Month 35 - Recap

Well, my sweet bear, just like Natalie survived her first full month of homeschool, so did you. And you did it with all the grace an almost-three-year-old can muster (ie: not a lot). You were pretty grumpy the first week.

"Why you sit at da table so much?"
"Why I gotta be quiet if I sit by Natawee?"
"I don't wike school. I go pway wiff my twucks now."

But by the second week, you had come around.

"I want to dwaw, too!"
"I want to wite my wetters, too! How you wite a A?"
"Here, Nattie, I put my dinos on your school paper to help you wearn."

I bought this super-cool cart from IKEA that I've filled with homeschool supplies. It's got three shelves on it, and the bottom shelf is full of things just for you to use while we do school stuff: crayons, paper, stickers, some flashcards, and the aforementioned plastic dinosaurs. You switch activities every three seconds, so by 00:00:15 of our homeschool day, you're done with us and run off to the playroom.

We take enough breaks to keep you from getting antsy and/or lonely. Natalie loves taking her breaks with you. You two either chase each other around the living room or climb into your bed and pretend you're in a boat. Your fellow passengers (ie: the stuffed animals) are a pretty unruly bunch from what I can gather. They keep jumping overboard and you and Natalie have the daunting job of rescuing them.

So besides this being the first month of you as a homeschool sibling, it's also the first month of you using the toilet (the word 'potty' makes me want to throw up). Natalie was a bit older than the average kid when she decided she was ready. And just one accident later, she was golden. You, however, haven't been so easy. I don't know if accidents mean you're really not ready, or it's just normal, but we're pressing on. You're usually fine if we're at home and you can be in all your clothes-less glory. It's when you wear clothes that problems sometimes arise. I will say though that you did really awesome when we went grocery shopping the other day. Hopefully the trend continues, because my summary of potty training you? Boys are way gross.

You are obsessed with jeans. Like, ob-sessed. When I was leaving to get you and Natalie some winter clothes at a local consignment store, you hollered to me "Don't forget my jeeeeeeeeeans! Wots and wots of jeeeeeeeeeeans!" (And Natalie hollered "Please forget jeans for me! They're terrible and awful and I don't like them!"). So I did. I got you lots and lots of jeans. Probably more than a two-year-old needs ... but really, at $2 and $3 a pair, why not? The look on your face when you saw them was priceless. It was the same look that the winners of the Publishers Clearing House have. So you wear them everywhere. We've had a few days of cooer weather, so it was totally appropriate. But on the days that it's sweltering? Yep, still jeans. You show your jeans to everybody. Friends, family, people at the grocery store, waiters and waitresses, people we see in the bathroom, you don't discriminate. You're excited about your britches and you want the world to know. And if you can learn to keep your beloved jeans free of anything that belongs in a toilet, we'll all be golden.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for October 9, 2014:

• Ebola Death Toll Rises to 4,033
• The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Indian Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani Malala Yousafzay
• Boy, 3, Falls Into Jaguar Exhibit at Zoo in Little Rock, Arkansas
• 'Saturday Night Live' Star Jan Hooks Dies at 57
• Obama Declares Part of "Magnificent" San Gabriel Mountains National Monument 

September 2014 - Recap

Well my little student, we finished our first month of homeschooling. And we both survived! It's only been a month, it's only kindergarten, and I'm only teaching one kid (I have another student but he's a delinquent who insists that pretending my binder clips are dinosaurs and subsequently making them fight each other is more fun than what I'm teaching. Rude.), but it's been really fun.

I often have to catch myself from turning into a Type A weirdo (ie: my normal self) who forgets the perks of homeschooling. In my mind? We'd start around 8:00 or 8:30 and be done by 10:00. In reality? Pretty weather trumps an early start time. Being out of coffee (which requires an early trip to the grocery store) also trumps an early start time. In my mind? Since you're a sponge, I didn't think we'd take many breaks (hence, being done at 10:00). In reality? We take LOTS of breaks. This keeps Charlie from feeling too left out and keeps you from losing focus. It also makes our school days last quite a bit longer. In my mind? I thought I was going to go cuh-RAZY being around you both all day. In reality? I have. But I've also enjoyed this month more than I ever anticipated.

We've kept a pretty consistent routine this month and it's seemed to work quite well. Whenever we start (whether it's 8:00 or 10:00 or somewhere in between), you start by writing your memory verse. I pick a new one each week, and I'm trying to pick ones that work on character-building. While the Bible doesn't specifically say "Thou musn't be a big ol' jerk to thy little brother", there are a lot of verses about how our words matter, how we can be a good friend, and how to honor Mommy and Daddy. By writing the verses each day, you're simultaneously memorizing scripture and working on your handwriting. I'm all for multi-tasking.

Speaking of writing, you were none too happy with me for insisting you hold your pencil the correct way. You've been writing for a long time and I noticed that you held your pencil kinda crazy-like, but  I never corrected you. Perhaps I should have, seeing that you whined for days about how awful it was holding it the right way. And you were also mad about how I'm making you start your letters and numbers from the top (you wrote half of them starting from the bottom). I heard "But MOMMYYYYYYYY! It's too HAAAAAARRDDDDDD!") After a few days of incessant caterwauling, you're a pencil-holding and writing-your-letters-and-numbers-from-the-top champ. And your handwriting has improved. Imagine that.

After your memory verse, we take a break. Either you color a picture relating to the verse (or you just draw a rainbow - you're slightly rainbow obsessed) or we play with Charlie (or I clean the kitchen or whatever). After the break, we start on math. I'm a math nerd, Daddy's a math nerd, you have math nerd DNA running all over your body - so there was no chance that you'd get away without doing it. Right now we're practicing how to add the 2s. You're good up until 4+2. Did you know such a math problem can turn someone into a grump? Because it does. Bob (the nerdiest of math nerds in our family) has supplied with me with oodles of math manipulatives: dominoes, tangrams, dice, pattern blocks, base 10 blocks, Cuisinaire rods, you name it. I'm using them a little bit in our lessons, but I'm hoping to learn more ways (other than Charlie's preferred method of turning every manipulative into a sword and whacking the couch).

It's usually lunchtime after we finish up with math. Then we read. The curriculum we bought came with a lot of great classic books. I could have added on another set of books for a hefty charge, but didn't. Thankfully I've found most of the other set of books at the library. Either you read or I read and then I ask you some questions from the Reading Guide. This is (hopefully) teaching you pay attention to what you're reading (or hearing). Reading comprehension is a huge struggle for me (that's certainly not helped by my horrific short-term memory) so I hope you get your Daddy's ability to remember what you read.

I never pegged myself for a homeschool mom. I never pegged myself as patient, organized, or capable of teaching anyone. And you know what I've found after a month of homeschool? I'm still none of those things. And that's okay. Because we're going to have those days where we're crabby and we're going to have the days where we don't feel like 'doing' school. Maybe we'll trudge through or maybe we'll scrap it and go on a nature walk. I like the idea of teaching you school, absolutely. But I'm even more excited to watch you discover what you're passionate about (perhaps 'Lover of Rainbows' will be a paying job one day). The Lord has marvelous plans for you, my sweet girl, and watching those plans unfold will be one of my utmost treasures.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for October 1, 2014:

• Army warns US military personnel on ISIS threat to family members
• Lecrae: I put faith in hip-hop
• Ebola Patient's Family Ordered To Stay Inside After Trying to Leave
• Missing Girl Found in Mexico 12 Years Later
• Couple Leaves a $100 Tip for Bad Service