Little Discoveries

Kindergarten Graduation

2010-09-25T17:40:00.004+02:00

It's so hard to break out of that K12 mentality I grew up with. I've come to the realization (after C told me in her own little words) that I am holding her back. She basically told me she was bored with what we were doing, and asked when we were going to do harder stuff. Wow. I was trying to follow CM's method of not starting "serious" studying until she reached 6, but in doing so, I am making her wait, just like government school would.

I looked over the kindergarten requirements, and sure enough she has mastered everything. So, I'm graduating her today. I will officially have a first grader. I am a little sad, and yet joyous in that God is teaching her so much, because it surely isn't my doing. I seriously look at what I've been doing with her in our very relaxed way, and wonder how she's picked up everything. God and my daughter continue to amaze me. It is beyond me. This is between God and her, and it's so wonderful.

We took her out to dinner at her favorite sushi place in celebration, and presented her with her own diploma. She was very excited, and we were very proud.

Butterflies and Symmetry

2010-09-23T03:18:00.002+02:00

Our homeschool group took a field trip to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. The girls loved it! We will definitely be going back. These are the books we read over the previous week. We also covered symmetry because it fit in so nicely with the butterflies.

Visiting Grandparents

2010-09-18T21:56:00.000+02:00


Apple Picking!

Mason Neck State Park

Mailing first pen pal letter and playing at park.

Classifying Animals

2010-09-18T21:48:00.000+02:00

C was playing with her blocks one afternoon. (8/26/10) She ran downstairs and excitedly asked me to come see what she made. So I did, and this is what I found. She had classified all her toy animals. It really reminded me how much kids learn on their own, because we've never done this before. I've never sat her down and said, "Classify this, or group these, etc." It was just so wonderful to see another example of her demonstrating what she already knows and understands.

Detective C's First Mystery: Surprise Sunflowers

2010-09-02T22:29:00.000+02:00

A handful of sunflowers have popped up in my grandparents' backyard. I was discussing with C how Grandma said she hadn't planted them. I asked C if she could figure out how they got there. It was so neat to see C's logic and thinking skills in action. After she figured it out, she wanted me to record her answer to the Surprise Sunflower Mystery. =)

Backyard Nature Study

2010-08-18T03:28:00.000+02:00

We found a different type of mushroom growing in the backyard's mulched area. They were a tad dried up by the time we found them. C wanted to see if watering them would help, so we did that. It also rained later in the day, so we'll check in a few days to see if they revived at all or if any new ones sprouted up. It was neat, because this was her first self prompted science experiment. I love that these nature studies are encouraging that type of thinking. We also happened upon some tiny spiders. C was amazed that within a few square feet of us at one point, were about half a dozen spider webs that we could see. We also noticed quite a few dragonflies flitting around as well.

Green Gilled Mushroom

2010-08-09T15:21:00.000+02:00

These popped up in our front yard after a lot of rain from the previous week or so. I took the girls out in the heat to do a quick nature study. We talked about the parts of the mushroom and the environment's conditions that were favorable for it's growth. We identified it as a Green Gill Mushroom, which apparently is extremely poisonous, but we discussed why we should never eat wild mushrooms. I had C sketch this as her very first entry in her nature journal. I'll have to scan it in later.

Tiny Creatures

2010-07-31T04:05:00.001+02:00

While working on the front yard, Daddy found four cicada shells for C. She was fascinated by them and immediately wanted to look them up online. This was her favorite video:

Later while helping Daddy, we also found a small common toad in the bushes. She loved looking at it for a while, and finding it in our wildlife book.

Duck Pond & Aquarium

2010-07-24T03:12:00.001+02:00

Hubby found a great little business park that was really a nice nature spot in the middle of the city, so we took the girls one morning. They enjoyed being able to freely explore. C was enamored by the ducks. She kept wanting to get up close, but since she didn't have bread, they were not interested. D loved tailing behind her big sister. We also saw a lot of dragonflies, and even a huge group of caterpillars all on one tree branch. We did a bit of bird watching as well. The girls truly enjoyed themselves. Too bad it was insanely hot, or we would have stayed longer. We also had a trip to the aquarium planned.

C is starting Kinder!

2010-07-19T15:02:00.000+02:00

We have officially started Kindergarten! C is very excited to start doing "schoolwork" again. We started really early because she doesn't quite understand the concept of "summer vacation." For C, there is no vacation from learning, and honestly, I like that.

We'll be using the Charlotte Mason method. I adore her educational philosophy, and truly they are the beliefs I have held all along. I'm so glad that there are so many resources out there that follow her method.

I will try to post more regularly. Even though I have records for everything on my computer, it will be nice to document in pictures along the way as well. (I should have taken a pic of her first day! I forgot!)

So, here's to the many more "little discoveries" that we will encounter this year!

Getting Ready for Writing

2010-06-28T21:31:00.002+02:00

I've been having C work on developing her finger dexterity so that we can start working on her writing this upcoming school year. She is writing some, but just however she decides to, usually in all upper case letters. She'll start learning to write the correct way when we start her kindergarten level work.

So, to keep it interesting and fun for her, I've been having her do a variety of projects: loom weaving, playdough, perler bead creations, making sticker pictures (peeling and placing stickers herself,) sorting and lacing beads, coloring, painting, puzzles, and paper mosaics (I have her tear little pieces and glue them on a coloring page.)

She's been having fun with these projects, and loves to be able to see the tangible results of her efforts. She's also excited because I told her that she needs to work her finger muscles if she wants to learn crochet, which she has wanted to learn for a while now, but hasn't had the dexterity to do it. I'm looking forward to that future project!

Beach Books

2010-06-05T21:20:00.000+02:00

Backyard Nature Studies: Robins and a Rabbit

2010-06-05T17:56:00.001+02:00

Our lone pine tree in the backyard had become the home of one (maybe two) robin families. We've been observing the nest and noticing when the parents would hunt for food and feed the babies. Lately, the birds have not been using the nest, and I feared the babies had been knocked out during the last storm. Surprisingly, last night, we saw one of the babies alive and well. His parents were hunting for food and feeding him right there on the ground.

Another critter that has felt welcomed into our yard is the little wild bunny. We've watched him munch on the endless amount of clover available in the backyard, and have also noticed evidence that he's found the wild strawberries that grow along the fence line.

The girls were so excited to watch from our back door. I'm so glad that these animals feel safe in our yard and have chosen it as a place to live. We are very lucky to be able to watch them.

Trip to the Beach

2010-05-21T21:20:00.002+02:00

Went to the beach for lunch with C's grandma. The kids played in the sand, collected sea shells, observed the waves, observed crabs, and best of all spent quality time with Grandma.

Dinosaurs at the Museum

2010-04-07T22:11:00.001+02:00

C's great-grandparents took her to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum where she got to see dinosaurs and fossils.

Snow!

2010-01-30T22:20:00.001+01:00

Nature Walk and Leaves

2009-10-08T20:20:00.000+02:00

Last week we enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood collecting fallen leaves. We tried to find as many different ones as we could. Today, we used the book, Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Trees to identify which leaves we had found. We made a poster board and labeled them. I'll try to take a picture of the final project once the glue is dry. =)

Learned About: Identification, Observation, Trees, Fall,
10/8/09

What can you learn from a Tea Party?

2009-10-08T20:11:00.000+02:00

Water stages - liquid and steam. Heat transfer. Boiling water. Temperature. Manners. Carefulness. Patience. Sharing.
=)
9/30/09

What Makes a Magnet?

2009-10-08T20:06:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago we studied magnets. We used the book, What Makes a Magnet? C really enjoyed the little magnet experiment in the book and had fun "fishing" with her own magnet.

Ignore the messy homeschooling room... it wasn't near finished then. We've made progress. =) Can't wait to have it done.

Ballet Classes

2009-09-24T18:44:00.001+02:00

C's been taking ballet for about a month now. She's loving it. It's so awesome when she comes home and is so excited to show us what she learned in class. She is going to Maureen's School of Dance. They have great prices if you are in the Western Branch area (Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake.) They will have an end of year recital in May, and we can't wait to see it!

Current Preschool "Curriculum"

2009-09-23T18:45:00.003+02:00

C's 2009-2010 Preschool "curriculum"

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

God's World and Me: Boz the Bear's Big Book of Bible Fun

Children's Bible read daily.

Scripture memorization.

Attending Story Time at the library twice a week.

Reading books checked out from library.

Ballet class once a week.

Arts & Crafts at home.

Children's Church on Sunday mornings.

Helping mom and dad around the house with age appropriate chores.

Learning while out and about, i.e.: grocery store, bank, post office, gas station, park, etc.

Various field trips.

Native American Books

2009-08-19T20:15:00.004+02:00

Daily Life in a Plains Indian Village 1868 - The text is above C's level, but the pictures led to discussion anyway. I read and explained in 4 year old terms how the Plains Indians lived, what their family roles were, their food, jobs, etc. This is a really good book, they have awesome pictures of so many things that their life involved.

How Thunder and Lightning Came To Be - This is a Choctaw story and I was so excited that I found it at the library. We are part Choctaw (a small part, but a part nonetheless.) So, it was fun to read this to C, it's also a cute story.

Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

Ankle Bells

2009-08-19T19:13:00.004+02:00

While watching the dancing at the pow wow last Sunday, C loved the bells that some of the dancers had, so today we made her a pair. This was really simple. I just used some ribbon and bells I had on hand, and voila! Ankle bells. (Guess I could have taken the loops of the bells, lol. The bells I had found on sale a while ago, at a craft store in the wedding section.) She's dancing to Native American music as I write this. =)
Example of pow wow dancing where you can hear their bells:

"Before the White Man Came"

2009-08-17T18:00:00.006+02:00

I found this treasure of a book at a Friends of the Library Sale while visiting my grandparents. I wish the whole set had been there. Maybe someday I'll find it. It is *. History of America told through narrative stories. Awesome find. =) We read the first poem, "Indian Children," and the first story, "Before the White Man Came." We also read another book called Dragonfly's Tale by Kristina Rodanas. Then we watched a few youtube videos with Native American music:

Nansemond Tribe Pow Wow in Suffolk, VA

2009-08-16T22:02:00.003+02:00

Nansemond Indian Tribal Association

Butterfly Drying out its Wings

2009-05-28T19:25:00.005+02:00

We saw this butterfly outside of the library today.

Butterflies
The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Observing a Momma Bird Sitting on her Nest

2009-05-28T19:22:00.003+02:00

Hopefully, soon, we'll get to see the babies.
Info and call sound bytes: Killdeer bird

Change to Blog

2009-05-28T19:03:00.003+02:00

I probably won't be posting anything but pictures from now on. I don't have time to sit down and write. They say pictures are worth a thousand words anyway.... =)

Watching Neighborhood Houses Being Quickly Built

2009-05-25T19:21:00.002+02:00

We've been noticing the progress while taking our walks.

Reading!

2009-05-23T21:25:00.001+02:00

C read her first 3 letter words today!
the very first was "cat"
=D

Strawberry Picking

2009-05-23T19:13:00.001+02:00

The farmer showed C an example of each stage of the strawberry plant's life cycle.

Feeding & Observing the Geese

2009-05-02T19:04:00.001+02:00

Canada Goose

Letter Box Activity

2009-04-07T22:36:00.004+02:00

We're starting phonics, since C already knows most of the letters' sounds. We're reviewing them as we're {semi} doing the Letter of the Week Prep Curriculum.

For this activity, I made 3x4 cards out of cardstock, and used Glitter Glue pens to write the lower case letters. This way it had a nice texture for her to trace with her finger. I put an object in the box for each letter.

First, I had her take the cards and lay them on the table in any order. Then I told her I was going to point to letters and she had to say the letter's sound. So, I went out of order, this way and that, between a and e. She enjoys this exercise because it's fun for her to try to see how fast she can remember each letter's sound and say it. It's also helping her to recognize the letters' sounds faster.

After we do that for a few rounds, I then have her take each item out of the box, one at a time, and place it on the letter it starts with. Then she has to say the name of the object and what it starts with. For example, "Bottle. Bottle starts with buh."

In this box, the objects I had were an apple, a bottle, a cup, a dinosaur, and an egg.

Trip to Siracusa, Sicily

2009-04-05T22:22:00.001+02:00

Today, we took a day trip to Siracusa. We saw the Roman Theater, which was under some sort of construction, the Ear of Dionysius, and visited an aquarium!

A is for Ants

2009-03-10T21:27:00.006+01:00

Today was the last day to study A, tomorrow we begin working on B. So after homeschooling this morning, we decided to go find some ants to observe. I asked C a lot of questions to encourage scientific thinking. (Science is Simple is a great book to help with this!) I asked things like: Where did she think they were going? What did she think they were doing? How were they working together? etc. She concluded that they were getting food. I asked her to look at them with her magnifying glass and draw what she saw. She counted their body parts, and noticed their color on her own. Later, while looking at an anthill on the sidewalk, she got to watch an ant carrying something bigger than its head. She was very amused with that.

Observing:
What she saw:
Recording:

This is what she drew (although smaller, the scanner didn't keep the original size.)
C really enjoyed this science activity today, and I enjoyed guiding her through it. I'm really enjoying the Letter of the Day Prep Curriculum, because it's really not too demanding. We finish up in literally an hour, and we can move on to more relaxed "unschooling" that we both enjoy. I think this is how we're going to end up homeschooling throughout the girls' education. Spending some time doing structured learning, but then spending the rest (or majority) of the time learning by doing and living. I think it's a good balance for us.

Hey Diddle Diddle Painting

2009-03-09T17:57:00.004+01:00

In A Letter A Day Preparatory Curriculum, week one's nursery rhyme is Hey Diddle Diddle. We practiced it starting Friday of week one, and will continue to sing it throughout week two.

Today, Monday of week 2, (after reviewing what a painting was,) I had C study a painting of the nursery rhyme at Ruth Sanderson's Golden Wood Studio (scroll down to almost the bottom of the page.) I had C tell me what colors and objects she saw. I asked her if she liked the painting, and why. (She said, "I like the animals.") I asked her what time it was, and how did she know. (She said, "Nighttime, because of the dark blue sky, and the cow is jumping over the moon.) Finally, I asked her if she would like to be a painter and paint her nursery rhyme. She said yes (of course, painting!? C is always interested in painting.)

Here is what she created:

The dark blue is the night sky.
The brown lines under that are the cow's legs, but its body faded (she had too much water in her paint.) Beneath that, is a barely there yellow moon.
The purple is the laughing dog.
The brown area to the left of that is the cat playing the fiddle (painted while the paper was turned sideways.)
Then at the bottom is the dish and the spoon. The dish's face was the only thing I helped her with since she was getting frustrated that she had no white paint. So, I showed her how to color with a white crayon and paint over it with the water color to create a white area. She thought that was pretty nifty.

She loved this activity. I really think having her look at and talk about an actual painting really made it even more interesting for her. She was so proud of her painting, and I adore it. We will definitely be doing this type of thing more often.

New Curriculum

2009-03-08T14:30:00.002+01:00

I've decided to start a curriculum with C, not because I think she has to learn "x,y, and z" before she's N years old, but because I think she needs to learn structure and she also needs to accept the fact that I am the teacher. Sometimes, she doesn't get to pick what we're doing at this moment. She also needs to know to follow directions, etc. So, after some online searching I found this site:

Brightly Beaming Resources

We pretty much did the same sort of routine in the last year ( a letter a week, and learning about a certain topic that she got to pick out) but this one has added activities, nursery rhymes, etc. While C knows a lot of the preparatory curriculum, we're still going ahead and completing it so that she gets into a good school/learning routine. We're only doing "school" for about an hour or two in the morning (depending on what projects she's doing,) then the rest of the day is spent learning through play, activities, and living.

The first week's lesson plan went really well. It covers cows, the letter A, number 1, and Hey Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme. C really enjoyed the projects, books, and videos that I added in. I'll try to post about what she's working on soon.

Germs

2009-02-26T14:59:00.006+01:00

This morning, C woke up with a sore throat, cough, and fever. This child, however, is never completely taken out by any sickness (as of yet anyway!) I've pretty much had to force her to lay on the couch under a blanket with a cool cloth on her head. We've read, colored, drank lots of juice and water, and are finally watching Finding Nemo.

While in the mood to read, I asked her if she wanted to learn about germs that make you sick. Of course she said yes. So, we read The Magic School Bus Fights Germs for the first time. It really clicked for her, since she's sick. She learned about red and white blood cells, and how the white blood cells are the ones that fight off the germs. She learned that fever helps the white blood cells work better. (I didn't even know that!) I'm so glad that the author included a page about how washing your hands numerous times helps keep germs away, and another that talked about how rest helps you get well. I think that may have convinced her to stay put. =)

Hopefully, she'll fight off this bug soon, and we can get back to learning! oh wait... we never stopped. =D

A trip to the Vet

2009-02-25T18:21:00.005+01:00

Today, we had an appointment to get the cats vaccinated. At first, C and I were going to wait in the waiting area, and then I thought, "Wait a minute! What am I doing!? I'm a homeschooler! This is a prime learning opportunity!" So, we followed Daddy and the cats into the room.

C watched and observed the Vet tech examining the cats' ears, eyes, and teeth. She watched them get their temperature taken, and receive their shots. She noticed how the vet was gentle and caring with the cats. The vet tech was great and answered all of C's questions.

C really enjoyed being able to experience and learn from this. I wish I had thought to take my camera so I could take a picture of her with the vet. She would have loved that. =)

Parade of Presidents

2009-02-20T14:57:00.006+01:00

Today was the local homeschooling group's Parade of Presidents event. All the kids were invited to research and present a president. C picked (well, pointed to a picture of, rather) Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president. I explained what a president is and what his job is, but it proved a little difficult. I should have either chosen the first or current president to make it a little easier on her. It was a little hard to explain that Wilson was a president in the past, not now.

She did really well on her presentation though. I went up with her expecting to have to prompt each fact with a question, but instead she did it all by herself. She named her president, and told her facts: that Wilson liked baseball, and that he had pet sheep at the White House. We kept her presentation short and sweet. She really enjoyed putting together the project. She punched out all 28 stars, and we practiced counting them. She colored and cut all the pictures, except the baseball picture, and she glued the cotton balls on for the sheep. She's very proud of her display.

Patterns

2009-02-17T10:54:00.006+01:00

Recently, my grandma sent C these big Popsicle sticks. I think she sent them for arts and crafts, but little did my grandma know that these are perfect for manipulatives! So, today we worked on patterns. This was the first time I directly introduced the concept to C, although I'm sure she's seen them on a few educational shows. She did really well.

We first worked on AB patterns, and that seemed a little easy. She also did well on AABB and AAB patterns. I even threw in a third color, and she was able to finish the patterns. She then wanted to start being the teacher, and made her own patterns for me to finish. This was a fun hands on math activity, and I think she really enjoyed it.
We've also been working on rhyming words, counting to twenty, concept of telling time, and of course reading a ton. She's also been working on spelling on her own. The other day, she was writing out valentine's cards for us, and she was trying to spell "daddy." She spelled the dad part. For her sister, Delilah, she spelled DLL, so I can tell she's recognizing the consonants, but not all of the vowels. She can hear the vowels if I sound out a word one letter at a time, but she's not doing that on her own yet. It's so exciting to watch her progression.

Valentine's Day Party

2009-02-12T16:40:00.005+01:00

Today the local homeschooling group had a Valentine's Party! This was Carlee's very first Valentine's party, and she had a blast!

First, she decorated her Valentine mailbox:
Then they played Valentine Bingo!
Then we decorated cupcakes before devouring them. All the other kids were at the other table, but all the chairs were taken. Plus, I think Carlee was feeling a little crowded, so she wanted to do her cupcakes by herself:
Then it was relay time! This was Carlee's turn racing to put a spoonful of heart candies in her team's cup:

Prizes! So exciting!
Then it was time to deliver valentines to everyone's boxes!
This was a lot of fun! We're going to miss this homeschool group when we move.

Mount Etna

2009-02-07T23:06:00.002+01:00

Today, we drove up to Mount Etna to play in the snow! Carlee's warm winter clothes came in handy. At first, she had fun playing, sledding with Daddy, and making a snowman (like in the books she's been reading.) Then a few ominous clouds crept in and the wind picked up. The wind was so strong that it scared her, so she was pretty much done. We enjoyed Italian hot chocolate on the way down.

She mentioned a few interesting things:

"Mommy," she said, "the clouds are white. Snow is white, too. So maybe the clouds make the snow!"

Obviously, you and I know the reason clouds make snow is different than hers, but I loved the hypothesis she came up with on her own. She also observed the clouds moving very quickly and hypothesized that the wind was moving them. She impressed me with her unprompted scientific thinking. I love how her little mind works!

Hopefully I will have a few pictures to add soon. =)

Winter

2009-02-06T14:33:00.000+01:00

As you can see, we are still having fun studying winter. It is definitely not cold enough here to be dressed like this, but we are hoping to head to Mt. Etna tomorrow to play in the snow! Today, we talked about what type of clothes we wear when it's very cold. Carlee had the bright idea to play dress up with her winter clothes. We discussed which body part each article of clothing kept warm.

We read The Mitten by Jan Brett. I asked questions about each page after reading to check Carlee's listening skills and comprehension. She is doing much better at listening and remembering details in stories.

I drew simple pictures of a mitten and glove and let Carlee color and decorate them. We talked about the differences between the two. She also practiced her writing.

Other books we've been reading lately:

The Snow Child by Freya Littledale

Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett

Sadie and the Snowman by Allen Morgan

My Favorite Time of Year by Susan Pearson

Avalanche by Michael Rosen

Don't Wake Up the Bear by Marjorie Dennis Murray and Patricia Wittmann - This is one of Carlee's absolute favorites. She loves how in the end the bear chooses to eat berries instead of the animals. She thinks it's absolutely hilarious. She has this one just about memorized.

Painting and Color Mixing

2009-02-05T14:31:00.000+01:00

We've been reading Warthogs Paint by Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole. It's about a group of warthogs who decide to paint their kitchen on a rainy day. They mix red, blue, and yellow to make other colors. Carlee really enjoys this book and is learning color mixing very quickly. Spending a whole afternoon painting and mixing colors together doesn't hurt either. This is our masterpiece from today. She had a blast and it was nice mommy & daughter time while the baby napped.

Learning some Life Skills

2009-01-12T11:05:00.000+01:00

I used the free online RRP diaper pattern sized down with normal velcro for the tabs to make Carlee's baby a diaper. She's been changing her, rocking her, and putting her to sleep. Very cute.

Of course, she's been learning a lot of new skills while watching us take care of her sister, and Carlee even gets to help with some things. She is also learning how to treat babies, and how to be patient & loving, etc.

Simple Addition

2009-01-10T22:13:00.000+01:00

Today while baking cupcakes for a party Carlee would be attending this afternoon, we were measuring the ingredients. "We need two cups of flour," I told Carlee. I let her scoop one cup of flour out and pour it into our bowl. "Remember, we need two cups of flour, how many more do we need?" I decided to ask this question out of the blue. I was simply going to introduce the topic to her, and I honestly completely expected her to answer "two," since I had just reiterated that we would need two cups of flour.

To my surprise, she answered, "One more." Wow. It's amazing how much kids know/learn/pick up on their own. I might just try adding more simple addition and subtraction problems into our activities to see just how much she understands.

Freezing Experiment

2009-01-10T04:05:00.000+01:00

Today, Carlee decided she wanted to make Orange Juice Pops. So we did. =) What a fun way to learn about how liquid freezes. We had to use a mini muffin tray, since we don't have an ice cube tray, but it worked. We talked about how the juice looked and felt before we put it in the freezer, and then checked on it throughout the afternoon studying its properties and progression. Finally, the pops were frozen! We then talked about what the juice looked and felt like when it was frozen. Carlee noted that it was very cold and hard. I asked her what she thought would happen to rain if it got really really cold. She said it would get really cold and freeze. =) She then enjoyed the orange juice pops for snack time. This was such a fun science lesson and she didn't even know that that's what it was!

Wee Movers & Shakers Class!

2009-01-06T05:18:00.000+01:00

Today, while at base, I (out of the blue) dropped by the gym to see if they had any classes starting soon for preschool age. Luck would have it, one started this afternoon! It's a Wee Movers & Shakers class full of dancing, singing, and lots of physical exercise. I took her up to the class right away, then came back to pay. Carlee loved it! She'll be going 2 times a week. I'm excited for her. She'll enjoy getting out of the house. Due to uncooperative weather and having a newborn in the house, we haven't been getting out much. We're changing that now, though.

I also just finished making Carlee some shape manipulatives. I used my paper punches to punch out stars, circles, and squares out of 3 colors of cardstock. Then I laminated all of them... that was fun. heh. We'll be working on patterns and classifying. =) Eventually, I'll add more shapes and more colors.

Christmas & Winter

2009-01-01T00:27:00.000+01:00

December was a very laid back month as far as homeschooling. With a brand new baby sister to watch and be entertained by, Carlee was not too bothered by taking a break. We did a lot of reading Christmas and winter themed books, though. We mainly focused on learning about the religious aspect of Christmas, and understanding that we are celebrating Jesus' birth. My favorite book to read to Carlee on that topic, was The First Christmas by Carol Heyer. The illustrations are gorgeous, and Carlee followed the story easily. We also did a lot of Christmas related crafts and baking.

Next month we are going to continue learning about winter, since we only briefly talked about it.

Fall Time!

2008-11-16T13:36:00.001+01:00

For November, Carlee started a "fall" unit. We've been reading a lot of books about fall, the holidays Halloween and Thanksgiving, and about trees, pumpkins, apples, etc. She's really enjoying it, although it's a challenge to really teach her what fall is all about, when here in Sicily, there's really not much evidence that it is indeed fall.

For one activity, I cut up an apple and we talked about the different parts of it, the colors they come in, how they grow, etc. Then Carlee got to use the cut up apple halves to make apple prints with paint. Very simple, and yet she loved this.

This was an activity we did last Thursday. After talking about how some trees have leaves that change colors and eventually fall off, Carlee got to make her own colorful fall trees. I had already colored some rice red, orange, and yellow. She then glued the rice to a tree I had drawn for her.

Her most exciting activity, however, was on Friday. As we were walking to a friend's house for a picnic lunch, we went on a Fall Treasure Hunt. I gave her our small digital camera to take pictures of anything that she thought was related to fall. She did extremely well! Here are a few of her photos:

I printed out all her pictures, and next week, we're going to make a little fall book. We'll have a lot of more crafts to do, and hopefully a trip to the library to find some books on Thanksgiving.

Writing Letters in Homemade Sand

2008-10-28T11:08:00.000+01:00

Another new activity today! (Working on adding activities to Carlee's school shelves.) A friend of mine had told me of an activity where the child practices writing her alphabet in shallow pan with rice, or corn meal, or another substance. I chose to make homemade sand since I wanted to try a recipe that another friend and homeschooler recently shared with me. It works really well for this exercise! (I tried the rice first, but the kind I had didn't stay so that you could see the letter that you wrote, so that's why I chose the sand.) Carlee is really enjoying this activity.

Homemade Sand Recipe:
4 cups dry coffee grounds
2 cups corn meal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt

Mix, sift, pour, measure, and feel!

Sorting Beans.... with tweezers

2008-10-27T17:10:00.000+01:00

Carlee had the chance to try a new activity today. She got to sort beans using big tweezers. She did really well! I was so surprised that she also kept the mess to a minimum today. I really think it has to do with her new school setup.

If you look in the background, you can see two bookshelves. This is now Carlee's school organizing area. It's still a work in progress, and I haven't added all the activities that I want to yet, but basically she will have an assortment of things to pick from. I will change out the activities based on what we're working on at the moment. Today, she chose her Triceratops lacing card (another first time activity,) the bean sorting and pouring, Melissa & Doug Puzzles, coloring, reading a few books together, and her Dino Match game.

I was really inspired by the blogs I've seen using the Montessori approach, and so I incorporated the setup into how we do things. I think the structure and having the carefully chosen activites available for her choosing will really encourage Carlee's independence. She already showed improvement today, her attention span was so much longer after getting to choose the activity, and she even did a lot of it independently (which is highly unusual for her!) She was also much better at putting each activity away before picking another one. Hopefully, she'll continue to do this even after the newness of the setup wears off. =)

Preschool Co-Op #3! Apple Day

2008-10-25T07:12:00.000+02:00

Today, Carlee had her monthly Preschool Co-Op. This month's theme was Apples. The kids got to do some apple crafts, coloring, and got to hear books about apples. Carlee had a blast with her friends, as usual. After the learning activities, they had a snack, and got to go outside to play with a bunch of P.E. equipment. Carlee's favorite were the stilts. I'm going to be making her some out of coffee cans. She was talking about her school time at Ms. T's house all day long! hehe. She really enjoyed it.

Fire Station Day!

2008-10-22T11:52:00.000+02:00

Today, we took a break from dinosaurs and learned a little about firemen! We went to a fire day event for MOMS Club, and the fire fighters put on a great time for the kids. They each got to sit in the fire truck, honk the horn, hear the siren, see the fire suit, and got coloring books and other goodies. I talked to Carlee about each part of the fireman's suit and let her get up close to get a good look. We talked about how the suit protects him from the fire, and what a fireman's job is. She had a blast, and told me that she's not scared of firemen anymore. She later told me that she wanted to be a fire fighter. So awesome. =)

Dino Dig!

2008-10-16T16:29:00.000+02:00

This month, we're working on dinosaurs! Carlee is loving it! Yesterday, we had a preschool type co-op event for MOMS Club. We read a few books about dinosaurs, played "Dino Match" game, played with dinosaur toys, colored pictures, and did a dinosaur dig. The kids could not wait for the dig! They had a lot of fun.

I made the "Dino Match" game out of Juicy Juice lids and dinosaur stickers. I used 2 of each kind stuck to the bottom of the lid. Then printed out a pattern of "DINO MATCH" repeated over and over to cut out into circles and attach to the top to make it more official I guess. =)

For the Dino Dig, I had wanted to make bones out of salt dough for the kids to find. I didn't have time to do that for the event, so I used two packages of small plastic dinosaur toys. They loved it anyway. This week, I think Carlee and I will make salt dough bones, and make impressions into the clay to talk about fossils.
Sorry for the weird crop. Don't know if Carlee's friend's mom wants his picture on my blog. =)

Busy with Beans

2008-10-09T16:23:00.000+02:00

Today, while at a friend's house, Carlee had the opportunity to play with a mixed assortment of dried beans. She was able to pour, stir, mix, measure, etc. (She's done this with rice at home before, but never beans.) She enjoyed it so much that when we we got home, she wanted to do the activity again. She had to wait until after lunch, but then she had her chance. However, at home she did not care to keep the beans on the cookie tray like she did at my friend's house. They were everywhere!

She took them to her little kitchen to "cook." She learned what happened when the pot was full and she continued trying to pour more beans in. She measured and scooped, and divided the beans into little sections of a mini muffin tin. It was good learning... then I asked her to pick up. The sight of the beans literally everywhere was a little overwhelming for her. She picked up for about 5 minutes before giving up and insisting that I help. I finally gave in, since she had at least tried and picked up for a while (for a 3 year old, 5 minutes is a long time!) I'm thinking of starting a star chart for picking up, as it seems she gets her strong dislike of cleaning after creative time from me. =)

I took pictures of the aftermath, but it didn't even cross my mind to take a few while she was actually enjoying the activity. I didn't want to interfere.

Preschool Co-Op #2: Our Five Senses

2008-09-23T07:34:00.000+02:00

This month it was our turn to host the preschool co-op. We worked on learning about our five senses. I had three "stations" somewhat set up. Our first activity was to read My Five Senses by Aliki. This book is too cute, and really simplifies the concept of our five senses for little ones. Then we practiced our sense of smell. I had about 6 film canisters, each with a different scent inside of it. For example, one had coffee, one had a cotton ball soaked in vanilla, another had a cotton ball soaked in vinegar, one had shaved candle pieces in it that smelled like rose, one had garlic powder, etc. The kids found that interesting. You could definitely tell which smells the kids enjoyed and which ones they didn't like at all. haha.

The next activity was about our sense of hearing. I read a book about a boy who heard a mouse in the house. It had a lot of sound words in it. Then we did an activity where I had a few plastic eggs set up with various objects inside that would make different sounds. Lined up on the table were small paper cups that held duplicates of the objects. The kids had to listen to each egg being shook, and guess which material was inside. The objects were: a bell, marbles, rice, and cotton. They guessed each and every one right! They really enjoyed this activity and did really well. Afterwards, I brought out more of the little bells and they each got one to shake and listen to.

Then we moved to the sense of touch. We did a craft activity where we traced the kids' hands and then they glued different precut textures onto the fingertips of their hands. There was cotton, plastic, sandpaper, fuzzy fabric, and a piece of sponge. They seemed to like this activity as well.

Our next activity was for our sense of taste. I brought out paper cups with different items for the kids to taste. One was a lemon (sour), one had sugar (sweet), one had premade and cooled coffee (bitter), and the last was a chip (salty.) They got to taste each one and again, you could definitely tell which tastes the kids preferred. =)

Then we all had lunch and free play. The kids really seemed to enjoy everything, and I'm surprised that their attention held for so long. The reason I had preplanned so many activities was in case they got bored with one activity, then we could just move on to the next, but surprisingly they finished each and every one of them.

Since I was running all the activities, I didn't get to take any pictures. These I borrowed and cropped from another mom.

Rain, Rain, Feel Free to Stay

2008-09-15T07:56:00.000+02:00

This is how I want my daughter to learn:
By living, by doing, by experiencing first-hand the world around her. This is why I love homeschooling.

More Art

2008-09-05T08:25:00.000+02:00

She watercolored. I cut everything out for her, then she got to glue everything where she wanted it.
The final piece from yesterday:

Free Art

2008-09-04T01:32:00.000+02:00

She certainly doesn't look like she's having fun, huh?

Unit 2: Ocean Unit

2008-09-01T15:13:00.000+02:00

First Preschool Co-Op

2008-08-22T07:46:00.000+02:00

Today Carlee and I attended her first ever Preschool Co-Op. She loved it. I was a little worried about her meeting new kids and wondered how she would do... Needless to say, I worried for no reason. She is definitely a little social butterfly.

The first meeting was set up as a water play day for the kids to meet and get to know eachother. They played in a little pool, had a water table to practice pouring with, a few buckets of soapy water, and then one of the kid's older sister brought out this activity for the little ones to do:

They loved this! Carlee was fascinated with being able to produce that many bubbles! She had a blast socializing with new kids her age, and learning of course. I love this preschool co-op group already!

Unit 1: Lesson Planning/Brainstorming

2008-08-04T14:58:00.000+02:00

Sorry about the weird format, I copied and pasted from Word. =) This was a fun unit to start with. My daughter loves farm animals. As an ethical vegan, her loving these animals makes it easy to explain to her why we don't eat them. I filter what info I want to her to have. For example, I never include the false nutrition info that is listed in most of the sites I ran across.

August 2008– “Farm” Animals Unit
Read Charlotte’s Web Book to Carlee throughout month. Promotes attention span, hearing longer sentences, bigger words, speech patterns, quality time together.
“Farm” Animals Unit
· Farm Animal Sanctuary Video
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yiqYvr_4dM
· Farm Animals: http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/farm.htm
· Week 1: Pig in “Farm” Animals Unit
o http://first-school.ws/theme/animals/farm/pig.htm
o http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/pigs.htm (coloring, activities, etc.)
o Baby Pig Video
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS_FFmAzcJo
o The Three Little Pigs Story
§ http://first-school.ws/activities/crafts/animals/farm/bagpig.htm (activities)
§ Build/paint a house?
o Charlotte’s Web Movie (*Wilbur ties in with Ww*)
o Pig Songs http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/pigs/songs.htm
o Pig Crafts http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/pigs/art.htm
o Pig Facts (choose what to tell) http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/farmpiggies.htm
· Week 1: Other focus
o Letter: Ww
§ Ww coloring sheet http://www.edhelper.com/kindergarten/Letter_W_Coloring2.htm
§ Writing Ww worksheet http://www.edhelper.com/kindergarten/Letter_W_Writing1.htm
o Number: 9
§ Number 9 Coloring Sheet http://www.edhelper.com/kindergarten/Number_9_Coloring1.htm
o Vocabulary: Piglet – a baby pig, Snout – Pig’s nose,
o Various books from library – Read, Read, Read!
o Review Letters
o Review All Letters Sounds
o Review #s 1-10
o Review Colors
o Review Shapes
· Week 2: Sheep
o http://first-school.ws/theme/animals/farm/lamb.htm
o http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/lambs.htm (coloring, activities, etc.)
o Lamb Video
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vl1QH4ebgw
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC4wK_MI4OU
o Baa Baa Black Sheep Nursery Rhyme
§ http://first-school.ws/activities/nrhymes/baa-baa-black-sheep.htm (activities)
· Week 2: Other Focus
o Letter: Zz
o Letter combo: Sh sound
o Number 10
o Vocabulary: lamb – baby sheep, wool – sheep’s hair,
o Various Library Books – READ!!!
· Week 3: Cow
o http://ourpreschoolhomeschool.blogspot.com/2007/09/cow-and-calf-picture.html
o http://first-school.ws/theme/animals/farm/cow.htm
o http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/cows.htm (crafts, coloring, etc.)
o Baby Cow Video
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX-WtTXWeqc
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BemypzwYhlM
o On the Range Movie
· Week 3: Other Focus
o Letter: Nn
o Number 11
o Vocabulary: calf – baby cow, bull – boy cow, udder – where the baby cow gets milk,
o Various books from Library.
· Week 4: Chicken
o http://first-school.ws/theme/animals/birds/chicken.htm
o http://first-school.ws/theme/animals/birds/rooster.htm (boy chicken)
o http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/chickens.htm (stories, crafts, etc.)
o Videos
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_0HPQgDEwE
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSIppq0pIo
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uosdjxC-CWs (baby chicks)
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tof5b1Qs_OE (chick hatching)
o The Little Red Hen Story
§ http://first-school.ws/activities/fairytales/redhen.htm (activities for story)
§ Bake Bread together
o Chicken Run Movie
· Week 4: Other Focus
o Letter: Uu
o Number 12
o Vocabulary: chick – baby chicken, beak – bird’s mouth, rooster – boy chicken, hen – girl chicken
o Various Books at Library.
Activities to Use Whenever
· Animal Sounds exercise – Make a pattern of animal sounds and have Carlee copy them. Use different patterns. “Moo Moo Baa.” “Oink Moo Baa” etc. *Works on Listening and Sequencing.

New Homeschooling Blog

2008-08-04T11:03:00.000+02:00

Somehow, I deleted my old blog that I was using to keep track of my daughter's homeschooling activities and learning. So now, I have to start a new one. =)