Week 0 Round Up

I made it to the end of my practice week.  We did...ok.  He did his recitations and the calender every morning.  This week his recitations were simply his alphabet flash cards and numbers 1-10 flashcards.  I kept a notebook log of this.  The PM sessions were a bit tougher.  We put in the actual *time* but most of it was in 2 days instead of 5.  There is just so much to squeeze in naptime and I was otherwise engaged during it 3 days this week.

I did realize a few things though:

1. Kids are a lot more self-reliant than we give them credit for.  He did really well this week when given a task to complete.  Friday morning, he even went through his flashcards by himself from beginning to end.
2. I need to relax.  All this organizing and planning and wanting awesome things to happen is resulting in anxiety that I am passing on to kiddo.  No bueno.  Part of this homeschooling thing is letting them direct their learning and trusting that they will learn in their own good time as long as you keep giving them opportunities.  And...he's 3.  Only 3.
3. Planning lessons can be so much work.  For the PM sessions I don't know that I had any coherent plan.  We read.  He practiced some writing.  He painted and cut and glued.  Themes and more detailed crafts will need more prep.

We also made a big effort to get out of the house this week.  We went to the Japanese Garden in downtown Houston on Tuesday and the Matagorda Nature Park (Beach) on Wednesday.  These were both nice activities and the children really enjoyed the beach in particular.

Another topic that I stumbled upon this week is "bullying" and/or managing conflict with his friends.  I found a book at the library called "The Little Bully" and I am really glad that I decided to check it out.  Its a very simple book but it was such a nice way to talk about how our friends don't always treat us nicely but that the reason why usually has nothing to do with you but more to do with them.  In the book, the main character has an opportunity to be mean to the bully back, but he chooses not to.  I like that too.  Its something that I think parents should discuss with their children.  Rarely can someone be labelled a bully in such black and white terms and often children take turns wearing that hat.  I like the idea of teaching them to see past unkind words and actions and find the real reasons for them.