03-18-09 WOW and the park

We had WOW this morning (I subbed in a church day care for a women's bible study for the morning) - Ryan gets interaction with other kids, as well as, other adults. He def does not like being away from mommy b/c I'm usually in his class for MOPs - which is at the same church. Today, I was in the infant room, so I was not in his class. He did fine for a few minutes and then he decided he needed mommy-time. I told his "teachers" that I was ok with him coming back to my 'class' if he wanted to. I've decided I'm not going to push this issue - I tried for so long to fight him on the separation anxiety and it's just not working for him (or me). He's been like this from the moment he entered this world, I think it's just his personality. He isn't going to need me forever, so why push him away now? So, anyway, one of the workers brought him to my classroom, I soothed him and told him he could play in my classroom for awhile, but to let me know if he wanted to go back to his class. After about 20 minutes, he came to me and said he was ready to go back to his class now. A SMALL SUCCESS FOR US! So, I took him back and he stayed there the rest of the session and was happy playing the whole time. At that point, I realized my mommy-instinct (that I've been trying to fight) was right. All in his own time. He'll get there. That's what this homeschooling thing is all about, right? Teaching at their pace. Well, this is another lesson for me to remember.

After his nap, we went to the park to take advantage of some of this AWESOME weather!

03-17-09 St Patrick's Day

Green breakfast with green OJ, green pancakes, grapes
We talked about St Patrick's Day a little and leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, green and shamrocks. After breakfast, we discussed a few more along that line and all of a sudden, my dear sweet, empathetic little boy turned with his sad, brown eyes and softly said (background - we have some married friends named Patrick and Kristy) "Mommy? It's Ms. Kristy's day too?". Awww, honey...it's THAT I want to bottle and keep forever. Yet, another reason I want to homeschool - I don't want him losing that sense of others.

We changed the playroom around a little Monday night and I made a little reading 'area' for him with all the books and a bean bag chair. He headed STRAIGHT for that this morning and spent a good hour looking at his books and coloring books. Cool!

We worked on the cars lapbook a bit with stickers, more counting card fun and new name cards added. He also colored with his water marker on the 'special' water marker book - just add water and he colors and the pictures magically appear. I admit, I have a good time coloring in that one too!

He also wanted his circles to put the small stones in them, again.


We had a lunch picnic at the park with some friends of ours down the street. There were some Canadian Geese there and they were making a bit of noise. I said "Look, honey! Hear them all honking?". A few seconds later, those twinkling brown eyes look at me and say "Mommy? Do gooses have horns?" I laughed loudly at that one :)

We also made a trip to the library after his nap - he LOVES going to the library! After the library, we went to Lowes hardware for a kitchen designer consultation. I got the idea of doing some tray time at Lowes and it worked out great! I didn't get any pictures, this time - but we took a flat bed cart, put Ryan, Cassada (in the carseat) and a bag of toys/trays for Ryan (and his dinner). We were there for 2.5 - 3 hours and he was GREAT the whole time! He sat on the flat bed (almost the whole time) and played with his construction vehicles and the popsicle sticks/tooth picks/straws/water bottle tray for over an hour. He did other things in "mommy's bag of tricks", but that was the one he played with the longest. Great stuff!

3-16-09 Number Circles, Fine Motor Skills, Painting

Today was a day taken from Tot School - I even used the same sugar shaker from IKEA (which was a great place, btw - wish we had one closer than Charlotte). Anyway, he had so much fun with "Learning School" today (that's what he continues to call it). He also continues to ask to do "tray time" multiple times a day. I don't always get to pull one out and play every time he asks - nursing, showering, making food - but try to comply as much as I can. He is having so much fun with it all.

We stayed in this morning and he had a blast doing 'extra' tray times.

This one was a hit. We played with this for quite awhile - we are in Cassada's room so I could play with her and some of her 'other' toys while we played with the rocks and circle numbers. He put the numbers on the dots, counted them, told me what the numbers were (without counting the dots), dumped in the tray, dumped on the floor, gathered them all together, put them back on the paper, played a game of "turns" with me (my turn, now your turn, now my turn, now your turn), etc. etc. etc. This was a great one.







Another one he really enjoyed today - putting pasta in the sugar shaker. He did all the longs ones - he was very diligent about wanting to fill every single hole, then we took them all out. He wanted to put some medium ones in there, so we did a few of those. Then he wanted to put small ones in there - so we did a few of those. He wanted to break the pasta (which I let him do some), but every time he did, it would go FLYING across the room and send us into a load of giggles - even more giggles as mommy tried to find the pasta. Lindy (our "lonely" dog) found some of it for me. So after breaking it some more, we did small ones and shook the shaker for awhile.







Painting was a big hit today as well. He doesn't seem to be too keen on fingerpainting, but loves to paint with the brush. We'll do more painting tomorrow - time was limited today with it. I cut these out earlier this evening after they dried and maybe tomorrow we'll add glue and other things. We'll see!

A great article

I feel so much better after reading this. Wow, I was beginning to believe I wouldn't be able to tackle this Homeschool thing successfully. Wow, this is just the thing I needed for today. It came to me in an email-issue of Carolina Homeschooler and the original article is located at http://www.carolinahomeschooler.com/articles.htm. I added it to here to keep my "customers" from having to follow so many links - I like being able to just click and read.

My House is a Mess!

by Kim Blum-Hyclak

My house is a mess. I want to get down to the business of schoolwork with my children, but the clutter is getting in the way. Colorful Legos� dot the floor like land mines ready to be stepped on. Books have escaped the prison of the shelves and lie open, hiding in freedom in the stairway alcove. The box of craft supplies exploded and the debris lies in creative concentric circles. The two dishes I left in the sink last night mated. Their offspring now enjoy the run of the table and the counter top. The piles of laundry I lovingly folded now lean like a famous monument, inching their way to the edges of the washer and dryer.

I survey the damage and feel overwhelmed. I yearn for the day when I can sit at the table with my kids and their lessons and open their minds to all the wonderful "stuff" the world has to offer, without the distractions that our daily living heaps upon us.

But after years of homeschooling, I know this is not the dream I want realized. I am living my dream. The Legos are not just creations, they are lighthouses. They are modeled after the lighthouse we visited on a trip to Florida. In one afternoon at Ponce Inlet, we learned about the inlet and its lighthouse, climbing its 203 steps to the top. We toured buildings packed with exhibits and learned about how the lighthouse works and its history, about lighthouses around the world, about ocean life and what it's like to be a sailor, about how Cuban refugees escape to America and the courage it must take.

The books in the alcove had help escaping. There is never a complete set of encyclopedias on the shelves; my children squander them in their rooms. The delinquent books in the alcove are the remainders of the journey my children took looking for Alaska. There is "w" for world, "u" for universe, "m" for maps, and finally "a" for Alaska. Along their journey, I know they also found many surprises.

The other books scattered about are the pleasure books that I have to pry from their hands when it is time for bed. There are the lighthouse books and my ninth-grader's John Grisham from the library. There is the young teen book my daughter absorbs, opening the door to questions and discussions that take place at the dinner table or wherever she needs.

Out of the creative explosion of the craft box comes a colorful "ojos de Dios," eyes of God. My son has given me this offering to place alongside the other gifts of my children's handiwork. Like an archeological dig, my bookcase and shelves are lined with artifacts from our various studies. There is the Egyptian pitcher molded from clay, the heraldry shield with our family crest, the quilt sampler from our American Girls Quilting Circle. There is pride in their workmanship and love in their offering.

The dishes were a lesson in science. Mixing water and flour makes paste. Mixing bouillon and water makes a solution. Heat from the stove causes a chemical reaction, the liquid of eggs becoming solid. They are also a lesson in math � figuring the correct amounts for a recipe and the correct time for cooking. Full meals have been cooked in my absence, including pasta sauce from scratch. The three kids help each other and divide the tasks.

The clothes would have been put away if we hadn't had a field trip to the state park for a program on birds. They would have gotten put away later, but we had to meet with other homeschoolers for a Lenten activity. Later that night, they were still patiently waiting to be tended to, but I was playing Monopoly and reading to my children.

I would like my house to be neat and tidy, but now is not the time. Webster defines education as "the development of knowledge, skill, ability, or character by training, study, or experience." He defines "learning" as "the gaining of knowledge or skill." In our homeschool, we do this in the distractions of our lives, not exclusive of them.

My children have taken responsibility for a portion of their education and taken it out of the boundaries of the kitchen table. As I write this, my older son does Latin and Algebra in his bedroom. My daughter is reading on the deck. My third is in the clubhouse with the dog, writing a story with the words he knows how to spell. Work is still done at the kitchen table, but most of the learning is done around the house. And it is done in an environment that not only encourages, but expects them to be respectful, compassionate, helpful, and encouraging to each other.

These lessons, now being applied to someone older or younger, or of another sex, will easily transfer to others of a different race, culture, or religion. This is what education is all about � taking what is being learned and assimilating it into their everyday playing and living. So yes, my house is a mess, but more importantly, at this point, my children are not.

3-13-09 Gluing shapes to make a picture

He really liked doing this one. We used squares and rectangles to make an animal - a Dalmation!

It also gave us a good opportunity to have a conversation about Cinders and Dakota again (our dogs that are no longer with us, for a few months now - Cinders was a dalmation, Dakota a husky. We had to have them both put down due to complications of getting old - both were in pain and not having a good life in general). It was nice to be able to talk about it on 'my' terms and explain to him a few things that I was prepared to explain ("Who is God?", "Where is Heaven?", "Do they still have boo-boos?", etc.) - these questions have been raised now and then when he asks where the dogs are.

A couple of other things that came up with this moment: glue does not go in his hair...and a lesson for me - a little bit of glue goes A LONG WAY.






Singing songs from our 'song notebook' currently in process. Favorites right now include The Farmer in the Dell and the SNAP Crocodile song.

Quite a few books we don't read very often

Drawing letters, shapes, snowman on mini-white board

We have "discovered" a great website Ryan really enjoys. starfall.com - He loves it! He has been playing every day for 10-15 minutes for the last few days. He would play all day if I let him. Amazingly, he is a whiz with the mouse. We started out with him sitting on my lap and me showing him how. A single day later, he is shooing me away and doing it all himself. Kids are amazing. He is always saying "I want to play star dah com mommy!" and wanting to "make a now-man" or "pumpkin" or "ginger-man". He likes the letters too - but likes making the characters a touch better. I enjoy them too, believe it or not.

3-9-09 Play-doh fun!

3-3-09 Clothespins on pipe cleaner circles

Idea taken from Tot School - we took a red, yellow and blue pipe cleaner and bent/fastened in a circle. Then, put some red, yellow and blue clothespins in the tray and had him clip the correct colored pins to the colored pipe cleaner. No pics of it, he did it quickly and then was bored with it. But, we did have fun clipping the clothespins on all sorts of things. Here is my finished product:


I'm not keeping up with the posting of activities the way I should be - or writing them down to post later. I'm posting the ones I take pics of and trying to get those up. We have been doing a lot of activities, just no pics of them.

I'm doing a lot of reading/researching ideas at night and gathering materials. I'll try and post a list of my favorite blogs sometime soon.