School Sessions: Chapter 1

So, I've decided to sort of blog about my homeschooling weekly/biweekly adventures... that way I can document things that have worked, haven't worked... progress.... trials and tribulations, etc... for future use with Charlotte, and also as a reminder for when I homeschool Marley (thankful it's not for many years).

I've mentioned before how I homeschooled Charlotte during pre-K, and documented some of my experiences on the blog, on a week by week basis. The updates fell off the wagon, because we moved out of Korea, I got pregnant, and moved into a house... the learning never stopped, but the blog posts did. I'm hopeful these will continue. We've been having a blast adding many experiences to our day to day schooling- we visit the zoo, the science museum, seasonal outings, and one of a kind experiences (like last week's visits to the State Capital)... and starting next year, we begin gymnastics again, as well as attend weekend PE with other homeschool children.

We start off most mornings the same, before breakfast and getting dressed, Charlotte writes in her journal, and colors a related picture:

Shortly after breakfast, we get started on our day.... outfit on... and first up, Math... 

Typically after Math, we put Marley down for her morning nap... and while I was rocking her to sleep, I came out, and caught my student sipping on my coffee... yup, it's her thing lately... and NO, I do not encourage it... she just tried it one time, and loved it (and I don't put sugar in there... so it's definitely the coffee taste that she enjoys.)

Next up, we review sight words, write out sight words (for the spelling aspect), and begin reading/phonics. 

This usually takes us a good hour to get through, as we usually end the session by reading a sight word book together. Other things, like science, history, or art/music... come later on in the day, depending on what we have on our agenda in the way of errands and what not. Charlotte has begun writing her penpals every other day, and just adores all the mail she has coming in. It's such a sweet time for her, to see her smile as we read postcards and letters that arrive... and the writing, is really helping her when it comes to phonics. She has a heart for creating as well, so this week, we worked on some painted wooden bead necklaces for her new penpals all the way in England. She's SO excited to put this package together... I think her favorite is mailing everything off. Marley is usually awake at this point, and LOVES joining us on the table on her bumbo seat now... at this point, I like to play catch up on reading blogs, writing back e-mails/messages, or even do some photo editing... Marley loves watching Charlotte, and Charlotte loves creating without me directing her in anyway. 

This week's highlights:

- Charlotte mastered counting by 10's... she's so impressed with her skills, that she asks me to ask her to count by 10's, all.the.time.

- She was introduced to consonant digraphs, and was tickled pink when she realized her first name began with one, "Ch"

- She was introduced to proper nouns, and is starting to grasp how to identify them in sentences.

- She received 2 penpal letters, and was ecstatic to put them in her new pen pal box (details coming soon) after reading them a few times.

This week's lows:

- Concepts of addition not breaking through quite yet. She understands when I bring it to life, but she doesn't grasp writing out an equation yet.

- Many distractions that make it difficult for Charlotte to focus on work, without me constantly redirecting. Going to have to put a sign on our door, "SCHOOL IN PROGRESS"...

- Mommy's patience were a little thin this week, because of lack of sleep (note to self, GO TO BED EARLIER).