preschool and thoughts

We enjoyed another week of our Little Saints preschool curriculum by studying "Good Health Friends" last week.  

We talked about healthy habits, doctors and dentists.  I ordered a child-size stethoscope online for our week, not realizing that it would be a working tool!  The boys had a blast checking each other's heartbeats (and I stressed that somebody was going to blast an eardrum by accident by dropping or yelling in the stethoscope!) 

This week we made "Happy Teeth" collages after talking about dental hygiene.  An important goal I have as a mother of (soon-to-be) 3 boys, is to teach them great hygiene!  :)

Here are our medical professionals-in-training!

Overall, I am really enjoying the Little Saints program.  It can be a lot of work to try to fit in each session in the curriculum (it is structured around three meeting times per week).  For the most part, we have been accomplishing one complete-session every week during our co-op time, and then enjoying some excellent storybook lists and a few activities here-and-there to reinforce our lesson.  My favorite part about the program is that the topics are broad and touch on subjects from literature, science, math, religion and art. Dominic is easily grasping the concepts, opening his mind to new interests, and appreciating fun art projects.  Even Gabriel is happily participating and improving in his vocabulary for each topic.

I truly love being at home with my boys.  

Since we are doing "Preschool" at home, I am also spending time weekly with Dominic in working on basic phonics, handwriting, math and religion.  I do not think that children need to start school this early, but Dominic has a love for learning that I strive to encourage, and honestly it is a great way for him and I to spend time bonding together.  He is a gifted child and I want to feed his interests!

Will I continue to homeschool?  A year ago I would have answered no to that question.  Now that reality is setting in though (my baby starts kindergarden next fall!)  I am definitely including homeschooling in our education options to consider and pray about.  I can understand why many families benefit from this option, in similar ways that we are enjoying "home-preschool"; the child learns at his pace and in his own learning style, it is much less expensive than private school, and it gives us plenty of flexibility and time together to play, pray and learn about EVERYTHING (not just academics).  Plus, maybe it is a little selfish, but witnessing my son mature and grow might be one of the most wonderful and rewarding gifts a parent could ask for!  Lastly, I am a total nerd and love school subjects (this is also one of my most obvious obstacles with homeschool-- I loved going to school myself!)

That being said, we still have several schools to research and visit and we have a lot of praying to do...  God's will be done!

 Wow, it is hard to believe that my baby is becoming a KID!

Makes me miss those simple days of diaper changes and feeding schedules ;-).  

Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for kindergarden and everything that follows!