My husband and I have been trying to make a decision on whether or not we should homeschool R. We see the pros and cons on both sides and we are having trouble deciding. We are also running out of time to come to a conclusion. In an effort to help with this, I have decided that I will try to do a more formal preschool with R this year. I still believe that he should learn through play, but he is literally asking for schoolwork. And I think this will help us make up our minds.
My plan is to start the first week of September. I will be doing themed units and I hope to balance the "school work" with lots of play. I've been working hard on putting things together that I think will not only be educational, but also loads of fun. We'll see how it goes, I guess. I also have plans on keeping a binder full of his completed work from the very start. I will include worksheets, artwork, experiment results, etc. And possibly some journaling on my part. I'm almost positive that if we do decide to continue homeschooling we will be met with a lot of opposition from our families. If that is the case, I hope that I can pull out the binder and alleviate their fears. But that could be wishful thinking.
My intentions are to try this year round. R enjoys it, and as long as he's having fun, I see no need to plan for long breaks. However, I am new to this whole thing and I could be mistaken. At first, I was thinking we could take the month of December off, but then I realized I would still be doing a sensory box, we would still be creating and playing. It might help if I have a few activities planned in advance. I hope that this is a lot like what we usually do, just with some extra structure and maybe a few of the coveted worksheets. I will try to remember that it's just an outline, and it's just ideas for things we can do. I will try not to get overwhelmed with wanting to do it all. I also realize that even if this works perfectly for us this year, things will probably change and we will have to change with them. This is looking as though it will be a learning experience for us both.
This is my outline for the first six months. In addition to the themes, we will also be doing nature studies that may or may not coincide. I think it's pretty basic, but I look forward to sharing the fun things we'll be doing.
September
All About Me
Weather
Fall/Autumnal Equinox
Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
October
Spiders
Pumpkins
Monsters
Halloween
Bats
November
Veteran's Day
Turkeys
Thanksgiving
Fire Safety
December
Helping Others
Arts and Crafts
Winter Solstice/Christmas
Farewell 2011
January
Winter Weather
Animals in Winter- Hibernation
Animals in Winter- Migration
The Five Senses
February
Dental Health
Valentine's Day
Dr. Seuss
Do you have any advice or suggestions? Did you blog about an activity or craft that would be fun for one of my themes?
How's it going? I homeschool my 13 yr old and public school my 4 & 8 yr olds. Each year I have a great plan and then it morphs. Pinterest is both a godsend and an addiction for ideas. We just watched the cutest Skunk documentary- I think it was Nova - all the kids loved it!
ReplyDeleteIt's not going as I expected it too. Haha. It has definitely morphed. We are SO busy right now with remodeling and such. It's a really hectic time in our lives. We are still doing things and learning through play, but it's kind of moving organically right now, without planning. And that's okay too, I think. That skunk documentary sounds great! I'm sure my R would love that. He's in love with all animals.
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