Homeschooling...What an adventure! This year we are beginning Kindergarten with my oldest. I'm attempting to hit it full force and get a running start. We are using the A Beka curriculum, which I love! It is definitely right for me since it is all laid out, and includes games and teaching ideas. I know could come up with my own curriculum, and perhaps some day I might give it a try, but with a busy two-year-old and an up-and-coming toddler zipping around the house, its definitely nice to take the shortcut of a laid-out curriculum!
I have been considering sharing my journal I started this school year. As a new homeschool mom I love to glean every idea and encouragement from others out there. I just wonder if maybe my sharing my early experiences would help someone else. I'm definitely a beginner, dog-paddling my way around, trying this, and attempting that, failing, succeeding, and failing again...but all the while, loving it.
There are MANY reasons we have decided to homeschool our children...but one of reasons is simply this: I'm SELFISH! I love my kids. I want to have them with me. As I teach them their phonics, and watch their shining eyes light up as they begin to read real words for the very first time, I just want to soak up the moment like a wet sponge! I don't have to shed the tears as I send my baby away for seven or eight hours a day...I would hate that! I don't necessarily believe that EVERY family should homeschool, but I am thrilled that I "GET TO!"
So, here is a log of the first couple of days: (Keep in mind that I was not intending to write this in blog form, but as a simple journal for my own records.)
August 15, 2011
First day of Kindergarten! My husband and I made a beautiful banner for the wall using the Cricut. I wish I could have done more to make the classroom look fresh and exciting. But I think it turned out well!
The lessons went well. They've retained so much from Preschool that I didn't have to spend much time on the letter of the day. I will have to come up with some more supplemental material, or fun ways to review, until the lessons pick up on new material.
We began the day kneeling in prayer and asking the Lord to help. Without His help, it would all be a waste of time!
At the teacher's store, I bought a DVD called “Meet the Phonics, Blends” from the Preschool Prep Co. It is for consonant blends, which we haven't covered yet. I hope this gives them a head start. They make little animated characters out of the blends and repeat the sound over and over while the character does a task which begins with the blend sound. For instance: “sp” shows a little guy using a sponge. Then it gives examples of words with that blend. Its great, really!
August 18, 2011
The school week has been going pretty well so far. The first twelve weeks of Phonics Reading and Writing is everything we learned in Preschool. I know that repetition is the key to learning, but they've pretty much got letters and sounds down. I still plan to go through the lesson plans, but I may combine a couple of lessons at a time.
This morning I got a facebook message from a friend asking if she could come over with her two-year-old boy. I cringed inside, knowing it would throw off our schedule, but I said yes anyway. When she arrived she told me that she really needed someone to talk to and knew I would understand. She said that her first-grade boy got beat up by some older boys on the playground. The school staff blew it off as if it didn't happen and told her they would take care of it by not letting her kid play in that area any more. My neighbor was so upset that her son is the one being disciplined when others did him wrong. She SHOULD BE upset! The principal didn't even want her to come in and discuss it!
I believe the Lord wanted me to hear about all of that just to remind me why I'm doing all of this anyway! I'm so thankful that I have the freedom to keep my kids at home!
And I PRAY, PRAY, PRAY that we continue to have this freedom in our country!
Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts or questions!!
