Homeschooling

Those of you who know me well know that I have always been a big fan of homeschooling. I have known so many homeschooled kids who were mature beyond their years, well-grounded in their faith, and only minimally influenced by popular culture (even during their teenage years). On the other hand, Marcus has not known many homeschooling families and does not have strong feelings one way or the other. So we are both keeping an open mind, watching Caleb and Ethan, and regularly re-evaluating what type of education will be best for them. The decision for kindergarten will be largely based on what school options we have for Caleb, and the learning preferences and social needs that we observe in him at that time.

All that being said, I am a teacher at heart, and I have been "homeschooling" Caleb for over a year now. Each month, I make up a curriculum (adapted from the previous month). It is actually more a "play guide" than an academic curriculum, but it is very helpful to me because it helps me keep our play focused on constructive, learning-oriented activities. The frequent transitions helps avoid monotony, though I never interupt one thing to start another. When one activity is losing momentum, whether it's been 10 minutes or 45 minutes, I let that come to a close and we start something different. I check off everything we get to each day, though frequently a play date or an extra outing will cause us to skip one or two items each day. I stay very flexible with the routine, and we never follow the exact order all day. Everything is geared toward Caleb, but Ethan participates as much as he can, because he wants to do anything that Caleb is doing. (All of the below is in table form on my play room wall, but blogger won't take tables so it's in a list here.)

7:00 Devotional & Breakfast (read a Bible story, pray and practice memory verse)
7:30 Imaginary Play (story game, role playing with people/figurines)
8:00 ABC’s and Numbers (identify, count/sort items, phonics)
8:30 Critical Thinking (puzzles, board game, card game, science experiment)
9:00 Educational TV (Caleb watch video, often in Spanish; Ethan naps)

9:30 Creative Time (draw, color, paint, play dough, cut & glue paper)
10:00 Music (sing songs, listen to music, play toy instruments)

10:30 Read Books (3-5 picture books)
11:00 Errands & Lunch
1:00 Nap & Post-nap Snack
4:00 Outside Recreation (ride bike, walk, tumble, jump, dance, play outside)
4:30 Sports (throw, catch, kick, score goals, dribble, shoot, bat)

5:30 Dinner & Bath
6:30 Build w/ Daddy (Tinker Toys, train set, Duplos, blocks)
7:30 Help With a Chore (pick up toys, load dishwasher, cooking w/ Mama)

8:00 Books & Bedtime

I'm recording this for my own family record, and also in case any of you out there have a 3-year-old who you are trying to "homeschool" :) By the way, Mimi, that is a Highlights magazine that Caleb is looking at in the picture. He LOVES those things, and we read the whole thing from cover to cover every day for at least a week after it comes. Final disclaimer: you all should know that this whole thing went out the window for about three months after Ethan was born.