Thursday, August 7, 2008
Feeling Left Out
I'm having a pity party this afternoon as I look at everyone's blogs. Everyone seems to have kids starting school! I wish we were there. It all looks so exciting! I need to remind myself that this time when my kids our young goes by so fast. I have 20+ years of school ahead of me. :) So I'm going to go curl up with a book while my boys are napping. Then when they wake up I'll pull out the foam blocks. Johnny loves to build towers and then blow them down like the "Big Bad Wolf". It's so cute! He's only 2 once. :)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Play Dough
As I was reading my curriculum for this week's lesson I saw that the suggested craft was playing with Play Dough. I have lost my sheet that tells me exactly what the craft will be each week. Sometimes we do what's suggested in the curriculum, sometimes we don't. I figured there was no way we were going to play with Play Dough. I mean these are one and two year-olds.
Well, when I got into my classroom there it was - the Play Dough bin. Oh no! I had visions of toddlers eating it, putting it in each other's hair, maybe even up their noses. But I braved on. I did move the picnic tables onto the tile floor so at least we wouldn't destroy the carpet. Am I sounding pessimistic enough for you?
We were having a great class today. The 2 year-olds are starting to sing parts of the worship songs along with doing the hand motions. It is so cute! Then one of the suggested activities was to have the kids take turns walking on a balance beam. (The theme for the day was sharing - like how Jonathan shares his clothes with David) Now the curriculum suggested using a wooden board on top of a couple of bricks. Uh, I'm not that brave. So I just taped 3 lines of masking tape on the floor and with a little imagination we had our balance beam. The kids loved it! And they took turns. :)
And now here we are - craft time. Play Dough. Oh boy. But guess what? We had a blast! In the box there were these body parts that you can attach to the Play Dough - eyes, lips, arms, etc. So my helpers made a lot of creatures with the kids. In fact I think my helpers had more fun than the kids. :) And besides Jacob no one tried to eat the Play Dough. Although he liked to put the plastic body parts in his mouth best. Clean up was a breeze as well. Don't you love baby wipes?
So all that worrying for nothing. I think God had a good little chuckle over me today. I am so blessed to be these little one's teacher. I think I am learning more from them than they are learning from me. So bring on next week's craft - no matter how messy I think it'll be. :)
Well, when I got into my classroom there it was - the Play Dough bin. Oh no! I had visions of toddlers eating it, putting it in each other's hair, maybe even up their noses. But I braved on. I did move the picnic tables onto the tile floor so at least we wouldn't destroy the carpet. Am I sounding pessimistic enough for you?
We were having a great class today. The 2 year-olds are starting to sing parts of the worship songs along with doing the hand motions. It is so cute! Then one of the suggested activities was to have the kids take turns walking on a balance beam. (The theme for the day was sharing - like how Jonathan shares his clothes with David) Now the curriculum suggested using a wooden board on top of a couple of bricks. Uh, I'm not that brave. So I just taped 3 lines of masking tape on the floor and with a little imagination we had our balance beam. The kids loved it! And they took turns. :)
And now here we are - craft time. Play Dough. Oh boy. But guess what? We had a blast! In the box there were these body parts that you can attach to the Play Dough - eyes, lips, arms, etc. So my helpers made a lot of creatures with the kids. In fact I think my helpers had more fun than the kids. :) And besides Jacob no one tried to eat the Play Dough. Although he liked to put the plastic body parts in his mouth best. Clean up was a breeze as well. Don't you love baby wipes?
So all that worrying for nothing. I think God had a good little chuckle over me today. I am so blessed to be these little one's teacher. I think I am learning more from them than they are learning from me. So bring on next week's craft - no matter how messy I think it'll be. :)
Friday, August 1, 2008
Our Room Sharing Tale
I just read Monica's post on her room sharing fiasco and decided to post about our situation. Jacob and Johnny have "shared" a room since Jacob was born. This was due to lack of room in our house. We have 3 bedrooms, but John needs one of them for his office since he works from home. We do have a den, but it's right off the great room/kitchen, so it doesn't make a good office or bedroom. (Although it might have to be a nursery come spring :)) Anyways, both Johnny and Jacob have a bed in their room. However, Johnny never sleeps in his. Right after Jacob was born he slept in his bassinet for about 3 months. Then we moved him to his crib. This worked out well because we would put Johnny to bed and then after he fell asleep we would put Jacob to bed. Well then Johnny decided that he was too big for his crib and with a crash let us know that it was time to convert it to a toddler bed. This worked for about 2 nights. Then he realized that he could climb out of bed and come visit Mommy and Daddy. At first we thought it was cute and loved to have him sleep with us.
Well that's been over a year now that he sleeps with us. For naps he even sleeps in our bed. I have to lay down with him until he falls asleep. I would love for him to sleep in his own room. So what's stopping me? Laziness on my part. Last night for the first time ever when I put him to bed Jacob started crying. And crying. And then screaming. I got him up and took him and Johnny into our room to watch TV hoping they would fall asleep. Yes I've gotten into the habit of using TV to get Johnny to sleep. Well after half an hour they still weren't falling asleep. I decided it was time for Johnny and Jacob to both fall asleep in their own beds. So off to bed we went. It took 45 minutes for Johnny to fall asleep. I had to sit next to his bed and push him back every time he tried to climb out. Jacob cried a little, but mostly stood in his crib staring at us. Johnny cried and screamed and finally fell asleep. Both of them slept through the night.
So onto tonight. I decided last night that I would do the same thing. Get them both to go to sleep in their own beds at the same time. So 8:00 rolls around and what do I do? I don't feel like sitting next to their bed for 45 minutes. So I just put Jacob to bed (no crying tonight) and Johnny is still awake in the family room. I'm so lazy! Oh well I'll go put a DVD in our bedroom at 9:00 and hopefully he'll fall asleep. Once he's out he's dead to the world. I should be able to move him into his own bed without waking him up.
There's always tomorrow, right?
Well that's been over a year now that he sleeps with us. For naps he even sleeps in our bed. I have to lay down with him until he falls asleep. I would love for him to sleep in his own room. So what's stopping me? Laziness on my part. Last night for the first time ever when I put him to bed Jacob started crying. And crying. And then screaming. I got him up and took him and Johnny into our room to watch TV hoping they would fall asleep. Yes I've gotten into the habit of using TV to get Johnny to sleep. Well after half an hour they still weren't falling asleep. I decided it was time for Johnny and Jacob to both fall asleep in their own beds. So off to bed we went. It took 45 minutes for Johnny to fall asleep. I had to sit next to his bed and push him back every time he tried to climb out. Jacob cried a little, but mostly stood in his crib staring at us. Johnny cried and screamed and finally fell asleep. Both of them slept through the night.
So onto tonight. I decided last night that I would do the same thing. Get them both to go to sleep in their own beds at the same time. So 8:00 rolls around and what do I do? I don't feel like sitting next to their bed for 45 minutes. So I just put Jacob to bed (no crying tonight) and Johnny is still awake in the family room. I'm so lazy! Oh well I'll go put a DVD in our bedroom at 9:00 and hopefully he'll fall asleep. Once he's out he's dead to the world. I should be able to move him into his own bed without waking him up.
There's always tomorrow, right?
Friday, July 25, 2008
My Homeschool Curriculum Schedule
Since my post last night I have been poring over the Sonlight catalog and thinking about all the other curriculum that I want to use in addition to Sonlight (Math, Handwriting, Phonics). So in order to get my brain wrapped around what will work for my kids I decided to do a schedule.
Yes I even added Baby. :) I'll probably have to adjust Baby's core if he/she gets a younger sibling. :) I was excited to see that by Core 3 Johnny and Jacob will be using the same readers and language arts. So at that point their only difference will be in Math and Handwriting. I'm not sure what to do after core 6 though. If I keep them on the same core schedule then Johnny will graduate high school after Core 400 and miss the Core 530 which is Survey of British Literature. Oh well that's years and years away. I'll probably not even be using Sonlight anymore. :) It seems that most homeschoolers change their curriculum a lot.
Yes I even added Baby. :) I'll probably have to adjust Baby's core if he/she gets a younger sibling. :) I was excited to see that by Core 3 Johnny and Jacob will be using the same readers and language arts. So at that point their only difference will be in Math and Handwriting. I'm not sure what to do after core 6 though. If I keep them on the same core schedule then Johnny will graduate high school after Core 400 and miss the Core 530 which is Survey of British Literature. Oh well that's years and years away. I'll probably not even be using Sonlight anymore. :) It seems that most homeschoolers change their curriculum a lot.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Caffeine Test
Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site
No wonder why I don't feel like going to bed yet!
I haven't had any caffeine since this morning!
Now it's my turn - AFHE Re-Cap
Okay, now that Monica and Malinda have both posted their thoughts I guess it's my turn. I thought going into the conference that I would spend most of my time in the workshops learning more about homeschooling in general rather than looking at specific curriculum. Johnny will only be 3 in December so I still have plenty of time. Before the conference I had bought a couple of things to direct our activities this year:
Before Five In a Row
Five in a row is a literature based program for school-age children where you read the same book each day for a week and then do different activities based on the book for social studies, language, art, applied mathematics, and science. The first book in the series Before Five in a Row is specifically for children ages 2-4.
It has recommended activities for 24 different children's picture books. These are very simple. For example after reading Jesse Bear, What Will you Wear? you can ask your child to look at the pages and see how many bears they can find. Also they have a separate section on different activities to do with your child to help develop large and gross motor skills and things to keep them occupied while your in the kitchen or at the grocery store. I am very excited by the book suggestions. We have a ton of books and both Johnny and Jacob enjoy it when I read to them, but a lot of the books are pretty boring. So far all of the books that I've looked up on Amazon have really good stories and good illustrations. My only problem is that I've decided that I'd like to own these books rather than check them out of the library so now I've been spending a lot of time between eBay and Amazon trying to get the best deals. :)
Rod and Staff - About 3 Workbooks
For the last month or so every time Johnny sees me sitting at the kitchen table making out my grocery list he has to have his own pen and paper. One day I left him at the table and when I came back he had "added" to my list. I should have saved the paper to show you. In straight lines he had added a series of loops as if he was trying to imitate cursive writing. These workbooks start out developing pre-writing skills by having the kids draw lines left to right. Later on there are coloring and cut and paste activities. They were very cheap and I thought it would be a fun way for him to practice his "writing".
So now onto the conference. I ended up spending way more time attending vendor workshops and looking at curriculum than I planned on. I did however walk away with a lot of good ideas for what I think I want to do in the future.
Teach 4 Mastery - Scaredy Cat Reading System
Do you remember learning how to read? I sure don't. I know that I struggled and I think that laid the foundation for my hatred of reading and literature all throughout school. I love to read now though. I don't think I was taught using phonics. I remember in about the third grade being pulled out of class for special instruction in phonics as a "new" approach. Even to this day when I am reading a new word I am unable to sound it out. I really couldn't tell you the difference between long and short vowels and all that other stuff. So I am really excited about this reading systems. It teaches phonics by making up stories for why the letters sound the way they do. I think it's going to be fun. I like hands-on stuff. I was a little worried because there is a video segment for each lesson, but I talked to the owner and he said that his preference is for the parents to watch the videos without their kids and then teach their kids the lessons. I bought the initial DVD which just introduces all of the letters and why they sound the way they do. I probably won't use it until next year, but I want to have it on hand for whenever Johnny is ready.
Teach 4 Mastery - Scribble to Scribe
This writing program goes along with the Scaredy Cat Reading System. One interesting thing is that the workbooks come with an musical CD to be played while the children write. I guess research has shown that in kids and adults who are re-learning after an accident, that they learn better/faster when music is played. I went a head and purchased both of their workbooks - the first is pre-writing skills and the second is making the actual letters. Again, I probably won't use this for a year or so, but I liked it so much I couldn't help myself.
Sonlight
I have absolutely fallen in love with this curriculum! The core is literature based and combines literature and history. You can also purchase your math, science, electives, Bible study, and language arts through them. I do still like Math-U-See better than their program (Horizons). And I also want to use Scaredy Cat for the first couple of years until they move from learning to read into grammar. I did really like their science program - at least what I saw for Kindergarten. What I really like is that they have a program beginning with 3-4 year olds that I can start next year (2009-2010). It's similar to my description of Before Five in A Row where you read books and then do activities based on the books - there are just way more books. I also looked at their "Pre-K" and Kindergarten curriculum and really just liked what I saw. The books look so interesting. I just can't get myself excited about teaching out of a text book. I like the way the program is set-up for parent read-aloud time and student read silently time. I mean how fun does that sound to curl up on the couch reading with your kids and then engaging them in discussions? Oh I can't wait!
Melissa and Doug
One of the vendor booths sold some really neat Melissa and Doug toys. I just love their products. My husband loves anything made out of wood so he likes them too. :) Heres's what I got for Johnny:
Basic Skills Board
Latches Board
Primary Lacing Beads
Jumbo Watercolors Set
Jumbo Brushes
Before Five In a Row
Five in a row is a literature based program for school-age children where you read the same book each day for a week and then do different activities based on the book for social studies, language, art, applied mathematics, and science. The first book in the series Before Five in a Row is specifically for children ages 2-4.
It has recommended activities for 24 different children's picture books. These are very simple. For example after reading Jesse Bear, What Will you Wear? you can ask your child to look at the pages and see how many bears they can find. Also they have a separate section on different activities to do with your child to help develop large and gross motor skills and things to keep them occupied while your in the kitchen or at the grocery store. I am very excited by the book suggestions. We have a ton of books and both Johnny and Jacob enjoy it when I read to them, but a lot of the books are pretty boring. So far all of the books that I've looked up on Amazon have really good stories and good illustrations. My only problem is that I've decided that I'd like to own these books rather than check them out of the library so now I've been spending a lot of time between eBay and Amazon trying to get the best deals. :)Rod and Staff - About 3 Workbooks
For the last month or so every time Johnny sees me sitting at the kitchen table making out my grocery list he has to have his own pen and paper. One day I left him at the table and when I came back he had "added" to my list. I should have saved the paper to show you. In straight lines he had added a series of loops as if he was trying to imitate cursive writing. These workbooks start out developing pre-writing skills by having the kids draw lines left to right. Later on there are coloring and cut and paste activities. They were very cheap and I thought it would be a fun way for him to practice his "writing".
So now onto the conference. I ended up spending way more time attending vendor workshops and looking at curriculum than I planned on. I did however walk away with a lot of good ideas for what I think I want to do in the future.
Teach 4 Mastery - Scaredy Cat Reading System
Do you remember learning how to read? I sure don't. I know that I struggled and I think that laid the foundation for my hatred of reading and literature all throughout school. I love to read now though. I don't think I was taught using phonics. I remember in about the third grade being pulled out of class for special instruction in phonics as a "new" approach. Even to this day when I am reading a new word I am unable to sound it out. I really couldn't tell you the difference between long and short vowels and all that other stuff. So I am really excited about this reading systems. It teaches phonics by making up stories for why the letters sound the way they do. I think it's going to be fun. I like hands-on stuff. I was a little worried because there is a video segment for each lesson, but I talked to the owner and he said that his preference is for the parents to watch the videos without their kids and then teach their kids the lessons. I bought the initial DVD which just introduces all of the letters and why they sound the way they do. I probably won't use it until next year, but I want to have it on hand for whenever Johnny is ready.Teach 4 Mastery - Scribble to Scribe
This writing program goes along with the Scaredy Cat Reading System. One interesting thing is that the workbooks come with an musical CD to be played while the children write. I guess research has shown that in kids and adults who are re-learning after an accident, that they learn better/faster when music is played. I went a head and purchased both of their workbooks - the first is pre-writing skills and the second is making the actual letters. Again, I probably won't use this for a year or so, but I liked it so much I couldn't help myself.
Sonlight
I have absolutely fallen in love with this curriculum! The core is literature based and combines literature and history. You can also purchase your math, science, electives, Bible study, and language arts through them. I do still like Math-U-See better than their program (Horizons). And I also want to use Scaredy Cat for the first couple of years until they move from learning to read into grammar. I did really like their science program - at least what I saw for Kindergarten. What I really like is that they have a program beginning with 3-4 year olds that I can start next year (2009-2010). It's similar to my description of Before Five in A Row where you read books and then do activities based on the books - there are just way more books. I also looked at their "Pre-K" and Kindergarten curriculum and really just liked what I saw. The books look so interesting. I just can't get myself excited about teaching out of a text book. I like the way the program is set-up for parent read-aloud time and student read silently time. I mean how fun does that sound to curl up on the couch reading with your kids and then engaging them in discussions? Oh I can't wait!
Melissa and Doug
One of the vendor booths sold some really neat Melissa and Doug toys. I just love their products. My husband loves anything made out of wood so he likes them too. :) Heres's what I got for Johnny:
Basic Skills Board
Latches Board
Primary Lacing Beads
Jumbo Watercolors Set
Jumbo BrushesI'll have to post pictures of Johnny and his watercolors tomorrow. He had so much fun with them!
I'm going to wrap up this post for tonight. I might post again tomorrow about one more vendor, Accountable Kids, and also my thoughts on the regular workshops that I attended. I will say that even though my kids are young I am really glad that I went this year. I felt that God confirmed my choice to homeschool.
Monica, I am so glad that you were my convention buddy this year! I had so much fun with you. I love how respectful you are of everyone's choices regarding whether or not to homeschool as well as what curriculum to choose. You have done so much research and I just love picking your brain. :)
Monica, I am so glad that you were my convention buddy this year! I had so much fun with you. I love how respectful you are of everyone's choices regarding whether or not to homeschool as well as what curriculum to choose. You have done so much research and I just love picking your brain. :)
Monday, July 21, 2008
Why a Hungry Pregnant Woman Should Not go to the Grocery Store
On Sunday Johnny and I ventured to the grocery store after church. I was only going to get bread, milk and some fresh fruit and veggies. Well in addition to that here is what made it into my cart:
Bagels
Cream Cheese
Muffins
Frosted Animal Cookies
Frozen Pizzas
Popsicles
Well I guess it was nice to be hungry instead of sick, but wow that's a lot of junk! At least they didn't carry Poore Brothers Pickle flavored potato chips. :)
Bagels
Cream Cheese
Muffins
Frosted Animal Cookies
Frozen Pizzas
Popsicles
Well I guess it was nice to be hungry instead of sick, but wow that's a lot of junk! At least they didn't carry Poore Brothers Pickle flavored potato chips. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
