Homeschooling

I suppose everyone has their perceptions of all the different types of schooling. There is public school, private school, home school, catholic school, charter schools, board schools, and whatever others I can't think of. So when you think about your child and their education it can get overwhelming. As my girls' mother I feel like it's my responsibility to research all of the options and find the best one for my girls. I've given a lot of thought to homeschooling. I love teaching my girls and I think I know them better than anyone and their strengths, things they need to work on, the best way that they learn, and so on.

I get insecure though and think that maybe I do know those things and can work with their teachers to facilitate the best type of learning for them and to leave the work to the professionals. I mean, I would find it a little strange if Riley's kindergarten teacher tried to tell me how to nurse patients.

Currently we just do fun workbooks and activities that my girl enjoys. We color, do sight words, put together puzzles of the United States and talk about how many 5 nickles and 3 pennies are. I think it is super important for my girl to socialize too because it's her personality and being around others feeds her so soul like it does mine. After thinking a ton about it, Hub and I decided to register Riley for a private Catholic grade school at the parish we belong to. She will start half day Kindergarten in the fall, and I am thinking about home schooling her the afternoon. There is a homeschooling convention coming in April, and I think I may have convinced Hub, whom is very skeptical of homeschooling, just to check it out. I am worried though that I will confuse her and be overloading her with too many things and different teaching styles, but I think it will all be worked out and just take some communication between her teacher and I.

Where ever our path of life takes us, I'm sure things will fall into place exactly as they should. In the mean time, we are going to have fun learning at home because this is such a fun and exciting age, and Riley is enjoying it. Raigan is also working on coloring and recognizing the different letters, both capital and lower case, and has mastered her ABCs.

Perfect Timing

So Riley got another Little Passports in the mail the other day. She gets so excited when she gets mail; like mother like daughter. Her little passport this month was from Japan and it couldn't have come at a better timing, as I will be in Japan next week.

Let me just say that again, I will be in Japan next week. That's so crazy. I spent most of my evening last night making treat bags for my girls for each day that I'm gone. I write little notes and printed maps and did a concept similar to Little Passports, so my girls know what city I'm in that particular day and how I will be missing them terribly. I plan to pick up some little toys and treats to put in there for them too. I hope they enjoy them and enjoy spending the week with my husband.

I plan to share my little treat bags here as soon as I'm finished with them so other mommies can use it if they ever travel away from their littles.

I love how excited my girls (and my brother in law, Mark) are about learning geography and I love that this little teaching tool makes it so fun. They talked about sushi, Children's Day, fish markets, and had an activity to help better understand the concept of the exchange between Dollars and Yen. Some of the activities I think are geared more towards older children, but Riley totally grasps the concept of the general geography and most of the items included.

Usually they give a clue as to which country is next, but this time they left it to be a mystery. I think there' s a little bit of fun not knowing totally what you're getting yourself into. At least that's what I keep telling myself, as I will be flying halfway across the world to a country where I don't speak the language and don't even know what to pack for, but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity that I just cannot pass up.

Little Passports

We got another Little Passports in the mail the other day, this time from Brazil.

It's fun for Riley to get her own mail. 

And the fact that we get to learn about other cultures and geography is super fun. 

Riley now has a stamp in Passport from Brazil. 

My little world traveler. 

She now knows all about South America and that Brazil is there. 

Next month is Japan!

Little Passports

I think it's really important to teach our children about the world around us. To teach them that what goes on here in small town Northern Kentucky is just a freckle of what goes on in the world. In a perfect world I would pack a bag and throw my kids on a plane and show them the world firsthand, but since I'm not a billionaire and my children aren't even quite old enough I think to comprehend other cultures, we're taking baby steps.

I read a lot of magazines. I have subscriptions to quite a few and get one in the mail every few days. Naturally, I read a lot of parenting magazines, being a parent in all. So one day I was sitting on the couch after dinner while my sweet husband was doing the dishes and saw an advertisement for this, and just knew I had to have it for my little Riley, the one that loves to "explore the world" as she puts it herself.

Little Passports (click to see their website) is a San Fran based company that sends the character Sam and Sophia around the world. Your kids can follow them along and learn about different cultures around the world and learn world geography. Unfortunately I'm not getting paid by anyone to say this haha but I think it's a pretty neat little thing for little ones.

It comes with this cute little suitcase, which is worth the $10 alone. 

There is also a world map, a passport where you can put your child's picture, a boarding pass with access codes to online games, stickers, and worksheets.

Each month the characters, Sam and Sophia travel to a new country and a new package comes for a monthly fee that you can cancel at anytime. Super cute and a great way to get Riley excited about learning other cultures and get a perspective on how large the world is.

Plus she loved getting mail with her own name on it, she must get that from her mama.

Blue Ribbon

Riley finally did it. She did all the pages in her alphabet book, earned all the stickers to the sticker trail, and after literally months of working hard earned her blue ribbon sticker.

She was so proud of herself! And I am extra proud of her! 

The next day after getting her ribbon she ripped it up, but I guess it was her's to do what she wanted with it. Silly girl.

How do you teach a 3 year old the United States?

There are just those things that stick with you your whole life. I guess from having it repeated in music class my entire grade school career, the Fifty Nifty United States song has stuck with me my whole life, well at least half of it did.

I am always trying to find ways to play with Riley that are educational. We sing songs and I try to buy her toys that will teach her something. So I began to teach her the United States song. I could only get to Nevada though, without needing a little refresher. I did what any other parent would do; I got on YouTube.

 

Riley asks  to play this about 54837543785 times a day, and sings it even more than that. 

Since Riley is starting to understand that our country is divided into states, and that she came name a good portion of them in alphabetical order, we busted out our huge USA puzzle.

We would pick a piece out of the box, sing the song till we got to that part of the song, then find it on the directions that they puzzle comes with. Fun and educational, I love it!

It even has the large landmarks that are significant to some of the states. 

I know all parents are bias, and I have said this before, but I think Riley is advanced for being 3. She grabbed the puzzle piece for Alaska and said, "Hey mom, this looks like Louisiana." I'm impressed that she saw that connection, and more so that she knew the names of both states!

When the puzzle is done it's huge, which makes it even more fun for her! Because she can climb on it. 

What fun ways do you teach your children?