We are now 11 weeks into Helen's kindergarten year. Wow! We are having a great time. Even before we moved to Thailand I longed to home school. Now, it is nearly a necessity. I do think that I might be just a bit more excited about it all than Helen. Daniel hangs out with us for as long as his interest lasts. He's only 3 1/2 so some days that's not long at all.


Here is a typical day for us:

* Bible story, one hymn (we usually spend about 3 weeks working on the first verse of a well known hymn), and Bible verse for the week

* Read Alouds: this usually includes a Mother Goose poem and a fable or another short story

* Either a Science or a Social Studies read aloud. We are currently reading from a Berenstein Bears Science book, and an Usborne book about different kinds of jobs people do

* An early learning worksheet

* And occasionally, a fun hands on project/game

This lasts anywhere from 30-90 minutes, depending on the interest level.


After lunch when Sam and Daniel take naps Helen and I work on:

*Handwriting

*Math

*Thai

*Spelling

*Reading

*Art

*Memorizing Poetry


Though it looks like a lot, we don't usually spend more than 10-15 minutes on any one thing and we certainly don't tackle everything everyday! Our afternoon session is about an hour.

We are using Sonlight and though at first I had other plans for home school, this has turned out to be a great fit for us now. It is a literature based history program, meaning that history is the base of the curriculum with lots of period literature added in. For the most part "living books" (books written by one author who is knowledgeable and writes from his love/interest on the subject) are used instead of textbooks. Also, it does a great job with world cultures and missions. It is a curriculum well known for its excellent choice in books. If you love to read to your children, the Sonlight catalog is a great resource for finding books worth reading.

Remember Highlights Magazine??

If you have little ones kindergarten age or so, this Highlights website should be quite entertaining for them. Helen and Daniel are especially enjoying the hidden pictures games.

Also, here is a great site for free homeschooling material--something new and free each weekday.

We're Headed Out

Pun has meetings to attend in Hua Hin for the rest of the week and this time we can all tag along. So while he is meeting away, the rest of us will be playing in a hotel room or swimming in a pool...yippee! We are all excited! It sure beats sitting at home without him.

Before we leave, though, I wanted to share another neat resource I have come across. If you have time take a look at this post. I found this calendar there and have really enjoyed using it in my own prayer time. It is an excellent tool to use when praying for our children, but I also use it to pray for myself and Pun as well as a springboard into thanksgiving and praise to God for being the example or fulfillment of that particular quality.

Have great week!

Useful Stuff

I read blogs by mothers of preschoolers and homeschoolers. Often they post about toys or educational items that they find useful. I like this because I want to know what others are using and what they think works well. Maybe you (who have little ones) would like to know what my little ones like.

Magformers.




Oh Boy. We bought these while we were in the states and they were an instant hit with Helen and especially Daniel, with me, with everyone who saw them. They just scream for you to pick them up and play with them. I wanted to get some sort of magnetic construction toy for our kids, but the ones I saw at the department stores were just not made for preschoolers. These, though, are much larger and perfect for little hands to handle. We bought the set with squares and triangles only, but they also make hexagons and octagons. Inside each one is 3 to 4 powerful round magnets (so they won't repel). You place them close to each other and they snap together on there own. They come in several sets including a new one that has wheels. If you know us, you know that we are a frugal family. These are not cheap, but in our opinion, worth it. My kids play with them everyday. I have to tell you...so much fun.