Life is changing

The boy has turned three. It crept up on me, it seemed as though I would have a toddler forever but of course he is now officially a preschooler. Except he won't be going to preschool. He currently goes to his beloved childminder two days a week, as my health isn't always good and I need the rest, but come Christmas things will be changing. R will be going back to teaching, and will be gone five days a week. We've been very lucky to have him around so much, even if it meant finances were tight, and we'll miss him when he's gone - all the while being very proud of the work he's putting in to make a better life for the three of us.

The boy's routine will be changing too - he will be leaving his childminder as the others his age will be off to nursery and preschool. We think that, for our family, the best thing to do will be to find a playschool we love, that he can attend part time. I don't want somewhere that pushes learning and prepares children for school, although I know all of them will do that to some extent. I want somewhere he can go for a few hours, have fun, then come home. This coming week will hopefully involve lots of visits to local nurseries and playgroups to find the perfect place for my little man.

We still intend to home educate him for the first few years of primary school at least. I feel that, by not sending him to preschool, we are making our first leap into H.E. but the truth is that it's the first time our decision is being noticed (and sometimes questioned) by other people. Harlan has always learned from/with/around us. At the age of three he can recognise some letter and words, count forwards and backwards, know shapes, colours and name a huge amount of animals. So he is not lacking in education, despite the fact we are yet to sit down with a workbook.

Today has not been a good day for me health-wise, so R has looked after Harlan for most of the day and he has entertained himself mostly with his birthday presents. When I came downstairs we did a bit of crafting, making cardboard dinosaurs and playing games with them - what are they called, what do they eat? Aside from the things I try to set up to initiate learning, he learns a lot from asking questions and having them answered. And boy, does he ask a lot of questions!