Puzzles and Creation

We finished our third day of school today.  Okay, calling it a day may be a stretch at this point because I put a load of laundry into the dryer before I started today and we were finished a few minutes before the buzzer on the dryer went off, but still.

My Father's World Kinder curriculum starts off slow with 10 Intro Lessons.  I've decided to condense them into 7 days since the main thing we're learning about is creation.  We'll end with Rest on Sunday.  Sound good?  (I at least hope I get some rest that day!) 

Here's one of the things Diego and Eliana have been working on the past few days.  (That's Diego's 2... he's working on cutting.) Or maybe I should say: I'm working on letting him cut.  Our Parents As Teachers' Rep, Ms. Michelle, has been after me for quite some time to buy the boy a pair of scissors.  So, for school I bought him a pair.  Of course, Eliana wants to cut out her numbers too, and I (of course) am a mean momma and tell her "no!" (I chalk it up to seeing way too many bad, self-inflicted haircuts on kids and I am bound and determined that's not going to happen to mine.  Nope, if any one is going to give them a bad haircut it will be their father!)

So, obviously there are parts of the lessons that Eliana does with us but there are times when I need to work one-on-one with Diego for reading and calendar math. (The reading lessons so far have been fairly easy-letter recognition things which he pretty much has mastered- this is one of the reasons our little school moves so quickly.) So, at the home school fair I picked up some puzzles and activities specifically for Eliana to work on while I am working with Diego.  So far, this has worked out not so well.  He would like to do her puzzles and she would like to do his calendar work- especially the straws! "I yike straws!"

However, today after nap, I did let him work on her number puzzles and pegs that I picked up for her and this made him happy.  (And tomorrow, I will let her put the straw into our place value chart so that she can be a happy camper, too!)

I think we're going to try and head for the zoo tomorrow.  It's been such a long time since we've gone- I just can't handle the heat of summer!  Tomorrow is Home School Day at the zoo (if you go, this will explain the large number of denim jumpers) and we're going to meet our new home school group there.  I'm sure looking forward to getting to know that group.  Growing up, our own home school group, The Lighthouse Fellowship, was an invaluable resource to my mom (and her sanity!) and such a great source of fun and friendship for the kids, too.  We met the group last Friday night for the first time and I'm already excited about the friendships to be formed- such a smart and sweet group of kids, and such a nice group of ladies (two of whom will be providing playmates for Cruz in the next couple of months)!