Monday, April 6, 2009
Do I or don't I?
I've been thinking a lot lately about our homeschooling aspirations. And am more convinced now than ever that it is definitely something we're going to do. Starting in August. Which is when Big Boy would be starting a VPK (voluntary Pre-K program) if we sent him somewhere. Little Man is still 3 but chomping at the bit to be everything that his big brother is. Here is where I need help from my wonderful bloggy family.....I'm unsure if we should start a curriculum or if we should just go with what we've been doing. I've done tons of research on the 'net and some reading. I truly believe in the power of play, free time for children of preschool ages. I believe this is where they learn the most important lessons at this point; how to share, cooperation, patience, relationship-building with children of all ages. We do a lot of that. We have friends that are both the boys' ages, friends with older kids, younger kids and many friends with no children. We take our boys just about everywhere we go and they are learning to play alone, with each other and with kids of all ages. We review basics. We've been teaching, mostly Big Boy, colors, numbers, shapes, letters. We do need to incorporate Little Man a little more on these lessons, but it is difficult since his attention span is so much shorter than Big Boy's. So here is our dilemma....Do we start a true curriculum at this point or keep proceeding as we are? If we do start one, which one do we go with? We are very interested in a Christian component as we do incorporate Bible stories at this time but they are just that, stories and "entertainment". I found a few books over the weekend that I will be ordering. They mainly discuss the power of play and how integral play is in the formation of healthy children. They would, I guess, be more geared toward the "go with what is working" thought in this discussion. So, what about you? Have you homeschooled preschoolers? What did you do?
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2 comments:
our dd is 4, will be turning 5 in August (so, if we were sending her to school, she would be in Pre-K now.)
We started last month using My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum, and plan to stretch it out through what would be her kindergarten year. So far, we are big fans! The main part of school takes 20-30 minutes (time will increase as the year progresses), then there is a theme that is Biblically based that can really take as much or as little time as you like.
I like that it incorporates Bible themes with learning, and doesn't take too long, so there is plenty of time for free play and other activities we choose.
Thanks for coming by my blog :)
I think you would absolutely love The Weaver Curriculum. They have a preschool curriculum and it is absolutely Bible centered. As you get into the older programs, all of your work stems from the scripture that you are working on that day or week. It is also very hands on, which I have found to be very helpful with my boys. It gives you a way to make Bible study a sensory learning project. It is a scientific fact that the more senses we incorporate into learning, the more we retain. It really helps to avoid so much review...I like that I only have to teach them a subject once, and then do a simple review. The thing that I thought you would really, really like besides the Bible centered education is that it is also really big on play learning. Children play what they learn. The writer of the curriculum encourages having items that promote learning during play. I would definitely stay away from formal schooling though at this point. If you push a kid too soon, you may actually hinder learning in later years. Children will learn when they are ready, until then you can push them, but you squash the joy of learning. I don't have anything posted on my blog yet for Weaver, but you can check out the Unofficial Weaver blog at http://weavercurriculum.info
It will give you a really good idea on what the Weaver is all about.
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