Today was a success! It played out exactly how perfectly I had it pictured, in fact, it couldn't have gone any smoother! When I woke the girls up this morning they both popped right out of bed super excited about it being "a school day", as Kristen refers to it. The first thing Lauren said this morning was "my backpack". No school day is complete without your backpack full of all the essentials (play hairdryer, birthday cards, play doctor's stethoscope, mirror, a cell phone, 8 hair brushes and an assortment of rings and bracelets). I went all out for breakfast. Instead of making the Food Lion brand blueberry muffins, I fixed the Betty Crocker Cinnamon Strudel muffins with crunchy cinnamon topping. Kristen said "Mom, I don't always like what you fix, but I sure do like your muffins." Score! Lauren was too busy shoving the muffins in to say anything, but a muffin is not complete with out some BLING and a cell phone!
(By the way....this was muffin #2)
Dallas slept for the first part of our lesson, which is what I was hoping for. He went down for is nap without a fight, no fussing.... nothing! Woke up while we watched our shape video and the girls had a snack. He played very quietly in his exercauser then when we went back to the table for the rest of our lesson he ate his bottle in his bouncy seat and didn't make a peep! Now that's the power of prayer people!!! If God can quiet that boy down He is definitely an AWESOME God!
I thought I was going to have a problem with Lauren answering questions. Her answer to anything you ask her is "I don't know". This includes her name, how old she is, if she is feeling good. Well, I quickly realized she was jumping on the "I don't know" train and I really didn't want to go down the track of frustration. So, in my most loving motherly voice I explained that if she didn't answer the questions that I asked then she was going to have to go to big school with all of the big kids away from Mommy. Well, that got her talking. Fear is a great motivator!
We did a lot of fun things today. We learned about God giving us the gift of His beautiful world to live in. We talked about all the reasons why we love daddy...and there are A LOT! In fact, to show daddy how much we love him we are fixing a special dinner for him tonight. Well, not too special, the kids just get to help me to show an act of service to him since he works so hard for us. Lauren learned about a triangle and how to sort by color and Kristen learned about following simple written directions by looking at a picture and sorting and sequencing. They drew a picture of themselves with daddy. We made a fish craft to practice cutting, specifically cutting a triangle. We looked around the house for different shapes and I was very impressed with Kristen. She brought me a book and said "This book is a square, but if you turn it this way it is a diamond and if you open it up it is a rectangle." All on her own. Maybe this is something a 5 year old should know, I'm not sure, but I was impressed that my five year old knew it!
After today I am very happy with the program we chose. It is a bible based program designed for families with multiple children. The curriculum we are using comes with preschool and kindergarten combined. Both Kristen and Lauren are learning about the same thing, but just at a different age level. For instance, Lauren is learning her shapes, while Kristen is reviewing her shapes. While one child works on an activity alone, you work with the other child and vice versa. Both children are getting your attention when needed, but not sitting there getting bored while you work with the other one. Although it says repeatedly not to add anything to the lesson...I have. Not much, but just things I think my kids would enjoy (like the shape video, a specific craft or book from the library pertaining to the lesson of the day). All in all I am very pleased with the program, how smoothly today went and what wonderful listeners my girls were.
Day #1 of homeschooling = SUCCESS!!!
Kristen working on her picture of her and daddy
Lauren working on her picture of her and daddy
Evidence of a successful 1st day
No post is complete without a picture of this smiley face. He's not always smiling folks, I just only take pictures of him smiling. In fact he has been pretty fussy lately. Teething...maybe?
The girls playing on the front porch with sidewalk chalk, which by the way grates on my nerves just hearing the chalk rubbing the sidewalk. Cringe!
Practicing drawing triangles. Who knew you could incorporate triangles in so many parts of your day!
