What am I going to do?

So at the end of our first week, I have some mixed feelings about this homeschooling thing. The first thing I told Kevin (my hubby) was, "I'm not sure that this is going to work." I went on to explain that Isaac is not easy to work with. I want school to be fun and laid-back. Some activities were, while others left us both feeling like we wanted to pull our hair out. I think it has to do with Isaac's temperament/personality not meshing well with my own. But perhaps there's more to it.

We spent the entire week working on the letter "A" - both at home and at preschool. He already knows his letters and the sounds they make. But given that he's still only three, I thought we'd focus on the hand-writing portion of it a bit more. He got it after the first day. And maybe he was bored the rest of the week? Maybe he was thinking, "Duh, mom. I got this down. It's an A. That's the capital and that's the lowercase. How many more times do we need to go over this? And yes, I know how to write it too. So will you please stop talking about it already? Thanks." When he wrote his A's correctly, I would say, "Great job, buddy!" And his response? He'd scribble over it, throw the pencil, and walk away. Yep. That's our Isaac. :)

Most of the activities did not hold his attention. They were either too easy and he'd stick his nose up at it. Or they were challenging, and he didn't feel up for the challenge. A few of them went wonderfully. So maybe I just need to keep that in mind! Hehe. This was more or less a trial week for us. I overloaded him with options of activities to see what he enjoyed most. And I discovered that he actually enjoyed very few of them. So what am I to do?!?

We worked on learning the days of the week song all week as well. By Friday, he knew them (at least in song form). I was expecting to spend a few weeks working on this. But he's kind of over it now. On Friday morning, he sung the days of the week song by himself and then said, "I already know it, mommy." I was surprised and delighted and asked him how. He replied, "Because you taught it to me." And after a few seconds, he added, "So we don't have to do this every day, okay?"

Okay? Sure. So...what next? I just went into this preschool thing full of fun ideas and expectations. But Isaac is unimpressed and hard to read. I have no clue that he's actually soaking things up until he does something like walk up to some letters that I've formed into a word, and nonchalantly says, "Oh, that spells CAT!" Then walk away like it's nothing. What is going on in that little mind of his?!? What does he KNOW?

I feel like I should have the key to unlock the mystery that is my son, but I am fumbling around...clueless. And I'm half-tempted to send him to someone else who may be able to figure him out. But that's not the answer either. I'm going to keep at it. Working tirelessly to find what he enjoys most (aside from fighting and annoying those around him). Maybe he's ready for more than what I'm teaching him? Or maybe he just needs a faster pace? Like working on just one letter each week is overkill...maybe we could do two or three letters and he'd enjoy it more? Maybe we could focus more of our time on math and science, rather than language arts?

I'm going to stick with what we're doing for at least a month. We'll see how it goes. Maybe he's just giving me a hard time because he enjoys doing that with me. :) Next week is, "M" week, and I'll prepare much fewer activities for him to complete. And perhaps do a few more math-related activities. I've also thought about starting in with some simple sight words. I think he'd enjoy memorizing something else as well. But we'll see! :) We're all learning over here!! :)