2-27-09 Worksheets, ABC books, Cars Lapbook

Ryan wanted to do a few worksheets today and play with his A, B, C books. These are great little board books - 26 of them in one little box, one for each letter. Each one has four or five pictures of things that start with that letter. We love to play with them.

We did get to work on the Cars Lap/Tot book some today also. Today he picked out the colors and colored on the pages. He also looked at/picked out the shapes. You can see the muffin tin crayons I made him for Valentine's Day in the crayon box. I'll put another post on those later.





I'm starting to realize I can have 200 activities planned and we get to one or two of them - simply b/c we are on the go in the mornings, usually. Plus, throw in a four month old and WHEW. Time absolutely gets away from us. Cooking dinner, playing with both of them, nursing, house renovations, sheesh. But, I am happy for those activities we actually do get done. It's better than nothing at all! We do stay busy in the mornings, usually. Play groups, errands, MOPs, etc. So, I am 'ok' with the amount of work we do get done. Some days I worry about it, but today is not one of those days ;)

We do read on a daily basis, try to color a little on a daily basis and whatever he wants to play with. I don't list all the activities we do - just the ones I specifically plan or set out in the trays that we get to.

2-26-09 Beads on a String, Sorting, Singing, 1st Lapbook - Cars

I made this toy for him for Valentine's Day. A simple can we got as a gift with coffee in it, some wooden beads, some cord and a bell. Tied the bell to the end of the cord and melted the end. Voila, a stringing activity that we also use for beginning patterning. He doesn't quite get the patterning thing yet and he likes beading 'a little'. This activity was used, but he quickly moved on.




He did ask for the water bottle and straws/pop sticks/toothpicks/etc. again. So, he played with that for quite awhile. He even climbed on the counter later to get it AGAIN. He also pulled out his song notebook to sing some of our songs in it (and look at the poems, pictures we've done to put in there). He likes to also pull down his 'artwork' notebook.

Also, he asked to do some more cutting...


We started making his first ever Lapbook today. We used Cars, The Movie Tot Book, b/c of course, Ryan's obsession is Cars. I will post the finished project when we are finished. I'm doing the name part a little differently than shown in the link. We are leaving ours separate, he likes to try and put it in order.

2-25-09 Today's Activities

I didn't picture the first activity, but Ryan thoroughly enjoyed it. I gave him a tray of popsicle sticks, tooth picks, straws and a water bottle. He spent around 45 minutes playing with these items - putting them in the bottle, dumping them, sorting them, etc. He really enjoyed it.

I got that idea and a ton others that we do from:
Tot School - I love that site! She has a lot of great ideas and I like the style.

The next activity (later that day) we/he painted the popsicle sticks to use for later. He really likes painting with brushes, but not so much with his fingers. Once again, he'll get there...





We also did a coloring/activity sheet out of one of our Elmo books. I don't like to do a lot of worksheet type stuff, but he really enjoys them, so I guess I'll just follow his lead on that one.

2-16-09 Cutting Activity

This was one of the first times Ryan started cutting with scissors without my help. He's having a very intense moment. Since this time, he has become quite proficient! He still sometimes holds his scissors upside down, but most of the time he holds them right side up. He switches hands frequently and tries with both, but is better with his right hand. He likes strips of paper better than chunks of paper and he likes to try and follow lines, but quickly gets frustrated and decides he doesn't want to try any more. He'll get there...

An article or two...

Here are a few articles I have read and keep bookmarked for others. Great resources for those that have questions about why I'm even considering the possibility.
http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/homeschooling-information.html

I also LOVE the following blog - I get a lot of my ideas from her - tray time, lap books, etc.
http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/

I'm also trying to figure out my format of how I want this blog to go. I think I'll have a list out to the side of resources, other blogs, our activities, etc. Not sure yet...

So, you're thinking about homeschooling, eh?

So, yes, we are thinking about homeschooling. For the last few months, I have been toying with the idea and finally introduced it to Eric. Much to my surprise, he didn't shut it down immediately! Of course, he had some concerns and we began discussing those, as well as my own. The more we have talked, read and learned, the more I believe this is a big possibility. Eric seems to be on board as much as I am - we both still have our moments of doubt, but discussing through those and using each other as a sounding board has been good. I'm elated that he seems to be as into this as I am. He's even pointing out other families that homeschool - and he seems surprised that those families seem so normal. I think he envisioned Little House on the Prairie or something to that nature. "No honey, this ain't yo gran-mama's homeschool."

At the moment, we are trying out a bit of preschool-homeschool type things, just to see if it's something I want to pursue for myself. I realize, it's def time consuming - especially having a four month old in tow. But, I also realize we are homeschooling, whether we are putting effort into it or not. It's just a natural thing that mommies and daddies do (for the most part). He helps in the kitchen, helps me do chores around the house, we talk about things all day long - colors, shapes, why's, what if's, stories, songs, etc. - all throughout our day. We don't just 'get through the day', we live it. That's what it's all about, right?

But, knowing myself, I need some sort of agenda or list I can check off to feel like we've accomplished something. I'm not talking about a list of things Ryan can do, but more like a list of things I can look back on and say "Hey! Look what we did today!".

So, to start off the process, I explained to Ryan that we were going to start doing some school type stuff at home. His first question? "Will we ride a school bus?" Aha. Mental note...find some sort of bus we can ride/explore/be curious about...FIELD TRIP! Next? He asked if we could have snacks at "learning school". Silly me, I forgot where his heart lies...

So, we do some sort of "learning school" or "tray time" every day. Some days, it's only one thing (those are the days we are out and about all morning and come home for a nap in a flurry, play for awhile, get dinner ready...sometimes...and by then it's daddy-time, dinner time and then bed time). Some days, we do everything I have planned for the week! Those are the days he just can't get enough of "learning school" and asks for more and more. Those are the days I feel so proud, comfortable in the decision of the journey, excited about his enthusiasm and in general, just happy. Although, those are also the days I feel the most chaotic b/c the rest of the house looks like a hurricane swept through it b/c we dropped everything and played "learning school" all day long. Some days, we get nothing done b/c Ryan is having a typical 2.5 year old day and is digging his heels in on every idea I have. Those are the days I question my sanity and think "there is no way I can do this, it's just not going to work". But, we get through them and my enthusiasm returns. Lucky for me, Cassada has been an easy baby so far.

I do feel like I spend a lot of time online looking for fun things for us to do, interesting places to visit, homeschool blogs and how 'everyone else is doing it' - not so much to fit into the mainstream, but to get ideas on how to set things up. I love seeing something and incorporating it into our own little world. I've let any sort of 'me time' things fall by the wayside b/c I'm on the computer as soon as the kids go to bed. And now, I've started a new blog. Sheesh...I never want to see my sewing/knitting/husband again...but, again, this is my 'checklist' so to speak. Let's hope I can keep up with it - especially since our laptop is flying around in laptop-heaven...sniff, sniff.

My intention for this blog...

My intention for this blog is to document our homeschool journey, no matter how long it may last. We are toying with the idea of homeschooling - so, starting now with preschool..."unschool"..."tot school"...whatever we may call it, I am getting an idea of whether this is for our family or not. I truly hope it is.

This is the place I want to put what we have done, my ideas for the future, good articles that may explain my thoughts, fears, etc. Don't expect this to be fancy...or even have completed sentences. This is my sounding board. But, many people are curious about what we are thinking - maybe this will give an insight.

I waver on the subject every week. One week I think it's the best thing since sliced bread and the next week I come up with a "what if" or "I don't want him to miss out on..." type subject. Back to reading articles and I usually find something that makes me feel better. I will post those type of things here as well.