My sweet Grandma

Please know how much we treasure every moment, every memory we share. You are in my every thought, and I wish I were there holding your hand right now....

I still want a hooooolaaa hoooooooooop

I'm thankful to be sitting here blogging on this cold & blustery day. We're listening to my old Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas album on our Fisher-Price record player, and waiting for our pioneer Christmas ornaments to finish baking. BabyGirl is playing with the dough remains and experimenting with what happens when you add more and more water (besides a big mess!) There's nowhere else I'd rather be.

This month for history we're learning what the pioneer Christmas was like. It's so much fun to go back in time and experience what they did. We're making ornaments, possibly clove apples, garland, and a little ball & cup game.

For geography we're learning about Antarctica. We've traced it and placed it on our wall map of the world. We've also learned about the animals and plants, or the lack thereof. On a day like today it's going to be great to take a virtual online tour. I'm hoping it will have some great shots! I can already feel the cold breezes....brrrrr!

Our phonics are moving right along. Along with our regular curriculum, BabyGirl gets allllllllll of her art supplies out covering the floor making Christmas cards & pictures for absolutely everyone she knows. She likes to write thoughtful messages on all of the cards, and label her pictures. She is such a sweet and kind soul, I can only imagine how great the world would be if everyone was as thoughtful and giving as my little girl...

We're having fun with estimation in math! She is so good at estimating length! She likes to use Lego's or paper clips, and almost always guesses dead on. She's also been using her marbles a lot in addition, subtraction and even/odd. I find she uses math on a daily basis on her own in play. I love to watch the ultimate form of kindergarten education....PLAY!

For science right now we are doing Earth's land, air and water. So far, we've done the land. We gathered samples of rock, sand and soil from our property. We observed them with and without a magnifying glass, then she drew pictures of what she saw and felt. Of course, no science experiment would be complete without mixing them all up and adding water! :)

We're having a great time as a family gearing up for the holidays. We've been looking at Christmas lights, and plan on going again next weekend. Chandler Park has an awesome display that we thoroughly enjoyed!! We got to spend some much-needed time with Nan last week just doing the girl thing...getting our hair trimmed, eating, Christmas shopping. It was a blast and I'm hoping to do it again this Friday. (Do you hear me Nanny? Get better!) Tomorrow is our annual cousins trip to the mall to sit with Santa. I can't believe every year how much all of them grow, I'm not sure Santa will have any room left on his lap!

As Christmas approaches I'm so happy for every moment I get to spend with my family creating memories that will last a lifetime. Next week we have BabyGirl's Christmas dance program, we'll watch cousin be a little shepherd in his program, and continue to be thankful for every Christmas miracle. Until next time.....

Still Thankful...

We're having a great time this month, and seem to be learning TONS of information effortlessly. I just love it when things flow like this! The weather has been beautiful for the most part, and we love to go out and enjoy it. There's nothing like fall days...

We're done our first two units on weather. We started a weather journal where we write down the temperature along with the date and time. Then she fills in the thermometer to the correct number, and draws a picture of what the weather is like outside. We also run to our school clock and set it to the same time that we just wrote. We also talked about the different kinds of clouds. She enjoyed making some out of cotton, and then painting some at her easel. We talked about humidity and experienced it first-hand in the rain forest exhibit at the Tulsa Zoo. We skimmed back over the seasons and the water cycle since we did that last year. We plan on making a home-made barometer this weekend. I'm hoping the weather will cooperate and give us some good readings!

We finished up our studies on Columbus by making the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. That was so much fun! We've begun our unit on Thanksgiving. Every day we write down something we are thankful for. We made a couple of Pilgrims, filled in a cornucopia, made a turkey, and are working on an Indian head dress. She really enjoyed talking and learning about the first Thanksgiving, especially from the children's point of view. We still have plenty to do before next week. Today we went to Gilcrease Museum for the kids dig books program. After it was over we went looking around, and she was THRILLED to find so much about the Native Americans. We looked at every single bit, and she took it all in. She wants to go back this weekend so she can show Daddy. It's intriguing to her that some of our own ancestors took part in some of these traditions.

We've been doing a lot of baking together. She gets to work on reading, following directions, and math every time we cook. She absolutely loves cooking! She's also been making lots of her own books. She loves to read them to us. Her handwriting is improving every week, and I'm so proud of her using both upper and lower-case even though she doesn't like to... :) She'll ask me how to spell a word when she's writing, and I notice a few days later she will still remember when I ask her.

The other day when I was working on the computer she was just busy as a bee...I had no idea what she was doing! She asked me to fill up her little Tupperware pitcher full of orange juice so she could pour it herself into the tiny cups. I did...then she pulled her desk all the way into the living room and started calling my name...I went in to find that she had made her own orange juice stand complete with sign and everything! She said "Mom, do you want to buy some orange juice? It's five 'c' which means five cents!" I said sure, and handed her fake money...she looked at me funny and said "It has to be a real nickel mommy!" So, I got a real one, gave it to her, and got my juice. After I drank it she said "Two orange juices a day keeps the doctor away! Make sure you come back for more!" It was so hilarious that I just laughed and laughed! What a way to keep the customers coming! With real money no less!

It's times like these that I treasure so deeply. The pure innocence of being a child. I love that she is able to flourish and grow in a way that is her own, not manipulated by anyone else. Only a home schooling parent can truly see the miracle of their little minds unfolding, figuring out the world around them at their own pace. No one else to distract or judge. More than anything else this November I am thankful for the opportunity to live this life with my little family. We are truly blessed! Until next time....

Thankful for November!

We had a wonderful October for the most part. We had TONS of learning, field trips and a really long road trip. All in all it will definitely be a memorable one...although some of the memories are painful ones. Our beloved neighbor and friend of 7 years passed away leaving so many who loved him behind. His wife will be in our daily routine now so we can try to ease the pain of missing someone who has been by your side for over 60 years. Bless her heart........My grandmother went into the hospital with numerous problems, had surgery, and has since been moved into a nice (as nice as you can get, I guess) rehab facility. She is soooooooo incredibly independent that it's very difficult to see her struggling with even the task of sitting up. She's also an incredibly stubborn 86 year old who wants things done her way. Needless to say it will be an uphill journey, but we will be by her side to help her through this. Trips to the rehab will also have to be fit into our schedule. On the other side of things, we took a family road trip (yes, in a car!) to Lexington, KY for a wedding. BabyGirl was the flower girl, I was the bridesmaid, and it was a beautiful ceremony. It was also an awesome time of year to be traveling. The leaves were beautiful and the weather was gorgeous. Aside from me vomiting every day from motion sickness...things were good. :) Our Halloween festivities were great. We had just gotten back in town and I was so glad to just settle down and take time to go have fun. We took our annual trip to Camp Cute N' Spooky at Discoveryland. It was SO MUCH FUN as usual. I can't imagine our Halloween without this event. So, that concludes our roller coaster of a ride October. I'm so happy to be back in the swing of things for November. We're already off to a bang! Here's what we've done the first week so far....

For history/geo we've started a month about Europe. We've traced the continent, and started our wall map of the world. Europe is our first addition...we will add each continent until we have constructed our world. Our Auntie just happens to be travelling in Europe at this very moment. So, we have been following her journey online and on our maps. We ate some celebratory chocolate when she was in Belgium, and sketched a picture of the Eiffel Tower when she was in France. We're also taking our history lesson of Christopher Columbus this month along with Europe. Currently Mr. Columbus is on board his ship sailing the ocean blue...next week we will continue his journey. Today we made our own ocean in a bottle so we could imagine him floating on the waves....

For science we complete our last lesson/project on plants and animals. That concludes our unit on life science. Next week we will begin our Earth science unit by studying weather a little more in-depth than last year. BabyGirl enjoyed taking pictures of our animals the last day of this unit. Check them out!

Our 1st grade phonics/reading is going great. The stories are very simple to read, but the phonics lessons are much more complex than the kindergarten curriculum and I'm so glad I decided to break everything down for her. Each story also has a project with it just like our science so she totally digs that! She loves doing her phonics worksheets as well....

We're sailing along in our kindergarten math and are just finishing up graphing. She had this mastered last year when we covered it, but I'm just building confidence at this point and making sure everything is concrete before we move on to 1st grade. We're about 1/3 of the way through our kindergarten math. She never fails to surprise me with how quickly she grasps things, and in some ways differently than I expect.

This week we also went to a box painting party, and had a blast. It's always fun to gather with fellow homeschoolers. Today we went to the library for an hour on our Veterans. It was wonderful for BabyGirl as well as myself. It gets me to thinking about all the men in my life who have so bravely and selflessly fought for our freedom. I miss the ones dearly who have moved on, and wish they could witness the beauty I see in my daughters eyes....

So, welcome November! We look forward to being thankful for your bounty, our friends, our family, our freedom.........................until next time....

Beauty of Freedom

This last week has been both exhausting and amazing. There is nothing quite like being able to spend unlimited time with family, friends and learning about what inspires you. Again, I am so thankful for the freedom to home school my daughter and teach her what life is truly about.

We've had some unbelievable times with our Grandma & Pappap the Great. They came and spent a few days with us. Along with painting rocks with Grandma, fishing with Pappap, and playing Mexican Train with Dorine we had a well-rounded week along with our usual studies!

We had an awesome 11 hour trip to the Tulsa State Fair that was out of this world!! We had a blast doing EVERYTHING and riding EVERYTHING! Whew! When that was over, we were quite worn out! We've taken this morning to play games, puzzles and make cookies! This afternoon was filled with fun mama school. Who could ever ask for more?

For science we've continued living & non-living. We constructed a living mural, and also discussed taking care of pets.

For history/geography this month we are studying The United States of America. We made our own American Flag which we hung in our school room, and we are learning the pledge. We spoke about our country, and where it is located. We've also traced a map of the U.S.

For reading/phonics we are learning about the 2 vowel rules, and diving into some new readers. We're taking plenty of time with these new rules before starting our next bit of curriculum. We've finished The Boxcar Children #5, and started #6. I'm loving these!!

For math we've played lots of number/money games! Along with a worksheet or two, there is nothing better than sitting down to a good game that teaches math in disguise!! We do this daily. Our Papa got BabyGirl an abacus which she adores, and loves to use to work math problems! She asked me today to make her a number problem worksheet so she could work them out on her own.

So, that pretty much catches us up til now....here's to another fun-filled, but more low-key week. (Yay) Until next time....

Moving right along...

Foot loose and fancy free...I'm ready for the big time, is it ready for me???......Muppet Movie

Just like the song, we're moving right along! We've got a great schedule down, and are enjoying every day as it comes. We're just finishing reviewing our long/short vowel sounds this week, then moving on to the two-vowel rule. I've got some great songs and activities that are making it fun as well as memorable.

Last week was a busy one with bowling, and art class added in with our regular weekly activities. So, this week I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit at home instead of running every day. Next week we gear up again with art class and a home school trip to the fair! (which we are so EXCITED about!) We're also thinking our great grandparents from Missouri might come for a stay. Yay!

After wrapping up our science unit on the senses we've moved onto living and non-living. Yesterday we did some simple reading in our science book, followed by a nature walk. We took a sketch pad and each of us drew 4 things we observed during our walk. Today, we cut them out and categorized them according to living and non-living. Very fun, and building on many skills!

We've finished up our 4th Boxcar Children book and have started #5. These take me back to my childhood, and I love reading them! Every night we take turns reading before bed, sometimes for over an hour! I'm very pleased with our progress.

We've added SO MANY signs to our sign language folder!! I can't even believe how much we've learned! Yesterday on our walk we were able to communicate to each other without a sound. So cool!

This week for history/geography we're wrapping up reviewing the maps, globe, etc. Since we covered this last year, it's been a breeze. I've just made the maps a little more advanced that I'm giving her, and have found some really cool resources through the Usborne Internet-Linked Children's World Atlas. This includes some interactive online maps that ask her questions and come alive with the correct answers!

Along with our daily math we've constructed a clock out of a hanger and some other materials that really gets her excited about telling time. There is a little pouch that holds different times, she picks one, then sets the hands accordingly. I found this in a really cool math centers book I bought at Goodwill for a buck! Tomorrow we're making a rabbit pattern box. So exciting!

So, that partly sums up our last week. Honestly, there is so much going on I could never possibly put it all in. Our days and nights are filled with endless learning possibilities! Until next time...

Oh, what fun!

We're having so much fun in kindergarten! We went to the Between the Lions show at the Tulsa Zoo, and went to the home school bowling this week. It was so much fun, and we plan on going every month if we can! We're actually ahead of schedule on our studies, which makes me very happy! Every morning as soon as we finish breakfast BabyGirl is begging to start school. This is great since we are usually done by 10:30. Yay! Then we have the rest of the day to do what we need to. Of course, recess comes right after school is dismissed!!

We've done many more science experiments involving the senses, and are reviewing that this week before moving on next week. We've moved on to the circulatory system with our Magic School Bus kit, and are loving it still!

We only have a couple more phonics lessons before we move on to 1st. We're just finishing up the long vowel sounds. I can't believe how her reading is coming along! Every day when she does her draw & describe activity I notice a change in her writing and spelling. Today she spelled "little" correctly! Yay!

We're playing some math games, and enjoying every minute! We've finished up our section on maps, and will be starting our study of the continents next month. She loves for me to make her maps with a little legend & key and ask her questions about it! It's one of her favorite things.

We're having so much fun and enjoying every minute of life. We're looking forward to our field trip to NaturalFarms, and are planning one to a local pumpkin patch/tree farm. Throw in a trip to Kentucky and you've got the makings for an unforgettable fall!!!!

End of week one, beginning of week 2

So, we've had a successful first week! I feel so great about everything we've accomplished. I've had my moments of wondering about how long we need to do school at a time, how often we need to do school per week..blah blah blah. I've come to my own conclusion that we will do school according to her attention span. Also, many of the activities we do are not "sit down book work" and are actually fun and engaging. Finding things like this makes it easy to fit school into our daily lives, not just certain times. My plan on how many days per week we do school will also be based on BabyGirls interests. We are already well ahead of the schedule I've made, so I need to not sweat it and take things easy. This was my lesson for the first week.

We've continued our exploration of the senses. We've read resources recommended by our core knowledge companion book called Books to Build On. We've also done some more experiments. One of them we gathered many small objects from around the house. We used only our eyes to look at them to guess whether they were smooth or rough. Then we used our hands to determine the result. We then categorized them according to which group they belonged. We also did the same activity using the words soft and hard to describe the objects. Later on in the day I asked BabyGirl what objects she remembered from the activity. She remembered almost all of them, showing her the importance of senses in our everyday life.

Another experiment we did on the senses involved an orange, a hard ball, and a soft ball. I had her close her eyes as I touched each object on her knee, then her arm. She was to guess what each one was. Then she was able to hold each one with her hands and guess. This experiment showed her how we use our hands the most to exercise our sense of touch. They are much more sensitive than other parts of our body.

Our other science experiment last week was the next one out of our Magic School Bus kit. It dealt with lung capacity. We were trying to see who had the biggest lung capacity in our family. After our hypothesis, we began the experiment. It was very messy and very fun, but we soon found out that an adult has more lung capacity than a 2 liter bottle can hold...so we played around with it awhile and have decided to conduct another experiment this weekend using a 5 gallon bucket instead. We can't wait, and will post the result as well as pics.

We've covered 3 more phonics lessons, and introduced 6 more readers. We're doing great with all of this, and only have about 5 more lessons to go until we move on...

We're also plugging along nicely with our math. We've included some activities that had BabyGirl run around the house counting different things, then she was to graph them or write the numbers down. She loved this!! Later this week we're going to work some with story problems.

We've successfully learned the letters A-L in sign language as well as some colors and phrases. We do use these everyday in many situations, and she loves it! It's fun to communicate in other ways. Somehow we've managed to learn the Spanish numbers to 10, and some colors as well. (even though she didn't want to) We actually did it using songs. I would just sing the song as I do dishes or something, then she'd chime in and sing with me not even realizing what we were doing!! :)

One of her favorite daily activities continues to be using her learn-to-write pad to draw a picture and write a sentence to describe it. I've noticed her using the lines correctly every time now with upper and lower-case letters. This is especially great to me since I've never told her how to do this. I love how everyday activities including reading can be such a non-invasive teaching tool! There's nothing better than discovering something on your own. I still remember the day I discovered multiplication! After weeks of trying to memorize my tables I actually GOT IT! I was making tally marks all over a chalkboard.

For history/geography we discussed the world and it's land/water. We've introduced the continents and made an outline map of them. We've gotten a children's atlas and begun it's exploration. Later this week we will begin maps. BabyGirl is already very globe savvy due to her playing with our Smart Globe constantly. She also watches her dad every evening trying to beat his best score on finding all the countries, etc. This is a great educational tool that is also very non-invasive! She enjoys sitting and playing with this globe regularly, and dreams of where she'd like to go. This also often times brings us to looking up information about different places. One of her favorite is Greenland.

We had our first art class and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was about colors. BabyGirl picked out her favorite color and drew a picture of herself, then one of a monkey. The teacher was excellent and very positive with all of the children. We can't wait to go again next week!!

Tonight we start back to gymnastics, and she's totally excited about that after having the last month off. We started dance last week. It was fun to see all our friends again that we hadn't seen over the summer. We've also enjoyed our story hour and playgroup. I'm so happy the school year has started off with a bang! I look forward to every single bit of it. I love the time we get to spend together, each of us learning more and more. I also love the freedom of mixing in time with my elderly grandmother each week, taking care of our animals, making our own soaps, weeding the garden....all of things that make a complete education. Some of these which I feel a lot of children miss out on. Again, how blessed I feel to be able to live our lives in this way.

Kindergarten Day 1

Today we had a wonderfully successful day 1! BabyGirl has been looking forward to our official 'beginning', so it was met with great enthusiasm! We started off with our science since that seems to be our favorite of all. We began our senses unit. Our kindergarten science book is well written so that BabyGirl can read it herself, and is paired with very colorful real life pictures. Each week our lesson will be followed by an activity or experiment. This is my favorite part about it since to me you can't really learn science from sitting and looking at a book! Today BabyGirl drew pictures of a nose, eyes, ears, hand, mouth on index cards. Then she followed me around the house as I showed her items. She was to pick out which sense she would use for that item. She loved it and had so much fun! We also read The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses. I have several other books requested from the library that cover this as well. Throughout the week we will demonstrate how our lives would be different if certain senses were taken away from us.

Then we focused on phonics. We introduced a new friend for V, and did the activities to go along with it. We pulled out our next new reader, and BabyGirl did an excellent job reading and answering all the comprehension questions correctly. We will be starting the long vowel sounds soon. I want to finish this program completely before I begin the 1st grade curriculum. For part of our writing BabyGirl decided to draw a picture and write a sentence about it by herself. She does this regularly, making my house FULL of art work! Today she drew a picture of a school with windows. Below it she wrote "The scl is a plas wer u lrn." It was so cute! She even remembered the period.

For math we did our lesson 1-1. It was not too challenging for her, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. The pictures were vivid and engaging. I'm going to work on our kindergarten curriculum we chose this year I THINK. I'm still deciding on it. A lot of it she already knows, but still loves working the problems. I do already have the 1st grade curriculum as well, just in case. My only thought is that I don't want to push her too early to do things that she isn't ready for. The whole reason for homeschooling is to fuel the fire which is curiosity, not push it out! So, we'll kind of take it as it comes and enjoy life, not forgetting to be children and play our hearts out!!!!

We went over the signs for A, B, C, D, E and F today. She really enjoys learning and doing sign language. It just comes naturally to her. For now, she's suddenly decided she can see no point in learning Spanish. She has absolutely no desire to. So, we will continue the sign language and see if maybe in the future she's more interested in another language as well. Until then, our plans go on hold for that. We have plenty of signs to learn anyway.... :)

Lastly, we decided to do an experiment from our Magic School Bus Human Body science kit. Today we began learning about the respiratory system. The question was "What would happen if there were a hole in the diaphragm?" We constructed a model of the lungs and diaphragm which was TOTALLY AWESOME!!! I can't even tell you how cool it was for both of us!! It really works, and when you contract the diaphragm the lungs fill with air!! If your child has any interest in this we urge you to purchase it!!! Everything about this kit is amazing. It comes with a workbook full of experiments, all the stuff needed (except a few things from home), and a DVD of all the human body episodes. Even better, you can sometimes get it on sale from Scholastic for as little as 10 bucks! After we finish the human body, I plan to purchase one of the others they have. We are totally hooked!!!

So, after some playing on Jump Start World Kindergarten we end this first day. We've had a great time learning and playing together. It's such a blessing to me to be able to spend this time with my daughter. I can't even imagine not seeing this little mind blossom into great things!!

Tonight we start dance, and then another new day tomorrow...until next time... :)

The result of my latest brain storm..

This will take us through the next year, making sure we cover all aspects of the core knowledge Kindergarten book. BabyGirl helped me with some of the decision making, and is excited about the up-coming school year. Our reading and math programs are colorful and fun! My Spanish and sign language goals are a work in progress, I think it will come to me in time. We'll see what she happens to be passionate about learning to say. We are beginning 1st grade reading this year, and I know we'll be flying high with it. I'm hoping the art lessons we start next week will go well, and continue after the holidays. We've gotten the charter membership at Gilcrease and will take some opportunities to go observe and draw. We hope to fit in some bowling sometimes, too. Not to mention the monthly meetings (if BabyGirl likes them) Add weekly story hour and playgroup and you have a very full and adventurous kindergarten year! Wow! I can't believe how great I feel getting this all written down. We will, of course, use this as a guideline and change it as needed. So, until I sit down and blog again...happy homeschooling!!


September 2008-
science-senses, begin living & non-living
history/geo-our world, oceans, continents, maps
reading-begin 1.1
math-start k book (continue throughout year, finishing in may), manipulative's
art-classes-basic color theory, texture
p.e.-dance/gymnastics
music-continue lessons with daddy, live show
Goals=finish phonics program, Spanish days of the week & counting to 10, sign language alphabet
Field trips to zoo week 2 for program, and to the farm week 4

October 2008-
science-finish living & non-living, begin plants & animals
reading-will go through at our own pace
history/geo-our country, the American flag, early America, the first Americans, freedom, election
math-continue k, manipulative's
art-classes-drawing from observation, painting
pe-dance/gymnastics
music-lessons
goals=Spanish colors, sing language colors
Field trip to zoo on week 4 to see Indian exhibits, trip to fair week 1 for home school day

November 2008-
science-finish plants & animals, weather
reading-
history/geo-Europe, Christopher Columbus, Voyage to the new world, pilgrims, thanksgiving
math-cont.
art-trip to museum week 3 to observe & discuss paintings
pe-dance/gymnastics
music-lessons
goals-Spanish, sign language--work in progress...
Field trip to zoo on week 4 to study Europe

December 2008-
science-Earth's land and water, begin Earth and space
reading-
history/geo-Antarctica, learn about George Washington Carver (also science)
math-
art-trip to museum week 2 to observe and discuss sculptures
pe-dance/gymnastics
music-lessons
Field trip to zoo on week 4 to study Antarctica

January 2009-
science-finish Earth and space, begin matter
reading-
history/geo-South America, learn about Wilbur and Orville Wright
math-
art-hopefully classes
pe-dance/gymnastics
music-lessons
Field trip to zoo on week 4 to study South America, Field trip to planetarium on week 2

February 2009-
science-finish matter, begin changes
reading-
history/geo-North America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Mt. Rushmore (presidents day)
math-
art-lessons?
pe-dance/gymnastics
music-lessons
Field trip to zoo on week 4 to study North America

March 2009-
science-begin human body, taking care of your body
reading-
history/geo-Australia
math-
art-lessons?
pe-dance/gymnastics
music-lessons, visit a live show
Field trip to zoo on week 4 to study Australia

April 2009-
science-finish taking care of your body, begin feeding your body
reading-
history/geo-Africa, learn about Jane Goodall
math-begin review
art-lessons?
pe-dance/gymnastics
music-lessons, performance in Herbal Affair
Field trip to zoo week 4 to study Africa & Jane Goodall

May 2009-
science-finish feeding your body, yearly review
reading-
history/geo-Asia
math-review number sense, concepts, operations, measurement, geometry, spatial sense, algebraic thinking, data analysis & probability (these reviews actually start in April)
art-
pe-dance/gymnastics
music-lessons, Recital
Field trip to zoo week 2 or 3 to study Asia

I'm starting to awaken...

What a great summer! I've thoroughly enjoyed the crazy, out-of-control, total lack of a schedule. We all really needed this!! We had the most wonderful family vacation ever in Branson with our wonderful Grandma and Pappap The Great! We spent an entire day at SDC (of course), stayed in an awesome resort, and had many learning experiences mixed in. It was way too short, and I can't wait to go back! Next time, we plan on going when it's a bit cooler (so you don't HAVE to be wet in order to survive:) and we can explore all kinds of different things. Not to mention, the mass of children will be in school. We miss you guys already!!

I've had strep throat for the past 5 days. Very ick. After switching abx due to projectile vomiting I'm happy to report I feel like I'm beginning to mend. Ahhhh, thank goodness! I hate feeling tired and crabby. It sucks. So, as I feel myself coming out of the fog my mind wanders to our new 'school year' schedule and what it will hold for us. I've found in the past year that BabyGirl and I both do better with a very loose schedule. That being said, I've penciled in some activities that we will do every month. Those are mostly artsy type of things such as dance, gymnastics, music lessons, and art classes (we can't wait for those). We also plan on possibly attending the bowling and ice skating as we feel like it. We're going to attend the zoo probably twice a month blending that into our studies. We've joined the Gilcrease Museum via the free charter membership, and our previous visits to this museum have been greeted with great enthusiasm. So, yay! With weekly gatherings included, this year looks to be shaping up nicely. We can just fill in the blanks. I plan on finishing up 'What Your Kindergartner Needs To Know' and beginning the First Grade Core book as well. Thanks to our outta-site Nana we have great math, reading, science, phonics, and social studies resources. Not to mention the readers, workbooks, and everything else! So, now my mind has the task of starting to work this puzzle. I've given myself until the beginning of September to officially 'start school'. Although, we are taking the month of August to review everything we learned last year. I'm happy to report that BabyGirl is flying through it with great success (and enthusiasm) She comes to me asking to do home school!! I love it! One of the many things I hope to accomplish in our journey of homeschooling is to nurture that love of learning so that it continues to grow and build on itself! I remember HATING first grade and wanting to do nothing. How sad and un-natural.

Sorry for the mish-mash of information here, as I try to get everything straight. I like to call our approach hodge-podge since it's a compilation of everything we're passionate about. It's a mix of home school and in some cases even unschool-ish. I've found that if I just follow my instincts it will always lead us down the right path. So, lead on.....until next time.

Summer of Fun

We're having such a great summer! We're totally care-free and loving life! Our pool is great fun, we are skating fools, we can't get enough of bubs, and are looking forward to a well-deserved family vacation in 3 weeks!!! Needless to say we are EXCITED!

I've been doing my usual hodge-podge gathering of school supplies for next year, and getting them all straight in my head as well as on the shelves. I'm looking forward to everything our lives and minds will hold in the future. Should be a total blast, and that's my goal!

We're continuing to broaden our quest of "the natural" things, and I'm finding I just love it! I can't explain the satisfaction I get from using a chemical-free body wash that I created!! aaahhh, some may think I'm crazy...or maybe just happy :) What a great life!

Now, on with the summer fun....and the search for funky road side attractions along the way!

Rain, rain, and more rain!

So, I'm sitting here listening to more rain. The storms seem like they are every day. I know they're not, but when you're wanting to put up a pool....it can seem like an eternity!! The one good thing about it is that our garden is flourishing and is a wondrous sight to behold each and every day! I wish I had a camera set up at night to capture the leaves unfolding and reaching up towards the thunder! Amazing.
Since our last post we've decided to go back to beginner gymnastics. The advanced beginner class was a bit disorganized since the teacher was actually teaching a level 2 class during half of our class. So, either Baby Girl was put with older girls watching and maybe sometimes participating or got stuck with a different teacher she didn't know and who obviously didn't have children. I'm a bit annoyed by this lack of consideration, but understand you can't run your whole operation to make everyone happy. The amount of girls in the gym practicing during the class time was also overwhelming, especially for a 5 year old. (Even her mother!) So, back to our 4pm class time, which we love. And, back to the great teacher we had before. We were only in beginner for 4 sessions, so technically I'm not sure we were ready to move up anyway....
The local story times have proven to be a sardine-packed hot catastrophe. I don't mind sitting through one here and there, but I can't make myself go to even all the ones that look interesting. Don't ya just love the moms that sit there and let their children run amuck terrorizing the librarian? Is anyone home? It's a shame. I'm hoping the ones we do make it to in the next few weeks will be a little more tolerable. >>fingers crossed<<
We've gotten all kinds of learning in with our garden in bloom, and have some wonderful things posted around the house we can refer to. We've got the anatomy of a pea plant, and some different diagrams of plants we eat. This has been fun, especially when we were able to eat some sweet peas last night that were grown in our own yard! We've successfully begun the transition to a chemical-free zone this summer as well. So far we've switched our soap, shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste. We're making our own bug repellent, laundry soap, fabric softener, hand soap for kitchen and bathroom, automatic dishwasher soap, and body wash. I'm looking forward to so much more, and love learning about health & our environment. Baby Girl loves helping make all these products and is learning how everything we touch affects us even if it's not until we're older. I love this stuff. We're still making healthy food choices even though it takes just a little more effort to buy local and natural. It's well worth it.
We're having a great summer so far, and are looking forward to finally setting up our pool when things dry out. I'm hoping the rain won't spoil our local fireworks display like last year.
We can't wait to have bubs over this week!
On with the summer.... :)

Is it the end of May already?????

I cannot believe how fast this month has flown by. It's been fun, exciting and a bit stressful all at once! Our dance recital turned out to be a hit despite the heat and BabyGirl was so proud of her first trophy! (you receive medals the first 2 years, then move on up to the big stuff) We wrapped up our regular session of gymnastics, and then took a placement test. BabyGirl has moved up to "advanced beginner". Our first session starts next week, so we'll see how she likes it. She is so enthusiastic about it that we couldn't hold her back. I'm curious to see how this all works out. We're still kind-of new to this gymnastics scene. It should be a fun addition to our summer plans.

We've got our own roller skates now and plan on attending the local roller skating rink weekly this summer since it's only $1 to get in with your own skates. Air-conditioned, cheap, fun exercise??? We love it!! We also plan on putting up our soft pool in a week or so. It should be great fun teaching BabyGirl to swim even better than last year! And, don't forget the gas money we'll be saving by swimming her in our own yard, rather than in a concrete yard in Tulsa!! All of these things rolled into one promise to give us an abundantly wonderful summer! (yay for Bub's being out of school!!!)

I've got a dreamy vision of our home school next year, and I'm so happy that there is no panic or scrambling going on in my brain! We're going to do some kindergarten/1st grade stuff. We've got all kinds of curriculum ready to go, as well as our next core knowledge book to add with our kindergarten one. We're going to pick up where we left off on our human body since it's not gotten the time it deserved in the month of May. We've found a great group of friends we meet once weekly that will continue throughout the summer and into the next school year. We're excited about getting more involved in our home school support group meetings, and joining a recently posted kindergarten co-op. The possibilities are endless! It's so funny when I look around and really observe our learning. I'm a big 'logger'...everything we do gets filed and written down for every subject. It helps to file it in my mind. But, I stopped logging the third week of May with all the chaos and summer approaching. During the last few weeks of non-planning I've observed so much learning that just comes naturally, that I think most of the people who just "dont get" home schooling take for granted. BabyGirl and her dad spent an entire morning outside with a book on trees identifying all the ones on her playground. She still remembers every one and loves to educate others on them. This all came about when BabyGirl was playing outside that morning and noticed some new berries on a tree that we've never seen before. She got dad to get out our tree book, and they took off from there. There is nothing like completely free learning, flying, running with what you're passionate about. Those are the times that no conventional school can match. Every night lately BabyGirl has been playing basketball with her dad. Since they've started this she's mastered the art of tally score-keeping, counting by fives and so much more. This is so concrete for her, and this could probably be learned by hours sitting at the table or desk counting and re-counting. But, imagine the mind being able to soar and grasp concepts in a free and wondrous setting? This is what it's all about. Yes, there are those times we'll need to do "book work". No doubt about it. But, it's so inexplicably fulfilling to be able to balance and tailor our home school to nurture the human mind and soul. To give and provide a limitless realm of learning situations to my child. I look forward to each and every day. I know the next school year will be a wonderful one bursting at the seams with new things. I look forward to the challenges and triumphs. What a great life. I could go on and on....

New Beginnings

So, we've wrapped up our insect unit. Gosh, it was so much fun! We have a great folder we've created of our journey including our artwork, worksheets, adventures, etc. Our last 2 lessons were so much fun! Here's a brief summary...

For our ants we read Two Bad Ants. It was a fun book written from a great perspective! We discussed the social life of ants, did some relevant worksheets and some awesome artwork too!

For our bees we read 2 really cool books on honeybees. BabyGirl added after we read the books that they didn't happen to mention the fact that honeybees are almost extinct and we need to work to keep them around. She asked what we would do if there were no more, and we had a very interesting and productive conversation. She never ceases to amaze me with her intelligence. We played Flight of the Bumblebee and ran around dancing expressing our feelings and emotions the song brought out. We had to do this several times! Then, we played the song again using crayons to transfer our dance onto paper. She had so much fun with both of these activities, and so did I!

And thus ends our insects for now....I'm sure we will keep revisiting our log book when we find different and new insects to add.

Today we started our human body unit. We did a preliminary quiz to re-cap the 5 senses. BabyGirl aced this with flying colors, so we will not need to go over any of that before hand. Our Magic School Bus Human Body Science Kit is so awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn about the human body and have fun at the same time!!!! We put up our human body life-size poster and went over all the parts to start off. The kit goes over the human body one system at a time starting with the skeletal system. We found the skeleton stickers and placed them in the appropriate places on the poster, and we were off. Our first experiment is on the strength of our bones. What makes our bones strong? We put some chicken bones in a jar of vinegar to let them sit overnight. BabyGirls hypothesis was: "Milk. The calcium from milk makes our bones strong. I think they will get soft." We can't wait to see what happens. This kit is so hands on and right up our alley!!!

We practiced counting today and writing our numbers. We also did some matching. We practiced identifying beginning consonants, then having BabyGirl write them down upper-case and lower-case. We did the short I in our phonics kit, which is still a big hit around here. It's so much fun to see who we will meet with each new sound! We also work on introducing a new reader each lesson. Right now as I type BabyGirl is sitting in her own little chair, feet on the ottoman, going through all the readers she has read so far. The stack keeps on growing and she just loves to sit and read them aloud to her dolls, or mom & dad.

Last night as I was watching BabyGirl out the window running through the yard, shaking her head making her hair fly side to side and squealing I was speechless. What a great time in our life. Childhood is so wonderful and amazing....what's even more wonderful and amazing is that I, as her mother, have this great gift to give her. A chance to learn with no boundaries, to be free in her thinking and doing, to keep hold of her curiosity, to have fun every single day and take all of these things along with her into adulthood. If I accomplish anything in my life, this is what I want it to be. This is what homeschooling means to me...

Great Day!

We had a great weekend spending time with family. Bub Shawn came over and stayed with us which is always a blast! We miss him the minute he walks out the door and count the seconds until we see him again! We went skating on Saturday and had so much fun! Gab went with us and brought Desi. We also had Bub, and Pop met us as well. It was awesome and I love laughing with everyone. You know we rocked it to Thriller! :) BabyGirl had a great day with Daddyo on Sunday helping him with all kinds of projects, and going to get stuff from Atwoods. Always fun!

Today started out a little clustered with some stupid bill issues making my head spin! I tried focusing on what I needed to do, but after I did my morning exercise routine everything fell into place. I could think so much more clearly, and we were off! BabyGirl loves working out with me and it is sooooo cute! She uses little board books as her weights!

So, we did ladybugs today. We learned all kinds of interesting facts about them, and made some to go with our insect decor. They are adorable with our butterflies, caterpillars and big spiders! We traced and practiced writing our numbers, and did some ladybug dot to dots. We discussed carnivore and herbivore, putting what insects we've studied in their group. We identified what insects belong in what environment, also using ones we've covered. We've got just a couple more things to cover in this unit and then we'll move on to the next. (which is still to be determined) We have some great books about ants and bees on hold at the library, then we'll wrap this up!

In phonics today we worked with x. We did a great activity where I placed letter x's on the floor that BabyGirl followed. Each time she picked on up, she had to make the x sound and then go to the next one. At the end of the trail she came to a little buried treasure box that I filled with a piece of gum for her to have. It was so much fun! Then we introduced our next phonics reader dealing with x. She is doing so great, and already knows so many sight words I can't believe it! Our list of words she can read is just huge and growing like crazy! It's so great! We also, of course, practiced writing. She loves to write, too.

Later we head out to gymnastics, and then another great day is on the horizon for tomorrow.

New start

Today went so well, I had so much energy, and we did so much! It was so refreshing after feeling overwhelmed from our busy March, and our much needed break did the trick!

I've had a thought that I need to exercise more...but it's been not much more than a thought in the back of my mind. Somehow I tend to block out or forget the fact that I feel so much better when I do. I can think so clearly and can just get things done! So, today was the day I actually did my workout this morning (a video-at home-since I hate hate hate the gym :) And it went so well. BabyGirl did some with me, then we went on to do her kid exercise CD with different movements set to music. After that the day just went smooth as can be, and I'm writing this to remember so that on a simply lazy day when I have no motivation I will GET UP and GET GOING! Yay for energy and healthy exercise!

We went over symmetry today in our bug unit and made a butterfly by folding a paper in half, cutting out the wings, putting paint on one side and smashing it together. It was so cool to see our finished products, and I'm quite positive that symmetry will never be forgotten. Not to mention it was such fun!

For math today we did more addition/subtraction with pictures and items. We practiced writing out the problems as well. We went over halves and BabyGirl did SO WELL. It was awesome!

For reading, phonics, writing we worked with the short O sound. We wrote words and then read them and matched them to pictures. And, of course, read books.

For other bits of science and in the spirit of Earth Day we did some recycling activities that involved cut/paste since that sparks lots of interest and practices great hand movements. We also identified different hazards to our environment.

We're continuing to practice the months of the year, and are thoroughly investigating Jump Start World. BabyGirl also practices music daily with Daddy when he gets home. She got a real guitar, ukulele and recorder for her birthday. We're warming up to introducing notes as soon as we're ready. She's doing great with the exercises!

So wraps up our day. I love the track we're on, and look forward to many more productive days coming our way. Until next time...

Time to chill

We have been so incredibly busy lately I've actually looked forward to these rainy days so we can stay in and veg! March was full of Easter, Birthday, Aunts visiting and Great-Grandparents visiting. It seemed like we couldn't even get a break. I welcome April and all the spring that comes with it!

We're continuing with our insect unit and are learning so much about them. Now, when a "something" flies past we don't immediately freak out. We discuss what we've learned about different insects. Of course, if the thing happens to be a wasp....... continue freaking out! :) Ha!

We're working with some subtraction now, and it's going over really well! We just take the basics of what we already know and keep building on that, and it's working out great for us.

Our phonics and writing is moving right along, and I love to watch the progression. I can't even explain the fulfillment I get when I see what she's learned being used in our every day lessons and life. It's amazing!

Science is BabyGirls favorite subject, so it gets plenty of attention with great enthusiasm. That's why using this theme unit is working out so perfectly for us. I feel the possibilities are endless when I think of all the fun things we can move onto next. Animals, human body, universe, ocean.......ahhhhhhhhhhhh I can't wait!! Oh, yes, and on that note...BabyGirl got a Magic School Bus science experiment kit for her birthday on the human body. We are so excited!!!

Gymnastics is still going great, and I love to see how much stronger she gets with each session. Her teacher is excellent and we absolutely love her. Dance is still going as well and we're looking forward to the upcoming performances at the herb fest and recital. Always fun...

Then, on comes summer! We're taking a trip to visit the great-grandparents this summer which will also include Silver Dollar City. Bring on the swimming, gardening, sand box and outdoor activities daily. We can't wait.

So, that's our quick update. With the little sickness that we've passed around the last week, I'm ready for us all to feel better and resume with where we left off....

Great memories

March has been a great month for us so far. Our insect theme unit is so much fun for BabyGirl and she LOVES finding out what she will get to learn and do each day. She is so enthusiastic about it! We're making progress in leaps and bounds, each one made in response to BabyGirls request. Now, tell me what could be better than that? We decided about a month ago that there was nothing left for us in the prek realm and have moved onto Kindergarten curriculum. We've even crept into the 1st grade a little bit with great success. But....as always....we're moving along here at our own pace with no labels or deadlines upon us.....ROCK ON!
Our great-grandparents came and stayed with us for almost a week. We had the most fun, and were completely bummed when they left. It was certainly hard to get used to when they were living here with us, a part of our family. We visited an awesome park, went fishing and filled our hearts and minds with endless memories. We hope to visit them this summer!
This week so far already has been full of learning, cooking and fun even though the weather is still spitting on us. Our mornings have revolved around BabyGirl devouring fact after fact and requesting endless worksheets/books. I'm telling you, she loves those insects! I'm thinking that next we will explore outer space since she will be getting a telescope for her upcoming birthday, and her dad has and endless passion for that subject. It should be fascinating and fun! The summer months along with all the other great things will be bringing warm enough weather to sit out on the rooftop and star gaze. Can't wait! Until next time...

Most people dislike things they don't understand, things that don't 'follow the masses'. Don't fall into this category please, open your mind. Our future depends on it.
Many thanks to the man of my dreams who makes my living this life possible. BabyGirl and I are totally blessed! xo

March is here!! Come on spring!!!

So, we've finished February and accomplished so much! Our reading is going great and everything is falling into place!
The last few days we've been doing some spring cleaning in preparation for our great-grandparents visit. We look forward to them coming each time and love the memories made! So, I've found myself doing the little chores I usually just look past. One thing about homeschooling I've discovered is that you sometimes have to make a choice when it comes to certain things....my priority is my daughter, our learning and happiness. My dusting somehow doesn't always fit into this equation... :) Yesterday and today was catch-up on long lost chores and the beginning of us trying out a theme study unit.
BabyGirl is very passionate about many things, one of them being insects. So, we've set up a whole insect theme unit where we can incorporate our language, spelling, vocab, math, geography, art and of course science. We started today and she loved it! She devoured every activity and especially loved our 'insect hunt'! We found several moths, honey bees, flies and some sort of tiny beetle which I couldn't catch. It was fun and we're looking forward to spring when we can actually catch some and do further study. (harmless, of course)
I love that we can try whatever is working best for us right now and don't have to settle for anything less that what is driving our passion! I never want BabyGirl to let that go. It's so important to go on the path that we can enjoy and love. And I don't care what anyone says, it IS possible when you nurture that passion and let it grow. Just because you hate your job and the daily grind doesn't mean it has to be that way, or ever had to be that way. I will not settle for less! Just look at me, I love my job!!! :)
It's so funny to unload BabyGirl's camera and find what all she has taken pictures of! I just love to see the world and everything in it from her point of view! My recent favorite is a picture of a picture! My mom sent us a picture of her sitting in a chair with her 2 smallest dogs in her lap, the ChiChi being BabyGirl's favorite. So, she zoomed in on Poncho in the picture on the computer screen and took her own. Very cute!
We'll keep you posted on our theme studies. I'm hoping they'll go as well as I hope. There are endless possibilites! Until next time, enjoy every day and soak up all the sunshine you can!

Busy Busy Busy

I can't believe how fast time flies! It seems like I last visted this blog a week or so ago....I'm happy to report that means we are having way too much fun!!
We're continuing the phonics at least 3x weekly and have moved on to readers. BabyGirl LOVES reading and each time she finishes a book she yells AGAIN! AGAIN! ANOTHER ONE! It's so cool to see and hear as well as video tape! :) I'm so proud of her and have such a sense of accomplishment when I observe her successfully sounding out words and getting so excited with laughter when she reads something funny! What a feeling of independence it must be to her! I remember so well when the street signs, etc started jumping out at me. I read every one of them aloud, much to my fathers dismay... :) We're also working on sight words. BabyGirl does great with the comprehension questions at the end of the stories.
We are always counting everything! I'll be in the kitchen cooking and hear her sitting at the table counting something she's found. Today she was counting over 100! Yay! When she's relaxed just counting for leisure she makes little to no mistakes, so we'll continue to take it easy since that's when she flourishes. We've been continuing to work on reading the clock. This is also something she brought to my attention that she was interested in, not anything that was introduced to her. She's doing very well with it, and has mastered the hours. She's starting to grasp time concept, and we made a fun poster to introduce counting by fives. She also loves to play money/time bingo! We've discussed the concept of 1/2 by using some manipulatives. (she chose valentine candy :) She did great, and we're planning on playing that game lots more for practice. We got a comp game from the library that was suggested in my core knowledge book for math that we've also been enjoying. It's called James Discovers Math. It works with time, addition, subtraction, all shapes, etc. It's fun to work on together!
It's funny, going through this homeschooling adventure I try to take every day as it comes. Not get too freaked on on 'planned curriculum', etc. I notice that, as I stated above, BabyGirl requestes SO MUCH information on her own with no adult intervention. Working with art and manipulatives gets her so focused and excited about learning she just can't get enough. I like to let her take the lead and trust that we will go where we need to, and it is working beautifully so far. That being said, I was on the phone with my grandma the other day telling her about the math manipulatives game we had just played and how great it was and she actually said "Yeah, but this is the 'real world', BabyGirl is going to have to get used to doing things she doesn't like." OH MY GOD! I don't even have to tell you how that made me feel ! Thank goodness my daughter won't be forced into sitting in the back of a classroom like a zombie!
Okay, okay, off the box now...
We wound up our geography of Asia with hanging some chinese new year decorations and watching Mulan. We're actually making fortune cookies tonight or probably tomorrow since time is once again getting away from me. It should be awesome!
We've done tons of art (everyday!) and discussed warm/cool colors and what feelings they give us. BabyGirl created a wonderful masterpiece she calls "The Orchestra" using her favorites. I usually try to interate art into whatever we're learning that day. Like today, we studied Abe Lincoln for Presidents Day. We gathered sticks out of the yard and glued them on his log cabin. It really seems to concrete the ideas in her head. We got some great books on exploring different kinds/forms of art with children I'm looking forward to.
So far this week we've done George Washington and Abe Lincoln, we're planning on more.
We've got a wonderful ballet CD from our Auntie Candace that has the best songs from Swan Lake, Nutcracker, etc. We love to listen to it on a cold day and move however the music makes us feel. It came with a book that has pictures of the actual ballet along with the stories. BabyGirl totally digs this and it's such good exercise for us both! Today we actually did the same thing with an awesome rescource from the library. It was Carnival of the Animals narrated by John Lithgow. It was wonderful! John would read the narration from the ballet, then it would be followed by that animals song. It was so much fun to listen, look at the pictures, and then dance along pretending you were that animal! I highly recommend this one!!!!
We're continuing with gymnastics and have moved to the "big gym" into beginners. After sitting in on the parents night at kindernastics it was very apparent that poor BabyGirl had to sit on her star patiently waiting while most girls in her class were running around, yelling, mis-behaving, pretending to be puppies and 'licking' everyone (gross!). It was totally out of control in my opinion and the teacher didn't quite have a handle on any of it. It isn't fair that BabyGirl had to put up with that interrupting her learning, so we've moved up! It's great so far, and we LOVE our new teacher!
Dance is still great, as usual...and we're continuing our 2 playgroups weekly. And, of course, watching American Idol rooting for our faves. All in all we're having a blast and enjoying every second of our lives. Until next time....
:) Once again, I cant get spell check to work, so please excuse any errors, I dont have much time to work on this.... :)

February, Here we are!

It's been awhile since our last update. Time goes by so fast! The weather has been crazy! Hot, cold, rainy, snowy....luckily NOT icy! We've had enough of that! We've been pluggin along here, enjoying each day as it comes and having as much fun as we can. (as usual:)
Our new phonics program is working great, BabyGirl enjoys each lesson and looks forward to them. We've done lots of playing on the computer as well as some coloring and worksheets. Of course, our reading never stops!
In math we've done the usual, as well as pairs, counting by twos and have mastered the calendar and everything about it!
For history/geography we've continued with Asia and are discussing different places within it. The Chinese New Year fits in perfectly with this, and we will be decorating and making fortune cookies! We've found some awesome books covering this at our local library, including a book by The Friz and her adventures in China! What could be better?
We've touched on archaeology and are planning on exploring that more this spring.
We've made our fire escape plan, and have practiced lots! We know different ways of exiting the house for different situations. (BabyGirl can do each exit by herself) We have our meeting place, and get lots of exercise acting out our plan!
We've made countless valentines, done tons of painting, and live each minute to the fullest.
We're hoping the groundhog was wrong and that spring is right around the corner...fingers crossed!
Today we've started out February! This is the first "official" day since we've been sick with a very nasty stomach/cold bug...ICK. I'm still not feeling tip-top, but hey, I'll get there...
Today we reviewed what we've learned so far in our new phonics, put a story in sequential order, BabyGirl made up her own story, practiced story comprehension, practiced number placement, gone over number-words, followed directions, worked mazes/puzzles, played on starfall and jumpstart and most importantly VOTED. BabyGirl went in with me and voted. What a gift to be able to give my child. The experience and knowledge of how lucky we are to be free. To be able to exercise the right to vote in people who will allow us to raise free thinking children. I'm way too tierd to keep on rambling about this, but you know what I mean. Bah to the invasive ideas of some of these candidates............. makes me feel even sicker......
Check out our great snowman from the wonderful snowfall last week! Also, sometimes 16 year old boys can be so monotone, and un-emotional acting we can forget how sweet and kind they are deep down inside. Inside my heart and in my mind is my little brother running around my legs when he's 3 saying "Sissy! Pick me up!" and trying to walk with him hanging from my foot. I've had the best times of my life helping out with and watching my brothers grow. I truly love them as much as my own daughter and would do anything for them. It's hard to watch them change during this hard time in life when they tend to drift away a little. Words can't even express the pride I felt when I saw a project my brother did for school when he put a picture of my daughter next to the word love, for that is what he thought of. I didn't know it at the time, but having 2 brothers 15 years younger than me has been the best gift my mom has ever given me. I cherish them so, and so does BabyGirl. There's nothing better than a "Bub" to a little girl...nothing.
Until next time...here's hoping we all feel better soon! Please excuse any spelling errrrsss :())

BRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Wow, what a contrast since our last blog! It's freezing out and it has us inside the house the beginning of this week! Monday we had no gymnastics since it was MLK day, and today-well, with wind chills this low there's no way we're going out!
Lots has happened since I visited our blog, so we'll try to sum it up the best we can....
In reading/writing we purchased a new phonics program. BabyGirl was getting bored and overwhelmed with the 100 easy lessons book and needed a big change. We found one that has wonderful songs and incentives that motivate her. She's excited to do a lesson each day, even though we really focus on every other day or so. (a goal we can achieve :) I'm hoping this will get her excited about reading more on her own. I can see where looking at a story 5 sentences long can be a bit consuming! So far, looks good. I've noticed so much lately that she will get out her note pad and pens, find a cozy spot to sit, and start writing poems and cards. Her penmanship has greatly improved, and she often will practice writing all the letters of the alphabet. She does all this without being prompted, and I'm so proud of her. I can't believe how well she can sit by herself and sound out words and write down how they sound to her. It's awesome! Our walls are absolutely becoming filled with her little creations. We do tons of reading each day and are already nearing the end of our Little House books again! She can't get enough of them!
In math we've practiced counting (we've now reached 40, and going beyond), patterns, dot to dots, graphing, sorting, pairs, and play math games daily. We introduced greater than, less than and equal as well as numerals. (we just touched on these with a brief intro which she dug) She loved the idea of the alligator eating up the larger set!
For science we've done some experiments with ice. We put ice on a plate, treated some with salt and then put food coloring drops on them. It was cool to see how the ice treated with salt created patterns with the coloring seeping down into the cracks. We also put 2 plates filled with equal amount of ice down to melt. We put one in the sun and one in the shade. Lastly we discussed which was heavier, ice or water. We dropped ice into glasses to watch it float. BabyGirl absolutely loves science experiments, and requests them almost daily. She loves to make her hypothesis and test to find the outcome! We also discussed temperature and reading thermometers during these ice units.
For geography we studied north, south, east and west. We learned how to put this information to use in reading maps and our globe. She did GREAT with this and immediately aced every question I gave her!
We did some social studies checking out different jobs people do each day. This was fun for her since we have a puzzle where you find the job and match it with the people. Anything to do with puzzles go off with a bang!
We've done tons of art...we can see it everywhere we look! :)
We're continuing with our Sesame Street Fire Safety program, and they are so much fun! There is a song, a story and sometimes a play to go with each lesson. Being the avid stuffed animal collectors we are (especially Muppet's!) we have all the characters and are able to bring the stories to life as we go along! So great!!!
Bits and pieces have fallen into place along the way as well....we've visited the dentist, helped our grandma around the house, started sewing with our new sewing machine, and so much more! Pretty much every day starts out with doing every jigsaw puzzle we own after breakfast. And pretty much every day ends with mom, dad and BabyGirl playing "go fish" until bedtime.
Today has turned into "let's fill the living room with all my barbie stuff!" We're having so much fun playing! Later we plan to paint our nails crazy colors and apply some new temporary tattoos. You know, what could possibly be better than this!!???!! Learning to let go and have fun is just as important as the other stuff! I know lots of people who could benefit from this little lesson! :) Until next time...

Wonderful Weather!

How great has the weather been the last couple days?? We've totally been enjoying our tramp, especially since we originally thought it was crushed by the ice storm. Turns out it was just the enclosure that got crushed, and we don't really need that anymore. So, yes! Let's jump and jump and jump! The sky and clouds are amazing today as well as the temperature in the 70's! We're going to enjoy every single last second of it!
The last few days we've done lots of learning. We don't really have a "schedule". We have school when BabyGirl wants to have school, which luckily for us usually means every day. We did school all morning on Saturday and all morning today. She just keeps asking for more! We finish one worksheet or lesson and she yells "again!" It's great! Just because we didn't have what BabyGirl considers formal "school" on Sunday we did lots of learning then as well. I don't have to tell any of you that every situation can be used as a learning experience. Now for my logging of the specifics for myself..
In the reading area we keep practicing rhyming since she loves it, especially the worksheets. We identified beginning and ending consonants, as well as short vowel sounds. We had a field trip to Grandpa's book store where she found all sorts of new chapter books and explored everything.
In math we've done tons of dot to dots, practiced counting higher and higher, counting by 5s and 10s, played go fish, trouble and lots more games involving numbers. We've worked on our calendar and are going a little more in-depth with our questions about it. BabyGirl is also learning different ways of thinking out and working math problems. She's doing great!
In science we've discussed trees and their place in our world. What we need from them, and what they need from us. We learned what we use trees to make, and the concept of conservation and recycling. We've also explored outside tons the last couple days observing the effects of the ice storm on our environment and the animals here.
In geography we learned about north, south, east and west. She learned how to identify them on maps, our globe, as well as in her own surroundings. She has always had a great understanding of her surroundings and direction, so she caught onto this immediately and loved locating things on maps I made her and logging where they were in relation to each other. She was able to stand in our own yard this morning and point out where the sun rises and sets and tell me the names of those directions. It was great and she is so proud of herself!
This week we get to start back to dance and gymnastics as well. Today is gymnastics and she can't wait!! We're getting a little more involved in our local playgroup that we attend and will be sharing art projects for the class to do as well as stories and snacks. It should be fun, and has several home school kids attending. Now, lets get back outside to enjoy the beauty!!

Ring in the New Year!

I can't believe December has left us, and we are already starting 2008! The month of December was a crazy one filled with Christmas preparations and a full week without power which threw us into some sort of parallel universe!! Then, to top it off, I forgot my password to log in and blog. December was filled with all kinds of fun, learning adventures and great times. Now, on with the new year!!
Yesterday we took the opportunity to put away all the Christmas decorations which turned into an all day event! At the end we started our January calendar and got it posted. Things are back to normal finally....
Today we worked some winter mazes to practice our writing as well as the lower case f and g with our reading adventure. We practiced rhyming with water colors and it was very sucessful! She totally dug it and found all the words herself without any help! The reading adventures are really paying off!
For art she also did some free play with water colors and had a blast making picutres and telling me stories about them. They are always full of imagination and fascinating! I love it! We also put together a snowman that she cut out and decorated herself after following all the directions I gave for the specifics. She did great on this one, too. It's always wonderful to mix art and learning!
We did tons of math today including matching numbers with groups, pattern practice, the #28, graphing, etc. Along with all of our "seatwork" we do alot on Jump Start World. She loves it and we can do it together. There are several subjects we study on JSW. It's a blast! We are currently working on the 1st grade level. Of course, we also use beads, marbles, paperclips, etc for adding, subtracting manipulatives.
BabyGirl got her own FP digital camera for Christmas and we also use this pretty much daily. She takes it around with her snapping shots here and there. When it's full we download it into her very own folder and she can tell me all about them, make up stories, and we see the world from her POV. It's amazing to see and sometimes so hilarious!!
We started our Sesame Street Fire Safety preschool program today as well. She had so much fun! We listened to our story, sang the song and played the hot/cold game. It was great and we look forward to working through our book this month!
What a great start to 2008!! It's sure to be filled with tons of fun, family, friends and learning! I hope you all have this great sense of excitement for the upcoming year! Here's to our children and grandchildren reaching beyond the stars, making their dreams come true and never taking no for an answer. May the questions never stop coming and our minds never accepting "because". I can't wait to see what develops next out of my little miracle! :)