Before venturing on the road, we will be homeschooling in our current home. I am very happy about this opportunity to work out home school before setting out on the road. Living in California makes homeschooling a pretty easy thing to achieve. We will be declaring ourselves as a private school and that will pretty much be that.
Both Bunny and Goose are in Montessori schools. Bunny is in her last month of formal preschool and Goose is almost finished with kindergarten. I am a fan of the Montessori method, especially for young children, however I’m not committed to it. Every school year will include: math, science, language arts, social sciences, natural sciences, foreign language, practical life & health, art and music. P.E. is also required by California state law.
I have the curriculum “Around the World” from Build Your Own Library for Kindergarten. For both Goose and Bunny I will use it for geography, and animal science. I really enjoy the literature angle of this curriculum, so we will of course be using that as well. However, we’re almost finished with one of the main books, so I’ll be modifying it heavily.
For math, I will follow grade level appropriate Singapore or equivalent curricula. Goose has had good experiences with Explode the Code in her Kindergarten, so I think I’ll continue to use that for her. Most of these are available in print and digitally, which is a huge advantage for us.
Art and music are slightly difficult for me. I am the furthest thing from a good artist and the only good thing I can say about music is I can read it. I am also quite bad at the flute. However, I’m good enough to teach Goose the recorder. We’re starting with Hot Cross Buns. Because, of course. Art is going to have to be painting and art projects, which I think is appropriate for this age. If either girl shows an aptitude or interest, I’ll contract out.
For P.E. the girls are both enrolled in gymnastics and ballet. We are also members over at a rock climbing gym. Goose climbs fearlessly (most of the time, those are pretty high walls). Bunny is more cautious, and she climbs very well. She does not like to use the whole wall, she go about 6 feet, stop, go down, climb again. She improves each time, so I know she’ll get to the top soon enough. We’re not pushing.
I’m happy that we are starting so young. I think this will give the opportunity to learn the routine and methods before the subject matter gets harder and before we move to the road.
Jolly Voyages 