We're Going on a Bear Hunt

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury

This book is a favorite at our house and with good reason. With the rhythm, repetition, and adventure the descriptions and sound effects capture imagination and have a memorable text to act out again and again in outdoor play.
When we started up after a break I asked my son which book he wanted to do first and he came running in with this one saying "Lets get the bear!" and so our adventure began...

Materials you will need this week: 

Scissors, Glue, Pot, Spoon, 2 water bottles, pudding/jello/yogurt in a small container, broom, printables linked below, stuffed animal, chair, scarves or small blankets/dish clothes, basket or bowl, outdoor gear, and check out the link to the optional art project for supplies needed there.

Day 1: Sound Effects

Skills: Listening, Narrative, Audible perception

Read through the story once slowly enjoying the rhythm of the text. Ask your child if they would like to go on a bear hunt? How would they feel if they found one? What do you think the bear wanted when he followed them home? Do they like the feel of mud between their toes? Do they think it will snow soon? Or any other questions that come to mind to start a conversation about the book and get them practicing narration skills.

Read through it a 2nd time using the sound effects found at: Reading Confetti (We didn't have jello so we used yogurt instead, we also didn't have soda bottles and a cup worked okay too.)

Day 2: Sequencing

Skills: Sequencing, cutting, gluing (fine motor skills)

Read through the book again. Talk about how first they had to go through the grass then.... Once they found the bear they had to head back! Firs through the cave then.... have them name the steps the best they can then do one of the many great sequencing options found at teachers pay teachers when you look up "We're going on a bear hunt".
Since my older child is into maps lately and has been drawn into this book study with us we decided to go with a map of the bear hunt. To be honest it seemed like a little much for my 3 year old though so a few days later we tried basic sequencing cards with pictures from the book and had much more success.

Day 3: Prepositional Words

Skills: Prepositional words, following directions, imaginative play, narrative skills.

After reading through the story again we imagined that the bear just wanted to play then took a stuffed bear and pretended the step stool was his cave. (You can use any chair for this exercise) He hid inside it walked around it, looked behind it, climbed over it as we sang "The bear went over a mountain" Then we put him in a basket and pretended to float down the river. He walked through the "river" of scarves and was tucked into bed. As we played I tried to use as many of the prepositional words as I could think of or ask him "Where is the bear now?" or "Lets put the bear beside his boat?" Changing the preposition to see which ones he knows and which ones we can still work on. This lesson took the longest but was the most fun. He loved playing with me and I loved taking the time to play with him which I don't often get to do with my middle child!

Day 4: Hike

Skills: Gross motor skills, Sensory play, Exploration (confidence building), Memory, Rythmn

Go on a Hike! This is a fun one to invite friends along for too. Every time you reach something you come across in the story recite that part of the book with the kids. "...Oh no! A forest, a deep dark forest, we can't go over it, we can't go under it..." As them what could make them stumble and trip. When you come across mud feel it squish beneath your feet. When you come across a creek, listen to the sounds of splashing. Ask them what would they do if it snowed? See how fast they can swish the grass. Look into a knoll in a tree or under some rocks and imagine how dark a cave could be. How would they light the way? Just go at a pace slow enough to stop and smell the sage brush and explore with all your senses. When walking to another part of the trail saying part of the story can they march in rythm? Stop for snacks and read the story again.

Optional Day 5: Art

Skills: Fine motor skills, sensory play, expression

Seriously how cute is this craft? You can find instructions over at One mom and a Blog but what I like about it is that it really is sensorial and brings the story to life by continuing to explore textures. Be sure to enjoy the book one more time after you've made the craft and touch each texture as you reach that part of the story.

Let me know what else you've added to or changed with this book unit in the comments!

For more book units check out "Preschool" tab on my blog, search "Beautiful Books" or read This post explaining the series.

Beautiful Books Preschool

Beautiful Books Preschool is a series of lesson plans that I have designed for my 3 year old son using classic children's books, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and family favorites from modern children's literature.

I am patterning Beautiful Books Preschool after the Five in a Row concept where you read the same book over and over in a week pulling out different concepts and activities from it. I loved the concept because of how important repetition is to this age, the fact that we can let classics sink in deep, and that I don't have to run around every day trying to come up with a novel themes and materials. (It's also a bonus that I can utilize my overabundant personal library!) The reason I am creating my own lesson plans is because I want to customize the skills practiced and books chosen with what works for our family and keep it low key as an intro to "Lessons" (that he is eager to have after watching his big brother do kindergarten.)

This level of preschool is designed for my 3 year old. When he reaches age 4  we will start with Logic of English level A if he is ready. If not, we will continue on in pre-reading concepts that do not include learning phonograms or writing letters. The lessons are a gentle introduction to learning and are not heavy on Pre-K Skills but lay the foundation for reading and math in playful and comforting ways.

In each of my lessons below you will see a link to purchase the book on Amazon, a copy of materials I used (or a link to the blog post I got them from), and what skills or character traits we took from each reading. As I make new posts I will add them to this directory and if you have any questions or suggestions feel free to add a comment to the post.

Enjoy!

20 Big Trucks in the Middle of Our Street    

 We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Painting Chickadee Eggs

Dodge and I had a great time painting chickadee eggs together the other night. He was endlessly fascinated by flicking the paint on the eggs with a tooth brush. Being a perfectionist it drove him a little crazy not having control but it was fun one on one time after the littles went to bed. We used the materials and activity card 1 from our Nature Study Cards Bird Set #1, cream paint, brown paint, a tooth brush, and small brushes.

He really liked taking video of me flicking the paint and you if you could hear his expressions "uh huh, ooo, yeah..." you'd see he was really focused on learning to do it himself.

That seemed to be the theme of the night actually:

I just love seeing him learn new skills. It's amazing what you learn about somebody just by being with them and I love getting to see my boys shine the way they do only when we are one on one.

I bet James would have loved this one too though so I'll have to have him join in on more of our activities. He sure got a kick out of measuring wingspans (activity from bird set #2) when he heard that he had the same "wingspan" as a duck he started quacking and giggling.
Man I love these boys!

Owl Pellet Activity

Owl Pellets for kindergartners? I don't know how this will go but I'm excited. My son is insatiable with his questions and I may just be opening a can of worms for my self but it's worth ago since curiosity is kind of our thing.

I'll start our study with our owl fact card from my nature study card kit. (Available for purchase on my Nature Study Card Purchase Page to at the top of the column to the right) After we look at that we will go on a hike looking for owl homes and signs. There is one tree on Centennial Loop towards the sports center side in Soldotna, AK that I swear I saw an owl in last time we were there so I'm excited to go back with a pair of binoculars.

We have an Usborne beginners book about owls (my boys are obsessed with the beginners series) for the rest of the introduction  before we dive right in to learning about what they eat by dissecting an owl pellet! Using these directions (Also found on the nature study activity card 6 for birds)

1. First there is this really cool video on youtube that explains what an owl pellet is: 

2. Gather your materials: Gloves, Owl pellet (ordered off amazon of all places!), tweezers, magnifying glass, small paint brush, and this free bone identification chart from Carolina Biological Supply Company.

3. Carefully pull apart pellet, being aware of any skulls you may find. Once it is broken up into smaller pieces you can start to exhume the bones with the tweezers. As you find them clear them of fur and debri with your fingers/small paint brush before setting them aside.

4. Once you get the bones separated and cleaned match them to your bone identification chart to discover what type of animal your owl ate.

This is also a great way to to lead into food chains, predator/prey relationships, how different adaptations of the owl help them hunt, or what their prey's defenses are against being caught.

Alaska Nature Study- Venture Outside

I created this nature study for my boys, who love the outdoors. As I was looking for simple kid friendly field guides I noticed that many of them focused on animals from the east coast that we just don't have in Alaska. I wanted to highlight what is is unique and beautiful about living in the Pacific Northwest in a fun, approachable, and engaging way. It was about this time that I started to get the real value in Nature Journaling thanks to my Charlotte Mason and Jon Muir Laws obsessed friends.

First came the fact cards. I created these, so that you could grab a few to bring with you on nature walks, or have one out at a time for a closer look, without being overwhelmed by the amazing quantity of information found in traditional field guides. The space on the cards also limits it to just a few interesting facts to spark further inquiry if something catches their imagination but once again keep the animals and plants approachable with lots of visual presentation.

The activity cards came as I started looking into studying birds and remembered all the fun pins and activities I've tried, or want to try, but never quite get around too. I thought by gathering them up (with the materials I'd normally have to go to the store for) and presenting them in a grab and go way we could make the nature study a little more hands on and creative.




The science cards came as a natural extension of explaining the animals behavior on the fact cards or as a way to bridge into other concepts and take it further than crafting and nature walks. It took great restraint not to full plunge down this rabbit hole of activities and information but they, once again, are perfectly suited to spark curiosity as a jumping point for further learning.



The game cards came from the beautiful 3 part cards I kept seeing advertised on Montessori sites and the fun games that helped phonics click for my sun. Memorization is a whole lot easier when it is a game and you'd be surprised at how fast even your toddler is identifying "Black Capped Chickadee" at the sight of the cards. They also make for a fun camping version of traditional kids card games.


The last thing I added was the poetry, song, or art element since there is so much beauty found in and inspired by nature, I intend sharing them with my kids while eating trail mix and watching them sketch on our hike, memorizing them during our morning reading time or using them for handwriting copy work later this year.

The heart of this study though is the nature journal. You really can use any journal for this but I made one that was easy to fit in a child size backpack and had handwriting lines to make it a little more approachable for those easing into handwriting. This is where their discoveries happen and they take ownership of their new found knowledge by recording it. Paying attention to detail and learning to be still to observe will serve them in all subjects of learning and help cultivate a peaceful heart.

If you'd like to purchase this nature study by subject or monthly subscription you can do so here: Nature Study Cards Purchase Page

How to teach the Logic of English to all learners

Spelling w/ movable alpha.

As a mom of three active boys I wanted to find a reading curriculum where they could use their bodies as they trained their minds. As a beginning homeschooler I wanted to find one that was comprehensive (taught reading, writing, spelling, and grammar together and completely), had laid out lesson plans for me to follow, was phonics intensive, and would allow me to see my preschooler try out different learning styles so I could see what types of curriculum would fit him best for other subjects going forward. I like to keep things simple, teaching only English and math through first grade, so it had to be pretty meaty in content but fun in application. If that isn't a tall order I don't know what is!

Logic of English Curriculum

At a home school chat night with my local home school mom group (Which you NEED to find one if you don't have a support group like this already!) The Logic of English swept in and took over all discussion for weeks! We were just thrilled to find such a professional, thoughtful, beautifully designed curriculum that not only taught the "what's" of our complicated language but the "why's" as well. There was just so much I learned from our discussion and introductory videos like this one (which is a little long but even just watching the first 10 minutes will blow you away) that my curiosity was peaked from the start!



One thing I love about this company is how there is a reason behind everything they do. Form teaching the kids how to make the letter sounds by watching your mouth form them to why they recommend cursive first (but have manuscript available too); they are happy to explain it to you through teacher training videos, the teachers manual, their website and they'll even respond to your questions directly on Facebook!

Our Experience

Last year I started Foundations A with my 3.5 year old because he was interested in "Learning his letters" and it starts as a first introduction to the alphabet about 5 lessons in. The first five lessons are teaching them how to make voiced and unvoiced sounds, what a baseline is for writing their letters, basic strokes they'll use and other concepts that will help them when they start to recognize that letters represent a sound. The concepts are so simple that my 3.5 year old felt success right out the gate and liked the games that each lesson suggested.

As we moved into the letters, they were presented in such a memorable way that he still sometimes will march around the house making all of the letter "I" sounds. At this age kids love repetition and reading the Doodling Dragons book has been wonderful for reinforcing the lessons, it's fun too when they want to read the sounds they've learned already to you! He struggled with the handwriting portion so we are going to review Foundations A before moving forward this year but they had adaptations for that too and I saw that when he could write them with chalk on the side walk or with his arm in the air he knew the letter shapes and it was just a matter of motor development before he could write them on paper. We also added Montessori movable alphabets (pictured at the beginning of the article) and tracing boards for spelling/ writing practice as he developed his motor skills for writing.

Long before we started reading small words we worked on blending and constructing/ deconstructing words so when we go to do it with the phonetic symbols (letters) they already understand the objective and have had practice doing it. When we reached lessons that he was getting stuck on (which wasn't until we were close to the end of the book) it was just a matter of slowing down and doing some more of the practice activities and games to reinforce the concept since each lesson is broken into parts we could easily separate them out based on attention span, time constraints, or comprehension.

Learning Styles

The best part of this curriculum though is the way it addresses different needs/ styles of learners. This is great if you know your child's learning style or as a way to see how they react to different types of learning activities and give you a better idea of what types of curriculum will work best in the future.

• You have a portion of the lesson that is taught by you directly for the auditory learners that need to be lectured/ have back and forth discussion. 
• There is always a through explanation of what you are doing next and why for those information hungry students who ask lots of questions, then once it's explained as you repeat different parts of the lesson in ongoing review, the introduction is skipped for the kids who like to get right to work. 
• You have them learn to write the letters as they learn the sounds for the visual/kinesthetic learners. What I love about this portion is how they get to pick the size of writing that is most comfortable to them because contrary to popular belief bigger isn't always better for students learning to write, some are simply more comfortable writing regular sized letters from the start. The lesson is also broken up into segments which allows the independent learner to have more choices in what you do first or how you practice different concepts.
• I thought it was cool that they had them look in a mirror or watch your mouth form the sounds for the visual learners and have them touch their throat or feel their breath as they learn to make the sounds correctly for the kinesthetic learners.
• Kinesthetic learners love that they use a lot of movement activities like bean bag toss games, having them make different movements as they audibly blend words like "spin" or "fall", marching to memorize the many sounds for the letter "I" or practice jumping from one letter to the next as they learn the sounds.
• Visual learners love that the writing portion is broken down by different strokes and that each phonogram is introduced with a tactile card, book, or flash card.
• Every kid LOVES learning through PLAY so each lesson has fun book suggestions, games, or extension activities with legos, chalk, Dr. Suess books, bingo boards, their card games, etc.

I could go on and on but I won't. This seriously is an amazing program that took into consideration: how the English language actually works, what is developmentally appropriate for the age of students it is designed for, how children learn, and that parents need to be able to understand it to teach it (they have the lessons laid out so you can do this quickly and with confidence, and resources to help you if you get stuck) and best of all it's fun! My preschooler looks forward to his lesson everyday.

Our World -Kindergarten Geography

      I come from the view point that kindergarten is a year to get them ready to love the work of learning by laying foundations in fun and engaging ways. It is a great year to take your time exploring interests, diving into arts and crafts for the love of it, and getting a good solid start on reading and math. Kindergarten social studies and science should be simple and fun. We are sparking a love of learning while introducing them to concepts of our environment, change, time and geography that will lay the foundation for history and science as they head into the meat of their schooling next year. With this in mind I've come up with a 32 week plan of once a week social studies/ science primer lessons that will give them the holistic view of their place in the world and give a great jumping point to any history/ science curriculum you go into in first grade. Each lesson is listed with general objectives and links to projects on Pinterest or websites that the learning materials come from.

     Our Place in the Solar System

Where I live Stackers

1. Our place in the solar system Perhaps with nesting Russian dolls  (Phone number with Song/ Address with Song and other fun ideas) 
2.  How to read a map (Books like these,  Using a map with key,  Following a map visually,  cardinal directions, More map practice, Map mini unit, Draw a map of their room)
3.  Map of my community (Print and play with local maps, How to use a compass, Follow a map of a local park to get to a surprise, draw a map of our town, draw a route from our house to grandma's, map practice continued from week 2)
4.  I can be a good neighbor (Basic good citizenship, how people work together in a community, local service project)

How the world turns and what it is made of

1.   The earth is a sphere that circles the sun (Day/Night)
2.   The Earth is made of Air, land, and water ( We need air and water to live/ land to live on and grow, Sort things found in all 3, describe attributes of all 3, identify land and water on a map)
3.  Air, Land and Water week 2 (Water cycle, types of clouds, Oceans/Rivers/Lakes, Fresh water vs Salt water)
4.  Air Land and Water week 3 (How land changes, Erosion, Basic Land forms with salt dough land forms) 
5.  Weather (Weather types, Scientists can predict weather, Tools to measure weather, Start weather graph)
6.  Seasons (Order of seasons, what they look like, why they happen, Seasons video and this craft)

Cultural Differences

1. We are alike/ we are different (Skin/eye color, gender, height, language, likes/ dislikes Etc)
2.  What is culture? (Food, music, history, art, religion, celebrations. stories)
3.  What is habitat? 
5. (Define Habitat and talk about how similar habitats can be found in different places/ overview of types of habitats, and prep our dioramas for finish work) Perhaps this game  or This poem.

Continents/ Habitats

Waseca Elementary Continent Map

Each continent we will do a map activity in addition to using the continent mat to place animals and people where they go and talk about culture of a local people.

For every habitat week we will talk about: where the habitats are found, 5-10 animals found there, 5 or so plants found there, and typical climates. There will also be a diorama type art project (Like these habitat bottles, Or these sensory bins) and fictional story for each place. Once we cover a habitat they will choose an animal to learn more about and add them to their "animal book" with a drawing, narration, map, and basic facts.

1. Continents/Oceans Geography Overview
2. Oceans 
3. (Layers of the ocean, whale migrations, coral reefs, kelp forests)
4. North America
5. North American Woodlands 
6. (Types of forests, food chain)
7. South America
8. South American Rain Forests 
9. (Layers of the rain forest, food chain)
10. Europe 
11. Europe Woodlands and Rivers/ponds 
12. (Beaver dams, Fish migrations)
13.  Asia
14. Asian Rain Forests/ Tundra 
15. (Animal adaptations, permafrost)
16. Africa
17. African Savannah 
18. (Types of grasslands, food chain)
19. Australia
20. Australian Desserts 
21. (Where is water found, adaptations)
22.  Antarctica
23. Arctic 
24. (How animals stay warm, food chains)
27. Alaskan Habitats
30. Alaskan Nature Study 

Replace Instant Information with Wonder and Curiosity

Is it just me or do people seem to know less and have more opinions than ever before? I mean just
think back to the last constructive or thought provoking discussion you had. When was that? Are these conversations as often as you'd like them? 

In the information age we do not need to KNOW anything. Everything is right at our fingertips from calculators to recipes to our favorite places to comparison shop without getting off the couch! In fact we don't even have to type our questions in anymore; Just ask our phone and simple quarries are answered right back to us! Technology has eliminated our need to remember metric conversions, steak cook times, our friends phone numbers and favorite restaurant's hours of operation. We also don't need to remember the things we look up purely out of curiosity like "Where do otters sleep?" because if we ever get curious about it later we can look it up again and our wonderment is immediately satisfied and forgotten like a fast food meal.

This technological miracle has changed our lives forever and it's also changing our culture. Just think about how our kids have never known a world without Google... Many of them grew up sucking on our smartphones (don't even get me started on why a parent would use a $500 computer as a chew toy!) They see you tube videos, play games, and get instant gratification to any question that crosses their mind whether or not we have a clue. (Like when my son asked if chickens ate corn dogs). I've noticed that my preschooler is way smarter than I was at his age for this reason but I also wonder how much of it will stick. 

When I was a kid in school I learned pretty quickly that if I "studied" for a test the night before I could retain the information just long enough to regurgitate it on an exam. I did great in school but I shamefully admit that even with a college degree I'm not very educated. I just learned the system and our kids will too.

Their system is one that tells them they don't need to pay attention to lectures or books. If they NEED the information they'll look it up WHEN they need it. For this reason they don't need to remember what they look up either. Obviously some of it will stick but popular psychology has shown that information we don't inherently deem as important is disregarded for to make room for incoming information. Now here is the kicker. THERE IS ALWAYS INCOMING INFORMATION!! We are so bombarded by information our minds literally cannot process it all. So things become more catchy and flashy and bait-clicky. Instead of reading articles we are reading headlines, bullet points, and comments for a summary. In fact if you are still reading this I'm impressed. What do you think this is doing to their attention spans? Their persistence? How will they value listening to others in a selfie, 120 character "tweet about me" world?

I contest that wondering is good. 

For our kids AND for us. Next time you want to know what the type of painting you saw at the farmers market is, or how to cook eggplant I suggest that instead of hopping on the internet you ask around. Doing this for insight or knowledge is great for relationships! It creates meaningful conversations, sparks curiosity in others, adds value to your friendships as they feel needed and respected for the useful things they know, takes your knowledge beyond the test line answer, and can expand your horizons to new topics and ideas. Doing this will spark your creativity in new directions and change your perspective and preconceived notions of both the topic and your friends. Furthermore it is really connecting with those we love most or are interested in knowing better.

You can also try finding out the scientific way. Create a hypothesis, test it out, evaluate what you've discovered.

Read a book! Or a magazine, or some other physical piece of paper that was written with the express purpose of answering your quarry. Things that are topic specific have richer information written by people passionate about that subject. Just think about how much more interesting it would be to read about an american red chested robin from an ornithologist than from Wikipedia!

Another idea to keep wonder alive is to question your question. WHY do you wonder who the vice presidential candidate for the upcoming election will be, WHAT caused the tomatoes to be SO big this year, etc.

Dig Deeper. Add substance and depth to your understanding.

Or simply ponder. Let you mind stick on how to get the potatoes to crisp on the outside and turn soft on the inside, when you come across the answer by reading it in a book, or talking to a friend, or experimenting for the 15th time it will be so much more satisfying and you won't forget it.

Yes we have the wonders of technology to to quickly help us guesstimate a mortgage payment or find poison controls phone number but the next time you are planning a vacation start somewhere else and see where it leads you because ultimately:

Technology is a tool, we don't have to let it be a master.

Sticking to the Basics

Preschool through Kindergarten we plan on ONLY teaching Reading, Writing, and Math. 

Yep that's it.
No unit studies on clouds, or animals here, no history or music lessons, just the classic 3 R's. Oh and if that doesn't make you nervous then I'll add that in Preschool the lessons are only 10 minutes each totaling a half hour school day!

The reason for the short lessons is simple; an average kindergartner has an attention span of 10-15 minutes. Now they may still be at the task at hand longer than that, but  typically their minds have wondered off course. The theory is to use short focused lessons to get the information across then let it marinate through play and exposure throughout the day.

I'll happily explain the other core ideas/science behind our sticking to the basics as well (references at the end of the article)!

1. We create a learning rich environment in the home for a culture of learning through out the day. Meaning we have books, and blocks, and craft supplies out, TV is a once in awhile treat and play the expected course of action for the day. They have chores and help with the cooking, and are encouraged to strike up conversation when we are out. As a culture we have moved away from letting kids have free time to play outdoors and learn natural life skills and I think that is a tragedy. As a homeschooler I am teaching the whole child and at this age confidence building is the name of the game for all of their skill sets, not just academic.
2. They are expected to read at younger and younger ages and every developmental psychologist will tell you that boys especially are not mentally/physically ready for a full school day by age five and many are not ready to read until age seven! The American standard timeline for education is simply not developmentally appropriate. So what are they supposed to be doing up until that age? Exploring the world around them and making connections with their bodies and minds. In many countries, such as Finland ranked #1 in the world for reading and math , formal education doesn't even start until age seven and there have been several studies that show no real advantages for early readers in the long term over their later reading peers; in fact by 3rd grade boys/ girls/ early/ late readers all tend to even out on skill level. The only real difference in better literacy skills is in how much they were read aloud to. 
3. So many of the early, and even more complex, math skills can be learned before the kids are ready to express them abstractly. Giving them a chance to solve verbal math problems, manipulate objects, and build things concretes math concepts so that when they do learn how to write 2+12=14 they know what that means inside and out because they are so well acquainted with what the number 14 is and how to construct and deconstruct it its just a matter of handwriting at that point.
4. We want to give them a solid literacy foundation to build from. So much of education these days is reading books and instructions. If they feel confident as a reader and associate it with fun (by being read to and taking a SLOW and encouraging path to literacy) then you eliminate the mental block that can come with being introduced to complex concepts while they are still trying to figure out phonetics! The same goes for handwriting. What quality of writing would you have if,  when trying to get a thought across on paper, you had to stop and wonder whether the "b" has the bump on the front or the back and how to stay in the lines? By giving them extra time to practice, practice, practice and not rushing the curriculum along to stay on schedule you build learning confidence so that when you start to introduce other subjects they are met with enthusiasm and they already know how to read and write well enough to use them as tools instead of viewing them as obstacles.

This may sound a little bit un-schoolish up until this point but we really are not. I absolutely believe in structure, routines, and that boxed curriculums save mom a lot of time and can be a great fit for all the accepted learning styles. Furthermore while it's great to follow a kids interests whenever you can, sometimes you just have to learn the hard stuff so you can move on and even fully conceptualize the fun subjects. Self discipline is an essential character trait only learned through having expectations to meet and pushing through to do hard things. In our home, character is as important as academics.

In fact we actually found a curriculum we LOVE that is through and engaging for teaching reading, writing, spelling and grammar comprehensively. It's called the Logic of English and we started our oldest on it when he was 3 because he had a desire to learn his letter sounds. Each lesson in their foundations curriculum has 4 parts so we just broke it a part and taught one lesson a week until he built up stamina to get through 2 lessons a week. The activities vary so you don't get bored with it and they teach each concept auditory, visually, and kinstheticly whenever possible.

For Math I purchased two books titled "Mathematics their way" and "Hands On Learning" to get a scope and sequence of early math concepts. I use these, Mathstart books, math games, manipulatives, Montessori materials, and fun projects/ ideas I find on Pinterest to teach or really "play" math with my son a few times a day. Once we get into first grade I'm also looking at Math on the level as a way to naturally flow from one concept into another with each math subcategory as he grows out of some of the early math concepts and is ready for more complex materials.

Oh and I also read to all of my kids CONSTANTLY. It is the best for snuggle times and we read new books from the library as well as the same book over and over again in the same day. My 3 year old had several books memorized and loved to pretend to read as he was learning what a letter, word, and sentence were.

We call this Montessori-inspired-play-based-foundation-setting-learning Stage 1. Each stage of their education will look different based on what they need at that time but for laying a foundation in young learners that sparks joy and curiosity we believe this is the way to go.

Resources I've found useful in forming these ideas are listed below in affiliate links and links to other websites/videos:

• One of the several articles available on children's attention span 
• An article on how the American standard education timeline is not developmentally appropriate.
• Finnish Education- There are a lot of videos out there with great information but this is the most recent one I've come across that focuses on the younger students freedom to be a child. 
• The Read Aloud Handbook book and this reading info-graphic show the importance of reading aloud to your kids and this reading info-graphic to show the importance of continuing to read to your kids.
• The 3 R's was an especially enlightening read for me. It help concisely explain the sequence of teaching early math skills and gave insight into learning math skills/concepts vs being able to explain them abstractly.
• (More math resources/ reviews available soon in another blog post!)

Our Home School Philosophy

Every Homeschooler develops their own philosophy that usually evolves with their family over time. It starts with learning about the popular philosophies and deciding which ones fit your family. Over time you create a vision for what you are trying to accomplish and how to take pieces of the popular methods and curriculums to meet that need. Every family is different, so their vision statement and philosophy will be too. Here you can find ours to help you see where I am coming from in my recommendations, values and thought process. Yours will definitely be made to suit your goals and family dynamic but if it helps you get a starting point on framing your child's education then go for it! Feel free to use this as a template.

Our Vision Statement: 
Cultivating Driven Disciples of Christ

Our Mission Statement:
We insight creative problem solving and curiosity while instilling good character.

Statement of Values:

We value Liberty to study what is interesting in a way that works best for you.

We value Work and self regulation to accomplish what needs to be done for a quality well rounded education.

We value Character, the most important thing you can be in this life is kind. The more you love God and yourself the more you can love others and see them the way He does. If you learn nothing else but to be be a honest, kind, hard working person then that is enough.

Our favorite popular philosophies:

• Montessori for when they are young since children learn best through play and self discovery. 
• Unit Studies as a way to see how different subjects are interconnected and get a through understanding of what sparks our passion and what shapes our world. 
• Classical Education for the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Learning the rules so you can learn how to think and then express those ideas is a dying art. I also love Latin because it is the base of so much of our language that knowing it is a great tool for decoding the world of science and literature.
• Go Schooling. As a home school family we are in a unique position to go and experience things hands on (like field trips) as often as we plan it. The best way to learn is to do and these are the experiences that will leave a lasting impression the rest of their lives.
• TJED in the sense that we see great value in being self motivated, having personal responsibility, and cultivating leadership.

Each philosophy has its place and its age range in our home. Montessori for Pre-K to 1st grade as we focus on learning the foundations of reading, writing, and math in an active physical way. Unit studies, Go School and Classical education 2nd-7th grade, and Classical education for 8-10th grade with all the tracking they may need for college applications. Ultimately I hope to be done with their high school education by 10th grade, so that they can focus the last two years on getting a leg up over their competition by either working their trade under a mentor/ going to trade school, preparing for or attending college, or running and hopefully failing at several small businesses (since one of our parenting philosophies is to let them make mistakes while the price tags are small). This is the age where the TJED self led meets the rhetoric stage to create articulate adults who master their field and teach/ inspire others.

We also decided to come up with home school name and mascot for field trips, friendly competitions, and in the silly cases where you need to sound like a legitimate school in order to get the educator discounts.

Our Home School Name:

Oak River Academy
We came up with this name because we like the duality of  the hard wood tree that can not only withstand strong winds but is strengthened by them and has deep reaching roots. Against the flowing river that changes things in its path through persistence and see's the world as it journeys bringing life wherever it wanders.

Our Mascot:
A Bull Moose
This is just fun because 1. Bull Moose are beautiful majestic delicious creatures and 2. With a House full of boys coming from parents that grew up in the mountains of Utah and the wilderness of Alaska it seemed like the only logical option.