Educating our babies! NEI HO!

(Jocelyn planting trees in the spring)

Tonight I was reminded of the woman I strive to be but seem to fall short of, in my opinion. You know her...the Proverbs 31 woman. She's so freakin' perfect! I sat and read it to Ariana tonight in hopes that in reminding myself of who I wish to be maybe my baby girl will find it a worthy goal of her own someday.

That got me on a whole new chapter to think about, education. One of the greatest gifts we as parents can give our children is the gift of knowledge. If you step back and really try to grasp that whole concept it's a bit overwhelming. It's my responsibility to provide my baby girls with all the know how and skills they need to carry on through life. What if I forget something? What if it's not good enough? Will they survive the constantly changing environment? The questions just go on and on.

(Jocelyn planting her flowers)

My girls will be or should I say ARE second generation home educated kids, what an exciting challenge! From the day each of them came into our lives, the lessons began. Starting with simply seeing and hearing the world around them and learning cause and effect. "If I cry, people respond and provide for me" What an amazing thing, their already figuring out how the world interacts. Jocelyn is well on her way of learning all sorts of new and interesting skills. We're learning our letters, colors, numbers, emotions and reactions, cause and effect, size relations, etc. Everything is a learning experience.

She gets excited about recycling ("wecycling" in her words) even. We started by sorting the trash and she carries the recyclables to their designated bin. She watched the recycling truck arrive and pick up the very items she had placed in the bins and then after a wave and a thank you we took the opportunity to recycle some items of our own into new things. She sat intently watching as I took some Capri Sun pouches and turned them into a purse just for her. Boy was she excited! Now she helps wash them and prepare them for items to sell. What a big girl! Getting her excited about the environment and contributing and doing her part makes me very happy! Shes planted trees and flowers and even picks weeds in the garden!

(Helping Mommy wash) "I'm washin' mommy"

It's those little things in life that make you smile!

Those moments that make you stop and remember why you do what you do.

I'm still doing extensive research on what methods I want to use for their education. Of course how they respond to certain methods will have a bearing on what I choose to do. I have established so far that in some way I want to incorporate a very well rounded ethnic program. I feel in our current and changing world it's extremely important for them to have a complete understanding and respect for people and lifestyles around the world. Our simple start in that direction, Jocelyn learned how to say Hi in Mandarin nei ho(pronounced ni hao). I want to instill in the girls that all people are created equal. Learning the history, skills and languages from other counties I think will be a good start. Emphasising not just what is learned, but how it is learned.