Beautiful Blur

One of the most fun parts of meeting Josiah was learning so much more about him, even in just a week’s time. He is curious, mechanical, quiet, sensitive, and joyful. He loved his (birth) daddy so much … cuddled with him, nestled in his neck, sat on his lap. That was heaven to see. He has experienced indescribable trauma, but I know that he knows that he is well-loved by his dad and by us. That feels like the perfect backdrop to bring him home.

I had grand notions of him and Viola sitting side-by-side at the kitchen table learning through Kindergarten together come this August. Well, hmm. First problem is that we still.have.not.cleared.Embassy. 😦 Big sadness. That’s another post that I’m not ready to tackle just yet.

Along our journey to Josiah we were told that he is 3, 4, 5, 6, and even 7. Even updated our home study to reflect his ever-changing age. Geesh. After talking with his dad, at length, and looking at notes from a specialist who saw him recently while he was very ill, and after spending quality time with him as parents of small children, we feel confident that he and Viola are very, very close in age. So, we’re going with that for now. Scientific, huh?

But (always a pesky but), Viola is exceptionally advanced and Josiah is quite delayed–well, delayed in different ways–in part due to being in an orphanage for over a year, in part to not speaking English or Amharic for that matter, in part to his sorrowful past. Plus, I have Mae in 2nd grade and Jack in Preschool. Feeling a little overwhelmed lately. That might be remedied if Embassy would just utter “Cleared”. Just saying.

I have the most beautifully organized My Father’s World Kindergarten curriculum all ready to grace our table and teach to my two K’ers. But, nope, not gonna work. How do I teach these two together when one is an advanced, natural reader, ahead in math, but behind in writing skills, and the other doesn’t speak any English, has had no true opportunity for learning, and can’t even relate to the most simple things that we take for granted like toes in green grass and play doh. How do I meet each of these two Kindergarteners where each is at while also keeping them together to create an atmosphere of togetherness and creativity and attachment.

Here’s how.

My dear bloggy friend at Our Homeschool Journey piqued my interest a while back in a homeschool program called Oak Meadow. I was immediately interested but a little discouraged by the price of each year. I have poured over all I can find about OM K and I am in love with it. It is just the right fit for Viola. While she is a reader and mathematically-inspired, she is also only just now five years old. I don’t want to lose this time of her childhood to seatwork and worksheets and “school”.

This is from Oak Meadow’s Kindergarten syllabus:

“This curriculum is divided into 36 lesson plans, and each lesson is intended to be completed in one week. The lessons are not difficult, and some children could quite likely complete several lessons in one day, but childhood is a valuable period, and nothing is gained by hurrying through it …

The Oak Meadow School curriculum is quite different from what is usually found in most public, or even private, schools. Although all the traditional subjects are studied, they are approached with an imaginative spirit that we feel is closer to the heart of a child than a more intellectual approach. Also, the timing of the subjects is different from that found in traditional schools, for we believe that it makes a great difference in the child’s balanced growth if the intellect is forced into development too early. At a later stage in a child’s maturation, increased development of the intellect becomes important for balanced growth, and the curriculum responds to that need.

It is in the early stages of the child’s growth, from Kindergarten through Second Grade, that we diverge most widely from traditional curricula. We do not attempt to pressure children into intellectual growth in the early years. The capital letters of the alphabet are presented in Kindergarten, and also the numbers 1-10. Further development of the English and Math skills awaits the First Grade, when the child is more alert mentally and easily grasps more advanced concepts.

Parents who are eager for their children to display their mental talents should remember that a child is more than just an intellect. A brilliant intellect is useless without a focused will and is dangerous without a loving heart. Your child will manifest the fullness of his potential only to the extent that he is an integrated and balanced human being.”

Yep, yep. That’s just what we need.

I was blessed with an amazing find of a new (used but not really ever used) complete OM K package, including the teacher manual set for $100 with shipping. We rounded out our K curriculum with beautiful art supplies, main lesson books, and such from A Toy Garden.

The only downside to OM, for us, is that it is secular, but that’s not really a downside. As such I am going to have a morning devotional using Apologia’s Who Is God? and the respective coloring books for everyone. They will each glean what they are able and we’ll revisit it again in a few years. Starting the day with a worldview study will be wonderful.

I also plan on using some of MFW K … namely, the Bible portion, which is too sweet to skip, and the literature and activities. I have all of the student sheets so I will use the handwriting pages for Josiah this year while Viola has her own Printing with Pictures from Queen.

I really believe that OM K will be an incredible experience for Josiah, and for Viola. Josiah cannot possibly sit and learn from worksheets and the format of MFW K, but he will thrive with OM K … for instance, when learning the letter A: we’ll make a mosaic, bake letters, make an A with twigs, draw it in our lesson book, walk it on the floor, trace it in sand, etc. Hands-on, imaginative, lovely learning.

I also really adore the nature/science and crafts in Oak Meadow, especially in Kindergarten. This will dovetail so well with the Outdoor Secrets nature study we are doing as a family.

Lots of exposure to art, color, cutting, imagination, outdoors time, stories, fairy tales, fingerplay, songs, circle time, cooking, gardening, living math … just being little and full of wonder. It will give back to Josiah so much of what he has missed and it will allow Viola to be little just a little longer.

I’m so thankful for friends in cyberspace who have helped steer us down this path. God puts just the right people in our paths at the right moments.

Thankful,