Too many projects

As I enter the new year I realize that I continue with the same bad habits. I was trying really hard not to continue the pattern - but I just seem to go in phases. So this week I will start my last grad school class (for now), start our montessori co-op up again, continue my new part-part time job and be a mom to a child who is finally starting to really walk! He has taken more independent steps recently which is very fun. In addition, we are considering doing some major remodeling in our house over the next few months. So don't be surprised if I kind of drop off the planet for a little while.

I did find a cool program today to help with basic math concepts. It is a free program that provides "manipulatives" on screen to help teach math. So if you don't have a bunch of unit, tens, hundreds blocks around your house - this program can approximate it. They also have directions on how to use it. Of course, part of it is just letting your child play with it to see how math "works". Anyway, I am bookmarking it and will hopefully use it someday. I found it through my montessori listserv and it is in keeping with the way that they teach math.

Charlotte Mason Education

One of the families I used to hang out with used the Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling. It is loosely structured, built on great books and generally seems like a good approach. It is sort of unschooling but not with an in your face, we don't like authority bent to it. Anyway, I found her 6 set series of books at half price books one day and got it for a steal of a deal. I have now found that you can read the original or a summary of almost the whole thing on line. Actually, I was surprised that her work wasn't included in the book I just read about alternatives parents have for educating their children. He had some other curriculum philosohpies that I hadn't heard of but not this approach.

As I consider the possiblity of homeschooling or at least how I want to create an environment for my little one to learn in, her thoughts are helpful. She has 20 basic principles that her work is based on. I do like the idea of narrating because I think it does help children internalize what they are learning when they can retell it. She also focuses on training of the will of a child - which is a key concept and something that really isn't going to be trained in a school setting. So, this is yet another idea among many about educating your child.