Friday, April 20, 2012

Homeschooling Tiny Tots? Anyone? Anyone?

I find it very funny that this post is going to be about homeschooling.  I was all pumped up for writing about this, I go and open up Blogger, and it is a new format!  Geez Louise!  If it took me 10 minutes to figure out this new format and then find the new spot to click on order to type out a brand new post... then maybe homeschooling tots may not be my forte!  Ha!
Anyways, yes, I have been doing some research on homeschooling.  I bet that some of you that know me are thinking... "ha, who is she kidding". This is something that I am thinking about VERY SERIOUSLY!  A week or so ago, I posted a question if anyone out there home schools or knows of any websites for me to check out.  I am so appreciative of sweet Sarah in Texas who directed me to the blog, www.1plus1plus1equals1.net  It is a tremendous blog, posted by a mother of 3 children (9 years, 5 or 6 years, and then a toddler (3), all of whom she is currently homeschooling.  The momma is so incredibly honest about their experiences and just has so many creative ideas for what is working for her family.  You can find their blog, under the header "Blog Stalkin'" on the right side of my page. 
So, over the past few days, I have immersed myself in anything and everything home school.  I have found a few ideas from the above website and read about other families that write about what they go through on a daily basis, list out their curriculum's, ways to engage your toddler with learning, teaching toys, and printables.  There is such a large pool of stuff for me to look over.  I am just drowning in stuff during nap times, and filling my notebook with different ideas that could be used with my tots! 
I do understand that I have already been homeschooling my tots.  Aron and I are constantly teaching them things (and sometimes we do not even realize it).  We play together, we read constantly in this house, we teach them songs, showing Red things on the computer and the IPAD, exploring outside, everyday there is a new and exciting learning going on. I am just thinking about continuing this practice in our home (with me being the teacher/ not only the mommy) for a little bit longer .  Lil Red will be too young to start PRE-K this year, but I was just thinking, why not go ahead and get the ball rolling in our house!
So far, our school, consists of flashcards (ABC's, numbers, shapes, colors, and animals).  We color and play with stickers, we are always going over our body parts, we do have some learning toys (shapes into holes kind of things), building blocks (LEGOS), painting (yes, in this house we are artists!), nature walks, and reading. 
For those that are concerned about my children's social development... FEAR NOT, they are social.  We have friends that come over and play, we go to church on Sundays and Tuesdays (they play with other children there.  We are involved in a playgroup that meets every other Thursday.  The kids have so much interaction with their family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins).
What are some things that you do with your children?
Is this crazy?
Is this something that is completely out of my grasp?  I do not even have a teaching degree, I majored in History and with all of the extra courses I should have minored in French and Spanish!  I guess, if it comes down to it, I could for sure teach my children all about History and some foreign languages!  My work history has been in decorating, painting, and apparel.
This might be nuts!
Is this nuts?
One thing I am positive about is that I have been loaned these two precious people!  Two people!  My husband and myself are solely responsible for them FOR-EV-ER!  We teach them to honor, to love, and to fear God.  We teach them to love one another.  We are always working on making good choices and choosing right from wrong.  If we are already teaching them that, hopefully the rest will just fall into place! 
I am hoping that I am not alone on this home school boat (I guess I will not be alone, I will have the kids with me)!

2 comments:

Paris said...

I think its wonderful that you are considering homeschooling your 2 babies! We homeschool and we absolutely love it! I love knowing exactly what is going into their heads and I love that we are able to be on our own schedule! Here in TX there are a TON of huge homeschool conferences (even the Duggars go to some) where you can look at tons of cirriculum and meet other homeschooling families! I suggest that you find some other moms that also homeschool with children that are about the same age! It will help because you can all share cirriculum and can ask eachother for advice! Homeschooling is a wonderful thing that is becoming super popular lately and it keeps my mind at so MUCH peace knowing that nothing will happen to them at school with everything going on these days with children taking guns in their backpacks! I say go for it! :)

Cameron Morrison said...

ME! ME! My oldest will be three next month, and I have a 5 month old. I'm officially starting "homeschooling" this September with preschool with my oldest daughter. I've already planned her entire first year (loosely). I've mostly come up with my own curriculum for her first year, but I've taken alot of inspiration from different sites, including: abcjesuslovesme.com, icanteachmychild.com, thehomeschoolmom.com, preschoolpalace.org, preschoolpost.com, littlehandsbigwork.com.... I could go on and on and on! There are tons of great blogs and amazing references and ideas on pinterest as well! Good luck!!!