much sense to me. I wish I could say the same for science but you can't win them all I guess.
We are also doing The Story of the World for history (I will do C and Y together on that, along with M if she wants to participate). We won't be doing a lot with science or history at first, we will do a little bit but our focus will be on reading (and reading WELL) and math this first year or two. Our first science studies will just be on some animals and I did get an encyclopedia for that.
I also got a kid gardening book and was planning to use it next year, but we might use it a little bit this spring also. My fingers are already itching to get dirty again, though I don't have a garden plot yet here at our new house.
I was telling Brian that if this really works and goes the way it seems like it could go, our children will be smarter than we are! Of course this is a good thing.
This blog has undergone some serious changes. At first it was a foster parent's blog, then an adoptive parent's blog, then a preemie parent's blog, and now a home schooler blog (sort of). It is such a mishmash, I am a little shocked I have any readers at all. :) This is life though; always moving, always changing, always growing.
I got a book on how to teach your kids to read. I think I am going to try (TRY!) to get Y reading at least basic, easy stuff before this summer. If I can get him going before I really start home schooling C then I feel like that will be a little bit of a burden off of me. So we will be working on reading for only a few minutes every day, I'm not going to push it hard but we will spend time doing it daily. And if Miss M wants to join us for lessons that is OK, and if not then that is OK too. We are using "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington. It looks pretty simple so far and it looks like something I will be able to teach. I'm excited to get started.
I also got a book for C to start teaching him piano. I play the piano sort of. I have no idea how many years I took lessons or how much money my parents wasted while I was being stubborn and refusing to practice (haha!) but it is something I do enjoy now and wish I was better at. I certainly play well enough (and know enough) to teach him for a while at least. I think piano will be mandatory in our house for the littles, once they get old enough. Not forever, but for a while at least. He is excited to get started, but we will see how excited he is in a few weeks. ;)
So I also got a calendar with the month, day of the week, seasons, weather, etc. on it and I am really excited to start using that too. It was pretty cheap and has cards for different holidays, birthdays, etc. I am going to try to have a sort of "circle time" in the morning with M and Y and talk about the date, day of the week, weather, and maybe sing some songs and work on a Bible memory verse? I don't want to overwhelm myself with stuff but I honestly do better when I have a plan and have some structure to work with. I think the kids will do well with it also. I kind of want to start getting into a rhythm before it's actually "go time".
I selected Saxon Math as our math course and got the manipulatives kit as well, which is for grades K-3 so I felt that it was a decent deal. I love math. I am not really sure why, it just makes so much sense to me. I wish I could say the same for science but you can't win them all I guess.
We are also doing The Story of the World for history (I will do C and Y together on that, along with M if she wants to participate). We won't be doing a lot with science or history at first, we will do a little bit but our focus will be on reading (and reading WELL) and math this first year or two. Our first science studies will just be on some animals and I did get an encyclopedia for that.
I also got a kid gardening book and was planning to use it next year, but we might use it a little bit this spring also. My fingers are already itching to get dirty again, though I don't have a garden plot yet here at our new house.
I was telling Brian that if this really works and goes the way it seems like it could go, our children will be smarter than we are! Of course this is a good thing.
This blog has undergone some serious changes. At first it was a foster parent's blog, then an adoptive parent's blog, then a preemie parent's blog, and now a home schooler blog (sort of). It is such a mishmash, I am a little shocked I have any readers at all. :) This is life though; always moving, always changing, always growing.
The evolution of your blog is a great thing, it means that your kids aren't still languishing in foster care. The fact that you are excited about homeschool is going to make all the difference in the world for your kids.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't waste our money since it helped instill a love of music. However, it would have nice if you practice a little more. Keep on the home school stuff, I know it will good for the kids. You know first hand how helpful an education tailored to learning style can be. Maybe when they get older if they want to learn a band instrument I can give them lessons.
ReplyDeleteYou are just like the rest of us. You have stages in life and certain situations will consume you, good and bad. I like reading your blog because I never know what I am going to get from your posts. Your blog is about being a PARENT, not a foster parent, adoptive parent or preemie parent, just a parent. I am looking forward to reading about your homeschooling journey.
ReplyDelete