Remembrance Day - In Flanders Fields

Katerina's homeschooling is keeping me busy. She's progressing very well, and is already about halfway through the Grade 1 curriculum. She loves the math and science, but isn't too fond of English.

Here's a video of Katerina reading the Remembrance Day poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae:

School Registration Complete

In BC, homeschooled children need to be registered with an accredited school, and this must be completed by September 30. We heard back from her local public school this morning, and got everything finished by about 1:00. The school secretary has been working there for 10 years, yet Katerina is the very first homeschooled child she has ever registered for kindergarten.

Katerina started her "official" homeschooling on September 3. I prepare the lesson plans a day ahead, giving her a variety of subjects to cover each day. Morning is our P.E. time (physical education), then on to the reading and writing practice. Afternoons are arithmetic and science. She covers about 1 hour of academic work each day, then arts & crafts and other play pretty much fills up the rest of her time. So far Katerina says about school: "I don't like the writing part, but I LOVE the science experiments."

Educational Toys

When does home schooling really begin? The whole point is to take responsibility for your child's education, and that starts way before they're 5 years old.

Katerina's toys at 3 years, 4 months:

We've looked at (and played with!) so many games and toys - Some we liked, and others hardly got a 2nd glance. As far as early education toys go, by far the best we've found so far is the "Leap Pad + Writing" from LeapFrog. The recommended age for most of the modules is 5+, but that didn't matter a bit to Katerina. She got one last Christmas when she was 2 1/2 (which meant that I had to help her use it until recently). It took her 10 months to figure out how to write the numbers 1 to 10.

I certainly don't push or force any of Katerina's learning - It's more like just trying to keep up with her, and provide for her interests. With all the toys and games she has to choose from, she still pulls out her LeapPad at least once a week and insists I use it with her.

The 2 other classics that she loves to play right now are "Mousetrap" and "Snakes & Ladders".