To Choose or Not to Choose

I'm talking about curriculum here. There are so many choices to choose from when deciding on homeschooling curriculum that it truly can be overwhelming. At a recent homeschooling convention the keynote speaker, Debra Bell, realistically revealed that as a homeschooling parent it is inevitable that we will choose the "wrong" curriculum . . . sometimes. It's not so much a mistake as an opportunity to learn what doesn't work for our families.

Over the last couple of years I have been experimenting with Jane Claire Lambert's Before Five in a Row (FIAR) curriculum. I will admit - both the kids and I love it. This curriculum focuses on quality literature based unit studies and is very open ended. Suggested activities are provided that correspond with the "book of the week" and I can choose which activities I feel will best meet the learning needs and abilities of my children. It is very hands-on which requires more time commitment from myself, however the results are delightful! I have been using Before Five in a Row (for ages 2-4) for the past 2 years in a very unstructured way. My kids have been "doing school" but haven't even realized it. I plan to continue to use some of the Before Five in a Row units during my daughter's Kindergarten year just because the books are so . . . wonderful.

I have recently been searching for blogs of other homeschooling families who are using Five in a Row. There are a lot of them! I am so excited about this newly discovered online community of other "rowers" (that's what they call themselves!). I will be adding "Rower" links to my sidebar . . . soon.

Living to Learn or Learning to Live?

Part of my philosophy of homeschooling is to live to learn. Life is saturated with learning opportunities and if we grab hold of these opportunities our minds are broaden, our hearts are opened, and we live more abundantly. The more we experience life, the more knowledge and wisdom we acquire.

Today my children and I read a book together and they discovered what the word "basking" means. Last week we made "I am Special" books and my 2 year old (almost 3) wanted to write her name on her book. She did - for the first time! Yesterday we learned that cream of tartar is the magic ingredient to make "the best" play dough. And recently my oldest learned how to float, glide and swim during her swimming lessons. We didn't plan to learn these things, but together we are taking hold of life's opportunities and as a result, learning.

Here's that fabulous play dough recipe:

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil

Cook ingredients on medium heat until they become formed. Have fun!

Let's Do Activities!

This past week we did "Activities". This is when I clear off the kitchen table and choose 4 activities to set up on the 4 sides of the table. The girls can choose a starting activity and then rotate around the table as they please. Sometimes they rotate to all 4 activities and sometimes they choose only 2 - and that's okay. This past week, I set up more playful activities and went with somewhat of a dinosaur theme.


Mini dinosaur land with rice. This gave lots of texture experience for my 2 year old especially when the water pond mixed with the rice fields.




Dinosaur tracer - self explanatory. I usually try to include at least one "pencil-paper" activity and this was it.




Animal Rock Land - This was the hit of the week. The girls played with this for 3 days before their attention span waned.




I usually don't include books because they don't get chosen during "activity" time. They didn't get chosen this time around either, but we did get to share one over snack later.

There you have it.

A Little More on Faith and Character

As a mom, I have been a "home educator" since the moment my firstborn came into this world. It started off with the Baby Einstein books and the Discovery Toys stacking cups. Then crayons, construction paper, building blocks and dress up clothes got added to the repertoire. As my daughter grew older activity bags, ABC's and counting everything became part of her learning routine.

My daughter was getting "educated". - At least according to society's standards.

The problem with this type of education began to arise when I started to ask myself:

If I teach my child to count, but not how to be kind, then what have I taught her?

If I teach her all of her letter sounds, but not how to love, then what have I taught her?

If I teach her how to write neat little messages, but not how to be self-controlled, then what have I taught her?

Amidst all of her "education" I wondered how is her faith and character developing? Bedtime prayers and Bible stories, Sunday school and Veggie Tales are all important in her spiritual growth, but is the realness of God evident in her daily life? Did she come to the end of the day without being reminded that she is "fearfully and wonderfully made"? Did she hear me thank God for the promise of the rainbow after the rain stopped? Did I choose to punish rather than to discipline when she disobeyed?

Recently I'm feeling challenged to deschool myself. Maybe it's time to put away the magnet alphabet, close the writing practice booklet, and open my eyes to the world God's created. Maybe it's time to start focusing a little less on the temporal and a lot more on the eternal. I don't want too many days to end without striving to love the LORD our God with all of our hearts, and souls and strength. I don't want too many days being wasted.

My Conviction

As a homeschooling mom it is essential that I know why I have chosen to home school. It is not a good enough reason to say "because it is the more 'noble' way". I know that in the days ahead there will be moments when the public school down the street looks very inviting and the whole idea of homeschooling will seem utterly ridiculous. It is on days like these when I will need to go back to that little piece of paper stuck on the inside of my cupboard door and read it aloud. I will need to remind myself about my original convictions of why homeschooling is the best choice for our family at this time. I will need to read something more realistic than "because I want to be a good mom".

So here I sit on the brink of officially homeschooling my oldest daughter. Conviction writing time is here. My convictions are several, with some being stronger than others, but nevertheless each one is important and will be essential in the days ahead. So here they go . . .

Conviction #1 - Living Without Regrets. I have the opportunity to home school and a large support group is already in place. I don't want to look back on this time and wish that I had, when I hadn't.

Conviction #2 - Age 5 is Toooooo Young. Someone, somewhere decided that age 5 was the appropriate age for a child to leave the influence of his home and start being influenced by 20 other 5 year olds and an adult stranger. I personally feel that 5 is too young to leave home. Just my own personal conviction.

Conviction #3 - Faith and Character. No matter what I do, my kids are going to learn their ABC's and how to count simply by being alive. But will they learn how to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength? Will they grasp an understanding of God's love, faithfulness, and forgiveness? Will they learn that God cares about the big things but also the teensy, tiny things? As for character, we are presently talking a lot about the Fruit of the Spirit and trust me, we have a looooong way to go!

So there you have it. I may come back and revamp occassionally, but for now these are the convictions that stand. Now I just need to tape them to the inside of my cupboard door.