Not the best way to start with homeschooling

Here's what I found when I tried to put some books on hold just now:

Getting Started

Well, here we are: the last hot breaths of summer and in the next week or so all of my original mom friends have their oldest starting kindergarten. I keep flashing to this vision of all of us in track suits, arms high in the air celebrating our victory as we cross the finish line...We made it! And even though we're homeschooling I still have a little of that feeling, the feeling of crossing the threshold into a whole different phase. And I'm excited! I feel this awesome sense of relief knowing that I don't have to send Beck away and I love gathering up all my supplies and ideas and preparing our space downstairs as our workshop. I just can't help it. It's the teacher in me that likes all this stuff.

And I'm not sure how much we'll use it or how structured we'll end up being, but I have purchased some curriculum. Both boys expressed an interest in a math "workbook" so after reading a lot of reviews and comparing options I bought the beginning level of Math Mammoth. We also have a lot of manipulatives and I'm trying to gather together lots of different games where we can play with numbers.

I ordered the beginning package of Handwriting Without Tears. And I'm looking into some options for reading. Of course we read all the time and talk about words and letters, but Beck wants to R.E.A.D. so I'm going to do what I can to help him along the way.

Does this sound too much like "school at home"? I met some other homeschooling moms the other day who said they started out with a lot more structure than they ended up having. All I can say is that we're learning as we go.

A Space for Children

I checked out this book, Designs for Living and Learning and spent a few weeks looking at it this summer. First of all, it's a beautiful book to look at - full of glossy photos with explanations and interesting ideas for setting up a spaces where children spend time. It was actually written for people working in childcare or preschool environments, but since we're homeschooling I'm always interested in getting new ideas for our space here at home.

And I especially liked a "preschool assessment" list included in the back of the book. It's a list of things to look for in a preschool environment, but it's a nice reminder of what to consider including in the space where your own children are at home. (I'm only including the items that make sense for a home environment!)

1. I can see who I am and what I like to do here.

2. The natural world can be found here (such as objects from nature, animals, living specimens).

3. There is something sparkly, shadowy, or wondrous and magical here.

4. My [parents] leave a special object out here every day so I can keep trying to figure out more about its properties and how it works.

5. There are materials here that I can use to make representations from what I understand or imagine.

6. I can feel powerful and be physically active here.

7. I can learn to see things from different perspectives here, literally and through assuming roles in dramatic play.

8. I see my name written, or I get to regularly write my name here.

Easel Painting

Here are the boys with the new double-sided easel that Chris built. Right now they're just playing and experimenting with the paints and brushes, but in a few weeks I plan to start working through the exercises in Children and Painting which is the best book I've ever seen on the subject. I used it when I taught in the classroom and my students loved the projects and learned a lot about the basics of painting and of art.

I guess the boys figure that easel painting requires special attire because they both grabbed their "Dr. Nailbender" caps - a freebie from Dunn Lumber - and popped them on their heads before they started!

An Evening at the Zoo

A few weeks ago we packed a dinner picnic and headed to the zoo for the evening. When you live in a crowded urban area, you start to learn the best times to visit places and for us, evening is the best time at the zoo. Parking is a cinch, there are no lines to get in, and once we're there we almost have the place to ourselves. Plus we've learned that the zoo stays open for an hour after they stop letting anyone else in. And they feed the animals in the early evening so you often get a good show.

During this particular evening, we had an incredible time watching the elephants out in their yard. They were very active and doing all kinds of interesting things like drinking water, playing with balls, and breaking large sticks with their trunks. And we saw all of this with nobody else around!



Ember, who's usually so confident, was scared of the elephants. She completely freaked out.

Playstands

Now that our basement will be warm and cozy over the winter months, I've been thinking about what I'd like to see for the kids down there. My latest interest is in building a playstand. I love the simplicity and open-endedness of them. I think they're pretty, they can be used for so many different set-ups, and we don't have anything like it. You can buy these Waldorf inspired playstands at various places for about $100 each or about $300 for a pair of them joined by an archway, but Chris thinks we can build a set of our own for much less.

I found two places with free plans:

Against the Grain Carving has plans for the set pictured above.

And at Eric's Projects you can find free plans for a simpler version.

We also ordered plans for about $20.00 from Playstandplans.com which include full-sized patterns to trace and cut for the set pictured below:


I'll post photos on our progress and the final result!

The Neighborhood

I just read this article by Michael Chabon about the "lost wilderness" of childhood and it strung a chord with me. And while I agree that there's value in roaming the neighborhood without the constant monitoring of adults, that there's value in discovering your "place" and all it's secrets, hidden corners, alleyways, interesting gardens, houses under construction, noticing the way it all changes through the seasons -- I'd be worried to let my kids do it here.

On the other hand, we've been taking family walks together once a week and I'm delighted and amazed with all the exploration and discovery that goes on. It's a 26 minute walk that I usually take each evening by myself to get away from all the chaos, but with the family it can take up to 2 hours. The boys poke around, feel the bark curls on the Paper Birch trees, scoop up handfuls of cottonwood fluff to throw in the breeze, sample the blueberries just ripening on the neighbor's bushes, gaze at the lake and Mt. Rainier in the distance, and discuss Daddy's commute over the floating bridge and to the city of Bellevue beyond -- all which is part of the view on our walk. It's good stuff and when I see the boys in action, on foot and taking it all in, it reminds me how important this roaming around is -- even if Chris and I are along for the ride.