W was coughing and sniffling all last night so I kept him home from preschool today. J did nothing but watch tv all day, but I guess it's my fault for letting them put it on in the first place. W actually came to me with a preschool workbook and wanted to do some with me. He did about 10 pages of number work. I learned that he can write the numbers very well, understands patterns, knows which sets have "more" or "less", can circle the correct amount shown, can count backwards from 10, and can even recognize what word = what number (e.g. s-e-v-e-n = 7). He is the kind of kid who gets fixated on a task and won't stop trying til he gets it perfect. His determination has allowed him to learn:

At age 1: to hold a pencil and fork correctly, draw faces (head, eyes, nose, mouth, hair), and dress himself (nothing backwards!).

At age 2: snap his fingers, do and undo buttons, tell people his birthday, and count to 10 in Spanish.

At age 3: whistle, zip his jacket (that was so frustrating for him!), tie his shoes (with double knots!), pump his legs on the swing, write his name, learn all 12 months and 7 days of the week in order, and blow bubble-gum bubbles.

I think he is a bit of a perfectionist, I know because I'm still one. I wonder also if he just wants to try and keep up with his sisters.

I had a talk with my mom today about the possibility of my homeschooling W as well. She was totally against that yesterday, but I emailed her the running list I'm keeping for J showing all she's accomplished in the last 3 weeks and an article on why homeschooling socialization is way better than public school socialization. She agrees with my idea that as long as W is enjoying school he can stay in it. I am anticipating that once 1st grade comes, he may not go for the 6-hours at a desk deal and will probably be ahead of everyone academically which brings about its own problems. I've already been through that with J, I don't need to go through it again.

K decided she definitely does not want to be homeschooled. I will go along with that since she is a very good student and things have been more than positive with her friends. I am working on the attitude problem, but I know this is the age where they start trying to "find" themselves. I'm ok with things for now. You never know what the future holds, though.