Homeschool......Sort Of

OK.  I am an educator by trade.  I have a bachelors and a Masters degree in Education.  (Toying with the idea of a Doctorate, but that's after we win the lottery.  Have you seen how much those things cost?!?!?)  I am all of the above, but in no way am I cut out to be a Homeschool Mama!  I try to teach Josh things, but most of what Josh has learned has come by 'accident'.  Now...those 'accidents' may or may not be planned by Me.  What I mean is, Josh does NOT do well just sitting down and learning.  Some would say that is to be expected-he's only 4.  That being said.....most of what he has learned I have snuck into his life.  Some examples:

Super Why - This is a reading show on PBS.  It has letter identification, the alphabet song, letter sounds, blending sounds together to form words and some rhyming!  Hmmmmm wonder how the TV always know to go to Channel 8 when Super Why starts EACH AND EVERY MORNING!!!

Counting - We've worked on this since he was old enough to understand.  Counting how many triangles his sandwich is cut into, how many grapes he has on his plate, how many cows we see on the side of the road, how many cars he got taken away, etc. 

There are many more ways that I sneak in learning, but now I'm having to get even more creative!  Not necessarily creative, but learning needs to catch his attention and mean something to him.  (This is a MAJOR reason he knows so much about and loves dinosaurs.  Ask him!)  

I've started sitting down with him after dinner but before bath (and while Daddy takes Macey for some one-on-one time) and working with him for about 10-20 minutes.  We go as long as he lets me (frustration point) and we are currently working on numbers/counting.  (Starting with something he's really good at.)  The current book was only about $3 on amazon.com and works on things such as identifying the numeral, identifying the written number word, writing the number and counting the number as well as circling a set with that number.  They even throw in sets that aren't that number!  Here's one of the first pages he did:

Notice at the bottom right where it says "Color 2 circles." he started to circle them.  We had to have a talk about why you need to do what it says otherwise the teacher might not think you understand or are smart!  It's hard to deny the inner instinct to just do what you want, but do do what you're told.  4 year olds struggle with that and so do 30 year olds!  It is also very hard for him to write.  Duh, I know.  So I've been trying to come up with fine motor skill practice to strengthen and train his fingers.  

Here's a page he did more recently:

Notice how the writing of the numbers 5 are much better.  That's because I didn't want him to get so frustrated writing that his attitude tanked the rest of the lesson.  So.......I write the numbers all the way across and then he writes with a crayon on top of my numbers.  This lets him 'write' the numbers but doesn't let him get as frustrated as if he had to form the numbers on his own.  Also notice that his coloring the circles at the bottom left isn't as goosey as the before!  And he has the incredible ability to sometimes just look at the sets of objects and tell if it has the correct number.  And he's learning and perfecting the skill of one-to-one correspondence (saying one number as you count and not just counting out loud and that not matching up to the pictures.)  He is really getting good at that!  

So proud.  

Except.......that means he's getting bigger.  

Teardrop..........