Homeschool Update

  I'm so surprised to write that homeschooling Sky is going great!  Of course, we have stumbled a little bit and there have been struggles and adjustments but we're both enjoying the time together and Sky is learning.  
  Four mornings a week after D takes Fire to school and Water is with his nanny, Sky and I sit together at the dining room table and "do school".  I try to make sure that I have some kind of easy game ready for each day as well as some kind of physical activity.  Sky seems to remember things better if they're worked into play time.  I use worksheets from around the web and a workbook that I bought online for her.  Sky knows her letters and letter sounds and all her numbers through 10.  She can count quantities of things up to 20 but has trouble identifying the numbers.  Rather than butt heads with her trying to teach her new material, since she's mastered most of the Kindergarten requirements, I'm focusing on refining what she already knows and on task completion.  When we do worksheets I encourage her to work neatly, to keep her numbers and letters inside the lines.  We practice how to hold a pencil and use an eraser and how to focus on a job until it's done. 
  Finding ways to teach Sky has been eye-opening for me.  I have to find ways to work through or around Sky's unwillingness to work on something.  I have be creative every day and come up with ways to make it fun and different for her.  It's a great challenge for me and I think it's changing how she and I relate to each other.  I also think that it's been good for us to just spend time together.  For the majority of our school time, she sits on my lap , so we're physically engaged.  We're working toward a similar goal, so we're mentally engaged together.  We've never had that in our relationship and I feel like  we're getting along better because of it.
  I'm so happy for the fee change at the daycare- it's turned out to be such a blessing in disguise for us!