Picking a homeschooling approach can be overwhelming. And since it’s one of the first things you do when you start homeschooling, it’s a lot to start with. And with 9 different styles to choose from, how to you even choose?
Before you choose you need to know 3 things.
There is no “perfect” homeschool style that will work for everyone
Very few people fit perfectly into any single homeschool approach.
A style might work for a while and then you’ll want or need to change.
So now that we know those things, it’s time to pick a homeschool style. Here’s how to do it.
How to pick a homeschool approach
Read over the different homeschool approaches. There are 9, so read them carefully and make a note of the ones that you connect with. Some approaches won’t connect with you.
If you are still stuck, take a quiz. Rebecca from HomeschoolOn has a great quiz. But I urge you to look at the full results. When I took her quiz, I got unschooler, but when I looked at my full results which said I was 26% unschooler. I was also 25% unit studies and 25% Charlotte Mason style. Which since we are eclectic homeschoolers, that’s actually exactly what we are. But look at the full results and see that you get. But know she only covers 6 styles so take that into consideration.
Use your list and results as a jumping off point to do some research. Read some books, read some blogs and see what style you really like.
The next thing you can do, it try it out. Try homeschooling and the style you like. There will be a some trial and error, especially when you start homeschooling. But you’ll never really know what’s your style until you get your hands dirty.
And don’t be afraid to customize and personalize your homeschool. We homeschoolers beg, borrow and steal from other styles, all the time. Because each family is unique, your homeschool will be unique and you can change and adjust things, even a homeschooling approach, until it’s right for your family.
Unit studies are growing as a popular homeschooling style. And rightfully so! They are highly engaging. You can easily pick from thousands of topics your kids are interested in. And you can study one topic as a family with each child getting something out the unit.
You can buy unit studies and even find many online for free. But what if your kids are found a subject they are really into and you can’t afford the curriculum or you can’t find any for your child’s rare topic choice.
In that case, you can build your own and it’s actually very easy. Just follow these 6 simple steps. We’ve even got a Free Printable PDF to help you build your own!
You have to start by picking a topic. Once you’ve decided on your topic, decide what subjects you want to hit while you doing this unit. I often recommend trying to hit no more than 3 or 4 subjects in a single unit.
2. Books
Find some books on the topic. Gather anything you can find. Picture books, poetry books, non-fiction, field guides and novels.
I also like to try and find one big book, a novel or chapter book that we can read throughout the study. I look for something that is related to the topic if possible (like Charlotte’s Web in an Insect unit study). Sometimes, it’s a little bit of a stretch but we make it work.
3. Hands-On activities
We like to keep our unit studies to about a 4-6 weeks, with a month being our most popular timeline. So in a month-long study, I’ll aim to find 3-4 hands-on activities to do with the kids. Pinterest is my go to for ideas.
4. Media and TV
TV, movies and media can be a great learning tool in your homeschooling. I like to find something educational for the kids to watch every now and then. Sometimes a 5 minute YouTube video can explain something better than I could in an hour. Look for YouTube clips, documentaries or educational shows like Magic School Bus for ideas.
5. Field Trip
Get out of the house and find a cool place that is related to your topic. Go and visit a museum, a specific floor of a science centre, a play or literally a field.
6. Big Project
A big project can be helpful way to pull all you’ve learned together. Sometimes we do it at the start of our unit (Like planting a garden when we’re learning about plants and seeds). Sometimes we do it at the end (like a big experiment at the end of our Scientist unit).
7. Recipe (Bonus)
If I can find a fun recipe, then it’s a little bonus. I get the kids to help me make it and include it during our poetry teatime.
Unit studies can be a fun way to get kids excited about learning at home and are often a great pick-me-up idea when things get a little blah. We often do a unit study in January, after the excitement of the holidays wears off and we’re feeling a little unmotivated.
To help you create your own unit study, we’ve created an awesome PDF. You can download it for free! It’s designed to help you create any unit for your unique family!
One thing that most people forget when they start homeschooling is the very first step: Deschooling.
Deschooling is the process of letting go of the “school mentality”. When families leave the public or private school system, there are a lot of things they need to leave behind in order to be successful at homeschooling.
What is Deschooling?
Deschooling is a process where both parents and children unlearn the school system and learn what their new homeschooling norm will be.
Who Should Deschool?
Anyone who is leaving the school system, public or private, should take some time to deschool.
Why Should You Deschool?
There are so many really important reasons why you should deschool.
It allows families to unlearn school-based expectations, behaviours and schedules
It gives time for kids to get the novelty of “no school” out of their system
Parents get time to adjust to having the kids home all the time. With the kids home all the time, there will be more mess, more snacks and more friction.
Deschooling allows time for parents and children to “reconnect” and grow their relationship.
It’s the perfect time for kids to find their true passions, explore their interests and hobbies
For some, it’s also a time of healing from the stress of school or from negative situations that occurred at school.
When and How Long Should You Deschool?
As soon as you leave the school system, you should start deschooling. It’s the first step in starting your homeschooling journey.
As for how long, that really depends. The rough rule of thumb is 1 week to 1 month for every year your child was in school. For example a grade 5 student would need anywhere from 5 weeks to 5 months of deschooling. The amount of time will really depend on the child and how stressful their time in school was. If they are leaving on positive terms, then they would probably need a shorter time. But if they are leaving on more negative terms (for example, struggles with learning, administration or bullying), then they will need more time to heal and destress.
Where Do You Deschool?
You can deschool anywhere and everywhere. Just like homeschooling!
How Do You Deschool?
It’s a little counter-intuitive, but it’s a time of no educational activities. No worksheets, workbooks, or curriculum. It’s basically a lot of free time, allowing families and children to find their natural schedule, family rhythm, and what the kids are actually interested in.
Most families focus on life skills, chores, establishing what they want their family to be. Some might even take some time to focus on establishing healthy behaviours and becoming more healthy in general (more sleep, working on mental health, and dealing with a health issue).
People often wonder, “Is my kindergartener doing enough? Are they behind? What do they need to know?”
We are answering that question today!
First off, let’s establish a timeline, a base age. When we’re talking about this, we’re talking about what kids should be able to do by the end of kindergarten or by the end of age 5. This is an important distinction because kindergarten is different depending on your area. For example, where we live in Ontario, kindergarten is a 2-year program. So these are the things that they should be able to do by the end of the second year.
The big focus during the kindergarten years should be on play and exploration. It’s a time to focus on introducing kids to new ideas, materials, adventures, and experiences. It’s the time to follow their lead and dive into different things they are interested in. Daily reading, talking about things you see and discover, and lots of play are the best ways to inspire learning.
At the end of kindergarten, here are a few things that they should know:
counting to 20
basic primary and secondary colours (red, blue, yellow and green, purple, orange)
2D shapes
basic money values
basic time (1 hour vs. 1 minute vs. 1 day)
memorize a simple song, rhymes, poems, or play
sit and listen to a short story with pictures
explore various art materials
sing ABCs and identify a few letters
identify their own name when written
understand how a book works and that there are words on the page and those words make up the story
Hopefully, that helps reassure you that your kindergartener is on track and that you really are qualified and capable of teaching your kids at home!
With everything that has been happening with the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of things have changed. Many people are self-isolating and trying to flatten the curve and most places are closed.
In Ontario, every school is currently closed. That means that thousands of parents are now suddenly trying to “homeschool” their children. Within hours of the government announcing the schools would be closing for several weeks (at least), there were tons of “quarantine schedules”, grade-level worksheet packages and curriculum books popping up online. Parents were suddenly filling forums with the question “how do I start homeschooling?”
Well, we are two teachers and we have been homeschooling our children for a few years now. We have heard this question before. In fact, we even wrote a book about it! But this time it was different. The tone was different. There is stress, fear and apprehension. Parents were panicking with suddenly being left in charge of their children’s education with little warning.
We thought we could step in and give parents some practical advice during this pandemic.
Now is NOT the time to start homeschooling.
There are so many reasons why right now is not the best time to start homeschooling your children, despite the hundreds of worksheet packages, workbooks, and schedules that have become available.
Here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t start homeschooling right now.
This is Not Homeschooling
Despite the word “home” in the title, homeschooling doesn’t really just take place at home. We go to playgroups, church, visit friends, the library, gymnastics, and the science centre. We aren’t actually home most days. We’re out living and learning in the world. Since everything is closed right now to try to control the spread of the virus, things are out of the norm for us, too. Our kids have asked, “When do we get to see our friends?” just as often as other kids.
Everyone is Stressed
Right now, many parents are stressed out. Many are suddenly working from home, laid off or working extra shifts because of the pandemic. People are worried about how to pay the bills, where to find toilet paper and how to do all that with kids who aren’t supposed to leave the house. That’s a lot of stress.
And the kids are stressed, too.
Many have lost trips, competitions, teams. They have lost their proms, graduation celebrations, birthday parties. Their entire routine has been thrown under the bus. And they can’t see their friends. They are stressed, too.
All this stress means that now is not a great time to add in a new change and an added challenge into your home dynamic. Because, when you start homeschooling, there is a change in the relationship. You are no longer just their parent. You are the teacher, too. It’s not a bad change, but it is a change. And considering how many changes are happening right now, this might not be the best time to add homeschooling to the list of changes.
School at Home Isn’t Homeschooling
A lot of schedules and curriculum bundles have come out in light of the school closures. Many suggest a strict time-based schedule similar to a school schedule. It might surprise you that while most homeschoolers start with a “school at home” model, they quickly abandon it for many reasons. Kids can accomplish much more, in less time at home. Being at home also allows kids to reclaim their time. They can get lost in a project or follow a rabbit trail, really getting to dive deep into learning in a way they can’t in school. Now is a great time to let kids explore, try something new and get creative.
If you are a person like me, we thrive on a routine, but not a strict schedule. We stick to specific mealtimes, a quiet time after lunch and the same bedtime every night. But otherwise, our day shifts and changes depending on what we want or need to do that day. Make small goals for your day, but don’t try to stick to a strict schedule. You’ll drive the kids crazy and they will rebel.
Boredom Isn’t Bad
If you are worried about boredom, don’t. Your first few days might be rough. Many kids have had their days scheduled for them. Without being told what to do, they may struggle with how to use their time. That’s okay.
They will find something to fill their time. This is how kids find their passions and what they are really interested in.
If they mope and complain about being bored, there’s always something that needs dusting and laundry that needs folding. Either they’ll quickly find something to do, or you’ll get your house cleaned. It’s really a win-win situation.
Boredom is good in the way that it can lead to creativity. Having time to be with our thoughts is like a key that opens up the creative potential of the brain.
Don’t Worry About Not Being Caught Up
Many parents are worried that their children will fall behind if they aren’t homeschooling them every single day. That’s simply not true. If the whole world is standing still, no one is moving ahead.
As teachers, we recognize that not every child has the same opportunities. They don’t all have access to the Internet, cable, computers, and parents at home all day long to help them out. Some older kids are babysitting while their parents work. That means that a lot of kids won’t have access to everything that’s being offered (even the online learning portal from the Ontario government). Your child’s teacher will adjust things when school starts again. They won’t expect all the kids to just jump back into class as if it never ended.
Maybe you are using this time to focus on life-skills, the arts, and health. Just because you might not be doing academic learning, doesn’t mean that your child isn’t learning cool or important things.
So if You Shouldn’t be Homeschooling, What Can You be Doing?
First off, we suggest you focus on your family’s physical and mental health. Do what you need to do to take care of that. At a certain level, this is survival mode for everyone. Do what you need to do to survive. And, your children will survive without workbooks and academics.
Secondly, live life with your kids. We have a strange opportunity to teach our kids things that they’ll never learn in the classroom. Cook and bake with them. Read them your favourite stories, or listen to them as audiobooks. Teach them how to change the oil in a car, or how to plant a garden. Dive into a new skill or hobby. Maybe they want to learn about coding, painting, or video game design. Let them write a storybook. Let them learn about what they want to learn.
Take advantage of some of the awesome free stuff that has become available (we’re not talking about worksheets). With this pandemic, suddenly there are hundreds of free zoo and aquarium tours, concerts, and art gallery tours. Celebrities are reading stories online, and musicians are teaching amazing classes. Some YouTubers are even changing course, to offer awesome seminars on their favourite subjects for kids. Take an evening or afternoon and explores some of these awesome freebies.
COVID-19 has thrown our world into chaos for a while. It’s going to be a weird, stressful time for all of us. Let’s not add more stress by trying to homeschool when we don’t need too.
So many parents complain about their kid’s inability to hold a pencil properly. We hear this a lot, especially from the parents of kindergarteners and preschoolers.
Being a teacher, as well as a homeschool mom, I have a few tips and tricks to not only encourage proper grip but also the enjoyment of writing.
Alligator Grip
I found with young children, practising the Alligator grip is super helpful. Our goal is to get a pencil grip that is 2 fingers on top and the thumb underneath, with the pencil resting in the crook of the hand.
Using the little rhyme “Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Bite! Alligators like to write!” we chomp down our pencil and then hold it right where the paint ends.
Strength and Coordination
Most people don’t realize how much strength and coordination are required to write with a pencil. You must have the fine motor skills in your hands and the strength in your fingers to hold the pencil. Then, you need to have the upper body and arm strength to push down on the paper with enough force to make a mark. And then there’s the coordination to make readable letters. It’s a lot of work for a young child. Many get tired quickly. And tired leads to not wanting to write, which can lead to arguments and frustration for everyone.
We let our daughters use a marker for their writing work. Markers don’t require any upper body force, which means one less thing to think of. And they get the encouragement of seeing marks on the page right away. And it’s way more fun, getting to pick a fun new colour every day.
Keep It Short
If your child is still struggling with holding a pencil, consider shortening it. A long pencil gives more options on where to hold it incorrectly. It also can be difficult for them to balance it correctly on their little hands because of the long length. Consider things like golf pencils, mini markers or chalk, all of which are short and require you to hold it at the end rather somewhere in the middle.
Art and Writing are Very Different Things
Art and writing both use similar materials but the outcome is quite different. The way you hold a marker, crayon or pencil while drawing is very different from the way you hold a pencil while writing.
Allow children lots of opportunities to explore writing mediums in an artistic way to strengthen their hands and arms (but don’t focus on the grip). Only focus on the grip while forming letters. Even if your child draws letters in their drawings, let them do so how they want. It’s all part of the learning experience and they are testing out how their grip can change the way the letters look.
Writing can be a lot of fun, especially if you don’t over-burden a child with too many expectations. Let them doodle, write in a secret journal, or draw on the pavement with chalk. It’s all working towards building writers who love to write and can hold their pencil properly.
A lot of parents are concerned that they are not qualified to teach their kids at home. They doubt themselves and their abilities to homeschool their kids. And, society reinforces that fear. After all, a teacher goes to school to learn how to teach kids right? They get a university degree and then go to teacher’s college. For most teachers, it’s at least 5 years of post-secondary education.
Well, we are two teachers and together, we have 10 years of post-secondary education plus a few extra courses here and there. We have over 14 years of teaching experience between the two of us. Most people assume that we are qualified to homeschool our kids. Well let us tell you, public school and homeschooling are nothing alike and nothing in teachers’ college prepared us for homeschooling.
In teachers’ college, you aren’t really learning how to teach. My experience was that teachers’ college was like going back to elementary school. We sat in desks and had classes in Math, Science, Language Arts, Music, and Visual Art. We would do activities like we were in school. I painted pictures in art class, did experiments in science class and sang songs in music class. In our Language Arts class, we literally sat on the floor and took turns reading picture books to each other.
On top of those subject classes, we had two other classes. One was ethics and law of teaching. The other class was Methods. Most people imagine that Methods would be how to teach. But the reality is, it’s something very different. We learned about how to set up a classroom so it’s safe and effective for 25+ kids. We learned how to set up a routine and rules and how to maintain order in a class with 25+ students. We learned very little about how to teach a kid to read, write, or do math. Teachers’ college prepared us for teaching in a classroom, where you have 25-35 students. You’re teaching a large number of kids things they aren’t necessarily interested in. You have to make lessons that are for the average student in your class, find ways to make it more challenging for the advanced kids and accessible for the kids with learning difficulties. You have filler activities for the kids who are done because they can’t be distracting the others.
Homeschooling is totally different. First off, there’s significantly less children. We can teach our kids in the way that they learn best, take breaks when they want and study topics they find interesting. We can read books that they like, rather than following a reading list.
With all that being said, you might still be wondering if you are qualified to teach your kids. Let us make this clear to you and everyone around you…
YES! YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO TEACH YOUR KIDS!
Here are 5 reasons you are qualified to homeschool your children.
Your Kids Are Your Passion
You love your children more than any teacher ever will. As much as teachers care for children, they will never love them as you do.
No teacher will ever love your kids the same way you do. They make like your children but they will never love them and that’s a huge difference.
You Know Your Kids
You know your kids better than any teacher. You know their strengths, weaknesses, and passions. You know what they love, what they hate and what motivates them. You also know about their lives. You know if they were at a hockey tournament all weekend and need some extra sleep or if they had a big fight with their sibling that they are upset about. You know how these things will affect your kids and you have the flexibility to adjust accordingly. That’s not something a teacher can know, or easily accommodate.
You Don’t Need to Know Everything
Many people think teachers know everything, which is why they are qualified to teach. The truth is, sometimes they don’t know anything about a particular subject. They get the textbook and read it before they teach it. They look up activities on Pinterest and cool videos on YouTube to learn what they need to know to teach the next unit.
As a homeschooler, you can do the same. If you don’t know much about a particular subject you can learn it with your child. You can read the manual, watch videos, and read books. You can also find experts all around you to help everyone learn.
And a great bonus to all of this is that your kids get to see you learn. They learn that learning is not a static thing, but something that you can do forever. It helps create a love for life-long learning.
You Won’t Put Your Child in a Box
There are so many ways for a child to be categorized in school. A good reader, a bad reader, one who struggles in math, one who talks too much. But when you homeschool you don’t have to put your children in a box. They don’t have to fit arbitrary grade levels, they can take their time learning something. If they aren’t reading by grade one, that’s okay. That doesn’t make them behind, as they would be labeled in the school system. Without these labels, children aren’t burdened with the stress of being behind or different.
And you can allow their differences to be their strengths. If they are creative, you can focus more on that. Or if they need to be more active, you can build their schooling around lots of movement, breaks, and activity. Rather than label them a problem, you can use this to your child’s advantage.
You Know That School Isn’t Everything
As a parent, you know that school isn’t the be-all and end-all of life. There’s more to life than just work and school. There are hobbies, health (physical, mental and emotional), and life skills.
When you are homeschooling you can teach things that aren’t always taught in the school system, like baking, car repair, budgeting, and taxes. You can teach skills that extend beyond the classroom and focus on raising healthy, happy adults who are self-sufficient and productive members of society.
While I can easily get the attention of 30+ kids with a simple clapping song, I cam no more qualified to teach my kids than anyone else.
You are qualified to homeschool your children. Your love and knowledge of them, their lives and their hearts, makes you more qualified than any teacher.
When the kids were really little it became a place for us to go and let them play in the kids area. It was quiet, fun and most importantly free! Since becoming homeschoolers, we love it even more.
Books to Read
We love to read. We read books with our kids daily. And the library has become a great way for us to bring new books into our house on a regular bases without costing us a cent. We use a book basket to get a selection of picture books in our home and the library really helps keep it fresh and fun.
Put Books on Hold
I LOVE using the holds system.
Our city’s library system is actually made up of over a dozen branches. Sometimes the book we want isn’t at our local branch. So I put it on hold and within the week, they deliver it to our home branch just down the street. And with the help of the on-line account library system, I can put things on hold from my laptop on my couch.
I also use it when I’m doing a unit study. Online, I can find titles and put them on my list. When I want them, I just click the HOLD button and they are sent to my branch. I’ve got a list of about a dozen Barbara Reid books in my list, ready for our author study this winter. The hold system really helps us maximize the books we have access to.
More than Books
Libraries are not just for books. These days you can check all kind of things out of the library. Movies, Audiobooks, music, documentaries are all available. I’ve even seen some libraries that allow you to check out toys. (ours doesn’t have this program, but I wish it did.) Checking these different things out are great ways to find interesting supplemental resources for your homeschool. And sometimes, it’s just a great place to find a movie.
Fun Classes and Activities
Most libraries offer a variety of programs and classes, often very cheap or free. Ours is no exception. They have one-day programs on school PD days, weekly activities during the summer and of course book clubs and story times. We personally love the summer programs because it gives us an outing and a chance to socialize with others during a time when all of our other activities (playgroups, gymnastics, co-op) are off for the summer.
Our library often brings in entertainment too. In the past, they’ve brought in magicians, animal rescues and authors. One year they brought in a children’s musicians and Alexie loved it and laughed the whole time.
A Place to Go
The library have become one of our favourite places to go. It has a special place on my list of outings. When we need to get out of the house, we can go there and play for awhile. Or to give us a different environment for us to do our work. Since it’s free, it makes it a great place to go our an hour or so and just get out of our 4-walls. And if we really need something different, we can go visit another branch in the city.
These are just some of the reasons that we love the library. It can be an incredible resource for any family, but especially for homeschoolers. From free books to a place to go and hang out to activities and classes, the library is the place to be these days!
This is our second year homeschooling. Alexie just turned 4 this summer and she has gone through some pretty big changes in the last 6 months, which will really change what we are doing this year.
Back in March, Alexie was diagnoses with 67 food sensitivities which were triggering her sever eczema. Since eliminating those things from her diet her eczema has cleared up completely. And so has her napping. She quit napping which has really opened up our afternoon for more “activities” as she calls them. So we have a little more time to do some more exploring, outings and activities.
(If you are wondering about Zoé, she doesn’t need as much sleep and she isn’t as chained to her routine as Alexie. She’s more go with the flow and is happy to bop around with us wherever we go. As long as she gets an hour or so nap at some point, she’s happy. She’ll also join us for as much as she wants. She loves reading, so she’ll be sitting on my lap as we read all our books. And she’ll love getting messy with any art supplies we put in front of her.
Math
For math, I decided on Math Lessons for a Living Education as a curriculum. Why? I loved the use of stories in this math book. Level 1 has characters that visit their grandparents on the farm. While there many mathematical questions come up naturally and they solve them together. The situations are very real world, from baking to having to figure out how many egg cartons there are to using life cycles and seasons to teach patterns. I also loved that it’s kind of a middle level. With her love of numbers, I’ve found that many kindergarten programs are to simple. But the Grade one is too advanced. I found this book more like a second year kindergarten level.
Science
Alexie is a little bit of a scientist. We nicknamed her “our little engineer”. With that being said, we aren’t doing any “formal” science units. We’ll be kind of “Unschooling” it this year, letting her steer and determine what we’ll be learning about.
To encourage her love of engineering-type stuff, we’ll be doing lots of free play with our LEGOs, blocks and trains.
But we’ll also doing homeschool program at our local science centre. Once a month we’ll go and participate in mini-lessons with other homeschoolers. I think it’ll be a great way to introduce her to other science topics and to meet and hang out with homeschoolers.
Language Arts
Alexie has a goal of learning to read by the end of the year. Now we’re not talking novels, but a very simple book. She loves books and looking at the pictures. She’s even taking to “reading” stories to Zoé, telling her a story based on the pictures. She’s got most of her letters down, so now we’ve got to work on the letter sounds and stringing them together.
With that in mind, I found All About Reading. I loved that it had some interactive elements and games. It’s also a program that builds reading confidence. In the lessons, the child is introduced to words and then those words are used in games and activities. Only once the child is comfortable with the words, do you move on to the reader, where you’ll find all the words you’ve worked on. I’m very excited to see how she does with this program and to see her confidence build as she reads.
We’ll also do an author study in the winter. We found that we had a little dull period in January, after all the holiday excitement. So I’m looking to add some excitement with something fun. So we’ll be studying the works of Barbara Reid. Since her works are available in both French and English, it would be a great fit for us. And then we can also dive into her artistic work in plasticine (or in our case play-doh).
We are also going to be doing lots of read alouds. Later this year (like late spring) I’m hoping to introduce reading novels to Alexie. She already likes series and books that connect, so I’m thinking this will a hit with her. I’ve picked out Charlotte’s Web, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Pippi Longstocking and Winnie the Pooh. I think these texts will be funny and entertaining to Alexie while also fitting in with some of our unit studies.
In honour of her request, we will also try to have monthly tea parties. We will try to incorporate the idea of Poetry Tea Time, but considering I’m not a huge fan of poetry, we are going to be very loose with what we read. But still reading while drinking tea and wearing fancy hats.
Arts
Coming from an artistic family, we really want to include a well rounded arts education for our kids. But we also want to encourage creativity. I’m hoping have at least a weekly block of time when we can explore various mediums and get our hands dirty. My plan is to always have the basics available (crayons, paper, scissors, glue stick, etc) but also have a special material that I can change out every few weeks. I’m thinking of rotating watercolours, pastels, natural/found materials, different paper products (tissue, construction, newspaper), play-doh for our author study, and a few others.
I’m also hoping that a little more exploration of the musical instruments that we have in the house (we have a keyboard, guitar, ukelele, harmonica, kahone drum and hand bells) might prove exciting. Maybe she’ll find something she’s keen on learning. She loves singing right and certainly has her favourite radio hits. If singing along with radio is all we do then, that’s great.
Socialization
We are social people and we love to get out of the house. So we have a few weekly groups that we are going to be joining up. We are going to continue to go to the French preschool program at the school around the corner from us. And we are going to continue to go to our weekly playgroup meetings. And the girls are already signed up for gymnastics classes. But we do have some new things. We are going to be going to our local science centre on their homeschool days. There is also talk with some parents in our area of starting a new homeschool co-op and we are super excited to be a part of that!
That’s our big plan for the year. From September 2019 to August 2020. A little reading and math and a whole lot of exposure to different experiences, materials and activities. We are excited to meet and hang out with more homeschoolers and we can’t wait for our year to start!
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