Well our lessons have slowed some as we've been trying to find a routine for our lives... Our sweet little newborn went through a huge growth spurt during the tail end of last week and during the weekend, so I was really tied up feeding him and tending to him (because let's face it... if a newborn is awake, they feel it's their duty to dirty a diaper at least two or three times an hour... lol). He seems to have slowed down now and is sleeping more and eating less for now, so it's back to school!
The kids and I *have* been doing fun stuff even though academically it's been slow... we made cupcakes last week and cookies this week - and we've been doing playdates and such again... so it's all good!
This week we are still doing jungle animals and addition.... and we'll be getting started on discussing kangaroos, kites, and hot & cold. I have to take the kids to the library tomorrow to pick up some books on those. :) We've worked through OPGTR Lesson #72, so that's good too! I'm enjoying watching DD read, but find myself frustrated that she will read a word with a silent E with the short vowel sound first and then when my finger doesn't move from behind the word (signalling to her that she read it incorrectly), she'll say, "I mean..." and read it correctly. Another thing I'm frustrated with is that she gets B and D confused.... I know it's common, but I hate it nonetheless. lol Oh well!
Besides all of that, no complaints! School is going slowly, but surely and I know this kind of week is more than okay! They are REAL life and that's alright! I try and remind myself that the kids learn so much from real life experiences and *gasp* PBS. hehe
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Moving right along! :)
We are plugging right along with the curriculum. Yesterday we only read 2 books, but today we've already started learning about addition (something DD understands with concrete objects...but I'm introducing the addition and equal signs now and she thinks it is cool!) and done about 6 activities! Hooray!
It seems like we read more and more books every week. Last week, we read something ridiculous like 18 books in 24 hours. They just have a hunger for it and I think it's awesome. We've been reading a mix of books related to their science instruction (for example, this week we have a jungle theme - some science books, some fun books with jungle animals), math instruction (I have about 5 books related to addition here for this week), and the season/holidays (lots of fall books... we did Columbus books last week and we've read several Halloween books as well). I love that they are learning quite a bit through this reading even if we don't have time for formal instruction. They also choose other books when we go to the library, so it's always a fun mix around here!
The kids got to watch "The Jungle Book" this weekend since we're doing a jungle theme this week. They both LOVED it and were cracking up the whole time. It was really cute to watch!
DD is doing well on her reading instruction. We are on lesson 70 of OPGTR and she is loving being able to read things with the silent E, as well as -th, -sh, -ch, -tch, -ck words (amongst others). She is reading EVERYTHING!
I've been carefully watching DS. He has been recognizing a ton of letters and their sounds lately, so I've been casually doing an evaluation to see what he does (and doesn't) know. He's been playing with magnetic letters a lot more lately. He also loves to play with flashcards and usually chooses dinosaur flashcards, but he's been choosing phonics and rhyming word flashcards for the past week or so. :)
That's all for now! Talk to you all again soon!
It seems like we read more and more books every week. Last week, we read something ridiculous like 18 books in 24 hours. They just have a hunger for it and I think it's awesome. We've been reading a mix of books related to their science instruction (for example, this week we have a jungle theme - some science books, some fun books with jungle animals), math instruction (I have about 5 books related to addition here for this week), and the season/holidays (lots of fall books... we did Columbus books last week and we've read several Halloween books as well). I love that they are learning quite a bit through this reading even if we don't have time for formal instruction. They also choose other books when we go to the library, so it's always a fun mix around here!
The kids got to watch "The Jungle Book" this weekend since we're doing a jungle theme this week. They both LOVED it and were cracking up the whole time. It was really cute to watch!
DD is doing well on her reading instruction. We are on lesson 70 of OPGTR and she is loving being able to read things with the silent E, as well as -th, -sh, -ch, -tch, -ck words (amongst others). She is reading EVERYTHING!
I've been carefully watching DS. He has been recognizing a ton of letters and their sounds lately, so I've been casually doing an evaluation to see what he does (and doesn't) know. He's been playing with magnetic letters a lot more lately. He also loves to play with flashcards and usually chooses dinosaur flashcards, but he's been choosing phonics and rhyming word flashcards for the past week or so. :)
That's all for now! Talk to you all again soon!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
My baby is here!!! (and getting back into the swing of things)
My sweet baby has arrived! On Sept 27th (Sunday) right before 10 in the morning, we welcomed a baby son into our family! :) I had a great homebirth, followed by a bummer of a hospital transfer for me (retained placenta or amniotic sac caused some gnarly bleeding), but we were back home by Monday! The kids stayed with my mom on Sunday and Monday and came back that night... it's been great! The baby is very peaceful and mellow and rarely cries or fusses! We are totally in love!!!
That said, we have had the opportunity to get some lessons in since we've been home. DD has completed about 10 assignments since last week which is great! We've had a good time sort of taking it easy and trying to get into it. We've been working on finishing up the Week 12 assignments as well as digging into the Week 13 stuff.
We just did half of our first reading lesson this week and I plan to finish that up before bedtime and maybe get her to do a page from Explode the Code as well. I don't want her to get behind on her phonics instruction!! I will say, though, that even though we haven't been working on reading formally, she's been reading ANYthing and EVERYthing all over the place! She's also been reading to me and DS from her phonics readers of her own initiative. It's been awesome to watch that!!
I hope to get back into the swing of things slowly but surely! DH is going back to work part time this week and full time the next week, so I hope to kind of get a groove going between now and then! So far I think we'll be utilizing the afternoon when oldest DS takes a nap and youngest DS will probably be napping as well. :) This seems to work best because I can give my undevided attention to her.
OH! One more thing. DS apparently knows about half of the alphabet letters AND their sounds! I guess that Letter Factory DVD has come to the rescue again! I'm amazed and what he shows me when we look at an alphabet book. He'll point to the letter, tell me what it is, say it's sound, and tell me a word that begins with it! What a smartie!!! I can't wait to see what else he pulls out of his hat! He's also picked up on almost all of the colors and shapes without direct instruction as well! Hooray for older siblings!! :) I also caught him doing a drawing today. He told me it was Barney - and the figure had a head, 2 arms, 2 legs, feet, and hair! It's exciting to see him develop and change and learn so rapidly. I'm thinking potty training is coming up now! I hope to have him trained by his 3rd birthday (in January).
Talk to you all soon!
That said, we have had the opportunity to get some lessons in since we've been home. DD has completed about 10 assignments since last week which is great! We've had a good time sort of taking it easy and trying to get into it. We've been working on finishing up the Week 12 assignments as well as digging into the Week 13 stuff.
We just did half of our first reading lesson this week and I plan to finish that up before bedtime and maybe get her to do a page from Explode the Code as well. I don't want her to get behind on her phonics instruction!! I will say, though, that even though we haven't been working on reading formally, she's been reading ANYthing and EVERYthing all over the place! She's also been reading to me and DS from her phonics readers of her own initiative. It's been awesome to watch that!!
I hope to get back into the swing of things slowly but surely! DH is going back to work part time this week and full time the next week, so I hope to kind of get a groove going between now and then! So far I think we'll be utilizing the afternoon when oldest DS takes a nap and youngest DS will probably be napping as well. :) This seems to work best because I can give my undevided attention to her.
OH! One more thing. DS apparently knows about half of the alphabet letters AND their sounds! I guess that Letter Factory DVD has come to the rescue again! I'm amazed and what he shows me when we look at an alphabet book. He'll point to the letter, tell me what it is, say it's sound, and tell me a word that begins with it! What a smartie!!! I can't wait to see what else he pulls out of his hat! He's also picked up on almost all of the colors and shapes without direct instruction as well! Hooray for older siblings!! :) I also caught him doing a drawing today. He told me it was Barney - and the figure had a head, 2 arms, 2 legs, feet, and hair! It's exciting to see him develop and change and learn so rapidly. I'm thinking potty training is coming up now! I hope to have him trained by his 3rd birthday (in January).
Talk to you all soon!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Week 12 - Thoughts and Ramblings while I gestate...lol
Hey there again! :) I was truly hoping to have a baby update instead of another week of homeschooling to report on....but it just wasn't in the cards I guess! haha
We've been working on week 12 of the curriculum "Home Education Curriculum: Kindergarten" and DD is doing VERY well. Despite my sheer laziness (I'm currently 40 weeks, 2 days pregnant!) this week, DD has completed almost all of her planned activities for the week. This week has been all about animals, emotions, the numbers 1-10, and writing the letters A-G.
The curriculum we are using kind of goes on the "school year schedule", so here in week 12 it is talking about Native Americans and Pilgrims. I've decided to save all of these activities for the week of Thanksgiving, when I'll add in tons of books and such as well. I'm taking the same approach for when we get to the weeks that are about winter holidays and other month/day specific lessons. (These start with NEXT week's lesson plans, so instead of doing the social studies, art, and music suggested in the curriculum, I am going to bulk up the math, science, and language arts.) This will make these times less hectic because we'll mainly be focusing on fun arts and crafts, baking (which is really science and math as well!) and music activities during the holiday weeks (along with some reading and writing of course!) which will help keep me feeling less overwhelmed....and we won't have to completely STOP semi-scheduled schooling so I'll feel better about that than just "taking time off".
I've also decided to stop focusing so much on the handwriting exercises that are suggested in the curriculum. I don't want DD getting burnt out on writing, so except for the days where specific worksheets or really great handwriting practice ideas are presented, I will replace the handwriting for that day with the Explode the Code worksheets. I've been skipping around in her workbook lately and giving her less of the writing-based ETC pages because I haven't wanted to overload her on handwriting....but I think a better strategy would be to just cut out the "fluff" (she doesn't REALLY need 5 days of practicing a single number and a single letter, after all!) and get to the phonics reinforcement+writing. :) I believe DD will enjoy this much more and I'll feel better knowing that she's completing more ETC. She LOVES reading the ETC words and thinks the pictures are funny, so I like this better than lined random worksheets. ;)
Other than these things, I have nothing else to report! I still plan on homeschooling when the baby is born, but I want to make sure I allow myself to scale back if I need to as I have mentioned in past blogs. :) Hopefully I'll be able to do it! The great thing is that my kids are ALWAYS learning and amazing me with their discoveries. Even if I can't "formally" instruct them, I know they'll be okay! I will remind myself of this when I decide to nap with the Baby instead of reading a book every once in a while. :)
Until next time!
-J
We've been working on week 12 of the curriculum "Home Education Curriculum: Kindergarten" and DD is doing VERY well. Despite my sheer laziness (I'm currently 40 weeks, 2 days pregnant!) this week, DD has completed almost all of her planned activities for the week. This week has been all about animals, emotions, the numbers 1-10, and writing the letters A-G.
The curriculum we are using kind of goes on the "school year schedule", so here in week 12 it is talking about Native Americans and Pilgrims. I've decided to save all of these activities for the week of Thanksgiving, when I'll add in tons of books and such as well. I'm taking the same approach for when we get to the weeks that are about winter holidays and other month/day specific lessons. (These start with NEXT week's lesson plans, so instead of doing the social studies, art, and music suggested in the curriculum, I am going to bulk up the math, science, and language arts.) This will make these times less hectic because we'll mainly be focusing on fun arts and crafts, baking (which is really science and math as well!) and music activities during the holiday weeks (along with some reading and writing of course!) which will help keep me feeling less overwhelmed....and we won't have to completely STOP semi-scheduled schooling so I'll feel better about that than just "taking time off".
I've also decided to stop focusing so much on the handwriting exercises that are suggested in the curriculum. I don't want DD getting burnt out on writing, so except for the days where specific worksheets or really great handwriting practice ideas are presented, I will replace the handwriting for that day with the Explode the Code worksheets. I've been skipping around in her workbook lately and giving her less of the writing-based ETC pages because I haven't wanted to overload her on handwriting....but I think a better strategy would be to just cut out the "fluff" (she doesn't REALLY need 5 days of practicing a single number and a single letter, after all!) and get to the phonics reinforcement+writing. :) I believe DD will enjoy this much more and I'll feel better knowing that she's completing more ETC. She LOVES reading the ETC words and thinks the pictures are funny, so I like this better than lined random worksheets. ;)
Other than these things, I have nothing else to report! I still plan on homeschooling when the baby is born, but I want to make sure I allow myself to scale back if I need to as I have mentioned in past blogs. :) Hopefully I'll be able to do it! The great thing is that my kids are ALWAYS learning and amazing me with their discoveries. Even if I can't "formally" instruct them, I know they'll be okay! I will remind myself of this when I decide to nap with the Baby instead of reading a book every once in a while. :)
Until next time!
-J
Friday, September 18, 2009
Fish, Feelings, and patiently awaiting Baby#3's arrival!
So I started the system of the stack of books with activities stashed inside for my DD to do this week (and it looks like next week too!) since I am now 39 weeks, 2 days pregnant. ;) She has LOVED it!! She just needs to read 1 more book with me and do the corresponding assignment plus one page of Explode the Code to be all caught up for the week and we can get that in easily tomorrow.
I'm really loving this method of teaching because it "forces" us to do a lot more reading, reflecting, and fun stuff! She looks forward to picking out a book and my DS has been tagging along like crazy lately!!! DD is also doing VERY well on her reading lessons from OPGTR and I am so grateful for that. She requests to do the reading lessons and truly enjoys them because it unlocks so many new words. She is reading EVERYTHING she comes across and loves learning new "rules" to phonics.
When we got down to just having 3 books left for the week, I went ahead and put out the books for next week as well, so we're not exactly doing the assignments sequentially, but it's good enough! The social studies theme for both weeks is the same (feelings/emotions) and the science is close enough (Fish this week and zoo & farm animals next week). The letters we're going over are F and G and we're reviewing numbers 1-10 (even though she's well beyond this, I like sticking to the curriculum as it truly keeps her sharp on her facts with these!).
The workbooks came in and my kiddos are LOOOOVING THEM!!!!! DS begged to do the pasting activities today and managed to complete a stack of around 8 of them! DD has done about 8 or 9 herself. She does her own cutting AND pasting, whereas 2 year old DS just pastes and I do the cutting for him. I'm so proud of him for wanting to "sit down" and do school work with me. I love that he sees how much fun school is and wants to be a part of it too.
Hopefully my next update will include some birth details! :)
I'm really loving this method of teaching because it "forces" us to do a lot more reading, reflecting, and fun stuff! She looks forward to picking out a book and my DS has been tagging along like crazy lately!!! DD is also doing VERY well on her reading lessons from OPGTR and I am so grateful for that. She requests to do the reading lessons and truly enjoys them because it unlocks so many new words. She is reading EVERYTHING she comes across and loves learning new "rules" to phonics.
When we got down to just having 3 books left for the week, I went ahead and put out the books for next week as well, so we're not exactly doing the assignments sequentially, but it's good enough! The social studies theme for both weeks is the same (feelings/emotions) and the science is close enough (Fish this week and zoo & farm animals next week). The letters we're going over are F and G and we're reviewing numbers 1-10 (even though she's well beyond this, I like sticking to the curriculum as it truly keeps her sharp on her facts with these!).
The workbooks came in and my kiddos are LOOOOVING THEM!!!!! DS begged to do the pasting activities today and managed to complete a stack of around 8 of them! DD has done about 8 or 9 herself. She does her own cutting AND pasting, whereas 2 year old DS just pastes and I do the cutting for him. I'm so proud of him for wanting to "sit down" and do school work with me. I love that he sees how much fun school is and wants to be a part of it too.
Hopefully my next update will include some birth details! :)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Week 10 - Elephants & Pilgrims ;)
So 4 more assignments, and week 10 is a wrap. We were out of the house and out of sorts this week and seem to be dragging along finishing assignments! Between my naps and a series of catastrophes this week, I'm shocked we're actually almost done! hahaha
This week, our air conditioning went out, our van battery died, we had a mouse in the kitchen, my mother got remarried, I've had false labor EVERY night, and my pregnancy insomnia has been horrible so I've been napping a lot during the daytime. My kids have been having a WONDERFUL, wonderful time playing together, though. There have been many times that I've thought about pulling DD away from playing to "do school", but I decide against it because I love that she is having such a blast with her brother. Also, she's ONLY 4! I remind myself of this a lot because I want her to enjoy being a kid and enjoy school. There's no need to stress her out about it and I'd rather not stress about it either.
*******
So since I am so close to my due date, I have been thinking about ways to modify our schedule to accomodate DD and DS. First, DD *loves* to do activities...particularly cutting and pasting activities! I finally decided to just bite the bullet and purchase some workbooks for her. We LOVED the "I Can Cut!" and "I Can Draw!" books I'd purchased at Sam's last year, so I checked it out online and found that they have an "I Can Paste!" book. YES!!!! Where there is pasting, there IS cutting! haha
I purchased:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0769653723 (I bought 2 so that DS can have one as well...he has shown a great interest in being a part of our schooling.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933241020
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4774307084
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933241292
and then a Telling Time book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933241276
****
I also decided that for next week's planned curriculum, I would try a new approach. I have 18 books/videos from the library that have to do with our Week 11 themes. The themes are "Fish" and "Feelings" and the books are awesome! DD is going to be ecstatic! Anyway, in each book or video (the only video is one about Rainbow Fish), I am tucking in one assignment from the week's curriculum. For example, in one book, I have a piece of writing practice paper with the letters A-E on there and the numbers 6-9 for her to practice each about 3 times. Another book has a front and back math worksheet tucked in. Another one has instructions to do a Happy collage.
Besides just the activities in the books (and reading them, of course!), I plan on completing at least 3 pages of Explode the Code with her and 4 reading lessons per week. I'm prepared for the possibility that I'll have my baby this week and that Week 11 will span over 2 weeks (even with someone else helping me out with the schooling) or even more and I'm okay with that! I think this will be less stressful for me and for the person(s) helping me than having 9 daily bags to complete!
I'm going to place the stack of books in the place of the workbox so DD can just pick a book/activity and get started. :) She and her brother have learned a LOT through the books we've read, so I'm convinced that this will be a great idea!! I don't feel that she'll get behind in her studies and I also think she'll feel satisfied with the amount and type of activities since she loves school so much.
This was all very long-winded, but I wanted to post what's going on around here! :) Thanks for checking in!
This week, our air conditioning went out, our van battery died, we had a mouse in the kitchen, my mother got remarried, I've had false labor EVERY night, and my pregnancy insomnia has been horrible so I've been napping a lot during the daytime. My kids have been having a WONDERFUL, wonderful time playing together, though. There have been many times that I've thought about pulling DD away from playing to "do school", but I decide against it because I love that she is having such a blast with her brother. Also, she's ONLY 4! I remind myself of this a lot because I want her to enjoy being a kid and enjoy school. There's no need to stress her out about it and I'd rather not stress about it either.
*******
So since I am so close to my due date, I have been thinking about ways to modify our schedule to accomodate DD and DS. First, DD *loves* to do activities...particularly cutting and pasting activities! I finally decided to just bite the bullet and purchase some workbooks for her. We LOVED the "I Can Cut!" and "I Can Draw!" books I'd purchased at Sam's last year, so I checked it out online and found that they have an "I Can Paste!" book. YES!!!! Where there is pasting, there IS cutting! haha
I purchased:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0769653723 (I bought 2 so that DS can have one as well...he has shown a great interest in being a part of our schooling.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933241020
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4774307084
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933241292
and then a Telling Time book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933241276
****
I also decided that for next week's planned curriculum, I would try a new approach. I have 18 books/videos from the library that have to do with our Week 11 themes. The themes are "Fish" and "Feelings" and the books are awesome! DD is going to be ecstatic! Anyway, in each book or video (the only video is one about Rainbow Fish), I am tucking in one assignment from the week's curriculum. For example, in one book, I have a piece of writing practice paper with the letters A-E on there and the numbers 6-9 for her to practice each about 3 times. Another book has a front and back math worksheet tucked in. Another one has instructions to do a Happy collage.
Besides just the activities in the books (and reading them, of course!), I plan on completing at least 3 pages of Explode the Code with her and 4 reading lessons per week. I'm prepared for the possibility that I'll have my baby this week and that Week 11 will span over 2 weeks (even with someone else helping me out with the schooling) or even more and I'm okay with that! I think this will be less stressful for me and for the person(s) helping me than having 9 daily bags to complete!
I'm going to place the stack of books in the place of the workbox so DD can just pick a book/activity and get started. :) She and her brother have learned a LOT through the books we've read, so I'm convinced that this will be a great idea!! I don't feel that she'll get behind in her studies and I also think she'll feel satisfied with the amount and type of activities since she loves school so much.
This was all very long-winded, but I wanted to post what's going on around here! :) Thanks for checking in!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Dinos and Native Americans!
This week has been fun! I just LOVE the flexibility of homeschooling! I have felt really tired and have had terrible pregnancy insomnia the last 2 weeks, so I nap for at least an hour a day....and then if we have errands to run or something important to go to, it seems to throw our "normal" life out of whack! The awesome thing is that we can pick up where we left off the next day, do assignments before bed, or I can shorten what we're doing to save time and preserve interest in the activity... I love the versatility!
This week has been all about dinosaurs and Native Americans. Mainly the Native American studies have been in the form of reading folk tales and watching a few online vidoes that mainly have folk tales. At age 4, I'm happy to just expose DD to these things and am not concerned about teaching everything like different tribes or ways of life or whatever in more complicated terms. She has gotten a general overview and we'll go over more as we get into a study about the pilgrims next week. :)
The dinosaurs have been fun! We made "dinosaur eggs" 2 days ago. Simply hardboil some eggs, crack the shells (but do not peel), put 2-3 cups of water in a bowl, dissolve an envelope of Kool-Aid into it, place about 4 eggs in there and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 days. It makes a cool crackle effect on the white of the egg and my kids gobbled them up for breakfast! We've also done some rhymes, TONS and tons of dino books, and we did dinosaur cookies today. It's been fun because my DS is soooo into dinosaurs anyway, so my little 2.5 year old guy has been compeltely engrossed in his big sisters' school every day. I love it!! He pulls up his chair and wants to be in on all art and reading activities! He even wanted to practice writing Ds when his sister was doing some writing worksheets. hehehe
I am continuing to school my DD as "normally" as I can right now, even though I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy. It gives me something to do, it keeps her in learning mode (and she LOVES staying busy with activities anyway...they might as well be educational!!!), and I especially like that she's learning more reading concepts since she's trying to read EVERYTHING now!
Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone! :)
This week has been all about dinosaurs and Native Americans. Mainly the Native American studies have been in the form of reading folk tales and watching a few online vidoes that mainly have folk tales. At age 4, I'm happy to just expose DD to these things and am not concerned about teaching everything like different tribes or ways of life or whatever in more complicated terms. She has gotten a general overview and we'll go over more as we get into a study about the pilgrims next week. :)
The dinosaurs have been fun! We made "dinosaur eggs" 2 days ago. Simply hardboil some eggs, crack the shells (but do not peel), put 2-3 cups of water in a bowl, dissolve an envelope of Kool-Aid into it, place about 4 eggs in there and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 days. It makes a cool crackle effect on the white of the egg and my kids gobbled them up for breakfast! We've also done some rhymes, TONS and tons of dino books, and we did dinosaur cookies today. It's been fun because my DS is soooo into dinosaurs anyway, so my little 2.5 year old guy has been compeltely engrossed in his big sisters' school every day. I love it!! He pulls up his chair and wants to be in on all art and reading activities! He even wanted to practice writing Ds when his sister was doing some writing worksheets. hehehe
I am continuing to school my DD as "normally" as I can right now, even though I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy. It gives me something to do, it keeps her in learning mode (and she LOVES staying busy with activities anyway...they might as well be educational!!!), and I especially like that she's learning more reading concepts since she's trying to read EVERYTHING now!
Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone! :)
Monday, August 24, 2009
Week 8, going great ;)
I had to have a cheesy title, sorry! :)
So far, so good... we're on week 8 of homeschooling and we're still enjoying it. DD begs to do workboxes daily (even weekends) and I have to come up with activities to keep her busy, even when she should just be playing!
We've completed lesson 41 in "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" and she's doing very, very well. She has read through SEVERAL of her phonics readers (including the 3 books of 4 stories each that our library had...we're returning the last book tomorrow!) and is trying to read everything. I have to keep introducing new concepts and rules to her so she can have a more fluent reading capability, but she is retaining a TON of the information! I was shocked at how much she learned from playing on starfall.com the other day in regards to the silent E! It's amazing how excited and willing to learn she is!
I am a day away from being 36 weeks pregnant and the sluggish, achy, tired, blahness is starting to creep in and I'm having to pretty much force myself to fill up DD's workbox each night and to seem excited during the day when she's doing the work. :) It isn't always easy, but somehow we are getting by (despite my grumpiness in the morning and fatigue in the afternoons!) and chugging along.
I've pondered how we're going to take breaks this schoolyear.... I've always imagined that we'll school year-round, but I cannot imagine going without taking some breaks. Obviously we'll take some time off when the new baby arrives, but I'm trying to decide how we can incorporate that somehow into a schedule of sorts. I'm afraid if we just "go with the flow", it'll be difficult to get right back into routine and that DD will be going crazy (and driving me crazy!) wanting to do her workbox.... I particularly do not want to slow down too much in her reading instruction. I'm thinking that we might take anywhere from 1-3 weeks off of a full school load once the baby arrives (assuming things are fairly settled down by then...if not, we can take more as needed!), but throw in at least 2-3 reading lessons and 1-2 Explode the Code worksheets within each "off" week just to keep things fresh and give DD something to do because I know she'll be asking!!!
Anyway, I just wanted to give an update on where we are and what we are up to! I'm very much enjoying the school year so far and am LOVING watching my daughter absorb all of this information and just run with it! I just wish I had a fraction of the energy to keep up! haha
So far, so good... we're on week 8 of homeschooling and we're still enjoying it. DD begs to do workboxes daily (even weekends) and I have to come up with activities to keep her busy, even when she should just be playing!
We've completed lesson 41 in "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" and she's doing very, very well. She has read through SEVERAL of her phonics readers (including the 3 books of 4 stories each that our library had...we're returning the last book tomorrow!) and is trying to read everything. I have to keep introducing new concepts and rules to her so she can have a more fluent reading capability, but she is retaining a TON of the information! I was shocked at how much she learned from playing on starfall.com the other day in regards to the silent E! It's amazing how excited and willing to learn she is!
I am a day away from being 36 weeks pregnant and the sluggish, achy, tired, blahness is starting to creep in and I'm having to pretty much force myself to fill up DD's workbox each night and to seem excited during the day when she's doing the work. :) It isn't always easy, but somehow we are getting by (despite my grumpiness in the morning and fatigue in the afternoons!) and chugging along.
I've pondered how we're going to take breaks this schoolyear.... I've always imagined that we'll school year-round, but I cannot imagine going without taking some breaks. Obviously we'll take some time off when the new baby arrives, but I'm trying to decide how we can incorporate that somehow into a schedule of sorts. I'm afraid if we just "go with the flow", it'll be difficult to get right back into routine and that DD will be going crazy (and driving me crazy!) wanting to do her workbox.... I particularly do not want to slow down too much in her reading instruction. I'm thinking that we might take anywhere from 1-3 weeks off of a full school load once the baby arrives (assuming things are fairly settled down by then...if not, we can take more as needed!), but throw in at least 2-3 reading lessons and 1-2 Explode the Code worksheets within each "off" week just to keep things fresh and give DD something to do because I know she'll be asking!!!
Anyway, I just wanted to give an update on where we are and what we are up to! I'm very much enjoying the school year so far and am LOVING watching my daughter absorb all of this information and just run with it! I just wish I had a fraction of the energy to keep up! haha
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Week 7 and things are going well!
The last 6 weeks were great! Toward the end of last week, I was just sure that DD was tired of "doing school", but this week she has had a new surge of energy with it!
I have been supplementing DD's math with various worksheets and books to bump it up academically, and she has been having fun with it! This week, we're learning about pennies and nickels. I think we'll slowly go over different monetary values over the next couple of weeks to give her a strong foundation for when we formally begin addition and subtraction. This will give her another "real world" application for those skills when the time comes and I think she'll enjoy that.
I am due in about 5 weeks with baby3, so I am trying to stay steady and consistent and plan on either taking a week or two completely off OR (and this is more likely), taking it easy and taking 2-3 weeks to complete a single week's worth of lessons. I really don't want DH to take over the reading lessons or the Explode the Code as DD and I have a system (and he has no clue lol), but surely he could help her with reading the books, doing the coloring and worksheets, and "assigning" computer time. ;)
Well, I have to get going! We're working on our 3rd workbag....which includes a few computer games. Talk to you all later!
I have been supplementing DD's math with various worksheets and books to bump it up academically, and she has been having fun with it! This week, we're learning about pennies and nickels. I think we'll slowly go over different monetary values over the next couple of weeks to give her a strong foundation for when we formally begin addition and subtraction. This will give her another "real world" application for those skills when the time comes and I think she'll enjoy that.
I am due in about 5 weeks with baby3, so I am trying to stay steady and consistent and plan on either taking a week or two completely off OR (and this is more likely), taking it easy and taking 2-3 weeks to complete a single week's worth of lessons. I really don't want DH to take over the reading lessons or the Explode the Code as DD and I have a system (and he has no clue lol), but surely he could help her with reading the books, doing the coloring and worksheets, and "assigning" computer time. ;)
Well, I have to get going! We're working on our 3rd workbag....which includes a few computer games. Talk to you all later!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Curriculum Cleanout WINNERS!
I'll be contacting you personally, but I thought I'd make a quick post :) Sorry for the delay!!!
For the Abeka 5 materials, the winner (chosen by random.org) is:
comment #2: "Winning Readings"
For the resource books, the winner (also chosen by random.org) is:
comment #4: "Laura"
I'll be emailing you both shortly! :)
Thanks everyone for entering and stopping by!!!
For the Abeka 5 materials, the winner (chosen by random.org) is:
comment #2: "Winning Readings"
For the resource books, the winner (also chosen by random.org) is:
comment #4: "Laura"
I'll be emailing you both shortly! :)
Thanks everyone for entering and stopping by!!!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Curriculum Clean-Out :)
I'm participating in this Curriculum Clean-out twice! :)
My second give away is for some A Beka items: Reading 5 Answer Key (code on the back is 69248001), Grade 5 Parent Guide to Curriculum and Record Keeping (code on back is 67636001) and Language Arts 5 Curriculum Teacher Guide (code on back is 44113).
(click to see the whole picture)
US only please! Shipping is on me. I'll pick a winner August 16th and PLEASE leave an email so I can get in touch with you if you win! Good luck! :)
My second give away is for some A Beka items: Reading 5 Answer Key (code on the back is 69248001), Grade 5 Parent Guide to Curriculum and Record Keeping (code on back is 67636001) and Language Arts 5 Curriculum Teacher Guide (code on back is 44113).
(click to see the whole picture)
US only please! Shipping is on me. I'll pick a winner August 16th and PLEASE leave an email so I can get in touch with you if you win! Good luck! :)
Curriculum Clean-Out :)
I'm participating in the curriculum cleanout event that's going on from now until August 15th as posted here:
My first giveaway will be for 2 reference books about homeschooling.... "Home-Schooling All the Way through High School" by Renee Mason and "Successful Homeschooling" by Richard Fugate.
US participants only, please - shipping is on me for the winner! I will pick a winner on the 16th of August. PLEASE leave an email so I can notify you if you are the winner!
(click to see the whole picture)
My first giveaway will be for 2 reference books about homeschooling.... "Home-Schooling All the Way through High School" by Renee Mason and "Successful Homeschooling" by Richard Fugate.
US participants only, please - shipping is on me for the winner! I will pick a winner on the 16th of August. PLEASE leave an email so I can notify you if you are the winner!
(click to see the whole picture)
Saturday, August 8, 2009
DD learned to READ! :)
This week has been CRAZY busy with various activities, so technically DD has 2 more activities to finish off the week (We do 9 activities per day as you have seen from our system)....but after that, we're DONE with week 5! :) It was a fun week for many reasons...the biggest of which being that SHE LEARNED TO READ!!! WOOHOO!!!
We have been doing lessons from "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington. The fist 26 lessons are strictly learning the sounds of each of the letters. After that, they gradually introduce reading concepts, starting with 2 letter words beginning with the short a sound and then moving on the CVC words with the short vowel sound the following lesson. Well by golly, my daughter can READ!
DD figured out HOW to do the CVC words (We have only gone through lesson 31!!! This was in FIVE days of instruction on this stuff!) and has taken it upon herself to read other words with other vowels in them even though her lessons haven't gotten her that far yet. We are LOVING it!
I had a few phonics readers already, but I got the BOB Books from the library and she has been having a TOTAL blast. This particular series from the library is a set of 3 books and each has a CD to go with it. I'm ignoring the CDs because I don't like how they are set up to have the kid read "with" it and it confused and frustrated her when we did it once after she'd completed the first book.
She has read all of the first book (it has 4 of the standard BOB Books in that volume) and half of the second one (so 2 of the standard BOB Books) already and is trying to read any and everything we come across! It's pretty awesome to watch!!
Once we get to lesson 41, we'll start getting into two-consonant blends and that will REALLY open up a world of books for her! Diagraphs as well - although the instruction on that starts about the time I might be having baby3, so we may have to just go with what she's already learned and review lessons for a while until I have regained some composure to move on to the harder stuff. :) I think my DH would help, but I'd really rather be the one to teach so as to keep the continuity and flow.
Anyway, I just had to share!
I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone hoping to teach their child to read quickly and painlessly! I usually write out the words that I'll be teaching her on index cards so that they are larger and easier to read left to right than in the book. This seems to help and then you can also use the cards later in the day to reinforce the learning and do some review work if you want. :)
Have a great week!
We have been doing lessons from "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington. The fist 26 lessons are strictly learning the sounds of each of the letters. After that, they gradually introduce reading concepts, starting with 2 letter words beginning with the short a sound and then moving on the CVC words with the short vowel sound the following lesson. Well by golly, my daughter can READ!
DD figured out HOW to do the CVC words (We have only gone through lesson 31!!! This was in FIVE days of instruction on this stuff!) and has taken it upon herself to read other words with other vowels in them even though her lessons haven't gotten her that far yet. We are LOVING it!
I had a few phonics readers already, but I got the BOB Books from the library and she has been having a TOTAL blast. This particular series from the library is a set of 3 books and each has a CD to go with it. I'm ignoring the CDs because I don't like how they are set up to have the kid read "with" it and it confused and frustrated her when we did it once after she'd completed the first book.
She has read all of the first book (it has 4 of the standard BOB Books in that volume) and half of the second one (so 2 of the standard BOB Books) already and is trying to read any and everything we come across! It's pretty awesome to watch!!
Once we get to lesson 41, we'll start getting into two-consonant blends and that will REALLY open up a world of books for her! Diagraphs as well - although the instruction on that starts about the time I might be having baby3, so we may have to just go with what she's already learned and review lessons for a while until I have regained some composure to move on to the harder stuff. :) I think my DH would help, but I'd really rather be the one to teach so as to keep the continuity and flow.
Anyway, I just had to share!
I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone hoping to teach their child to read quickly and painlessly! I usually write out the words that I'll be teaching her on index cards so that they are larger and easier to read left to right than in the book. This seems to help and then you can also use the cards later in the day to reinforce the learning and do some review work if you want. :)
Have a great week!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Our System!
Alright, I figured it was time to talk about my school system that I use with DD. :) We are on week 5 right now and have already tweaked things to make life easier and school even more fun for DD! :)
First, I was looking at the workbox system and decided that it was just too much for us....However, I thought that having a visual guide to let DD see what she has completed and what she has left to do was a GREAT idea! I also love that she has a set number of activities to complete each day. It's worked well for us!
Click on pics to see the full version :0
This is her work chart.
As she completes activities, she just marks them off. :)
A day's worth of activities! This is one "workbox" full of 9 activities for the next day. The activities range from a post it telling me to play Simon Says with her.... to some Get Set for the Code worksheets....to reading a book and drawing a picture about it. :)
Our shelves of supplies! Supplies, phonics books, flashcards, etc. The white box is her "to do" box and the green one is her "done" box. The workbooks to the side are "for fun" in case she decides she wants to do more activities.... which she actually does!
That's all for now! Thanks for visiting. :)
(If I win an awesome prize, my choices would be *in order*: Homeschool Boutique shirts for the family, or a CurrClick GC, or the Rainbow Resource GC! Awesome prizes! If you haven't joined in the fun, there is still time! This contest runs until August 31!)
First, I was looking at the workbox system and decided that it was just too much for us....However, I thought that having a visual guide to let DD see what she has completed and what she has left to do was a GREAT idea! I also love that she has a set number of activities to complete each day. It's worked well for us!
Click on pics to see the full version :0
This is her work chart.As she completes activities, she just marks them off. :)
A day's worth of activities! This is one "workbox" full of 9 activities for the next day. The activities range from a post it telling me to play Simon Says with her.... to some Get Set for the Code worksheets....to reading a book and drawing a picture about it. :)
Our shelves of supplies! Supplies, phonics books, flashcards, etc. The white box is her "to do" box and the green one is her "done" box. The workbooks to the side are "for fun" in case she decides she wants to do more activities.... which she actually does!That's all for now! Thanks for visiting. :)
(If I win an awesome prize, my choices would be *in order*: Homeschool Boutique shirts for the family, or a CurrClick GC, or the Rainbow Resource GC! Awesome prizes! If you haven't joined in the fun, there is still time! This contest runs until August 31!)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Here Is My New Blog!! :)
I decided it was time for me to start a blog about my homeschooling adventures! I loosely blogged about the home preschool that I did last year (from October to May is when I had it), but dropped the ball...
Now that I'm doing more formal education with my 4 year old DD, I decided I should write about it! Maybe others can benefit from it....and it'll be a great place to brag about the cool stuff we do. hehe
Here's a run down of our family:
1 daughter - age 4
Kindergarten (We are finishing up week 4 this week!)
Curriculum (as of this moment):
*Home Education Curriculum: Kindergarten
*The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (We are on lesson 23.)
*Get Ready, Get Set, and Go for the Code worksheets (We have finished the first primer and are moving on to the next 2. I realize that I could probably move her into the Explode the Code series with book 1, but I want her to find a sense of accomplishment and comfort in doing sheets on things she already knows....plus I feel like it's great practice and reinforces those skills she's just recently acquired!)
*Various workbook pages as needed, especially for math concepts. She LOVES worksheets!
We started our school year "early" because I want to make sure she gets through the curriculum this "school year" even if we have to take some breaks due to the new baby or anything else that might come up. She also really likes doing schoolwork and her behavior is better on the days that we have some structured learning activities!
1 son - age 2 1/2
Preschool
Curriculum (as of this moment):
None! ;) Informal education at its finest.
He enjoys watching the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD and loves playing with magnetic alphabet letters on a cookie sheet, drawing with dry erase markers on a white board, playing the Brown Bear Brown Bear game with his sister, playing with flashcards, listening to stories I read to his sister for her schoolwork, and getting in on some crafty projects. He mainly just likes to play and I like that for him! I plan on getting him into more academic stuff in the next year or so but don't think that rushing him this early will accomplish a whole lot. :)
1 unknown gender baby in utero
Due in late September
We are quite excited for the arrival of baby 3! The kids are well-aware that there is a baby in my tummy and they both "bond" with it in different ways. I'm planning a second homebirth VBAC and am looking forward to it! :) I think that the transition this time should be slightly smoother because I've got a lot more structure, discipline, and drive than I did with the last two...lol I have been getting progressively better!!!
I guess that about does it on the introduction! I can't wait to see where this blog goes! :) I really need to post soon with pictures of our learning system and this would also be a fun place to kind of keep track of all the cool units we study! Stay tuned!
Now that I'm doing more formal education with my 4 year old DD, I decided I should write about it! Maybe others can benefit from it....and it'll be a great place to brag about the cool stuff we do. hehe
Here's a run down of our family:
1 daughter - age 4
Kindergarten (We are finishing up week 4 this week!)
Curriculum (as of this moment):
*Home Education Curriculum: Kindergarten
*The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (We are on lesson 23.)
*Get Ready, Get Set, and Go for the Code worksheets (We have finished the first primer and are moving on to the next 2. I realize that I could probably move her into the Explode the Code series with book 1, but I want her to find a sense of accomplishment and comfort in doing sheets on things she already knows....plus I feel like it's great practice and reinforces those skills she's just recently acquired!)
*Various workbook pages as needed, especially for math concepts. She LOVES worksheets!
We started our school year "early" because I want to make sure she gets through the curriculum this "school year" even if we have to take some breaks due to the new baby or anything else that might come up. She also really likes doing schoolwork and her behavior is better on the days that we have some structured learning activities!
1 son - age 2 1/2
Preschool
Curriculum (as of this moment):
None! ;) Informal education at its finest.
He enjoys watching the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD and loves playing with magnetic alphabet letters on a cookie sheet, drawing with dry erase markers on a white board, playing the Brown Bear Brown Bear game with his sister, playing with flashcards, listening to stories I read to his sister for her schoolwork, and getting in on some crafty projects. He mainly just likes to play and I like that for him! I plan on getting him into more academic stuff in the next year or so but don't think that rushing him this early will accomplish a whole lot. :)
1 unknown gender baby in utero
Due in late September
We are quite excited for the arrival of baby 3! The kids are well-aware that there is a baby in my tummy and they both "bond" with it in different ways. I'm planning a second homebirth VBAC and am looking forward to it! :) I think that the transition this time should be slightly smoother because I've got a lot more structure, discipline, and drive than I did with the last two...lol I have been getting progressively better!!!
I guess that about does it on the introduction! I can't wait to see where this blog goes! :) I really need to post soon with pictures of our learning system and this would also be a fun place to kind of keep track of all the cool units we study! Stay tuned!
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