Homeschooling My 2 Year Old

I was homeschooled from pre-school through highschool and then I completed a Biblical Studies degree online from Moody Bible Institute, so I kind of homeschooled college as well! The self-motivated learning style suited me very well and I am pleased with my education and the plethora of benefits that schooling at home has brought forth. I have been teaching children at church for many years and am thankful that teaching is one of gifts! That being said, we have decided to homeschool Emma for at least the first few years of her life. I don't think that homeschooling is the only right way to educate (in fact I think ALL methods of education are flawed), but I feel confident that we have chosen the best path we know how during this season of our lives.

When Emma was born, we began the lifelong process of teaching her to be teachable. I got excited about each milestone she reached and encouraged her to go farther or try again. She seems to pick up things very quickly which has left both Mike and I wondering "what should we teach her next?" Below is a list of activities that we would like to "study" with Emma in 2014. This will be our little curriculum guidelines even though we aren't using any official textbooks. We may be working on some of these for a very long time but I am excited to see my little 2 year old expand her knowledge and grow!

Science:
~Create a leaf collection of pressed leaves, labeled and identified.
~Work on cloud recognition
~Plan some seeds and watch them grow

Social studies:
~Discuss family structure and family trees
~Work on map skills (directions, geography, etc)

Math:
~Learn to set the table herself (this involves matching with a diagram, confidence in completing by herself, care in handling dishes, participation in family chores, and counting skills. I am pumped about this one!)
~Discuss saving money
~Keep working on sorting
~Be able to count from 10-20
~Continue discussing the idea of addition and subtraction

Language:
~Tracing
~Listen and retell a story
~Dictate a letter to mom

This blog will be a great way for me to be held accountable to be faithful in teaching these skills to Emma (even if it takes us two years to accomplish some of these things instead of one). I hope to update in at least June and December as to her progress.

Woot! I'm excited!! This makes me feel much more like a homeschooled mom instead of just an invested mother of a toddler. ;)