We Are Homeschoolers!!

I am so excited to announce that our family has made the decision to homeschool this year!  This was not an easy decision nor one which we took lightly at all.  I spent much of this year doing some intensive soul searching and weighing out pros and cons in order to decide what the best choice in education would be for Mikey (and by extension the other children and ourselves).  Ultimately -- with full support from my husband -- I made the choice that I'd longed to make all along.  I made the choice to continue being my son's primary teacher and to engage in our educational journey together here at home.  

For Mikey's Kindergarten year, we are using Five in a Row, which is a unit study curriculum which we will use to explore social studies, art, science, math, and language arts as revealed and inspired by some awesome works of children's literature.  We will be learning to read using Hooked on Phonics and also by  reading a lot together and independently.  For writing, we are using Handwriting Without Tears.  And Math U See -- a fun and engaging math curriculum loved by many homeschoolers I know -- will round out our formal curriculum.  Naturally, we will still have plenty of opportunities to learn through play.  Mikey has a rich and clever imagination and loves to play with building blocks, art supplies, games, puzzles, and more!  We are always learning through everything we do.  I hope my children always enjoy the process and adventure of learning!  Joey will be learning alongside us, but he will also continue attending preschool at Rowan two mornings a week.  

We completed our first week of homeschooling last week.  We had our ups and downs.  It will definitely take us all some time to work out the kinks and get into a smooth and comfortable routine, but we had fun and learned new things!  And that's what it's all about! 

Here is our calendar area:

Season and weather:

 

Story Disks for Five in a Row -- We use these to identify our stories' settings on the map.  Five in a Row sells a set of these for $15, but I did this using a copy of the page in the teacher's book, the kids' markers, and a laminator.  

 Weekly Schedule: I need to fill in Little Gym and Joey's school days:

Art Center (the center is a work in progress) That's Joey's picture on the easel

Science Center (also in progress -- so far the fish tank is it)

Mikey working on his vocabulary for Papa Piccolo -- the first Five in a Row book we "rowed" (studied)

We learned about the color wheel!  

Mikey used watercolors to recreate this scene from Papa Piccolo 

-- just like its illustrator Itoko Maeno did 

Joey and Mikey made Italian flags!  We learned about Venice, Italy.

Mikey used sidewalk chalk to create the buildings and 

canals of Venice.  (The orange-ish spots you see are the

buildings.  The green and blue he used for the canals are

a little tough to see in this picture.)      

As part of my own journey as mother, educator, and learner; I plan to reflect on and share our experiences via this blog.  I hope you enjoy seeing our adventures!  For now, it's hide and seek time and it's my turn to hide.  Cheers!