Learning

It is so encouraging to see Jacob's enthusiasm for learning right now. Two of his current favorite activities are math problems and spelling (those are his names for the activities). What this involves is Heath or I writing out some sums for him to solve (like 3 + 4 = __), or him challenging himself to spell words of his choosing. Some of today's words were lump, robot, and school. He used play-doh to make the letters. He does leave out letters sometimes and we have to help him hear each individual sound, and he sometimes asks questions like "what letter makes the "uh" sound?" But he is getting it! It is so exciting to watch his brain soak up information, connect it all, and grow strong through practicing it. (Maybe that seems like a strange way to describe it, but that's how I envision it.)

Part of my excitement is that I feel like I did so little to facilitate this! I would read books to him and answer his questions about letter sounds and number values whether or not I was homeschooling. I think what we are doing that qualifies as "school" we would be doing with him whether or not he was at a school building all day or here at home. And that's why the question of Jacob going to school is not so much a question of what educational option is best, as it is whether or not it's good for him to be at home or out of the home for a significant portion of the day. But that is another discussion...

(For those of you who have been a part of that discussion with me, who have helped me process the pros and cons and options, I can gratefully say that things have been going much more smoothly at home during the day over these last few weeks, so we haven't had to change anything. I'm keeping the other options in my back pocket for now!)