Sunday, July 25, 2010

Homeschooling

We, as parents, are our children's first teachers. No one questions our ability to teach them to walk, talk or go potty. However, when it comes to schooling, we are all of sudden we are not qualified. As soon as our child is school aged, it's assumed that we will hand them over to someone else to teach them. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't it be assumed that a parent will teach their child unless there's a reason that they can't such as both parents that have to work or single parents? Shouldn't home education be the default?

This is how homeschooling came up for my children. I thought "Why send them to school when I'm just as capable of teaching them?" Not only am I capable but I can give them the one-on-one attention. Learning can be individualized for them. Not all kids learn the same way. Our time will be much more efficient. With lower ratios, it takes less time to learn the same things being taught in schools. Which leaves more time to learn other things. Things that schools can't teach because they have to teach to the test. It also makes it not a big deal having to spend more time on something that the child may be struggling with.

Toddlers/preschoolers learn best through playing, reading and exploring. So..we read ALOT...us reading to them and Sean "reading" to us. He likes using the pictures in the book to make up his own story. He also draws and then tells stories about what he draws. I write down his stories onto his picture. We do crafts. We bake. He counts out the eggs, etc. It's also a science lesson. We fit in math during grocery shopping. Counting, colors, shapes... Sean does really enjoys worksheets though! He loves tracing, matching, circling. He easily does 10 or more a week.

My goal is to keep them home as long as they are thriving and I feel comfortable teaching them.

Our homeschooling/playroom in the works:
My area:
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The kids area...I still want to get a calendar and a weather chart. Sean's work goes on the fridge first, then the wall, then in binder when we start running out of room on the wall. There's a clock but I didn't get it in the shot. The green outlined areas will be chalkboards:
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Action shots:
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