Nutmeg's Alphabet Garden

Nutmeg and I are thrilled that we'll be starting her "pre-school" next week. I suppose that starting "school" in May sounds unconventional so some. That is what I LOVE about home educating. Families do what works for them! ( I may sound all gushy about home educating but I can't help it. I do love it! Yes, it is very challenging but the rewards are so great that I can't help shouting from the mountain tops.)

Trying to stuff dandelions in her vest.

This is great timing for Nutmeg and I. She is primed and ready for more formal education. I can tell she needs more special time with mommy. I am tickled with her companionship. It will be a delightful venture together!



The boys will be breaking soon from most of their studies for the summer, which will give me more time to start with Nutmeg (or at least I'm hopeful about that). I was unsure of when to start things with her because of her birth date. She turns five in November. Too young for many for kindergarten. So I think she and I will delight in pre-school type stuff until we finish and then move on to kindergarten whenever it seems right. It may be mid-year. Fine by me. We'll see.

On a flower-picking mission.

The boys and I did something similar that we called their "Alphabet Path."  I originally was inspired by Elizabeth Foss's Alphabet Path. I know there are a million ways various educators use a similar theme: centering a learning year around the alphabet. This will be Nutmeg's "Alphabet Garden." Nutmeg's will be tailored to her specific interests and goals. She's a girl (a women someday), so we'll be focusing on a few "girly" topics and some homemaking skills. Sound old-fashioned? I suppose it is. Old fashioned is cool with us.





Some of the topics/activities we will use using the alphabetical theme will be:


~Picture Study
~Poetry
~Nature Study

~Cooking
~Bible Stories
~Bird Identification
~Flower Identification
~Math concepts
~Forming Letters
~Crafts/art projects
~Virtues
~Literature
~Health
~PE/active games

Stoked about this find! Alphabetical coloring books for flowers and birds. We'll look up on
google images the color markings for each flower and bird and color them accordingly.


 

I'm thrilled about about this resource as well. It has short Bible stories using actual NRSV text and quality illustrations. Saweet!