Book Review - The Educated Child

I give this book an 8/10. I liked it and thought it was a good place for me to begin my homeschool journey. I feel, after having finished it, that I have a good preschool base from which to begin with Amita. It was not specifically written for home schoolers, but rather for parents who are want to make sure that their children are getting the best education possible whether it be in public, private, or homeschool. If you are interested in buying it, it can be found here.

It is written in several sections: Preschool years, Core Curriculum for Elementary and Middle School, and a section called "Making it Work". Each section has subsections that cover everything from the necessity of preschool (whether it is needed or not) to "Good books for Junior High". It covers everything a parent would need to know (academically, socially, and emotionally) from birth through eighth grade. Much of it is very good information and I enjoyed learning a few new things. Ideally, one would buy this book and keep it on a shelf for reference and only read the pertinent parts during those years. 

The preschool section specifically had useful information for me: kindergarten preparedness, book lists, getting ready to write, read, speak, and listen well, preparing for music, science, and math, and how to build character. Even though it is out of date, I feel like these are skills that are still needed for kindergarten and it was good to give me some long-range goals to work with as I preschool.

Because I'm ALWAYS looking for book recommendations, I really enjoyed the Classic Book list they included. Here it is: 

Classic Books Every Preschooler Should Read:

1. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst
2. Are You My Mother?, P.D. Eastman
3. Ask Mr. Bear, Marjorie Flack
4. Caps For Sale, Esphyr Slobodkina
5. The Carrot Seed, Ruth Krauss
6. The Cat in the Hat, and other books by Dr. Seuss
7. A Child's Garden of Verses, Robert Louis Stevenson
8. Corduroy, Don Freeman
9. Curious George, Hans Rey
10. Danny and the Dinosaur, Syd Hoff
11. Frog and Toad Are Friends, Arnold Lobel
12. Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
13. Harry the Dirty Dog, Gene Zion
14. If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Laura J. Numeroff
15. Little Bear, Else Holmelund Minarik
16. The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper
17. The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats
18. Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans
19. Make Way For Ducklings, Robert McCloskey
20. The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg
21. Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever, Richard Scarry
22. The Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown
23. The Story of Babar, Jean de Brunhoff
24. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter
25. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
26. There's a Nightmare in My Closet, Mercer Mayer
27. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Simms Taback
28. Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
29. Where's Spot, Eric Hill
30. Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne

This is NOT my list. It belongs to The Educated Child.

There were a few things I did not like about this book, hence my 8/10 book review. The first thing is that it is copyrighted in 1999 and woefully out of date about what is going on in the public schools, which it spent a lot of time discussing. I also felt it highlighted the problems of public schools instead of focusing on how to work within the system a little more, for parents who choose to go that route. 

That being said, I felt it still had some really good information and helped me feel more prepared to teach preschool to my kids, so I give it an 8! 

Literacy Based Helpful Websites, Links, and "Stuff"

A while ago, I went to a Parents as Teachers literacy meeting. The meeting was all about how to encourage a love of reading in children. I found it very interesting and thought I would share some of the information.

Websites:

• Storyline Online. At this website, you can choose a book to be read to your children by a famous person. Just looking at the first page, they have readers like Haylie Duff, Betty White and Elijah Wood. I like putting this on when I'm trying to make dinner and need the girls to sit still for a while. 
• Robert Munsch. Robert Munsch is a very popular children's book author. My favorite book by him is called "Love You Forever" and I swear it makes me cry every time I read it (I'm not talking a lady-like cry either - I'm talking about a nasty, ugly, must-call-my-husband-and-cry-to-him-even-though-he-just-rolls-his-eyes-and-tells-me-to-get-over-it kind of cry). At his website, if you click on the "books" tab, you can choose books and listen to an audio file of Robert reading his own books. 
• Star Fall has all kinds of materials for pre-reading, phonics, letter recognition, and phoneme practice. Additionally, if you click on the Learn to Read tab, you can choose from a variety of early reader books the child can practice and play with. 

Some good authors for young children:

• David Shannon, most famous for the No David books. Funny anecdote: After this conference, I went to my public library online and requested some of the books mentioned thinking that I was an awesome Momma. I go to pick up the books with the girls making a very big deal about all of the fun books we were getting. By bedtime, Amita could hardly sit because she was so excited about the books. I let her pick which one she wanted and she picks the No David book. I sit down, put the girls on my lap, and open the book only to find out that it was in SPANISH! That's right, Mommy of the Year requested the Spanish version. (((Sigh))). We just made up our own story for the night but I got the distinct impression that Amita was a little underwhelmed after how much I had built up the new awesome books. I still haven't read her the actual book. 
• Mo Willems, talked about in my post earlier for his awesome book Knuffle Bunny. He also writes the Pigeon series. 
• Jan Thomas writes Can You Make a Scary Face? and Rhyming Dust Bunnies, among others. 
• Iza Trapani has some good books with great illustrations.
• Gail Gibbons has some really neat non-fiction books. 

Some good series books for children:

• Good Dog, Carl
• Pete the Cat (one of Amita's favorites)
• Knuffle Bunny (another favorite although we haven't branched into the other books in the series)
• Piggie and Elephant

Some other gems from the meeting:

• Don't forget about the importance of non-fiction with early readers. It is important for them to have a wide base of knowledge - a lot of which can only come from non-fiction. I mean, it's not like they come across Bengal Tigers and the French Alps in daily life - but it is still important to know what those things are. National Geographic for Kids has a magazine for kids. Time Magazine also has Time for Kids with some great resources. I've thought about getting my kids a magazine subscription but have just assumed that Ashima will tear it up and eat it. Maybe when they are a bit older. 
• Scholastic also has a lot of resources. Remember those book fairs when we were kids? They were awesome!
• Remember Highlights? It was one of the best things about going to the Doctor's office when I was a kid. Again, I've thought about getting this for my kids but want to wait until Ashima is past the paper eating phase. 
• Rereading books to kids is a lot like listening to your favorite song over and over. This phrase has given me the ability to read Night Night Little Pookie about 8,000 more times than I would have other wise. I had, at one point, also hidden some books around the house that I swore up and down I just couldn't read EVER AGAIN. I dug most of them out and gave them back to the kids feeling only mildly guilty for hiding them in the first place. 
• Rhyming is very important for early reading. It helps kids make connections. Say, for instance, they are sight reading a word they haven't seen before: Hat. If that have also seen the word Cat, and know that they rhyme from reading the Cat and the Hat, it will be much easier for him/her to figure out the new word than it would if they didn't recognize the rhyme. 

The biggest thing I took away from the meeting: literacy in children starts with us, the parents. We need to be open to reading (and rereading and rereading and rereading) books to our children. We need to be the ones to show them the joys of a good book. We are the ones who plant the seeds and then watch them grow as the children grow. 

If any other mommas/educators have more links/helpful material, please comment on this post and I will add it. Let's all share the great information we have!

What I Do To Ensure Daily Learning of Major Concepts

In addition to lessons plans, which I don't always have time to plan for, we have certain things we do every day to continue working on main concepts I want the girls to learn. Here are some of the things we do:

ABC banner - I put a chain of letters up down the hall. When we go down the hall, I have Amita point to a letter or sing our ABCs. If she asks for something, I'll tell her she can have it after she points out the letter G, etc. It is a great way to reinforce her letters.

Color banner - This is the same concept as the ABC chain. Sadly, this chain no longer exists as Amita pulled all of the papers off the chain and gave them to Ashima who proceeded to eat them. I am thinking about getting some laminated and trying again.

Bulletin board - On days when Amita seems like she is willing to pay attention, we review many things on the bulletin board: days of the week, ABCs, seasons, months, shapes, and colors.

I will probably change these as necessary during the learning process. Currently, these are the main concepts we are working on so I want the girls to really grasp and practice them daily. It is really nice to always have something I can work on with the girls even when I don't have time for a formal lesson.

Children's Book Review - Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Rating: 10/10

I love Mo Willems.  For those of you who don't know, Mo Willems is an author of many children's books including the very famous Pigeon series. Amita also likes "Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct".

Knuffle Bunny is a cautionary tale about a little girl (Trixie) who loses her Knuffle Bunny and tries to tell her Daddy. One of my favorite things about it is that it helps to teach empathy. Most of the book Amita and I spend talking about how Trixie feels. Is she happy, sad, crying, worried, etc.? This book helps Amita further her understanding of the world by learning how to read facial expressions and empathize with characters.

I love it, and Amita does too!

Lesson Plan - Making Valentines for Family Members

With Valentine's Day coming soon, I decided to have Amita make some Valentines. This was one activity that she LOVED!!!! She sat in her high chair for an hour and a half actively involved while listening and following directions the WHOLE time. Momma for the win (throws hands in air)!!!!

She also got to work on her scissor skills, which she thinks is awesome. Here is what I did:

1. Get supplies ready. I used a bunch of stuff I got for a dollar at Wal-Mart including: markers, heart confetti (which I just had her glue down), stickers, construction paper, sparkly glue, and regular glue.

2. I wrote the message to family members for her on regular white paper. 

3. I had her practice cutting out hearts. She wasn't able to do it very well but she had a lot of fun trying!

4. I had her color the paper with markers and then glue the hearts and put the stickers on. Lastly was Amita's favorite part - the sparkly glue!

5. The finished result:

I'm mailing them today and I'm sure our family members will love receiving them as much as Amita loved making them!

Skills: letter recognition, shape recognition, color recognition, new vocabulary (glitter, glue), animal recognition (when putting down stickers), animal sound practice, gross motor skills, fine motor skills.

Wherein I Declare I Don't Hate Public School

I would like to publicly state that I do not hate public school. I don't hate private school or any forms of traditional education. I do not hate educators, legislators, or anyone for that matter. I am not choosing to homeschool because I can't stand the "system".

I think public education is vitally important, the teachers that dedicate their lives to educating children and giving them the tools they need to be successful for in life are the people to admired and respected. Many successful people have come out of the public education system. I myself was a public school teacher and I know first hand the struggles as well as successes of the system. With this said, the main things I don't like about public education is that almost all of the classroom power has been taken away from teachers. Most decisions in education are made by the government from people who are not educators but rather businessmen who look at the bottom dollar line. I cannot say I am a fan of the Common Core standards although I do feel it is a step in the right direction. However, those things are not the fault of schools. Many of these things will also not change as long as we have free public education and most schools do the very best they can with what they have. Public schools are full of teachers who try their best to teach a classroom of 30 students with vastly different needs. They stretch themselves thin trying to make creative lessons and grade papers for 150 students. They are whole-heartedly dedicated and committed to the education of students.

I'm not choosing to homeschool because I hate the system.
I'm not choosing to homeschool because I had bad teachers.
I'm not choosing to homeschool because I think legislators are evil.

I think public education is full of good people with good intentions trying to make a difference and  succeeding. The times when they don't succeed are (almost always) through no fault of their own.

I also do not think homeschooling is the only way to educate a child. I do not think it is the perfect option. I do, however, feel that the pros outweigh the cons. There are some very positive things about homeschooling that work well for our family.

I do not judge those who send their kids to traditional school. In fact, as I've stated in previous posts, depending on my research, I may decide to send them to a traditional school in their later grades or utilize some of the non-core classes of public education for my kids. I'm am not making a political stance about education and judging or condemning others who choose to send their kids to school or work in education. I am simply a Momma who is making what is, at this time, the best decision for her family. :)



This post brought to you by the awesome public school teachers I had growing up, including: Mrs. Gibbens, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Mills, Mrs. George, Mrs. Burnett, Mr. Mac, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Van, Mr. Edie, Mrs. Wilson, Mr. Woolf (even though he was a principal), and Mrs. Holton (even though she was an Office Lady).

Lesson Plan - Making Awesome Alphabet Bracelets

One thing Amita really wants to be able to do is write her letters. Any time she colors she really tries to make out the shapes of each letter.

One of the first thing she needs to work on before she can write is her fine motor skills. This means practicing with lots of little "things". One of the things we do is have her put little tiny stickers on paper, another is lacing her cutouts (another post on this to follow). The one I concentrated on today with Amita was lacing beads. Ashima was grief-stricken that she was not also allowed to play with the beads, but alas, she will just swallow them. Instead, she played with blocks and ate blueberries! She also played with her water coloring book.

Steps to the bracelet-making lesson:

1. Put the beads out and talk about each color.
2. Go over the letters on the beads that have letters.
3. Show an example of a bracelet so Amita knows what it is she's making.
4. Help her figure out how to begin beading.
5. Let her go to town with the beads.
6. Put it on her hand and celebrate! Also, talk about how beautiful and wonderful it is and how I have never seen a bracelet better than Amita's. 

The alphabet beads I used

The finished Product:

Skills: letter recognition, color recognition, and fine motor skills.

Strangely enough, as I was getting the activity ready for the girls (while they were napping) I saw a friend posted this link on Facebook (yes, Lindsay, this means you):

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psyched/201402/fine-motor-skills-and-academic-achievement

Apparently this lesson will make the the kids super smart!

Intrigued by the idea of a water coloring book? I really like them - no mess and it lets kids work on their writing skills! They are available here: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Water-Coloring-Book/dp/B009B7F6DO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1391820651&sr=8-2&keywords=water+color+books

The Importance of Free Play

One of the reasons I like the idea of homeschooling so much is because children typically complete their lessons much faster and have more time for free play. Free play is an incredibly important aspect of development any many times overlooked in traditional school. The current statistics are that 40% of schools have now cut recess from their day. How is this best for children?

The social, physical, and cognitive benefits of free play have been proven time and again. In fact, Peter Gray, a psychologist at Boston College, suggests that play "helped early humans to overcome the innate tendencies toward aggression and dominance which would have made a cooperate society impossible." He goes on to say, "play and humor were not just means of adding fun to their lives. They were means of maintaining the band's existence - means of promoting actively the egalitarian attitude, intense sharing, and relative peacefulness for which hunter-gatherers are justly famous and upon which they depend for survival." 


Play also, "allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength," according to an AAP report. It allows children to explore the world, practice adult roles, and gain confidence. And it improves children's social skills as well, by helping them to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. 
According to Medical News Today, many parents are overloading their children with so many activities that childhood stress is at an all time high. While parents are trying to do good things and get their children involved, they can cause more harm than good. I'm not trying to compare myself to other parents or tell other parents what to do. I am also not telling parents that they should not have their child involved in activities. I am simply saying that I intend to give my kids plenty of time to free play in addition to everything else we do and there are many studies that have proven this to be a good idea. 
Bottom line: Homeschooling allows my kids to be kids. It allows them to have downtime, time to be themselves, time to play, laugh, and grow. Time to play outside, get dirty, chase butterflies, explore, and do all the things kids are supposed to do, while at the same time having a rigorous academic life. The balance between the two makes me one happy Momma. 

“The most effective education is to play amongst lovely things.” -Plato

Sources:
http://www.bc.edu/offices/pubaf/journalist/Gray_Play.html
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182.full
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/school-starting-age-the-evidence
http://www.parents.com/fun/sports/exercise/the-importance-of-play/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/53699.php
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/activitiesforkids/a/1006_free_play.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/all-work-and-no-play-why-your-kids-are-more-anxious-depressed/246422/
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/


There are also about a bajillion more (okay, maybe a million). Just google the topic, you can spend hours reading research. 

Lesson Plan - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The first thing Amita asked to do after her afternoon nap was to play with flash cards. Surprisingly, she likes them a lot and frequently asks to play with them. I have some Dr. Seuss number, letter, shape, and color cards. I think she must have just wanted to be in the dining room, however, because she only played with them for about three minutes. During this time, my sweet Ashima played with a puzzle very diligently.

After that I moved on to the activity I had been planning for today since I already had my audience captive.

One of Amita's favorite songs is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (along with the ABCs and Old McDonald, which she calls EIEIO). She knows all the words and gets really excited whenever she sees a star. A week ago I was in Wal-Mart and I saw some packages of stars and got really excited. Amita was also excited to held the package close to her chest and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at the top of her lungs. The other shoppers probably hated me because I did nothing to stop her - I thought it was cute and it made me giggle.

Here is what we did today:

1. I showed the pack of stars and allowed her to pick a color (there were four to choose from).
2. We talked about stars, and where they are located (the sky).
3. We counted the points of a star. Amita can count to 10 all by herself and LOVES to show off her awesome counting skills. 
4. We talked about each of the colors in the pack and identified them.
5. I then wrote Amita's name on one and Ashima's on another. I went over Amita's name with her (she knows all the letters of the alphabet so we are now working on phonemes) and sounding out her name. 
6. I let the girls color their star.
7. I let them put foam stickers on the star. With Amita, we talked about the shape and color of each sticker.
8. We then sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while holding our stars and giggling because that's a funny thing to do (apparently). 
9. Repeat (for Amita) and put stickers in mouth (Ashima). 

 I know Daddy will look forward to seeing the stars when he gets home!

The Mukerji Family List of Pros and Cons of Homeschooling

Pros:

• Completely personalized academically rigorous curriculum.
• Allows flexibility for how we want to structure our day.
• Allows for a lifestyle that would work for our family- mainly the ability to travel (especially to India) for longer periods of time and not just during the summertime when traditional school is out. We can make our own yearly schedule depending on what we have going on that year. 
• Not missing three months of schooling in the summer and forgetting material.
• Not as many standardized tests.
• I get my kids during the best times of the day. Instead of only getting them in the morning and evening (they tend to be tired and cranky), I get them when they are at their best!
• Great quality time with my kids.
• Assured safety. As much as I hate to say it, school shootings are on the rise. It hurts my heart. 
• Could have earlier college entrance if they are ready for it.
• GREAT flexibility of how you teach subject matter. I could still teach the concepts they need to know but do it through a subject they are interested in. 
• No wasted time. As a former public school teacher, I know first hand just how much time in a day is wasted, and it is not a little. 
• Fostering independence. Homeschooling by nature is a more independent way of learning. Especially when they would get in higher grades and I would be unable to help them with the subject matter.
• Would be able to take special classes like Latin or Bengali (my husband's language) and personal music and art lessons.
• Homeschooling is typically cheaper than private schools (our other option). This would allow us to save up a nice nest egg for their college educations/weddings. 
• No bullying or classroom disruptions from problem children.
• Homeschooling typically takes less time in the day to complete studies than traditional school. This means more time for free play, independent reading, and outings with Momma. 
• They have the ability to get experience in real life activities. Say, for instance, when Ashima is in high school she becomes interested in nursing. As a part of her studies I could have her shadow a nurse, or take a CPR class, etc. With more time in the day they could get more real world experience. That's not to say they couldn't have this in traditional school, it would just be much easier to incorporate into our day.

From Education Week:

"One study of more than 11,000 home-school students found that students typically score 34 to 39 percentile points higher than the average student on standardized tests. Another study found that 25 percent of home-schooled students were enrolled one or more grades above their age-level public and private school peers. These findings mirrored the study showing that home-educated students scored, on average, at or above the 84th percentile in all areas on standardized achievement tests."

http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/home-schooling/ 

Cons:

• Traditional school forces children to study a wide range of subjects (not just those of interest - although whether or not this is better is another subject entirely) and people. With homeschooling, especially in Wisconsin, they might not meet a wide range of people or be exposed to diversity although they might not in traditional school either. This one is kind of up to chance.
• Let's face it, some days we just want to relax. Some days the kids could be awful. Some days I just won't feel like teaching the kids but will have to do it anyway.
• When the kids are crabby I am responsible for still keeping them on task and teaching them. The pro of this, however, is that I can modify a schedule for what they need: a snack, a nap, extra love and hugs, etc. That is not an option available with traditional education. 
• They might not want to homeschool.
• They might miss out on high school dances, activities etc.
• Reduced competition. Some times competition is good and encourages children to perform better.
• Time. This will probably take a lot of my time while I figure everything out and during their younger years. However, I would be spending my time teaching other people's kids if I'm not teaching my own.

There are also these pages with statistics:
http://www.home-school.com/news/homeschool-vs-public-school.php
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200410250.asp
http://www.homeschool-living.com/homeschooling-statistics.html


Through all my research, the plain fact is that homeschoolers excel academically, emotionally, and socially. They routinely out perform those in traditional schools.

I plan to add to this list the more I continue to research.


Sources:

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/04/17/just-the-facts-the-pros-cons-of-homeschooling/
http://www.homeschool-companion.com/pros-and-cons-of-homeschooling.html
http://www.homeschool-companion.com/benefits-to-homeschooling.html
http://www.middleschool.net/negative-homeschooling.htm
http://www.homeschoolheavenaustralia.com/home/?p=83
http://www.raisesmartkid.com/6-to-10-years-old/5-articles/50-benefits-of-homeschooling-how-it-could-make-kids-smarter
http://childrensmd.org/uncategorized/why-doctors-and-lawyers-homeschool-their-children-18-reasons-why-we-have-joined-americas-fastest-growing-educational-trend/

Book Review: You've Decided to Homeschool, Now What? by Marsha Hubler

Overall, I would rate this book at a 4/10. It had some good information and explained a few things but I did not find it extremely helpful. I also felt it was biased toward the state the author was from (Pennsylvania)  and biased towards those that Christian Homeschool. The author provided many quotes from the bible as well as many laws in Pennsylvania that are not applicable in Wisconsin. 

One thing I did like is that she described the different methods of homeschooling, conventional, unit studies, and also explained the "unschooling"movement. This is a movement I had come across in my research and never completely understood so I was grateful for a clear and concise explanation. 

I also found out that some public schools have homeschool coordinators - something that I need to look more into and would be a great resource if available in WI.  

She also listed several popular curricula. The only thing I didn't like was that the vast majority were Christian-based and the book was copyright in 2007 so I'm not sure exactly how current the information will be. 

Overall, I thought it explained a few things I had been wondering about but didn't have too much information that applies to me. 

The Dreaded Socialization Topic

One thing that frustrates me about the homeschooling debate is the topic of socialization. This is because most people incorrectly assume that students that are home schooled are not "properly" socialized because they are not in a classroom with 20-30 other kids. However, most home schooled children are active in community events, co-ops, summer camps, community sports, dance, art classes, and more, and additionally interact with people daily through regular interactions (i.e. going to the store with mom, going to the library, etc.). They have many social opportunities and studies show that they actually tend to be more well-adjusted in group activities when home schooled. What is to say that the only way to properly socialize a child is to throw them into a classroom with 30 other children? If a parent is conscientious and makes sure to provide opportunities for a child, there is no reason the child will be unable to interact with others. I've actually seen people get really fired up about this topic and someone even told me that if I chose to home school my children would have no social skills. However, the facts don't lie and the truth is that home schooled children socialize just as well as traditionally schooled children when the parent makes sure to find the proper venues. 

See below:

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/homeschooling/socialization-tackling-homeschoolings-s-word/

http://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/13/home-schooling-socialization-not-problem/

http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000068.asp

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/03/14/homeschool-vs-public-school-whose-better-socialized/

http://eclectic-homeschool.com/stop-homeschooling-and-get-your-child-socialized-2/

There are MANY more links/articles on this discussion available, only a few are included here. 

Links and Materials For Homeschool Information

Below is a list of links and descriptions of websites and materials I like or have found helpful.

Materials:

• Waldorf education. I really like the idealism of Waldorf education but I'm not sure that it is academically rigorous enough. http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/#.
• Oak Meadow Education. I think there is a good possibility we will use this or something like this if we decide to do K-12. I really like the structure - something I'm discovering I need to look for in a curriculum. http://www.oakmeadow.com/index.php.
• A Well-Trained Mind. I like this a lot, I wish there was a curriculum you could purchase to go with it. Alas, I've discovered it's only a book with guidelines. While I really like it and agree with most things, I need something more detailed since I'm not sure how to come up with fun and exciting lessons on my own. http://www.welltrainedmind.com.

Websites: 

• http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/homeschooling-information.html. I thought this website was very informational and fair. Many homeschool sites are biased toward homeschooling and it can be difficult to wade through the biases to the actual information. This website also has a GREAT list of pros and cons of homeschooling.
• http://childrensmd.org/uncategorized/why-doctors-and-lawyers-homeschool-their-children-18-reasons-why-we-have-joined-americas-fastest-growing-educational-trend/. This article had some really good reasons to homeschool that I hadn't even considered.

There were MANY more that I looked out but unfortunately I looked at them before I stated blogging. I'll update this list with more as I come across them. 

Support- A Homeschooling Necessity

One thing I have discovered about homeschooling is that support groups are very important! I am pleased to say that I have already joined some in the areas in which we will be moving. Support groups have many functions: they can really help break down the state laws, provide assistance on any number of questions: what curriculum they use, what their day looks like, what services are available in the area, things have have worked/didn't work for them, etc. They can also tell you about local homeschool activities in the area. Many of these support groups are in the form of co-ops, though some are not. Here is a list of the groups I have joined and found to be helpful:

• Central Wisconsin Homeschoolers. This is a Facebook group that has helped me to find local co-ops in Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids, both Christian and secular. 
• Doctor Families that Homeschool. This is a Facebook group of like-minded people who are in a similar situation to my own. They have provided some great starting points of where to look for curriculum and links/book ideas for research. 
• Lives of Doctor Wives. This is a Facebook group that does not specifically deal with homeschooling but has a lot of like-minded women that are homeschooling and have AWESOME ideas for activities with kiddos.
• Stevens Point co-ops. From what I understand (so far) there are three Christian and one secular co-op. I have joined some of their emailing lists and have plans to meet with two people already once we move. I have also seen some of the activities they have available and am really excited for the kids. There are field trips, group outings, PE classes, and some classes for the kids. 
• Wisconsin Rapids. From what I understand (so far) there is one Christian co-op in WI Rapids. I have been in contact with them and plan to check them out further once we move!
• Secular Homeschool Curriculum. This a Facebook group that reviews and gives recommendations for secular homeschool curricula. Since that's what I'll be using I'm finding it really informative!

Preschool Curriculum Found!

After a huge amount of research, we have purchased a curriculum! It is called The Preschool Learning Box. Basically, they send one box of curriculum a month to your house. Within the box are marked bags for each day of the week. For each day, you pull out the packet of materials and begin. It's that simple! I decided that to begin with, I needed something very structured since I am new to preschool. It is my hope that as I continue preschool and get closer to Kindergarten, I can find other things I like and implement them. At this time, however, this is one that I feel really works for our family. Here is the website: http://learningboxpreschool.com

We chose the 3 day pack. Our thinking was that Amita is still a little young for some of the activities so they may take longer and we can stretch them out. Also, she's only 2.5 and can't spend very long sitting still and needs plenty of free play time as well. We decided to do a 3 month trial and if we like it we'll purchase more months. I'm excited! Our first month starts in March!

One caveat, you do need basic materials most mommas already have: paper, scissors, crayons, glue, etc.  Everything else is provided by The Learning Box.

For anyone looking for curriculum, I found this website to be extremely helpful: http://www.homeschoolreviews.com. It is the Yelp! of homeschooling. Anyone can post about curricula and their experiences with it. The learning box got very good reviews and we thought it would be something very good for me - a first time homeschooler with not a lot of experience.

I'll be sure to update how I feel about The Learning Box once it arrives and we start using it but at this point I am excited and ready to start!

Preschool with Amita - What I've Done Until This Point

I am a natural teacher. It is my passion and I love it. I remember the first night in the hospital holding my precious little baby Amita and singing the ABCs to her. I suppose I have been homeschooling for a while now.

I try to incorporate learning opportunities into everything we do. Because Amita was very delayed in her speech, I spoke with her a lot - pointing out everything to her in an effort to get her vocabulary to increase. When I go to the grocery store, we identify foods and count the number of things going in the cart. We go the the library often and pick books that will encourage a love of reading. I talk to her when I make food for her, explaining what I'm doing. I tell her the sequence of our day. I mostly just try to involve her in everything I can.  She enjoys learning and likes understanding what is going on in the world around her.

I am also involved in a Mom's Group that meets every Wednesday. This is a great opportunity for the kids to be able to socialize and for me to get some time to talk with other like-minded adults! There are around 5 moms and 9 kids.  I love it!

We are involved in Parents as Teachers (PAT) - a program through the local public school that provides an educator who is certified in Early Childhood Education to children in the area. Our coordinator is named Patti. She comes about every three weeks and provides educational games and activities for the girls and makes sure they are meeting all of their educational and developmental milestones. There are also many group activities available and classes for parents. Here is the link to the website:

http://pat.grandblanc.city.schoolfusion.us/modules/calendar/showCalendarMonth.phtml?gid=766923&sessionid=b9305

If anyone reading this is interested, it should be available through many school districts in the US for free, it just depends on the district and the amount of funding allocated.


We also participate in a program called Early On Michigan. We originally became involved in this when Amita was not speaking. We were referred by Patti from PAT and our pediatrician. We came in contact with them and an evaluation was done to conclude that Amita qualified for services in the area of speech. Since then, our coordinator, Carrie, helps us set goals and milestones (an early childhood IEP) for Amita in terms of speech. She comes every couple of months and calls once a month to track her process and offer advice and support. She was tremendously helpful when Amita was not speaking. Since the intervention, Amita has met and surpassed all of her speech goals and will be exiting the program in a couple of months.

Here is the early on link: https://www.1800earlyon.org

So this is what I do. I scour the Internet looking for educational activities and I do them. I keep the girls active in PAT, Early On, and Mom's Group. I am looking to get a more organized curriculum, though, and subsequent posts will follow my search for a more complete curriculum for Amita.

Beginning the Overwhelming Research Journey

When I first started researching homeschooling, I was completely  overwhelmed. I was on Amazon looking at book after book, all fairly expensive, none of which I was sure would help. My beginning knowledge base was too small and they were all too specific. I was not homeschooling for religious reasons and I had absolutely no clue where to start. Curriculum? Co-ops? Math? Science? Reading? There were too many options and no clear path forward I quickly got frustrated.

My next line of defense in the homeschooling research battle was the public library. It turned out they had a ton of great resources for those just staring homeschool. I am working on making my way through the books and will write interesting things from each book as well as an overall review of the book. So far they have been tremendously helpful (and free!).

I plan to spend some money to purchase curriculums, materials, and supplements. However, I'm going to do it once I know what the heck I'm doing. Until such time, these books are providing the foundation for me to figure out how I want homeschooling to work for our family. Once I have some basic questions answered, I can move to the more specific books.

These are my main questions regarding beginning homeschooling:

1. What does homeschooling look like on a day-to-day basis?
2. What curriculum do I choose? How do I pick?
3. How do I know that the girls are meeting grade-level markers and indicators?
4. How do I evaluate their knowledge?
5. How do I know what they need to know at any given time? 
6. How do I teach preschool/elementary school concepts (I'm not an elementary teacher!)?
7. What kind of co-ops exist in the area we will be moving to?
8. What resources are available for parents?
9. What kids of social activities are available for home schooled children?
10. Exactly what parts of the public education can I use (art, music, PE, IEP services, etc.)?
11. What are the Wisconsin state requirements for homeschooling and what paperwork is required to be submitted to the state?
12. Does the local public school offer any homeschool resources (Parents as Teachers, homeschool coordinators, etc.)?

It is my hope that through internet research and the resources shown below I should have a very good knowledge base by the time I am finished.

Why Consider Homeschooling In the First Place?

When we began the education discussion and what we wanted for our children, this was our conversation:

Question: "What kind of education do we want for our children?"

Answer: "A highly rigorous personalized education where they have the flexibility to explore interests and receive personalized help when needed".
Answer: "The ability to move within grades if ahead or behind in any subject."
Answer: "The ability to have a flexible schedule that is tailored to their needs (sleep, activity, meals, etc.)."

The truth is that you cannot get any of these things in public or private education. It is possible that we could come close to finding something we liked in a preparatory academy, but the area we will be moving to in Wisconsin has nothing of the sort available. For the options that are available to us, we feel that homeschooling would be the best choice.

That does not mean that we have completely decided that we will homeschool K-12. We realize that, at this point, it is very easy to say, "this is the only thing that will work and it is best for our family." However, we are dealing with two little human beings who have their own minds and ways of doing things. If we begin with preschool and find that it just isn't working for our family, we are open to sending them to a private school and making the best of it. For us, public school is not an option we are willing to consider.

So we begin the journey. I have a lot of things I need to look into, as I will be the person primarily in charge. I need to make sure I am committed 100% to this and it is something I feel I can successfully undertake. I am a high school english teacher, not a preschool or elementary teacher. I am not afraid to admit that I have A LOT to learn and many things to consider that may change my outlook and/or our decision, but feel that homeschooling is currently the right thing for our family.

Introduction to the Family

I am Laura, a teacher turned stay-at-home mom. I am starting to find my stride in this motherhood business and looking forward to trying my hand at homeschooling and seeing if it fits our family. In my spare time I love to read and try out new recipes. 

Next, we have Ridhwi, my wonderful, awesome, and supportive husband. He works as a physician here in Wisconsin. He is a good man and dedicated to the lives and education of our children. He enjoys fishing and reading books during what little down time he has

We also have two beautiful daughters: Amita is the oldest at 3.5 and Ashima is the youngest at two. Amita is a very sensitive kid who loves all things Dora and is very quick to pick up new things. She's talking up a storm and I love hearing what she has to say!

Ashima is my littlest baby and a very sweet girl. She is very outgoing and loves to make new friends. She especially likes to follow around her sister and cause trouble. 

We also have a dog named Alli who is a rescue dog turned therapy dog turned family dog and really loves the girls. 

So this is it. Our family. Please join us on this amazing journey through our life!