This blog has been dragging the last couple of days, and I haven't been able to post. So, let's give it another go today...
On the 26, 27 & 28th we did lots of fun stuff! On the home school front we did an experiment on evaporation where we put out 1 1/2 tsp of water on a saucer and left it overnight. BabyGirl was so excited to see that it was gone later the next day!
We visited our Great Grandma and helped her with lots of cleaning, etc. We took care of her bird and whistled lots of songs for him. He's so sweet and has been wooing the children of the family for generations!
We've been singing over and over the days of the week song, so I think we've got that nailed!:)
We've been keeping up with our reading lessons and also working with rhyming, same/different comparisons, and sequence. We've done #12 in our journal, too.
There was more French at the library, a jazz/tap dance trial and a gymnastics trial. We've decided to go with Jazz/tap instead of ballet since it's something BabyGirl is passionate about. That is, after all, what life is all about...passion! We're also going to do gymnastics. Whew! Talk about a busy time!!!!!
Next week things should calm down some, and we'll settle into our new schedule. We look forward to starting October, going to the largest classroom day at the fair, some awesome new science projects, etc.
Until next time..... :)
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
September 26
Although I tried to post yesterday something was mucking up this site I think and I couldn't do a thing!!
On the evening of 9/25 we put out a teaspoon of water on a saucer to find out more about evaporation. In less than 24 hours it was gone. We read a little book about evaporation and condensation.
We had some errands to run today, and then went to our Great Grandma's house to help out and clean a little. BabyGirl loves to help clean up and feels like she's really done something great. As always, it was a wonderful time visiting with grandma and was hard leaving to come home.
We did a short reading lesson before bedtime since we were so busy.
So, now for the beginning of a new day..... :)
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
September 25
Today with all the thunderstorms, etc. we weren't able to blog. So, here's my catch-up. I definitely missed logging it last night since it sort of caps off my thoughts for the day.
We did our next science experiment with ice cubes. We filled 2 bowls with the same number of ice cubes and added salt to one of them. We stirred them and then made a guess on which one would met fastest. BabyGirl guessed the one with the salt in it, and was correct. We talked about how you can put salt on icy sidewalks and streets to help them melt faster. Very fun! We watched some of our Eyewitness Weather DVD we picked up at the library last week and found it very interesting!
We did number 11 in our journal today and a few more dot-to-dots. BabyGirl flipped through some of our workbooks and found some pages on sequence where she had to cut out all the pieces of the story and glue them together in the correct order. She loved this soooo much and when she had finished told me the story in her own words creating character names, etc.
She always asks if it's dark on the other side of the world when it's light here, but today she asked "What do people on the other side of the world talk like?" So, we played with our Smart Globe forever today finding out. It told us how to say 'hello' in the native language of any place we chose. It was fun and she was surprised to find out how many places spoke French since she's learning bits of it each week at the library. We also talked about what Spanish words we know, and it's surprisingly a lot more than I remember. After we were done with language, we found out what climate each place we chose had and discussed that. And, finally, we checked out the different populations around the world. This globe is so awesome and every time we play with it we learn so much more. BabyGirl can already point out all of her favorite places and loves going back to find out more about them. Greenland is her absolute favorite!
We had dance tonight, and talked about how different it is in this class compared to last year. she likes it, but not as much. She loved the freedom of running around everywhere and this is much more disciplined movements. So, we've decided to add gymnastics to our routine next week and see if that fills in the gap since she said she definitely doesn't want to quit dance all together.
Our reading lessons are going so well! This book was such a great investment, and I'm thrilled with the results. She cannot get enough of it and yells "Yay! Sounds writing!" every time we come to that part. She's doing excellent and is reading/sounding out words all the time.
We played on BrainPop and Starfall a bunch this morning. There was a funny story about lice of BrainPop Jr. and she aced the quiz. :) www.brainpop.com, www.starfall.com
I was so worried coming into this that BabyGirl wouldn't want to learn, or maybe even learn from me. I'm so relieved to find that is not at all true. She keeps moving us forward constantly. She seeks answers to questions and comes to me to find the answers. She loves to play with doing worksheets and our daily routines. We can learn so much in one day sometimes that it amazes me. I can't even explain the feeling of accomplishment that gives me. Nothing in the world can top that.
Now, on to the Magic School Bus! :)
We did our next science experiment with ice cubes. We filled 2 bowls with the same number of ice cubes and added salt to one of them. We stirred them and then made a guess on which one would met fastest. BabyGirl guessed the one with the salt in it, and was correct. We talked about how you can put salt on icy sidewalks and streets to help them melt faster. Very fun! We watched some of our Eyewitness Weather DVD we picked up at the library last week and found it very interesting!
We did number 11 in our journal today and a few more dot-to-dots. BabyGirl flipped through some of our workbooks and found some pages on sequence where she had to cut out all the pieces of the story and glue them together in the correct order. She loved this soooo much and when she had finished told me the story in her own words creating character names, etc.
She always asks if it's dark on the other side of the world when it's light here, but today she asked "What do people on the other side of the world talk like?" So, we played with our Smart Globe forever today finding out. It told us how to say 'hello' in the native language of any place we chose. It was fun and she was surprised to find out how many places spoke French since she's learning bits of it each week at the library. We also talked about what Spanish words we know, and it's surprisingly a lot more than I remember. After we were done with language, we found out what climate each place we chose had and discussed that. And, finally, we checked out the different populations around the world. This globe is so awesome and every time we play with it we learn so much more. BabyGirl can already point out all of her favorite places and loves going back to find out more about them. Greenland is her absolute favorite!
We had dance tonight, and talked about how different it is in this class compared to last year. she likes it, but not as much. She loved the freedom of running around everywhere and this is much more disciplined movements. So, we've decided to add gymnastics to our routine next week and see if that fills in the gap since she said she definitely doesn't want to quit dance all together.
Our reading lessons are going so well! This book was such a great investment, and I'm thrilled with the results. She cannot get enough of it and yells "Yay! Sounds writing!" every time we come to that part. She's doing excellent and is reading/sounding out words all the time.
We played on BrainPop and Starfall a bunch this morning. There was a funny story about lice of BrainPop Jr. and she aced the quiz. :) www.brainpop.com, www.starfall.com
I was so worried coming into this that BabyGirl wouldn't want to learn, or maybe even learn from me. I'm so relieved to find that is not at all true. She keeps moving us forward constantly. She seeks answers to questions and comes to me to find the answers. She loves to play with doing worksheets and our daily routines. We can learn so much in one day sometimes that it amazes me. I can't even explain the feeling of accomplishment that gives me. Nothing in the world can top that.
Now, on to the Magic School Bus! :)
Monday, September 24, 2007
Day of endless possibilities
Today has been such a wonderful day on the home school front! We woke up feeling artsy so we created, painted and decorated our huge calendar for October. It was fun and super messy! (which you already know we LOVE) While we were creating our calendar we sang songs about the days of the week and months of the year. Next we did our calendar for today.
We did a science experiment today about sinking and floating. We did it based on the Magic School Bus book I mentioned earlier. We took what we already knew about sinking and floating and made a hypothesis. The question was: If you have 2 balls of clay the same size..make one flat and curve the sides up to make a boat...keep the other one a ball. Which one will float? BabyGirl's hypothesis was "The one that is flat because the ball will sink. That one will float since it's flat" She was thrilled when we finished the experiment that she was correct. We discussed the reason why she was correct being that the boat can push enough water out of the way & water pushes up hard enough so it floats. The ball sinks because the ball shape cannot push enough water out of the way. She thought this was awesome and we plan on doing more experiments throughout the week. Of course we couldn't end the experiment without squishing the clay around and around with water getting icky! :)
We did number 10 in our number journal today. We did different kinds of worksheets she picked out involving patterns, choosing quantities, and many dot-to-dots. She excelled in all of these and I've noticed can finish any pattern now.
Since we read and studied Johnny Appleseed earlier this month she has gotten into tall tales. We've also done Paul Bunyan last week, reading the story, making puppets and acting it out. Today we did John Henry. She is familiar with the story already, but we read it again this time pointing out aspects of it that made it a tall tale. We found fact and fiction parts of the story and compared them. We talked about why the story survived. We discussed that it may have been since his life was about power and strength that no system could take from a man. To thousands of workers he was an inspiration and an example. He was a man just like they were, who worked in the same deplorable conditions but still managed to make his mark. We talked about how we posses the same strengths within us today. We can do anything we put our minds to. We can live out our dreams, become anything and everything we want to be. The possibilities are truly endless. NO ONE can take that from us. Who knew we could take so much from a tall tale? :) I've included a link to a song about John Henry, if you have a few minutes to sit and hear the story I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as we did.
Until tomorrow.....
We did a science experiment today about sinking and floating. We did it based on the Magic School Bus book I mentioned earlier. We took what we already knew about sinking and floating and made a hypothesis. The question was: If you have 2 balls of clay the same size..make one flat and curve the sides up to make a boat...keep the other one a ball. Which one will float? BabyGirl's hypothesis was "The one that is flat because the ball will sink. That one will float since it's flat" She was thrilled when we finished the experiment that she was correct. We discussed the reason why she was correct being that the boat can push enough water out of the way & water pushes up hard enough so it floats. The ball sinks because the ball shape cannot push enough water out of the way. She thought this was awesome and we plan on doing more experiments throughout the week. Of course we couldn't end the experiment without squishing the clay around and around with water getting icky! :)
We did number 10 in our number journal today. We did different kinds of worksheets she picked out involving patterns, choosing quantities, and many dot-to-dots. She excelled in all of these and I've noticed can finish any pattern now.
Since we read and studied Johnny Appleseed earlier this month she has gotten into tall tales. We've also done Paul Bunyan last week, reading the story, making puppets and acting it out. Today we did John Henry. She is familiar with the story already, but we read it again this time pointing out aspects of it that made it a tall tale. We found fact and fiction parts of the story and compared them. We talked about why the story survived. We discussed that it may have been since his life was about power and strength that no system could take from a man. To thousands of workers he was an inspiration and an example. He was a man just like they were, who worked in the same deplorable conditions but still managed to make his mark. We talked about how we posses the same strengths within us today. We can do anything we put our minds to. We can live out our dreams, become anything and everything we want to be. The possibilities are truly endless. NO ONE can take that from us. Who knew we could take so much from a tall tale? :) I've included a link to a song about John Henry, if you have a few minutes to sit and hear the story I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as we did.
Until tomorrow.....
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Days gone by...
We haven't blogged in forever! We've been blessed to have our great-grandparents from Missouri come and stay with us, and words cannot even describe how much fun we've had!! We've gone to several parks and the zoo. Not to mention all the time spent playing games and visiting. You can learn so much from the older people in your lives that you could absolutely never learn from any textbook!! They posses the patience and understanding to make any conversation exciting for BabyGirl and I know she took so much from them. We cannot wait to see them again and it just can't come soon enough!!
We were able to go to the home school bowling and had a blast! This was the first time BabyGirl has bowled and loved it! She would just throw that ball with everything she had every time! It will be a fun thing to look forward to every month.
Along with all the fun, we've been keeping up with our tiny reading lesson once a day. She seems to really enjoy doing that later in the day, so sometimes we even do that right before dinner. I am so pleased with how well she grasps each lesson and can already sound out small words. We've done a couple numbers in our journal and read books about anything that's interesting her. We've read about Paul Bunyan, rainbows, lightning, the water cycle, sinking and floating, etc. We've done several worksheets here and there, and are preparing some fun things for the month of October.
So , here we are I guess...back to reality :) In this past week I've learned quite a bit myself. I've learned that things don't have to be planned or taught necessarily the way we think. They can come in all sorts of ways, through the people we love, through the fun activities we share each and every day, and most of all having fun and learning through life. I love investigating everything that BabyGirl asks. I can't even believe sometimes the questions she comes up with at 4 years old! "What is past space?" "What is the last number? If I counted my whole life would I ever reach it?" I'll wrap this up with something we read last night that really touched me. I had to read it several times over. It's out of the Magic School Bus book Ups and Downs A Book About Sinking and Floating. Ms. Frizzle says "If you don't look, you'll never see. And what you don't see can be very hard to find." Here's to all the things we're looking for....
We were able to go to the home school bowling and had a blast! This was the first time BabyGirl has bowled and loved it! She would just throw that ball with everything she had every time! It will be a fun thing to look forward to every month.
Along with all the fun, we've been keeping up with our tiny reading lesson once a day. She seems to really enjoy doing that later in the day, so sometimes we even do that right before dinner. I am so pleased with how well she grasps each lesson and can already sound out small words. We've done a couple numbers in our journal and read books about anything that's interesting her. We've read about Paul Bunyan, rainbows, lightning, the water cycle, sinking and floating, etc. We've done several worksheets here and there, and are preparing some fun things for the month of October.
So , here we are I guess...back to reality :) In this past week I've learned quite a bit myself. I've learned that things don't have to be planned or taught necessarily the way we think. They can come in all sorts of ways, through the people we love, through the fun activities we share each and every day, and most of all having fun and learning through life. I love investigating everything that BabyGirl asks. I can't even believe sometimes the questions she comes up with at 4 years old! "What is past space?" "What is the last number? If I counted my whole life would I ever reach it?" I'll wrap this up with something we read last night that really touched me. I had to read it several times over. It's out of the Magic School Bus book Ups and Downs A Book About Sinking and Floating. Ms. Frizzle says "If you don't look, you'll never see. And what you don't see can be very hard to find." Here's to all the things we're looking for....
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Day 6
Today we got up and after breakfast immediately did our calendar and lesson 2 on our reading program. It went great!! Then we went to our local story time. The kids remembered the French they learned last week and had so much fun!
Today was our wonderful Great Grandmother's Birthday so we went with some family to celebrate at McDonald's. The kids loved playing together and as always it was so great to be able to spend time with our Grandmother!
We had to do a little shopping today and go to the bank, so we integrated some spending, saving and counting techniques into our journey. You mean, the bank just doesn't put money into our account??! Why can't we just write a check??! LOL :) Proudly, after saving and saving money in her savings account BabyGirl was able to withdraw some and purchase her own Halloween Costume off ebay today. She cannot wait to reap the rewards!!!
We did number 6 in our number journal tonight and all that stuff. Also we played with more/less and some other sheets that involved cutting/pasting things in different positions. These were a big hit. Today was a great play day all around! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GMA J!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!
Today was our wonderful Great Grandmother's Birthday so we went with some family to celebrate at McDonald's. The kids loved playing together and as always it was so great to be able to spend time with our Grandmother!
We had to do a little shopping today and go to the bank, so we integrated some spending, saving and counting techniques into our journey. You mean, the bank just doesn't put money into our account??! Why can't we just write a check??! LOL :) Proudly, after saving and saving money in her savings account BabyGirl was able to withdraw some and purchase her own Halloween Costume off ebay today. She cannot wait to reap the rewards!!!
We did number 6 in our number journal tonight and all that stuff. Also we played with more/less and some other sheets that involved cutting/pasting things in different positions. These were a big hit. Today was a great play day all around! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GMA J!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Day 5
So, yesterday we had an opportunity to babysit the new cousin in our family. We had so much fun and that was a learning experience in itself! The bottle making, diaper changing and tummy time were so exciting to the little mommy in BabyGirl! She thoroughly enjoyed that!
Today we started off as usual with putting the date on the calendar, but today we also added "Lesson 1" since we're starting a new reading program today. After we finish our lesson for that day she will have a chance to put a sticker next to it on the calendar, and also draw a face for how she felt about it. She drew a smiley today! We're trying out the DISTAR method and so far so good. She did really well with the first lesson, and I love how it's not too much all at once. Just right for the small attention span. It was also interesting to her the way it was presented kind of like a game. It really stuck. It also gives me lots of practice on speaking the sounds correctly! :) We also did some mazes for writing practice and a letter search. Mazes and dot to dots are always a huge hit!
We did the number 5 in our number journal today along with the worksheets we have to go with it. We reviewed practice writing and counting 0-5 as well. We also did exercises on recognizing groups with the same number of items, recognizing more and less and matching one to one. As always, these worksheets and exercises are very enjoyable to her and she is excited about each and every one!
We sang some rhyming songs together and she taught me the ABC's this morning. She often teaches our dogs the ABC's as well when they attend her "dog school". She gets a pointer and tells them different words that begin with particular letters. It's so funny to watch! She yells "Time for dog school"...and they come running to see what they will learn today! She also uses her sidewalk chalk when showing them how to write. :)
We went on another nature hunt this morning and found all sorts of cool bugs, flowers and birds. We took pictures of them so we could identify them once we come inside. We took out paper and different pastels and made rubbings of all the leaves we collected. She loved doing this, and has sent some off to share with family.
On our outside adventure we also gave the dogs a much needed bath, and made them some "plum stew" since they are so plentiful on the ground under our tree. What a beautiful day to enjoy the outdoors!!
Today we started off as usual with putting the date on the calendar, but today we also added "Lesson 1" since we're starting a new reading program today. After we finish our lesson for that day she will have a chance to put a sticker next to it on the calendar, and also draw a face for how she felt about it. She drew a smiley today! We're trying out the DISTAR method and so far so good. She did really well with the first lesson, and I love how it's not too much all at once. Just right for the small attention span. It was also interesting to her the way it was presented kind of like a game. It really stuck. It also gives me lots of practice on speaking the sounds correctly! :) We also did some mazes for writing practice and a letter search. Mazes and dot to dots are always a huge hit!
We did the number 5 in our number journal today along with the worksheets we have to go with it. We reviewed practice writing and counting 0-5 as well. We also did exercises on recognizing groups with the same number of items, recognizing more and less and matching one to one. As always, these worksheets and exercises are very enjoyable to her and she is excited about each and every one!
We sang some rhyming songs together and she taught me the ABC's this morning. She often teaches our dogs the ABC's as well when they attend her "dog school". She gets a pointer and tells them different words that begin with particular letters. It's so funny to watch! She yells "Time for dog school"...and they come running to see what they will learn today! She also uses her sidewalk chalk when showing them how to write. :)
We went on another nature hunt this morning and found all sorts of cool bugs, flowers and birds. We took pictures of them so we could identify them once we come inside. We took out paper and different pastels and made rubbings of all the leaves we collected. She loved doing this, and has sent some off to share with family.
On our outside adventure we also gave the dogs a much needed bath, and made them some "plum stew" since they are so plentiful on the ground under our tree. What a beautiful day to enjoy the outdoors!!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Day 4
Another rainy day, but we didn't let it dampen our enthusiasm for learning!! After taking the weekend off BabyGirl was so ready to get right back to it! She wanted to do some momma school on Sunday, but chores had to get done...
So, she did her calendar and then decided to start off the day with science. Since she loves learning about insects we investigated the earwig. I found a cool earwig we could print out and construct which she loved!! We learned about the different body parts of the earwig and a little about their life cycle. She thought it was so cool that her Great Grandma claims to have had an earwig in her ear years and years ago that she "floated" out with oil :) She held up her constructed earwig and said in a witchy voice "When I dry I'm going to crawl into your ear!" It was hilarious!!
We did number 4 in our journal and the pages to go along with it. For math practice and confidence building we did more on sequence, sizes and baked some brownies working with fractions.
For our reading practice and confidence building we worked on the left to right concept, rhyming out loud and with our phonics workbook, recognizing same/different, categorizing, and pointing out what doesn't belong or what is missing.
We made a little phone book of her own with numbers of family members to keep by her phone. She drew a little cell phone by the ones that were cell's and we drew little houses by the home numbers. She loved this so much, especially being able to use it when we were through to call Daddy-o! She also remembered our home number and of course 911.
We did some exercises on community helpers and their jobs. We have some cool puzzles where we put together the job with the person. She enjoys working those. We also circled some examples of good and poor citizens in some funny situations in a book we have that celebrates good citizen day this month.
When Daddy-o comes home we will continue with our daily free expression music lessons and do our new daily exercise routine that includes some crunches, push ups, etc. (what they DON'T include is me!:)
I've noticed that every single second of every single day is a learning opportunity. What I blog here is what we plot out to do each day in momma school. I'm so fortunate that she is asking me to do all these things each day and wants more and more worksheets, books, etc. What I can't blog is all the stuff in between that fills the rest of our day. Every aspect of her life is a learning process. I am so amazed as I go through each day observing her world, our world. What a blessing to be able to spend this time here doing what we want together. All the rest of the world may be running around here and there...grocery shopping in a huff at walmart, clocking in at work, sitting in a drive thru on lunch hour, navigating the yucky office politics.....and here we are. In our own little world. We couldn't be happier.
So, she did her calendar and then decided to start off the day with science. Since she loves learning about insects we investigated the earwig. I found a cool earwig we could print out and construct which she loved!! We learned about the different body parts of the earwig and a little about their life cycle. She thought it was so cool that her Great Grandma claims to have had an earwig in her ear years and years ago that she "floated" out with oil :) She held up her constructed earwig and said in a witchy voice "When I dry I'm going to crawl into your ear!" It was hilarious!!
We did number 4 in our journal and the pages to go along with it. For math practice and confidence building we did more on sequence, sizes and baked some brownies working with fractions.
For our reading practice and confidence building we worked on the left to right concept, rhyming out loud and with our phonics workbook, recognizing same/different, categorizing, and pointing out what doesn't belong or what is missing.
We made a little phone book of her own with numbers of family members to keep by her phone. She drew a little cell phone by the ones that were cell's and we drew little houses by the home numbers. She loved this so much, especially being able to use it when we were through to call Daddy-o! She also remembered our home number and of course 911.
We did some exercises on community helpers and their jobs. We have some cool puzzles where we put together the job with the person. She enjoys working those. We also circled some examples of good and poor citizens in some funny situations in a book we have that celebrates good citizen day this month.
When Daddy-o comes home we will continue with our daily free expression music lessons and do our new daily exercise routine that includes some crunches, push ups, etc. (what they DON'T include is me!:)
I've noticed that every single second of every single day is a learning opportunity. What I blog here is what we plot out to do each day in momma school. I'm so fortunate that she is asking me to do all these things each day and wants more and more worksheets, books, etc. What I can't blog is all the stuff in between that fills the rest of our day. Every aspect of her life is a learning process. I am so amazed as I go through each day observing her world, our world. What a blessing to be able to spend this time here doing what we want together. All the rest of the world may be running around here and there...grocery shopping in a huff at walmart, clocking in at work, sitting in a drive thru on lunch hour, navigating the yucky office politics.....and here we are. In our own little world. We couldn't be happier.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Fun Day and Day 3
So, yesterday was fun day and we had a blast! We had our usual story time that we participate in every Thursday. The teacher has started including some French in each story time now and the kids are digging it! We also went to the Cornerstone meeting and had such a great time! BabyGirl really enjoyed making her flat Stanley and hanging out with the other kids her age. I especially enjoyed meeting other people I feel I can relate to. It was so nice for a change! When we came home we did our calendar and had music with Daddy-o.
Today we started out with our calendar and the number 3 in our journal. She did great writing the number 3 and breezed through the worksheets. She was so proud of herself and how easily she was able to write it! We sung Three Blind Mice to go along with it as well.
For some math exercises we sorted things according to their size on paper and involving objects. She loved this and had no trouble at all and actually said it was so much fun! We're just going through all of our preschool workbooks doing math readiness exercises since she loves them so much and doesn't like to do anything too challenging yet in this area, it's just frustrating to her and she won't want to continue. We also worked on more than/less than a little, and read some of the many books we got at the library yesterday involving counting.
For our reading exercises we did some worksheets where she drew lines from animals on one side of the page to their different homes on the other side of the page. We have lots of these and she never tires of doing them! We also practiced organization and how to put things where they belong. We did this with cut/paste pages and with objects around the house. It's amazing how picking up actually seems fun when doing this! We had fun clapping out syllables and she started doing it herself in the kitchen while we were cooking. It was so cool to listen to, and we play it like a game. She cut out parts of a story and pasted them in order of how they occured. She then told the story to me and was thrilled about it! She can't wait until Daddy-o comes home so she can share with him as well!
For art we decorated a picture of Johnny Appleseed and stamped around him with the "flower" shape we cut out of the center of an apple. We took dried apple seeds and glued them in his sack. This was wonderful!
For our science we made our own applesauce. Needless to say this was a big hit just like anything we do in the kitchen! We identified parts of the apple as we cut them up, discussed planting the seeds and how they grow (which we went over in spring when we planted our garden and she remembered), how the apple slices changed as they cooked, and what the lemon juice does in the mix. She had a blast doing this and we will be eating the results very soon!
We played with our Smart Globe like we do every day and checked out the new world events since there was a new download this morning. She was very interested in the giant spiderweb!
We are going to start reading some about the changes that take place in fall and view a video we checked out yesterday. We've found lots more things involving fall that we will do throughout this beautiful time of year. She is so excited every day by what will happen next...the next day...the next week....the next month (pumpkin patch)........and I'm so happy to say that so am I! More and more I realize the possibilities are endless when you look at the world through your child's eyes. I can't imagine myself doing anything else.
Today we started out with our calendar and the number 3 in our journal. She did great writing the number 3 and breezed through the worksheets. She was so proud of herself and how easily she was able to write it! We sung Three Blind Mice to go along with it as well.
For some math exercises we sorted things according to their size on paper and involving objects. She loved this and had no trouble at all and actually said it was so much fun! We're just going through all of our preschool workbooks doing math readiness exercises since she loves them so much and doesn't like to do anything too challenging yet in this area, it's just frustrating to her and she won't want to continue. We also worked on more than/less than a little, and read some of the many books we got at the library yesterday involving counting.
For our reading exercises we did some worksheets where she drew lines from animals on one side of the page to their different homes on the other side of the page. We have lots of these and she never tires of doing them! We also practiced organization and how to put things where they belong. We did this with cut/paste pages and with objects around the house. It's amazing how picking up actually seems fun when doing this! We had fun clapping out syllables and she started doing it herself in the kitchen while we were cooking. It was so cool to listen to, and we play it like a game. She cut out parts of a story and pasted them in order of how they occured. She then told the story to me and was thrilled about it! She can't wait until Daddy-o comes home so she can share with him as well!
For art we decorated a picture of Johnny Appleseed and stamped around him with the "flower" shape we cut out of the center of an apple. We took dried apple seeds and glued them in his sack. This was wonderful!
For our science we made our own applesauce. Needless to say this was a big hit just like anything we do in the kitchen! We identified parts of the apple as we cut them up, discussed planting the seeds and how they grow (which we went over in spring when we planted our garden and she remembered), how the apple slices changed as they cooked, and what the lemon juice does in the mix. She had a blast doing this and we will be eating the results very soon!
We played with our Smart Globe like we do every day and checked out the new world events since there was a new download this morning. She was very interested in the giant spiderweb!
We are going to start reading some about the changes that take place in fall and view a video we checked out yesterday. We've found lots more things involving fall that we will do throughout this beautiful time of year. She is so excited every day by what will happen next...the next day...the next week....the next month (pumpkin patch)........and I'm so happy to say that so am I! More and more I realize the possibilities are endless when you look at the world through your child's eyes. I can't imagine myself doing anything else.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Day 2
So, another great day on our "homestead" as BabyGirl likes to call it. We started with our calendar as usual to begin our adventure for the day. Our eggs became icky and squishy overnight in the vinegar. BabyGirl was thrilled to see that they had in fact turned white and ooey gooey! She definitely had to squash them to bits after the first squeeze!!!
Next we did the number 2 in our number journal. This one is proving hard to write and will need some practice when she is willing to do it. :) She enjoyed the worksheets and coloring that went along with them.
We practiced a little more on the more/less concept even though I don't believe she needs it, she just likes the pages in her book that go with them. She loves especially to circle the 100% on the top of the page proudly!
We did some reading readiness identifying same/different. These are very easy for her and she moves quickly through the exercises, but again, she loves to practice and has fun circling each item that is the same or different out of a group.
We've begun to study John Chapman AKA Johnny Appleseed since his bday is coming up at the end of the month. We've found several picture books on him at our local library with beautiful pictures and the story written in a child-friendly way. We've also found the old Disney cartoon of him that I remember watching when I was a little girl. The songs are great! We're looking forward to doing some science projects involving apples coming up soon.
We went outside in between showers and did a bug hunt. It was so much fun for her sneaking around trying to catch a glimpse of a bug to take a picture of! We found several, but her favorites were the stink bug pictured and a lady bug. We also took out her sketch book so that she could draw pictures of the bugs we found or anything else that inspired her. She loved drawing spiders. They are soooo cute!!!
She's been wanting to make cookies for several days now and today proved to be perfect for that! She decided on oatmeal/coconut and they came out great! She of course has to do it all herself!! She even remembers and is able to pick out which cup is 1/2 out of all the measuring cups and reads the recipe to me since it's made with pictures of the ingredients and easy words,numbers that she can recognize. (children's cook book) She has loved cooking and helping in the kitchen since she could sit up on the counter!
She had a blast at dance class last night. It was so much different that when she was in the Baby Bop class for ages 2-3. She was able to use the ballet bar and learn several positions. Her teacher let her lead the class in some of the exercises and she felt like such a big girl. The tap dancing was great, too. I can hardly believe my eyes when I look through the glass watching her dance. I still remember when she was a chubby little 2 1/2 year old who crossed her arms and stomped away from the teacher saying "NO I won't! I want Mommy!" with that familiar little girl scowl on her face. What a long way we've come. She just lets loose in there now!
We plan on doing our exercise record this afternoon together that joins different kinds of music and body movements in a fun and soothing way. She loves to do this every day!
I believe we're going to try and check out the Cornerstone meeting tomorrow and see what it's like. We've never been to any home school gatherings yet and hope to meet lots of new friends and their families within Cornerstone and SCENE. So far our experience has been wonderful! I'm so glad that I began researching/thinking about homeschooling as early as I did. Seems like everyone is either totally for it or totally against it! Now I'm able to blow all negatives off as I live my dream! I guess the proof will be in the pudding! :)
Next we did the number 2 in our number journal. This one is proving hard to write and will need some practice when she is willing to do it. :) She enjoyed the worksheets and coloring that went along with them.
We practiced a little more on the more/less concept even though I don't believe she needs it, she just likes the pages in her book that go with them. She loves especially to circle the 100% on the top of the page proudly!
We did some reading readiness identifying same/different. These are very easy for her and she moves quickly through the exercises, but again, she loves to practice and has fun circling each item that is the same or different out of a group.
We've begun to study John Chapman AKA Johnny Appleseed since his bday is coming up at the end of the month. We've found several picture books on him at our local library with beautiful pictures and the story written in a child-friendly way. We've also found the old Disney cartoon of him that I remember watching when I was a little girl. The songs are great! We're looking forward to doing some science projects involving apples coming up soon.
We went outside in between showers and did a bug hunt. It was so much fun for her sneaking around trying to catch a glimpse of a bug to take a picture of! We found several, but her favorites were the stink bug pictured and a lady bug. We also took out her sketch book so that she could draw pictures of the bugs we found or anything else that inspired her. She loved drawing spiders. They are soooo cute!!!
She's been wanting to make cookies for several days now and today proved to be perfect for that! She decided on oatmeal/coconut and they came out great! She of course has to do it all herself!! She even remembers and is able to pick out which cup is 1/2 out of all the measuring cups and reads the recipe to me since it's made with pictures of the ingredients and easy words,numbers that she can recognize. (children's cook book) She has loved cooking and helping in the kitchen since she could sit up on the counter!
She had a blast at dance class last night. It was so much different that when she was in the Baby Bop class for ages 2-3. She was able to use the ballet bar and learn several positions. Her teacher let her lead the class in some of the exercises and she felt like such a big girl. The tap dancing was great, too. I can hardly believe my eyes when I look through the glass watching her dance. I still remember when she was a chubby little 2 1/2 year old who crossed her arms and stomped away from the teacher saying "NO I won't! I want Mommy!" with that familiar little girl scowl on her face. What a long way we've come. She just lets loose in there now!
We plan on doing our exercise record this afternoon together that joins different kinds of music and body movements in a fun and soothing way. She loves to do this every day!
I believe we're going to try and check out the Cornerstone meeting tomorrow and see what it's like. We've never been to any home school gatherings yet and hope to meet lots of new friends and their families within Cornerstone and SCENE. So far our experience has been wonderful! I'm so glad that I began researching/thinking about homeschooling as early as I did. Seems like everyone is either totally for it or totally against it! Now I'm able to blow all negatives off as I live my dream! I guess the proof will be in the pudding! :)
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Day 1
I'm happy to report that day 1 of what my daughter likes to call "mamma school" was a great success! I've made a huge interactive September calendar that she writes the date on each day to get us started. She has a great memory and is grasping the calendar idea entirely.
Today we checked on our eggs first thing after breakfast and she was so excited to see how brown they had become! We pretended they were teeth and "brushed" them with different items to see which would be most effective. My daughter predicted that the baking soda would be, and she was correct. We also used salt and regular tooth paste. The salt started removing the residue the quickest of the three, and the tooth paste was least effective. Next we put them in a bowl of vinegar to let them soak overnight. Baby Girl predicted "I decide they will turn green." Within 1 hour the brown had already bubbled off....
Over the summer we read Emily's First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells. She really enjoyed this book and got into the numbers, so we decided to do our own take on it and start a number journal. Today we started with number 1 of course and did a few worksheets to go along with it. As long as they are creative using cut/paste and coloring she will work on them...now try a regular old tracing numbers worksheet and you can forget it!!!! Each day we will do a different number and have a huge party when we reach 100!! She is so excited about this!!!
We started introducing concepts of time in baby steps by discussing what takes more/less time and doing a worksheet with pictures she could identify what would take longer by coloring it. She flew through this with flying colors!
She decide she wanted to learn about Killer Whales and work a jigsaw puzzle featuring one. We both learned more during this and she was very intrigued by it. She is totally into anything dealing with nature, animals, the human body, outer space, weather, etc. I've found we can incorporate so much into each of these categories! We also did some sticker stories featuring animals from different environments and she flew through that as well.
We finished reading Flat Stanley last night and cut out our paper doll with some clothing to color and play with today. He is presently having an adventure in her doll house meeting all kinds of new friends. She is still very unsure of "sharing" him with other children or families and I think we may have to make another one if we are going to try that part of the book! :)
We're doing dance tonight for PE and will be doing guitar playing with Daddy-o in the evenings for our music lessons. She absolutely loves dancing and making up her own songs while Daddy strums along....she also loves to play herself!
I can't believe how fast the morning flew by and how much we fit in....I couldn't even include all of it or I'd be sitting here forever going on and on....
What a wonderful first day and what a relief to know that I can do this and she loves it so! How could anything be so great as looking into your daughters eyes and hearing "Mommy, I'm so glad you're my teacher." That says it all........
Today we checked on our eggs first thing after breakfast and she was so excited to see how brown they had become! We pretended they were teeth and "brushed" them with different items to see which would be most effective. My daughter predicted that the baking soda would be, and she was correct. We also used salt and regular tooth paste. The salt started removing the residue the quickest of the three, and the tooth paste was least effective. Next we put them in a bowl of vinegar to let them soak overnight. Baby Girl predicted "I decide they will turn green." Within 1 hour the brown had already bubbled off....
Over the summer we read Emily's First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells. She really enjoyed this book and got into the numbers, so we decided to do our own take on it and start a number journal. Today we started with number 1 of course and did a few worksheets to go along with it. As long as they are creative using cut/paste and coloring she will work on them...now try a regular old tracing numbers worksheet and you can forget it!!!! Each day we will do a different number and have a huge party when we reach 100!! She is so excited about this!!!
We started introducing concepts of time in baby steps by discussing what takes more/less time and doing a worksheet with pictures she could identify what would take longer by coloring it. She flew through this with flying colors!
She decide she wanted to learn about Killer Whales and work a jigsaw puzzle featuring one. We both learned more during this and she was very intrigued by it. She is totally into anything dealing with nature, animals, the human body, outer space, weather, etc. I've found we can incorporate so much into each of these categories! We also did some sticker stories featuring animals from different environments and she flew through that as well.
We finished reading Flat Stanley last night and cut out our paper doll with some clothing to color and play with today. He is presently having an adventure in her doll house meeting all kinds of new friends. She is still very unsure of "sharing" him with other children or families and I think we may have to make another one if we are going to try that part of the book! :)
We're doing dance tonight for PE and will be doing guitar playing with Daddy-o in the evenings for our music lessons. She absolutely loves dancing and making up her own songs while Daddy strums along....she also loves to play herself!
I can't believe how fast the morning flew by and how much we fit in....I couldn't even include all of it or I'd be sitting here forever going on and on....
What a wonderful first day and what a relief to know that I can do this and she loves it so! How could anything be so great as looking into your daughters eyes and hearing "Mommy, I'm so glad you're my teacher." That says it all........
Monday, September 3, 2007
The Night Before...
Okay, so it's the night before my first day of homeschool pre K and I'm creating a blog...WHAT? Who knew this was actually going to happen after a year of getting used the idea. We decided to homeschool our daughter practically from birth. This has given me lots of time to get prepared, join groups and somewhat get my feet wet. Of course, I've heard my fair share of the "socialization" and blah blah blah....yeah, you know. But this is where our heart is, our souls, our future. I don't want to send my daughter off to someone else and have them watch miracles unfold as she learns and becomes who she will be. I can't imagine her curiosity being shattered and her questions not being answered....so again, here I am.
We're taking it slow and easy since I believe learning should be fun, especially for a 4 year old! We believe in learning through play and experimentation, seeing the world through her eyes. This should be an adventure of a lifetime!!!
Tonight we're going to soak hard boiled eggs in sweet tea. She is going to guess what she believes will happen, and best of all get her hands messy! Then tomorrow come the next steps.
We have read all but one of the Little House on the Prairie books over the summer and she is mesmerized by everything they contain...the way of life back then, the relationships of the characters, their personalities. She will sit for literally hours begging for me to read just one more chapter. I am amazed by this and caught up in them myself so we have just lost ourselves in them. It has been the greatest feeling!
We will be starting our first day of ballet/tap tomorrow as well. This will be her third year and I can't believe how she has grown! She loves the teachers and students, and can't wait since this year she will receive her first trophy!
We can't wait to see what this next year will bring...I can only imagine
We're taking it slow and easy since I believe learning should be fun, especially for a 4 year old! We believe in learning through play and experimentation, seeing the world through her eyes. This should be an adventure of a lifetime!!!
Tonight we're going to soak hard boiled eggs in sweet tea. She is going to guess what she believes will happen, and best of all get her hands messy! Then tomorrow come the next steps.
We have read all but one of the Little House on the Prairie books over the summer and she is mesmerized by everything they contain...the way of life back then, the relationships of the characters, their personalities. She will sit for literally hours begging for me to read just one more chapter. I am amazed by this and caught up in them myself so we have just lost ourselves in them. It has been the greatest feeling!
We will be starting our first day of ballet/tap tomorrow as well. This will be her third year and I can't believe how she has grown! She loves the teachers and students, and can't wait since this year she will receive her first trophy!
We can't wait to see what this next year will bring...I can only imagine
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