(home)school

I never ever thought I would ever ever ever say this, but this year I am home-schooling Cooper.

...If it's even considered that?  (It's just a couple of hours, a couple of days a week.)

Next year we plan to enroll Cooper in a 3 year old preschool classroom somewhere.  Not so much for the academics, but because he has thus far lived 2 1/2 years sans siblings.  He has so many only child symptoms it's not funny.  We do what we can (church, bible studies, story time at the library, play groups) to expose him to other children, but I think that the day-to-day interaction with the same kids a few times a week is really going to do wonders to his social issues.

What are Cooper's social issues?  Being the center of attention, sharing, aggression, and being the center of attention.

We work on these at home, but like I said, I think the day to day iterations with other children is going to be awesome for him.

After we discussed and decided on putting him in preschool at 3 years instead of 4, I realized that this would be my last year with him at home all day, every day.  *tear* *sniff, sniff* *happy dance*

I want to make it a fun year, a purposeful year, and one that I don't look back on and wonder what in the world happened and why I just let it pass me by.

A friend told me about this awesome curriculum a couple of years ago, and I decided to use it.  It's free...holla!  And the lesson plans are already there for you (basically).

So, I went for it.

I planned.

I bought and organized supplies.

I made some busy bags. (And still have lots I want to make).

I checked out the right books from the library.

And last week we started.

After breakfast we get dressed, brush our teeth, sometimes I suck down a few sips of coffee, and we start.

With Bible.
Currently we are learning about the days of creation.  With some guidance, Cooper can now tell you what happened the first, second, and third days of creation.  He also knows his memory verse for this unit, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1" Yes, he knows the Genisis 1:1 part...I actually think it's his favorite part of the scripture. So, our Bible time consists of me reading him the part of the story from his bible, going over our verse, and a craft.  While he does his craft, I throw in some classic sunday school songs, such as "the B-I-B-L-E" and "this little light of mine".

Then we move onto the book of the week.  Last week: Llama, Llama, Red Pajama. This week: When the Elephant Walks.  He has really enjoyed both. Also, hearing him try to say llama lama red pajama is just about the cutest thing...

...Ever.

We also talk about the color of the week and the letter of the day.  So far, we've covered red, blue, Aa, Bb, and Cc.  I checked out books from the library about colors, and we read through them and find other things that are that color.  I created these paint bags where we practice writing the letters, and we do a letter craft.

Then? Well, he's 2 1/2...we have recess.  He gets 15 minutes of playtime outside (if it's nice weather). Then restroom break and snack.

Then 5 minutes silent reading time (a struggle for him - he can't sit still or be silent) and then some group reading time.  He gets to choose the books.

Then we move onto shapes and numbers. So far we've learned circles, line, and the number one.  He can count with one, group things in groups of one, but has a hard time identifying the number. We're doing a Counting book, where he will put the appropriate number of apples on the tree as we learn the number, and do counting games.

I also bought this big preschool activity book and I use pages from it as well.

Then he does busy bags.  Right now these don't keep him entertained for that long.  I set the timer for 5 minutes for each activity, and I have to redirect him many times.  I'm hoping he can work up to the 5 minutes with no problem by the end of the year.  Maybe even 10? Yeah, that's pushing it.

Please notice that monkey is in attendance, too.  He's ever-present in Cooper's world.

After busy bags, our school day is over.

He loves it. He asks for it a lot.  I think the one-on-one time fills up his love tank and his behavior is improved the rest of the day.  Also, it kind of wears him out, making nap time much more enjoyable and easy.

It's actually been quite nice to homeschool him.  It's awesome to see the light bulb turn on in his mind, to hear him respond to things we learn. I think it's going to be a great choice for us this year, making it a very memorable and purposeful year together.

Whew, that was a very long, wordy post. Thanks for sticking through it.