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!
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