Misc. Information at Pratt Educational Resources

My Background
I was a certified teacher through 2003 and had an endorsement in ESL (English as a Second Language.) I have not taught in the public school system. I served a mission in Chile for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can learn more at: mormon.org. I learned the Spanish language in Chile. I was a Student Teacher in a Bilingual 1st and 2nd Grade classrooms (there were two classroom teachers) during the Fall of 1996.

Homeschooling
If you want to know more about the different approaches of unschooling and homeschooling, click here. Also go to my page, Home Schooling Links to find more resources.

Unschooling: Child Guided Learning/Daily Life Learning
Our children take their time to learn new things (but when they learn it, they don't forget it).  We will let our children guide most of their learning.  We will be there to help each of our children expand on what they are interested in learning.  When they are ready to learn something new, they will tell us.  For example, my daughter colored a coloring page of a circle and then she wanted to watch a movie.  She found the circles in the movie.  (You can take walks or talk more about the shape or movie your child has in their hands.)  Secondly, we want our children to have fun while learning. We can do that by shopping, going on vacations, taking field trips to: science, history, or other type of museums.  Lastly, learning is an ongoing process in every daily life.  Our children can learn new things everyday without knowing they are doing it.  We love to cook and bake. Our children help me make things in the kitchen.  This will help them with science and mathematical concepts and home economics. (They will be able to use measuring spoons and cups to help them learn these concepts. Having fun is the key in learning.

Added 5/15/04
We are unschoolers.  I let my children choose what they want to do throughout the day.  Once they have choosen various things to do and to learn, then I naturally mention something that will help them learn even more.   They have fun and my husband and I have fun unschooling them.  Of course, when you unschool, some eclectic homeschooling comes into place too.  To find more unschooling links, go to Unschooling @ Pura Vida.  Eclectic Homeschooling is when you mix all types of homeschooling together to teach your children. We just wanted to teach our children the way they learn best and putting all the styles of homeschooling together is what we want for our children.  Eclectic homeschooling also includes unschooling.  You can read more about this type of homeschooling at: Eclectic Homeschooling On The Web and find other resources at Eclectic Homeschool Online.

Some Spotlights of the Year 2001
Children learn so much from just playing.  In January (or February 2001), my 3 year old plus daughter wanted to write the letter "i" on a piece of paper so I did.  (She knows that letter very well.)  After that I wrote all the alphabet and sang "The Alphabet Song".  I didn't realize she learned some other letters.  In the beginning of March 2001, she came up to me with her fingers like a "V" and then a "W".  She even tried to say the letter.  I have no ideas where she learned that.  I can't remember if I taught her that or my husband.  She does that all the time.  I showed her how to make an "X" with her fingers just recently and she wanted me to write the letter "X".  She now knows how to write that letter and does it all the time.  She will say, "Baby x" for the lower case x or "Mommy (or Daddy) X" for the capital X.  On March 4, 2001, I happen to write the alphabet on her Magna Doodle just for my enjoyment.  When she came back from the other room, she saw it and wanted me to write the alphabet again.  She even wanted me to do the numbers.  She doesn't know the word "alphabet" and "numbers" that well but I figured out which one she was saying and I did it. This proves that children learn in everyday life without the parent telling them what they need to learn.  (This is called unschooling.)