Well, the home- schooling preschool is going (most days) well. Bright's attitude has completely turned around. He is back to his smiling and willfully (most of the time) obedient self. He is a child who thrives in an environment with clear boundaries, and no one sets boundaries like mom, right?Today we learned about lobsters. We learned that they start out so tiny that they are part of plankton, and then they drift down to the sea floor where they grow into the carnivorous, nocturnal invertebrate that they are. We felt each others' back bones and talked about how invertebrate don't have them. We talked about other carnivores. Bright mentioned wolves. We talked about other nocturnal critters, like the kids' favorite, the owl. Zion does a great owl impression. Then my two little "students" sat down at the kitchen table (while I nursed the baby) and colored pictures of lobsters, printed from www.thecoloringspot.com. I instructed Bright on how to color around the edge and then fill in the middle, and my scribbler actually stayed in the lines for the first time! Amazing! I taught him something! I was very encouraged. The lobster lesson itself came from my new friend, www.enchantedlearning.com (thanks, Laura). I am just getting my feet wet here (no pun intended) but soon I hope to be incorporating the science lesson with the reading/writing lesson (i.e. while studying the letter "J" also learn about jellyfish, make home made jam together, etc., etc).
By golly, this is fun. I am frazzled to the max most days but my kids are sparkling and their hearts are full, and so is mine. Bright has even taken to calling me "Mrs. Mama."
If you have any more ideas for me, or leads on resources, please let me know.
