Friday Week Review

Just a quick post to update you all on our first official week of school -

I started the week being very unsure of how we would all survive our new and busier schedule, but...WE DID IT!  I'm actually quite enjoying our schedule because I am getting so much more done and really feel like we are accomplishing things.  The only downside is I am very tired by the end of the day and I'm definitely going to have to guard my Thursdays and Fridays carefully because they are truly the only days that have any free time in them.  I still do NOT like getting up at 6am, but it is nice to see how much I've accomplished by 10am each day (Breakfast, Dishes, Laundry, Corbin on Bus and back home, finished school with Hayden for the day). 

Corbin seems to really love school, he hops on the bus without any fuss.  Of course, when you're going to school for speech, it's hard to know anything about their day.  I ask him did you have fun? and he replies..."Yesssh".  And well, that's the conversation, HA!  So, judging by his demeanor, I'm thinking he's liking school.

His private therapy is going well too, he really loves his speech therapist and she is super sweet!  Wednesday they both came riding down the hall on a plasma car!  Too cute.  Hayden and I relax in the waiting room and work on his AWANA memory verses.  I also now have a bag of fun stuff that Hayden plays with each time.  Things like card games, toys from fast food kid meals that I kept, puzzles, etc.  That seems to keep him busy for the hour.

Yesterday I finished up my lesson plans, copying, cutting, laminating and printing for the month - so I'm completely set till the end of September.  I think I will continue to work on lessons each Thursday like I did this week.  It feels good to have a buffer of lessons in case we get sick or things get hectic. 

The laminator has become my new best friend - I love this machine!  I'm finding all kind of fun games and other manipulatives to make for Hayden!  Plus, it's nice to laminate the items I know I'll use again next year with Corbin.  I definitely recommend this fun "toy" to any homeschooler!

Although it is a lot of work, I'm finding that I'm ending our week much happier than I have all summer - so I think that means Week 1 was a success!!  Come back next week and I'm sure you will find me passed out on the floor covered in worksheets and crayons in complete chaos!  But a girl can dream - and right now those dreams are of a week well done!

 

Gearing Up For Another Year

I'm gearing up for my busiest year yet in my almost 5 years of being at home.  So busy, that I actually had to resort to scheduling out everything in order to fit it all in. 

Corbin begins daily PPCD (Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities) classes next Tuesday which will be from 7:45am-9:45am.  And with his recent diagnosis of apraxia of speech, he is also attending private therapy 2 more times a week (and possibly more in the future).  He is also receiving occupational therapy once a week (we are trying to work up to twice a week) for fine motor and sensory issues.

Hayden begins his first full year of homeschooling next week.  I've been lesson planning and organizing materials all week for the next month of lessons.  I am blessed to have 36 weeks of lesson plans and curriculum done for me, but there is still plenty of prep and adapting that needs to be done.  The results of this year will determine if we will continue educating Hayden at home, or if I will enroll him in Kinder next fall.  This year, as he is still four, I am mixing PreK and Kinder materials for him.  He is advancing well in his reading and is already in Kinder material. We took a break (except from reading) this summer, so I am anxious to get back to working with him.

Hayden is also beginning another year of AWANA on Sunday evenings.  We switched to Sundays this year from Wednesdays.  Wednesday was just too hard to do during the middle of a busy week, plus it was at 6pm which is generally our dinner time.  I am very excited to have it on Sunday afternoons now!

This year I also took on the role of Family Ministry Director at our church, and I am loving it! But, that too comes with meetings, planning, and work that I have to proactively schedule to make sure I stay on top of it.  I'm also trying to stay healthy so I can do all these things by working out at the YMCA 3 times a week!  Oh and don't forget all of that cooking, cleaning, and other things we wives and mothers do, HA!

My schedule is a sea of ink, but somehow I managed to put it all in there - with even time to relax and do my quiet time each day!  I think this year I will have to survive on lots of prayer and reliance on God.  Lucky for me, I thrive on less time, not more.  Give me a whole day to something and I will procrastinate until the last minute.  Give me 30 seconds to do something, and it's done.  That's just my personality.  So, I'm kind of looking forward to the chaos.

Sneaking in Some Fun

So, as you can imagine, homeschooling a 4 year old with a 2 year old running around can be a challenge.  Some days we have to sneak out during nap time to have our fun.  It's a special time for just Hayden and I to be silly without worrying about what Corbin is up to!

Yesterday, we worked on sequencing and drawing out the days events on his very own "crown".

He ran over to the mirror and wanted to see his crown!

Which, of course, turned into - take my picture!!

And, make silly faces Mama!

And then, make a mad faces Mama!

How could I resist that?

A Journey

Last week cracked open a piece of me that I had forgotten was even there.  It's amazing how you can forget who you are in the busyness of life.  You can stop growing, learning, and creating.  You just start surviving.

It's only been week one of our homeschooling journey, and yet what a week it was.  My approach is not just directing, but diving all in with Hayden in this voyage of learning.  I'm learning and creating right along with him and I love looking at it all through the lens of his complete awe of life.

One of the many activities we did this week was a collage.  I wanted to give him an example of a collage and thought I remembered an old one I had made up in my art stash.  As I was digging through all of it, I was coming across piece after piece of my own art and sketches - and they felt foreign to me.  As if I was looking at a stranger's work and not my own.  It made me stop and think...Who am I now, and where did I go?

Am I really so busy that I don't have time for the passions in my life?  I have time for things like books, TV, and Facebook.  Or am I busy trying to be someone that I'm not?  Or my idea of who I am?

I need to just be.  Be me.

So I sat down with Hayden, and while he made his farm collage - I let my inner artist loose for a minute and remembered a bit of who I am.

At The Farm

I mentioned last week that we are homeschooling the boys.  I've been looking forward to getting all our materials for a couple months.  At last they are here!  So I guess this is our first "official" week. I took a bit of time and made a wall sized mural for the background of our farm.  As we learn about each part of the farm, we'll add it to our mural:

Of course, instead of opting for a true mural, I decided butcher paper would be just as good (and easier to change).  Hayden will get to make the barn, silo, equipment, and animals to add to it.

We also put up a new calendar that Hayden has been loving so far.  It's all Velcro-affixed.  Each day he gets to change the date, weather, day of the week (he picks out today, yesterday, tomorrow), and once a month he gets to set the whole thing up for the next month.  We've had a lot of fun with it each day.  He especially looks forward to "forecasting" the weather.

Friday we worked on spelling his name and he picked it up in about 2 minutes.  We "quizzed" him out of the blue on Sunday and he nailed it again.  Makes me glad I didn't try to force this "knowledge" on him earlier - clearly he's was ready to learn it now and it showed.  From an early age, Hayden has shown me that he doesn't "do tricks" and learning neat little pieces of knowledge to impress the grandparents has not been an interest of his, haha.  I have learned to embrace that willingly and let him go at his pace.  Just one of a million reasons we've chosen this path.

Fun with Four

Four is fast becoming my favorite year with Hayden.  Of course, it is not without its challenges - I mean, he is FOUR, but it is also a great time of exploration, curiosity, and wonder at the world.  I love seeing him discover and learn new things.  The world through his eyes is a very cool place and I am enjoying showing it all to him.

Now that he is so interested in everything around him, I thought it was a good time to start preschool.  We chose to do this at home instead of sending him to a school, so I set about deciding on education approaches and curriculum.  I found an approach I connected with and some amazing curriculum which should be coming soon!  I'm so excited to get started.  In fact, we really started last week with my own materials and lesson plans that I made on my own or found online.  It's been fun pulling it all together each day, although it will be nice to have a curriculum to work with once it comes in.  Starting from scratch can be a little overwhelming - it's nice to have a starting point and then go from there.

I found a great phonics website (Progressive Phonics) that has FREE books you can print out that I will be using this week - they are really cute and I think Hayden will like them.  It's amazing how much free material is out there.  You really could educate your child for practically nothing - as long as you had a printer, internet access, and a library card - but it would take a little more time and planning than I have right now.  Thank goodness for curriculum!

Last week was so much fun and even though with the holiday we only had 2 days, I still felt like he learned a lot. He mastered the concepts of light and dark and which colors were "light" or "dark" colors, he colored inside the lines for the first time ever, haha, matched letters and words that started with the letter in a memory game, used the computer and manipulated the mouse perfectly to play a matching game,  answered all discussion questions correctly about a book we had read for the first time, got introduced to the concept of rhyming, and put together every jigsaw puzzle we owned (looks like I'll need to get some harder ones).

It just amazes me how much he learns and it's so fun being able to teach him all these things.  I can't wait for tomorrow!

I'd love to hear about any resources you've used and liked - even though we purchased a curriculum, there is always room for improvements or alternate activities!

Toys!

It's been interesting to see my selections in toys evolve as I change as a parent and continue learning through the developmental challenges we are currently working through with Corbin.

No longer do I look for the "flashy" or latest toy, but really evaluate it's potential as both an object of play and therapy.

I've found some really great ones that we love and since Christmas is coming up I thought I might share a few with you!  I'd also love to hear any of your recommendations as well.  I'm always on the lookout for quality toys to add to our play!

These are in no particular order, by the way.  Mommy fog prevents me from doing any real prioritizing in that regard, haha - they are ordered in the manner they popped up in my brain while writing this post.

1. Melissa & Doug Deluxe 10-Piece Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks

Corbin uses these a lot in therapy play and just playing in general.  The stack and nest so you get two activities in one, plus they store well.  They all nest so they stay compact.  The outside also have animals and letters on them, so it's also a great starting point for learning letters and animals.  We have several nesting/stacking toys and this is by far our favorite.

2. Alex Toys Learn to Dress Monkey

I have spent a LONG time looking for a toy to teach self-help and fine motor skills that is NOT a pink baby doll.  Also, many baby dolls don't come with the various zippers, velcro, buttons, and snaps all on one outfit.  This monkey has snaps, zippers, shoelaces, socks, buttons (with two styles of closures), overalls, and a velcro shirt!  If you are looking for a dressing toy, this is definitely it.

3. Melissa & Doug Grill Set

Lacing cards and activities are definitely fine motor skills that are on our list to achieve.  However, for a 2 year old, and especially one who is delayed in motor ability, lacing with string can be a very difficult activity.  As a precursor to lacing with string, I have found this grill set to be awesome!  Instead of "lacing", he is placing the meat and vegetables on the skewers - which incorporates the same skills as lacing, but in a more controlled and easier to manipulate form.  The skewers are easy to hold on to and don't flop over like lacing string does.  There are also tongs (a precursor to scissor skills) and a knife for cutting.  The vegetables form together with velcro for easy cutting.  We love this toy and it's a hit with both Hayden and Corbin.  It's also a great pretend play activity.

4. 50 Counting Bears with 5 Cups

Oh the counting bears...I don't think I can really express how much we play with these.  Corbin can color sort very well, and I think these bears really helped with that.  Also, you can buy pattern matching games that go with the bears that are fun to add to.  Corbin loves pouring the bears from one cup to another (another great motor therapy) and also plays with the bears in all sorts of other ways.  Hayden loves to line them up like army men and Corbin likes catapulting them or having them go down his Little People slides.  Besides colors and matching, they are also great for counting and working on numbers.  This is the kind of toy that develops and changes as they get older.  It starts with simple pouring, works into sorting, then pattern matching, and finally simple math.  It's one of my favorites.

5. Shure - Chunky World - Magnetic Fishing

This game is played with almost every day - by both boys.  Again, another great therapy toy, but also has endless possibilities for pretend play.  My boys have made a boat out of a cardboard box to go fishing.  They've used the fishing pole to "catch" other metal things around the house.  They've pretend to "eat" the fish.  You name it, they've played it.

Okay, so there are five of our favorites.  As we get closer to Christmas, maybe I'll post some more if you're interested.  Some of these toys are a bit pricier than others.  We didn't get them all at once, but gradually added them to our household over the past few years.  But, I will say that each one has been worth it's money!  They have held up really well and I haven't had a single complaint with any of them.

So what are your "must have" toys?

Nature Week!

So I decided I needed to keep all our theme materials in some kind of order (and not all over the house), so I grabbed this old basket, that's missing one of it's handles, haha, and used it to store all of our materials for the week. So far it's working perfectly. The size is perfect - I can't put a TON of stuff in there, which means I can't set my goals for the week too high. Whatever I can fit into the basket, is what we'll do!

I'm slowly getting into a routine about these weeks and figuring out what works for us. I picked the last theme based on our visit to the museum, but we had no such adventure to pull from for last week. So instead, I took Monday to watch and listen to my children and take note of their interests that day. They spent the morning outside and after an hour or so it was obvious that they had taken an interest in nature! Bugs, flowers, plants, rocks - you name it, they were playing with it. So with that, I let them continue playing and rounded up our materials for the week - all nature themed of course. (Corbin, at this point, was still doing Farm Animals)

Here is what I collected from around the house (one of my "goals" is not to buy stuff each week, but to use what we have):

I chose two books for the week: Rocks & Minerals - which is an old book from my childhood - I can't even find this version online to link it for you, although it's similar to Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks & Minerals (Smithsonian Handbooks) .

And The Bug Book, which I found at a used books store a few months back.

Hayden showed some interest in the Rock & Minerals book - especially if we were looking at things he was already familiar with like gold or the pages about sand, fossils, and other recognizable items. We were able to practice colors with the section that talked about using rocks for pigments. Although, really this was just a review - he knows his colors very well. I also had some toy magnifying glasses we used for various activities in the week, and he liked looking at the book with his magnifying glass. But overall, I wouldn't say it was a huge success.

The Bug Book was more on his level and it had some interesting new concepts in there that I think he is still taking in (like how ants talk to each other, etc) and he still seems interested in it.

I gathered a collection of shells, rocks, and coral from around the house (I like to save interesting items like these whenever we have the chance -a lot of these are from our recent trip to the beach), and let Hayden explore them with his magnifying glass. If you've never let them play with a magnifying glass before, it will take some time of "playing" before they are ready to listen to how they use it properly. Mostly Hayden just held it up to his eye and looked around for the first day or two, haha. He's slowly understanding how to use it.

We also did some outside activities as well. We hunted for rocks, then flowers, and Hayden made his own "garden" with a small basket, rocks, dirt, and a flower he had picked. It was really cute until Corbin ran off with it and dumped it all out on my porch - mess, mess, mess. Nothing a quick sweep couldn't fix, but Hayden was pretty sad about that.

I had a lot of activities we didn't get to this week because Hayden spends a good portion of the morning in school, so I am continuing this into a second week. We still have yet to play with the binoculars, or do the activities I picked out from the The Toddlers Busy Book.

The Toddlers Busy Book is a wonderful resource if you need ideas for games or activities. I chose two for the week, but we didn't get to them:

Nature Bracelet - You make a "bracelet" out of tape with the sticky side out and let them find things to stick to the tape to decorate their bracelet.

Picture Box - I cut out pictures of flowers, plants, and other nature items and glued them to 3x5 index cards and put them in a card box. I still haven't shown this to Hayden, but I think it will be a hit when I do. At the very least, Corbin will LOVE this once Hayden is through.

There are also some cute rhymes and songs (nature themed) I wanted to do with Corbin and maybe Hayden if he's interested.

I have a small stack of coloring pages and worksheets we never got to, so I'm thinking we'll finish up these activities this week in our continuation of the nature theme.

So that was our first week, and our plans for this week! I'll update in another 2 weeks on how things went and what we chose next.

If you do preschool-type stuff at home, do you pick themes for your activities or just whatever they're interested in? Or a curriculum? I'm always interested to hear what others are doing!

Recap

A few weeks back I posted on the kids themes each week, and I thought it might be fun to blog regularly about what we've tried. I'm always on the lookout for fun, new activities - as well as any "war stories" about what I may want to avoid, haha!

To keep it "real", I am posting after the week is over instead of before. I think this keeps me honest as a blogger. I may have lofty plans for the week, but lets be real - we never accomplish all we set out to and nothing ever goes perfectly.

So you will be getting an honest version of the week - what worked, what didn't, and what was left.

To recap Dinosaur/Farm Animal week:

This week was a hit and it led in perfectly for the first week of school, when - what do ya know, they chose their first class book to be How Do Dinosaurs Go To School? I must be psychic or just plain lucky. We had already read How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? all week, and Hayden love trying to learn the names of the dinosaurs. Although he learned three dinosaur names, he still couldn't differentiate between all the different types by the end of the week. Which is ok! I'm sure we'll be doing more dinosaurs in the future. The only one he could pick out was the Pteranodon - but that was because of repeated exposure to Dinosaur Train.

There are LOTS of great (and free!) resources online for dino-exposure. The PBS site had fun printouts from Dinosaur Train that I will be using next time. Hayden also loved the interactive games they had on the show site (which also teach letter recognition and pattern matching).

We ended up watching The Land Before Time twice, but only by fast-forwarding through scary and sad parts. Unfortunately for Hayden, Dinosaur Train comes on right before we leave for school, so he won't be able to watch that one again if we do another Dino week. There are a few episodes online at PBS though, so that's one option.

I decided to extend Corbin's Farm Animal week into 2 weeks because he needs longer exposure to things to really get into them. He really loved F is for Farm (Baby Touch and Feel) and we read it every nap time and bedtime for 2 weeks. He is just now getting tired of it and we are starting to move on.

We also added Farm Friends (Guess Who?), which is a great "peek-a-boo" style book. It's a bit wordy for Corbin's level, so instead of their text, I just said " Peek-a-boo, guess who? It's a cow! Mooo." for each animal. And voila! He loved it.

I put his barn and farm animals out on the coffee table all week to encourage animal play. I also added ducks to the bathtub toys as well. And we watched Word World and Wonder Pets (which is on Netflix right now) for more animal exposure.

In the second week we got Corbin quacking like a duck in the bathtub and clucking like a chicken (including arm flapping) while watching a show - which was our goal - animal sounds. We're hoping that it wasn't a "fluke" and he will continue imitating noises.

I like the laid back pace we're doing - if I think we need more time on something, we'll take another week - or we may move on. Spending two weeks on animals was definitely the right choice and Hayden was pretty much done with Dinos after only one week.

I'll post tomorrow about Hayden's second theme: Nature!

What activities are you doing with your little ones? I'd love to hear them!





.