So, I’ve always been told I’m a good teacher. Well this week put me to the test. My oldest has started pre-k. I cry a little inside but she is growing up as all children do.
So before I begin let me just say that this is my experience and I’m no expert. I’m just a mom learning as I go.
What I planned.
We are using Abeka for our curriculum. There are many reasons why I chose Abeka for homeschool but I’ll explain that in another blog.
So, with pre-k4 she’ll be doing 5 lessons per week. I have decided to add some extra lessons on certain little things she needs to work on better. Self-care, senses and seasons, personal info etc. Even though I homeschool, I believe it’s very important for kids to be around other kids so I plan for a play day!
My Ups
1) I tend to overplan and go overboard sometimes when I have a goal or in this case duty. I hate not being prepared or forget something so for my up in this week was that I was prepared. I hit up the dollar tree and walmart pretty hard earlier in the spring! On top of that a very excited 4 year old so ready to learn!
2) I was able to share and see her learning experience. I saw her excitement when her little light bulb went off and that aha moment happened. That will forever be special for me and her.
My Downs
1) I was so preoccupied on planning the week that it never hit me that her video lessons wasn’t set up to start until june 16th! Go ahead and laugh. I know I did! (Come to find out I could change the date so we were able to start on Wednesday.) Hilarious but we made June 1st out start date anyway and again so happy I overplan because I had quite a few lesson books that were just extras and good reviews that I thought would be a good start.
2) We all had a stomach virus over the holidays. Ugh! Thankfully my two girls were better but I was still sluggish. Coffee, coffee, coffee!
3) My 4 year old has very short attention spans so if you are doing any videos with toddlers like mine then you may want to sit along with them until they get the hang of it.
4) Technical difficulties seem to always show up and of course they did. Because I’m streaming and quite honestly Im not that technically savvy sometimes, I wasn’t able to stream to our TV and my laptop can only get so high with volume. With the help of my hubby the IT guru I got it fixed when he got home but I really didn’t want to lose the day so it was really fun keeping an 8th month old quiet and turn things off or down so she could hear it. I ended up putting her in the hallway in her desk so I could still see her when she needed guiding but keep the noise away. Bless her heart, she thought she was in time out at first. Lol!
You’re Not Alone
So, it seems more down than up but it will get better. If you’re reading this and feel as completely lost as I do sometimes at this whole homeschool thing then you are not alone! There is a lot of information out there and has been really helpful! I can say my biggest help were these three things. 1) Abeka itself. There customer service has been very helpful. 2) facebook groups are awesome! 3) Moms doing homeschool together. Sometimes it can be too much information so don’t overwhelm yourself. Stick to the basics. You are doing great Mama!
Shonda Cason 