Well, it hardly seems possible, yet here we are - end of week 1 of Greyson's Kindergarten year! 

This week went mostly smoothly... I'm taking it very gentle with him, no real pressures at all.  What he's enjoyed has really suprised me.  Greyson loves poetry... he's learning "Changing the Guard" by A. A. Milne... he's got half the poem memorized already, as does Chaeli (our tag-along preschooler!)... mind you, this astounding fact  should be balanced with the disclosure that half of each stanza is exactly the same all the poem through.  LOL!  But that's okay... some of these words are hard, like "Buckingham Palace" and "Christopher Robin" (Greyson still has some speech issues).  He's so cute when he's learning a poem... all smiles and proud of himself.  *grin*

In penmanship, copywork if you will, we are following along the letters from the "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" book.  I love this book.  I have two older children who have learned to read from this book, and they've never gotten past lesson 76 before they are off and reading on their own... and I start yelling, "put that book down and..."  but who am I to complain?  Bookworms are good.  Both Greyson and Chaeli are doing the program at the same time, since both already know all their letter sounds... this is more for putting the letters together in words.... and it gives him a real sense of accomplishment.  I love success in early years.  His handwriting is coming along... but I'm not in a rush.  It seems unfair to put expectations of perfect performance in an area that is still developing muscle co-ordination.  I would never expect a baby to run before they could walk, right?  Well, his little hands are still not as steady as he needs for "good" penmanship... so this is just writing for fun.  He loves telling me HOW to draw a letter (we're using HWOT) "doooown and bump and up and over and dooooown and bump!"  hehe, it's so cute!

What else have we done? Well, we examined a pretty yellow snail (see the picture bellow) I found on the mailbox... and then went to look up snails in the visual dictionary and learned that his eyes are at the end of his "horns"... Greyson thought that was funny!  And then he came across the anatomical pictures of an adult female and male (not that we're prudes or anything, he's seen the human body nekkid before... grin!) and exclaimed LOUDLY, "LOOK!  They are showin' off their TOOSHIES!"  It took everything in me not to burst out laughing... he's so modest (ya right, till he takes off his clothes for the day and has to run like he's walkin' in waves to the bathroom in nothing but his birthday suit to deposit his clothes before puttin' on his PJs!).

It's going to a very different year this year.. I'm hoping to introduce the idea of a simple lapbook, get him to learn some memory work (Bible verses and poems), master the whole early reading thing, and get a good sense of numbers.  That is one area I would like to see stronger in him as he starts out on this academic journey... but of course, never at the cost of his Love of Learning! 

My older two are studying Canadian History this year... so the Littles will be learning some age appropriate stuff alongside them.  Both Littles already love singing "O Canada"... learnt from the many hockey games Daddy has made them watch.  So, we'll learn some basics, like where is Canada on a map/globe, what are the provinces and territories, what are each provinces capitals, what does our flag look like and why, what are some national things; like animals, sports, languages, etc...

See how happily they are all working... from Pre-K (there in the back) to Grade 9 (back to me in the foreground)... our little happy homeschool:  LHH Academy (Little Homeschool on the Hill).

Blessings!