Homeschooling in the Brown home, for the first year!

I have had so many questions about how we are adjusting to homeschooling Esther through Kindergarten and what curriculum we are using. So what better to do than blog about it!

We've laughed, we've cried. I have succeeded wonderfully and I have wondered if it's too late to enroll in public school, but overall, it has been a blessing so far.

It deed, it has been quite a natural transition, not especially traumatic, in that we have always nurtured a learning environment in our home and lives, and the children have adjusted well to increased pace.

When do you find time?

I am very blessed in the my husband works a slightly later shift. I do miss him very much at the dinner table and when doing bedtimes, but in the mornings he puts himself at our disposal to help make sure our home school goals are achieved.

However, the way it plays out, due to having one car, often one of us has to go and do something, like grocery shop, go to a meeting in the morning. On days like this, I wait until Joel's nap time, which is somewhat unpredictable in time and length.

I also try to keep things simple on days I know before hand will be like this, and just do our Five in a Row curriculum, which really requires being done 5 consecutive days. All the other curriculum is pretty flexible.

Plus, the nature of teaching one child, one on one, means that lessons go by really quick, and even with doing all the different subjects, it's rarely more than 2 1/2 hours total throughout the day.



How does your daughter handle learning from you?

So far, we have had no problem, as long as I am patient, and read her ques well - tiredness, frustration, overwhelmed etc and respond accordingly with compassion and empathy, and find a way to work through it with her, we have had little to no conflict. She is eager to do her lessons and is learning well.

I know my child well, and have had 5 years of learning her strengths, weaknesses, passions and learning style and I am loving this opportunity to get to know her more.


What curriculum are you using?

Right now we use several. At our core we use Five in a Row, which is a literature based curriculum.

Each week your studies are focused on one book which you read at the beginning of each lesson. Each lesson from history, geography to math, science and language arts stem from this.

Math - we are supplementing with 'Saxon Math'. So far I love this, it is 100% scripted and Esther does really well with it. It requires little to no planning on my part, other than a quick overview of the lesson before hand.

Phonics - We are using 'Explode the Code', this is not scripted, but gives lots of suggestions, workbooks, activities. It is a perfect pace for Esther and really easy to use.

Handwriting - We are using Handwriting without Tears. It is wonderfully genius! Esther's handwriting already impresses me after just a few lessons, it is very easy for the child to understand, and really is handwriting without tears, with lots of fun ideas, songs etc.

What do you do for PE and social interaction?

Esther is attending soccer twice a week, also at home the girls have quite a love for learning ballet, so we have been using a book that introduces basic positions and famous ballets.

Socially, we are heading to the Girl Scout rally this weekend for her to join a troop. In addition we are at church frequently, out and about often at parks and museums which pose the opportunity for her to play with other children.

I had hoped to find a home school group to join, but so far I have had no luck!


SUMMARY!

It is easy to fall into the trap of viewing homeschooling as a burden, another thing to accomplish in a long list of never ending 'things' a mum has to do. It requires discipline, routine and patience, not of which are my forte.

On the other hand, it makes our home life so dynamic and rich, it is helping me get to know myself more, to understand my children more and gain more rapport and connection with them.

It is teaching me to pray more and rely more and more on God's strength and provision.

It is truly a sanctifying experience.

I love that at the end of the day, I have something to show in my little folder where I have been storing Esther's work, that I can already, look back and review progress.

I delight in partaking in their learning experience, seeing the wonder and excitement of their discoveries of the world around them or when they achieve something new.

In summary, I think I can say that so more, I feel like homeschooling is giving our family a more full and vibrant life, one more in tune with each other, our world and God.

To finish - I really could NOT achieve what we have already without God, He is my constant source of strength, patience and encouragement.

Learning to read...

As I began praying and learning about homeschooling, one of my biggest concerns was teaching Esther how to read. I felt (and still feel) inadequate. I don't have a teaching degree, I don't know how to teach phonics etc. So I put a lot of time into researching schools of thought on when and how to teach reading.

I found myself leaning towards the literature based curriculum, Charlotte Mason style learning. I favored the concept that you did not need to push a child to learn reading formally but to begin surrounding them with living books and that reading would stem naturally out of this.

The concept of flashcards, worksheets and three letter work books not only bored me but lacked beauty. It reeked of classroom. And isn't that what I was trying to avoid? I wanted a living, breathing learning experience that was interwoven with a rich daily life.

Now, I am not saying that I have abandoned my ideals, but that it was a shock to the system that my eldest LIKES worksheets, flashcards, workbooks and phonics. Sure, we LOVE to read beautifully illustrated and written living books together, but even though I was not pushing her to read, it seemed, that she was pushing me to teach her formally.

When I read about how bored children get with the above and do much better with informal narration, plays, crafts, it didn't occur to me that this was a general thing and not a rule, and in fact, Esther enjoys these things immensely but actually would rather sit and work on Kindergarten workbook, and wants to finish the creative activity so she could go back to tracing letters, matching patterns and doing mazes.

She learned her letter sounds close to a year ago, but as she was only three, I didn't want to push her and also she was overwhelmed beyond just saying the sound (again, she was the one who chose to learn them, I just followed her lead).

Anyway, jump forward to earlier this week when she pulled Alphaphonics off the bookshelf and asked me about it. I explained what it was and she asked me to do it with her. So, we did! I was amazed that she was putting words together and enjoying it.

On recommendations of lots of friends, I picked up some BOB books from the library. I have to admit, it was a little hard to do, because I had been so excited about literature based learning of reading.

However, I am OVER it. Because today, Esther read a whole book! She is so proud and excited!

Here are some lessons I have learned:

- Every child learns differently and we have to figure out what makes that child tick and figure out what methods work for them. No ones a cookie cutter.

- When a child is ready to learn something, run with it.

- It's all very well to have ideals but whats most important is that the child enjoys the learning and develops a love of learning. If a child begins to hate 'school' because they don't like the phonics lessons and worksheet, try something else. But, if they love the worksheets and phonics, and they are learning and loving it - why fix whats not broken?

- There isn't perhaps a superior way to learning to read, as long as it's done with fun, love and both teacher and student enjoy it and it nurtures a love to read and learn.

- Teaching to read isn't that hard. You can do it! My little girl is READING!!! In less that a week, she is doing amazing. What you need is patience, lots of praise and to follow your child's lead. Don't push before they are ready, it will be tiring and fruitless but if you are paying attention, you'll find that right time and they'll soak it up.

-Finally, I love BOB books. They are not full of eloquent words and beautiful illustrations but, they have given my daughter confidence and a desire to read, read, read! Plus... now, we'll go read some Jan Brett...