Semper Gumby: Homeschool Update: Running out of Room

It's been a while since I've mentioned much about little man, JoeJoe. We set up his homeschool corner back in January, and developed some goals for him. It was nothing to grand (he was BARELY 2) just a spot to sit and focus.

As time went on I added a cheap set of tupperware drawers next to the desk, and they started to fill, then over flow. Then it got impossible to find what I was looking for or to even stay organized due to a complete inability to cram it all in there. Then we shoved an empty diaper box under the desk, and it overflowed too! Even the calender above it seemed to be taking a hit. Fast forward 9 months and poor little man doesn't even really like to sit at his desk anymore... it stings of abandonment and my first major homeschool failure.

Another hurdle has been little guy's speech delays. Therapy 2-3 times per week pretty much kills whatever "sit still capacity" a 2 year old boy has in him. As I watched the school buses drive by my house this week I got this nagging feeling that I could do better, but didn't know how to proceed. So I started by re-assessing his goals. These are his goals from last January:

Be able to sing the Alphabet

Be able to count to 10

Increase attention span to 15 minute tasks or projects

Be able to follow 2 step directions

Be able to identify actions from pictures (ie. show me who is happy, who is sad?)

Be able to put two words together to express desires and emotions (i.e Drink Mommy or Go Byebye or I hurt)

Finally! A spark!

He can't sing the alphabet song, but I'll tell you what he knows the name of every letter!

He can count to 5, and can identify the numbers 0-9!

He can easily sit with me for 20-30 minutes

Two step directions, are hit or miss... but there is definite progress

He's not identifying actions yet

He can express desires with 2 word "catch phrases" with a little prompting

It was marked improvement, but I was still feeling a bit insecure in my abilities... not to mention overwhelmed. Remember me saying I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest? When it comes to homeschooling, more often than not I hate Pinterest. There was so much! How do these women do it all? On top of that, they all seemed to have space, and it was very apparent we had grown out of Joe's little space. I felt a tug at my heart, something had to give.

Have I mentioned that growing up my mother and grandmother always set a beautiful table? (stay with me here) Especially on holidays! Behold:

Those are old fashioned icers for the shrimp cocktail (you can hardly even find them any more!), sitting on fine china, with real crystal, and a striking centerpiece, all ready for a candle lit Christmas Eve dinner.

My grandmother always lamented simply having an eat in kitchen. Her dream has always been to have a formal dining room. I've learned to set beautiful tables for the holidays in my formal dining room. It's been an important point of pride for me, carrying on the tradition of beautiful tables and centerpieces, and never taking for granted that I have something my grandmother always wanted. Here's a recent Easter for example.

The thing is though, 99% of the time we eat in our breakfast nook, in the kitchen. My dining room is used for company and pretty centerpieces and holidays. Day to day life though, we eat at the kitchen table or even (gasp!) in front of the TV.

I have two tables, and no room for school y'all. All of those lovely childhood memories of Christmas Eve, Easter, and Thanksgiving, with my Grandma were at the kitchen table, and you know what... I never cared. As a matter of fact, I often wondered why it bothered my grandmother so much that she didn't have a "dining room," and while as an adult I can appreciate the desire, I can also appreciate the many memories made in her kitchen. Those were wonderful.

So here I sit, at a crossroads, and I'm choosing my kids. I will set beautiful tables in our kitchen, maybe even make more of an effort to do it with more regularity, and in about 10 days I'm going to have an amazing school room!

My other hurdle has been curriculum. I just haven't felt that JoeJoe is totally READY for preschool. His birthday says we could, but the delay in speech and personality both give a resounding no. It's amazing; however, once you get the ball rolling the answers just come.

No sooner had I made the decision to convert our dining room to a school room, than a friend pinned (love/hate) a link to something called "Tot School." What the What?! How, in hours of pinning, research, blog reading, forum participation, and networking had I not fallen into this?