I have homeschooled for over 10 years. During that time my beliefs and practices have changed somewhat. For example, homeschooling is less about workbook pages and  more about experiencing the learning opportunities that exist in everyday living. Let me explain what I mean.

Sorting is an important pre-reading skill. Often you see workbooks where children are asked to sort and label illustrations according to color or size. Or they are asked to match illustrations or pick out the one that does not match. These execises are called same/different. Why is this important, you ask? Because a lower case p, q, b, d, are all simply a different arrangement of a line and a circle. It is important for a preschooler to understand that the different arrangements of the circle and line stand for a different sound. Thus training the eye to recognize these differences is very important to preparing a child to read.

A better way to do this is to use everyday objects around the house. When you help your child sort his/her toys into their various bins, you are helping your child prepare for reading. You can sort blocks, legos, hotwheels cars, coins, stuffed animals….the list is endless.

An even better way is to make the activity meaningful. After all, sorting toys just for the sake of sorting will get old very quickly…for both of you. An activity with purpose and value is the best kind of learning activity. With that in mind, our 3 year-old has the responsibility of unloading the silverware. He has to sort forks, spoons, and butter knives, measuring cups, sippy cup lids, etc… (FYI; He doesn’t handle anything dangerous like sharp knives, etc. And I am with him when he does this) It is a hands on experience; multisensory.  And he is helping his family, himself included, to have clean utensils ready for the next meal.

 It is an important job. There is nothing more frustrating than when you’ve just poured yourself a bowl of cereal,with the milk and you open the drawer for a spoon and there aren’t any! Now you have to hunt one down losing precious minutes while your cereal gets soggy!

So, with one activity, I have delegated a chore, he has gained pre-reading skills, he has built his self-esteem by doing something important and needed, we have done something meaningful together, and we can both feel proud of ourselves, yogurt mustache and all.

Now…if only it stayed that simple…Then they turn 16…and take logic…and argue with you about everything…and it happens overnight
Wuzza