It's been quite a while since I've been on here, (and I'm sure the only one upset about that has been me). Well, that's not to say we have given up on the idea of home schooling. It is to say that we seem to have become... UNschoolers! (just so you know... in my head I heard "Bum Bum Bummm" with that proclamation. You know... a clue has been discovered, shattering news has been received...cue the orchestra... "Bum Bum Bummmmm").
While Montessori method speaks to my soul in wonderful ways, the reality is that I am much more of a "wing-it" type person. I did so well planning lessons and activities for a little while and then time just got away from me... totally blaming my kids here, it's my right to throw around that excuse as I see fit.
I got a little (a lot) upset with myself and decided to go back to the journal entry I penned upon making the decision to homeschool. I had set goals for the boys, as well as myself, to reach within the year. The boys have met just about all their goals and it is only about 6 months that have passed. My own goals were for better time management, planning and organizational skills, so that is a major fail.
I had always thought of unschooling as a lazy excuse for homeschooling. But guess what... it has worked for us quite well. My kids are at "sponge age," soaking up absolutely any and everything right now. We have taken advantage of situations as they arise to practice counting and numeral recognition, compare, contrast, explore, deduce, and reason... even the alphabet has been given a shot recently (stubbornness and a speech delay/articulation issue seem to have slowed that subject down).
The recurring conversations this winter have been: "So cold, so cold! Wawa turn ice," and "Warm outside, snow melt wawa... make mud," where wawa=water. Not a bad grasp on the properties of water, right? That's just one example of lessons on the fly.
So since I've last logged on and posted Big Boy continues to do EXCELLENT in school skills at Gymboree Play and Music of North Haven (like them on Facebook!), and he has been doing great with his speech therapy through Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital. Both Big Boy and Little Man are enjoying their Music Together classes through Musical Folk and pretend to teach their own music classes at home.
This past week I've been better about having some slightly more planned activities and the boys both had a blast. And thanks to the PhotoGrid and Instagram apps on my phone... I am able to share with you what the last few days looked like! We have had so much fun!
Sugar Trays
to explore texture, develop early writing and literacy skills.
IPad
Educational and age appropriate apps can be such amazing tools for discovery and developing fine motor skills (getting things to move on that screen can be tricky for little fingers).
Letter Matching/Sorting
Introducing the alphabet a few letters at a time.
Hopskotch
Combining movement with counting and numeral recognition to promote gross motor and math skills.
Pom Poms
Endless fun has been found transferring these from bowl to bowl or bowl to water bottle. The boys used spoons, a tweezer and plain ol' fingers to move these poms to where they need to go.
(We also made it through a church service thanks to these fluffy little miracles!)
Baking
Using real food ingredients to practice scooping pouring and mixing.
Using imagination to create "recipes," (but not even Mom who loves them dearly will eat their "cookies").
Bubble Painting
with a tray of baking soda and colored vinegar. Using a dropper and a spoon to develop fine motor skills. Pretty sure the explanation of solids, liquid and gas went over his head, but I threw it out there all the same.
