Homeschool Decisions

I've had  many naysayers telling me that I shouldn't try to teach my daughter anything at her age. I've been feeling discouraged because she knows stuff that many 2 year are not expected to know, and none of it was of my doing. I haven't pushed her to learn so far I guess right now she's a natural learner. I just don't understand why people are telling me not to do anything just let her play. I think she needs more of a challenge, I see nothing wrong with teaching her to read at 3 years old. That's why I'm dead set on getting her hooked on phonics when she turns 3 years old, plus they advertise that they are for 3 to 8-year-olds, I see no reason not to try. I'm also dead set on trying Moving beyond the page first I like the idea of unit studies, and literature based studies, over other methods. What I'm having trouble deciding is what to do for math, I like the idea of concepts and reasoning over rules and repetition. That's why I'm preferring Life of Fred, but Life of Fred is short and I feel I would need to add more to it, I was thinking of Mammoth Math but now I'm thinking of Singapore math. I think I will go with Singapore because it includes a kindergarten level. I can't wait for things to get started.

Making a Homeschool Plan

I've been making a plan for homeschooling and comparing prices it's been overwhelming for me especially since I'm not going to start for a while. (DD is only 2)
For Pre-K I was thinking of starting Hooked on Phonics, Kumon First Steps or My Book Of..., and Before Five in a Row. I'm hoping to start Pre-K when she turns 3 just to see how it goes, if she takes to it awesome, if not I'll put it away for a little while.
For Kindergarten through 6th I'm hoping to use Moving Beyond the Page, I like the idea of a literature based curriculum. For math I'm still debating between Math Mammoth and Life of Fred, I could do a mixture of both but I'll have to wait and see how she does.
I'm also hoping to start a Latin program early on, I've been looking at Sing Song Latin, for 1st an 2nd, then Latin for Children, for 3rd, 4rth, and 5th, and then Latin Alive afterwards. When she gets older I'll let her decide on a foreign language, probably around middle school if she is doing well with everything else.
I want her to learn ASL but I think she would actually have to take classes for that. Maybe the Signing Time DVD's would work but only so much.
I'm getting nervous about making homeschool plans because she may not take well to the programs I'm choosing and that could be painful especially with how expensive these programs can be. We'll just have to see.

Weekly Goals 6/2/13

Personal Goals
-Drink at least 3 bottles of water a day
-Exercise at least 3 times this week
-Start a daily to-do list

Family goals
-read to Bear every night before bed
-no TV after 11(trying to get her to go to bed earlier)

Organizational goals
-Clean the bathroom
-Do a load of laundry every day

Weekly goals for 5/26/2013

Trying to get back to organization since I have nothing to do all summer long.

Personal Goals:
-Drink Water
-Exercise 3 times this week
-Read 3 chapters of City of Bones, and 1 chapter of Real Food for Mother and Baby

Family Goals:
-Read to Bear every night after bath
-No more juice or milk after bath
-Have at least 3 family meals together at the table.

House Goals:
-Clean the Kitchen and Keep it clean
-Weed the Garden and plant the tomatoes

Summer Goals

Since I do have a Summer class this year, I'm really wanting to try goal setting again. I have a few goals for the summer.
1. I'm going to start exercising again, since I'm pregnant it's mainly going to be yoga, I found a few prenatal yoga's and pilates.
2. I'm going to start weekly goals again. Mainly on Sundays. I also want to do daily to-do lists but that can wait.
3. I want to start menu planning again, it worked well last time I don't know why I stopped, I might try doing a two week or monthly plan.
4. Potty train my little one. It needs to happen and I know she's ready.
Those are my main goals for summer.
Sunday I'm going to start my weekly goals.

Garden Journal April 11, 2013

Just a short garden journal entry.

What has sprouted:

·         -Radish

·         -Black Seeded Lettuce

·         -Iceberg Lettuce

·         -Cantaloupe

·         -Red Sunflower

·         -Marigold

·         -Danvers half long carrot

·         -Other Carrot that I lost the seed packet and didn't label properly

·         -Marketmore Cucumber

Notes:

Grapevine is producing leaf buds; need to make a bigger trellis.

Strawberries are all doing better.

Haven’t watered waiting for rain.

Dirt under my nails (life update)

It's April, the weather is lovely, I've been in the garden planting and stuff. I've filled my current seed trays and I already have radishes, two different lettuces, and cabbage sprouted. I bought some Strawberry seedlings that are okay, some of them are thriving well, others need a little help. I also bought one blackberry plant that I recently put into the ground I need to get another one so that it will pollinate well. I started a sort of back-to-eden garden I don't currently have access to free wood chips so I'm just layering newspaper and compost.
My time management has gotten better. I'm now ahead in my classes. The assignments are given to me on Monday and I am able to finish them before the weekend. Most of the time within two days. Now to focus on my organization.