We disappeared for awhile, because we switched Buggy's school after Thanksgiving last year. It was a great decision and we have no regrets. She now gets to ride the bus and go to school with the kids in our neighborhood & from our church. She is more challenged at this school, so we no longer are doing "after-school school". Partly because her brain is ready for a break when she gets home, and also because she has about an hour of homework each night. So she comes home, has a snack, PLAYS, and then does homework. This school has more opportunities for after-school activities and "extras", too, which we love. Everything feels much more well-rounded, and we are all happier.
We made the decision to keep Lulu home for (3 year old) preschool, at least for the 2013-14 school year. Buggy's new school has full-day Kindergarten as the default, so I am pondering what preparation Lulu needs for that. Whether schooling @ home and going to structured activities during the week would be enough, or if she would benefit from some preschool in a school environment. We will revisit that next year at this time, I'm sure. :)
So I am sorting through all the preschool materials that I used with Buggy, and checking Pinterest to see what other fun ideas are out there. I am very excited to work with Lulu and figure out her learning style. So far, we have done manipulatives, patterns, Memory game, puzzles, etc. Just your basic hands-on pre-math and pre-reading activities. She is a funny one -- likes to choose the wrong answer to be comical, randomly jumping up and doing a dance, or grabbing the pieces and taking them to the other side of the house to add to her toy stash. She also is much more outspoken than Natalie, so this will be an adventure!! She now is more into crafts, too -- we do painting and Play-doh quite often around here. She was not feeling the Letter a Week program, so we put that on hold for a bit. I will probably break that out again this summer, along with Buggy's Road Trip USA.
I'm very excited about starting Lulu's education journey, and about getting back to this blog. Life at home with two little ones is an interesting experience, and putting something in writing about what we are doing helps my Type A self see what we are accomplishing. :) Because some days? It feels like nothing gets done!!!
Happy Spring!
Reading back...I know a mom who homeschools and has for years (her oldest is 14 now and her youngest is 11). Her older daughter was a motivated learner and was super easy to homeschool. Her younger daughter was more of a challenge and, like she said was all about the "party". "Where is the party, mom? When is this going to end?" It just makes me laugh because I think Bug will be like her older daughter and Lulu is similar to her younger.
ReplyDeleteYES you are right on :) Lulu has a completely different learning style. I think at this age, Buggy was already obsessed with worksheets... not so much w/ this tiny monkey!!!
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