I've been subscribed to your blog for a few weeks now but finally had the time to read it today.
I'm Aimen from Pakistan. It's so nice to read your blog and connect with you here. :)
I have a four-year-old, and we are unschooling him. Our plans are to continue unschooling him until he reaches 6 or 7. I felt so good reading that your primary focus is on reading and numeracy, which aligns with our approach as well.
I believe that if a child knows how to read, they can learn anything they want. It's all about instilling a love of reading in them.
Thank you for sharing all these resources. Tiny Polka Dot looks very interesting, and I'll definitely get it for my son too.
Once again, I'm happy to connect with you, and I'm looking forward to reading more from you!
Hello Catherine, first time reader and subscriber here! I'm delving into your writings and resources. While I long to homeschool, my kids are currently in public school (albeit a highly-rated one) here in Boca Raton, FL. My daughter is 6 (turning 7 this December) and in Grade 1 and my son is just 4 and in pre-K. My daughter especially is very bored with school. She loves to read and is already writing songs, mini-books, and she makes her own pop-up cards which she is now showing her fellow classmates how to make. I think she would love to have a pen pal, if you could facilitate setting us up with one I'd be very grateful. Many thanks!
I enjoyed reading this, Catherine! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and plans. I just purchased Tiny Polka Dot and am looking forward to incorporating it into our math studies this school year. I myself struggled with math growing up and do not enjoy teaching it. Reading? absolutely any time. But math -- I have to will myself to do it. I found a curriculum workbook and flashcards I used last year that I will continue using, but I'd like to incorporate more play into math time - and I resolve to find ways to enjoy the process more with my sons this year. Maybe per Ruth's comment, I should look into Right Start Math Games.
Thank you for this inspiring newsletter, Catherine!
I would love to setup a penpal for my daughter Rosie who will turn 6 in September. We live in Vanuatu (a small South Pacific island nation) but are relocating to Australia later this year.
Thanks for sharing your plans for the coming year Catherine (makes me long for the simpler days of homeschooling younger kids:) I would often use the last weeks of summer to connect with various homeschooling friends, from creative unschoolers to very strict classical education adherents, and would always find encouragement and new ideas to add to my plans. I had always used the Well-Trained Mind as a backbone and have added, changed, and dropped things over the years. With regard to numeracy I can highly recommend the Right Start Math games kit (see the summary on my site here https://humanitasfamily.net/teaching-math/) It has over 300 card games that build solid mental math skills for elementary all the way up to the end of middle school. I have used these card games for over ten years with my own kids and in my homeschool co-ops they were a huge hit (and yes I am a rep because it's the best math practice I have come across :)
Time to get into the details of my own planning next week!
Wonderful to read this and think through planning alongside you. I’m in the same stage, while savoring summer, so I really enjoyed this. I was just thinking through what my priorities are for our 7yr old so this was useful as well!
Again, such a generous account of how you and your family approach learning and education at-large, and hopefully, a useful example/model for others who may be exploring/navigating some of these learning opportunities and challenges as well. It sounds as if your day, and your children’s days, while indeed challenging at times, is simply so full of such beautiful delight, and that makes me happy for you, Katherine. Oh what a world it would be if more children had these uniquely formative learning experiences--an even more beautiful one full of young minds brimming with a capacity for and a genuine desire to learn that serves not just themselves but the broader world/planet as well, I imagine. 🌱✨ Thanks again for writing and sharing. 🙏🤓
Hi Catherine,
I've been subscribed to your blog for a few weeks now but finally had the time to read it today.
I'm Aimen from Pakistan. It's so nice to read your blog and connect with you here. :)
I have a four-year-old, and we are unschooling him. Our plans are to continue unschooling him until he reaches 6 or 7. I felt so good reading that your primary focus is on reading and numeracy, which aligns with our approach as well.
I believe that if a child knows how to read, they can learn anything they want. It's all about instilling a love of reading in them.
Thank you for sharing all these resources. Tiny Polka Dot looks very interesting, and I'll definitely get it for my son too.
Once again, I'm happy to connect with you, and I'm looking forward to reading more from you!
Hello Catherine, first time reader and subscriber here! I'm delving into your writings and resources. While I long to homeschool, my kids are currently in public school (albeit a highly-rated one) here in Boca Raton, FL. My daughter is 6 (turning 7 this December) and in Grade 1 and my son is just 4 and in pre-K. My daughter especially is very bored with school. She loves to read and is already writing songs, mini-books, and she makes her own pop-up cards which she is now showing her fellow classmates how to make. I think she would love to have a pen pal, if you could facilitate setting us up with one I'd be very grateful. Many thanks!
I enjoyed reading this, Catherine! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and plans. I just purchased Tiny Polka Dot and am looking forward to incorporating it into our math studies this school year. I myself struggled with math growing up and do not enjoy teaching it. Reading? absolutely any time. But math -- I have to will myself to do it. I found a curriculum workbook and flashcards I used last year that I will continue using, but I'd like to incorporate more play into math time - and I resolve to find ways to enjoy the process more with my sons this year. Maybe per Ruth's comment, I should look into Right Start Math Games.
Thank you for this inspiring newsletter, Catherine!
I would love to setup a penpal for my daughter Rosie who will turn 6 in September. We live in Vanuatu (a small South Pacific island nation) but are relocating to Australia later this year.
Thanks for sharing your plans for the coming year Catherine (makes me long for the simpler days of homeschooling younger kids:) I would often use the last weeks of summer to connect with various homeschooling friends, from creative unschoolers to very strict classical education adherents, and would always find encouragement and new ideas to add to my plans. I had always used the Well-Trained Mind as a backbone and have added, changed, and dropped things over the years. With regard to numeracy I can highly recommend the Right Start Math games kit (see the summary on my site here https://humanitasfamily.net/teaching-math/) It has over 300 card games that build solid mental math skills for elementary all the way up to the end of middle school. I have used these card games for over ten years with my own kids and in my homeschool co-ops they were a huge hit (and yes I am a rep because it's the best math practice I have come across :)
Time to get into the details of my own planning next week!
Wonderful to read this and think through planning alongside you. I’m in the same stage, while savoring summer, so I really enjoyed this. I was just thinking through what my priorities are for our 7yr old so this was useful as well!
Again, such a generous account of how you and your family approach learning and education at-large, and hopefully, a useful example/model for others who may be exploring/navigating some of these learning opportunities and challenges as well. It sounds as if your day, and your children’s days, while indeed challenging at times, is simply so full of such beautiful delight, and that makes me happy for you, Katherine. Oh what a world it would be if more children had these uniquely formative learning experiences--an even more beautiful one full of young minds brimming with a capacity for and a genuine desire to learn that serves not just themselves but the broader world/planet as well, I imagine. 🌱✨ Thanks again for writing and sharing. 🙏🤓