Mike Mulligan and Legos

I found some great resources to use along with our Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel FIAR unit. And it involves lots of Legos!! Which we are complete fans of around here. Hope you enjoy!!


Learning with Legos (Junior Version) by Walking by the Wayside
Lego Memory Game Cards by I Sew, Do You?

Five in a Row: Weeks 5-12

We are finally caught up after missing a week of school in October due to two bouts of stomach flu - not pretty. So I wanted to update you on all our goings-on in our little schoolhouse. We've enjoyed many books through Five in a Row and have really enjoyed using our world map on a regular basis. Some weeks we do a lot of activities inspired by the books we read and some weeks we do the minimum as our schedule allows. Without further ado here's what we've been up to. :)

Week 5 - The Rag Coat
This was the week that Asher was sick so we did the minimum. We enjoyed reading about the Applachian experience through reading The Rag Coat. The only activity we did during this week was quilting. Yep, I let my little boy use my sewing machine - with LOTS of supervision. Plus he was terrified of getting stuck with a needle so he was pretty respectful of the machine. We took old scraps of fabric and sewed them together and added a piece of fabric to back it. It worked out well but I don't think I'll scare him with the sewing machine for a while. :)

Week 6 - The Glorious Flight
 We really enjoyed this book and learning some French names was a highlight (Blair-You). The boys loved laughing like French men, "Hugh, hugh, hugh!" :D Made me laugh!! We colored paper and made them into paper airplanes flying them across the yard. We also took a trip to the local airport to watch planes land and take-off but since this is a relatively small town, there wasn't any action. The boys were disappointed but were equally distracted by the McDonald's we picked up on the way. We also took a little trip to the grocery store and bought a French baguette. They thought it was so fun to be able to just rip off a chunk. If I had really been on the ball, I would have made this airplane as a craft, but again, some weeks are better than others.

 

Week 7 - A Pair of Red Clogs
 This was a book that interested my boys as they were so interested in the little girl's clogs. We talked about taking care of our things and being responsible - even with our shoes. I was preparing them for winter when they have to keep their tennis shoes out of the snow. We tossed our shoes to "predict the weather" and then we waited til the next morning to see if our "predictions" were right. I had him draw the Japanese flag in his journal along with drawing different facial expressions. Overall it was a good experience and I would recommend reading this book again.

Week 8 - The Clown of God
 This book, on the other hand, I had a little more trouble with. I found some activities but I had a difficult time explaining the meaning of the book. I talked about how important it is to be a light everywhere we go. And that our light shines to show Jesus' love as the monks showed love the the clown. When the clown dies in the end of the book (sorry to give away the ending) I explained out important it is for us to do our best for God all through our life. That we can give glory to God until the day we die. And I left it at that. I didn't want to go into the details of the statue changing its face and I'm glad they didn't ask for an explanation. :) I got a kit from the library with a CD and different color scarves so we danced and jungled along with the CD. The boys had a lot of fun with that. I had him draw pictures for the vocabulary words: juggle, eggplant, zucchini, torches, and monks (brothers). I don't know that I would necessarily teach this book again, but after reviewing what we did I think it was sufficient and they seemed to enjoy the activities we did through the week.

Week 9 - How to Make Apple Pie and See the World
 We really enjoyed this book as we had been on a field trip to the apple orchard a few weeks earlier. We enjoyed "traveling" around the world for all the ingredients to make and apple pie since the grocery store was closed. I printed out a world map and we used a ruler and red marker (like Indiana Jones) and drew out our trip to each country. We also journaled all the countries and the ingredients we picked up while we were there. I found pictures of each mode of transportation, each country, and each food item. We pasted them into the journal and recorded the details of the trip. We made apple crisp on Friday to enjoy as dessert. It was a great week and we had so much fun traveling the world together.


Week 10 - Sick Week
 This is the week I had the flu, so needless to say, we didn't get much done. We rearranged some things so that I could rest and the boys could play instead of having school. Lots of books were read while cuddling on the couch. Also, dad cooked dinner almost every night. :) That's looking at the glass half-full.

Week 11 - Papa Piccolo
 This was not what I expected at all. I expected this book to be about music, but it was about cats as the cover easily displays. And my boys LOVE cats (I am very allergic so I don't really enjoy them too much). We found Venice, Italy on the map and looked at pictures online of their "roads" which are really a series of canals. We talked about how much fun it would be if we traveled by boat instead of car. Or if we had to walk nearly everywhere. They thought that sounded like a great idea. We journaled drawings of the vocab words: canal, sardine, chime, carnival, glum, and gondola. We made a color wheel and practiced our addition using kitten counters. The boys loved talking about kittens and next time I would like to take them to the Humane Society to visit some kitties and cats.

Week 12 - Grandfather's Journey
We didn't really get into this book. It was a little more difficult as the timeline of the book moved quickly and I don't think they realized that the character was the same because he aged so quickly through the book. We did take another look at Japan and made some hats out of paper - origami. We talked about days in a week and months in a year to note how time passes. We also discussed family generations - Great Gramma, Grandpa, Dad and them. And how each one has their own experiences because of the years they lived. We didn't really get into WWII but did discuss how each generation has ties to different parts of history.


And last week we played catch-up from the week when I was sick. So, we are back on track and that feels so good!! :) We've had a lot of fun incorporating other fun activities into our school days including:

Games:
Hi-Ho Cherry-O!
The Farming Game Kids

Printables:
Star Wars
Read, Build, Write
Super Mario Brothers

site word games and counting lots of objects.

It's been a great experience so far and we are really looking forward to our next books: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Katy and the Big Snow and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.


What are you learning in your homeschool classroom? What are some good books that you recommend?

Five in a Row: Weeks 1-4

We've been having a great time schooling at home this fall. It's been such a blessing to watch my boys learn! And to see how God has created their brains to keep learning - takes a lot of pressure off of me.

We've been enjoying the Five in a Row (FIAR) series and will continue throughout this kindergarten year. It's been fun to include our 3 (almost 4) year-old in our activities each day. Some of the books are easier to get through than others but overall it's been great for us.

Our first book was The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack. Our boys loved hearing about Ping avoiding a "spank" and how he had to face his discipline in the end, but was just happy to be with his family again.

Social Studies: We looked up the Yangtze River online and read the blog of our friends who live right on the River. The boys had fun looking at the different landscapes that the River runs along.
Language Arts: We discussed the word "fiction" and tried to use it throughout the week. We practiced telling fiction (make-believe) stories to each other.
Fine Arts: In the book water is drawn in different ways and we practiced drawing the different types of water.
Math: We colored Ping's family (by Shari F.). It was fun to watch him count all the cousins.

The boys really enjoyed this book and learning about the yellow river. I'm glad we have it in our home collection.

The second week we watched the story of Lentil by Robert McCloskey (one of our favorite authors). Our library doesn't have it in print so we watched it on video. The boys thought it was pretty cool that they got to watch a movie everyday and they really enjoyed the music from the film.

Social Studies: We talked about Ohio being the friendly state O-hi-O. :) We talked about where we live in relation to Ohio and planned a road trip on Google to find out how long it would take for us to drive there and what cities we would go through to get there (we planned fun  things to do along the way).
Fine Arts: We listened to Blues Traveler - Hook online to hear some really good harmonica music. We loved dancing in the kitchen to the song as we played it over and over and over. We also picked up a harmonica at a toy store downtown and they have enjoyed playing it (and I have too). :)

The third book we read was Who Owns the Sun? by Stacy Chbosky. Miss Chbosky was fourteen when she wrote and illustrated the story. We thought that was pretty neat to have a book published when you're still a kid.  This book was a little heavy for us. I had a hard time explaining slavery in the South. It seems so far removed from our lives but I want them to know that it's a part of our American history. I related it to slavery in the Bible when Moses had to get the Israelites out of Egypt. But it was still a difficult subject for me to teach.

Social Studies: We talked about which states make up the South. I tried to talk about why the white people had black slaves but that raised a lot of questions that I was not prepared to answer. So we talked about how the slaves worked on the farms for very little to no pay and how some of the slave owners weren't very nice. We talked about how slavery is wrong and that God created all people in His image and how we need to love everyone - not just people who are like us.
Fine Arts: I introduced new colors - fuchsia, teal, melon, mauve, goldenrod, burnt sienna and forest green. My son picked forest green, fuchsia and goldenrod as his favorites and we use them on his seat work throughout the week.
Math: We counted different objects in the book - fence posts, flowers, tree stumps, stars...
Science: We talked about the seasons and how trees can help us tell what season we're in. We colored four trees for the four seasons.

Last week was our favorite book so far, Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. I love a good illness story so this was great. I got to use my nursing skills to teach my boys about their digestive systems and their appendixes. We also enjoyed learning about France and praying for a former student who now lives in Paris. Crazy to think we really know people who live all around the world. :) This week we created our first lap book. We created different elements throughout the week and then on Friday put them all together into a book. They really enjoyed seeing their work displayed together.

Social Studies: We took a "Tour of France" and matched the pictures in the project to pictures in the book. They had a lot of fun matching and gluing.
Language Arts: I made a rhyming page for him to complete. There were three picture (rhymes) and the first picture had the whole word written, the second was missing the first letter and the third he had to complete on his own. He doesn't particularly care for writing so this wasn't his favorite project.
Fine Arts: We colored two pictures of the Eiffel Tower - one monochromatic (in blue) and the other in full color.
Math: We talked about symmetry and looked at all the symmetrical pictures in the book. I had him create symmetry by drawing the missing half of different shapes (circle, square, etc).
Science: We colored a picture of the digestive system and talked about the other systems in the body and how they each had an important job to do. We then watched The Magic School Bus as they take a trip through Arnold's body. They liked that a lot.


Update:

* It's easier for us to have "Bible" together as a family at breakfast. That's when we will read our weekly story and spend time in prayer together. I'm a night owl and so getting up early enough to plan for "Bible" has been difficult so you can pray for discipline for me to get to bed on time so I can get up on time and not feel rushed in the mornings. :)
* Last week our kindergartner started his first PE class on Mondays and had so much fun. The instructor is great and so are the students that help out in the class. We are blessed to have this as an option for our home school.
* We decided to not have school at home on Fridays as we are involved in our local home school enrichment program and he is taking a class on Friday mornings for two hours. We'll do some handwriting on Friday afternoons and also a lot of reading but we won't do much with seat work and workbooks. It's a nice break for me too and he really enjoys the time he spends with other students.

Kindergarten 2011-2012

 

Last week Monday we started kindergarten. It was a bitter-sweet event as most of the children we knew were headed off to school with their loaded backpacks to meet their new teachers, unpack their fresh school supplies and visit with new and old friends. Meanwhile, we were headed to the kitchen table where there were fresh supplies, fresh workbooks, and big smiles. I'm sure it will get easier when people ask my son if he started kindergarten and where he's going to school. But right now, it's hard to explain our reasoning to strangers in the grocery store during a 2 minute "conversation."

But my kindergarten son was excited and so is my three-year-old. He's participating in schoolwork right alongside his brother and mom. :) It's a blessing to be able to school them at home. I'm excited to see what God's going to do this year in our home. And we're also participating in our local homeschool enrichment program. It's through our public school system and will be a blessing to our family. Through the program we will get a supervising teacher (which you would normally have to pay for), PE classes once a week and an enrichment class once a week. During the enrichment class they will work on computer skills, calendar skills, learn some conversational French, writing/reading assistance. And the biggest blessing is that a lot of the women that work there are all born-again believers. Even though the program is funded through the public school there are many believers who make the program possible and that's exciting for us as a family. Another thing we're finding out is that not all parents homeschool because of religious reasons. We have come to find that there are more reasons parents are choosing to school at home. We are excited to know that there is a mission field for our littles as they attend HSAP activities and classes but we are still giving them a "Christian education" at home. It's really exciting for our family. :)

I decided that it would be best for our family to have school at the dining room table. I know that if it were in another more inconvenient location (the closer to the kitchen the better since I spend most of my day there) I we would have trouble getting my our work done. And I didn't want our dining room space to look too much like a kindergarten classroom so we purchased some shelving from Ikea and our workboxes are on wheels so they can easily be wheeled out of the room for important guests. Our calendar work and Letter of the Week info is on hooks and can also be easily removed for dinner guests. I'm still trying to paint window trim, sew curtains, and add some extra decor but this is where we're at with our dining/homeschool room.

Alright, as for what we're planning this year....

Kindergarten
Five in a Row - book 1 (fall); book 2 (spring)
Horizon's Math
Explode the Code Phonics (all consonants this fall and vowels this spring)
Handwriting Without Tears

We're also utilizing the workboxes again this year. It's a great way to push me into adding fun things for him to do. Otherwise it just becomes worksheets and coloring. This way I add games, puzzles, crafts, activities into our school time.

Preschool 3/4 yr
Raising Rock Stars Preschool
Letter of the Week by Confessions of a Homschooler

We're really excited to be using this program again. There are some things that are a little over his head as it was created for 4-year-olds but he's really been enjoying it. There are so many fun elements to RRSP and LOTW. I even take some of the activities and put them in the kindergarten boxes for some review work. Plus it's fun when he can accomplish something quickly after working hard on another box. I did not purchase the RRSP or LOTW downloads; I only use their free printables.

We have also been using some great games created by Homeschool Creations. They have been another great asset to our homeschool curriculum this year.


That's what we have planned so far. I'm excited to see where God will lead us this year and we'd appreciate your prayers as we begin this adventure. :)

School Days - Books n' Things

I have to admit that I have way too many resources. I was planning on using a little of this and a little of that. Then my cousin gave me the PreK Horizons curriculum that she received free to review as a preschool teacher. That was when I became completely overwhelmed. And like a first-time homeschool mom I have overbought, and have made myself a little nuts. ;)

It's hard for me to plan because I'm not sure when my internet resources will be publishing their lessons (weekly, monthly, ??) so that puts a damper on my planning - and if you know me at all, you know how much I like to plan. I'm sure this list will change as the weeks go on, but here's where I'm starting.

Devotions from ABC Jesus Loves Me - I've taken this from the 4yr curriculum of ABC Jesus Loves Me. It's based on character traits from the Bible and includes suggestions from many different children's Bibles, songs, other books, and activities/crafts. I really liked how you can tell the same story every day from a different version of the Bible. I think it helps my boys to remember the stories better. It's nice to finally use all the children's bibles that we've purchased or received as gifts. Here are the children's Bibles & books we're using:

Big Thoughts for Little People







The Big Picture Story Bible







The Rhyme Bible Storybook







The New Bible In Pictures for Little Eyes







Jesus Storybook Bible







Pray through our family prayer book - This has been a great resource to me, specifically and it's nice to pass it on to my kids. It's kind of like a scrapbook that has pictures of our family, our extended family, friends, and missionaries we support. It makes it easier for my boys to pray for them when they can see their faces. We also include any letters that we get from our missionaries so we can be specific in our prayers for them. This is a great resource from Legacy Prayer Journals.

Calendar craft/activities from Preschool Calendar. This book is full of seasonal ideas, fine/gross motor activities, worksheets (must make your own copies), social studies units, community themes, bulletin board examples, etc.




Bible memory verses based on the letter we're working on for the week are taken from My ABC Bible Verses. We'll use the book in random order of the letters that we're working on.




I received the PreK Horizons set from my cousin who was reviewing pre-k homeschooling resources and she gave me the whole pile. Kind of fun even though it's a little late for planning. I'd like to be using as much out of this book as I can since I didn't have to pay for it. It has 36 weeks of lessons and I'm planning on 36 weeks of school so that works out nicely. I'm not sure about the timing with my other resources (Raising Rock Stars Preschool and Handwriting Without Tears) but I want to use what I've got. Mostly I'm planning on using math, social studies, science as my main subjects from these books. The Bible studies are different than what I'm wanting right now and I have some great reading/phonics, and writing resources that we'll be using.

Handwriting Without Tears will obviously be our handwriting curriculum. I ordered the PreK teacher's manual and workbook "Get Set for School". I also bought the wood pieces for capital letters and the laminated cards to go with them. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't have bought the cards laminated and just laminate them myself - but I ordered them before I owned my laminator. There's a learning curve to all of this. ;)

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons will be our "learning-to-read" resource. I'm excited about this because it was recommended to me by so many homeschooling parents. It seems weird like most of the curriculum that I'm using because it doesn't go in alphabetical order. Just seems so un-school-like to me.


And then the last thing is Raising Rock Stars Preschool. If I had it to do all over again (and could get some of my money back) I would stick to one thing and this would probably be it. Although there is no real math - besides learning numbers which my four-year-old already knows - it's a great program for letters, vocab, writing, and reading. It's also based on Christian principles and has some great Biblical themes. The PreK Horizons is a lot busier, but if you wanted something simple I think this would be the best choice. Most of her stuff is free online but if you want to become a member and receive all the free stuff and a lot more she charges a one-time fee of $10. Sounds pretty reasonable considering all the time and money spent on other curriculum.

Anyway, that's my curriculum review. I'm sure I'll be using less of this and more of that. And another exciting thing we're using are file folder games and preschool activity bags. But more on that later. Hope this gives you an idea of how crazy I am. ;)

School Days - Tools of the Trade

We have officially started preschool in our house. And it's been a fun three days so far. I was worried that I wasn't going to be ready, but as my friend Sue said, "It's only preschool - it's not college." And another friend said if you don't go ahead and start because "you're not ready" you never will. So the next few posts will be a "series" on my favorite tools, the curriculum/books I'm using this year, the workbox system, and extras (file folder games, activity bags, printables, and more).

I've been having fun with all my tools - new and old re-purposed. Here are some of my favorites and most-used:

Label-Maker - Brother P-Touch Electronic Labeling System
I got this from my husband for my birthday several years ago. And I love it. I've labeled lots of things in my house and now a ton of school things - file folders, pencil boxes, books, storage containers, binders, and the list goes on and on. I do have pretty nice penmanship but the label makes everything look so uniform and I really like that.

Laminator - Scotch Thermal Laminator (up to 9in wide)
Again, this is my new favorite. I've really had fun creating with this. There are lot of free resources online and when printed on card stock and then laminated they're pretty much childproof. And it's really a neccessity when you're using workboxes - for the labels at least. It's been fun.


Cutterpede
This has been so helpful. I used to use this for scrapbooking but since I have too many "helpers" to really scrapbook (and no time) I've re-purposed it and am so glad I have it. Cutting all those labels (before and after laminating) would've taken me so long with a scissors and they wouldn't all be the same width (I know, I'm a little crazy). So this tool has saved me a lot of time and frustration.

Sheet Protectors
This is a great thing to use with workbook pages that you want to use over and over again. You can just use a dry erase marker and then you have a re-usable workbook. I've only done this with a few workbook pages and some printouts that I've made. But it saves on paper.

Computer Printer
This is definitely a necessity. And colored ink - you can't forget that. It's been great to print my own materials and with colored ink I don't have to take all the time to color things in to make them more exciting. Our printer has been getting quite a workout.

Workboxes
I came across the workbox idea when I was browsing blogs about homeschooling. It's a wonderful system and already my four-year-old is doing a lot of work on his own. I was surprised at how quickly he picked up the system. Sue Patrick started workboxes and has a great book that explains it all. And there are a ton of free workbox resources online (I'll be sharing more of those in another post). It's been a great system for us and I'm sure we'll continue to use it through the years.

Paint Chips
This has been a great free resource. We've used them in many games and there's a great post about word families where paint chips are the main resource - that and a Sharpie. Again, this is another wonderful free resource. Just make sure you're spending money other places in the store if you use these a lot. ;)

Internet
Again, one of my most faithful assets. What would I do without the internet? free resources? inspiring ideas? free printables? good advice? great encouragement? Amazon.com? I would be lost. Thank you to all of you out there with blogs that share your wonderful ideas with the world. I'm so glad you did.

Stay tuned for my next post on our "curriculum" for this year.

Candy Train

Several weeks ago our homeschooling theme of the week was trains. We had a wonderful time reading books about trains and watching the trains that roll through our town. I had a fun craft prepared for the end of the week. I just wish they would have enjoyed it a little longer before they started to disassemble and eat this cute little train.

You can create a candy train of your own by clicking here. It can be made into a Christmas ornament to decorate your tree. Kaboose is a great resource for kid-friendly crafts. Have fun!

Catching Up with School

It was hard to get back into the groove of homeschooling after our two week illness in October. I hate that "behind" feeling and honestly I didn't know how we were going to catch up. I had planned some great things and didn't want to skip any. I had planned a break in there, but we were going to be out of town during that time so it wasn't a great time to catch-up. So, I had to cut things. Fun things and I was bummed, but I'm feeling SO much better now that we're caught up.

These are the things we got accomplished:

letters: F, G, H, I, J
numbers: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
colors: yellow, orange, green
shapes: rectangle, pentagon
themes: seasons, autumn
memory work: John 3:16, Mark 16:15, Deut 5:16, Phil 4:13, John 14:6

I combined the colors and the shapes since he has most of them down (we're still working on pentagon). And I put the numbers (he knows up to 10), the letters (he knows most of them, just working on their sounds), and the memory work together. It went pretty well. I'd have to say that it's easier for him to memorize Scripture when he has a week for each verse instead of a day. But we review them daily as we go along and his memory is pretty great! We've been doing a craft everyday which he loves. I'll be glad to be back to our normal routine after Thanksgiving. I'm just glad that he didn't feel stressed out and we ended up having a lot of fun.

Airplanes

Homeschooling is going pretty well. It's hard not having a designated school area besides the kitchen table. We have a little area in the "dining room" but some day it would be nice to have a more permanent place to learn - less distraction for the students and for me. ;) We're still working on the flow of the day, but I'm sure it will get better and better. It's all a learning curve because I don't really feel like I know what I'm doing. But we're having fun and I think we're all learning something. ;)

A few week ago our theme for the week was airplanes so we read lots of books about airplanes, "flew" around the room to "airplane music," and on Friday the boys painted airplanes. Wal-mart has little wooden planes/cars/trucks in their craft aisle. They worked great for this and my 22-month-old loved the project too.


On Thursday we went to the local municipal airport to watch planes land and take-off. My boys loved it. My husband has taken them before and every time they have a ball. Another reason it's great to live in a smaller town.

Back-To-School, Back-To-School

(the title is to be sung like Adam Sandler in one of his movies...but I forget which one)

Next week Monday, is our first day of school. I tried some homeschooling last year, and I only got into the 8th lesson and realized it was a bit over the head of my 2 1/2 year-old and I learned that I wasn't very prepared. So this year, the "typical" year to start preschool, I will be starting my oldest in preschool at home. I'm using a few different resources that fit our home and time well.

Here are our resources for the year:

• Letter of the Week: Preparatory Curriculum (free online)
• Everybody Has a Body - Robert E. Rockwell, Robert A. Williams, Elizabeth A. Sherwood
• My Giant Sticker Coloring Book - Priddy Books (purchased at K-Mart)
• Preschool Everything for Learning - School Specialty Publishing, American Education Publishing (purchased at Wal-Mart)
  
• My ABC Bible Verses - Susan Hunt
• Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready - June R Oberlander
• Free Kid Craft Ideas (free online)

I'm using Letter of the Week as our main outline, but rearranged some of the weeks to fit better into our schedule. And I'm only using the worksheets that correlate with our lessons from My Giant Sticker Coloring Book and Preschool Everything for Learning. I won't do all of the lessons in the books as some of them are more advanced so I'll save them for later. And not all the lessons are in the books, so I'll create some "worksheets" of my own.

I also took a trip to the local bookstore to purchase some children's paperbacks to go with the Letter of the Week themes and letters. Some are really exciting because I read them when I was a girl: Miss Nelson is Missing, The Little Engine that Could, Bread and Jam for Frances. And I'm sure my boys will enjoy them as much as I did.

I'm also excited about my bloggy friend, Monica (at The Homespun Heart), starting a preschool quiet time series on The Fruits of the Spirit. I think that's a great way to start the year and will be our overlying theme for the year. Plus, a lot of the fruits are attributes my sons need to work on...and so do I. ;)

We will do our lessons in the morning after breakfast. Depending on the craft, we will spend a total of 30 minutes per day in "formal" learning. This is how our week will move:

Monday: Theme and Vocab
table time - poster and definition, worksheet, song/poem
activity/craft - gross motor activity correlating to the theme
reading time - theme book
BONUS Afternoon: Slow and Steady Activity

Tuesday: Shape/Color
table time - poster, make flashcard, worksheet
activity/craft - craft or snack, science activity from Everybody Has a Body
reading time - theme book
Afternoon BONUS - possible trip to library

Wednesday: Letter
table time - poster, color letter printout, worksheet
activity/craft - related to the letter, song
reading time - book related to the Letter of the Week

Thursday: Number
table time - poster, sticker book, worksheet
activity/craft - snack, activity related to number
reading time - letter book
Afternoon BONUS - possible outing related to theme

Friday: Memory Work and Review
table time - story and memory work (from My ABC Bible Verses), poster, review book
activity/craft - fine motor craft
reading time - theme and letter book

I also plan on reading chapter books (Chronicles of Narnia series, Little House on the Prairie series, Stewart Little, Mr. Popper's Pinguins and more) aloud in the afternoon while the boys play together. And I want to get more classical music into our home via the library. It will be fun venturing into new areas of the library as I teach at home. The library is such a great (free!!) resource!

Two notes:

1. Here's Monica's Intro to her Fruits of the Spirit Series and here's Month One: Love. Thanks, Monica for the free resources. You're such a blessing!!
2. I'm not planning on working on handwriting this year.
3. Our worksheets are mainly coloring pages with a title (shape, theme, etc). Some are a little more advanced and require circling matches. We'll just play it by ear and see how he does. ;)

What are you home schoolers planning for the fall?

Homeschooling Lesson 8

This week we finished with the Letter 'H h'. The memory verse was a lot easier this week and he already knows pink and the number 8, so he's doing really well.

Today, we made Peanut Blossom cookies together. It was a lot of fun and it's a great cookie to make with your toddler. I had him putting the ingredients in the mixer and rolling balls of dough for the cookies. He had a hard time with the sugar so we switched. Right now, he's helping me "wash dishes" in the sink while the cookies are in the oven. It was a fun lesson. Next week the theme will be cars/trucks. And I know he'll enjoy that!!

Homeschooling Lesson 7

Again, it took us about 2 weeks to complete this lesson. I don't know if we can get them done any sooner, but I'd like to start something different in the fall and at the pace we're going, I hope we get through all the letters.

Anyway, here's what we've been learning:


I had a hard time finding children's books on lighthouses. So we just talked about them a lot and looked at them online. Papa and Nana had recently taken a trip to the NW so we had a picture of them by a lighthouse. That encouraged some great questions.

Homeschooling Week 6

I was really prepared for week 6 and we found a bunch of books at the library about the sun. My son really enjoyed his first time painting with watercolors. I was a little worried about the length of the memory verse because it's the longest one we've had, but he did great. It's so fun to hear him recite scripture.


"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Homeschooling Lessons 4 & 5

We have been getting through our homeschooling VERY slowly. It takes us about 2-3 weeks per lesson. I'll admit it: I'm a bit discouraged. I am a very detail-oriented person, and my son...is not...at least not yet. We haven't found a daily time that works well. Sometimes it's in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon and sometimes it's before bed. So, I'm working on the routine aspect of it all and hopefully will try again next week to finish one lesson in one week.

Here's what we did for lessons 4 and 5:

Lesson 4

This lesson's Bible verse has come in VERY handy many times over the past few weeks...and I'm sure he'll be reciting it often in the future:

"Do everything without complaining or arguing." Philippians 2:14

Lesson 5

We made...I made snowflakes that have been hanging from our kitchen light fixture. He played with the "confetti" made by the snowflake-cutting process. Oh, and triangles are his favorite shape so this was an exciting week!!

Review of Our Third Week

It's been taking us about 2 weeks to get through each lesson. I'm hoping to get it to one lesson a week as that was the original plan. But I don't want to rush it.

This week our theme was kittens. We had a lot of fun with it and on Friday we made a kitten door hanger. I found the pattern at Danielle's Place (she has a lot of neat crafts).


Our favorite kitten/cat books were:

Chicken and Cat
by: Sara Varon
(This book doesn't have any words but the pictures do tell a story. It was fun to "read" because sometimes I would tell the story and sometimes my child would tell it.)


Four Fierce Kittens
by: Joyce Dunbar








Four Hungry Kittens
By: Emily Arnold McCully

Review of Our Second Week

What we learned in week two of Letter of the Week:

We got a little "off schedule" due to an ear infection by the oldest son and stomach flu for both mom and dad. Yuck. But, we're starting week three today and it's a hit...especially when kittens is the theme.

Our theme for week two was jungle. Here are a few books that we enjoyed on this subject:

Tall by: Jez Alborough








Giraffes Can't Dance by: Giles Andrede and Guy Parker-Rees







Splash! by: Flora McDonnell

Review of Our First Week

I think I'm just going to review my homeschool weeks and give you the good, the bad, and improvements I could make.

Here's our learning poster for the week (our memory verse is "A soft answer turns away wrath. Proverbs15:1)
Here are the books we read and discussed (I starred the ones that he favored):*Rodeo Ron and His Milkshake Cows
*Millie Wants to Play
*Moo Who?
A Particular Cow
Daisy the Firecow
Moonstruck: The True Story... (don't recommend, too wordy and confusing for little kids)
The Cow Who Clucked (the pictures are really artistic and a good way to introduce some art, but on some pages it's hard to determine what the subject is, you'll have to point some stuff out)

Other books we enjoyed this week:My Truck Is Stuck
Little Smudge
Alphabet City
Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners

My son doesn't want to "do school" right after breakfast because he wants to go play cars. So, we'll have to rearrange his schedule and see what works better. I'd like to get it done right away in the morning, but that doesn't seem to work for him. Also, I'm going to do a better job of reviewing the books before we read them together. The book "Moonstruck" was not a great book for a 2 1/2 -year-old. I guess I'm learning along with him.

Oh, for the Letter of the Week Preparatory Curriculum we have an index card with the number of the week. He gets to put the same number of stickers on the index card. I didn't know what I was going to do with the cards, but I found a 4x6-inch picture album for $0.99 at Wal-Mart and it works great. I just made my own cover.

December 15th Week's Plan

(Curriculum from Letter of the Week)

Monday
Table Time:
introduce weekly theme (cow) and vocabulary word (calf), put pictures on poster
color a cow print-out
Reading Time:
read Millie Wants to Play! by Janet Pederson
read Moo Who? by Margie Palatini
Music/Movement:
gross motor skills activity - put on some music and move around like a cow
(have purple cows for lunch)

Tuesday
Table Time:
introduce shape (square), put picture on poster
practice drawing squares
review theme
Reading Time:
read Moonstruck: The True Story of the Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon by Gennifer Choldenko
read Rodeo Ron and His Milkshake Cows by Rowan Clifford
Music/Movement:
walk through home looking for square objects

Wednesday
Table Time:
introduce letter (A), put picture on poster
circle the letter 'A' on a print-out of letters
review theme and shape
Reading Time:
read The Cow Who Clucked by Denise Fleming
read A Particular Cow by Mem Fox
Music/Movement:
listen to music while making finger-paint angels

Thursday
Table Time:
introduce number (1), put picture on poster
add 1 sticker to number book
Reading Time:
read Daisy the Firecow by Viki Woodworth
read a book from previous days
Music/Movement:
dance to music that plays 1 instrument at a time

Friday
Table Time:
introduce Bible memory verse: Proverbs 15:1
read ABC Bible Verses for letter 'A'
review theme, shape, number, letter
fine motor-skills activity - cow craft
Reading Time:
pick out 2 books that we've read during the week
Music/Movement:
Little Visits for Toddlers activity
repeat Proverbs 15:1 to music
dance

Ok, I lied. I probably won't post this every week. I'll probably just post our weekly theme, books that I plan on reading, and our memory verse. Anyway, that's our plan for this week.

What are you guys planning for the week??

School Starts December 15th

I'm starting a homeschooling unit for my oldest son. I'm really excited to give it a try and excited to have to get a schedule going in my life. (My youngest son slept 'till 11am yesterday...he has a cold, but seriously, 11AM!?!) I do a lot better when I have a project going. I feel more purpose-filled. It's exciting and the big nerd in me LOVED purchasing school supplies. New No.2 pencils sharpened and in a canning jar brings a smile to my face.

So, here's the curriculum that I'm using, and the books and CDs I'm incorporating into the curriculum:

The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes - Kenneth N. Taylor
(in the morning with breakfast)
Letter of the Week Preparatory Curriculum - Katrina Lybbert (free online curriculum)
ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts - Susan Hunt
Hide 'Em In Your Heart Vol. 1 CD - Steve Green
Hide 'Em In Your Heart Vol. 2 CD - Steve Green
My Good Night Storybook - Susan L. Lingo & Kathy Parks
(our bedtime reading)

I'll be posting my plan for the week every Monday morning (that might help me organize my week).

I'm also incorporating the routine from FlyLady. FlyLady helps to organize your cleaning and get you on a daily routine. I used it for a good 3 months before Phin was born and then again when he was about 4 months (and sleeping through the night). About 2 months later, I got the flu or we went on a trip (somehow I got sidetracked) and haven't gotten back into the routine. So, this is the perfect time. The FlyLady site is really overwhelming but they have FlyBabies start-up to get you going. It's really been a great resource for me. And as with most of the resources I use...I only use the things I like and can fit into my lifestyle and scrap the rest.

Here's our daily routine for Mon-Fri (the times aren't as important as the order):

6am
* Mom up
* quiet time at the table
* exercise
* shower & get dressed
* swish & swipe
* make bed (if DH isn't still occupying the bed)
* put laundry in washer (don't start it yet because children are still sleeping)
* empty dishwasher
* start baby's breakfast
* review lesson plan
* check email/blog

7:30a
* wake the boys (especially the baby; oldest is usually up by 7:30a but won't be allowed out of his room until 7:30a; thanks for the advice, Monica)
* start washer
* breakfast and read "The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes"
* baby down for nap

8a
* school: table time, reading time, music/movement
* check laundry and start dryer

9a
* snack
* free play (wake baby if needed)
* Mom prepares lesson for tomorrow
* check email/blog
* get lunch ready

11a
* lunch
* boys down for nap
* fold laundry
* Mom's to-do list: Mon- weekly home blessing; Tue - free day (nap?); Wed - menu plan, clean fridge; Thur - clean out car & pick up laundry room; Fri - desk & file
* boys wake
* snack (if boys have folded laundry to put away, do during this time)
* "free time": Mon - baking; Tue - 1:45-3p library; Wed - sewing; Thu - 1:45-3p library; Fri - errands
* free play
* zone cleaning & prepare dinner

5p
* make sure dinner is in the oven
* wash prep dishes
* check email/blog

5:30p
* oldest set table
* eat dinner
* clear table
* sweep
* bedtime routine & boys to bed

Mom's before bed list:
* look over tomorrow's lesson plan
* check calendar
* check email/blog
* pick-up kitchen
* lay out clean dish/hand towels
* start dishwasher
* pick-up living room
* lay out clothes for tomorrow
* get ready for bed

10:30p
* in bed

I know that seems really detailed, but I'm a detail kind of girl. Like I said, I posted our main times but the stuff in between can be flexible.

____________________________

Some notes on our routine:

1. I haven't done this in the past so I'm hoping this will work. I'll let you know if I have problems in certain areas and if some things aren't worth the hassle (two days to the library; putting the baby on a schedule, etc).

2. I plan on having the baby nap during oldest's school time. Our baby is a good sleeper and seems to need a lot of it, so I hope this works.

3. Check email/blog has been put into the schedule several times. This allows a lot of flexibility. I don't plan on looking at the computer everytime it's on the list, but if I run out of time to check it during one part of the day, I will have an opportunity to check it later. Once I have the routine down and make any needed adjustments, I hope to remove some of them.

4. "Free time" is actually scheduled time, but I want to have a plan each day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, free time will be more on a time-based schedule than a routine. Our library has a 20-minute storytime on Tuesdays. The remaining part of the library time will be for play and finding books for next week's lessons. On Thursday's the library has family craft time. It will be nice to have dad along for that since the baby won't enjoy the crafts as much as the oldest, so we can split up.

5. I have a women's Bible study on Thursday mornings from 9:30-11a and the oldest usually comes along with me and joins the children in the nursery while baby stays home with dad. I'm not quite sure how to do this since the oldest usually gets some "Mommy-time" when I'm finished with the study. Maybe we can just have lunch together so I can get him home in time for his nap so we can scoot to the library later in the day.

6. On days that we are out and about(Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) in the afternoon, I will take them to the park during free play, weather permitting. This will be more difficult during the winter months, but my sister-in-law does it with her little boy and I think it's worth it to get some fresh air...and not just for the kiddies.

7. We put our oldest on a bedtime routine and it has been working great. He knows what is expected of him when we tell him that it's time to get ready for bed. I also made a little print-out for him that goes on our fridge. It has the bedtime routine with pictures so he can look to see what's coming up next. (We babysat a set of twin boys for our friends, before we had kids, and their boys went to bed so well when we used their routine.) I like the idea of a routine vs. a schedule because it's not as dependent on the time.