Playful Learning

I was recently introduced to a book called Playful Learning: Develop Your Child's Sense of Joy and Wonder. It is a great book and really fits with our homeschooling style, despite the fact that it isn't written specifically for homeschoolers. The author is a teacher, curriculum developer, trainer of teachers, and helped open a school. Her book gives immediate implementation ideas for Montessori, Reggio Emelia and Harvard Project Zero styles of education for use in the home. It is written to help parents encourage learning in a fun, no pressure way in the home. The subjects covered are reading, writing, math, science, art, social studies, geography, and social skills. A chapter of the book is dedicated to playful learning spaces. The subsequant chapters are how to set up these spaces for each subject and projects to have available for learning at a moment's notice. The end of the book is full of useful printables to aid in the learning.

I wanted to tell you girls about this book because I think it will help form your schooling. I've always struggled with the idea of having a "school room" because this seems to convey the message that learning occurs only in one room, mostly while sitting at a desk. The reality, I believe, is that learning occurs in every place and at any time.

We've been putting some of the ideas in the book to work already! The picture above is of you, Punkin, sorting beans. You started using one of the printables in the back, but ran of room for your "pink" beans (AKA pinto beans). So we made our own graft! You sorted anasazi, pinto, and white beans, as well as lentils.

We are also working on putting together writing, bird watching, reading, music, and art spaces. Eventually, you will also have a science experiment space, but I have to figure out where and how. I love the idea of having several places that you can "do school" in. I also love the idea of you being able to do it whenever you like. But, most of all, I like the idea that learning will be fun for you, not a drudgry. Learning the parts of a flower won't be based on memorization, but on pulling flowers apart and analyzing them. This isn't lazy homeschooling, though, to be sure! It is thoughtful and planned out. I have to watch for your personal tastes, make inviting areas that are simultaneously not distracting, and be on the lookout for what you are doing so that I can present you with projects when you seem interested in something specific. If they are to be good projects, I will have to plan them! And that, my daughters, is where this book comes in! I hope it is the springboard for our schooling that it seems to be!

whoa!

So, it's been two months since I last posted, and here is why: two babies who are mobile is a LOT of work! In early January, Blueberry, you started pulling up on things, then started army crawling. Apple, you started pulling up on things a couple days later, but didn't walk around them for a few weeks. You also didn't start crawling until late January. But when you did crawl, it was on your knees, and Blueberry saw that what you did was more efficient and crawling on her knees, too. I never thought I'd have kids that crawled, since Punkin didn't and none of your older cousins on my side did. You must get that from you dad's side of the family.

Also, you grew, and are still growing, a whole mess of teeth. You both got your bottom front teeth at 5 months. But you now have three bottom teeth and four top teeth. It seems like one is popping in each week! So two teething babies doesn't always make things easy, either. Your teething patterns are the same, but opposite, for every tooth and the timing. Apple will pop a tooth and a few days later, Blueberry will pop the same tooth on the opposite side.

Your favorite things to do include shredding paper, unrolling toilet paper, rifling through the cabinets, eating Bob's food and playing in his water, and generally exploring your world. You both love to talk, but are different in your talking. Blueberry, you try your best to pronounce words and sound like you are saying something. You say "Da da da da," when your daddy walks in, or "Ma ma," when you're ready to eat or sleep. Apple, you can say "dada," and "mama," but you are more concerned with voice inflection and usually sound you are singing. Right now, you're saying, "Uh oh," over and over. I think you like the sing-songiness of it.

You both need the other close to fall asleep, as evidenced by the attached picture- Apple sleeping ON TOP of Blueberry. You also take things away from and bite each other and pull each others hair. I think those things are appropriate for your age, but you get in trouble for doing them. Truth be known, I usually let you fight it out when it comes to taking things away. I think you learn to work things out on your own that way, even at this age.

Just to be fair, here is a picture of Blueberry sleeping on top of Apple! I think I'll be writing more soon, since I seem to have gotten the hang a bit more of having two mobile babies and we've been doing a lot more homeschooling that I want to write about!