BLEUBIRD BLOG

AROUND HERE

hello! this week has been a productive one for me. summer vacation is coming to an end and it's time to get back into school mode around here. i took the big kids clothes shopping the other day. they grew like weeds over the summer. shoes were getting tight and pants were getting a little short. we stocked up and now they are set for a few months. i filled out all of the necessary paperwork for homeschooling this year. i ordered our books the other day and pulled out some others that i collected over the summer. the rest of the week will be for mapping out the first term of our school year, creating a schedule to follow as far as goals for learning and signing the kids up for their outside classes and activities. i am hoping to put together a small field group here in nashville for mine and other homeschooling kids to come together once a week and explore nature, meet new friends and learn together. i plan on putting together a brief outline of our homeschooling schedule, book list and a glance at how we do things like i did last year for you all shortly.

i have been looking into a morning program for birdie to attend a couple of times a week. i think that she will enjoy it. we will continue her montessori at home activities and i look forward to sharing some of them here with you again.

photos above from top to bottom... a big batch of hard boiled eggs. / pancakes for breakfast. / a thoughtful, early birthday gift for sailor from erin at amelia presents. / birdie hiding under my pillows. / some new books. / homemade banana bread made by birdie.

MONTESSORI AT HOME

peeling and slicing and egg. self explanatory really, but afterwards she made her own snack and placed the egg slices on crackers and gave them a small shake of salt. this was a hit! she has asked to "make eggs" twice since.

getting dressed... sounds simple enough, but as birdie gets older so does her need for self determinism, and getting her to do the things that we want her to do can be a daunting task. in a nut shell, she has been refusing to wear clothes as of late. this is something that is common with toddlers and can be a battle when needing to go somewhere. i have been putting together options for her so that she can feel like she is somewhat in control of what she wears. i give her three different outfit choices (usually a dress option, a shorts option and a pants option) she then chooses which outfit she wants to wear and i help her get dressed, with her doing most of the work. still a new exercise, but she is really enjoying it... and wearing clothes. 

MONTESSORI AT HOME

birdie working on her cutting. a practical life exercise recommended for children ages 3-5. she loved this one.

weekly nature hikes near our home have become a treasure and something that all of the kids look forward to. this past week we have found white tailed deer, a box turtle, numerous turkeys, tadpoles, worms, tiny snails, moths, a robin's nest filled with newly hatched baby birds, various bones, walking sticks, odd bugs and more. i am so incredibly thankful to have found a home surrounded by nature for our family. yesterday there were a couple of doves trying to get into one of the living room windows, it was pretty entertaining to watch and there was the cutest little humming bird flying outside of our kitchen window. it's been such a big change from city life and we absolutely love it.

birdie cherishes her walks has been collecting flowers, plants, leaves, pebbles and nuts along the way. we had her tape some of her findings onto paper and then hang it up above her play kitchen. it made a beautiful piece of art.

i want to thank you for all of the kind words and feedback regarding the recent pre-school/montessori at home posts. this is still pretty new to us, but we are enjoying it and i love sharing our experiences with you here. many of you have asked about montessori references and where to find them. i have two montessori books at the moment that i am so inspired by. this one is specifically for the pre-school years and has been a great guide for us. this one is for ages 3-12+ and i am just digging in but loving it and am learning so much. it has inspired me to change so many things in our home and to find child size supplies and create child size stations in almost every room to help both birdie and sailor become independent. i am also excited to read more about montessori with older kids to see how i can use the method with them too.

many of you have asked for me to post more on my older kids and their homeschooling. i posted a little bit about what i do with them here and will work on an updated post with some book references for you all soon.

footnote: i understand that many people have different opinions on education and homeschooling and i am okay with that. i welcome debate and questions in the comments. what i am not okay with are rude or hateful comments towards mine or any other parents right to decide how to educate their children or any other issue for that matter. if i see them, they will be deleted.

MONTESSORI AT HOME

this week we focused on two practical-life montessori exercises with birdie. "setting a table" which is simply learning how to properly arrange a place setting. the purpose is to develop control of movement and coordination and also to teach appreciation of manners and social amenities. we also had her "pouring rice" which is pouring rice from pitcher to cup. it's purpose is to develop the muscles involved in pouring and to pour from pitcher to cup without spilling. birdie did great!