Homeschool

Though our oldest (and thus far only) child is only three, we have been praying about and considering the idea of homeschooling our children.  What exactly that will look like and for how long we do it are questions yet to be answered.  I am, however, a research queen, so suffice it to say that a lot of reading (both the old-fashioned book kind and the blog kind) has been happening over the last six months or so.  I am becoming fully educated on different education philosophies, curricula, programs, and a whole lot more.

Right now Caroline goes to MDO at our church two days a week.  She likes going to "school" with all of her friends, and we feel this is an important experience for her since she IS the only one we have so far.  Having that not-centered-on-Caroline time away from Mommy has been great for her.  We also have been doing "school stuff" (as she calls it) at home some.  Since she is only three, I am totally letting her lead in the area of when and how much we do "school."  My "education philosophy" for three year olds is that they learn in everything they do! Playing, helping Mommy cook (which we do a LOT), and grocery shopping are all educational experiences.

The curriculum I have been using when we "do school" is Confessions of a Homeschooler's Letter of the Week stuff.  The author, Erica, is awesome!  She routinely posts new printable, free materials that are just so darn cute.  I have been printing and laminating them (Caroline then uses a dry erase marker) so that will be usable with future Ryle three year olds.  :)

We started with M for Monkey, and she loved it!  She will want to do activity after activity for quite awhile.  The Confessions packs involve work on tracing, pattern making, counting, letter sounds, fine motor skills, and whole lots more.

This was S is for Snowman week ( I think I wanted to do this one because it was SO hot then, evidenced by C's sweaty hair):

 

And who wouldn't want to do "school stuff" that involved your favorite movie?  Dressed up as Buzz and working on the Toy Story preschool pack.  

Who knows what the future of the Ryle homeschool will look like, but for now we are loving all of the cute stuff out there for three year olds!  This is such a fantastic age.

A few other sites I frequent:

Homeschool Creations
1 + 1 + 1 = 1
Mama Jenn
Totally Tots