Our K4 Plan
I’ve gotta get a plan. At least for myself. I don’t think Isaac or Gavin really care either way, but I need to feel like I have a grip.
It’s been so blasted HOT these last few days, so it’s hard to imagine what we could do. This week is Sugar’s birthday, and if we don’t have a party, Isaac’ll be disappointed. So we’re planning a 3rd birthday party for Sugar.
Then the Olympics begin. And I’m ready with all sorts of activities. That should be physical and different and take us right up to the political conventions.
Our goals this year are to incorporate more memorizing. We’re going to start with the Catechism for Younger Children and the Nicene Creed. I’ve got it all laid out week-by-week in Google Calendar.
I’d like to pick one good chapter book to read with Isaac. We started Farmer Boy. I think we might finish that one or another Little House book. I tried Ramona the Pest, but I was the only one laughing hilariously at everything. Peter Pan might work. Or Charlotte’s Web. Love that. I need to buy that one.
Everything else will spin out from there. I can make the crafts and activities adapt to those things. Isaac’s still into holidays and is obsessed with his pumpkins in the garden. I can see the Young Thinker blossoming in him. He wants to know where everything comes from, and I don’t know how well I’m doing with those questions. When he asked where babies came from a few months back, the conversation went like this:
He: Mommy, how do babies come?
Me: Well, first . . . first, you pray! HARD!! And then God takes a little piece of Daddy and a little piece of Mommy, and He smooches ‘em together. And poof! He makes a person!!
::long pause::
He: GOD? We want a girl baby, okay? . . . He said “Okay, Isaac!!”
He asked where pumpkins came from yesterday. I explained that it was basically the same thing. A bee walks around the inside of the flower to get nectar, and the boy piece from the stamen mixes with the girl piece from the pistil. And you get fruit!
Flowers and people. That’s about the extent of my knowledge. I’ll have to get a wiki for the rest.
Plans | Comment (0)Thursday
Well, we’re going to drop the attempts at regular outside walks right now. With the weather changing and the feeling that getting out the door is so insurmountable, it wasn’t working. Maya and I have a morning date every day. That should work.
I remembered that I do better if I set out a schedule the day before instead of waiting for everything to fall apart in the middle of it all. So tomorrow I’d like the day to look like this (with lots of built-in flexibility):
- 9:00 — Exercise.
- 10:00 — Story/snuggle time
- 10:30 — Active time
- 11:00 — Scissors & Glue time
- 12:00 — Lunch
- 1:00 — Nap/Smart time
Let’s see how I do with that.
Plans | Comment (0)Wednesday
I kinda just dropped off the face of the blogosphere, didn’t I? I don’t know what happened!! I guess we got in our groove, and then a few crises hit. 
Oh well. I think one of my main problems is keeping records and keeping track. Part of it (I’m remembering now) is that Sir Gavin is not quite a solid sleeper. He’s in that disequal stage of teeth and development and everything that intersects and makes for some sleepless nights. And when I’m a PAHMama, no sleep is even worse than when I was working. I think it’s because so much depends on me.
Add to that, Sir Isaac is dropping his nap. That was my time to regroup. So I need to rethink everything now.
So that’s what’s up with that. I’ll come back later and think some more. Now is time for our morning walk!
Plans | Comment (1)This Week
Well, we did the chore chart. Now Mommy has to remember to use it. And we didn’t get to practice answering the phone, but we did call Grandma and Grandpa.
I found some living books on our shelves, and I’d like to make a more concerted effort to read them this week. We’re going to have the ‘rents over for a vintage meal tomorrow, and I think Isaac can help me with that. We’re visiting Daddy’s class on Thursday for an example of preschool music education. Play date on Tuesday, shopping on Wednesday. Monday outside play.
Plans | Comment (0)Well, this last week, not so good.
We all got a cold virus and Gavin was cutting I-don’t-know-how-many teeth. :p We FAILED on that. All the way around. Poo.
And that rock candy thing was a no-go. I waited the one week, and then poured the whole thing down the drain. Maybe if I used skinny test tubes or something. It was not working.
This week, I’m feeling better, so maybe we can make this. Our schedule is all thrown off by my lack of sleep. But now Daddy’s in his groove, and so can we be. One thing I did learn — going grocery shopping with Gma and Gpa is COOL! for all of us. It’s a win-win-win situation. Gpa pushes the cart with Gavin. And Isaac sings and chatters with Gma. And I throw things in. And, of course, Gpa is constantly re-engineering how I put things in the cart. Once an engineer, always an engineer.
I’ve got a stack of new recipes and I should be back to my normal sleep pattern. We’ve got a play date planned on Tuesday. So tomorrow — a new day. This week, I’d like to get us to learn how to:
- Answer the phone.
- NOT answer the door.
- Spell “Isaac.”
- Make our chore chart.
That’s all I can think of for now. . . .
Plans | Comment (0)Mommy’s Goals
Some dear friends advised me to find some of my own projects that I enjoy to make this transition from college prof to PAHMom less startling. So being the horribly goal-oriented person that I am, here goes:
- I would really, really, really love to install the electricity in my doll house. I’ve got all the supplies. This is a huge move outside of my comfort zone. Me? Electricity? That means I have to:
- Buy a display table that makes the thing out of reach of the Hotwheels.
- Fix the stuff that has broken since I brought it in here. The whole thing has already weathered the storm, so I don’t think this’ll be too hard.
- Re-read the manual.
- Map it out.
- Install.
- Make a Happy Birthday outfit for my dear friend’s upcoming arrival. I know what the gender is, but her hubby doesn’t, so that’ll have to be a secret.
- Catch up on making a dress for Elise’s sixth birthday. And her fifth. <blush> Didn’t get to do either, I was too busy.
- Make Gavin some kind of handmade outfit.
- Make Christmas stocking for Gavin.
- Knit something small and lacey just for me. I should do a purse.
This Year’s Goals
Technically, Isaac wouldn’t be starting K4 until next year anyway, so this is a free year to test the homeschool waters. It’s also my first year for being a SAHMom — a new and slightly scary endeavor. So I have a list of goals for now until December. I’d like to:
- Read A Well-Trained Mind.
- Cover some of the Westminster Confession. Maybe the first five questions.
- Play outside daily (after this infernal heat passes).
- Cover one fun learning thing a day.
- Have a regular “circle time.”
- Have play dates.
- Check out library reading hours.
- Get up and showered and dressed daily.
- Try freezer cooking again.