Homeschool Colours Project

A fellow mama in our housing co-op and I have endeavored to teach simple lessons once a week to our 3 year olds on Tuesday mornings alternating homes and lesson planning.  My first lesson was about colours.  We talked about the primary and secondary colours.  The most popular project of the day was dropping food colouring into clear cups of water to watch how the colours mixed.  So we started with yellow, blue and red and then created purple, orange and green.

This was a great activity that a fellow mama told me about.  And water, cups and food colouring are usually on hand.  Next we filled in colour wheels to give us an idea about what the wheels look like and how the colours connect to each other.

We then read:

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Rainbow Fun! by Beth Harwood

and Van Gogh's World of Colour by Julie Aigner-Clark

These books are very simple but kept the theme accessible.  We see these learning days as fun first and more of an introduction than teaching as you would with older children.

Our final activity was a game that I made up.  I placed coloured fabric in a circle around the room and we laid out the names of the colours in English, French and Spanish around their appropriate fabric.  With the help of this Cd (which I loved by the way) we said the words together.  Then each child took a bag with coloured objects and placed them on the mats as we called out the different names.

This game was easy to do with toys and objects I had on hand.  The Cd I borrowed from the library and the books we had on hand.  Such a fun start to our home pre-school.

On a side note Kyan really picked up more than I thought when he said in the car the other day: "It's Amarillo, right Mama?"  and we then had fun going over all the names together.  Little minds really are like sponges.

Learning about time with collage

Hello all!
I wanted to share a little project that my 3 year old and I did recently.  He has developed an interest in time: "When will I be 4?"
"When will it snow?"
"When does soccer class start?"

So in the interest of helping him understand time passing, seasons, months and weeks we made a simple collage with calendars and activities recorded.  Granted he can't read yet but we can look at it together and learn from the images and words.

This can be as elaborate or simple as you want and we created this from what we had on hand.  I found the calendar template here, we used old magazines for images, coloured paper, a pressed maple leaf and crayons.  You could also incorporate stickers, family photos or other artwork. Bristol board, a long roll of paper (what we used) or even fabric could be used for the background.

Things can be added throughout the season, you can make them reusable for next year or recycle them and start fresh.  I plan to do this project each season this year so I'm keeping a look out for any materials we can use in the future.

This is also a great way for kids to learn to use scissors, glue or other mediums like paint or pastels.  The beauty of this is that we did it in a day sporadically.  If you have more than one child you can make one for each of them so that the dates or holidays that they consider special can be highlighted.  Right now ours is in the family room but I think we'll move it into Kyan's room in a few weeks.

 
What I love about collage is that there is no "right" way to do it.  Any child at any age can participate and make this project their own.  As an added bonus I found this book at the library this week.  It delves into the concept of time from seconds to seasons and has deepened the conversation.  

I came across this amazingly powerful challenge a bit too late in the year to implement with my kindergarten students, but wanted to share for all you homeschooling mamas & papas.  Looking at your environment now gives you plenty of time to plan ahead for a future project that would benefit our planet.

Here is what the site says about Siemens:

Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge is "the only national sustainability challenge that empowers students in every grade level to develop and share environmental solutions that just may change the world!"

The process seems simple:

• Go online.  Create a team. 
• Brainstorm with your children an environmental change that needs to be addressed in your home, classroom or school. 
• Come up with a plan to address the problem and implement the plan.

I really want to do something with lunch waste... both recyclable and compostable.  Not sure exactly how to gather data and what to do yet, but I guess that is what next year's kiddos will help me decide.

Please go check out the challenge and consider signing up next school year.  The environmental impact alone is enough of a reason for me, but there are prizes too... really BIG prizes. 

I could list the prizes for you here, but I really want you to take a look at the site for yourself.  I think you just might be interested.

What environmental issue do you think your children could address?

Waldorf, homeschooling, and painting

I just wanted to pass on this website... it's awesome. There's a lot of great stuff about homeschooling if you browse around.

Anyway, here's the article at Simple Homeschool about wet-on-wet painting... and I just bought my paints at Bella Luna Toys. I can't wait to sit down and paint with the kids. I think it's a great way to use nature as inspiration with color, do something fun with them, and teach them something all at once!

I am a Pagan Homeschooler

Seriously! I am, and it's not an oxymoron. Many people still live under the misunderstanding that homeschooling is for the extreme Christian right-winger's living in a 'compound' somewhere in the west. But homeschooling is actually becoming more and more popular with Pagan families. Why? Well, for one, we Pagan parents tend to think outside of the box about parenting. We tend to fall within the Attachment Parenting purview. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term - Attachment Parenting is defined as parenting principles based on the attachment theory and developmental psychology. According to Wikipedia, "According to attachment theory, the child forms a strong emotional bond with caregivers during childhood with lifelong consequences. Sensitive and emotionally available parenting helps the child to form a secure attachment style which fosters a child's socio-emotional development and well being. Less sensitive and emotionally available parenting or neglect of the child's needs may result in insecure forms of attachment style, which is a risk factor for many mental health problems. In extreme and rare conditions the child may not form an attachment at all and may suffer from reactive attachment disorder as defined in DSM-IV and ICD-10. Principles of attachment parenting aim to increase development of child's secure attachment and decrease insecure attachment." Basically we tend to breast feed, don't do 'cry it out', may withhold vaccinations, and believe in keeping children "intact" (no circumcising). Not all Pagans live this way, nor do all homeschoolers, but I believe a large part of being a Pagan is believing in nature - if the Gods made my son with a foreskin I'm not going to cut it off unless his health demands it.

Furthermore, I wanted to give my children an education that was completely molded to their personalities. One that would allow them to focus on their strengths while gently working on their weaknesses. One that encourages them to be a 'square' rather than forcing them to be just another 'round peg to fit into the pre-formed holes' that represent the general public school system. I wanted them to not have to face peer pressure and discrimination until they were so strong in their own sense of self, that they would find such discrimination ridiculous instead of psychologically damaging.

Homeschooling also relates directly to my faith. I wanted to give my children an education strong in science and nature, one that was strong in History with an unbiased view - one that gives honest historical counts instead of the 'might makes right' that is taught today. I didn't want them cooped up in a cement building learning about nature, I wanted the freedom to take them within the beauty the Gods had blessed us with. I wanted to have High Holy Days off of school so that we could spend each one honoring the day and the Gods. A large part of my oldest sons curriculum is based on building his first Book of Shadows (he's 9 y/o). I'm trying to give him a well rounded religious education - one that teaches him the major tenets of all the worlds major religions, not just my own. Since being a Druid is about knowledge, I want my kids to know what I believe but be informed enough to make an educated decision about their own beliefs later in life. I wanted the freedom to take the Pledge of Allegiance and change the wording slightly - "under the Gods". I wanted them to be free to give blessings throughout the day without persecution, whenever the mood strikes them. Next year I'm hoping to expand his Book of Shadows to include the medicinal and magickal uses of herbs.

So, yes, my homeschooling is unique because we are a Pagan family. But, being a Pagan didn't really make the decision to HS for me. Really when my oldest was about 2 y/o I asked a friend who tested kids from Head Start to Kindergarten, what children needed to know to get into K. I was shocked and dismayed to realize he was already far past children 3 years his senior. I was dumbfounded - I didn't think he was a genius or that we did anything special.....just talked and read to him regularly. So I had to decide what to do, and I researched homeschool. I found out that in my state there were no rules about what I could and couldn't teach - no restrictions. That my kids could still go to a great college or get a scholarship later. That they could still play sports and do activities. (Which was mostly what convinced my hubby..lol). Once I realized my kids wouldn't miss out on any of the big events of childhood - except being bored out of their mind in school for 9 hours a day - I didn't hesitate. My kids have never been to PS. My 9 y/o tests at a 5 - 6th grade level and my 6 y/o tests at a 2nd grade level (which is common, since homeschool is mostly one-on-one teaching, kids tend to be about 2 grades ahead of their public school counterparts.) Anyone looking for more information to begin homeschooling, or encouragement, feel free to contact me! Or you can read my articles - Kickbuttmama's Articles. I'm working to put my son's Book of Shadows digital, which includes my lesson plans on things like the seasons and science. Once it's complete I'll be happy to share it!

Brightest Blessings!
Shannon
aka - The Kickbuttmama, Mistress LynxSeer 

Seasonal Scrapbook

An activity that has become one that my daughter enjoys immensely is filling in our family seasonal scrapbook.  She is very particular about what she likes to put in it and doesn't really like to listen to my suggestions but the important thing is that it really gets her thinking about and discussing the seasonal changes that can otherwise easily pass us by. Above is her first exploration of autumn.

What I think is lovely about this idea is that everyone in the family can contribute and think about it. As time passes we can look back over the pages and compare the ideas and impressions we came up with. The possibilities are endless and I have found this a really valuable tool for both developing a link for children with nature and working on their other skills of writing, communication and creativity.

Blessings of the season to all of you, I hope you all have a wonderful Mabon.

Freebie of the day

Here is a little treasure that I have just found. I didn't want to just plop it straight into the resources list without yelling about it first!
Freebie of the day - wonderful resources to download free and use with the kiddies. Aimed at homeschoolers generally but provides lots of nature based information/activities that Pagan families are sure to find very useful.

http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/