The Principles of Teaching Tiny Children

Glenn Doman proposes that you can teach a tiny child absolutely anything.

But how?

Most people would argue that a one-year-old is, by default, unteachable. A three year old, in the same manner, should not be taught, it is argued, for in order to do there would be a need to apply undue pressure.

But Glenn Doman begs to differ. He believes that the younger the child, the easier they are to teach. Scientifically speaking, he is right. The brain absorbs information at far greater ease and far greater speed at the tiniest of ages. The ability to absorb raw facts is, in fact, an inverse function of age. 

And as science is continuing to show, babies and tiny children not only absorb those great many facts, but they put them together in surprising and fascinating ways to form deductions, draw conclusions, and discover by experimentation the rules that govern them.

So how is it that you can teach a very tiny child?

Whether you want to teach your tiny child how to play the violin, speak Japanese, learn sign language, read, understand math, appreciate the arts or sciences, swim, do gymnastics, or whatever else you would like to teach him, these are Glenn Doman's principles for the teaching of tiny children:

1. Teach joyfully

You must approach the game of learning with the same abandonment and enthusiasm you would approach the game of patty cake or peek a boo. All children are drawn to joyousness. Your attitude towards a subject determines his. Never approach your teaching with soberness and seriousness. Learning is the greatest game you will play with your child: keep it as such. Present learning as a privilege he has earned: never, never as a chore.

2. Teach clearly

When we talk to tiny children, we naturally talk to them in a loud, clear voice. Teach your tiny child in such a voice and make your materials large and clear. Present the information in an honest, factual, and straightforward way. If you give a tiny child the facts, he will discover the rules that govern them.

3. Teach quickly

You must teach your tiny child quickly and briefly. He has much to do and can't stay in one place long. You must be content to teach him for only a few seconds at a time. That is all it takes. Present him with a set of information, and then come back to it later. When you teach in many ten- and fifteen-second sessions, you can accomplish more than you ever imagined possible.

4. Always leave him hungry for more

You must always, always, always stop before your child wants you to stop. Always stop before he wants to stop. Be sensitive to your child's attention and mood, and leave him hungry for more, every time, without fail.

5. Teach only at the best times

The key to teaching your tiny child is to only do so at the best possible times. Never try and teach him in a distracting, chaotic environment. Never try and teach him at a time when he is hungry, tired, or out of sorts. Never try and teach him when you are out of sorts. You must be ever-discerning of your child's temperament and mood and be willing to put your teaching away for the morning or day if needed.

6. Teach with consistency

If you are to be successful in teaching you must teach with consistently. If you child is to remain interested you must keep the ball rolling. Starting and stopping constantly will cause him to lose interest because he will believe the information you are bringing out again is old hat. Organize yourself to teach in such a way as to be able to remain consistent in your endeavors.

7. Teach new information

You will be surprised at how quickly your tiny child learns new information. Don't go over the same information over and over again when he already knows it. You must be keen to sense when he knows something, and regularly give him that which is fresh and new. 

8. Teach as a gift

We have come to equate teaching and testing as two sides of the same coin. You must forget this notion if you are to be successful in teaching your tiny child. Teaching is the process of giving information, as you would give a gift. Testing is asking for it back. Never test your child. It is essentially disrespectful and he will sense that you don't trust that he knows the information. If he learns that your teaching always has strings attached, he will push you and your teaching away. Learning is a gift, the most precious one you can give your child. Always remember that.

And lastly, Glenn Doman's fail-safe law is this:

If you're not having a great time and your child's not having a great time, stop. You are doing something wrong.

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:" 

Isaiah 28:9-10 

If you would like to learn more from the source, please see Doman's How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence 

Sir Ken Robinson - Changing Paradigms in Education

Fascinating highlights from Sir Ken Robinson's talk when he was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Medal by the Royal Society of Arts in London last year.

I love all of his talks and the way he thinks.

The full one-hour talk can be viewed here.

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me." 

Psalm 138:7

And the Tables are Turned...

Two five-year-olds, with two very different 
school years ahead of them

"I was happy as a child with my toys in my nursery. I been happier every year since I became a man. But this interlude of school makes a somber grey patch upon the chart of my journey. It was a unending spell of worries that did not then seem petty, and of toil uncheered by fruition; a time of discomfort, restriction and purposeless monotony." 

Winston Churchill

It's funny how, so quickly, the tables have turned.

The other day I went with a friend to pick up some backpacks and school supplies at a military event.

She started talking about how her son - just three months older than Hunter, but in first grade due to California's December 2nd cutoff date - is likely going to have a difficult time at his new school's lunch period. Which is twenty minutes long, from class dashing to the cafeteria to cleared tables and ready to head back to the grinding room.

There were a lot of other demands of the first grade that she was loathing about.

At once, I thought, Wow. I'm glad my son doesn't have to go through that every day.

Yes, I'm sure Hunter could handle it. Just like millions of other kids do every day. Lines, bells, sitting, waiting, transporting, homework, peer pressure, tests, stress. The works. He'd somehow manage the jungle.

But is that the point? Is that what's really best? What ever happened to childhood?

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

Benjamin Franklin

I've never, quite understood, how the same person who will condemn you for teaching a tiny child "academic" concepts at an early age, never had a second thought about throwing a child into an academic rat race once the child reaches the magic age of five or six.

You are stealing his childhood, so they say. Why can't you just wait until the first grade. There is plenty of time for academics, later.

But I'd rather, for my own son at least, start early.

No, not start the rat race early.

But start learning early.

And then, by the time he reaches first grade, not say that his childhood is magically over.

Not essentially say, "You've had your fun, now your new life purpose is to study for the next thirteen to twenty years."

I'd rather make learning playful, make learning part of real life.

Teach him things. Teach him big things, while he's tiny, while learning is still easy and fun.

So that when all of his other five-year-old friends hop on the big yellow bus for days full of waiting, busy work, waiting, busy work, waiting, busy work, that Hunter can still be playing.

So he can say, "Yes, I spent my preschool years with duplos and presidents and swing sets and math. 

I learned how to read while learning was still a game. 

I learned to love a great many interesting and wonderful things while my wonder was at its highest. 

And now I'm not in a race to catch up and keep up. 

I'm just filling my hungry appetite for knowledge.

I'm living and learning, in real life, with my childhood still ahead of me."

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" 

Isaiah 28:9

Hunter is 5 years, 4 months old

Upcoming Review: Accelerated Education Curriculum

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Albert Einstein 

One problem I have had in homeschooling is that so far in my five or so year journey, I always seem to have to reinvent the wheel.

On one hand it has been because I have always had very little money to work with and therefore instead of buying a curriculum, I would just make my own.

On the other hand, and the far more prominent reason I always found myself "reinventing the wheel" and making my own curriculum, was because I could never find anything that was suited to my and Hunter's wants / needs. Usually just because I thought all the stuff that was intended for the "early years" was too boring / slow so I would have to [want to] take more advanced things and simplify them for Hunter's comprehension level.

But the longer I have homeschooled, the more I have felt the pull of the simplicity of a pre-bought curriculum. Not for every subject level necessarily, but at least for some things, to have it all already planned out for you would be really nice.

Math was one of those things. I knew how horribly the traditional American education model generally fails in math education. And I also knew that even most of the best private curriculums were still based off of that failing system, at least in essence if not always in exact content.

They were too slow. Does it really take six or seven years (pre-k through grade 5 or more) to just teach basic arithmetic? (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) And what was more, you would think that after spending so much time on a subject, it would be thoroughly mastered, right? But we all know that that is not the story here.

Is math really that hard? Is it really that complicated?

I knew it wasn't, but designing my own accelerated curriculum baffled me. I have tried, and Hunter has learnt a great deal of mathematics using Doman as a jump start, but I created every schedule and sequence basically on my own and in so many areas have been lost with what do next. The thought of attempting this until high school overwhelmed me, to say the least.

That is until I found Jones Geniuses.

Jones Geniuses Accelerated Education is an accelerated curriculum developed by Dr. Miles Jones based on years of research and implementation first in the classroom and more recently in the home. The math program aims to help children learn mathematics four times faster than the traditional model and with greater accuracy and speed than most college-educated adults.

His main focus is math, but he also offers courses in speed reading, Spanish language learning, and memory training.

Dr. Jones has kindly offered to send me his first year early learning program, to try it out with both Hunter and my daycare kids. I'm very excited about what looks like an amazing program and an amazing company and look forward to sharing my experiences with you all very soon!

Update: read the full review of Math One here

"...Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them." 

Deuteronomy 5:1

Coach's Pitch, Competition, and Potato Chips

When did sports and competition become unrelated terms?

I'm really not that big on competition. Really. But Hunter's first baseball game last Saturday was, how can I say it, perhaps just a bit over the edge?

I know they're young. But,

1. There were no outs. No tagging out, striking out, nothing. 
2. The kids could swing until they hit the ball, first with the coach pitching to them, then if they couldn't do that they would hit it off the T. No strikes or fouls. 
3. After the last kid from his team had a turn to bat, they would simply switch sides, and whoever bat last just ran all the way home (all the kids on the bases just ran home too).
4. The game was on a time basis, meaning that one team batted twice and one team batted three times. So, as you can see from the rules above, no one really won or lost.

I know they're just little kids (5-7 year olds), and I know that the point of the game is to have fun, but is it just me or is all this perhaps just taking it a little too far?

Maybe you're reading this, envisioning me as one of those crazy, blood-thirsty mothers who screams at their kids from the sidelines and gets in a boxing match with the referee for a bad call. And I can promise you, nothing is further than the truth. I am probably one of the most mellow, non-competitive people you will meet, especially when it comes to games and sports. I am passionate about some things, but I have always believed that it's just a game and I really don't care much about winning or losing.

But rewind back to my little rant about the thought of this maybe being just a little too far. Am I just naive about organized sports at this age? Please comment and let me know if I'm just crazy. I mean, I used to play soccer when I was his age but we definitely kept track of goals and knew who won or lost the game. Have the times just changed?

Maybe it's just now that I'm raising a boy, I'm a little more aware of this whole "evil competition" philosophy and it kind of bothers me. I have read, in a wide variety of articles and books, how the whole "feminizing" of education is hurting boys. One of the big ways they do that is by removing competition and focusing on "collaboration", "feelings", etc.

I really don't think competition is evil. I mean, isn't the thrill of Yahtzee or the fun of basketball or so many millions of other things from the idea of winning? It's not about putting other people down or having a victory or death mindset. Just some good old fashioned battles of skill, wit, or luck?

And... After all that about Mommy's over-analyzing the philosophy of competition, I will say that Hunter wasn't bothered by a thing, had two great hits (he was actually able to hit the coach's pitch and didn't need the T) and played third base tagging two [non-counting] outs. And was super excited about the potato chips he got after the game.

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ"

Philippians 3:8

Hunter is 5 years, 1 month old

The Power of Music

"Music helps you think by activating and synchronizing neural firing patterns that connect multiple brain sites... The neural synchrony ensembles increase both the brain's efficiency and effectiveness."

From Arts with the Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen 

I have heard time and time again that studies continue to show that music - both the act of actively listening to it and the act of creating it - has been shown to stimulate more areas of the brain than any other single activity. And as such, music physically grows, organizes, and wires the brain in a phenomenal and powerful way.

The brain grows by use. And music grows the brain such a profound way as to have an enormous impact on mathematical ability, reading, critical thinking and reasoning, and so much more.

As Glenn Doman has long proposed, all brain function is interrelated. You cannot suppress one function without likewise suppressing the others. On the same note, you cannot raise one function without in turn raising the others. When you grow and improve the brain by any given activity, you are also growing it and improving it for all other activity.

Music is a beautiful way to grow your child's brain and improve their ability to learn about and appreciate their world.

"Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works."

1 Chronicles 16:9

Kindergarten in California

Hunter would traditionally be in kindergarten next year.

Although we're definitely not going the "traditional" route when it comes to age-grades and curriculum (that is, following the standard "what your kid should know when") and California does not require testing, state educational standards are a good thing to know and can also be a good resource.

Most of this stuff, he already knows (including everything in the reading, math, and science department), but there are a lot of things I thought were interesting and gave me some ideas, like the health section and the physical education section.

Some he already has general knowledge of, but just require a little more talking through it such as "Describe the benefits of being physically active". Others we haven't even touched, such as "Name and perform folk/traditional dances from the United States and other countries". And still others, he probably can do, I've just never even thought to try, such as "Land on both feet after taking off on one foot and on both feet".

I thought it would be an interesting thing to share though. It is kind of long but a lot of it is really basic stuff, like "Distinguish letters from words", "Know that sets with larger numbers have more objects in them than sets with smaller numbers", and "Know stories sometimes give plants and animals attributes they do not really have". So, enjoy!

NOTE: I've simplified some of the wording in this document, mostly in English Language Arts and Math (i.e., changing "Match all consonant and short-vowel sounds to appropriate letters" to "Know the sounds of letters (consonants and short vowels)") It sure makes it easier to understand but I kind of got tired of it after a while and the rest are pretty much as-is. Also, the subcategories (i.e. dividing standards into reading, print concepts, writing, etc.) are my own. The actual documents with these standards can be found here.

California Content Standards

Kindergarten 

English Language Arts

Reading

•  Know all upper and lowercase letters
  
• Know the sounds of letters (consonants and short vowels)
  
• Sound out simple two- and three- letter words
  
• Recognize and create rhyming words
  
• Tell the beginning and ending sounds in one-syllable words
  
• Count the number of sounds in simple words (i.e. cat = /k/ - /a/ - /t/)
  
• Tell the difference of similar sounds (i.e. /th/ and /f/)
  
• Tell how many syllables are in a word (i.e. read-ing, kan-ga-roo)
  
•  Read simple sight words (i.e. the, and)

Print Concepts

• Distinguish letters from words
  
•  Know that when you change letters in a word, the word changes (i.e. sad and sat)
  
• Know that sentences are made up of separate words
  
•  Know that printed materials provide information
  
• Identify types of everyday text (i.e. storybooks, poems, newspapers, signs, labels)
  
•  Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book
  
•   Locate the title, table of contents, name of author, and name of illustrator in a book
  
• Use pictures and context to make predictions about story content

Writing

• Write all upper and lowercase letters (using proper form and spacing)
  
• Write left-to-right and top-to-bottom
  
• Write about experiences, stories, people, objects, or events (using phonetic spelling)

Speaking, Listening, and Understanding

• Speak in complete, coherent sentences
  
•  Share information and ideas (in complete, coherent speech)
  
•  Retell familiar stories
  
• Recite short poems, rhymes, and songs
  
• Relate an experience or creative story in a logical sequence
  
• Tell the difference between fantasy and realistic text
  
• Ask and answer questions about elements in books
  
• Connect life experiences to the information and events in texts
  
•  Describe common objects and events (in both general and specific language)
  
•  Sort common words into categories (i.e. colors, shapes, foods)
  
• Understand and follow one-and two-step spoken directions

Math

Numbers

• Count, recognize, represent, name, and order a number of objects (up to 30)
  
• Compare sets of objects (up to ten objects in each group) and tell which set is equal to, more than, or less than the other
  
• Use manipulatives to find the answers to addition and subtraction problems (for two numbers that are each less than 10)
  
• Tell when an estimate is reasonable or not
  
• Sort objects into particular groups (i.e. all these balls are green, all those are red)
  
• Compare the length, weight, and capacity of objects (i.e. shorter, longer, taller, lighter, heavier, or holds more)
  
• Know that sets with larger numbers have more objects in them than sets with smaller numbers

Time

• Demonstrate an understanding of concepts of time (i.e. morning, afternoon, evening, today, yesterday, tomorrow, week, year)
  
•  Recognize tools that measure time (i.e. clock, calendar)
  
•  Name the days of the week
  
•  Know the time of everyday events (to the nearest hour) (i.e. lunchtime is 12 o'clock; bedtime is 8 o'clock)

Geometry

• Identify and describe common geometric objects (e.g., circle, triangle, square, rectangle, cube, sphere, cone).
  
• Compare shapes and objects by common attributes (i.e. position, shape, size, roundness, number of corners)

Mathematical Thinking

• Ask questions; collect data; and record the results (using objects, pictures, and picture graphs)
  
• Determine the approach, materials, and strategies to be used to solve a problem
  
• Use tools and strategies to model problems (such as manipulatives or sketches)
  
• Explain the reasoning you used to solve a problem (with concrete objects and/or pictorial representations)
  
•  Make calculations and check the validity of the results

History-Social Science

Social Studies

• Understand that being a good citizen involves acting in certain ways
  
• Follow rules, such as sharing and taking turns, and know the consequences of breaking them
  
• Learn examples of honesty, courage, determination, individual responsibility, and patriotism in American and world history from stories and folklore
  
•  Know beliefs and related behaviors of characters in stories from times past (and understand the consequences of the characters' actions)
  
• Know national and state symbols and icons (such as the national and state flags, the bald eagle, and the Statue of Liberty)
  
• Match simple descriptions of work that people do and the names of related jobs (at the school, in the local community, and from historical accounts)

Geography

• Compare and contrast the locations of people, places, and environments (and describe their characteristics)
  
•  Know the terms near/far, left/right, and behind/in front
  
•  Know the difference between land and water on maps and globes
  
•  Locate general areas referenced in historical legends and stories on maps and globes
  
• Know traffic symbols and map symbols (i.e. those for land, water, roads, cities)
  
•  Make maps and models of neighborhoods (incorporating such structures as police and fire stations, airports, banks, hospitals, supermarkets, harbors, schools, homes, places of worship, and transportation lines)
  
•  Be familiar with the school's layout, environs, and the jobs people do there
  
•  Place days, weeks, and months in proper order

History

• Understand that history relates to events, people, and places of other times
  
• Know the purposes of, and the people and events honored in, commemorative holidays and the human struggles that were the basis for the events (i.e. Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Washington's and Lincoln's Birthdays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day)
  
•  Know American legends and historical accounts (through the stories of people such as Pocahontas, George Washington, Booker T. Washington, Daniel Boone, and Benjamin Franklin)
  
• Understand how people lived in earlier times and how their lives would be different today (i.e. getting water from a well, growing food, making clothing, having fun, forming organizations, living by rules and laws)

Science

Physical Science

• Know objects can be described in terms of the materials they are made of (i.e. clay, cloth, paper) and their physical properties (i.e. color, size, shape, weight, texture, flexibility, attraction to magnets, floating, sinking)
  
• Know water can be a liquid or a solid and can be made to change back and forth from one form to the other
  
• Know water left in an open container evaporates (goes into the air) but water in a closed container does not

Life Science

• Know how to observe and describe similarities and differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and animals (i.e. seed-bearing plants, birds, fish, insects)
  
• Know major structures of common plants and animals (i.e.stems, leaves, roots, arms, wings, legs)
  
•  Know stories sometimes give plants and animals attributes they do not really have

Earth Science

• Know earth is composed of land, air, and water
  
• Know characteristics of mountains, rivers, oceans, valleys, deserts, and local landforms
  
•  Know changes in weather occur from day to day and across seasons
  
• Know that weather changes affects Earth and its inhabitants
  
•  Know how to identify resources from Earth that are used in everyday life (and understand that many resources can be conserved)

Scientific Thinking

• Know that scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations
  
• Use the five senses to observe common objects
  
•  Describe the properties of common objects
  
•  Describe objects by relative position (i.e. above or below)
  
• Sort common objects by physical attributes (i.e. color, shape, texture, size, weight)
  
• Communicate observations (orally and through drawings)

Physical Education

General

•  Participate three to four days each week in moderate to vigorous physical activities that increase breathing and heart rate
  
• Sustain continuous movement for increasing periods of time while participating in moderate to vigorous physical activity

Physical Skills

• Perform locomotor and nonlocomotor movements to a steady beat
  
• Clap in time to a simple beat
  
• Climb a ladder, jungle gym, or apparatus
  
• Jump a swinging rope held by others
  
•  Land on both feet after taking off on one foot and on both feet
  
•  Hang from overhead bars for increasing periods of time
  
•  Stretch shoulders, legs, arms, and back without bouncing
  
• Roll smoothly in a forward direction, without stopping or hesitating, emphasizing a rounded form
  
• Demonstrate the underhand movement (throw) pattern
  
• Demonstrate the overhand movement (throw) pattern
  
• Demonstrate the two-handed overhead (throw) pattern
  
•  Catch, showing proper form, a gently thrown ball
  
•  Catch a self-tossed ball
  
• Balance oneself demonstrating momentary stillness (in symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes using body parts other than both feet as a base of support)
  
• Travel over, under, in front of, behind, and through objects and over, under, in front of, and behind partners
  
• Change speeds in response to tempos, rhythms, and signals while traveling in straight, curved, and zigzag pathways (using the following locomotor movements: walking, running, leaping, hopping, jumping, galloping, sliding, and skipping)
  
• Change direction from forward and back and right and left in response to tempos, rhythms, and signals while walking, running, hopping, and jumping (i.e., locomotor skills)
  
•  Demonstrate the difference between slow and fast, heavy and light, and hard and soft while moving

Form

• Explain the difference between under and over, behind and in front of, next to and through, up and down, forward and backward, and sideways
  
• Use personal space, general space, and boundaries and discuss why they are important
  
• Explain base of support
  
• Identify the locomotor skills of a walk, jog, run, hop, jump, slide, and gallop
  
•  Explain the role of the eyes when striking objects with the hands, arms, and feet
  
• Identify the point of contact for kicking a ball in a straight line
  
•  Describe the position of the fingers in the follow-through phase of bouncing a ball continuously 

Anatomy

• Know parts of the body: (the head, shoulders, neck, back, chest, waist, hips, arms, elbows, wrists, hands, fingers, legs, knees, ankles, feet, and toes)
  
• Know the location of the heart and explain that it is a muscle
  
•  Know the location of the lungs and explain the role of the lungs in the collection of oxygen
  
• Know that the body is composed of bones, organs, fat, and other tissues
  
•  Know that physical activity increases the heart rate
  
•  Know that strong muscles help the body to climb, hang, push, and pull
  
• Describe the role of muscles in moving the bones
  
• Know the body part involved when stretching
  
• Describe the role of water as an essential nutrient for the body
  
•  Know that nutritious food provides energy for physical activity
  
•  Identify indicators of increased capacity to participate in vigorous physical activity

Social

• Identify the feelings that result from participation in physical activity
  
•  Participate willingly in physical activities
  
•  Participate in physical activities that are enjoyable and challenging
  
• Demonstrate the characteristics of sharing in a physical activity
  
•  Describe how positive social interaction can make physical activity with others more fun
  
• Participate as a leader and a follower during physical activities
  
• Demonstrate an awareness of personal space, general space, and boundaries while moving in different directions and at high, medium, and low levels in space

Health

Nutrition

• Name a variety of healthy foods and explain why they are necessary for good health
  
•  Identify a variety of healthy snacks
  
• Recognize the importance of a healthy breakfast
  
• Select nutritious snacks
  
• Plan a nutritious breakfast
  
• Choose healthy foods in a variety of settings
  
• Recognize that not all products advertised or sold are good for them
  
•  Explain how to ask family members for healthy food options

Physical Activity

• Describe the benefits of being physically active.
  
• Describe ways to participate regularly in active play and enjoyable physical activities 

Science

• Describe their own physical characteristics
  
• Explain that living things grow and mature
  
• Name body parts and their functions
  
•  Name and describe the five senses
  
• Identify practices that are good for the environment, such as turning off lights and water, recycling, and picking up trash

Safety

• Identify safety rules for the home, the school, and the community
  
• Know ways to stay safe when riding in a bus or other vehicle
  
• Know ways to stay safe when crossing streets, riding a bicycle, or playing
  
• Know how to cross the street safely
  
• Show how to answer the phone in a safe way

•  Know the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching
  
• Know that everyone has the right to tell others not to touch his or her body
  
• Know what a stranger is and how to avoid contact with strangers
  
• Role-play what to do if a stranger at home, in a car, or on the street approaches you

• Identify trusted adults at home and at school
  
• Identify trusted adults who can help in emergency situations
  
• Know how to ask trusted adults for help
  
• Identify emergency situations
  
• Know situations when it is necessary to seek adult help or call 9-1-1
  
• Know how to ask a trusted adult for help or call 9-1-1
  
• Define and explain the dangers of weapons
  
• Know the importance of telling a trusted adult if you see or hear about someone having a weapon
  
• Know how to tell a trusted adult when you or a friend find a weapon

• Know why medicines are used
  
• Know that medicines can be helpful or harmful
  
• Know that medicines should be taken only under the supervision of a trusted adult
  
• Know that anything may be poisonous or cause harm if used unsafely
  
• Know that some household products are harmful if ingested or inhaled
  
• Know that tobacco smoke is harmful to health and should be avoided

Social

• Know school rules about getting along with others
  
• Follow rules for safe play and safety routines
  
•  Know the characteristics of bullying

• Identify a variety of emotions
  
• Express emotions appropriately
  
•  Describe and practice situations when it is appropriate to use “Please,” “Thank you,” “Excuse me,” and “I’m sorry.”
  
• Know how to express personal needs and wants appropriately
  
• Cooperate and share with others
  
• Describe positive ways to show care, consideration, and concern for others
  
• Encourage others when they engage in safe and healthy behaviors

• Know the characteristics of families
  
• Describe characteristics that make each individual unique
  
• Name ways in which people are similar and ways in which they are different
  
• Know ways family and friends help promote well-being
  
• Make a plan to help family members at home
  
• Know trusted adults at home and at school who can help with mental and emotional health concerns
  
• Know how to ask for assistance with a health-related problem
  
• Identify trusted adults who promote healthy growth and development (i.e. physicians, nurses, dentists, and optometrists) 

Sanitation

•  Know effective dental and personal hygiene practices
  
• Know sun-safety practices
  
• Define “germs.”
  
•  Know ways to prevent the transmission of germs (i.e. washing hands, using tissues)
  
• Know why the transmission of germs may be harmful to health

Dance 
Physical Skills

       Demonstrate move ment skills, process sensory information, and describe movement, using the vocabulary of dance.

• Build the range and capacity to move in a variety of ways
  
• Perform basic locomotor skills i.e. walk, run, gallop, jump, hop, and balance)
  
• Understand and respond to a wide range of opposites (i.e. high/low, forward/back ward, wiggle/freeze)
  
• Perform simple movements in response to spoken instructions (i.e. walk, turn, reach)
  
• Respond to a variety of stimuli (i.e. sounds, words, songs, props, and images) with original movements
  
• Respond spontaneously to different types of music, rhythms, and sounds
  
• Create movements that reflect a variety of personal experiences (i.e. recall feeling happy, sad, angry, excited )

Geography and Careers

• Name and perform folk/traditional dances from the United States and other countries
  
•  Learn about the function and development of dance in past and present cultures throughout the world (noting human diversity as it relates to dance and dancers)
  
• Explain basic features that distinguish one kind of dance from another (i.e. speed, force/ energy use, costume, setting, music)
  
•  Learn about careers in and related to dance

Cross Curricular

• Critically assess and derive meaning from works of dance, performance of dancers, and original works (based on the elements of dance and aesthetic qualities)
  
• Develop competencies and creative skills in problem solving, communication, and management of time and resources that contribute to lifelong learning and career skills.
  
• Give examples of the relationship between everyday movement in school and dance movement

Music

Music Theory

•  Use symbols to represent beat
  
•  Know basic elements in music (i.e. high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, beat) 

Singing and Instruments

• Echo short melodic patterns
  
• Sing age-appropriate songs from memory
  
• Sing and play simple singing games from various cultures
  
• Use a personal vocabulary to describe voices and instruments from diverse cultures
  
• Play instruments and move or verbalize to demonstrate awareness of beat, tempo, dynamics, and melodic direction
  
•  Create accompaniments, using the voice or a variety of classroom instruments
  
• Use music, together with dance, theatre, and the visual arts, for storytelling
  
• Identify, talk about, sing, or play music written for specific purposes (i.e. work song, lullaby)

Music and Movement

• Use developmentally appropriate movements in responding to music from various genres and styles (rhythm, melody)
  
• Create movements that correspond to specific music

Cross-Curricular

• Identify the various uses of music in daily experiences
  
•  Identify and talk about the reasons artists have for creating dances, music, theatre pieces, and works of visual art

Theatre
General

Use the vocabulary of theatre (such as actor, character, cooperation, setting, the five senses, and audience) to describe theatrical experiences

•  Perform imitative movements, rhythmical activities, and theatre games and mirrors

Acting and Imagination

• Use costumes and props in role playing
  
•  Portray different community members, such as firefighters, family, teachers, and clerks, through role-playing activities
  
• Dramatize information from other content areas
  
• Compare a real story with a fantasy story
  
•  Identify differences between real people and imaginary characters
  
•  Perform group pantomimes and improvisations to retell familiar stories
  
• Retell or dramatize stories, myths, fables, and fairy tales

Social

• Respond appropriately to a theatrical experience as an audience
  
• Demonstrate the ability to participate cooperatively in performing a pantomime or dramatizing a story

Visual Arts
Basic

Name art materials (i.e. clay, paint, crayons) introduced in lessons

• Demonstrate beginning skill in the use of tools and processes, such as the use of scissors, glue, and paper in creating a three-dimensional construction

Art Creation

• Identify the elements of art (line, color, shape/form, texture, value, space) in the environment and in works of art, emphasizing line, color, and shape/form
  
• Use lines, shapes/forms, and colors to make patterns
  
•  Use lines in drawings and paintings to express feelings
  
•  Use geometric shapes/forms (circle, triangle, square) in a work of art
  
•  Create a three-dimensional form, such as a real or imaginary animal
  
• Make a collage with cut or torn paper shapes/forms
  
•  Paint pictures expressing ideas about family and neighborhood
  
•   Discuss their own works of art, using appropriate art vocabulary texture)
  
•  Discuss how and why they made a specific work of art
  
• Draw geometric shapes/forms (i.e. circles, squares, triangles) and repeat dance/movement sequences
  
•  Look at and draw something used every day (i.e. scissors, toothbrush, fork) and de-scribe how the object is used

Art Appreciation

• Recognize and describe simple patterns found in the environment and works of art
  
•  Identify and describe works of art that show people doing things together
  
•  Look at and discuss works of art from a variety of times and places
  
• Describe what is seen (including both literal and expressive content) in selected works of art
  
•  Give reasons why they like a particular work of art they made, using appropriate art vocabulary
  
•  Discuss the various works of art (i.e. ceramics, paintings, sculpture) that artists create and the type of media used 

Surroundings

• Point out images (i.e. photographs, paintings, murals, ceramics, sculptures) and sym-bols found at home, in school, and in the community, including national and state symbols and icons
  
• Describe functional and nonutilitarian art seen in daily life; that used versus those that are only viewed

"...be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ." 

1 Peter 3:15-16

Hunter is 4 years, 7 months old

California Homeschooling

Since Hunter is going to be of kindergarten age next year, I was looking into the homeschooling laws in California, preparing myself to see what I was getting into. I was a little nervous about this because, last I checked, California was given a "red" grade - that is, considered to be one of the most oppressive states in the nation on homeschooling!

However, I was very thrilled to discover that California's status is now that of "yellow", which was a welcome relief and a huge blessing!


Green - States requiring no notice: No state requirement for parents to initiate any contact.
Yellow - States with low regulation: State requires parental notification only.
Orange - States with moderate regulation: State requires parents to send notification, test scores, and/or professional evaluation of student progress.
Red - State with high regulation: State requires parents to send notification or achievement test scores and/or professional evaluation, plus other requirements (e.g. curriculum approval by the state, teacher qualification of parents, or home visits by state officials).


This map and explanation are from HSLDA.org, a wonderful, wonderful organization dedicated to protecting the right of parents to educate their children. Anyway, I found out that in California there is no specific statue for homeschooling, however, you have several options, including enrolling in a public school satellite program, enrolling in a private school satellite program, being taught by a certified tutor, or (the option most families take and the option I am definitely going to take) by qualifying as a private school and filing an annual private school affidavit.

Yes, homeschools are, in pretty much every state, considered to be private schools. California's only requirements for private schools is that they have to keep attendance, teach in English, the teacher must be "capable of teaching" (which they never define, which I thought was pretty funny), and lastly, you have to file a private school affidavit with the superintendent of public instruction between October 1 and October 15 each year (pretty small time period, isn't it?).

There are no other requirements except that you must “offer instruction in the several branches of study required to be taught in the public schools.” (English, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Science, Fine Arts, Health, and Physical Education).

Sounds pretty simple and straight-forward, doesn't it?

Compulsory attendance does not begin until first grade (age six by December 2) so it'll be nice not having to worry about the superintendent until then.

This is in no way meant to constitute legal advice, so definitely don't take it that way. What you can do is check out Home School Legal Defense Association's website and see what your state is like.

"...be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ." 

1 Peter 3:15-16