New Beginnings

Where do I begin? Well, Tuesday was orientation for Joshua's preschool. Before we went I was really unsure if we would continue to send him or not. He was asking to stay home with me. He was afraid, afraid of the unknown - having a new teacher, meeting new kids - and being away from me. One of the main reasons we send him to preschool is for him to gain some independence. He is very clingy with me, and I want him to learn to be in someone else's care other than his parents or grandparents. At church it is like pulling teeth to pull him off of me sometimes unless he is very familiar with the workers. So, for this reason I think it is good for him to go to preschool. Another reason is purely social and to make new friends. I had no expectations for educational goals since I had heard they do the same curriculum for pre-K4 as pre-K3.

Well, it was a bit of a challenge leaving Joshua in the classroom while I went to the parent orientation, but he finally let me go, and the teacher later told me that he was fine within a couple of minutes. And for the record, when I returned to pick him up afterwards, he was beaming and showing me his "magic playdough". He had a great time!

As I flipped through Joshua's folder I saw that they are using Handwriting Without Tears this year, so they are going to prepare the kids to begin writing. I am so excited about this! It is new to the school, so that is one major new thing they will be doing this year. I had thought about purchasing the curriculum to use with Joshua this year, but then I decided to wait and just work with writing in the air, in dry rice, in sand, etc. instead and hold off on any formal lessons. Handwriting Without Tears focuses first on forming the shapes of the letters with wooden pieces and works progressively toward writing. It is a fun way to teach handwriting and penmanship in a non-threatening way. I think it will be a good fit for Joshua.

On Thursday Joshua had his first day of preschool. When we first arrived he just stood outside the classroom for a few seconds, but as soon as I helped him get his folder and backpack put away he was on the floor playing with the cars. No clinging, no begging to go with me. I was amazed! So, as long as it works to pick him up at noon I will continue to keep him in preschool. This will give him some educational time too while I give Rebekah undivided attention to homeschooling.

Speaking of which, we have had a crazy week! Two days this week we didn't get to start our schooling until after lunch which makes for a late day, so I'm still trying to figure out a schedule or basic routine. I have switched things up a bit this week to get the main subjects in, and we've put off some things due to time restraints. I'm learning to be flexible.

Thursday we had a field trip with our homeschool group. Wow! The group is huge! We went to the Pumpkin Patch playground which was perfect since it is large enough to accommodate us all. I meant to take my camera and left it at home - actually, placed it on the garage floor as I put Micah in the van and forgot to turn around and pick it up - so I have no pictures except for a couple I took on my phone. It was great to talk to other moms, a few of whom are in the same boat as me as first time homeschooling moms with young children.

So, what have we done this week? Well, in history we have started Rebekah's lapbook for Sumer/ancient Mesopotamia. She has learned about the layout of the land, what they farmed, how their houses were built, how they dressed, and she knows about the ziggurat. I am not teaching all about gods and goddesses other than that the people worshipped them instead of the one true God. Today we started a salt dough map of Egypt. I told Rebekah to put the mountains on as shown on the relief map, and she literally made mountains. I love that she put her own creativity in it. By Monday it will be plenty dry to paint details such as the bodies of water and the grassy areas.

In math we have been working hard on telling time. Rebekah is doing quite well at it, but when it comes to reading a real clock she doesn't want to take the time to figure it out. It is definitely a challenge for her, but she is able to do it when she thinks about it. Today we started subtraction, and since she has been doing problems already like ?+3=8 she caught on to subtraction very quickly. She is always ahead of the game too, thinking things like ?+?=28, and she wants the two numbers to be the same, so essentially, she is trying to divide in half.

Wednesday morning we had our first week of Bible study. We are going to be doing a Precept study on the book of Daniel. Rebekah's homeschool class will be doing the same for kids. There is a children's book on Daniel but is geared toward older children who are reading and writing well. Rebekah's class will be geared toward younger children, and they will get to draw what is read to them. I'm excited about this study and to discuss it with Rebekah throughout the week.

I gotta say that since last week's reading of The Trumpet of the Swan that it is getting better. The story is more interesting now, and I got a great tip from a former homeschooling mom. Today I let Rebekah play with her math blocks while I read to her. I had her narrate the chapter, and she remembered a lot of the story. I'm not sure how well this would work with a boy, but allowing my daughter to play with something quietly while I read did wonders!

So, that in a nutshell is what our week has been. I still deal with Rebekah dragging her feet some, but today once we got started she didn't want to stop! We spent way more time on history than I had intended, and she chose to complete a whole lesson (6 pages) in math instead of spreading it over a couple of days. She is eager to finish the book and move on to the next.

Oh, and we have two tadpoles that are developing into frogs. Their little hind legs have formed and now their front legs. It is neat to see them changing!