This week we spent time with the letter Dd.  We didn’t get all our days in this week, but we got most of our things completed.  We are continually making adjustments to our schedule, and I have to keep reminding myself that this is not the last time we will study this letter.  I am sure we will repeat this curriculum again and expand on it later.  This week we got a little television in for school time (Micah thought it was cool that TV time could be school time, too.  We watched the PBS show Dinosaur Train. It isn’t until typing this that it crossed my mind to check out their website and see if they have materials, but like I said, we will come back to this again.

We also used our ABC Bible Verse book again this week.  It was just what we needed and we will be coming back to this verse for a while, I think.

D–”Do all things without complaining and disputing.” -Philippians 2:14

We worked very hard this week to get our Cubbies brochure verses learned and to review the motto and key verse.  On Wednesday night, he said them to his teachers and earned his stickers and book.  He is very excited!  We are thrilled to see him so excited about his class.  He is also quite in love with Preschool Choir (and Mrs. Jennifer!) on Sunday nights.  I am thankful that there are some special things just for his age at church for him to be excited about.  I know he enjoys going to worship on Sundays with us (even though he misses out on Sunday School because of the way the schedule at church is set up), but these special programs really give him the opportunities to play with kids his age and learn new things.

Anyway, back to our school week, we used several of these printables.

We worked on our scissor skills.  Am I the only mommy frustrated about scissors this week??  :)  We have tried the training scissors and regular scissors and mommy holding with him and crying and praying and giving up…. well, we found our solution.  We go to our local library every Tuesday for Preschool Corner and they have craft time as part of their routine.  This week they had scissors and glue out.  Micah immediately grabbed a pair of blue scissors to play with.  He likes scissors even if he can’t manage them well.  Anyway, he got these scissors and started smiling from ear to ear.  ”Mommy, these scissors are easy.  I can do them!”   WHAT?!?  I tried them out and saw that they were very easy to open and close.  This led to a discussion with my hubby and a tweak of the home scissors with the screwdriver.  :)  Now the blades are very loose and he is doing wonderful.  I am so thrilled!!  You don’t know how stressed the scissors were making me.  I am not an early childhood education person, so these things sometimes blow my mind.  I can’t seem to figure out how to explain things in a way he will understand….we were even doing little hand exercises because it was all I could think of.  :)  God is probably looking down and laughing and thinking, “Girl, if you think scissors are hard, you just wait!”

I have been meaning to include (and write down the titles to remember) what books we read each week.  We try to pick books that match the letter or theme somehow.  I know some weeks will be easier than others.  I actually fell short on books this week.  I had a hard time finding many fiction books about dinosaurs in the library, and I was being pretty picky with the non-fiction.  I ended up only getting the Berenstain Bears dinosaur book.  Guess I will be doing more research on good books that aren’t evolutionary in nature.

Some days just don’t go as planned. We had a rough start this morning. We headed out for the first day of Preschool Corner at the library. It is a kind of specialized story time with focus on the alphabet and other preschool skills. Micah had been asking all morning if it was time to go. We got there and he was eager for it to start, but when it was time to go in and take our place…he froze and then he cried and wailed with panic. Fortunately, a church family was there and took Miss Heidi while I sat outside the room with Micah and discussed why we were there. Let’s just say it took quite a bit of convincing to get him to finally go in. Once in there, he really enjoyed it. He used to have this little thing he did with his hands when he was nervous (I mean it has been almost two years since I have seen him do it) and he did that the whole time we were there UNTIL the music time started. Then he settled in and had a great time.
It was weird to see him like that. I know he has some stranger anxiety, but it always catches me completely off guard because he is eager to just chat with people he doesn’t know on other occasions. I am always at a loss at how to handle these moments. Sometimes it is like he is throwing a fit and other times I can see he is actually very worried or scared and panicked.

The more I think about it, the more I begin to think there is something to learn about this moment in the library.  Don’t you think God looks at us sometimes and thinks, “What in the world, child?  What is up with you?  You asked for this…you wanted this and now you are all panicked when it is here before you?  Don’t you know I am going to be with you the whole time?  I’m not leaving and I know you are going to appreciate this experience if you will just let Me show you?”

Just my thoughts for the day…

We started school last week and began a Letter of the Week type curriculum.  I am pulling from all kinds of blogs for inspiration as I mentioned before, and so far it is working pretty well.  My only frustration is not having a color printer, but maybe once I have my garage sale there will be funds for a good printer.  Anyway, Micah woke up Monday morning and came to our bed to inform me he was ready for school.  It was bright and early!   Let’s just say he was eager to get started (and has asked for school every day since).  We don’t have too many pictures this week because I loaned out my camera for some vacationers to Hawaii…couldn’t allow them to go there without a camera!!   We started out introducing what the letter Aa looks like and how to write it (though that is a skill we will be working on for a while!).  I gave him coloring sheets of ants, too.  We read about ants, looked at ants on the internet, and even watched a few ant related movies during the week.  I had the book Ant Bully in my collection, so we read that and then looked up the movie in our Netflix on Wii.  I must say that has been a treat…just to wander off course for a second.  We have the cheapest lowest cable package (basically just local channels, ESPN, Discovery and USA), so Jonathan found out about the Netfilix on Wii.  Now we pay for a the cheapest package with them and can watch so many things instantly or have a dvd sent to us.  Not everything is instant, but we have found plenty to keep us entertained.  In fact, through the summer we have watched nearly all the seasons of Meerkat Manor.    Anyway, I said all that to say we found the movie Ant Bully that is based on the book.   Micah thought is was very cool to compare the two.  We chose books from the library to read at bedtime that were either ant or alphabet related.  We also made fingerprint ant and had “ants on a log” dessert for dinner one night.  He loved all the fun!

telling me that the red ants STING!

On top of all that Aa and ant stuff, we practiced some cutting with scissors, shape recognition, and number matching (items with actual number matching).  We also did some pattern recognition things in one of the workbooks we have.  He is very good at it, but doesn’t like the time it takes to actually color things to match.  In fact, he really isn’t too interested in coloring at all.  He will do it, but he is done very quickly and with little effort.  I have found that if I let him use markers, he will stick to it a little longer.

LIFE SCHOOL

We went outside one afternoon for a little fun and had popsicles (an uncommon treat at our house).  Heidi wasn’t going to have one until she sort of stole Mommy’s.  Oh, the things you allow a second child to do!

Heidi thought the potatoes were good entertainment while Mommy cooked dinner.

Micah has been hearing for weeks about all of his friends starting school today.  He really got very interested and was asking to do school time with Mommy.  So, we decided that it would be good for him to have a set time to start and establish this routine.  Micah is a boy who thrives on structure, I think.  He does so much better when on a schedule of some sort and when he knows what to expect.  So, we have been getting ready for weeks (He could not wait! He was so excited!) and even bought school supplies together.    He got a notebook ,and picked a blue one, markers, and gluesticks.  I am sure they will be put to good use.

As for curriculum, we are not doing any one specific program.  I am doing a little bit of the following:

Confessions of a Homeschooler‘s Letter of the Week ideas

Carissa at 1+1+1=1 has some great ideas for pre-school and I am starting “Tot School” with Heidi (just being intentional about exploring new things and playing).  She is one of my favorites!

Totally Tots

Getting great ideas to use from Homeschool Creations

I know there are other websites I will visit and find along the way with lots of ideas and inspiration.  It will be challenging for me in the beginning because all my teaching experience is 3rd-5th grades.  Anyway,  we are also using Kumon workbooks we have gotten over time and he loves them.  I have picked up a few other little workbooks  that focus on colors, shapes and other skills.

Some other books and things I will be using as we get into it:

Bright Beginnings – we will probably wait at least until we have finished our letter of the week routine before beginning this

Big Truths for Little Kids

My ABC Bible Verses

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready – a book that has simple activities to do with your child birth to age 5 that are developmental skills

My sister-in-law is my go-to person for advice and experience of good stuff for this age group and I have been picking her brain lately about stuff she has used.  After looking at some of her things a few weeks ago,  I am probably going to get What Your Preschooler Needs to Know Activity Book.

I think that will be plenty!   We are also going to be more intentional about family worship time.  I am getting lots of ideas gathered for this and hope to share later.  Daddy loves playing music for us and all of us singing together.  That will always be an important part around here.  Micah connects so well to music (how did that happen?!) and can share the gospel by singing the Gospel Fuzzies song he learned in Bible School this summer and he cannot wait for Mrs. Jennifer to start back with preschool choir very soon.