This week, we’ve started having art time every afternoon. It’s a great way to spend time together and teaches so many things: the joy of manipulating colors and mediums, the endless possibilities found in artistic expression, and patience (if you happen to be a mommy like me who gets a bit anxious about paint-covered toddler hands), just to name a few.
This is our lovely guide book:
Please ignore the funky shadows. Amateur photographer in residence.

First Art : Art Experiences for Toddlers …

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I have a confession to make. Up until last month, I’d never heard of or read Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon. Can you believe it? I guess it’s possible that it was read to me as a child. I’ll have to ask my mom about that one. Can you believe his name was Crockett? I kind of love it. Definitely has character.
About a month ago, I ordered this fantastic treasury, HarperCollins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child’s …

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Okay. I need your help.
I have this dream, see? A nice long low bookshelf with neatly arranged trays of carefully placed Montessori work. In this dream, Pearl would see the inviting display, walk over to the shelf, choose her activity, and carry it to her table to work with it. Like this:
No bookshelf, but you get the idea.
When she was done, she would take the tray back to the shelf and decide which work she’d like to do next. A …

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Someday, we’ll live in a home with enough rooms to spare one for a homeschool classroom. At the present, we live in a modest condo. But I refuse to let lack of space get the best of me. If anything, our current lack of space highlights how homeschooling is becoming a lifestyle choice. Drawings, cuttings, learning toys, and books are all over the place and I can’t say I mind it that way. I think it makes it easy for …

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Fact: We live in Utah.
Fact: Winter lasts a long time in Utah.
Fact: My children need a way to get some of the wiggles out while staying warm indoors during these long winters.
Behold the joy of hopscotch!
Here’s the indoor hopscotch set we got Pearl for Christmas this year:

It’s been a big hit. Just some of the concepts it teaches (well, helps to teach. It is an inanimate object after all.):

Coordination–Getting the marker on a pre-determined number is tricky for a toddler!
More …

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I adore books. For several years in college, I worked two floors underground in our university library’s special collections. Pretty much the coolest place on campus. This collection houses everything from ancient clay tablets inscribed with glyphs to real-life Oscar awards, not to mention the rows and rows of first editions, rare manuscripts, and fragile photos (ah, the prestige of donning a coat and entering the cold storage photo archives). I told you it was awesome.
Anyway, back to the point. …

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Well, here we go! My very own, hot off the press, homeschool blog!
Note, dear non-existant (as of yet) readers: I’ve chosen to blog about our homeschool journey because it’s simply the best system I can think of to document some of our adventures, essay my brain around theory texts, keep track of ideas that I want to use some time in the future, and keep my thoughts and plans organized. The fact that it’s a public system is secondary. But …

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