Ding!

The time has come. Over the past month or so, I have espied my son experiencing occasional moments of (gasp!) boredom. Plopped down on the couch, he gazes across the room at one toy then another, and then sighs and turns to stare out the window. This instead of joyfully hopping off the couch and grabbing a car or a puzzle or a stuffed animal (or what have you) and becoming engrossed in play. I know why this has been happening; I know, too, that in those instances when my son is bored I, the stay-at-home-mom, am not doing my job. My son recently turned 3, and though it may seem strange to compare my child to a mass market frozen turkey, the metaphorical pop-up timer in his brain just, well, popped up. He wants more, he needs more: more to absorb, more to discover, more to practice, more to master. Though he is still learning as we move through the course of our days together--playing, reading, walking, shopping, cooking, cleaning--he is no longer as stimulated by the "everyday" as he was when he was younger. And though life often surprises us with unexpected joys to study (like the tadpoles in the rain puddle we've been monitoring), I cannot rely on those surprises to complete my preschooler's education.

So, time to erect some framework in support of Parker's learning. Time to formalize his education. In other words, time for school. I have chosen to homeschool (at least for now), and I have chosen to use primarily Montessori methods. In addition, I have chosen to share my adventures in homeschooling via this blog. My goals in this endeavor are to instill in my son a sense of discovery and awareness, as well as to engender in him a sense of independence and initiative. Grandiose and abstract, I know. It's all well and good to want to raise a lifelong learner, someone who approaches life with curiosity and wonder, but good intentions don't amount to much without a good plan of attack. In light of this, I have been reading the books you see listed in the bibliography at the right and I will continue to refer to them for inspiration and instruction over the course of this venture.

Unsurprisingly, "some assembly is required" not only for many of the activities detailed in the books at right but even for the very establishment of our homeschool. The school will need a set of shelves, some trays and baskets, a child-sized table and a child-sized chair. To create the materials needed for the first few weeks' activities, we will also need sandpaper, cardboard, fabric, clothespins, buttons, beads, a miniature pitcher, miniature tea cups, miniature tongs and more. Acquiring these items wouldn't pose much of a problem if we lived in the States, but they will be almost certainly impossible to find on St. John. But St. Thomas is a ferry ride away and relatively awash with big stores such as K-mart and Home Depot, so my husband and I made plans to take a family shopping trip to St. Thomas together on Saturday. I just checked the weather forecast, however, and on Saturday it is supposed to be soggy, and neither ferryboats nor St. Thomas roads are much fun in tropical downpours. So we shall see whether we will be able to shop 'til we drop this weekend. I know that I can start school without all the bells and whistles, but I was getting so excited about setting up shop and putting all the materials together. Props matter.