Launching our kindergarten year with Zombie has been a taunting process for me. The realizations of what failed and what (surprisingly) didn’t was a gravitational jerk back down to earth. With the preschool year officially behind us, I am finally ready to lay out for you all the messy truths of homeschooling a 4 year old!
Disclaimer: I don’t and will not pretend to know it all because frankly, I don’t. But here are a few of my lessons learned from opportunities in our Preschool year.
#1 Find your Style
Each family has their own rhythm, find yours and run with it. Ours just happens to be all over the place since we’re constantly on the road and we’re night owls. Finding your style early on and being true to yourself about what is achievable on a daily basis will save you many a headache.
YOU WILL NOT COMPLETE THE ENTIRE CURRICULUM BOOK. On a blunt note homeschool is about flexibility. You won’t finish the workbook but that doesn’t mean your child didn’t grasp the concepts. My goal for this year is for us to allow the progression of our learning to move organically.
#3 The Pressure
Soooo much pressure. From friends and family and strangers alike who are rooting for you to fail. Analyzing your child each time they approach you in an attempt to point out your failures as a home educator because your child can’t yet spell the word “asparagus”… after all, if she’s homeschooled she should be a genius- right?
Don’t allow the external and internal pressures to get to your head. You are amazing. The decision you made is the right one. No one cares more about your child’s education than you.
$3 Be Intentional
The grocery store, the ride home from church, a visit to the barbershop (in our case). All of these are opportunities to have meaningful conversations and lessons with your child. Be intentional of your time together and you’ll be surprised at just what your child’s take away is.
#4 Feed their Curiosity
Never-never-never-never stop asking questions. Our kids do as we do, not as we say. So be curious, ask lots of questions and allow them to do the same. This allows a platform for loving to learn regardless of the subject, regardless of the medium.
This year we are going minimal. Our goals are attainable and realistic. And with incorporations adopted from “Salty Tribe Co.” and "Homeschool of Belair" I really feel like we are setting ourselves up for success!
Here’s what we’ll be doing:
Math/Science *alternating
Reading
Spanish/Geography
Scripture
Piano
