S is for Schooling

Our family decided last summer after months of prayer, conversation, seeking advice and research that we would homeschool our children. In September, we started with the mindset we would do this through at least preschool and we'd see where it went from there. The flexibility, the biblical focus, the one on one time with Matthew, tailoring it to his needs, a more peaceful flow to our days not getting a 2 month old at the time in and out of the car sold us on this approach to education. Those were the top reasons, there are many others .

It's April now and we are hooked.  Pardon me while I get a bit excited...The  long term effects for our children's faith knowing we are presenting facts and knowledge from God's view, not the world's played a large part. Freely discussing God in literature choices as well as science and history curriculum was another. Spending half the time to accomplish twice as much academically. Who is more invested in my children's success and development than I am? They will be a light out in the world if/ when they have invited Christ in to their hearts.  Most importantly we are encouraging God's definition of success, not lawmakers or a stranger's. In the end, it's not even really about the transmitting of information because academic knowledge alone is not enough.  It's about God, faith, family and character. Bottom line is, it just fits for our family.We aren't alone. The last statistic I saw, there are over 2 million homeschoolers in America. Just as no two Christian homes look alike, no two homeschool families do either which I LIKE. We aren't replicating anyone. We are using materials, ideas, lessons and activities from multiple resources to benefit our sons' growth.  I'm a quality time person for my love language and it just spoke so loudly to me the best I could give my children was me. I can only give them the best education for their talents, gifts, struggles, interests, learning styles and personalities through reliance on Christ alone. We'll be educating our children this way as long as the Lord leads us.

We do a monthly bible focus. For example, In March every week we did something Easter Resurrection related.

Every week do a bible story and scripture:

 

 

 We have a letter of the week and color, shape and number of the month. Here are some boxes of fun from last month. For example March 5-9, we focused on the letter R and color green. March 12-16 was our spring break, although we did stretch out from the prior week due to some unexpected events that came up. March 19-23 was the letter S and shape triangle. March 26-30 was the letter T and number 7.

 

 

  I'm excited to continue to see what God will do with this decision. We're looking forward to watching our boys grow and learn spiritually, academically, socially and physically every day. If you're interested in this approach to education even a little, know God will direct  and equip you. Also, know the socialization fear is from a lack of education. There are SO many avenues to relate to other children and build life long friendships. There is tons of support from co-ops, homeschool groups, field trips and extra curricular activities like sports, instrument/ music lessons and community opportunities. We have weekly play dates even at this age, plus what he gets from weekly bible class. As one mom put it, "Mainstream socialization seems to be focus on what to buy and wear, where pop culture is the only culture. No, thank you." As far as feeling equipped, I have incredibly supportive public and private schooled teacher friends who share resources and ideas.  I've already plugged in to some great online, magazine and devotional resources. If you're concerned they aren't at least comparable to brick and mortar learning, there are standardized tests you can administer or check against. There is a homeschool book fair in May we are attending to start scoping out bible, character and academic curriculum for the rest of preschool. Ultimately, if this is God's will for your family, He will be your best resource. 

We've used quite a few Montessori concepts this year and Matthew has responded very well to them. Some favorite tools have been sensory bins, sand paper cards, salt tracing and a geoboard. I reoganized the main learning room to be more at a child level so I can see what captures his attention and follow his lead. I've found more toddler/ preschool activities via facebook, pinterest and blogs than I could fit in this year.  It's mostly very activity based. We use every day items like cookie sheets, gf soy doh, puzzles and books. We do activities with crafts, games, education cubes, blocks, chenille sticks, lacing cards, window clings, toys and i-spy. We do some paper based learning as well with flash cards, and coloring. Matthew has a blast using window markers, dry erase marker, crayons, sharpies and do a dot markers for fine motor skills. We utilize technology like learning web sites, videos, music and iphone apps.

Although I don't expect mastery and especially at this young of an age, it's more about exposure and influence, I did set some goals. Year 2 goals were accomplished. We read, colored, repeated and talked about a weekly scripture.  I built up our bible story and faith holiday book collections. This year we began several new faith based holiday traditions. We plan to continue that next year as well. Matthew can identify all the capital and lower case letters as well as know to read the letters going from left to right.  He knows his numbers 1 through 10. He can count to 14 verbally and to 3 with one to one correspondence.  He can identify basic shapes like square, heart, triangle, circle, rectangle as well as the basic primary and secondary colors. His vocabulary has really taken off. He doesn't just repeat but comes up with his own full sentences. He's doing great on positional words, pattern, sizing, sequencing and other critical thinking skills. He can point to all of his body parts. He's independent, creative and gets excited when we get new ideas. He asks for 'fun' :-)

Spiritually, we have been doing at least a verse a week through book, visual and song support. Anyone with a 2 year old can attest to working on character development every single day. Especially with a sibling in the house. We've been working towards leading the boys that it's not just 'nice to be nice'. It's our way of showing we love Jesus and telling God how thankful we are for His son. We are following God by obeying His rules a.k.a 'being nice'. There are many opportunities to talk about sharing, kind hands, not taking, using a calm voice, respecting someone's feelings, among others.