School Days

When I was growing up, there was no such thing as preschool or pre-k or whatever it's called...you just went to kindergarten.  And when you did, it was half-day kindergarten.  Somewhere between then and now, it became very important to begin schooling your children from birth.  Mom's Day Out, preschool, pre-k for four year olds, pre-k for five year olds, half-day pre-k, full-day pre-k...I seriously can't keep up, nor do I want to. 

I'm not going to homeschool Wyatt (knock on wood), but I do feel like part of being his mom includes teaching him the things that are on the preschool curriculum.  I guess I could put him in preschool now and enjoy a couple of hours to myself every day, but I'd miss him...er, I mean, I think that he'd learn better one-on-one with me than in a classroom of 20 other kids at this point in his life.  He has no attention span, but he loves to learn.  I know how to capture and keep his attention, how to redirect him, and what he does or doesn't comprehend.  So, I'm keeping him to myself for one more year.  Neener neener boo boo.

Several days a week, we work on his "school work" for as long as he is interested.  It always involves coloring, cutting, gluing, patterns, recognizing and writing his alphabet, some math and numbers, and his favorite: science.  Some days, we'll do one page, then take a few hours off, only to return and do 10 more pages.  Other days, two or three pages is plenty.

Today, we started out with a coloring page.  He refuses to use crayons...he prefers markers because "you don't have to push so hard."  Sometimes I make him use crayons, though, to strengthen his hands and improve his fine motor skills.

Next, he had to cut out pictures which would complete a series of patterns.  He loves to cut and glue!

Sticking your tongue out definitely helps with precision.

Applying the glue...

...and sticking it down.  I love pictures of his sweet little baby hands.

Our letter of the day was "B."  How convenient.  Gotta tell ya, I'm pretty proud of his rendition of a bumblebee.  

And that was enough for today.  He jumped his sillies out on the bed!
This would've been a great picture for Theme Thursday last week!

Then did his crazy dance.  I think I'll use one of today's pictures for Theme Thursday this week...the theme is "Active."  You can learn more about joining Theme Thursday by clicking here.

During the time we were working on all of this, the clouds moved out, the sun moved in, and we decided that it was a good time to go outside and explore nature!