Our good days are really good. He is excited, eager to learn, it goes quickly and smoothly. He does a great job, he makes an effort, and does his best.
Our bad days, are really bad. He is frustrated {not seeing results fast enough}, he throws fits {sometimes things are thrown}, threats of quitting {by him} and usually includes a time-out or loss of his chair.
I love the good days. It is so rewarding to see him learn and to see his progress. The bad days even for me are frustrating. I feel ill equipped and a bit overwhelmed. I have tweaked the order of the lessons to make it feel less like work and more fun, but I am still struggling with how to deal with his frustration. When he starts feeling frustrated we quit that lesson. We can work on it the next day. I do love having that flexibility.
So far he has learned:
- vowels
- to write short vowels and know their sounds
- to write consonants l, t, b, and n and know their sounds
- can blend the consonants above with a short vowel
- to recognize and count numbers 1-20
- write numbers 1-4
- write cursive vowels and consonants l, t, b, and n
- pennies/cents
- five senses
- to begin reading some short vowel words
Despite the bad days. I am surprised how easy it has been to just sit down and do "school." I thought that would be the hard part. The flexibility has been nice. Yesterday we tried out the Community Playgroup and went to the Library. We rented a science video and watched it after lunch. If daddy is home in the morning we will do school in the afternoon. {Having daddy around is a big distraction.} We spend about two hours a day doing "school." Sure beats an hour and a half bus ride each way and six and a half hours at school each day. I love being able to spend that time with him rather than away from him.
