Homeschool Friends

The exciting part about homeschooling is that you can "meet" people from all parts of the country and beyond. This week we were mailed a "Flat Sarah" to take pictures with and send on. As you can see, Flat Sarah spent one of her days riding bikes with Georgia.

Practicing the Letter "G"

Georgia is beginning to get the hang of writing a "T" in chalk and makes a lot of swirly movements for the letter "G."

Here is her recent backyard art and coloring of our horse sculpture.

In the meantime, Theo contentedly played in the sandbox, repeatedly pouring and shoveling the sand.

Zoo

One great thing about living in the city is how close we are to everything. The zoo is about 10 blocks away and we have a family membership, which translates to us being frequent visitors. This weekend we went with the specific intent to feed the giraffe's and parakeets. Georgia also really wanted to see the flamingo's ('mingo's) and pet the goats. Here are some pictures of us in action.

Socialization

Here is Georgia and a new friend at her Grandpa's funeral. She is only 2.5 and the other child was 4....but she stole the show by grabbing his hand and leading him to where she wanted to go.

Fall curriculum

If I were still teaching (in a classroom) I know that by August I would be mentally preparing for the upcoming school year. Some things never leave you, and once again I find myself envisioning how our fall will play out. Which topics are essential? Some off the top of my head are:

1. letter recognition: tracing, magnet play, letter building with found objects (sticks, q-tips, raisins, etc.)
2. color exploration: learning the difference between primary and secondary colors, replicating a color wheel, finger painting, brush painting, straw painting
3. cooking: measuring, planning a menu, grocery shopping, mixing and tasting :)
4. outdoor exploration: fall hikes, exploring our environment, tree and leaf rubbings
5. insects and mammals: differences, visits to the zoo, many art projects
6. social interaction: visit the fire station, weekly playdates with homeschoolers, and Georgia will begin taking an "active" class; either gymnastics or indoor soccer

Summer Curriculum

I know the kids are still young, but I am really trying to take advantage of the weather and get in as many outdoor types of activities as possible...while we have more sun than rain.

So, far, we have spent our summer involved in the following activities:
building sand castles
practicing pouring and digging on the beach
collecting shells and rocks
city walks (often helped by a stroller ride)
exploring all areas of the zoo
tending to Georgia's veggie garden (tomatoes, radishes, and strawberries)
feeding our compost worms
practicing balance and gravity at the park
writing with sidewalk chalk
more pouring with water in our backyard pool
learning to balance and ride G's Skuut bike (balance bike)
Berry picking

We plan to also include:
horseback riding on our horse, Star
camping with our friends, Leah and Thom
visiting a water park
swimming in an outdoor pool

Any other suggestions?

Learning to Walk

It is kind of like homeschooling, isn't it? Learning to take small steps and have confidence in ourselves. Here are pictures of Theo learning to walk.