city learning

Even though the countryside keeps pulling and enticing me, we still continue to find advantages of city living. Last night we went for a walk, after dinner, in the glorious afternoon-sun colours of our Summer. We had to go and water the plants at my sister's house - and of course, have a jump on their trampoline. She only lives one long block away, but we managed to draw the five minute walk out. Exploring and learning on the way.

I keep going round-about on this thought process of homeschooling. Keep wondering if it will be something that is good for our family, if we will do it. Last night really reconfirmed to me that it's not will we, but that we already are homeschooling. Each house number, letterbox we passed on our walk we stopped at. Ari and I talked about what the number was, he traced the metal forms with his fingers. We talked about how a 3 looks like a backwards E, and a 5 almost like an S. And yet again, he impressed and surprised me when he could read all but one of the letters on the STOP sign. (The P is a letter that isn't in any of our names, so he doesn't know it as well).

He has been recognising letters for quite a while now. Seeing them on street signs, shop signs, boxes we bring home from the supermarket, at the bakery, on the corner store. Especially he knows an A, I suppose that would be the first letter that most kids learn - the letters in their own name.

So, following on from that, he can write his name - beautifully is I do say so. And other letters and number-forms are slowly following.

For a long time we have been talking about numbers and letters, and it is falling into place for him (and me). His first 'writings' (possibly even more than a year ago) were generally shopping lists, long squiggly lines of words that he told us said pasta or toothpaste or cheese or tofu.

We were always reading when we were kids. It is my hope is see my kids curled up or sprawled out devouring their books, or languishing over images and words. Pity that they don't see me doing much reading these days - I think since Ari was about six months old, I have not been able to focus on any book for long enough to actually remember what the story is about! Maybe one day again, I will find the time and mental capacity for novels, and finish those that I have started.