Jack @ 4 years, 2 Months

Jack started his homeschool co-op class this month and is really enjoying it. It’s just once a week for 2 hours, but it’s helped us ease into doing a little bit of school at home every day since his teacher sends home worksheets. We’re only doing about 15-20 minutes a day of handwriting right now, and we stop when Jack seems to be “done”. My main goal is to get started on the right foot this year with enjoying whatever learning activities we do.

At his 4 year checkup, there was a book showing all the different parts of the body in the office that he was interested in, so recently we bought him a couple of what he calls his “body books”. There are pictures of intestines, brains, blood cells, eyeballs, etc. and he is fascinated. He pores over them, looking at the pictures and asking what things are and what they do.

He continues to be strong-willed of course, and easily frustrated when things don’t go his way or take too long. I have found just recently though, that if I stay on his side instead of pushing against him, he calms down much more quickly. So, when he gets upset because we have to leave a playground for example, echoing back his feelings of frustration and anger (“it’s awful to have to leave, I know you’re frustrated, it makes you angry doesn’t it?”) is much more effective and helpful than my usual drill sergeant approach.