Thank you for sharing!! I found all of this very helpful and it gave me a place to start. I really needed to see this today. I have been just floundering without a schedule. I'm hoping to start a curriculum as you have. Just knowing that it is attainable is relief!
I am so thankful how intentional you are to enjoy every moment with your little ones! Praying you balance the fine line between providing routine and structure with the flexibilty that this season offers you...it is brief in retrospect, but not in the moment. As has been said of this season with little ones, "the days are long, but the weeks fly by!!"
That is fantastic that you have an Abicus! I cannot recommend highly enough the wonderful set of Math-U-See blocks (phooey! we just gave our set away!) even if you never use the Math-U-See curriculum. Our children even builta replica of The Temple in Jerusalem using these blocks. As the name implies, you SEE the math. https://mathusee.com/products/integrated-manipulatives/
Note: we kept the unit (the "1" block) out of reach for littles until they got beyond the everything-goes-in-the-mouth stage ;D
I SO wish that Annette and I could coordinate a zoom call (if you are interested, please let us!) so you could hear her perspective of being home educated all the way through and having just completed her first year of college...you'd be welcome to pick the brains of our sons as well, who had the same journey. I mention Annette because 1. you've interacted with her in the past with movie and book calls and 2. because as the younger sibling of brothers who were "officially" (it's silly, really, since from the moment of birth, they are learning) in the midst of their home education while she was yet a toddler, she wanted to do EVERYTHING they were doing. I didn't want to discourage her enthusiasm, but I also didn't want her to burn out. I'd tell her, "right now your job is to learn to love God and explore His amazing Creation." At her request, I would provide her with her own copy of quizes and tests when her brothers were taking them - she would often just scribble in different colors with glee as she was "doing school" with her brothers, the future men.
It wasn't long at all into our journey that I realized our goal as parents was to teach our children a love of The LORD and a love of learning. As we expressed joy and wonder at learning things new, they did also. I've no doubt you are doing that from the little we know of you...keep it up!
Praying for Israel, IDF, and Jews worldwide! Blessings on you and your family!
love,
Cathy and Annette Christensen, Huge Abby Fans in Fresno, California
I feel like we live parallel lives! Just starting to structure our day around homeschooling my newly 3 year old son. I bought the curriculum I grew up on and it was way too difficult for my son. So, we put it aside and started doing activities. We always start off with morning prayers then into our songs (we do Days of the Week, Months of the Year, States and Their Capitals from Animaniacs, Planets, American Anthem, Canadian Anthem - cause we're actually Canadian living in the US, ABC's, and Pledge of Allegiance haha, even though we're Canadian it's important for the kids to know and assimilate to the US). Then we move on to our learning activities! Then, finally, during our mid morning snack we do story time for about 45 mins!
Love to hear how preschool goes for you in the coming months! Best of luck! :)
Thank you for sharing!! I found all of this very helpful and it gave me a place to start. I really needed to see this today. I have been just floundering without a schedule. I'm hoping to start a curriculum as you have. Just knowing that it is attainable is relief!
Sweet Abby, how exciting!
I am so thankful how intentional you are to enjoy every moment with your little ones! Praying you balance the fine line between providing routine and structure with the flexibilty that this season offers you...it is brief in retrospect, but not in the moment. As has been said of this season with little ones, "the days are long, but the weeks fly by!!"
That is fantastic that you have an Abicus! I cannot recommend highly enough the wonderful set of Math-U-See blocks (phooey! we just gave our set away!) even if you never use the Math-U-See curriculum. Our children even builta replica of The Temple in Jerusalem using these blocks. As the name implies, you SEE the math. https://mathusee.com/products/integrated-manipulatives/
Note: we kept the unit (the "1" block) out of reach for littles until they got beyond the everything-goes-in-the-mouth stage ;D
I SO wish that Annette and I could coordinate a zoom call (if you are interested, please let us!) so you could hear her perspective of being home educated all the way through and having just completed her first year of college...you'd be welcome to pick the brains of our sons as well, who had the same journey. I mention Annette because 1. you've interacted with her in the past with movie and book calls and 2. because as the younger sibling of brothers who were "officially" (it's silly, really, since from the moment of birth, they are learning) in the midst of their home education while she was yet a toddler, she wanted to do EVERYTHING they were doing. I didn't want to discourage her enthusiasm, but I also didn't want her to burn out. I'd tell her, "right now your job is to learn to love God and explore His amazing Creation." At her request, I would provide her with her own copy of quizes and tests when her brothers were taking them - she would often just scribble in different colors with glee as she was "doing school" with her brothers, the future men.
It wasn't long at all into our journey that I realized our goal as parents was to teach our children a love of The LORD and a love of learning. As we expressed joy and wonder at learning things new, they did also. I've no doubt you are doing that from the little we know of you...keep it up!
Praying for Israel, IDF, and Jews worldwide! Blessings on you and your family!
love,
Cathy and Annette Christensen, Huge Abby Fans in Fresno, California
I feel like we live parallel lives! Just starting to structure our day around homeschooling my newly 3 year old son. I bought the curriculum I grew up on and it was way too difficult for my son. So, we put it aside and started doing activities. We always start off with morning prayers then into our songs (we do Days of the Week, Months of the Year, States and Their Capitals from Animaniacs, Planets, American Anthem, Canadian Anthem - cause we're actually Canadian living in the US, ABC's, and Pledge of Allegiance haha, even though we're Canadian it's important for the kids to know and assimilate to the US). Then we move on to our learning activities! Then, finally, during our mid morning snack we do story time for about 45 mins!
Love to hear how preschool goes for you in the coming months! Best of luck! :)