3 Weeks Down: Surgery, Preschool and homeschooling.

We have reached the 3 weeks mark! We are almost to a month and I have to say that I feel like time is clipping along quite nicely. I'm hoping it stays that way!

My awesome new car decal!

My husband received his first care package along with some cards and stuff that my parents mailed him! He loved the package and said he's enjoying the snacks!

Our map showing where Daddy visits!

This past week I had to have a spinal block done to try and alleviate my sciatica. I have Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and my sciatica has been constant for about a month now. The block still has not kicked in, so I've been trying to take it easy.  If I can't get relief from the block then the doctor is talking about doing surgery! I'm trying to avoid that at all costs! Surgery is definitely not something I was planning on this deployment!

During this down time I've had a chance to think about Liam turning two! It's only 3 months away!  My husband and I were thinking about sending him to Preschool when he hit the 2 year mark, but our budget is not at the point where we could easily do that this year.  So, after I started thinking about it, it hit me! Why not just have Preschool at home with him? I mean my philosophy is mostly made up of the belief that children learn through doing and playing! Liam gets lots of interaction with other kids thanks to play dates, my moms' group and church, so I wasn't worried about that.It's not like preschool is foreign to me...during college and right after I graduated I taught preschool. I even created and taught a Spanish program for preschoolers at the school I was at.

My dapper almost 2 year old!

Now to decide on a teaching method!  I learned all about them in college, but it has been a while. Off I went to the internet to do some research.  If we were going to send Liam to preschool the Montessori schools in the area are on the top of my list. So, I started reading up on Maria Montessori and also looking at comparisons of preschool programs. That's when I stumbled upon the Steiner Method, also known as a Waldorf Education. I really liked the idea behind it. It wasn't really child centered, but more of a child involved way of life! I felt like it went right along with my ideals. There are aspects of both Montessori and Waldorf education that I love. I knew for sure that I was not going to do strictly one or the other...more like a little of both.  I then started looking for a curriculum, but just could not find one that was exactly what I wanted and not a lot of money.

After thinking about it long and hard I decided to write my own! I knew that the basis for what I want to teach Liam was going to be everyday life and lots of free play! I also loved that a Waldorf education is based on the seasons and festivals. Keeping those things in mind and our love of books I came up with a simple Waldorf Inspired preschool learning guide! 

I am so excited to share it with you all in my next post. It still needs a bit of tweaking and I'm trying to create a Pinterest board to go along with it. That way all the resources are in one place, if you choose to follow along! We'll be starting "Preschool" the second week of September after we return from a trip home. 

If you would like to learn more about the Montessori method and the Waldorf method check out Global Mama's series Hunting For A Preschool! She gives an excellent break down of the methods and their critiques. Who knows maybe you'd prefer the Reggio Emilia method or the Charlotte Mason approach!