Sunday, March 28, 2010

If you Can't Beat 'em, Join 'em!

Just over 2 months left of school for Josh! It is hard to believe how fast it went, how smooth/easy it was for him, and how hard it was for me!

It has taken all these months but I think I have FINALLY figured out a better rhythm for meeting Josh's academic needs. Initially, I thought we would just do school in the morning at home since he was attending PM young 5's. But apparently, we are too lazy to actually get much done that way. I also did not really anticipate that he would have so much homework and extra little things to do.

Another part of this year that was unanticipated was that the curriculum was really MUCH better than I could have even hoped it would be.

So what has worked? Instead of just trying to do the subjects etc... we planned, I actually was able to just add to what he was already learning. Seems obvious, right? But I honestly was not expecting to have enough substance to work with.

When I read the themes they would cover before school began I totally rolled my eyes and laughed because we had pretty much already covered all of it. And of course when I discovered she was using Core Knowledge's Preschool edition I was just reaffirmed. We did that entire book in about 3 weeks over the summer. (By the way, I <3 Core Knowledge!)

But Josh's teacher is amazing and is super into science and challenging all of the students.

For example, right now they are studying oceans. She has taught them...
  • Vertebrate vs Invertebrate (plus a bit with Kingdoms within)
  • The 5 fins on a fish.
  • Who lives where in the ocean and why.
  • and much, much more!

So I have just added bits and pieces to it. I was able to dig out the fish parts puzzle so Josh could trace and label the fins. We put together a cool coral reef puzzle and pulled out the seashell cards. It is really allowing me to incorporate the Montessori activities that I want for Josh in a way that is natural and really comfortable for both of us.

2 comments:

志竹 said...
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aly in va said...

It's nice to be pleasantly surprised by what's being taught and knowing that your child is actually being challenged to learn new things :)