Try Something New Thursday~ Homeschooling

Lindsay started going to preschool when she was 3 years old.  Ethan was a baby and she was a handful.  It was obvious that she needed structure.

It was a great decision.  She thrived in the preschool environment.  She learned things that I would not have been able to teach her.

And so when Ethan turned 3, we didn't even have a question of whether or not we would send him to preschool.  We knew that he needed it too.

He attended preschool for 2 years and that experience was invaluable to him.

When both kids started kindergarten, we put them in public school.  Many of their friends from preschool were going to the same school, the school had a good reputation, we felt that they needed a school environment, and private schools in the area were too expensive.

If  you know us even a little, you know that we love Jesus.  We work hard at teaching our children to know Him and we pray with and for them all the time.  We are comfortable with them being in a public school environment, because we are intimately involved in their learning.  We have had a few difficulties, but overall their schooling experience has been amazing!

I share this, because it seems that there are some pretty strong opinions about the options that Christian families have for schooling.  And I can appreciate those opinions.  But sometimes I find that we can all be a little judgmental of one another, especially if someone chooses a different option then we do.

So, I wanted to be clear in a blog post about homeschooling that you understand that my oldest two got on the bus this morning to go to public school.

But my youngest is 3 and that means that it is time for preschool!

As we were praying and considering options for Gibson, sending him to preschool was not quite as obvious a decision as it had been with our older two.  He is my baby.  He is socially well adjusted.  And he loves to learn!  He will actually sit and let his "sissy" teach him along with her dolls.

And it became more and more obvious to us that homeschooling Gibson for preschool would be a perfect option.

We started unofficially today.  We will officially start in mid-September, but the boy is READY!

He walked with Lindsay and Ethan to the bus with his new backpack on.  And then he wanted to GO!

I had planned to meet up with some friends for coffee, so we headed to Wegmans.  We packed up his workbook and pencil box, so that he could start his schoolwork.  And I decided on the way to Wegmans that today would be all about RED.

While I ordered coffee, he ordered a red smoothie.  And then he got to work.

After completing his work for the day, we headed out to do some grocery shopping.  He had to pick red items to go in our cart.  The first thing he picked was a red mum.  And then he picked tomatoes and spaghetti sauce, apples and a red pepper.

We worked on recognizing "STOP" on stop signs.  And saying "stop!" at red lights and "go!" when the light turned green.

I love spontaneity and creativity.  Homeschooling for preschool seems to lend itself to these two things.  And so I am excited to be trying this something new.

We have LOTS to learn...

... and we can hardly wait!