Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Homeschool Planning: Starting From Scratch

After I read this wonderful post from Carisa at 1+1+1=1 I seriously started rethinking the way we homeschool. This year is extra exciting for us because we moved closer to town (ie. closer to other homeschoolers and activities), my work schedule finally allows me to have the boys at home all day, and we've left CVA (our previous alternative school situation) so we have complete freedom through the curriculum and activities we choose.
Without getting too detailed (yet!) about our plan for this year, I wanted to share what I came up with after being inspired by Carisa. The premise of her post was about child directed learning and what she could do to revamp her homeschool to fit her preschooler's learning style. Isn't that what homeschooling is all about!?
I plan to keep the basic homeschool plan I had already designed, but choose our activities based on the boys' interests. I spent a few days mulling over this list and here's what I finally came up with:


A (4.5):
Loves Legos
Enjoys coloring (knows his colors and colors well, does not like "school" coloring ie. color by number type worksheets)
Using the Kindle
Listening to audio books
Frequently asks for music
Sensory activities
Art
Cutting paper (scissors and tape are especially exciting these days)
Plays well with J during parent directed activities
Great with independent play
Will stay occupied well by himself for long periods of time
Needs to review a few basics, like the alphabet song (yikes!)
My goal is for him to know his letters by sight with names and sounds

Ideas:
Independent Play Boxes / Quiet time boxes especially during Mom/J work time
Busy Bags
Beginning Lego how-to instructions

J (7.5):
Needs to be hands on
Doesn't do well with independent activities
Needs lots of individual time with mom and dad
Loves playing games of all kinds
Loves the Kindle and anything that involves screens
Likes audio books during quiet time/bedtime
Plays well with A during parent directed activities
Likes taking pictures with camera (scavenger hunts were HUGE success!)
Loves science "experiments" of any kind
Very very social
Reading skills are getting stronger by the day, provide lots of encouragement, read aloud time, and new reading material
Beginning attempts at notebooking fairly successful
Does not enjoy coloring or "busy work", though color by numbers, especially those with math problems were a big hit last year
Ideas:
Weekly trip to library w/ just mom or dad
Cooking/Kitchen skills unit
Frequent trips to Children's Museum
Join biweekly PE Co-op
Allow screen time during Mom/A work time 


I've started putting some of these things into motion and will share in the upcoming weeks!

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