End of January

It has been a rough week, first Eliza was sick, then I was, and still am.  Unfortunately again that means no pictures.  We had a great day Monday, accomplishing a ton. We did binders a few times this week and continued our study on Ancient Egypt.  Since then we have been playing a lot of games, especially Qwirkle, a Mensa approved game introduced to us by some friends.  If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you check it out, it is fun for all of us.
 Qwirkle
We have done some wonderful playtime with friends, and worked on sight words, as well as reading together daily.  We have been watching Beakman's World and other educational television the past few days while I have been sick, and I can not feel bad about it.  The kids still have been learning, doing puzzles, working with our magnet center, crafting, playing outside, and even building an intercom system with their Daddy.  Now I just hit a buzzer and pick up a phone to talk to the kids while they are upstairs instead of yelling up the stairs.  It is fun, and the kids were so proud of themselves for doing it.  It was actually their idea, and CJ helped Rich draw the plans and buy the equipment.

It has been difficult this week to do lessons led by me between being sick and having the carpets cleaned.  We had to move the furniture out of the school room and living room making it difficult to get to any of my materials.  The kids have dealt with our changes well this week.  They surprise me all the time with how much they have learned.

This coming month we will be visiting the CT Science Center a few times to see the Lost Egypt exhibit.  We will be visiting a new exhibit at the Florence Griswold Museum, and making a few trips to the aquarium.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate enough for a visit to the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center and the Roger Williams Park Zoo.  We will finish our Egypt science kit this month and continue with our Human Body Magic School Bus science kit.  I have looked at several opportunities for group learning, but all of them require an exorbitant amount of money, or are inappropriate for my kids.  Our library used to have excellent offerings, but I  have been unimpressed and even dissappointed in the library since they hired a new head librarian in the children's department.  We might visit the Lyman Allyn Art Museum tomorrow, as first Saturdays are free between 10:30 and noon.  But first we have to go to Home Depot as the kids look forward to their monthly kids' craft.  They have been to more than 12 of them and love to use real tools to make something they use.  Last month was a small desk size perpetual calendar which they use daily during school.  We will continue to do crafts and finish off our kindergarten art curriculum this month.  I am looking forward to starting some plants for the garden as well as doing some Valentine crafts.  It will be a fun month.
My favorite thing that I am going to start this month is a weekly poem type.  I am going to start with something simple like acrostic poems.  I am going to show them examples, discuss the form, and then we will write them.  We will do one type every week, or two depending on the month, going from really simple to more complex as we go.  We will continue to write daily sentences and pretty soon we will start "writing" stories.  They will write the first sentence, dictate to me, then write the last sentence.  In addition we will continue to practice handwriting skills weekly with our tracing center as we have been doing.  It is amazing to see how much progress they have made in so many areas.  All of a sudden Eliza is reading so much more confidently and fluently than before.  She has mastered her kindergarten and grade 1 sight words, and has begun working on grade 2.  A couple of months ago it was pulling teeth to get her to read super simple age appropriate books and words.  Now she is reading signs, boxes, leveled reading books, and her favorite, Dick and Jane and Vampires.  She reads to her dolls and toys at quiet time, reads to us before bedtime, and reads to CJ every morning.  It makes me deliriously happy, as she has never shown as much interest in reading as the rest of us.  She has come a long way in a short time.

I have been making sure to take time to hug, kiss, and enjoy the kids every single day, being sure that they know how important they are to me, and how loved they are.  I have found this extra effort is improving CJ's behaviour, and his outlook, as he tends to be quite melodramatic and negative in attitude.  I am making a concerted effort to be more patient.  My friend Megan at The Joyful Homemaker has been helping me a lot with this.  While she tends toward the Joyful, I tend more towards the snarky.  I am totally the Snarky Homemaker.  She is teaching me how to be more joyful and grateful for every minute with my sweeties.  What a journey towards this self awareness and improvement, it isn't easy, but I feel like this hard work is going to really enrich my children and their education.

A Must Read

My cousin and friend Susie writes a wonderful blog, and is always doing such wonderful crafts and things with her kiddos, please visit and read her blog.

Making It Work Together

Week Recap

No pictures this post.  This week has been rough.  We have had winter storms, cranky kiddos, major meltdowns, and a lot of discussions.  It has been a week to focus on character education for sure.  We have been continuing our study of Egypt, reading lots of information and picture books about the topic.  We have also just spent a lot of time reading to each other and talking about topics important to the kids.  While in the car one day we were listening to Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants, and one of the songs is about making a test for a hypothesis, so I stopped the cd and asked the kids what they want to test.  They decided they want to build a doorbell.  Well they started it with Daddy, and it has morphed into them building an intercom so that I can call them down without having to yell upstairs.  I am amazed by them every day, and frustrated by them, and frustrated by myself.  Some days I just feel like I am failing in every possible way, and then they come up with something so amazing and I feel better.  So recap of the week:

Monday: we had a playdate at the aquarium and celebrated Martin Luther King Jr Day, kids did their binder

Tuesday: we went swimming at a local pool, kids loved this, and so did we, we had a baking and cooking lesson with the kids, they worked in their brainquest workbooks and did some educational toys

Wednesday:  they worked on their doorbell/intercom project, worked in our collection of dry erase books on handwriting math tracing mazes, they did their binder, pattern blocks, listening center, and pirate unit center, which is a collection of pirate themed age appropriate skills work like cutting pasting matching tracing reading etc.

Thursday:  puzzles, crafting, lacing center, coloring, reading comprehension activities, character education, and center choice time, they have math magnet tracing and other centers to choose from, this was a jammie day, and much of the day was spent discussing consequences with CJ for his naughty behavior, and trying to figure out why this behavior was occurring, so a lot of time was spent just talking with him, and we never got out of our pajamas

Today: while there are several things on our "plans"  I don't think much will happen today, we have to go grocery shopping and Eliza is spending the weekend at my parents' house as a reward for being so good this week, their idea not mine :)  We may continue our Egypt unit and do some art, but we will see, it has been a rough week on all of us

Next week we will have another trip to the aquarium and maybe to the Florence Griswold Museum, as we didn't go to our scheduled art class this week due to weather.  All of what I list here is what I consider to be activities that are our school time each day, but there are always many other educational opportunities and activities in our house each day.  We try to have a home that encourages learning everywhere, and encourages creativity and question asking.  Everyday I vow to do better and try to teach the kids the same, to always try their best, and be themselves.  It is so important to remember that their love of learning is what will continue them on this journey, not what they know.  So we try daily to foster their love of learning and their creative thinking more than their acquisition of specific knowledge.  I do find though, that they acquire knowledge at a truly frightening rate.  I can't keep up some days :)  They are teaching me so much, and I am looking forward to the coming week, learning from what went wrong this week.  And the journey continues.

Review of the Past Week

This is what homeschooling looked like this week:

So is this:

We went to the New Britain Museum of American Art, and saw the current exhibit on Maurice Sendak.  We spent 2 1/2 hours walking around and discussing the different types of art, and some of the artists Rich and I were familiar with.  The kids looked at sculptures, portraits, collages, murals, and other types of art.  They asked intelligent questions, made great observations, and learned a lot while there.  They adored the Maurice Sendak exhibit, and noticed work from artists we had seen displayed at the Florence Griswold Museum.  We talked about Andy Warhol, Mary Cassatt, and Georgia O'Keefe, as well as Maurice Sendak.  It was a great day.

Today however, we are in pajamas, doing tracing and handwriting practice, using pattern and shape blocks, and learning about Egypt.  We were supposed to have a playdate, but alas, sickness is making the rounds.  We have been reading all about Egypt, doing science experiments, and chronicling them in our science notebooks, playing with playdough, playing outside, doing puzzles, building legos and tinkertoys, reviewing map skills from a workbook, watching educational tv, using the computer to practice skills and use starfall.com, playing first grade games on the kindle, putting on pretend plays and circuses, observing the seasonal changes, charting the weather, doing cutting and pasting practice, and playing lots of board games.  We watch Rube Goldberg machines on youtube.  We play addition games, and read words all over, wherever we go.  Most importantly we ask and answer questions, and talk to and with the kids all the time.  Even when we are busy, and we are not the parents we want to be our kids are still learning, and we learn what works and what doesn't.  One day last week we did nothing but snuggle under blankets and read books together.  Some days we do a ton of "school" and other days we just don't.  But when I watch them play I see and hear all that they are learning, and how inquisitive and interested and wonderful they are.  It makes this journey joyful and special and amazingly worthwhile.

Not to be outdone by his sister . . .

This is what I found when I opened the bathroom door after my bath.

Opened it up and saw. . .

When I thanked him for it he told me that he wanted me to know that he loved snuggling and reading books today even though he knew I had work to do.  Also he was glad that I helped him have fun in the snow outside when we were playing together.  He was so sweet, and I gave him a huge hug and a thank you, and taped his note on the wall above my homeschool desk.  Love my kids, I am a lucky woman.

Pictures of Aforementioned Gifts

All made with love, used with love, worn with love.  Also notice the spots of gluten free cinnamon bun all over the little monkey's face, I always forget to wash her face after breakfast!

Gifts from my Daughter

Eliza is on a huge handcrafting kick.  She makes bookmarks with popsicle sticks, colors and draws pictures for everyone she knows, and sculpts with pipe cleaners.  Last week she used her little plastic loom to make me a potholder that I use everyday.  Today she made me a sparkly ring with a pipe cleaner and a giant glittery pompom, and a necklace with big wooden beads on a long string of blue yarn.  I very proudly wore them today, and could not have been more grateful.  Maybe tomorrow I will add a picture of these sweet and thoughtful gifts from my baby girl.  Not only did she give me a physical gift, but the joy in her face in that she was able to make something for me with her two hands was the most precious gift, and the love shown in these simple gifts is something I will treasure always.  What a lucky mother I am :)