A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.

this years school books are slowly trickling in each day. an exciting time for us, not only because we get to see what we will be learning this first term, but also there are packages arriving on our doorstep and packages are always exciting for kids to open.

the list of reader questions on the subject of homeschooling is quite long. i have attempted to answer them in a giant post that is saved in my drafts titled "why i homeschool" but there it sits, unfinished and nowhere near completion. i figure it would be good to share a bit here and there and answer a question or two rather than trying to tackle them all at once.

so here goes...

Q. how do you plan on juggling homeschooling your two older children with a toddler and newborn baby at home?

A. i plan on doing just that, juggling. to be completely honest i am not all that worried about the homeschooling aspect of it. i am more nervous about bringing a new baby into our family, as i think most expecting mamas are no matter how many kids they have at home. it will be an adjustment. the schedule that we used last year may not be the same one we use this year. things will change, but we will figure it out. we always do. i should be able to answer this question better once things settle into place after the baby is born.

Q. what curriculum do you use?

A: we do not use or follow one set curriculum. there are so many different options out there and there are so many different ways to learn. i found it important to try different methods to make sure that we found something that fit the lifestyle and mold of our family. what we have found what works best for us is a good combination of the charlotte mason method, montessori along with some unschooling. i will go more into depth about each of these and why there are right for us in the future, but right now i will share some of the books that we are using this first term, as many of you wanted to know. most of them are not your standard textbook, as textbooks tend to be dumbed down for children with the sole purpose of cramming a lot of information into a ones mind. we try to read books dedicated to the subject so we can fully understand and get the whole picture of what it is we are learning about.

history / for julian: The Story of Mankind. for milla plum: Leonardo Da Vinci.

geography / for julian: The Story of David Livingstone. for plum: Adventures of Marco Polo.

natural history and science / for both: The Handbook of Nature Study.

science biography / for julian: Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity (Barrons Solution Series).

penmanship / for plum: Italic Handwriting Series Book C.

spelling / for both: The ABC's and All Their Tricks.

grammar / for both: Simply Grammar.

math / we use: Teaching Textbooks.

foreign language / we use: Learnables French.

poetry / for julian: Robert Frost. for plum: William Blake.

literature / for julian: The Hobbit. for plum: The Princess and the Goblin.

free reading / chosen from a list of recommended books... for julian: The Swiss Family Robinson. for plum: A Little Princess.

again, these are our first term books in each subject. once we have finished them we will move on to other books. we do many things when homeschooling, it's not just reading... we do fun science projects and art projects. we take field trips, go on nature walks and use watercolor journals to reflect on the things we have learned and discovered. the kids take outside group classes for their other interests such a music lessons, tennis and ballet class. it's a good mix and we love it.

i also plan on starting some light pre-school learning with birdie a couple of times a week.

i hope that this answered a couple of your questions. if you have more, feel free to ask them below. but please no rude or judgemental comments about our choice to homeschool. thank you.