If you are looking for some books to work on reading with your beginner readers check out BOB books. 

So far we have been using them for a month and Sam still is into reading them. They are short and build on themselves in a way that makes sense for learning phonics while reading. The books start with 4 sounds in the very first book and then slowly build on these sounds through each book that follows. This is perfect for kids who get bored with the same story but are still getting that repetitive practice. And since the books are short and written intentionally, children get win with reading. Which is huge for their confidence!

One big thing I love about the books is that the books avoid sight words, but the pictures are cute and still help tell the story. They still force my son to read the words not just guess the words based off what the picture is showing. 

For us, these books have not had a negative yet. I will surely update this post though if something comes up. Especially, if they don't click with my youngest when it's his turn to start learning to read. 

​Until next time friends!

You are going to decide how you want your children to learn. This seems like a big, daunting question. Once you start picking it apart though, it really shows you where you are going to go.

I have 3 super important questions to start you off on deciding how to homeschool. You know, your personal family may have more things to decide. Or there are family dynamics that make certain homeschooling methods just unreasonable. As you are shaping your families homeschool journey, what you will do will come to light.

Ok so here we go, 3 questions ( also not in an official order) to help you decide:

What worldview do you want to teach your children?

Do you want your children to know God?

How important are electronics within your home?

The answers to each of these questions individually can send you scrambling in many different directions. But when considered TOGETHER your answers actually narrow down in a way that enlightens your homeschool journey. These are foundational questions that NEED an answer. And, you know, maybe that last question seems silly but it should be considered. 

In the coming weeks we will take a look at each question in more depth and explore why the matter.

Til next time friends!

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For pre-school this year, we haven't made it very far in any one type of curriculum. But here are the resources we have used that have been great launching points for Samuel's education. I will say even though I say that Samuel was in pre-k this year, all of these resources are GREAT for kindergarten as well. It really just all depends on where your child is at.

For co-op we are using Classical Conversations with has been great for us. I can't wait to see how well it works for Sam as he gets older.

Math: We are loosely following Preschool Math at Home by Kate Snow. I have loved it. It slows math down, uncomplicates it, and uses fun games and manipulatives to teach children. And usually with items you can easily find at home. For the tea party lesson, instead of dolls we used Sams favorite stuffies and he gave them all cookies. He loved it. My point in this though is the curriculum helped me comfortable with easily changing up the activity for Sam to still learn the concepts.

Language Arts/Reading: We used a reading primer to learn vowels and are now using Bob books to work on reading. Samuel started showing he was ready for reading last summer. So, I thought it made sense to expedite his reading exposure to these books. He is super hesitant to read books on his own even though he is reading all sorts of things in everyday life. 

Family Reading: It's taken us a very long to get anywhere close to finishing a chapter book this year, but I think we will actually finish Winnie the Pooh. We also read from this Childrens Bible for our Bible reading in the mornings. Most children's bible seriously lack a lot of important content. This one is fantastic. And it was written from the KJV and NIV which is important to me.

Writing: Lastly, this is something we do pretty infrequently right now because Samuel fights me so much on it. But he is slowing starting to show interest in writing because he see's other kids writing and drawing. One thing Samuel loves to do is connect the dots. So I have made him a few sheets where he can connect the dots to work on his pencil skills.

The way I am homeschooling here is kind of reminiscent of the classical style of learning. Hopefully as time goes on, we'll be able to add in more reading, especially of the classics. Our big focus has been on playing and other life skills. Thats really what is most important during these younger years anyways.

Until next time friends,

Lori

To know God and to make Him known