Thanks for all your encouragement on the homeschooling post, gals. David also reminded me that its human nature to be quick to justify why we aren't doing something that someone else is doing. How many times has someone mentioned to me that they jog every morning, and I've said, "Oh, I hate to exercise. Glad you enjoy it!" So, I'm not immune from the poo pooing tendency myself. I need to work on that...
Encouragement came from an unlikely source today. I was at a MOPs playdate, and there was a gal there with a little boy about Seth's age. I've talked to her before, and crazily enough, we discovered that she married a boy I knew from the local homeschooling group in Greensboro. I looked at her son and suddenly saw the resemblance. =) Anyhoo, she told me then that he hadn't liked some things about homeschooling, that they weren't planning to homeschool, etc., etc.
Well, today, she told me that they are now planning on homeschooling Cole for a few years because the school district where they live is so bad. (Originally, the plan was to move to a better school district once he got old enough, but I guess the market nixed that or something.) She proceeded to tell me about a book she'd gotten from the library called "Homeschooling for Free," told me she was going through and checking out the links, and that she'd send me the document she was creating with all the good stuff on it when she was done. We actually had a little homeschooling conversation right there at playgroup! I have to smile. This was the last person I thought would give me this news. God knew I needed this today.
Which reminds me... I'm thinking about having a "school day" once a week this school year with Seth. It's to get me in the groove as much as it is for him. He's a pretty typical 2 1/2 year old. He likes to read with me, he enjoys pointing out things in the stories, and he enjoys doing crafts, if they're short. I'm wondering what I should focus on for "school time" on these days. Any ideas? I'd like a sort of structure for him, maybe a circle time, maybe some fine motor skills stuff. Should I do a letter of the alphabet each week? I'm hoping those of you who've taught toddlers before might have some ideas or resources you can share about a very simple school day schedule and "curriculum." Thanks!
6 comments:
I just found this book and I am going to try it with Judson and Olivia this year. It's called "Book Cooks 26 Recipes from A-Z Inspired by Favoirte Children's Books. It has songs, poems, activtivies, and recipes. IT looks like a lot of fun. I can't wait to start it. I don't know some of the books so I will probably substitute....I also plan to work with Olivia on letter recongition and sounds....
Hope you have fun!
Sorry I didn't comment on yesterday's post. I've caught some sort of yucky cold. :( Anyhow, I think you did fine. I know it gets lonely sometimes, but you really will find moms on similar paths in time (which you did, obviously, today!)...
As far as what to do with a 2.5-year-old...Hmmm...I was on bed-rest with my second pregnancy when my son was that age. We did LOTS of "school" because I couldn't move. It was mainly games. I had a game that taught colors, some stuffed capital letters, and another game that taught shapes. We also built with blocks and played with cars. He ate it all up. Perhaps looking into Montessori ideas? Children are so tactile, and all of that genre of school is very hands-on. I wish I had known about it when my oldest was younger, but I'm thinking about incorporating it into our schoolday for the littles.
I remember when Luke was 2 that they learned nursery rhymes. and those were great cause you can usually act them out or do a craft with them. I know for jack be nimble they made a candle and he jumped over it for days. They also did tons of painting with their hands. (if you can stomach the mess.) Learned his colors and shapes as well.
Good Luck!
If you wanted to do a letter a day, or something to that effect, the library over here offered a program last year where they taught about a different letter each week with songs and books about objects (i.e. "A" included a story that about a worm eating apples and one of the songs was about marching ants). You could probably get books you have or check them out at the library and maybe find some rhymes or songs, if you need a new one, in a book or on a CD in the library too.
Hey Ellen-
There are two things that I've been looking at for Jake. You may have heard of both of them but I thought I would mention them anyway. The first is Itty-Bitty Bookworm. It's a literature based curriculum for little guys. Then there is Five In A Row which is similar. Both curriculums have several levels so you could start wherever you feel Seth would do best.
Whatever you choose, you'll do great!
Oh, one more thing. One thing that we love to do is lapbooking. It's basically just a file folder that you glue different little activities into. Then they can go back and play with them anytime. There is a great website that you can get free lapbooking templates to print. It is www.homeschoolshare.com
You can click on free lapbooks and they are categorized by age level. There are lapbooks that cover subjects (trains, transportation, alphabet, etc) or books. Lots of fun! And super cheap.
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