Last chance to change my mind...

This is the final week before the big beginning. On Monday, Labor Day, I'm going to formally begin Asher's homeschooling. It's only preschool, which means I'll basically just be continuing what I'm already doing, which is reading to and teaching Asher things through conversation and exploration.

So why am I so nervous?

I guess it's because I've got a stack of books on my kitchen table that is supposed to take me through Asher's first year of preschool. They are mostly storybooks designed to fit into certain subjects (math, Bible, science, etc.), and really all I have to do is read them to him and then ask questions as we go along. That part isn't so bad.

What scares me most out of the pile of books on the table is the big phonics book that will eventually lead Asher to reading. By age 2 and a half he already knew every letter in the alphabet by sight, and several months ago he learned the sounds they make. Recently we began concentrating on the lowercase letters, and now he's got a pretty firm grasp on those, too. I am hoping that by the end of this year, he'll be able to sound out 3-letter words. I hope. Teaching someone to read is kinda scary. If I manage to pull it off, it will become my greatest achievement.

I've got a basic daily routine planned out for this year. I realize Asher is only 3, so I'm allowing 10 minutes per subject each day. By the time he's 5, we should be up to 30 minutes per subject a day. My fear is that I won't be able to get him to sit still for everything I have planned each day, and then if he doesn't, worrying that I've just wasted valuable time in which he should have learned something. I think that at the end of every day that question will be hanging over my head: "Did I actually teach him anything today?"

Here is the basic schedule I've got planned:

Daily:

Phonics lesson

Math story

Beg. Readers story

Bible story

Fun story (from the library)

Once or twice a week:

Art

Science activity

Preschool activity

Trip to the library

Kindermusik

I've bought a day planner (week-at-a-glance) in which I will write down what we do each day. I figure this will help me see what we've done, since I surely won't even remember what we've read the day before, let alone a month before. I also hope it will make life easier for any future children we have that I may want to homeschool as well. That's a picture of my planner at the top of this entry. I'll fill it in every day.

Oh, and I should probably also mention that as a guide I am using The Well-Trained Mind as far as organizing Asher's homeschool plan. Thanks to my best friend Amara (who is a proper teacher herself) for introducing me to the book - it's what ultimately convinced me to try homeschool in the first place! Other books I'm using include Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready (a book of developmental activities that a child would learn during preschool), science activity books Mudpies to Magnets as well as Everybody Has A Body. The phonics book I'm using is The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.