I'm not a big believer in preschool for my girls. I know some homeschoolers spend time and money on a preschool curriculum, but I've always felt like reading a book about the alphabet to my 4 year old was just as good as sitting at a table and working on flashcards with them. And I still think that. Except that now I have a lot less time to sit and read those alphabet books with my 3, almost 4 year old than I did with any of the other girls. And to be perfectly honest, all the pretty educational books we got with #1 have either been so used that they got dumped or they are lost somewhere in the sea of books we own. So I dug out a set of flashcards to start working with #4. Note: This has nothing to do with the fact that the girls' cousin who is 6 months younger than #4 can already write her name. Because I'm a veteran Mom and I don't compare myself to other parents anymore! Anyway, while looking online for some coloring pages for #4 I came across this website. An all-in-one homeschool curriculum, starting with preschool. A big fat kudos to this woman. She has spent countless hours putting all this together and offers it for free to anyone who wants to use it. So even though I still wouldn't spend money or much time on a preschool education for my almost 4 year old, I can sit and work through 5 minutes a day with her--especially since it is free. #4 seems to be enjoying it. So I've decided that now when people ask I'll tell them I'm teaching all 4 girls. Maybe if I tell myself that often enough, when #4 actually starts kindergarten I'll be used to it and won't need to freak out!
We also had our first day of co-op today. I've missed being a part of a co-op since we've been here. I've missed being able to be around other Moms every week and for my girls to be able to be taught something that I wouldn't teach them at home. We've still been doing 4 day weeks because Hubby has Fridays off so we don't do school on Fridays, but we haven't had anything specific to do on Fridays. So when the opportunity arose to join this co-op we decided to take it. #4 is young enough that she is still in the nursery, but the other three girls are in a choir, #1 is taking cooking and storytelling, #2 is taking science and drama, and #3 is taking cooking and a lego class. They all had a blast today. #4 still had trouble when I left her in the nursery, but she was fine after just a few minutes. It's too early to tell if we'll stay with the co-op next year, especially since my plans for a homeschool choir are starting to fall in to place, but we will enjoy this semester while we are a part of it!
As far as the more mundane, regular school, I am still finishing about an hour earlier than I did last semester. I attribute this to not doing language arts with #1 and not doing IEW with #2. I like being done earlier with the older girls because that gives me a chance to take the time to listen to #3 read or read to her and to take time to teach #4 a little bit. The oldest two are still working right up till lunch and #1 averages about 30 minutes after lunch, but as long as I'm done earlier what do I care when they get done? I'm kidding!
And #3 started subtraction this week. Or as she keeps calling it, division. I love the way that Math-U-See has them solve for the unknown (x + 5 = 8) from the beginning of addition so that when it comes time to do subtraction they are so used to solving for the unknown that it isn't difficult for them to understand subtraction at all.
#1 wanted to write her 3 paragraph paper by hand this week. I told her she could as long as she understood that if she made any mistakes on her final draft that she would probably have to re-write the entire thing. She only made 3 mistakes on the final draft, but since two of them were leaving words out completely she opted to type the paper again instead of writing it all out again. Can't imagine why! Which reminds me of a question I thought about this week. When do kids start using pens in school? I can't remember at all when I started using a pen for everything except math. Homeschool problems, y'all!
So tonight we're going to bake a couple of pizzas and chill with a movie. It has been a great week!
Middle school. We still don't though.
ReplyDeleteBrenda