A Journey of Learning

"Why Mom?"
"What is that?"
"How come?"

As a mother of preschool age children, I am thoroughly convinced that opportunities for learning are EVERYwhere! Especially at this age, everything is new and exciting. An afternoon in the backyard can become a science fieldtrip, a PE exercise or the perfect setting for an art project. Lunch can become a lesson in anatomy. Playtime is full of chances to learn colors, shapes, addition and subtraction. Evening story time can easily include vocabulary, reading and spelling...as well as reading comprehension. Often, I'm not even the one initiating such lessons, the opportunities just present themselves - or the kids ask.

Life is a journey of learning...

And it doesn't end after 12th grade or after we've successfully earned our college degree...it can and should continue throughout our lifetimes. My desire as a homeschooling [home education] parent is to establish within my children's lives the basic knowledge as well as the discipline and interest they will need to dedicate themselves to their own education. I hope to create in them a love for learning, and give them the foundation they need to know how to ask questions and where to find answers.

I believe we begin learning even before we are born. Each of my children learned to recognize voices and touches on my tummy, while they were still developing inside me. I was amazed when I realized my first child responded differently when I pressed my hand on my belly, than he did when my husband or friends did. I did not expect that going into pregnancy. And once he was born, I was stunned by what he seemed to understand. Was it just me? I wondered. Am I imagining that he knows what I am saying...or does he really? Now, three children later, I have no doubt that our children are often much more cognitive of what is happening around them and able to comprehend far more than we tend to give them credit for. My youngest, only 6 weeks old, appears to fully understand and respond to simple phrases. It shocks me...although, maybe it should not.

Much of my son's education has been initiated by him. He turned 5 years old last week. My son has been solving double digit math equations since the beginning of the year. ?! That is not 4 year old material, right? He saw the problems in one of his schoolbooks and asked to try them. I discouraged him at first, not wanting him to be disappointed when it was too difficult, but he insisted. So we gave it a try. And he did it! Over dinner a few weeks ago, his older cousins were asking him if he is going to start school in the fall. He responded that he already does school, and proceeded to tell them things he knew how to do. They asked, can you spell "cat" or "tree"? He laughed and said; "no, that's too easy for me" then announced that he would spell "lobster"...and did so perfectly. [Lobster, why lobster? I have no idea, except that he seems to like lobsters.] Anyway, I'm not trying to brag [too much ;)] but my point is that I did not anticipate him being able to academically comprehend everything that he can at this point and would not have encouraged him to try it. He wants to learn. And that's half the battle right there.

My middle child, a girl, is 2 1/2...and not nearly as motivated as her older brother.

I'm beginning to understand that I need to pay attention to my children, learn from their cues, and press them to do a little more than I think they can; if it's too much, they let me know and we can slow down a little, but most of the time, they surprise me.

My 2 year old needs LOTS of repetition. She will often claim not to know something, but if I patiently continue asking and waiting quietly for her answer, she eventually gives up the information, with no difficulty. Why does she not say it right away? Is it laziness? Is she just willful - or is there some other reason? I don't know. I am learning along with them. I am learning about them...about who they are and how they think and process information. Really, this journal is as much and maybe more for me than for whoever may care to read it. I hope it will help as I study my kids, and assist me to better teach them.

Here is my basic synopsis of where my kids are at:

My 5 year old can:

read, sound out and spell words in his head or on paper,

write legibly, memorize a short paragraph, count to 100+,

complete 2 digit addition equations [single digit subtraction],

copy words or pictures well,

communicate his thoughts and emotions, exercise logical thought processing, assist his younger sister in her studies and verbalize his knowledge in a way she can also understand

My 2 year old can: identify colors and some shapes, identify some letters and say the alphabet, match objects by appearance, color, size and association, dress her self, communicate very clearly in complete sentences with well developed sentence structure,

color inside lines, count to 20+

My 6 week old eats, sleeps, and is highly skilled at distracting me from whatever else I may need to accomplish. ;)

Both of my older children also have household tasks they help with. I consider this part of their education. The skills they are developing as they assist with things like laundry, picking up their toys, bathing, setting the table, washing and putting away dishes are useful not only for general life skills, but also in their academics. For example when my 2 year old helps put away dishes, she is organizing, associating objects, memorizing information about where items are located...and we get to do it together, which is fun for us both. I could just use blocks, but that's not nearly as fun or useful. :)

So this is where we are at in our journey. I mix traditional workbook type studies with making the most of everyday experiences and making an effort to incorporate those learning opportunities into their education. Basically, I've tried to make learning a normal part of life. We have our "school time"...but learning doesn't end when the schoolbooks go back in the drawer. It's a journey. So, here is my invitation to you to eavesdrop on our little adventure in home education and glean what you may from our experience. If you’d like to take a moment and leave your thoughts, maybe we can learn a bit from your journey too.