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 :())