The girls aren't up, so I thought I'd write a bit more about what our home and "school" looks like these days.
Lately I've had the full 50 books allowed checked out of the library at any given time. We have all the books stacked up on the coffee table in the living room, ready for cuddling up on the couch to read.
The books are varied. We've been doing Cinderella Around the World and Meredith especially has loved this. I have really enjoyed it too and recommend that all moms of daughters, whether or not they are in formal school, do this. It's been so fun! There are some great stories out there with wonderful twists on the basic Cinderella story. Today we'll be reading a book called Joe Cinders, where the Cinderella character is actually a boy who lives on a ranch.
I also check out other fiction books that catch my attention while I'm at the library. We just read one set in Amish country, another about pumpkins, and another about words. I also get some board books just for Margaret. Sometimes I focus on an author or illustrator, sometimes I focus on a theme, other times I focus on a genre.
I love non-fiction books too. I try to have a couple biographies on hand. We recently read one on Helen Keller and I have another one on Johnny Appleseed. We have a book on caterpillars and another on butterflies. Meredith has been interested in eating healthy, so I got some books that teach about nutrition on a kid's level. We also had books on lightening and other weather things while it was raining so much. Finally, I have some "living math" books, that teach math principles without you really realizing it.
There never seems to be enough time to read, so I've started reading at the breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner table.
Other things we want to "teach" are math, writing, and spelling, but none is done formally. When a learning moment comes up, I ask a question or teach a concept. Last night I started spelling things I was saying. "OK girls, it's time to go to b-e-d!" They had fun guessing what I was spelling. If we're reading a book and it uses the word, "dozen," I stop to mention that a dozen is 12, think about eggs, etc. Meredith has been writing her own Cinderella story, so that's how writing fits in.
For Margaret, she's interested in learning to read, although I'm not starting formal reading lessons yet. The past couple days I've given her a word. We read a book called Double Pink and I taught her how to read the word "pink." I then wrote it out on a notecard and gave it to her. When we read the book, I put my finger under the words as I read them and when I got to "pink" I'd have her read the word. The next day I gave her the word "mouse" and did the same thing with a book called Mouse in the House. She's not reading, but she's getting an understanding of words, how they track on the page, and that she can read a couple of them.
One more thing we do. We'd love the girls to learn Spanish (and Greek and Mandarin Chinese....). I have a CD checked out called Beth Manner's Spanish Magic. It's a cute CD and the girls enjoy listening to it. I also have a Berlitz Kid's Spanish program checked out and we do some random Spanish from that. Nothing is formal, just fun.
We will move into formal lessons, probably next year when she's in first grade. For this year though, I just want it to be fun. My main "learning objective" is that Meredith and Margaret will learn that there is so much to learn and be excited about that.
