G is for Growth!

It's Spring, finally, and I am amazed when I think of the growth that has happened in the last 8 months!
Sophia has turned from an above average preschooler, to an inquisitive, holistic kindergartner. She has learned to read through a whole system approach using: tactiles; phonics; word recognition; and good old fashioned daily reading. She can count and recognize numerals 0 to 100, does addition brilliantly, and subtracts with some success. Soph loves all things science and has so much fun with experiments, gardening and keeping a weather journal. She loves to paint and continues to thrive in music and movement with violin and dance and open gym weekly. She also has her first job! She has been helping me with my yoga class every week and receives an allowance for her assistance. The amazing thing to me about Sophia is that she can draw conclusions, make comparisons and remember things we spoke of ages ago. She can put things together appropriately and in a wise and deliberate fashion far beyond her years.
I always knew she would be a wonderfully smart student and had no doubt she would thrive in any environment.
Although I have not made much mention of the younger two in my brood their success and growth has also been phenomenal this year! Part in thanks to Sophia and the structure of our "homeschooling" day. Liam's vocabulary has increased fourfold, he is potty trained (for the most part)and his attention span is that of a five year old. He loves to tell and read stories and is our resident jokester. His fine, and gross motor skills have gone from great to magnificent! He will just be three at the end of the month but has become quite the character.
My youngest, Margot, will be one on the 22nd. She has skipped so many of the "baby steps" trying to keep up with the other two, which is a character trait of the 3rd child I'm told. Straight from breast milk to solids, stacking blocks and crawl chasing everyone even up the stairs!! Her favorite things are kisses from Daddy and dancing with her brother and sister.
It took us all a while to get into the grove and a daily routine but now that we have a basic structure the flexibility just comes naturally. We love things the way they are right now and I wouldn't change a thing! We have learned to grow and have grown to learn, what a great year so far!

Homeschooling for Mummies

This blog will record the trial and error on my path to Homeschooling. My eldest daughter will be turning 5 this September and would be old enough to enter Kindergarten at our public school. We went through the whole process enrolled her, got the required immunizations, intellegence screening etc. When I recieved the test scores in the mail I just sat with them for a long time, "what did they mean?" I tried to look up the testing used and found nothing. This sent me on an adventure. The world of homeschooling began to open up to us and we to it. It became not a question of can we do this but when can we start! Calling the school and pulling her from their roster was the most freeing thing I have done in a long, long time.
This is a little known, and I find misunderstood world. Shrouded with ideas of weird, unsocialized kids and religious fundementalism. My family and I are here to prove that all wrong. Although we have just begun I feel the momentum building and oportunities taking hold that would never happen in traditional schooling. We are not teaching our children at home to keep them from the world, rather to open the world up to them...
Please join us!