Preschool - Homeschool

After much debate about whether to have Reagan begin a formal preschool this Fall we decided to try a homeschool approach. I was homeschooled and Tim and I are seriously considering homeschooling the kids when they reach school age. In the end it seemed logical to see how preschool homeschool went as a way to see if homeschooling in general would be a good fit for our family. We officially began the beginning of August and so far have enjoyed the experience. We are loosely following a Montesorri approach. Along those lines and after our zoo visit the end of July, because Reagan has developed an interest in dinosaurs we have begun our school year by using dinosaurs as way to explore and learn about a number of subjects. Reagan is also taking dance and violin lessons this year. We have also joined the Bluegrass Homeschool Learning Cooperative (BHLC). Reagan participates in a class every Thursday with children her age as well as having the opportunity to participate in a variety of social activities with other homeschool families.

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This was a picture taken the beginning of September before Reagan went to her first official BHLC class.

Reagan and Kennedy enjoyed their first water balloon fight in August with their new BHLC friends

I thought I took more pictures of activities we did during our first week but apparently not... I did manage to take a few pictures though. :) In this math activity we created a bug zoo (we would have had a dinosaur zoo but I didn't have enough small dinosaur figurines). Reagan had to sort and count the animals and then find the cage with the corresponding number. Then she was to draw the number of dots to match the numbers. She surprised me by wanting to also write the numbers and did a great job. Go Reagan!
Kennedy has been able to participate in many of our activities by my modifying and simplifying them. During this project we used fewer bugs and her job was basically to sort and count.

Not surprisingly the girls love art projects. This particular one was creating a dinosaur and utilized painting, cutting (which we really need to work on) and gluing skills. Can't believe I didn't take a picture of the finished project!

If anyone has any suggestions for us of cool projects or learning ideas we'd love to hear them! Wish us luck! :)