The good with the bad

On the second day of reading lessons with Jamie I was having difficulty getting her motivated. As I was nudging her a little to engage with me she said, "Mommy, I want a REAL teacher. I don't want you to be my teacher." My heart broke in two. I didn't say anything to her at that moment. Instead I left her alone with a coloring book and continued preparing some worksheets and other lesson plans. A little while later Jamie became interested in what I was doing (which was setting up the sight word memory game) and asked if she could play with me. So we started to play and she was doing very well. Suddenly she stopped what she was doing, turned to me and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry for telling you I didn't want you to be my teacher. I do. I like being together. I love you." And then she gave me a big hug. I almost cried. I suppose even with sending children to public school there are days they just don't want to go and other days they're up at the crack of dawn excited to catch the bus. I suspect the same will be true with our homeschooling. And just like with parenting-- the baby that won't sleep, the two year old that throws tantrums ONLY when EVERYONE is watching, the five year old that won't settle down and go to sleep at night, the teenager that breaks all the rules and stays out past curfew -- the good times ALWAYS outweigh the bad times.

Homeschooling! I suppose "officially" we started Jamie's Kindergarten curriculum September 9th, the day after most public schools in the area started. After an afternoon at the park with the Home Learner's Association, we got down to business by learning five of the Dolch Sight Words. On day one I showed Jamie flashcards with the words I, LITTLE, THE, YOU and GO. Then, laid out in front of her were 26 squares with each letter of the alphabet on them. Jamie had to choose the letters that were in each of her sight words. She always chose the right letters and put them in the proper order. On day two I made fifteen flashcards (3 cards for each word) and taped them all around the house (on the fridge, the door frame, the oven, the windows, etc.) I wrote the first word on her chalkboard: LITTLE. She went in search for the flashcards that had the word LITTLE written on them. When she brought all three cards back she said the word out loud, wrote the word in her writing journal, and then went searching for the next word. On day three we played a memory game with the five sight words. As we've moved onto the next "unit" of sight words (me, help, a, can, jump) we've added these words to our memory game. We still play the word hunt game but only with the NEW five sight words. It's been soooo rewarding to watch her learn so quickly and to be so excited and motivated!