H is for Hectic Homeschooling (DUH!)

The title today, total no brainer!  Which is good because my brain has turned to oatmeal this evening.  The kids kept me crazy busy, and have been very needy and whiny today.  I shouldn't complain since we have fewer of those days than most, but it was still a very tiring and hectic day.  They were excited to be doing a letter that starts our last name, and that is for happy.  They told me this morning that happy was their favorite word, besides love.  How can you not want to hold them and give lots of kisses and huggas as Eliza and CJ refer to them.

Same start to the day.  Find letter on quilt, write in carpet, make letter poster, practice sound and sing the song.  I think CJ knows the sounds for every letter already, except maybe x and q.  Eliza is having some difficulty remembering a few, and is totally stumped with lower case letters.  She can however draw some fairly controlled straight lines.  CJ is doing much better today about letting me help him hold the crayon.  I can't quite figure out what he is doing wrong, but I can't seem to get his little hand to curve around a writing utensil correctly.  I have ordered some of the special pens Diana suggested, now just to wait for delivery.  Tomorrow we are going to the store to get some giant pencils and rubber grippies to see if that helps. 

So yesterday we talked about goals, and today we set them.  I told them a goal I had for the week, and a goal I had for today.  I told them how I was going to work to achieve my goal, and how I would feel if I achieved or completed them.  We then set goals for the two of them.  For CJ his large goal is to count to 100 with no mistakes.  I know this sounds like a big task for a 3 year old, but he already counts to 50 with no mistakes.  But when he gets to 59 he always says fifty-ten next.  So that is his goal.  Eliza really didn't want to set one, but she has been obstinate and argumentative all day.  We finally settled on listening to directions before starting something.  A pretty obscure goal for a two year old, but it was the only one she would agree to today.  Tomorrow I hope to change it to something like I will practice my letter sounds every day.  My personal goal today was to finish making peach-mango-lime jam, and to make fennel relish, seeing as we have a glut of fennel in the garden.  I told the kids that I needed to do the dishes, clean the stove and go get the canning equipment in order to start working at my goal.  So I showed them that I was working on my goal, and that I couldn't play a game with them until I finished part of it.  I finished canning, and have 9 beautiful shining jars preserved for future use.  The kids were so excited that I completed my goal, they told me I did a great job, and gave me huge hugs.  It was a precious experience.

We played hopscotch, talked about hippopotamus and helping, and we tried to be happy all day.  We talked about the weather, which according to CJ was very hot and humid.  We ate toast with honey, hot soup (a stretch I know, but I forgot to thaw the hotdogs), and ham and pasta casserole with harvard beets.  We hit a ball with a stick, and the drum with the drumstick, these are the only hitting we are allowed to do.  Eliza practically hyperventilated when she ran into CJ and fell over her horse toy.  I shouldn't laugh when my kids get hurt, but it was pretty hilarious.  Especially since it involved so many H words. 

I worked with each of them individually in a new workbook that reinforces prereading activities.  The first page consisted of identifying letters A to G, and circling a pair if the capital and lower case matched.  CJ did phenomenal, made no mistakes, even on b and d.  He made clear lines circling the letters, though I wouldn't call them circular.  This is a dramatic improvement.  Eliza didn't even want to tell me the letters she saw.  When prompted repeatedly she was able to identify capital but not lower case letters.  My goal tomorrow is to spend more time showing her the letters.  I think I am going to take an old deck of cards and some sticker paper and make some alphabet flashcards, so they can match the capital to the lower case.  Next week I am going to make a set that has pictures to match to the letter sound that the word starts with.  I love the computer for these kinds of projects.  Lots of cool pics and clip art graphics are available, so it is easy to make workpages and flashcards.  Plus I can use less generic words and pictures than in flashcards you buy ready made.  This fall I am going to make the kids a board game that is simple and reinforces all the concepts we are working on.  That used to be one of my favorite projects when I was teaching in a classroom.

The kids have really settled into our new routine, and it is becoming easier for me as well, so today we added in some new activities.  We listened to CDs that came with various books the kids have.  We have a Tigger and Pooh Shapes and Colors double sided board book.  The CD reads the book to them two times, prompting them to look at the next page, and at the end asks them questions about the pictures, colors and shapes.  They both enjoyed it.  Tomorrow we will do the Disney Princess counting to 10.  They also listened to some kids songs by Sandra Boynton that have a book to match.  This was a wonderful gift from my Dad's cousin.  She always sends perfect gifts.  She seems to always know what the kids like and what I like them to have.  Which is strange since she lives in Oregon!

The kids also spent a large amount of time playing with play dough today.  I folded and put laundry away while they shaped and flattened and made carrots and cookies out of play dough.  They love to show me their creations.  Eliza tells me that she made a cookie, but I can't eat it because it is only pretend.  Of course an hour later, when I am changing CJ's diaper, she decided to eat it anyway!  Thank heavens it is non-toxic.

Tonight's post is very long, so I will end it here.  Hectic homeschooling is how our house thrives now, and I feel like we have a happy time of it.  Thank you for reading this and for helping this blog become a reality and a haven for my scattered thoughts.  I am hopelessly long winded but feel much better having this community of parents helping me.