We are in the earliest possible stages of home schooling. We have made the decision, but our children are far younger than is required for formal instruction or schooling. Our home state doesn’t legally require us to start reporting schooling data, such as attendance and curriculum until age six. Since, our fledglings don’t yet, require formal instruction and there is no legal need for documentation or reporting, we consider ourselves to be officially “preparing to home school.” Our children are thriving at home with loads of reading aloud, lots of indoor and outdoor play, and chances to complete art and craft projects appropriate for their skills and abilities. Our only “formal” component of schooling is a Spanish mommy and me class that Ladybug and I attend in order to expose her to natural and accomplished speakers. Sonlight’s Preschool Package has introduced us to a whole collection of stories, poems, and books we might otherwise have missed. We have enjoyed the Sonlight experience greatly and look forward to continue learning and growing with the program.
Ladybug
Ladybug is our resident outdoor lover. She adores flowers, birds, insects, berries and anything else she can find in the great outdoors. Her favorite activities are hiking or walking, but when she’s not outside she’s curled up somewhere with one of her favorite people and a good book. She’s a huge fan of crafting, especially if glue is involved. Field trips to the zoo, aquarium, and park are especially exciting for our little Ladybug. Favorite foods include watermelon, avocado, apples, and popcorn for family movie day. She prefers rain to sun and will puddle jump even if it requires a puddle formed from melted snow. She reports her favorite “home schooling” activity so far was building a snowman in the kitchen.
Beetle Bug
Beetle Bug is almost 15 months old and into everything! More than anything, he wants to be able to do everything his big sister is doing. He just got his very first chance to color with real crayons and loved the entire experience. He’s in the process of learning his colors and some basic sign language: more, bird, milk, mother, father, drink, water, eat, and several additional animal signs. He loves music and will dance and clap his hands to almost any song he hears. He loves fruit, especially strawberries and bananas. He is also a huge fan of kidney beans. He enjoys being in the swing at the park and watching the birds and squirrels that visit the many feeders scattered throughout our backyard. His favorite books involve cars or balls. He can identify both of these objects by both saying and signing the word. Watching his little face glow with excitement as he begins to more fully understand the world around him and communicate both with us and his sister is a huge thrill!
Do you have a post introducing the members of your home school? I’d love to meet you! Please leave me a comment and introduce yourself.
Check out the rest of our Sonlight 25th anniversary posts!
This post was created for use with Sonlight’s 25th anniversary annual blog party.
[…] of the crafts might be suitable even for my toddlers, affectionately known around the blog as the fledglings. I’ll keep you posted……. […]