I've been giving much thought lately to homeschooling. Oh, I'm happy with the international school here that Gracyn will attend, but as we return home next year, I have been feeling that I would homeschool Gracyn for that year. I've been reading up on as much as I can to understand what homeschooling entails and what curricula exists for us to choose. I've been particularly interested in a curriculum called Sonlight as it uses real literature to teach subjects as opposed to textbooks that present facts in a very dry manner. The philosophy of this company has really resonated with me. My team mate Rhianna, let me borrow a book about Charlotte Mason who has much to say about the way children learn. Charlotte lived in the 1800's, yet her approach to education seems fresh. She also is a huge proponent of using "living or whole books" to teach. Living books are books written by one author who has a firm grasp of a certain subject matter. It has really struck me to foster an environment of reading in our home. Our kids have always loved books, but I need to carve out time daily to read great stories to them. It improves vocabulary, stirs the imagination, promotes concentration and so much more. It can even help with discipline as you can appeal to your children through the examples of the great characters they meet in books. Children often emulate what they are exposed to. I'm really excited to think about all the great stories we can read together. There are so many classics out there. We may not "officially" start homeschooling for one more year and we may only do it for the one year, but we can apply these principles here and now and carry them through for years to come. Unfortunately. there aren't many public libraries in Thailand for us to check out books. Actually there is one downtown called the Neilsen Hayes library, but it would be a haul to get there and return books. Maybe we can make the trip a few times. If, not I guess we will have to buy more books. Gracyn and I started reading The Secret Garden today. It is a retelling of the original, but Gracyn seems to enjoy it. We finished half the book today! At bed time she was lamenting not being able to finish tonight. Tomorrow is another day!
1 comment:
Dear Kim,
Both of our daughters and two of our daughter-in-laws are or are considering Homeschooling. Both our daughters use Sonlight and have been very happy with it and their children love to read and are all very inquisitive as to what they are learning. This is a family affair and well worth the effort. Husband Pat and I love to help when given the opportunity.
I have been praying that you might become interested in homeschooling. How special that He is leading you in this direction.
helen
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