learning everywhere & anywhere

every moment is an opportunity to learn.

Ashlyn found some pinecones under one of our trees in the yard. i told her to gather as many as she could find and then we could count them.

one my goal during these early days of our homeschool journey is to inject knowledge into our everyday, regular moments. make sure learning unrestricted, not forced and always fun.

dinosaurs & the zoo

we are very fortunate to have one of top zoos in Canada right here in our city. we have a family membership and are able to go as often as we want. Ashlyn loves the zoo and would be happy to go every day i believe.

like a lot of children Ash is very interested in dinosaurs and living in alberta we are home to an abundance of dinosaur history. the zoo has a prehistoric park that takes you on a walk through what it might have looked like here when dinosaurs were alive and they offer a dig a dino preschool program that she is registered for. we also have the royal tyrrell museum just an hour and half away that will will be visiting soon.

 

here are a few highlights from our last trip to the zoo. A's favorite animal right now is the giraffe. 

our journey has begun

after a few weeks of organizing and slowly adding in a new routine our homeschool journey has begun. we are starting out slow and making sure everything we do is fun and is based on A's interests. i am gathering tons of references, as well as support.

every day she asks to do school work in her workbook. so we sit down together and go through a few pages. once she has lots interest or i notice her attention drifting we simply stop and do something else.

reading is probably the best thing for children to help them learn and love learning. so we go to the library once a week and make sure we are reading a few books each day.

the rest of her days are filled with creating art. with crayons, with chalk, with paint, with crafts. as well as lots of free play (indoor and outdoor).

this morning she was up a few minutes before i was and she was sitting at the table practicing writing with her write and erase. if you make learning FUN it wont seem like work. everything is working its self into a sort of rhythm and most importantly Ashlyn is loving everything and is thriving. there isn't too much more this mama could ask for.

creating a learning home.

something i have been thinking about and wanting for awhile now.  and just recently i have gotten great support by my husband, family, and dear friend and was able to share what my heart was telling me. which is to home school my children.  now my reasons for this aren't what you would automatically think, there is a lot of stereotypes when it comes to homeschooling.  i am not trying to shelter or baby my girls.  i am not in any way implying public school is bad. what i want is to offer a different way of learning that fits my children's needs.  i want them to enjoy their childhood, i want to nurture their love of learning, i want to teach them how to learn instead of what to learn and i want them be free from the pressure and stress of school.

we are still over a year away from kindergarten, but we are taking this time to find our way towards homeschooling.  small steps to get us comfortable to this new world and routine.  this blog is going to serve as a way to document our journey as we walk this path.  at the moment we are in the midst of transforming our home into a learning home (which i will be sharing with you in my next blog post).

i am a realistic person and i know this journey is not for the faint of heart. which is why we are taking each day as it comes, filling our home with love and the tools to learn. and when the hard days come i will re-read this article and take comfort in her words. 

we’re scared, then we’re brave; we dare, then we falter.
we take a baby step of purpose, laying those bricks with sweat, tears,
and prayer each and every morning.   
-jamie martin