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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Preschool Homeschool Update Part 2

I've been wanting to update on how our journey into homeschooling Zoelle for preschool has been going, but I have so many random thoughts on it all, I have been busy trying to figure out how to put it all into words.



Zoelle is doing excellent! She thrives with structure, routine, and learning. It is me who lags behind in the teaching. Not on purpose, but rather because I have two other little girls at home who distract need me. Along with laundry to do, a house to keep clean, and various other projects.

We are currently on the letter "R". Not nearly as far along as I wanted to be, but not so far behind that we can't get caught up before the end of the school year. It is my plan to make sure we finish this school year. I still LOVE my curriculum. I think it is perfectly laid out and easy for both the teacher and child to follow. If we homeschool next year, I believe I am going to stay with this same curriculum.



Zoelle is very much so enjoying to read and we are enjoying listening to her read. She is now on the second set of Bob books. In addition to reading those, she will often pick up a "regular" book and sound out words or recognize words by sight.

We are on the search for a math program to work on this summer. Zoelle has a huge interest in math. Not at all sure where that came from being that neither her dad, nor I are math people. Since math can often be a struggle for people and girls in particular tend to be behind in math, we want to take advantage of her ability to add and her interest in it now! I figure even if we do end up sending her to school next year, we can still lay a good foundation in math this summer.



We have not made a final decision yet about school for Zoelle next year. There are two major factors to not sending her. 1. We are worried she would be bored as she is a bit advanced for her age. 2. Cost: This is not necessarily a factor but we have to ask if the money is worth it for a preschooler to go to school two days a week. Did I mention we decided that if we don't homeschool, we will be sending her to a private Christian school?

There are also two major factors to sending her to school. 1. I feel as if I lack majorly as a parent when it comes to art, creativity, etc. We do very little projects and I have to admit I don't think I'll ever be a project type of mom. It's just not in me. Yet I do think it important for her as object lessons to what she is learning. 2. I still think and Chris firmly believes, that getting her out of the house two days a week with other children would be good for her. She needs time to develop as Zoelle and get special attention given just to her. She would not only get this at school, but also would get that special attention from us directed only to her school work and not to the other girls.




It's a big decision. One I'm not really sure how we will make. As of now, I am leaning toward sending her to school two days a week, and teaching her the other three days. We shall see. Hopefully, my next update we will have decided.

How did you decide to homeschool/send your child to school? What math curriculum would you suggest for a preschooler?


5 comments:

  1. PRAYER! We deciding by praying and then listening. We will have 2 children full time in a Chrsitian private school next year...$$$ but we know this is what the Lord has told us to do so we sacrafice other things to make this possible.
    Pray and then listen, sounds easy enough, right? :)

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  2. As a (girl) math teacher, I wanted to let you know that the idea that girls struggle more than boys and are behind in math is a stereotype! Data shows otherwise. : ) Here is just a glimpse:

    http://www.livescience.com/5482-girls-math-culture-skewed.html

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080724192258.htm

    And here is an interesting website on math (and reading) program reviews.

    http://www.bestevidence.org/

    So encourage your little mathematician and help her go beyond the stereotypes. Hope this helps!
    -Maria

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  3. Salena-We are praying! Ughh! I just don't feel like God has given us an answer either way. So what do we do then?!?

    Maria-How did I not realize you were a math teacher before?!? Those links to the studies on girls are amazing! How come in my elementary education they told us the opposite??? Thanks for enlightening me! Also, thank you so much for the link to the website with reviews. I bookmarked it! :)

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  4. You are doing an awesome job, Vanessa! I am impressed. We're taking a much more laid-back approach with our 4-year-old...we'll likely do something a bit more structured next year. :)

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  5. Thanks Stephanie! It is only the teacher in me that works hard to make it a "school-like" setting. In the coming years, I may relax, but I am kind of an organized person in the first place so it suits me! :) Looking forward to seeing what you do next year!

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