My Dream Homeschool Becomes Reality

My sons made their own sensory bin! Last night I bought two spray bottles to make my own spray cleaners for the kitchen counters and bathtub. The empty bottles were discovered by my kids and instantly became the best thing they have ever laid their hands upon! Ian snuck upstairs and filled his with water, which then led Luke to the idea to dismantle the current sensory bin and create their own! (Proud Mama moment!)

On their own they built our day's lesson plan and learned exactly how I want them to learn. When we first started seriously talking about choosing homeschooling, one of our biggest reasons was to create a play based learning environment for Kindergarten. Through their own discovery, exploration, and PLAY they covered six subjects:

• Math: counting (number of containers of water they added)
• Science: to float or not float; buoyancy
• Motor Skills: carefully carrying water without spilling; 
• Fine Motor Skills: spraying the water bottle to strengthen grip
• ELA: oral narratives telling me how they built it, what they were doing
• PE: up and down the stairs MULTIPLE! times to fill bottles in the bathroom sink
• Geography: discussing Niagara Falls and local bodies of water

Homeschooling success....by them!! 

The rest of the day was equally as perfect. When Ian took his nap, Luke and I worked together on my actual lesson plans. He was cooperative, engaged, I was patient, adaptive, and exactly the homeschool teacher I want to be everyday. We accomplished every goal on our agenda and had fun! Perfection!

I don't know how to replicate this on a daily basis and it frustrates me. I was never good at Play Therapy when I worked with kids as an SLP. I need a plan, I want to follow a plan, I want to put a check mark next to each agenda item. I am not so good with letting the child lead, with creating an open plan that allows the lesson to travel up and down rabbit trails. I want to be that person, but I am not quite there. I am working on it.