A Peek into our lives

Curious to know how 'homeschooling' goes in our house?

First thing to note is my kids are only 5,3 and 9 months.

The 9 month olds homeschooling involves exploration and putting a lot of objects in his mouth ;)

As for the 3 year old, her 'school' involves sitting down and colouring,cutting, pasting ect. I just want her to follow simple instructions and learn as she goes. That is it. She is still working on playing which is the best 'school' for little people.

My 5 year old does a little more. I still focus on play for her. Playing and exploring are still huge learning tools for a 5 year old. They need to discover and get dirty...to throw themselves off something and see what happens ;) I also read to her a TON, and look for teachable moments all the time.
At this age they love to mimic adult behavior. So I let her bake with me, and come along whenever she wants. I have had to learn to slow down and let her do it. That is difficult for me...very difficult but I'm learning.

We are also focusing on manners and all that good stuff. Fractions are important, but becoming a good and well mannered productive human being is far more important.

My goals for her is to instill a love of learning. The best part about home schooling is we can take whatever she is interested in and just go with it. These days she is fascinated with the planets and solar system. So...that is what we are focusing on.
When she was 4 she loved sitting down and doing 'work sheets'. Like cut here, paste there, draw this and that. So, we expanded. She quickly learned all her letters and is reading most Dr.Seuss books. All because she wants to.

My other 3 year old could not care less about the work sheets. And really...so what.

This year Lara is not liking the worksheets and it has been a struggle. But...she loves to write cards and do crafts. So...I give her all the material and watch her go. She is becoming very creative. Writing the cards and 'letters' to people has been great. I am a believer in learning to do things because we are told to even when we don't want to. So, once a day in the morning she does one page of her book. It is not long and voila! She is free to explore and learn what she wants the rest of the day.
We do this all year round and 5 days a week. I find since we focus on the 'school' at the time of day when she will soak it in (9am), then she learns faster.

I find this way there is less fighting and struggle and she is happier. Besides...my goal is not for her to read when she is 5. My goal is to instill self confidence and a love of learning for the rest of her life. I'm 30 and still learning more every day. To be honest...I forgot the order of the planets because I could not have cared less. So, when she is interested and needs to know something she will learn it.

And when she discovers what she wants to do (right now it involves dance), then I am more than happy to help make that happen.

So far Homeschooling is working for us. My philosophies are changing all the time as we change and grow. We are enjoying the ride, and I'm enjoying watching them learn and grow...and being the one there to help make it happen.

This is Lara doing her page in her book. When I don't put pressure on her, and wait for her to be ready to sit and do it...she almost always does more. She certainly retains the info much better as well.


This is Erin doing her 'page'. I just told her to colour it.

She is quite happy to be almost getting the colour between the lines. It is fun to see the progress. I can teach her to colour like I taught her to walk or speak....you just don't do it. You provide the example and let them practice. Their brains will get it when they are ready and developed properly...at their own pace.



The sun is out today so we are going sledding and I think we will make some snow people. Then maybe bake some bread :)