This post is so late in coming, but I’m behind in everything right now…. oh well. Preschool has commenced. 
Qade is pretty excited about the whole concept. The other weekend when we were visiting my parents, he asked my mom why he couldn’t read, and she told him that he needed to learn all of his letters first. So since then he’s been pretty intent on learning his letters because he really wants to read.
We are doing a very simple school this year. I had given some thought to ordering the media that goes along with the Answers In Genesis curriculum, but after thinking it through, I realized that I really don’t want to make this preschool year THAT structured. My basic goals are to teach him the content of the alphabet, his numbers 1-20 and scripture memory. I’m not going to delve too deeply into the social studies parts, or PE, or whatever. We get plenty of PE out here anyway. 
I want him to start learning how to focus his attention on tasks and follow directions.
So far he is doing fantastic. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well he has applied himself to tracing. The child is OCD like his Dad, so I shouldn’t be amazed, but he get’s so intent on drawing exactly on the lines that I have to be careful not to laugh. A couple of times he has drooled on the table because he’s so into it that he forgets to swallow. LOL!! Last year he couldn’t care less about lines or tracing at all, so I realize now there there is a definite readiness factor involved. He is recognizing capital letters fantastically, not so much the lower case yet, but it’ll come.
Myles enjoys school too. He gets to do “worksheets” which are really coloring book pages. He participates with gusto in any art project as well. Today he “colored” his worksheet and then got to practice cutting. He would make one little slice with the scissors, set them down, and proceed to rip that piece off. It was a grand success. He also loves to do gluing! He’d probably sit there all afternoon with the glue stick if I would let him.
Myles sits in on our Bible story, and is learning the verses with us. Both boys also do the “days of the week” song that we are learning. They both also get to participate in moving the magnet on our calendar and crossing out the “used” days. That’s probably the funnest thing to do in this house! Seriously!
Along with school I have instituted “responsibility time.” I dislike the word chores, so in our house we have responsibilities. The boys think it’s great! I have an envelope and a sticker chart for each lad. After breakfast each day, I lay the cards with pictures of each responsibility on them on the table. They get to put them in the envelope as they finish each one. Once they are all done, they get a sticker. I think their favorite to do so far are feeding the cat and dog (oh you should see the picture I drew for that one, ha ha ha!!! You’d think that there would be a graphic for that!) and brushing their teeth by themselves. They LOVE brushing their teeth with no help. Qade even puts the toothpaste on, and he has finally started to use his spinning toothbrush. He wouldn’t let us get close to him with it before, but now he loves it! Ha!
So there you have it. It’s still not sinking in that we’re facing the school years and that homeschooling has actually begun, but all in all I think we are off to a good start.
