Schooling Update

Homeschooling is going really well, thanks to the awesome Sonlight curriculum. I feel like my kids really enjoy learning. We do lots of hands-on things and also have lots of time to cuddle on the couch and read quality children's books on a variety of topics. The activities are simple for me to prepare and the kids love it.

I will admit that I am having to be a lot more careful about guarding my mornings to make sure that we have several hours each day for schooling. So, it's requiring me to be more disciplined, which is probably a good thing.

Meredith's three main interests right now are Egyptian mummies, Afghanistan, and water wells. Who would have thought?! You never can predict a child's interests!!

Here's a project we did after reading the science book that was included with the preschool Sonlight curriculum. We talked about the different tastes of food and where on our tongues we can taste it best. I blindfolded the kids and they had to tell me if they thought the food was sweet, sour, bitter, or salty. They really got a kick out of this.

One of the best things we've done this year is subscribe to God's World Magazine for kids. Meredith is fascinated by the fact that all these stores are REAL (vs. pretend, like most of her children's books). I decided to subscribe to this for her when I realized that she was asking about the stories in the Indianapolis Star and was really interested in it. She has been especially interested to learn about the conflict in Afghanistan. The other day she came to me with a 3x5 card, where she had tried to write out the word Afghanistan. She kept trying but couldn't get very far--so she finally asked me to help her spell it! After reading about our troops and the controversy over there, we were able to pray for President Obama and our Congress to have wisdom and our troops to have safety. I love discussing current events with Meredith. She really grasps the concepts and is very inquisitive. It's easy to homeschool a kid who loves to learn. Hopefully this will continue!!

As I mentioned, Meredith is beyond fascinated with mummies right now. We have visited the Children's Museum numerous times recently so she can (once again) look at the mummy exhibit. She likes for me to read everything to her and she has all sorts of questions. I have also ordered some kids' books from the library about the topic.

We have had fun doing some seasonal crafts (even though I feel very handicapped in this area, I'm getting better!). Here is a picture of some "apple stamps" we made. The kids then got creative with some paint. They loved it and it was so simple. And we had lots of extra apples after going to a second apple orchard.

Although I'm still pretty overwhelmed at the idea of homeschooling my kids, one thing I definitely enjoy is all the time I have with them to discuss important things in life and answer their questions about God. If they were in a traditional school setting, we would not be able to have all these conversations during evenings and weekends alone. I'm grateful for all the time I have with my kids. They are growing so fast!