Holy Woah!

I do my planning on Wednesday afternoons.  I sit down, think on what we got through the prior week, and how that ought to translate to the coming week.  Last week, we made it through Lesson 1 of Hooked on Phonics, and three math lessons.  This week, I set us up to do another HoP lesson, and four math lessons.  No worries.

Math is progressing as expected - still at double time according to the general timetable - but since I'm still trying to find his limits, as opposed to just teaching him mew ways of doing things he already knows, I'm okay with that.  I knew he was good at most of the math before we started, so plowing through it is nothing too new.

Reading, on the other hand...  I have no idea how to plan at this point.  He finished lesson 2 yesterday, and blew through the first third of lesson 3 today.  At the rate he's going, he'll finish lesson 3 this week, and lesson 4, possibly 5, next week.  This means he will be done with the first half of the level in about two months.  Each level is assigned a graded year.  He is likely to finish a half school year of reading education this summer.  I'm reeling.  The next question, of course, becomes "how do I plan for next week?!?"  ^_^  I think I'm just going to try to keep up, and see where he goes.  He doesn't know he's doing work intended for much older children, and I haven't any intention of telling him, so he just goes ahead and does his work at his own pace... and we'll see how high he flies.

End of "Official" Week 1

This was our first "official" week as homeschoolers.  Why?  No monumental occasion, just that my planner started on June 1, so it seemed a good time.  We're planning to be year-rounders, sticking to something akin to a 4 weeks on, then 1 week off schedule.  What's really nice about this is that the world aligns perfectly to then give me two weeks for soon-to-be-Auntie N's bridal shower and Thanksgiving, and also a two week break for Uncle F and Auntie N's wedding!  Even nicer, it gives us a week break every month, PLUS an extra week floating around whenever we want to use it.  That puts our school year at 195 days, which means we have 15 days over the regular school year to have sick days, take off on birthdays, or go on impromptu field trips.  I love this already.  If LP were in regular school this year, we wouldn't be able to go to Thanksgiving OR the shower, and we'd be pushing it to go to the wedding.  We certainly couldn't take two weeks for both of them.  Then add in that March break does NOT line up with Easter, and there's a lot of family holidays we'd be missing because LP needs to be in school.  As it stands, we're able to schedule our breaks whenever we want them, and it's Mighty Convenient!

End of week one.

Week 1 taught me several things.
1) Play Dates in the middle of the school week, while epic fun, are a bitch to make up for.  There is no way to do anything resembling lessons after spending the morning with friends, so the day is a write-off.  Then, I have to try to accomplish things one day off - so technically, while today is our Friday, we'll finish the actual activities for the week tomorrow.

2) Trying to get anything serious done after preschool SUCKS.  Like, MASSIVELY sucks.  I had today designed to be a quick-review day, and mostly playing games, because I figured trying to get anything done after the morning was spent in preschool would be difficult.  I did NOT expect a 45 minute meltdown over a cookie - a cookie that he didn't even want, mind you - nor did I expect his math lesson to be like pulling teeth - he's usually gung-ho for his math.  o.O;;

3) We are completely able to do this.  This whole homeschool gig will be totally workable for us.  It may not always be easy, it may not always be games, but it is certainly do-able.  I am very excited for what this year may bring!