We started our Preschool Homeschool the last week of August and it has been going really really well! Although, I am not certain how people homeschooled before the internet... if I had to rely on myself to come up with project ideas and fun things to keep the little minds stimulated we would all be toast!
Here's a rundown of what we ar doing this year...
Five In a Row- This is an awesome little curriculum! We "row" a book for five days and explore different parts of it. The possibilities are endless! So far we have read; The Story about Ping, Lentil, Madeline and the Rag Coat. We are enjoying Madeline so we are going to spend another week on it! There are way to many cool projects to do in one week! The best part is that Gabriel can take part in just about everything that we do!
We are making a Passport for all of the Countries/States that we visit when we read books. Bastian and Gman are coloring the flag from China- which we visited when we read The Story about Ping. We have also visited Ohio,The Appalachian Mountians(no state was mentioned) and France!
Here Bastian and Gabriel are making a rag coat out of paper scraps for our book "The Rag Coat"
Bible Study/ Scripture Memorization- We are using My ABC Bible Verses for this as well as Big Truths for Little Kids. We use these scriptures often and it really helps. I can't tell you how many times I have had to remind Bastian about the being a peacemaker or having a joyful heart... the best part is that we can always bring it back to Jesus through these books!
Gospel Lights Kindegarten Puzzles- These are more of a post circle time fill in the spare time activity. But he loves them and we get to review scripture with each and every page! Instead of using th whole book and buying a new one later, I took all the pages out and put them in sleeves in a binder. we use dry erase markers to work through the books and then wipe it off for the next time/child! This was not my idea, I read it from a blog... but I am so excited! It is cheaper and cuts down on so much waste!!
Nature Study- We have pretty much decided to follow a Charlotte Mason style of learning/instruction. She recommends lots of outdoor play as well as journaling your experiences. Each day after our outdoor time we ask Bastian about his favorite thing and then I write a sentence in his journal, which he rewrites and then he gets to draw a picture! He still loves to draw so this works well for us right now!
Math- We have a few math workbooks, and we use them twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) but we are trying to focus our math time more on manipulatives and actual work... rather than a work book. We have been doing puzzles, tangrams and then lots of counting, sorting and measuring around the house. Next year we might dig a little deeper into math...
Devotions- Each day we begin our Circle Time with a prayer and a devotion. The devotional that we use right now is a Precious Moments one.. I cant remember the exact name.. but It works well for us.
Circle Time- We do our bible study, devotions and book reading during circle time each morning. We sit on the floor in the play room and we read and play. After all of our "school work" is done we read more. I think our biggest goal this year is to help cultivate a love for reading in the boys!
Project Days- Twice a week we do a project related to our book from Five In a Row. (This is where the internet has saved my buns!!) This is where I see the information stick the most with Bastian... it is also the most work but the most fun! I would like to try to do a few more projects in the future that are more seasonal and not related to our books.. but that really depends on time.
During our first few days of Madeline we explore popular architecture in Paris. Afterwards we constructed an Eiffel Tower out of wafer cookies! The boys had a blast and then devoured it when Tony got home from work! Tony made fun of me when the boys went to bed about my pathetic 2D Tower! It was pretty pathetic, but Bastian can tell you all about the Eiffel Tower now! I am more than happy with that!
We try to squeeze in other fun projects too.. like painting!
We also froze some fruit in layers( with food coloring) and then we worked on excavating the ice to remove the fruit without damaging it. This was really fun.. although next time we will do more fruit and less ice!
Pretty much all of this flows like a normal non-school day. It is barely like we are doing school, except that I feel guilty if we forget to do something! I think this is a great first step toward school for all of us.
Peace,
Nikki
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