Day 1 of Operation Homeschool

Yesterday I went shopping for some new supplies - markers, books, flash cards, etc. so that I could get this homeschooling thing going just a little bit. Now, I'm not teaching him rocket science or anything, just basic things he should know by the time he would be going into preschool. Numbers, colors, alphabet, shapes, etc. Like I said, he knows most of those things, but I'd like to work on it more. I'd also like to introduce more crafts. I let him color, sometimes, but he has a tendency to color on everything but the paper - or at least he did. I bought some finger paints (yikes!), more markers (for different shades of colors), construction paper, glue, etc.

Today we did some coloring and played with playdoh, along with flash cards and reading. Now, my child is very stubborn. He wanted to color right away, but when he was done, he was done. I'm not going to make him sit down and color. That would take the fun away. Here are some of his drawings - I tried to label what he told me they were. You'll notice one drawing says "boat car" - he likes to tell me things are a "boat car truck" or he'll tell me "blue green truck."

After coloring some "boat cars", we played with playdoh, or should I say we shredded most of it? He made a "car" out of the playdoh with a stencil, but got very upset because he would ruin it by smashing it. Then he would tell me "broken car" and we'd make a new one and he'd do it again. Obviously, he was not really wanting to play with playdoh..

Hm..

Maybe this will be fun.

"Let's roll it."

Yay, having fun!

This is a face off "I'm about to throw a fit, watch out."

Pretty mad at the playdoh because the "car was broken."

Yeah.. we're done.

Next up - flash cards! He LOVES, and I mean loves, flash cards. He bugs me to read them to him and I've caught him plenty of times getting into them without me.

"Let's get the flash cards out, Bee!"

Nah.. he'd rather play with his cars.

Yeah.. flash cards didn't last long. I think we got to letter C? So onto a book to end our day. Luckily, he does love his books and will sit through a hundred of them.

That was our day. Tomorrow I'm going to try the finger paints (God help me!). It should be fun.. or, I'm hoping. 

Our Changing Lives

Wow, haven't updated this blog for almost a year! I started my other blog, Coupon Lovin' Mom, and just have not had time for anything. Let's update a little, shall we?

Brenton is now almost 34 months old (on the 14th). Whoa, sounds weird to say it that way. He is a smart little boy. Knows some of his shapes and most of his colors, letters, numbers. He can also speak in complete sentences. If you're not around him often, as with most kids, you probably won't understand everything he is trying to say. Being with him all day, everyday, means that I can understand him with ease. He is still one outgoing, excitable boy, but also has a major attitude and knows what he wants. He gets that part from me, I'll admit it. I like that he knows what he wants - it's a great characteristic, in my opinion. He wanted to potty train last week and we have an awesome day of just 1 accident and 7 pee's in the potty, but he had got tired and had an accident and I think just bummed himself out. The next day I did ask if he wanted to wear a diaper or underwear and he insisted on the diaper. I'm okay with it, really. Not only because I get diapers for free, but because it is up to him to want to do this. I do not believe in forcing my child to do something he is not ready to do. Eventually he will be potty trained. Eventually he will understand. I think a lot of parents forget that raising children is not a competition. It doesn't matter what age so and so started crawling, walking or was potty trained. All that matters is the child is well treated, fed and loved.

Devin got a new job a little over a month ago. He is now working full time as well as attending school full time. He is very busy and very strong! I would have cracked under all that pressure before it even happened. He does struggle with it a little, I think, but he is very smart and still gets straight A's in school, and I know he loves his job and the pay. We have a goal of paying off our debt ($3,500) this year while still maintaining a great savings. Which brings me into my next topic..

The new year started new goals of not only paying off debt, but keeping debt as far away as possible. We have NO credit cards and do not EVER want another one again. There is no need for them. I have created a $300 monthly budget for food, household, beauty and health items, and each month we've been able to come within that budget, for the most part. January I actually only spent $250, while February I went a little over by $60. It's all about balance. We have stopped buying processed foods and I mainly cook from scratch now. I have only been buying mostly organic/natural eggs, milk and meat as well as other items. I started another blog, Homemade by Carol, and have found I absolutely love cooking and making things from scratch. My lifetime goal, for myself, is to have a baking business. I would love to decorate cakes and be able to sell them. Obviously this will be a very far in the future goal, given we still live in an apartment and I have other goals to complete first.

We have also decided to homeschool Brenton. We tossed it around for the past few years and find it is the best for all of us. Our city does have decent schools, but there are just too many things I do not want him exposed to. If he eventually decides at an older age he'd like to go to school, then we'll talk about it then. Ultimately, it will be his choice for how he'd like his future to go. Tomorrow I am going to start some things with him - coloring, putting blocks together, working on the alphabet, etc. He knows most of these things, but I'd like to take more time than I already do teaching him new things. I plan to head out to Walmart tonight and get some new materials. Thanks to my friend, Jen, for recommending a great homeschooling blog - 1+1+1=1. I'm excited to try some of her great activities.

That's all for now.