Life!-The Best School of All

I had these fantastic, well organized, plans to concisely communicate how I've handled my pre-school aged children in the midst of our home learning environment, and how notebooking fits in so well with my teaching methods. Even for these younger children.
Guess what! Life got in the way.  And I've learned something.  If I just share this with you, our life with preschoolers, as well as all the other school aged children, I will be 'teaching' all of you the same way I 'teach' my children at home.

Okay.....it's time for me to say...in a very self deprecating way...."Duh! Elizabeth!"

Said.  Done.  Now for some 'real life communication' about how you can handle pre-schoolers in a homeschool environment.

I do have specific goals for the education of my offspring. They are....
1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. And, Love your neighbor as yourself.
2) Aquire the academic education necessary to implement and communicate Number One!

Really, that is my simplistic approach to education. And it does begin in the very young years of a child's life. Children learn what they live with and you begin teaching life's principles to them as soon as they are born!

So the question then becomes, "When do you transfer from simple teaching of principle to the more (or less) regimented structure of academic learning?" When the child himself indicates he is 'ripe' for that.  Depending on the environment, your child may be ready and willing (read 'possibly demanding'- here) to 'do school' before many others believe he should be.  Don't fret.   It's okay!  This is your household, your child, your learning environment, and you will know - or learn - what is best for you.

So, what preciptated my now taking the same approach with this blog that I do in schooling my children? 
My two year old.  She is very literate. "Mommy, do you remember you said you would read to me earlier?"  Yes, earlier.  When did she begin using this word?   A few months ago.   And how did she learn it?  Well, I have children in the house that range in age from 24 to 6 months.   And my eldest daughter happens to be a fan of $1.50 words like 'anthropomorphic'.  And we have never believed in 'talking down' to children. Yes, it is necessary to simplify vocabulary in order to start verbally communicating with little ones.  But they really are capable of learning things quickly.  Note the fact that no one taught my little girl this word, or the definition.  She just learned it.
And ...when we started our regular schooling for the year she stood in front of me and told me she needed a paper to do, too.  Yep - TOLD - me this.  Definitely an indication that she is 'ripe' for the start of her structured education.  How did I handle this?  I scrolled through the files on my computer and printed off a very simple matching page from Kidzone.ws.  All she had to do was match the four objects on the one side of the page, to the same four objects on the other side of the page.  I told her she could color it when she was done with the matching.  She happily trotted off to the table to do her work.  The matching was easy for her and done well.  The coloring....well...she has a ways to go with this, but she is only two (and a half).

Thus was executed the first page for her first notebook.  "What!"  I can hear some people saying that.  "You plan to put these pages into a notebook?"  Yes, I do.  "WHY? I'd just throw them away."  Because putting them into a notebook will begin this child on the path to learning organization and responsibility.  She did 'school' and we will care for it just as we do all the other school work done here.  (Check out this post for more on this subject.)

Life!  The path of learning that really is the least resistant, and most fulfilling.  If we let it be.