Homeschooling: Week One

Well, we are officially about a week in to homeschooling, I started with the kids on saturday (they don't know that is a weekend) as soon as I got my books in. Most of the books are too advanced for Selah, all she wants to do is color, put the lids on and off of the felts, and play with her new pencil case :) But Caleb is getting into it. He is learning his alphabet, his numbers, we are working on signs, he is coloring and reinforcing his colors and we do bible every day. Here is my school schedule, a look at what actually happens:

7:00am-wake the kids, eat breakfast, get them dressed and ready
7:30am-chore time (this has not been going over as well as I thought, it could be renamed as "whining hour" as that is all they do, but I am trying to get them to help out with a cheerful attitude)
8:00am-bible time (here we do a bible story, pray, I play the piano and we sing little songs, they dance to music and then we sometimes do some art (basically color))
8:30am-school time. What I thought would take me an hour, takes me about half that time, but we just color, I turn on some music and they bounce away. We talk about our colors, caleb and I work through the alphabet, etc.
9:00am-here we watch signing time together and I make them sign each word
9:30-we get ready for activity time from 10-12 (sometimes this is the library, or playgroup, or bible study, etc.)
12:00-lunch and naps


It isn't totally smoothed out. I have discovered that the teaching aspect is pretty relaxed. Especially with Selah. However, Caleb is learning. He has not known his ABC's other than the tune of the song he would fumble along to. Now he can point out nearly all the letters of the alphabet. He is learning his numbers, he knows his colors, and he is genuinely absorbing the bible stories each day. You can't really homeschool a 2 and 3 year old, more than anything my "homeschooling" is just doing learning activities with them and spending more one on one time. The schedule is more for me than them. They watch way less TV, I am a scheduled person and enjoy the structure, and so do they. They are learning to help out around the house and learning about God. Because of that, it is worth it. Even if I feel like it is going in one ear and out the other. The other day at the store, Caleb was looking at the flowers "mom, God made the flowers!" What a gift to know that he is storing these little "lessons" in his heart. My kids are happier, they are (hopefully) getting on a schedule, they are learning how to learn, and I am spending time with them each day.

Therefore, I deem "homeschooling" my toddlers a success :)