There is a big difference. We do not have the same start time everyday, we don't have set snack or lunch breaks, we do not have forced seating or activities. We have things we do everyday and then I just follow his lead for the rest.
I do an assessment each year to see where he is at and what he needs work on, but we do not follow the classroom curriculum. This summer I got to spend a lot of time with my good friend Sara and her family. I got to see how amazing ALL of her children are, how amazing of a mom she is (even if she feels like she is failing). If a mom who has raised those amazing children can feel like she is failing that means we all can from day to day.
She kept reminding me all summer that I don't need to apologize for Blaines behaviours and that its okay she understands. You have no idea what it means to have a mom friend who has children who have are "special" and you don't have to try to force your "special" child to behave a certain way or try to hurry him along so hes not in the way or bugging others. I can relax when I am with her and not always be on edge and worried about what Blaine is going to do next or how he might react. He has a special bond with Sara and it melts my heart and I am grateful that he has that bond with her.
Anyway on to school this year. We are not doing what we did last year, we are covering a wide range of topics as you will see lol. When planing Sara thought it was funny that I went from body parts to money there is no real reasoning to my planning other than doing a few different topics and seeing what will spark his interest. As he grows, learns and becomes more interested in things I can cater to those but right now he is just happy with whatever.
Some people are shocked to learn that most days we are finished "School" by 830am. This is because he is so young we don't have to do much seat learning, everything is play and hands on at this point. That being said as he grows somethings may be longer but maybe not depending on his interests. Will he learn to read? write? hold a pencil? spell? do math? you bet he will but why do those things have to be taught in a way that requires the child to sit in a seat for hours taking in verbal information?
OH WAIT IT DOESN'T. We learn by doing not by being told!
So this is our first week and so far we have done 2 days and things are going well, yes it takes a min to get him going but that's okay, he knows when there is an end! He can see when we are done!
Week 1
We are working in the Reading Readiness K-1 by the company I KNOW IT. (I likely got this at one of our local dollar stores.)
We are doing the sight letter "I".
We are using ABC Mouse
We are learning about bees!!!
Nature Board!
This week he is sick so our outings are limited.
Day 1
Sight word "I" flash card. I make my own flash cards from card stock. Not only do they have the sight word we are working on but they will have a short sentence using the sight word. Bee life cycle (this video). Nature board (this is a giant tree on Bristol board that we put a nature word on each day), book (counting bats), ABC Mouse, work book.
Day 2
Sight word "I" flash cards, label the bee body (this involves me asking Blaine were a body part is on the photo of a bee and me printing the word), we also recapped on the bee life cycle that we learned about yesterday, workbook, reading book (I Love Fall), we also did the book This Pumpkin. ABC mouse, Nature Board.
Day 3
Sight word "I" work sheet, why bees matter (video), Recap on bee life cycle and the bee body, ABC mouse, workbook, nature board, book (harvest time).
Day 4
Sight word "I" flash cards, Magic school bus bees , workbook, recap on why bees mater, bee life cycle and the bee body, ABC mouse, book ( School), mini golf trip with the homeschool group!
This week is a short week so we only have 4 days because Monday was labour day. What I didn't include on here is on the nights we have girls we do Science, I will do a separate post on that stuff. We also do learning activities when the girls are here and they range from games to exploring!
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