On Education



There are many things I love about raising my children. One of my favorites is making sure they each receive a solid and well rounded education. As their mother I am their primary teacher. I don't believe learning should only take place in the classroom. Each new day is full of opportunities to grow and learn in many ways.

I am fortunate that I have been able to be a stay at home mom at this point in our children's lives. This allows me to focus more on them. I am not running them to daycare or a babysitter so I can work a busy day and then pick them up afterwards only to make a rushed dinner. What a blessing to be able to take life more slowly and savor the quiet moments together! There is time for reading a story -or five- and going to the playground. For enjoying a quiet walk in the woods or a visit to our local library.

There has never been a better time to be a homeschool teacher. There are many curriculums to choose from and countless resources that can be used. I like to take pieces from several curriculums and round it out with books I find at our library or on Amazon. I incorporate the philosophies of both Charlotte Mason and Maria Montessori in my teaching. (More on them in later posts.)

I greatly enjoyed teaching Brendan the year before he went to school. When he was ready for kindergarten we enrolled him in a Catholic school I went to years ago. He has done well there and is now in the fourth grade. Even though he goes to school we still work together at home. There have been many happy hours spent together reading books aloud or learning more about art, history and science. Brendan is very good at math and likes to practice extra problems. He also keeps his mind busy by doing crosswords, word searches and playing chess with his father and myself.

My daughter starts kindergarten in a year so there will be many posts to come about what she is learning at home. The preschool years are a lot of fun. My next post will be about our visit to the Yale Center for Bristish Art tomorrow.