In this very first week of homeschooling (which has gone pretty well so far!), I had a mini-crisis yesterday evening. I started digging around on the internet for other ideas to incorporate into our schooling.
Insert crisis here.
I found a zillion things on blogs authored by these seemingly perfect, Proverbs 31-type women. I know in reality these women aren't perfect and in most cases, they have been homeschooling for a handful of years and have accumulated resources. But they have amazing ideas and it made me think I wasn't doing enough for Ben. Not enough art projects, not enough science lessons, not enough geography.
Yes, after only 3 days of homeschooling.
But then my teacher sense reminded me that we're brand new at this. We need to ease our way in, and we can add more as we get more and more comfortable with the things we have to do. I decided we'd finish out August doing just what we've been doing these last few days, and maybe in September we'd add one new element to the week. I came across a cute website with pre-k/k science lessons that include little activities. I also found a book at the library on how to use children's literature to do science lessons with young kids. We'll start there, and see where we go.
I did do one new thing though, but it was an easy thing to do. A friend gave me the name of a very resourceful blog called Confessions of a Homeschooler. She has a tab of their family's calendar time activities, so I chose one very important element to include in our calendar time: memorizing our address, phone number, and 911. This morning, Ben and Joey helped me use the Cricut to make this cute page that I slipped into a scrapbook page protector. We'll hang it up on the closet door in the living room by our calendar and recite it each day. The 911 thing is especially important right now as just the other day, a house fire in a nearby neighborhood claimed the lives of a mom, dad, and toddler, leaving 11 and 8 year old boys (who attend the same school as a few of our church friends' kids) behind. No further explanation there.
I did do one new thing though, but it was an easy thing to do. A friend gave me the name of a very resourceful blog called Confessions of a Homeschooler. She has a tab of their family's calendar time activities, so I chose one very important element to include in our calendar time: memorizing our address, phone number, and 911. This morning, Ben and Joey helped me use the Cricut to make this cute page that I slipped into a scrapbook page protector. We'll hang it up on the closet door in the living room by our calendar and recite it each day. The 911 thing is especially important right now as just the other day, a house fire in a nearby neighborhood claimed the lives of a mom, dad, and toddler, leaving 11 and 8 year old boys (who attend the same school as a few of our church friends' kids) behind. No further explanation there.
Ta da!
 |
| House and policeman/fireman: My Community cartridge Telephone: Wild Card cartridge Font: Don Juan cartridge |
That is a great idea! And love the super cute sign! I think your Cricut is proving to be a great investment! :)
ReplyDeleteSo funny~! I was given Confessions of a Homeschooler on Tuesday by a fellow homeschooling friend. You know what? I saw her new ikea stuff and all of her organized bins and the whole room...I looked around at my disarray and thought, "I'm hopeless!" I have had the same feelings that all of these other homeschoolers are so on top of it and so organized. (Ok, even you and Amy, too!). We are just sort of winging it over here, and I don't even have all of my curriculum yet, but we're doing ok. I have my calendar and all of the little fun pieces that go with it, but it's still in the package. I can't figure out a good way to secure it to the wall without causing damage to a rental house - geez!
ReplyDeleteI have to remember, it's only Kindergarten! Not rocket science! And my children will be all the better just because of their time spent with me, sharing my heart with them (and my craziness).