The Lily Pad

We may not have gotten out of bed as early as I wanted in order to start our day and then we may have taken an hour longer at the commissary than I wanted to but we did manage to make it through everything I had planned for the day. We worked this afternoon for a little longer than I think either one of our tolerance levels could handle.  In case I was unsure about that fact, when we started our handwriting exercise, Madelyn was thrilled that I was a "teacher mommy", by the end of it she informed me that maybe she just needed a different teacher.  I think I was fired by my 3 year old. Thats when we pulled out the crayons and stopped trying to make letters. While I finished up dinner she played a hopscotch game using the apple floor tiles from Confessions of a Homeschooler and then played in her kitchen after making it to 7 and losing interest.  Speaking of dinner, can I just say that I kind of want to make out with the inventor of the crock pot liners?...

So many of you have asked (OK, maybe none) what my plans are to teach Madelyn.  I'm going pretty basic and simple and we'll add more as is dictated by boredom and learning curve.  Every day will have a handwriting and phonics exercise as well as new material and new focus.  For example, we are still working on lower case letters so one day in the second week is intensive lower case work.  As in we're pulling out the house diagram and talking about who has what in the attic and in the basement.  Intense I tell ya.    Each week will have it's own theme.  We will use that theme for part of our handwriting and phonics skills, as well as a themed craft, books (fiction and non fiction), and as many related activities we can while maintaining my sanity.  Our first week is Ballet because she will be starting dance class the following week, so this will serve dual purpose of getting her excited and having a fun week 1 theme. My "gold*...

Can it really be called "back" when she's never really been?  How about if she isn't even technically "going" this year?  I don't know the deep philosophical answers to those questions, what I do know is that I have 3 weeks worth of lessen plans and materials for our very own Lily Pad Preschool!  Oh wow!  I really like the sound of that.  Maybe I'll have a sign made, or add it to our arts and crafts, or sew something, or talk about it a lot and never actually get it done. Madelyn is almost 4 and is in constant need of intellectual stimulation, so I devised a battle plan to help us through the long cold (to us who haven't lived winter in 11 years) VA winter.  My battle plan is preschool.   My sword is a pencil, my shield a piece of paper, this sentence a huge hunk of cheese. For those of you in know about me, you know that schedules aren't really my thing, but I'm doing it.  I'm setting an alarm clock without having a s...