It's taken a while to get here, but here we are. Many of Audrey's friends are back at school and we are here at home, still planning, still figuring things out... and still having fun. It's been a while since I've written here. I suppose I did decide to take the summer "off" in a certain way, though we did go to the gym as always for swimming lessons, had a lot of fun with friends, went blueberry picking and met some new animals. And now we are becoming a bit more "structured" or at least as structured as I can get while still creating some fun and school time and down time.
What I'm doing:
Starting last week, I started themed lessons around countries of the world. I ordered a children's atlas, which I am still waiting on. We also updated my library card and have been to the library around an average of 3 times a week for the past 3-4 weeks. I have introduced her to Mary Poppins and Shirley Temple, to Adventures in Oddysey and literary fairytales from around the world. We've done devotionals before bed, watched educational shows on netflix and amazon, and read about princesses both historical and fictional. We do a lot outside of the "theme" but also a lot within the theme.
This week, for example, was Italy week. We had ice cream and pizza, read books about Michelangelo and our first chapter book about Leonardo da Vinci. We talked about the letter I and the things from Italy that start with I.
Outside of the theme, we have done some more workbook pages. Cheap workbooks can be found at Walmart and Costco. Mine averaged about $7 and actually work well when accompanied by other workbooks and reading and life practice. I have been absolutely LOVING the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. The Lessons are not very time-consuming and she learns a lot. We usually follow that lesson up with a few reading and writing activities. Next week we will talk about China and I have already ordered several books from the library for that. Disney movies actually are good cultural introductions to the countries each focuses on (when appropriate).
I also have started reading several books about choosing curriculum and detemining your homeschool style. Stay tuned for my book notes on that and opinions.
Next month we plan a trip to Disney to celebrate birthdays, but I hope to keep everything updated. Keep checking out the calendar as well for a little idea on what we are doing every day.
Favorite videos for this week: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and The Magic Schoolbus
Favorite books of the week: The Pink Princess, Who is Leonardo da Vinci, Michael the Angel
Interesting fact learned today: Time spent with preschool and kindergarten on core learning is 30-60 min/day