Raising Arrows

I used to be an anti-preschool homeschooling mom.  That is, until my little Creed came along.  He’s super busy and super smart, and seriously needs his day to be structured.  That said, my philosophy of homeschooling preschool has NOT changed, and I wanted a curriculum that reflected that.

What is my philosophy for homeschooling preschool?

• Organic and natural
• A lot of open-ended play
• A lot of time outside
• A lot freedom to explore
• Very little seatwork

In my quest to find THAT kind of curriculum, I kept turning up empty-handed.  Everything I ran across was super intense, more seatwork than I was willing to force my child to do, and WAY too much work for me as the teacher.  And then one night as I was Googling once again trying to find something that would work for him, I ran across A Year of Playing Skillfully,(referred to as AYOPS from here out) and it was like a breath of fresh air!  (You can get a free unit to check out before buying, so don’t forget to do that!)  
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Have you ever wondered what your kids will say about being homeschooled?  Our guest today started in a traditional school setting, so if you have pulled your children from school, be encouraged by Savannah today!

Name & Age
My name is Savannah Mizuhata, and I am 26.

How many years were you homeschooled?
I was homeschooled from third grade (1999), through when I received my GED at age 18 in 2009. I really disliked being homeschooled at first, but slowly came to realize all of the great benefits and opportunities it allotted me as I got older.

A favorite homeschooling memory.
Field Trips! We were part of a local homeschool group, Crow River Home Educators. They were not a co-op, but mainly a support group. We met every Thursday afternoon at a park or the ice skating rink/sledding hill, weather permitting.  They would also organize group field trips to museums, musicals, nature reserves, historic locations, and local interests (fire station, county jail, train depot, etc.).  
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