Skip to main content

First Year - A Look At Our Homeschool


I must say I'm much more relaxed about my third child officially beginning homeschooling than I was with the others. I've observed in my other kids an amazing ability to learn through play and in the freedom of exploration that homeschooling offers. Therefore, I trust that he will continue to learn in the same way so no need for a formal curriculum just yet.


Reading

DS5 showed readiness to read when he was 3 when he learnt the alphabet while we were doing an alphabet puzzle together and knew all his letters from that day forward! I then set him up with a reading eggs account and purchased some simple readers and we were off. I advocate watching for signs of children's readiness to read before introducing reading. I was in no rush to teach my children to read but found that my firstborn actually taught himself to read with very little prompting - I just provided some books and alphabet games! It made me realise that some kids WANT to learn to read when they are young and we are wise to follow the signs.

He will continue to read books from the library, readers we have and I will continue to do lots of reading with him while cuddling on the couch!


Writing



I have the first book of the handwriting without tears series which we will introduce at some stage during the year. DS5 can't hold a pencil correctly so I might need to seek some help with that.



Maths



When my other children were this age we used lots of maths manipulatives and simple fun games to learn about addition and subtraction, sequencing, grouping etc. DS5 seems to like maths and is confident with simple addition and subtraction so we will look at continuing to progress. He will continue with studyladder for reinforcement - which he loves.



Music



I may regret that for Christmas this boy received his first set of drums. He has been super keen and although given his age I'm not ready for drum lessons I will set him up with some YouTube videos to learn some basic drum skills.

He will also continue learning piano at the Yamaha school of music. 


Sport

This is my 5 year olds strength. He has excellent hand/eye co-ordination and shows a good range of skills in most sports so we will continue tennis coaching and may look at district basketball and Auskick for later in the year. As this is something he is clearly gifted at we will look at how we can best nurture this. 

As this is his first 'official' homeschooling year then I will include 1:1 time in our flexible schedule and he will continue to join his brothers for devotions, science and Australian history. 

Most of all I will ENJOY this stage of learning and teaching this precious boy!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inspiring Character That Lasts - We Choose Virtues Giveaway!

One of the benefits of homeschooling is the opportunity to help shape our children's character. In fact, one of the points from our own homeschooling mission statement is that I desire....     To build strong character in my children believing that good character is more important than academic success        Children are not born with a set of values and beliefs about the world - they are taught. This means they do not always naturally become kind, patient, content and diligent - they need to be guided, gently corrected and encouraged to embrace the kind of virtues that God desires within us. I find this a challenge with my incredibly spirited, strong-willed children (yes, all of them fit this description). I have often allowed myself to feel discouraged and disappointed in their behavior rather than see it as an opportunity to teach and shape their character.  Another benefit of homeschooling is that we can encourage these virtues all day - not just for a

How to incorporate World Travel into your Homeschool with a Large Family (and a budget)

So, how do you incorporate overseas travel into your homeschool with a large family (and a budget).  It's not overly complicated but are you ready to know the secret? Wait for it. How do you do it? You don't take them all at once! Yep, that's right - you take one at a time. 1 . Take one child at a time!  Can it become a logistical nightmare to work out what happens with the rest of the family while you (or your husband) are away? Yep - but it's worth it!  In 2015 my eldest son had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines with his dad on a church missions trip. Not only did this provide an opportunity to see poverty and understand the needs of others - it was also valuable father / son bonding time that he will remember for a lifetime. In 2017 my second-born (pictured) had the same opportunity to travel to Philippines but with me included! I took great joy in watching him be-friend local children and learn some of the language. Havi

Teaching Small Children About Australian Aboriginal History

In order to know where we are going  we need to know where we've been  Roy C. Owens Our first day in Alice Springs, Northern Territory was spent at the telegraph station museum and reserve . It is the original site of the first European settlement in Alice Springs. It is also the place of the 'spring' that gave the place its name. It operated as a telegraph station for 60 years before becoming a school for Aboriginal children. This is a nice way of saying a place where they put half-caste children when they took them away from their parents. I felt quite overwhelmed as I realised how little I knew about Aboriginal history. But I wanted to understand so I could teach my children a true, historical account that acknowledged the first Australians in a way that traditional curriculum often ommitted. I won't be teaching my kids in the typical white fella way with the emphasis being on the early pioneers and settlers with the disclaimer, "Oh and