Category Archives: Education

I feel like the boys are getting bored with learning about plants and gardening.

The chickens are still fun for them to check in on and learn about…especially now that they are laying eggs.

Joe is constantly asking how they lay the eggs. This morning, I went to check for eggs and there were two birds in the boxes. Joe said, “No eggs, but two are working on it!”

The swales, bugs and kittens still hold their interest, and they still check for strawberries daily, but what they’ve really been interested in lately are puzzles, dancing, playing golf and throwing balls. And, the big question around the house is “Mommy, can we do a ‘speriment?”

This month, we will focus our activities on movement, letters, shapes and numbers.

We’ll hop, kick, throw balls, play golf and dance. Joe and Jake both have been wanting to do puzzles so we’ll have a puzzle blitz. I’ll set puzzles of varying difficulty around two tables and the boys will move from station to station putting them together.

We’ll draw shapes, trace letters and start drawing some letters on their own. Joe has gotten really good at drawing squares and triangles, and copying the letters H, E and A so we’ll work on the rest of the alphabet. He has also been pointing out letters when he sees them, so we are going to try practicing our abc’s outside, using leaves, sticks, flowers and other things found in nature to create letters.

We’ll make treasure stones where I’ll put objects like marbles, dice, quarters and other small objects for the kids to find and count by breaking the stones open with their hands.

We’ll tell stories from pictures. Joe loves to do that. I found a book at Kroger called Spooky Night. It’s a Read It, Write It and Draw It book from Innovative Kids. I read it to Joe and then showed him the pictures in the Write It section, asking him to tell it back to me. He remembered a lot of what happened in the story, but he also used his imagination, making up additional details. It was a lot of fun for both of us!

We’ll make bubble snakes and answer the question “what is a bubble?”

And, perhaps most importantly, we’ll play. Joe and Jake both like to play “store” using play money and selling things like pens and cups of coffee. Everything is a ridiculous price like $42 for a pen and $80 for a cup of coffee, but both boys are learning about money and pricing.

They also like to pretend to be shape bandits, monster hunters, secret spys and run around shouting “emergency, there’s an emergency”.

Jake probably doesn’t really “get” the concepts yet, but I’m amazed at how quickly he is learning by copying his brother, and he’s right there trying the same activities. He pulls me over the the couch and, holding a picture book, he points and asks “wassat?” His version of “what’s that”.

They learn something new every day…and I do too.

People keep asking me if Joe will be going to preschool in the fall. I tell them that I’ll be teaching him at home. Honestly, I feel like we’ve been pre-schooling him for some time now…since birth really. We’ve been reading, counting, identifying animals, plants, fruits, veggies…all manner of objects and things.

He’s really been showing an interest in reading and he counts all the time. He loves tracing letters and shapes, and he’s started to write and draw them on his own.

“Look Mommy, a triangle.”

Look Mommy, an H!”

He sees shapes everywhere: indents in the carpet from furniture, boxes, laundry baskets that have sat for weeks. He picks up books and interprets the pictures.

“This says the duck swam in the pond.”

So, the big question now is…what does he need to know by the end of preschool? My answer? There is no limit to what I can teach him.

It’s hard to stop thinking about “grades” as the progression. Why relegate learning to Pre-school, Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd, 3rd…and so on. Sure there are milestones to reach, but I don’t want to just stop and shapes, numbers and letters by the end of preschool.

Most sites say that by the end of pre-school, kids need to know the following:

• Full sentences, ask questions
• Pposition and direction (left, right, under, over, in, out, etc.)
• Explore, observe and talk about the world around us
• Help with simple chores
• Work with others
• Work independently and ask for help when needed
• Learn how to play with friends of all ages
• Listen, share, and take turns
• Perform tasks on their own (potty, eat, wash hands, etc)
• Safety (Don’t touch the stove, stay away from strangers, etc)
• Sing songs
• Enjoy books
• Play
• Count
• Explore rhymes, same and different, big and small, light and heavy
• Tell stories
• Recognize and remember letters, numbers, shapes, sounds, etc
• Begin to read and trace words, letters, shapes, etc
• Develop fine motor skills
• Draw
• Understand real and pretend, alive and not alive
• Jumping, swinging, catching, throwing, tricycle riding, games
• Play well with others

These are all things I can teach him at home. Play dates, playtime, field trips to the park, zoo, museum, store, bank, post office…everyday places. There are co-ops where other families get together and share teach together.

I can do all of this and include other adults in my community to teach and model good behavior

So no, my little guy will not be attending a formal pre-school. Learning is ongoing. It’s life-long. It shouldn’t be a race to the finish. As an adult, I’m still learning. New words, communication skills, writing skills…the world. is an on-going, life-long process; not a race. I am fortunate enough to be able to provide a relaxed, no pressure environment for learning.

No formal testing and no labels because, at this age, the best way of learning is through play and observation.