Day 4 (176 days to go)

I was pleasantly surprised this morning. First the boys all woke up and got out of bed on their own. Then two of them took the initiative to get ready to start the school day without prompting as well. At 8:55 they were sitting at the kitchen table with their books open. So nice that they fell into a routine so quickly. Landon is being a bit of a hold out, but we have had the conversation about the importance of an education already. I am sure it won't be the last time that exchange happens this year.

I did do a bit of curriculum research today (getting really far in this not buying curriculum thing!) The goal is to have Landon reading independently this year. This is definitely more my idea than his! For the last couple of days, we attempted "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" Honestly, this book hasn't been a hit with any of our children, but I keep trying to like it. Apparently Landon isn't going to be the exception. He is very computer motivated and has done well with Starfall.com and Hooked on Phonics. The drawback is that I really want something that tracks his progress. I have friends who highly recommend readingeggs.com, but I was not thrilled with the cost. In the end I found and purchased http://www.clicknkids.com/ We tried out the sample lesson which met Landon's approval, and the price was right since the homeschool buyers co-op has a group buy going on. I will give a better review once we start using it.

Art for today consisted of free expression with crayons on butcher paper on the kitchen table :)

September 09, 2011