The boy knows how to get what he wants...

When I went into Caleb's room to get him up this morning, his first words to me were this:
Caleb: "Cookie!"
Mommy: "No, baby, no cookies for breakfast... that's not good for you"
Caleb: "Cookie! Cookie!"
Mommy: (trying a different strategy) "No, we don't have any cookies. There are no cookies in this house" (sadly, this is too true)
Caleb: "Car! Get some! Car! Get some cookie!"

Gotta give him credit... the little guy knows how to get what he wants. He actually expected me to jump in the car and go to the store immediately for a cookie.
Much whining and gnashing of teeth ensued upon a negative answer to his request.

Preschool week 2

Measuring body parts and charting them
Self portraits

Caleb's puzzles (Hannah's a great helper!)

Computer time!

Week two of preschool is almost done now and we're still hanging in there. It's been tons of fun so far, but also a lot of juggling, now that Caleb doesn't nap in the morning. We're spreading our learning out over the course of the 5 week days so that the actual school time is only an hour to an hour and a half a day. Usually, Mon./Wed./Thurs. are our longer school days, with Unit study time, math-u-see lessons, and Writing/Reading lessons, along with a simple music lesson on Thurs. instead of a unit study, while Tues. and Fri.'s are shorter, usually with just a reading lesson and a fun unit study activity. The first week the kids learned about insects, while this week, our Unit Study has focused on God's creation of Man, so we've been learning about what makes us special and unique. We throw in a trip out for playgroup or somewhere fun, like the zoo at least twice a week, also.

Caleb has been involved in almost every day's lessons... he loves to pray, participate in Calendar time (we go over the month, day, and date each day with an interactive calendar), sing the bible verse memorization song of the week (this week, it's Psalm 33:4- You can trust God to keep his promises), and whatever crafts we're doing that week. Then, when the girls are busy with tougher stuff, he likes to color (thank goodness he no longer eats crayons/markers), work puzzles, stamp, play with playdough, and goof around with counting/sorting bears. He insists on being at the table whenever the girls are there.

So as not to cast it in an unfairly perfect light though, there are drawbacks to school so far. First of all, Caleb wants to potty train (yes, I didn't want it yet... I like diapers... so convenient and easy, without running to the bathroom every 10 minutes), so every few minutes we're interrupted by his adorably cute but interruptive call to "POO POO!"... which may or may not result in said poo-poo. Anymommy would agree I guess, if you've seen her recent posts (LOVE HER!). Also, dealing with three youngsters at once often leads to a cacophany of requests, interruptions, squabbles, and general glitter/paper scrap disasters on my floor. And yes, I am anal retentive and MUST sweep the floor after such messes before the next activity. MUST. I cannot bear the thought of one of my little ones tracking glue residue or glitter from their socks onto my carpet. C-A-N-N-O-T. Wish I was more flexible, but it's not gonna happen.

In the end, though, I'm over-the-moon-gleefully-joyful over being able to homeschool my little ones. And teaching/attending preschool in your pjs just can't be beat. It is a great adventure I just can't wait to undertake further. So here goes... here's to many more fun weeks to come!