Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Home School, Pre-K for Miss M

You may have noticed the blog has been a bit MIA lately. There is a very good reason for this...I have started homeschooling Miss M this year for Pre-K. Today we started our fourth week. Am I crazy? Some may think so. Is it challenging? More than I ever thought it would be. Is it worth it? YES! Our decision to home school right now in our lives comes from many different thoughts. First and foremost, we think she is still a bit young to be away from Mama all day. She still wants to run and play and be outside and we want to give her that freedom while at the same time starting to teach her appropriate developmental milestones. We believe this is the best for our family at this point and this is where God wants us so we are giving it a go. I never really thought I would home school my kids so it is all fairly new to me in terms of thought processes, but I am finding that God is using it richly to grow me and challenge me as much as He is for Miss M. We are using a curriculum called Sonlight for Pre-K. It is reading based, which I love, and it is fun to read to her while at the park or at home leisurely. However, the Pre-K program did not have a math or handwriting, and since Miss M is already writing me notes in Japanese, I thought I should start teaching her how to write in English. So, I ordered Saxon Math for Kindy and Handwriting Without Tears for her handwriting. I have not received all of the handwriting materials so we have not started that, but we have started the math. The first week was a huge adjustment for all of us. I found myself being a bit too rigid and not having fun with it, which took the fun out for Miss M. Over the last two weeks I have been more relaxed which has helped. There have been times she has told me it is boring. I try not to take it personally and use it as a teaching lesson - life is not always fun, but you have to persevere and get through the boring parts. The only other school she has known is Japanese yochien, which is all PLAY within order and discipline, so she thinks we are supposed to play all the time. She does not understand there is a curriculum I am using and certain objectives I would like to meet. But, she is still just 4.5 so we are still doing lots of play. Our days also can look a bit inconsistent. I try to do school first thing after breakfast. But today I had to run an errand in the morning so we did school in the afternoon while the K Man napped. We can do that! The flexibility is beautiful. On Tuesdays I have my babysitter so after I come home from leadership meetings with BSF we do school in the park behind our building while the sitter is with the K Man at home. I have not done any "field trips" for the first few weeks as I want to set up a school pattern for us, but I look forward to exploring some new places that are more "educational" for her. This city has so much to offer for people who home school. I think our first adventure will be a butterfly museum. Miss M LOVES butterflies and our babysitter told her about a butterfly museum so now she is asking to go. I am not sure how long I will do this, but for now, it is working for our family, and really that is what you have to do...what is best for your family. I will keep you posted as the year progresses. I am thankful to my friends who home school back in the US and who have given me a lot of support from afar these first couple of weeks - reminding me to have fun and to be thankful for the cuddles in the morning rather than having to rush out the door.

1 comment:

expatgourmand said...

That's awesome you're homeschooling. I've heard good stuff about Sonlight. I was also homeschooling Z alongside kindy the past 2 years. Kindy was only half-day (3 hours), and it gave him the social, music and crafts aspects that I couldn't really give him at home. The kindy was focussed on learn-thru-play, and they do play a lot, so I had to supplement with homeschooling. When he got home, I would do reading/writing (using Funnix), maths or language (Chinese) with him. He started Year 1 at primary school 3 weeks ago (which seems early, since he's only 1 month older than your M), and it's the whole day (6 hours) so there's not much chance to do extra homeschooling. But he's ahead of his classmates in reading and maths, so homeschooling is definitely the better option for kids' learning if there's the choice. #2 will arrive in a couple of months and Z going to school will be a blessing. All the best with homeschooling!