Susie Homemaker

So much for posting regularly . . . hopefully it will happen more often in the future.

We're about to start a new chapter in our family history this week; Cam will start staying home with me again. For a month or so, it will be 5 days a week until MDO starts back, then only 3. For me, this means I'm going to be a true stay-at-home mom and to some degree a home-schooling mom. Cam will definitely start public school once he can enter kindergarten because I whole-heartedly believe in public school, especially since those in our area are exceptional. In addition to knowing that I'm simply not qualified to teach my child everything he needs to know and recognizing that I couldn't be truly objective in evaluating his performance, I think public school provides important socialization for children. It is important that children learn to interact appropriately with other children and with adults, that they be able to read and respond well to as many social situations as possible, and that they truly grasp their relationship to the rest of the world. All of these things are provided for in a public education. I do not fault anyone for homeschooling; it just doesn't seem right for our family in our community. That said, we can't really afford the type of daycare/pre-school experience I would like my child to have, so our compromise is sending Cameron to a MDO program two days a week, for the public school experience of an externally determined schedule and playgroup and the socialization that I value. I will also be keeping him home the rest of the week, and I feel it's important to balance free play and educationally driven play/lessons. I've done lots of research on home schooling toddlers and pre-k curriculum for at-home and institutional programs, and I've found something I feel meets our needs. I'm sure some people would think it doesn't do enough to focus on education and others will think I don't allow enough play time. There is scheduled tv time, and I know some people won't appreciate that. All I can say is that I'm trying to find a balance that will both prepare Cam to be intellectually stimulated and advanced for his age and socially adept. I also hope that this program will incorporate technology and other cultural trends that define our society and age in order to prepare him for his future. Lastly, I hope to create an educational program that teaches Cam understanding, empathy, and humanism, because those are values we embrace as a family.

Our daily schedule for summer will look something like this (though every day I will strive to be flexible):
     6:30-6:45am - Cam wakes up
     6:45-7:00am - everyone eats breakfast
     7:00am - M leaves for work
     7:00-7:30am - we get ready for the day
     7:30-8:30am - Cam plays outside in the yard (I play with him but also go over the plans for the day.)
     8:30-9:00am - Cam self-play time or watch tv (Jake & the Neverland Pirates?) & I prepare for errands if needed
     9:00-11:00am - out of the house time (errands, library, play dates, playground, pool, field trips, etc.)
     11:00-11:30am - lunch
     11:30-12:30pm - Sesame Street (This is a post-lunch/pre-nap chill period. We turn out the lights.)
     12:30-2:30pm - nap for Cam (I will nap, answer email, clean, etc. during this time.)
     2:30-3:00pm - Super Why & snack (This allows Cam to wake up slowly and get focused on his alphabet.)
     3:00-5:00pm - school time (organized currently around alphabet)
     5:00-5:15pm - snack time for Cam
     5:15-6:00pm - self-play time for Cam while I prepare dinner/straighten up
     6:00pm - M comes home
     6:00-6:30pm - make dinner while Cam plays with M
     6:30-7:00pm - eat dinner & watch Wheel of Fortune
     7:00-7:30pm - family play time together, walks, etc.
     7:30-7:45pm - Cam bath
     7:45-8:00pm - bedtime routine (brush teeth, change to pjs, story, prayers, songs, asleep)
     8:00-8:30pm - refocus time for me
     8:30-9:00pm - end of day cleaning routine
     9:00-10:30pm - tv, leftover business, hubby time
     10:30pm - M&me bedtime

This week we'll be transitioning into this schedule and working on potty training! It's very exciting for us! Next week we'll actually start lessons.

Take Two

So we abandoned this effort last year after Munchkin started sleeping through the night. Most of our posting occurred during the night-time feedings, and once we started sleeping again this little project fell by the wayside. I have to say that I regret it, but I always have lofty plans of creative expressions that never see fruition so this is just another in a long list of great ideas that didn't make it. That said, I'm hoping to give it a go again.

Let me update on the status of things, if M has anything to add, he can do so:
Munchkin is now a few days away from being 17 months old, and he is amazing! I know that I'm biased, but really, if you know him you think he's amazing too.
He is a running, climbing machine. He's even showing interest in jumping, though he hasn't really figured out how we do it.
He has a vocab of a couple of dozen words if you count things we interpret. Oh, and he has 3-4 short sentences, which I hear is important.
He eats - a lot. Anything really, especially if he gets to use utensils.
He's in a toddler bed. We just ended rocking him to sleep, so he's officially a big boy now.
We've been making strides toward potty training since about 13 or 14 months, but since he's still in MDO/day care, we're not there yet. This is one of our goals for the summer!
I have a checklist of things kids should do by specific ages. He's met all of them up to 24 months.
And he is full-fledged into the toddler-asserting-independence stage, though typically he avoids the tantrums and just sticks with "no," "mine," and 'I do it."
So, yeah, he's awesome. I told you so.

Anyway, I'm going to work on being more consistent with the posting. I think I need it, and there are big, important things looming on the horizon for our family, so there will be lots on my brain. For the time being, this is going to be a space for me to clear my head of ideas, update family and friends on our goings-on, and speak to my child. I'm not going to spend much time worrying about researching topics or structuring my thoughts; I'm going to go on a free-flow basis. I might try to come up with some recurring themes, but really, I'm going to start just by making the effort to write daily. We'll see how that goes and go from there.

Until next time (tomorrow?),
C