Homeschooling

Now that we have a few weeks of homeschooling under our belt, it's time to make some changes.  I expected to make changes, of course, but I was thinking I might be expecting too much of Bethie. As it turns out, she is horribly bored already, and we need to speed things up.

We started out with a "Letter of the Week" concept, and I had created school days that very closely mimicked a regular preschool - lots of songs, hands-on activities, stories, etc.   What Bethie needs,  apparently, is a lot less of what I consider to be those filler activities and more hardcore learning.  If we sit down and try to learn a song she just rolls her eyes and sighs at me (seriously.  We call her a "threenager), but if we sing a song as we're doing laundry or cleaning her room, for example, she's all over it.  Same thing with the art projects and hands-on activities.  Within the parameters of the school day, she wants nothing to do with them, but if I ask her if she wants to do a project at any other point, she thinks it's great fun.  So, forget the songs and dances and crafts in school.  Those are things we do around here anyway, so from now on, school is about reading stories and working on our letters and numbers.

Bethie will sit and write her letters and numbers over and over and love it.  She plays with her BambinoLuk (http://www.thinktonight.com/bambinoLUK_Starter_Pack_p/lukb4804.htm), which is this incredibly cool math activity, and right up her smart little alley.  She is also sounding out words.  Yep, my three-and-a-half year old is starting to read and spell.  We've been keeping it to simple three- and four-letter words (cat, dog, farm, etc.), but she is getting quite good at sounding them out.  She also loves to be given a word and then to figure out how to spell it by listening to the sounds.  I am amazed by her.  

We also read stories all throughout the day, and she has excellent comprehension skills and an incredible memory.  I used to worry that I was expecting too much of her with school, and now I worry that I won't be able to challenge her enough, which is not a bad problem to have!

Summer Is Wrapping Up . . .

 . . . and we could not be happier!  Summers in Texas are just not happy times for me.  I am allergic to nearly everything outside, and temperatures in the 100's and well over are just, for lack of a more descriptive word, icky.  The temperatures are now more in the 80's than not, and it makes it much nicer to be outside.

In looking back at my last entry, I had to laugh.  We did start our homeschooling curriculum, but were quickly sidelined by illnesses, minor injuries, and a general summer- and heat-induced laziness.  Bethie was potty trained, until she decided she was afraid of the toilet, and now we're back in the struggle.

She still uses a soothie to sleep at night, which doesn't bother me anywhere near as much as it bothers the rest of the world.  I am aware that she is 3.5, but I am also aware that when she does not have that little piece of rubber, she sleeps maybe 5 hours a night as opposed to her normal 10 - 12.  Naps fall away entirely, and my happy little imp turns into a whiny little mess.  People have insisted that I need to "wait it out" and "show her who's boss".  At one point this summer, we waited it out for nearly a month.  I showed her that Mommy and Daddy are in charge.  No one was happy.  This is not the way to show Bethie that this is a safe, secure place where she is loved unconditionally.  When she has her soothie, she is asleep within minutes.  It falls out of her mouth within minutes of that, and she sleeps happily all night long.  I am not worried about her teeth, and I am not worried that she will take her soothie to college.  She is a bright, beautiful, happy, funny, joyous little girl, and that is what matters to me.

I am not as happy with the pull ups.  The potty training is purely a motivation thing.  So far, she just does not want to go, and there is no force on earth that can force a person to evacuate their bowels or bladder, at least not without causing bodily or psychological harm.  We have tried sticker charts, immediate treats, explaining to her what a big girl she is, and every other suggestion we have heard.  We have NOT gone the negative-enforcement route (i.e., punishing her when she goes in her pull up), and we will not start.  What I did tell her was that she has to be a big girl and wear her big girl panties before she starts school.  She is so excited to start school and to be a big girl, and since we are homeschooling, I can start later if need be.  Right now I have 27 weeks of curriculum - with us having school 4 days a week -  to get through in a 37-week year, so we have plenty of leeway.  I am just hoping that this is the motivation she needs.  She loves stories and arts and crafts, and I've been talking up school in a big way. 

Since home schools in Texas are considered private schools, I have taken that to heart.  I named our school after my most-beloved nana, and I have decided to go with a structured preschool kind of day.  I tend to let things slide if I am not organized, so I am going to run a very organized school.  I am also going to be giving Bethie regular grades like she would be getting in school - U, S, N in the lower grades and A - F in the later grades - as that will just make it that much easier when she goes to college.  I am going to put my college degree to use!  I am attaching some pictures of my little Bethie Boo here, along with our school day agenda and my grading rubric just because I am so pleased with them!

Bethie and I are heading to Fargo and to Bemidji between September 29 and October 13, and we are really excited to see everyone.  I made Bethie a chain to help her count down the days til we go, along with pictures of the immediate family so she starts recognizing everyone.  Jeff can't come with us because he has to work, but since I'm tutoring, my summer vacation goes from August - November.  We're also figuring out when Jeff and Bethie can head to Chicago, but it will likely be after I've started tutoring again, so I will not be able to go.  Hopefully soon we'll be able to start coordinating vacation days so we can all go to Fargo and to Chicago.  I miss Chicago in the worst way.  Go, White Sox!

Oh!  Bethie had her first dance class yesterday!  She did really well considering it was her first-ever class and the first place where she was not the star of the show, and she looked really cute in her outfit.  She liked the tap more than the ballet, but I think we made the right choice.  She's attending the 3/4 year old tap and ballet combo class at Miss Jane's Academy for Dance Excellence.  We've decided to hold off on gymnastics for now, and let her just enjoy dance classes.  If she really enjoys it, we can decide to let her go more than once a week, or even take up jazz dancing or some other type as well. 

Now that I've talked your ear off, here are some pictures.  Hope your summer was magnificent!

Betty Lou Locke Catholic School for Academic Excellence

 

Preschool Daily Lesson Plan: Tuesday, September 4, 2012

(the school day will be about 1.5 hours)

Good Morning!

Morning Prayer

“Jesus Loves Me”

Story:   If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Letter of the Week:  A

Saint of the Week:  Saint Anne

ABC Song

Grab Bag

Math

Bible Story:   God Makes a Beautiful World

Bible Verse of the Week:   Matthew 7:7

Story:   From Head to Toe

Handwriting

Craft:   Angel Handprint

Song of the Week:  Mairzy Doats

Sensory Activity:   “A” Treasure Hunt (rice)

Snack Time

Story:   Goodnight Moon

“This Little Light of Mine”

Ending Prayer – Rosary

 

Elizabeth Grob                        Grade: Preschool                                             School Year: 2012 – 2013

 Betty Lou Locke Catholic School for Academic Excellence

Attendance                                                                                                        Progress Key

Days in School Year

                                                                         S = Satisfactory

                                                                                                                                                  N = Needs Improvement

                                                                         U = Unsatisfactory

                                                                                                                                                               

PERSONAL/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT	1st Trimester	2nd Trimester	3rd Trimester	Yearly Average
Demonstrates self-confidence
Demonstrates self-control
Contributes to class activities
Follows school and class rules
Notes

 

LEARNING SKILLS	1st Trimester	2nd Trimester	3rd Trimester	Yearly Average
Understands and follows directions
Completes activities in appropriate time
Works independently when appropriate
Demonstrates adequate attention span for activities
Notes

 

MATH SKILLS	1st Trimester	2nd Trimester	3rd Trimester	Yearly Average
Recognizes basic shapes
Creates and extends patterns
Demonstrates skill in ordering and classifying
Understands concepts of more, less, equal
Demonstrates ability to count to and identify numbers to 20
Notes

 

READING AND WRITING SKILLS	1st Trimester	2nd Trimester	3rd Trimester	Yearly Average
Demonstrates ability to recognize all letters of alphabet and their sounds
Demonstrates ability to sound out words
Demonstrates ability to draw basic shapes
Demonstrates ability to write letters
Notes