My friend, Kendra,  at Preschoolers and Peace was asked this question recently:

I’d love to know how you tackle the unexpected in the school year? Kids progressing more quickly/slowly than you anticipated, different learning styles, unexpected life circumstances, etc.

For example, I realized very early on this year that the same reading curriculum I used for my son and was planning to use for my daughter was not the right choice for her. I then had to make a quick (or not so quick) change.

I also found out I was pregnant (yay!) and (surprise! – my baby was only 8 mo. old) and so many plans I had hoped to have were down the drain due to nausea. Ugh. Would you say you are flexible with your plan or do you pretty much stick to it strictly throughout the year? Or somewhere in between?

Read her answer here: http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/pandpblog/dealing-with-unexpected-events-in-homeschooling.html

Kendra also says

We’ve dealt with some very unexpected events as we’ve homeschooled over the last 16 years. Moving, morning sickness, death, hospitalization, job loss — how do you deal with unexpected events while homeschooling?

Leave your answer here: http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/pandpblog/dealing-with-unexpected-events-in-homeschooling.html

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Developmental psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Gordon Neufeld has thoughts about early childhood education that may come as an unwelcome surprise to parents of preschoolers and education policy-makers.

Neufeld is against four-year-old kindergarten. He’s also against five year-old kindergarten. And possibly even six-year-old kindergarten. Unless, of course, kindergarten is all about play and not at all about results.

Neufeld is co-author of the 2004 book Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Matter, which argued that parents who relinquish the parental role too soon prompt children to turn to peers for their attachment needs, sometimes with disastrous results.

“It takes six years of ideal conditions where a child gives his heart to his parents,” says the Vancouver-based Neufeld.

Neufeld knows he’s slogging into a political mire. Ontario is implementing all-day four-year kindergarten. Last October Charles Pascal, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s special adviser on early learning, acknowledged that implementation might have challenges, but things would work out “if people keep a focus on what’s best for kids and families.”

On the other hand, critics have pointed out that in Finland, one of the countries whose students are among the highest-ranking performers in international comparisons, students don’t start formal education until they’re seven.

In Canada, Neufeld finds it worrisome that even though children are going to school younger and being educated more intensively, children are less curious in Grade 12 than they were in kindergarten.

“Society is increasing expectations. Parents need to be the buffer,” says Neufeld, who has addressed the parliaments of European nations on early education and is scheduled to go to Brussels next fall to talk to the European Parliament.

What’s the answer? Play, says Neufeld. And extended families.

Preschoolers have fundamentally different brain wiring and need to be free of consequences and “attachment hunger,” says Neufeld. Germany, where the word “kindergarten” was coined more than 150 years ago, mandated play-based preschool education about a decade ago.

Play helps children build problemsolving networks. At four, five, even six, children are not ready to learn by working because the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain where a child is capable of mixed feelings, is still under construction. “It only gets wired at between five and seven years of age,” says Neufeld.

Developmentally, preschoolers have to be secure in the love and attention of their families, says Neufeld. Too often, children are pushed into performing. “You can get incredible things out of them if you detach them from marks and rewards.”

What is play? Neufeld defines it as “not work.” Play is expressive and it’s not “for real.” There are no consequences to messing up, and the child is playing for the joy of the activity, not because of an outcome. It’s like playing marbles, Neufeld says. You can play for fun and take your marbles home when you’re done, or you can play for keeps, where the winner takes all. Only playing for fun is really playing.
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/work+play/6109961/story.html#ixzz2CKzVJgCZ

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Needing help for your home schooling journey:

http://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

http://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

http://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

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Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill

Make a submission: Reject compulsory Early Education for 3 year old

From Kiwi Families:

When I was pregnant with my first baby, I found it really tough to get my head around the idea of what the baby might wear or sleep in… but I knew she’d need nappies! Somewhere along the way, I was introduced to Modern Cloth Nappies and was just blown away by the range of colours, styles, fabrics and designs… there really is something for every tooshie! Three years later and the nappies are still going strong on my second bubba and I’m a huge fan.

This week is Cloth Nappy Week and we’re thrilled to bring you some great articles and promotions to help celebrate. Here at Kiwi Families, we think that we’ve got the best information on nappies around and are so proud to be supporting Cloth Nappy Week. We’ve also just finished a HUGE cloth nappy review with nappies from 10 different suppliers… check out what our reviewers thought of them… And of course we have some great deals for you to celebrate Cloth Nappy Week so if you’ve been thinking about cloth nappies, make the most of these great offers.

Happy Cloth Nappy Week, everyone!

Rochelle and Pip

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Needing help for your home schooling journey:

http://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

http://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

http://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

Some great links from my friend Kendra at Preschoolers and Peace

• Hands and Hearts History Kits
• 3-Year-Old and 4-Year-Old Boys
• How a Big Family Can Afford to Go to the Fair
• Recording Books and Memories
• {pretty, funny, happy, real} for 19 May 2011
• Troubleshooting: Homeschooling With a Classical Approach and Few Resources
• This Gluten-Free Banana Bread is the Best Banana Bread I’ve Ever Had
• {pretty, funny, happy, real} for 12 May 2011
• Homeschool Scheduling 101