Tot Tuesday- Making Kindergarten a Priority

My little Mr. Man is growing up. He’s my challenging child. I’ve told you that before, and sometimes I feel like I say it too much. But it’s true. There is something hardwired in this kid to make him be energetic, and creative, and intense. He’s a wonderful kid, and so much fun. But the intensity…. it’s there all the time.

I’ve realized something though- his intensity can be channeled. And, If I’m smart about it, I can channel it early in the day, and fill his needy kindergarten bucket, and we can all be happy. I had been trying to keep Mr. Man distracted while working with Bug, but I had it all wrong. I need to work with Mr. Man FIRST, and then he’ll let me teach Bug.

Ding, Ding, Ding, it’s like the worlds biggest light bulb.

Adding in a second child to our school day has not been easy on me. I don’t know why I thought it would be a breeze- I mean, Kindergarten is easy. Easy, and time consuming, and parent intensive. Luckily, Bug can read directions independently, but by its nature, second grade is also parent intensive, even if it’s easy. Or maybe it’s not easy at all. This is hard. Homeschooling multiple young kids is hard. (and don’t tell me they don’t need school. I know, maybe they don’t. But that’s not me. Ha. I need to teach them these things. Not teaching them is not an option. Read the ‘I need to relax’ post.) I’m working on it. But for now….. the newest part of the routine, and my grand solution, is letting Mr. Man be the priority in the mornings.

Our current mission is finding things to do together that are worth my time, worth my money, and keep his attention. Right now in the “Mr. Man comes first” morning rotation we have Logic of English Foundations (still a winner), The Thinking Child Workbook, and a few new things: Handwriting without Tears, Flowering Baby, and Touch Math (all up for Review- I’ll be posting these soon!).

Fingers Crossed this works well. This Mama needs things to work out, because all this trying to make a new routine work isn’t easy.