Trevor completed lesson 18 today.  He also read the first Bob book again, this time not allowing me to help at all.  He read it much quicker than usual and was very happy at the end.  After the next lesson he should be able to read the next Bob book.

I think writing a log really helps already. 

1. Reading Lessons:  We're definitely not going to finish the 100 lessons in 100 days.  I've been very lenient with Trevor because if he has a bad lesson he doesn't want to do another one for a few days.  So we've skipped a day here and there when he gets frustrated.  I don't let him skip more than two days in a row, though, because I don't want him forgetting what he's learned.  I try to quiz him on sounds and the few words he knows when we don't do a lesson.  Trevor does well with reward systems, so I made a chart with 100 squares, and he gets to put a sticker on a square each time he finishes a lesson (obviously Conrad got to it with a marker).  Each row has 10 squares, and when he finishes a row he gets a fun size candy.  When he finishes every single one of the 100 lessons, he gets a party.  He loves parties, so this is great motivation, however...

The best thing I've done so far to help Trevor enjoy his lessons more is a SCHEDULE!  I learn this over and over with Trevor, that he just simply does better when he has a set time he is to do something.  He craves structure.  So for the past few days, I haven't even given him a choice, I just warn him at lunchtime that when Conrad goes down for a nap, we will be doing a lesson.  The consistency has done wonders.  Today he was a little sleepy (he ended up takng a nap afterwards as well), so he had a hard time focusing.  Other than that, the lessons have been going much more smoothly. 

We finished lesson 13 today, which is the first lesson with a "story" and picture.  He enjoyed it so much.  The reading comprehension task after the story is nice because we both get tired of me telling him what to do next and by then we just need to shoot the breeze for a minute. 

We've also been playing hangman with the few words he can read. 

2. Math: We haven't been as consistent with other subjects yet, but we've been working on math a lot for some reason.  Trevor picked up one of our preschool workbooks I grabbed at a dollar store and wanted to do a page about patterns.  He has had a really hard time with patterns and just doesn't get it on paper.  Well, my mommy lightbulb went off.  I took a baggie of buttons and we made our own patterns with them.  Well, if you believe it, he got the very first one right and kept getting them right.  I could have kicked myself for not thinking of it before!  He likes to do "homework" on paper, but he's more of a tactile learner for sure.  He's been asking to do patterns every day now.

We also worked on shapes.  He already knows the name of most of them, but we talked about sides and angles today.  He liked that.  We used a whiteboard with dots.

3. Sorting and Socializing: I've been trying not to ignore Conrad while Trevor and I work.  Conrad wanted to play with some preschool flashcards I have in a drawer.  They are always mixed up and Conrad and I sorted them together while we talked about why we sorted them into the specific piles.  He liked that so much (I think it was mostly the talking together), I think I'll mess them up again tomorrow so we can do it again.  :)

4. Quiet Time:  I like to have a quiet time every day where the boys are still doing something productive.  Today they played with magic mud while listening to Chopin.  They both loved it, of course.  Even I love magic mud (cornstarch, water, food coloring).  It was funny because we were just listening to classical on the radio, and Trevor asked for "something more beautiful," So I put a Chopin cd on and then he smiled and told me his "ears are dancing."