Of Schoolin'

Philip and I have tossed around the idea of homeschooling since before we had children.  It was always a nice idea.  Until I realized my daughter was about to turn four, the year in which most children enter Pre-School, and I still had no idea how to even begin teaching my little girl the formal learnings of life.

Of course, I understand Pre-K is rather an optional thing and not entirely necessary for success, but as far as I'm concerned from my home-schooling base zero over here, I have an entire year now to figure out how to do this thing before it becomes for real.

Which means establishing routines so she won't be completely freaked out by the idea of a schedule which requires her to do Mommy-orchestrated activities other than her own agenda of playing house or Uno Moo.

It means me putting a system into place for how, where and when work and lessons are completed and learning to multi-task so the as-yet un-schooled children don't feel neglected.

It means figuring out how to lesson plan for someone under the age of thirteen (the youngest age with which I have real-life teaching experience) and how to select and implement a curriculum (even if it's self-designed).

Thus, we started yesterday morning, bright and early, trying to fill two hours with Pre-School activities before her littlest brother's well-baby check-up (he's 18lb 2.5oz and 26 inches long, in case you're wondering).  And for this girl, Tuesday, the day she would start school, has been right there under "Birthday!" since I first mentioned it to her.  Doing school at home?!  This was going to be amazing!

And it was quite wonderful for both of us.  Until I expected her to complete a few activities on her own.  Then suddenly her joy turned to tears and success to frustration and she may have become the first home-schooled pre-schooler to actually get time-out on her very first day (leave it to my girl).

So, we're learning.  Together.

But right now we have tomorrow's work all laid out and ready for action.  And, hopefully, by next year, we'll have this thing down.  And her first day of Kindergarten can maybe not include disciplinary action.

Our work station for now.  It kind of makes me happy to see it all together.  The ice cream cone concept was something Philip remembered from growing up (adapted together with a few other ideas I've found).  As she completes the work in a basket, the scoops go on the cone and when she's done, she chooses a bonus activity as a cherry on top.  I might be kind of proud of that.

1,000 Gifts:
871. A little girl on her first bike
872. New school supplies
873. A work station all decked out and ready
874. Late nights at IHOP
875. Energy to face the day
876. Impromptu naps
877. Princess balloons
878. A little boy in a purple tiara
879. Big Boy pants
880. A memorization partner
881. Voicemail