Dozer Day and School Thoughts

Well, we finished a week of school and I've come to the conclusion that yet again, I'm trying to push my little guy too hard. He's intellectually capable of doing more academics, so I think he should. But, it doesn't mean he's developmentally ready. When I talked to friend who sends her kids to public school and asked what academically was covered in preschool and kindergarten, I realized that much of what I'm trying to cover with my 4 year old is kindergarten material.

So, I'm back to where I started and should have stayed - doing just Weaver's Interlock program with both kids. They enjoy it, it's hands-on preschool stuff and it's Bible centered. If he wants to write and such and do some math here and there, great, but I'll let him do it at his own pace for now.

I'm including a picture of him from "Dozer Day", which we went to on Saturday. It was a blast - great weather and the kids had a fun time. This has become quite a busy fall! Soon we'll have Awana and MOPS started and have more than enough to do!

First Day of School

Today was our first official day of school - K4 for DS. We started with a devotion, the "21 Rules of This House", the calendar and the pledge of allegiance. DS was very eager to start writing and he did very well. We reviewed the sounds and how to write a, e and i. He also practiced writing his name. DD tried some writing and was reminded of the letter A and its sound. We also did Interlock and 2 pages of Singapore Math. It all took an hour with a snack break and DS was definitely ready to be done at the end. He then proceeded to do his dot-to-dots on his own and did really well. He had to show that to Daddy when he got home.

A friend of mine who also started today used 10 minute blocks of time with "wiggle breaks" in between. Sounded like a smart idea, so I may try it tomorrow.

We finished staining the deck - woohoo! I did the railings during naptime and DH finished after work.

Answered prayer... I had to go to the hardware store to get more stain and DH wanted me to try and get the sale price ($10 off but the sale was over). Negotiating is NOT my thing, but I needed to try. When I got there, there was one gallon left in our color and the price tag was still the sale price! I brought it to the counter without saying a word and the teller rang it up as the higher price. I questioned him, saying that the tag on the shelf said the lower price. He didn't even check it himself, but gave me the lower price! Yay! Thank you, Lord! Then the kids napped long enough for me to finish the deck railings. The Lord cares about these types of things. :)

Deck work over Labor Day weekend

This is the weekend of staining the deck. On Saturday, DH sanded and washed down the whole thing. Today, we spent the entire afternoon staining. We're a good part of the way done, but not yet. DS helped some, with much enthusiasm but less accuracy. It was a good lesson for him in following directions and finishing what you start. God blessed us with a VERY long nap for DD. She's just too young to help. I'm posting 'before' and 'during' pictures. If the hardware store is open tomorrow, we'll buy more stain and Lord willing, finish.

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! We're a Christian homeschooling family in the midwest and we're "Looking Toward Home" - both our earthly home and ultimately the heavenly one He's setting up for us. We have two children, a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter (as of August 2007). For those of you not familiar with blog and message board terminology, "dd" refers to our dear daughter, "ds" refers to our dear son and "DH" refers to my dear husband (since I'll do all the writing!). I look forward to posting pictures of our family and our adventures, as well as our efforts and progress as we homeschool. Come and visit often!