summary -- week #20, winter #8

(The boys investigate a book about insects at the nature center at our favorite park.)

We're back, baby! Back in the swing of our homeschooling rhythms. The only think I regret about our slower pace in January was not just taking the whole month off to start with! Next year I'll know what to do!

We started the week with our Monday Homeschool Classes, where J participated in chorus, as usual, and Zoo Boy participated in exploring the museum with his preschool cronies, as usual. And I held a pow-wow with another mom, who I'm joining forces with to present a preschool program during the Spring Semester of classes. Zoo Boy says that now that he's turning 5 soon, it's time for him to start taking classes too, and I figured what better way to introduce him to the fun to be had in programs than to put something together with him in mind!
(The kids molding with playdoh.)

I already posted about the curriculum story we used this week, and what a success it was for my boys. We were back to our Adventure Circle (with a couple new songs/activities) again, but Zoo Boy played the non-compliance card and refused to participate. I'm going to need to rethink our circle yet again if I want to include him (and I do! He needs the sensory integration activities even more than J does!). I'm going to go back to what was working prior to this school year (a sensory activity circuit, which Zoo Boy loved to do), and try to mesh that with the Enki verses to come up with something that both meets The Boy's sensory needs and is something he'll actually participate in.

In addition to attending homeschool Open Gym on Thursday and meeting up with our friends at the park on Friday, J (in the front in red) took a really cool museum class about the heart. I actually got some great pictures, of the graphic chart the teacher used in her lesson, and of the real cow heart they got to dissect, but then decided not to post them for fear of offending squeamish readers. But J will be more than happy to enthusiastically tell you that he touched a cow heart, and how it was "almost a little icky".

While J was busy lub-dubbing, Zoo Boy, as usual, was busy making friends with the museum volunteer who was working with the animals that day. As he told her all that he knows about Sabrina, the giant bunny, she said "Wow, you know everything!" His response was, "Well, I don't know EVERYTHING. I don't know how to read." I rolled my eyes, and she reassurred him "That's OK, you'll learn how to read eventually". I muttered "He DOES read, he just won't admit it." (Typical Zoo Boy!) He cast me a sideways glance, then seriously said to her "Well, I DO know how to read SOME things. But not everything." Then gave me a smug look as he turned his back on me to help her clean the rabbit cage.

Speaking of Zoo Boy, I feel the need to update you curious folks on our sticker chart. (Those of you who don't want to hear about the potty training adventures of a nearly-5-year-old, please skip down to the last paragraph!) As you can see, we've successfully filled the upper chart (aka, the pooping chart) with stickers, and he earned his final Sticker Book on Wednesday (which he picked out himself from the store, which we visited on Wednesday evening). I then created a new sticker chart for him -- this one requires 10 stickers for the prize -- a pack of Pokemon cards (which I bought a healthy supply of when we were out at that store on Wednesday). He can still earn a sticker by pooping on the potty (although he's been 100% with that, I'm doing that to keep him thinking that putting his poop in an appropriate place is a good thing), but he can also earn a sticker for having a dry pull-up when he goes to use the potty. Those few stickers already on the chart were hard-earned -- he really has a problem not just letting urine dribble out of himself, and I'm a little worried about him getting discouraged. But I want to make a real effort to get potty training accomplished by his 5 yr check-up, as if he's still not been able to figure out how to hold his urine by then, I'm going to seek a referal to a pediatric urologist to make sure there's not something amiss physically. Perosnally, I still think it's all wrapped up in the sensory integration issues. At least he's becoming aware now when he's peed in his pull-up, that in itself is a pretty huge step.

Ok, enough potty talk!! Family Story Time books this week were The Little Penguin, by A.J. Wood, illustrated by Stephanie Boey; Dance at Grandpa's, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Renee Graef (another of the simply terrific My First Little House series); and Arctic Son, by Jean Craighead George (which I can reccomend to anyone wanting to introduce the eskimo cultures into their household).