A Fun Spring Morning

One of the things I am starting to fully appreciate about homeschooling is how I can adjust activities depending on my mood. The weather has been so nice the last few weeks that the kids and I both found ourselves having a hard time being indoors - so I decided to have school outside. At first, Amita was worried about physically moving all of the furniture outside (she is very type-A), but she became excited once I explained that we don't have to actually move everything to have school. We did compromise to an extent when I agreed with Amita that we simply could not begin without ringing the school bell, so I grabed that and we began! Our neighbors probably thought we were crazy standing outside ringing a bell but it was actually kind of fun.

This unit we have been learning all about water and the water cycle. I tied it in with our trip to Florida a few weeks ago and it is still going strong. So far we have read over 20 books about water, made a cloud in a jar, decorated clouds and water, learned about the ocean and ocean life, tides, and many other things. This has been one of our favorite units. I originally planned for it to be just a couple of days but it has gone over a month now. 

So, last week I decided to teach the girls about absorption. We gathered various a things from the house and outside, made predictions about the things that would absorb water, and, following the scientific method, did the experiments and recorded our results. Amita and I also verbally summarized our findings. It was an really great activity that kept both kids engaged all morning. We also got to be outside and enjoying the warm spring air.  It was such an enjoyable day I thought I would share. 

Amita ringing the school bell. It just wouldn't be school without the bell.

Arranging the books on the blanket

At one point Ashima got a little bored with the experiments. I looked over and she was quietly reading. My heart was happy!

I used a baby medicine dropper and Amita could drop the water on our objects to see if they absorbed the water.

Amita examining the crayon to see if it is absorbing water or not.

Amita recording her findings. I made the table, but she completely filled it in herself. At first she made Xs and then thought it was really funny to make other shapes too. 

Our results

Our Homeschool Life

We've been homeschooling now for six weeks and I have to say, I think this is the best decision we ever made. The kids are LOVING it much more than I thought they would and our weekly schedule is a thing of beauty. The flexibility we have is something that is, after such a crazy year, something for which I am extremely thankful. 

Let me go into some more detail about each child and myself. 

Amita is thriving on the routine we have set. Our schedule is as follows:

Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays: 

Breakfast around 7:30/8

School: 9-11:30

Snack: 11:30-12

Nap: 12-2 for Ashima 12-1:00ish for Amita

Play/Errands/etc.: 2:30-5:30

Dinner: 5:30-6:30

Get ready for bed:6:30-7

Bedtime: 7

Tuesdays: Toddler Time from 10-10:30

Thursdays: Music class from 9:45-10:15

Tuesdays: 5-5:30 Dance

Sundays: Church 

Soon coming: swim lessons

As you can see, we have quite a few activities throughout the week  so the kids are getting quite a bit of socialization and interaction (you were worried, weren't you?!). For Amita, this is golden. She absolutely thrives on the schedule and knowing what comes next. At the beginning of each day we put our schedule on the fridge next to our homeschool room and talk about what we will be doing. 

This is just how her personality. She is a very type A person and our days goes MUCH better when I let me know what is happening. There is even schedule in our home school routine. I very much like the idea of coming together for tutoring, going apart to work on independent activities, coming together again, etc. It works well so I can have time with both kids, so that's what we do. 

The first thing we do is ring the school bell. It's a two dollar bell I ordered off the internet and took three weeks to come from China. The kids love to ring it, though, and I feel that it is a way to distinguish between play in the school room and learning time. 

We start instruction with circle time where I read 3-4 books. The last two have to do with the topic we are are learning about (I'm doing theme based learning) and the first two are books that the kids pick at the library that interest them - no matter what the subject. I think one of the most important things about learning at this age is to teach a love of reading. We sit in a corner of the room where they are facing only me (to limit distraction) and we talk about the cover of the book and make inferences as to what it might be about. Throughout the book I talk about what is happening and have the kids guess what will happen next and ask them how they feel about what is happening. I stop on almost every page and ask them something. This helps keep their attention and helps with higher order thinking questions. For Amita I might ask her what she thinks will happen next and why she thinks that, for Ashima I might ask her to point to the ball and tell me what color it is. Circle time is also the time that I introduce any new topics (while I have their attention) and we do our daily board. 

This is our daily board where we talk about the weather, days of the week, and days of the month

Our Circle Time corner

After that, I get the kids up and going on some projects and we are off and running! I come and go from kid to kid throughout the rest of the time. 

Ashima likes school too, but I think she likes it more because her sister likes it that anything. I've been working on shapes, color, and letter recognition with her. Because she's still young, I let her come and go as she wants. I don't want to push her and make homeschooling something that is not fun. Besides, she still needs lots of free play. The one thing she sits through, is story time. She loves to have books read to her and identify what she is seeing! It's a joy to see. 

I am also really liking this schedule. At this point, it is extremely flexible. If something happens, I just try to make it up one afternoon or we just skip it. The kids are still pretty young so I feel comfortable with the flexibility.  The kids are also getting plenty of rest and have bellies full of healthy food, something they were not getting on our busy school mornings before. Sometimes I wish I could get a bit of a break here and there (especially to run errands) but honestly, the schedule is so much more relaxed than it was previously that I mostly just find myself thankful to not be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Another thing we are really enjoying is the ability to schedule time around Ridhwi's schedule. If he is going to have a day off, we plan activities he can help with, and/or rearrange our schedule as necessary. There was also a day where the girls were not up for learning. They didn't get a good night's sleep and were cranky. No matter! That's what the movie Frozen is for, right? So instead we watched the movie, went down for an early nap, and did school after the nap. They were in a much better mood and much more receptive to what we were doing. 

It is amazing how much I have seen the girls blossom with homeschooling, in just a couple of months! They are happier, eating healthier (because we are not on the run so much), and are able to tell me so much about what we are learning. Amita asks for school daily. She loves to be challenged and loves the routine. Ashima likes to have the freedom to do some things and be able to play sometimes. It's really been the best decision for our family and we are reaping the benefits.

Amita will turn 4 in May and I have made a decision for her 4-K education. For at least one year, we will be homeschooling through the Central Wisconsin RVA (Rural Virtual Academy). They use a curriculum called Little Lincoln for Pre-K and Calvert for Kindergarten (but have 15 others to choose from if we don't like it). Because of our zip code and they way the RVA is set up, we will be paired with our local school for any and all activities they offer as well as any classes. Once Amita begins Kindergarten she will have the option of taking any classes through the school (art, PE, music, even math and science if I choose) and doing the rest of the sechooling at home. Calvert and the RVA is set up such that there is 160 or so lessons for an entire year - what would be a typical school year after you take out weekends, holidays, parent/teacher conferences, and summer break. As long as she completes the assignments within the year, the RVA does not care how and when I teach them. I have autonomy as to our schedule and she has the benefits of a traditional school. At this point it seems like the best of both worlds! I am excited and looking forward to it. This also works well for me because, as much as I like homeschooling, sometimes the burden of being the person completely in charge of their schooling terrifies me. This will give me the option of working with another teacher and giving Amita what she needs too. Amita will also have the option of working within different grades - for instance she could be in 6th grade science and 7th grade math. My two biggest reasons for choosing homeschooling was that I wanted the kids to be challenged academically no matter at what level they are (neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed) and because I wanted to have flexibility in their schedule for our family. Ideally, this would give us everything we are wanting. Hopefully it is as good in actuality as it is on paper. More updates when it happens. I was not expecting to do a a virtual school, but I am loving the way this one is set up, so this is what we are doing. 

All in all, we are happy. Our schedule is great, the kids are happy and learning, and things are even easier for me. After a year of wondering if this was the right decision or not, I am happy to definitively say that it was the best thing for us. Life has slowed down, in the best possible way. Each day my time is spend loving my children and showing them how to understand the world instead of driving them from one place to another. More than anything, I feel blessed to be able to raise them this way. 

The Big Plan

It's been a year now since I started the homeschool journey. I've gone through a mountain of research and strongly feel that this is the best decision for my family at this point in our lives. 

I've spent the last few weeks looking at all of the schooling options in our area and discovered an alternative academy that looks really awesome. If, at any point, the girls are feeling like they don't want to homeschool or we are feeling it is not working for our family, we are open to this option.

That being said, here is our preschool curriculum guide. I have a fairly loose plan (the kids are only 2 and 3) and plan to add and modify as needed until Kindergarten where I plan to purchase an all-in-one curriculum for at least the first year, and then evaluate after that. The beauty of homeschooling is that I can make sure that the kids are engaged and challenged at the same time and mix things up. Right now I have a loose monthly plan and as things come up I change if I need to. The kids are really excited - they love the learning activities we have done so far and are looking forward to doing more. I love seeing their quest for knowledge and the natural curiosity. It is such a fun way to learn!

Here is the plan.

I am following three books:

 Kitchen Table Play & Learn: Activities and Lessons for Building Your Preschooler's Vital Developmental Skills.

Preschooler's Busy Book: 365 Creative Games and Activities to Occupy 3-6 Year Olds

Mudpies to Magnets: A Preschool Science Curriculum

I've previously written a post about Mudpies to Magnets, but basically it has all sorts of different age appropriate science activities for preschoolers. 

The Kitchen Table Play and Learn book is the book I am going to follow most closely, while doing enrichment activities from the Busy Book. KTPL has 30 unit studies with 5-8 specific lessons contained within each unit. Unit Studies include All About Me, Dinosaurs, Rain Forest, Bugs, Winter Days, Garden, Summer, and much more.  Each lesson has a combination of language, math, physical abilities (fine and gross motor and hand-eye coordination), social skills, and a few other skills. 

I plan to pick a unit topic (e.g. fish, bugs, weather, flowers, etc.) and gather related books from the library and try to tie it in to any travel or activities in the area, and then do each lesson for as long as it takes us - guess a month or longer since I plan to only do lessons 2-3 times a week. I am going to supplement where possible and add activities from the Busy Book and Mudpies to Magnets. 

I also subscribed to the following: 

Koala Crate 

This is a box of craft activities that is mailed to your house each month. One of the things I struggle with most is thinking of crafts for the kids. I'm planning on doing a couple of months to see if I like it as much as I think I will, and am willing to do a year-long commitment if this is all it claims to be. 

Little Passports: Early Explorers

This is a box of activities, printables, and souvenirs mailed monthly that center around world themes like food, space, art, oceans, dinosaurs, and others. I again did a monthly trial to see if it is worth the money, but it sounds great in the description. I plan to try and tie unit studies from KTPL when I can. 

The Young Scientists Club

These are kits you can purchase for doing different science actives. I think that the activities will take several days to get out everything we can out of it. I chose the Clifford Magic Science Kit first. You can buy each kit individually, so I'll see if I like the first one and go from there. 

Academically, that is the plan. I think it is more than enough and I plan to do approximately one unit a month and go from there. I am going to try and have a lesson 2-3 times a week or so depending on how much we have going on.

In terms of learning environment, Ridhwi and I converted the formal dining room into a homeschool room. We are committed to seeing this for at least the next couple of years (possibly K-12 if we feel it will be good for the kids and family) and we felt the kids needed a place dedicated to learning and fun. 

I'm working on organizing it and putting up some pictures 

It is right off the kitchen, dining, and living rooms.

I've already unpacked these tubs and we are planning to make a window seat right here. I think I will spend a lot of time there myself too!

I also purchased a few wall pictures of colors and numbers for Ashima. I splurged and bought two of these educational easels for the kids. Quite a few activities in KTPL require a felt board and a white board. This is also a magnet board, perfect for letter magnets! I think that they will grow with the girls and they get older, too. 

Now to the question everyone (and I mean everyone) asks: what about socialization? I don't like this question. Never in my adult life have I been a room with 30 people of the same age. After high school, we are placed in situations with people of different ages and abilities and expected to learn and work with them, and this is how they will learn being home schooled.  Homeschooling is a much more authentic learning experience in several respects. I will not be locking my kids in a room and not letting them out. Even so, here are the different activities they will be participating in (with other kids so they can be "socialized"):

1. Toddler time/gym time at the YMCA. A 30 minute Physical Education class once a week with about 35 other kids.

2. Music and Movement at the YMCA. A music class with about 45 other kids.

3. Play dates. I have contacted several other homeschool parents with preschool children and we plan to get together and do actives/ let the kids play together. This is in addition to regular play dates with the children of our friends.

5. Dance class. Amita has been begging for a dance class. Our schedule was too busy when she was in school but now we have time for it.

6. Library activities. We are blessed to have tons of classes and activities for preschoolers at our local library. 
7. Swim Lessons. We live on the Wisconsin River so they need to learn to swim as soon as possible. They will be taking classes at the YMCA.

Once the kids are older there are homeschool co-ops with all sorts of actives, music lessons, sports, art classes, etc. for them to be involved it, hopefully not all at the same time. They will actually be able to do more social activities than if they were in school. Whew! So glad I dodged the socialization bullet. 

I have written about what I think I will struggle with already, but I think that getting the kids to understand that when we are doing school we are learning, engaged, listening, and following directions will be most difficult. I might be their teacher but I'm also their mom. Once we get into a routine, though, I think those things will work themselves out. I'm sure there will be frustrating days, but there will be awesome ones too. I'm excited about so much family time and have the ability to do such fun activities with the kids!

I am also going to read, read, and then read some more to the kids. I am going to allow them plenty of time to play, laugh, giggle, sleep, eat healthy meals, and be children. 

The MOST important thing I'm going to do, though, is instill a lifelong love of learning. This is really the root of what I want them to get out of homeschooling, and it begins now. I will not force them or make them do things they hate. There is no need. I will instead begin showing how fun and exciting learning can be. This is the most important I think they can learn. Once they love to learn, the world is their oyster.

This is it. My plan. I'm really excited to begin and I'll make sure to update as we go along regarding activities and things that work for us. 

Not-Just-For-Easter Egg Hunt

My husband had to work the entire Easter weekend - Saturday until Sunday afternoon in the hospital. Because of this, we had our own family egg hunt late Sunday in the front of our apartment so Daddy could partake in the festivities. 

One thing I learned having my own egg hunt instead of going somewhere - egg hunts are AWESOME! Do you know how engaged my kids were? First, they ran around for a long time. Then, they sat very nicely while we opened each egg and put the jellybeans in a bag. For Amita, it was also learning experience. She was identifying colors and counting each jellybean. They also behaved after that for a long time. The whole hunt took about an hour. The only downside was protecting the eggs from the 5 year-old neighbor hoodlums-in-training who told me that if I put the eggs on the pavement they would run over them with their bikes and then eat the candy. They then kept a close eye on our activities until the eggs were picked up.

I'm thinking I could do several educational things:

1. Puzzle pieces - put the puzzle together at the end
2. Pieces of paper with letter or words. Once they are old enough to read they could put sentences/stories/poems together using the words
3. Magnetic letters - I could have them match the upper to the lowercase as well as just identify them
4. Pictures of Animals - we can talk about each animal and the sound it makes
5. Fill them with clues (when the kids are older) of where a bigger "prize" is hidden
6. Coloring book pages

And some non-educational things:

1. Stickers
2. Jelly bracelets
3. Goldfish crackers or some other snack- make 'em work for their food, ha!
4. Rocks. For some reason Amita has a weird thing about rocks. She really likes them. Poor Ashima probably wouldn't enjoy this one very much.
5. Nothing- you gotta keep 'em on their toes!
6. Their own toys - they'll be like new again!
7. Hair ties - they love them
8. Band aids - Amita thinks they are the newest craze in fashion
9. Crayons

My sweet babies. 

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.