It's official: We have started homeschooling!!

Over the summer we did what I've been calling "homeschooling lite" just so Jake didn't get the idea that it would all be fun and games (just most of it! LOL!). No seriously, so that he would know that there IS going to be work involved and also to keep up on our skills so that we didn't need to spend much time reviewing. He's done very well over the summer. His reading has improved and I still have yet to find much of anything that he needs explanation on in math. His handwriting is awesome and we've been doing lots of science learning because that is his interest (silent cheer from mommy the doctor!) and just having a ton of fun.

Starting yesterday we began our "school year kickoff" and I think I'll do it like this next year too. Since this week was the first week of school around here I thought it would be a good time to do some field trips. Also, because it is the first week, that means that Craig is very light at work and had yesterday off. So, he and I took the kiddos to Science City all day and to play in the fountains at Crown Center. The children loved Science City and especially liked the Fly Me To The Moon movie all about Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong. Jake has been playing Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong with his toy spaceship and astronaut ever since. I even hear a "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" out of him every once in a while.

Today, my friend, Wendy and her 3 kiddos joined us on a trip to the Shatto Milk Co. to learn about how milk makes it from cow to grocery store. The kids had a great time seeing the cows, seeing the bottling process and Jake LOVED milking the cow. Lydia wouldn't milk the cow but she enjoyed trying all the flavors of milk....orange, rootbeer (her favorite), strawberry, banana, and chocolate.

Tomorrow is Lydia's first day of preschool. She will go MWF mornings and I think that will be good for all of us. It gives Jake and I time to hit the books on Mondays and Wednesdays without her to interrupt and gives me Friday mornings to myself since Craig is off on Fridays and it is going to be buddy day with Daddy for Jake.

We are having a consultant in tomorrow and Saturday from Chicago to begin a new therapy program for Jake. It is an ABA based program but it is going to be almost all natural environment teaching for perspective taking, theory of mind, problem solving and prediction type language. We have hired an implementer that we found when she was serving our table at Cracker Barrel and she is awesome!! Sarah, our consultant, will be training Craig, Rachael and I this weekend. We are super excited. Rachael is a gem and we are so lucky to have come across her. This job is 80% personality and that is what we saw in Rachael that night at Cracker Barrel when she was "interviewing" for a job she didn't know she was applying for! LOL! Rachael was homeschooled through her elementary years and is also Christian so that is a huge bonus to us. In addition, she has some allergy issues herself so she fully understands the importance of Jake not being exposed to his allergens.

On Monday, we will get into full swing with our lessons and begin our new schedule of classes, etc. On Mondays he will be doing a 3 hr social skills group from 1-4. On Tuesday he will do speech therapy for an hour privately and a social conversation group from 4:30-5:30. On Wednesdays we are doing alternating weeks of art/music with Wendy and the kids. Wendy is a music teacher turned homeschooling SAHM and I can do a fast c-section which somehow makes me qualified to be the art teacher for 5 children. LOL! Naaaah. They're young and I have a good book with excellent ideas so I can handle it. Also on Wednesdays he will be doing piano lessons and church choir. Thursdays he will be doing a Christian Youth Theater class and sometimes participate in homeschool rollerskating. Fridays he will have Buddy Day with Daddy and they are going to go to the driving range, etc and he will also have gymnastics and homeschool PE class. *IF* it fits, he will be playing indoor soccer but we'll see. Of course, after we meet with Sarah we may tweak some of this if we need more room for therapy time.

So far Grider Home School Academy is off to an excellent start!!