Transition . . .

So, in an earlier post, I mentioned that we were going to change things in our learning. I have always felt like I wanted more of a full time learning environment in our home. When people ask me when we do school or how long do we spend each day doing school work, I always say that we are always learning. Yes, the clerk at the store does give me a strange look.

So, for the last couple of weeks, I have just been letting the family go through "Core" phase and observing. For more about Core phase you can go here. I think that Ky and Bugaloo are ready for Love of Learning, but I want to spend a little more time on Core just to cement some ideals and tasks in their minds an habits.

I have also been doing a lot of reading and research into the different phases and how to use them. I am getting a lot of good ideas and info and everything I read just makes me feel more and more like it is the right path to go for our family.

Here is what we have started so far:

In the mornings, after breakfast, we have our devotional which consists of family prayer, reading from our core book (scriptures), singing songs, reading a story from the Friend magazine or other "core book" support material, and discussing our day ahead. We then finish getting ready for the day; this consists of grooming and dressing & tidying up our beds and rooms. When that is done, we dive into family work together. This can include things like folding and putting away laundry, vaccuum, dusting, dishwasher, general picking up, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping, garbage, etc. A change for me is that I am DOING these things more WITH the kids than before. I used to send them off the do their "chores" and I would do mine. Now I am making more of an effort to do everything together and even involve Peaches and JJ in a lot of the work. For example, we moved JJ into a "big boy bed" (ok, it is a toddler bed, but not to him.) This morning, I asked him to come help with his room and he spread the blanket up and put his animals on his bed in true 2 year old fashion. It was perfect.

Ky and Bugaloo also spend this time with their piano practice. We take one or two breaks during this time to sit together and read. We read "fun" stories that the littles enjoy and get excited about or we read a longer book that we have been working on together.

I think that is good for now. I don't want to make this too long and boring. I will continue another post about what we do the other half of the day. Until then . . . enjoy your day!