3 Months' Progress

Since September I have been homeschooling my 2 year old son and, occasionally, my 6 year old daughter.

I'm happy to say that we've been making progress.

I've noticed that when my daughter and I make time to incorporate homeschool activities together with her school work, she manages to ace her tests. Now, we are trying so hard to find time after school to squeeze in some activities to help her strengthen her understanding of her lessons in school.  I try not to occupy so much of her free time so much so that she won't have time to relax and play. It becomes hard when she comes home drained and exhausted from school that most of the time I just let her take her nap in the afternoon instead. Hopefully, we'll have more time to do hands on activities soon.

As for my toddler, I am so proud of him for knowing his colors and shapes. Now, he is able to name and identify colors: red, yellow, blue, orange, violet, green, pink, black, white and brown. He can also name and identify the shapes: circle, square, triangle, oval, star, diamond, cross, rectangle (although he can't pronounce it very well) and occasionally hexagon. He can now answer the question, "what is your name?", in complete sentence. I can also see that he is a budding book lover since he always asks me to read to him his books and he enjoys our reading time so much that he even asks me to read his book thrice in a row. He can now count 1-10 without skipping any number and can count objects whenever asked to. He is now trying to count beyond 10 and reached up to 24. He can name the different animals in his ABC Book of Animals and can even give the sound of some of the animals. He can act out which way is up and which way is down. He is starting to identify whether the object is small or big and short or long. He can name and point to the different parts of his body such as: eyes, nose, ears, tongue, hair, armpit, lips, legs, arms, feet and hands. He can sing several nursery rhymes. He can make the sign of the cross and is starting to learn the prayer "Angel of God". He is also starting to identify the different letters of the alphabet. He can water the plants on his own. He can put away  his toys when asked to.

All these things make me feel very fulfilled as a mom. It is very rewarding to know that I was able to teach these things that they teach in school. I am happy to see their progress every step of the way. I am thrilled to discover their new capabilities. I am exhilarated to know that I am part of their journey to learning day by day.

These are things that I should be thankful to God for… for giving me the opportunity to experience these things with my children. I know that when they grow old, these are the times that I will remember, these are the times that I will cherish so much. Hopefully, they too will remember when they grow up.

Thank you Lord for these things!!!

A week's progress

     It's been a week since we've been consistent with our routine and I can say that there has already been an improvement with my daughter. It has been a week that we are constantly reading stories before going to bed and I can say that it is something she looks forward to every night. Before, it used to be a drag to ask her to turn off the TV and go to bed but now I just have to say "reading time", then she'll happily turn the TV off, get her book then sit beside mommy. I let her choose what story we'll read from the collections in our book. She likes it when she feels she has a say on something. Sometimes when she finds the story too short for her, she'll even ask for another one. After we read a story I ask her some questions like how she likes the story and the main character.   I don't make it sound like a quiz. My questions are not too long or too detailed. I just want to know if she had paid attention to what we've read.

     I love the fact that she's very enthusiastic about our reading time. You see, I didn't grow up with my mother reading to me so this experience is new to me as well. I find it fascinating when her eyes light up whenever there's something exciting happening in the story. I am very much delighted that a simple prompt of our reading time can call her attention away from the TV, which is a challenge to do before. When kids now are very much like zombies when in front of the TV, it's nice to know that there is something that she'd rather do with me than be in front of that box, and that's reading bedtime stories.

     I feel closer to her with every story we encounter… more connected. Every night when she discovers a new thing from a story, I, in the other hand, discover something new about her. I learn a new thing that makes her giggle, makes her laugh, or just makes her smile. Sometimes something makes her sad, makes her mad, makes her wonder, makes her wish and even makes her dream. I am happy… I am happy that she can experience all of these with me. No teacher can ever come as close to the deepness of learning and connection that we experience every night.