Off we go

Wait. Is today Creed's first day of homeschool or mine? Both I guess. Last night it felt like the night before school starts. For some reason Creed has been getting up at 6 a.m. and getting in bed with mama. I'm able to convince him it's still "night night time," at least part of the time. I say, "Look it's still dark outside." (smiling, he doesn't care) We're potty training and have been for a long time it seems. He really seemed to have it for like, a month and then not so much. He can't be bothered with slowing down and instead of asking, I tell him it's time to go potty. Today we're trying big boy underwear again. My aim is to just go with it and use pull-ups for naps and night time. Eventually he'll get it right? I mean, there's no adolescent running around in dirty drawers because he can't be bothered with stopping to go potty. (laughing to myself, of course he will) 

So my goal is to make learning fun and sort of go with the flow. We started at 8:30 a.m. with shape recognition. Creed played with a Melissa and Doug game, where multiple boards with letters cut out in place of the word are used, along with a picture of said word. After assembling the letters I would ask him to spell it out. He seems to know all colors and letters of the alphabet already, even the phonics, thanks to the DVD Scout Phonics Farm. As he chose the coordinating letter he would say, "A, makes the "ah" sound," before placing it in the designated area and so forth.

Translating the know of letters to writing them is another story I'm afraid. The curriculum calls for A-G (which is basically letter recognition and not writing right now) the first week. Since he already knows the alphabet I thought, hey no big deal we'll just write A-G this week. Um, no. It will definitely take a week to introduce writing each letter. Using the bingo dotter to trace the letter A was no problem. Tracing the letter with his finger, again no problem, writing it on the chalkboard was interesting. Trying to write it on a flat surface and learning to hold a pencil presented a challenge. For what he could do, he did backwards. Choosing to not jump to the dyslexia conclusion and chalking it up to it's new and we're probably not ready for the flat surface yet, I dismissed the idea. ABC Jesus Loves Me curriculum notes that children develop fine motor skills best when they work on a vertical surface. When holding a writing utensil or brush against a vertical surface, extra muscles in the wrist and hand are strengthened. These muscles are not used when writing on a horizontal surface. For this reason, it states to place crafts, writing and drawing projects on a vertical surface as much as is feasible. I could see him getting frustrated, easily distracted. 

We switched gears and Creed watched Counting with Maisy while I contemplated the next activity. Next on the agenda was Bible lesson and craft. The curriculum also teaches self-care and manners. This week is sitting quietly. I wanted to laugh out loud every time I read that. My first thought was yea right, the only time Creed sits still is in time out and even then he's rarely quiet, although I know the importance of this, especially when he needs to sit still and listen. I tried sitting him on my lap for the lesson and he kept wriggling off my knee. I told him that sometimes he needed to sit still and listen and it went in one ear and out the other, so yes, I bribed him with a twinkie. Save your judgement for another or at least keep it to yourself. What works is what works right?! After the story we completed our first day of creation craft. He practiced cutting in a straight line, which ended up only being the edges, but straight at least. Gluing seems to be much easier painted on and glitter brightens up nearly every project. 

Moving along to the color and learn activity, Creed had me draw a shark for his river in the creation picture and then said he needed another one, "The biggest one I ever saw!" Here's a tip: if you'd like to include stickers don't hand your toddler an entire sheet to only pick a couple to use. From now on I'll pre-cut a portion. 

Nearing lunch time we started the Your Baby Can Learn DVD and watching him from the kitchen as I was preparing lunch I saw him mimicking the screen. Loved it! After bringing in Creed's lunch I left to prepare my own and upon returning I ran into his chair and said ouch sitting down and clutching my knee. Creed said, "Awe don't cry. Come here," and proceeded to tilt my head to his shoulder, patting the back of my head. "You gotta be careful mama. You don't want to get hurt. You gotta be careful mama and watch where you're walking, OK?" as he pats my head reassuringly. Sigh. Exactly what I needed after our morning. 

We finished off lunch watching Tom and Jerry and playing with his kitchen. Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney, The Old Testament lift the flap book, a couple flash cards from Your Baby Can Read, going over our creation book we stared making this morning and From Head to Toe by Eric Carle will sum up a much needed nap time. Sounds like a lot but only takes 10-15 minutes. 

First day … pretty successful I think. We know more than we did yesterday and the curriculum has been moved around a little, but we're no worse for the ware. What tomorrow holds, well only God knows that, but good things to come I'm sure!