Preschool Corner: Gardening Unit

Tornado put these numbers in order 1-20 (the picture was after we started cleaning them up... sorry!) and then we hid the trowel under them. Couldn't fool him. He looked for which one sat higher than the rest. I call that problem solving!!!

Sweet Pea is still working on her colors and shapes so these cards are great! We'll probably keep them out longer than the rest.

This is the first time we've used anything like these "first sounds" cards. Tornado loved them! And did a great job!


We tried these matching "vocabulary" cards for the first time too. He's getting pretty good with his reading, so I put all the word cards on one side and the picture cards on the other side. He sounded out the words and found the pictures to go with.



Sweet Pea worked on her number recognition 1-5 and Tornado started learning how to add with these great addition pages from Confessions of a Homeschooler. He loved them and is really getting the concept. Often the mistakes he makes are because of miscounting.

Here he worked on sequencing the growth of a flower and putting together a flower and labeling the different parts.
And tracing... and then erasing. Ok... Sweet Pea really just scribbled on our 1-20 chart.


These are some fun blocks we found for $5 at the thrift store. They are for making mazes to use a marble with, but until we have a marble to use, we are using them as blocks. This past week I introduced the "dominos" concept... very exciting. I even found Tornado doing it with clothes pins later in the day.


And to go with our good soil lessons we planted seeds in "good soil" and in sand to see what would happen.

And a week later, we have a seedling in the good soil. (Sorry about the blur!)


And that's it for our garden unit I think. Have you been doing anything special for spring???

Labels: Homeschooling my 3 year old, Homeschooling my 4 year old, Preschool Corner

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:51 AM 1 Comments

Reading Lists

As a mama who has been trying to figure out new and wonderful books to read to my littles (I get bored easily!), I was so thrilled to see that Susan has posted both a list for boys and a list for girls... through the various ages and stages. Thanks for taking the time Susan! I'm so excited to start getting those from my library!

I also have to tell you all how excited I am to have won a copy of her book, Homepreschool and Beyond from Jolanthe. Thanks to both ladies for that giveaway. I was just thinking to myself that I never win anything. :) Um... perhaps never is a little strong.

I'll be sharing my thoughts on the book after I've had a chance to read it.



Edited to add: Rebecca Jones just shared some of their favorite read alouds too! Thanks Rebecca!

Labels: Homeschooling my 3 year old, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:51 AM 0 Comments

Preschool Corner: Gladys Aylward

Labels: Homeschooling my 3 year old, Preschool Corner

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 11:12 AM 2 Comments

Preschool Corner: Reading together

As I've mentioned, we've said good-bye to official curriculum... even the homemade kind. We're saying hello to books, life and fun! (I'm working on the fun part... I do still have a newborn!)

We've been doing our reading (including our Bible/Character stuff) for sure... and that's about it these days. Aside from working strenuously on first time obedience with both Tornado and Sweet Pea... and getting Little Man to take his day time naps in his bed. That's a big one!

The kids have loved The Little House by Virgina Burton. I'd never read it before... but Tornado loves the trains... go figure!

An Amish Year has been a favorite for both of them too, but especially Sweet Pea. A week or so before Little Man made his appearance, we made a trip into Amish country to an Amish run organic store. While we were there the kids were excited to see all the horse and buggies around. We tried to explain some of it, but I made a mental note to get some books from the library. It's been such a hit that I plan to get some more books about the Amish in the coming weeks! (Their work ethic helps encourage me to get my own work done too!)

Aesop's Fables is going over well too... The first one in the book is The Boy Who Cried Wolf. That very day I was able to use that lesson with Tornado around nap time. We've been struggling to find a way to help him understand the importance of being honest... very helpful! What I didn't expect is that it would disturb the next several sleep times with fears of a wolf being in the room to eat him. I assured him that the wolf was only there to steal and eat the sheep... and that if there is ever a real wolf in the room, he can call for me, and just like the towns folk, I'll come scare him away. "But don't forget," I told him, "you need to tell the truth. Don't call mommy about it if there isn't a real wolf!" Very funny!

We haven't done any "Table Time" lately, but one day Tornado plopped himself down in front of our chest freezer and started arranging the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics in order... by himself. He did the first couple on his own before I even knew what he was doing. Then he started asking me (who was doing dishes nearby) where letters were (as you can see, they were every which way, making it harder to notice them). I would help him some, but mostly let him do it himself. He got to letter "L" before I called him to do something else. He was adamant that no one touch them so he could finish later. We never did get back to that before his sister "messed them up" the next day.




Visit Preschool Corner for more preschool happenings!

Labels: Homeschooling my 3 year old, Preschool Corner

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:08 AM 3 Comments

Preschool Corner: Tossing the Bath Water...

... keeping the baby. All of them.


I had some pretty big ideas about what preschool would look like this fall. I sat with notebook in hand this summer, very large with child, while the kids ran around in the grass that makes up our front yard. I started with a basic list, a brainstorm of ideas. From there, I organized it all onto a calendar... taking into consideration special dates that work for the themes I had in mind. Then I started thinking in more detail about what I would include for each week's theme. I wanted to have as much planning done before baby came as possible... so I'd be more likely to get it done on this end.

Let's just say... the time and work were not wasted. I can still use those ideas someday... if I want to. But I am making the decision to let it all go.

The plans.

The schedule.

The delusions of grandeur.

I'm tossing them out the window. Saying good-bye. And not looking back (except to borrow ideas when I want to.)

But let me clarify here... I'm tossing my plans. My curriculum. My lesson plans.

I am not tossing learning. Education. Preschool.

The bath water (my curriculum) is gone. The baby (learning) is sticking around! (As is Little Man... just in case you're worried!) Just with a little less structure (or no structure... as the case may be.)

So below is the new plan, for now... always ready for tweaking as needed! This may simply be the plan for this week... or this month. Maybe it will last through the fall, or to Christmas. Maybe it will be all of what this "school year" looks like. It's ok. He's 3, she's 2. This is preschool we're talking about. And it looks like, as hard as I've tried to fight it, this more relaxed approach is the best way for us after all!

We'll be concentrating on character in general... obedience specifically. I'll be learning how to slow down. To incorporate the children into life. To exude gratefulness. To keep my focus upward. To keep our home with joy. And so many other things. The kids will learn whatever they glean from the day to day... and hopefully a lot of what I'll be learning will spill over onto them.


Our plan:

Bible and Character

Small Talks About God:Devotions for Young Children
Scripture Memorization
Bible Stories
Catechism (Big Truths for Little Kids: Teaching Your Children to Live for God)

Science

Nature
Seasons
Animals (interest led)

Reading/Language Arts

Read Alouds (Chapter Books specifically, but also tons of picture books)
Mazes, Tracing, Coloring, etc.
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons or The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (not doing this right away, but plan to start sometime this year)

Math

Number Recognition to 20
Telling Time (again, not right away, but a goal for the year)
Other early math as it comes up in life

Social Studies

Literature based (as it comes up in our reading)
Holidays
Community Helpers (interest led)

I hope to share with you each week some of what we've done... and what it ends up looking like. I'm excited for the year, and I'm no longer overwhelmed because this is pretty much what our lives look like without trying. I'll prep for some things and plan some activities as I have time, energy and desire... and if we don't ever get to working at the table (coloring/mazes) one week, I'm not going to worry about it.

As much as I love planning, I'm looking forward to just living... and seeing my kids learn through it!


Checkout what others are doing too!

Labels: Homeschooling my 2 Year Old, Homeschooling my 3 year old, Preschool Corner

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 3:23 PM 3 Comments

A Monster

It seems I've created a monster... a rhyming monster. I introduced Tornado to rhyming this past week as part of our "preschooling." He picked up on it fairly quickly and is running with it! This is great news... but like I said, I may have created a bit of a monster.

I hear from him all the time, "Mommy, fire, tire, hire!" Cue his laughter, and he continues with another run of rhyming words.

My favorite though is when he does one wrong. Occasionally there is a sequence of words that end in a word that isn't quite right. He thinks it's very funny and bends in half saying "oh!!!" really loud. It's great.

Go pre-reading skills!

Labels: as it happens, Homeschooling my 3 year old

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:53 AM 0 Comments

Preschool Corner: "Nothing in Particular"

This was a very non-school kinda week. I planned nothing and we did nothing planned. And on that note, I thought it would be a great week to start joining Preschool Corner... right?

Let's just say, like my first Tot School post, it's more of an introduction for those of you who aren't already checking over at these couple of blogs. Preschool Corner is a place I can share what I'm doing specifically with Tornado my 3 year old preschooler... just like Tot School is a chance to share and do things deliberately with Sweet Pea.

There, I've introduced it!

Before I get to what we DID do this week, I do want to assure you that I have actual plans for next week! That's right... resources gathered, things printed, and a theme to work with! I mentioned that I would be thinking through and changing things a bit, and I have. I've made some changes and am going in some new directions. I am leaving much of the Hubbard's Cupboard curriculum behind for now, though I'm still using elements of it and have really enjoyed the time we used it through the winter/spring. It is a great resource, but as we move ahead in the direction the Lord has been leading us, I will be using it more as a resource and less as a curriculum. (Does that make sense???)

With next week welcoming June, I'm figuring that it's the start of actual summer and therefore have a slew of summer plans! Come back next week to hear all we've done!

And now for the part of the post that has pictures... what we HAVE been doing this week (eh, perhaps couple of weeks) while we weren't doing anything in particular!

We spent some time talking about place setting and setting the table. Tornado liked using the fancy glass and big plate. I did it with him the first time. Then he wanted to do it again and I let him try but guided him. He wanted to do it again, so I moved it all away and asked him where each thing went.

I decided we wouldn't be doing this Number Bingo game again for a while, but the next day Tornado was asking to play the "button game", so we brought it out and he really enjoyed it. We did it a couple times in the time before lunch.

After lunch that same day, I taught both of them how to wipe the table. They enjoyed that and I enjoyed that someday it can just be their job. :)
Tornado enjoys this memory game, but I don't bring it out very often (I should, I know).

We learned about shadows last week (part of the "light of the world" lesson from Hubbard's Cupboard). He also worked on memorizing Matthew 5:16. We're still working on that one, but he can do it with me and loves talking about light. He picked up the concept right away from reading What Makes a Shadow by Clyde Robert Bulla.

(We also talked about the wise man and foolish man and their houses... this worked well with a couple other books listed below!

We brought home some of nature's treasures as part of our walk too! Tornado usually sits in back of our stroller, but he wanted Sweet Pea's spot and she wanted his. So I went with it!


While Sweet Pea and I work working on "up" and "down" over the train track bridge, Tornado was working on some things of his own.

And this is the result. He did it over and over and thought it was great.

Before it went this far though, we had made a "1" and a "2" out of the tracks... then we combined them (which meant they didn't look like themselves anymore, but oh well). Then this started! :)

And after all was cleaned up, we stacked some blocks! This is always a good opportunity to work on sharing and selflessness and not knocking down your brother's/sister's tower.

While we were playing with play-do today (another thing I hate to bring out, but it really wasn't bad) we talked some about shapes. I introduced the concept of the "sphere" and "cube". It was in passing and while he was doing his own thing, but I mentioned it! :) Now he's at least heard the words once.

Also not planned in the least was this workbook. I don't usually do workbooks with him, but he does enjoy them from time to time. He loved that it was Elmo. He did 4 pages before I decided we were done. He probably would have done a couple more, but I'd rather quit while we're ahead and he's still interested than to quit because he's bored with it.

We moved into the living room after our table time was over and he wanted to play "wooden logs". I don't particularly enjoy this either (hmmm... I'm sensing a theme I should work on), but figured it was as good a time as any. Really, it wasn't bad. He can't build it himself, but enjoys the process. He always wants a window (or he might be able to do it himself soon), so we put one in. Once I helped him start the roof, though, he was able to do it mostly on his own. And thanks to his sister, he had ample opportunity to practice putting the roof together again and again and again. I'd say he's a pro at it now and was doing it all by himself by the end. While he was playing with it, I separated out the remainder of the pieces and put away a good number of them so it's not such a burden in the future. We may plan with this one more often now.

Well... that's not everything, but it's everything I have pics of. Head on over to Preschool Corner to see what real preschooling moms are up to!

Labels: Homeschooling my 3 year old, Preschool Corner

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 8:18 PM 4 Comments

Preschooling the 3 year old... academics or play?

I recently received this comment:

Hi,
Your kids are so little--have you ever considered taking the emphasis off letters, numbers, etc and trying units that will give them a simple base of knowledge about the world? I have a year's worth of traditional preschool topics listed on my blog...you might enjoy checking it out.
Blessings, Susan (www.susanlemons.wordpress.com)

I initially replied with this:

Hi Susan,

With Tornado, I really haven't considered it, because he enjoys it so much. He's always asking me to teach him the words and "let's do school". What we do is to let him decide if he wants to do it. If he'd rather play, we play.

With Sweet Pea, on the other hand, I haven't even considered thinking about starting letters and numbers. We play with colors and shapes sometimes, but only in a pointing them out and talking about them kinda way. She's just not in the same place Tornado was at the same age. I imaging her 3s preschool will look much different than his. I'm excited to check out your ideas, especially for her... thanks for the comment!!!

I'm not sure why, but I haven't been able to get her thoughts out of my mind. I do struggle with a bit of "fear of man", so that might be part of it, but it has made me think, and think, and think. And maybe she's making me rethink a few things. Here's what I know right off hand...

I do push academics more than some.
It's true... and I know it. Much of this comes from my previous misconceptions about schooling my children. It's hard to shake the idea that I'm schooling if I'm not using academics and I have a hard time waiting until they are older to start. Though I'm getting over that, I do find it easier to stick to doing something when it's at least involved.

I don't do flash cards!
On the flip side, I don't believe I push beyond my child's ability or desire (I don't think). I make it available... but we don't park on it. Some days we don't touch on letters or numbers at all... other days it takes maybe 5 minutes of our time. Some days we do more than others, but I'm not drilling flash cards (anymore... there was a small period of time when I was that crazy, but I believe I'm over it. We're all learning, right?)

Not our focus!
I don't know what things will look like in the fall, or when Tornado turns 4... but right now, the traditional "academics" aren't our focus. It may seem like it here because it's a more tangible thing to share with you on a blog, but we spend more time with the Bible stories and verses than anything else. A decent chunk of time is spent singing and dancing around... or talking and learning about the world around us... or doing chores with mommy (I'm trying to be better at doing this with them). By comparison, we kind of breeze by the letters and numbers stuff most of the time.

By request.
The exception to the "breeze by" it claim is when Tornado requests it. For example, last week while we were gluing, he asked if we could play the "cup dice game" (Yahtzee). I brought it out and we played for a while... counting the dots and having fun. Would he have played in the same way if he were left to himself? I don't know.

Learning and transitioning.
I must say, I've learned a lot just in this last 6 months since starting our current curriculum. Really, I've learned a lifetimes worth in the last 4 weeks through some of these other moms. I'm learning, making changes, adding on to our learning times, and letting other things fall away. Our "curriculum" (meaning my plans for educating my children) is in an ever fluctuating process. Will I ever decide on something and stick to it forever? Probably not... it's not how I work. There is so much out there, and I'm learning new things everyday!

What I'm thinking now?
Ugh. To be honest, the more I think and plan and do, the more fickle I feel about the whole process. And how thrilled I am that I have all of you as witnesses to my fickleness! I can only hope being present for my journey may help someone... even just one of you! I've been spending some time reading the basics of Susan's blog again (I do check in there regularly anyway). Her "4 Rs" are particularly interesting.

As I spend some time thinking and praying over where we've been and where we're going, I am working through some decisions. Do I quit where we are in this current curriculum? If I don't quit is it because I don't want to be a quitter? Or because I believe it's what God has for me to do with my littles? Do I stick with it and just do the modified schedule like I've been doing? Should I drop the letters part? Does Tornado really like it, or does he just do it because I ask him to? Would he choose it over something else? Should I be giving him that choice at this stage? Or should he be learning to follow my lead in that area? Would something else work better? Should I move back to "Tot School" stuff with him?

Like I said, I'm thinking and praying over these things. And My Beloved and I are talking through them too. I don't know when I'll land on a decision... maybe today... maybe next week... maybe later this summer. My mind is spinning though, and I think it's a good thing. I'll let you know how it is going though... no reason hiding from you to save face now... you've already seen the fickle side of me!


I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions, but in the end, My Beloved and I are the ones making decisions for our children. Please be respectful in your comments. Thanks!

Labels: Homeschooling my 3 year old

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 8:13 AM 1 Comments

Number Bingo: Number Recognition for #s 1-10

Have I mentioned that I've been inspired recently by a few homeschooling bloggers? No? Oh, then allow me to share.

After perusing Carisa's blog and sites for a good long while, I found my way over to Homeschool Creations and Confessions of a Homeschooler. Both of these ladies have a ton of wonderful ideas and printables for you... and they too use the widget idea I'm totally copying as soon as I have some widget-able things to share with you! I just love how I can see at a glance what tools they use!

After spending hours (most of which, I'll happily admit, were one evening when My Beloved was out late and not while dinner was burning and the children were destroying the house behind me) drooling over and planning a "someday" when I will return to used each and every resource they have shared, I started getting the "make it yourself" bug. You see... all of these ladies have been seen blogging that they couldn't find exactly what they wanted... so they made it themselves. (And I'm glad they did... because now I don't have to.) There are those few things though, that I want to make myself, either because I want to add a twist to it, or because I haven't found it anyplace else.

This Number Bingo is one such thing that I just had to make myself. And... thanks to Confessions of a Homeschooler (she has no idea... who I am or that she helped me), I've found a way to share things with you that you can download yourselves! If you want too. Or not. (Let me know if you do though... it'll make me smile!)


You'll want to cut the 4 game cards apart and maybe even laminate them for durability (someday when I get my wishlist laminater, I'll be doing this. Until then, I'm expecting rolled corners and even ruined games.)

Once you've done that, pick something to use as markers (we used buttons from my button box... he liked the shiny and shimmery ones best). What made this fun for Tornado was the dice. He got to roll 2 dice (I plan on having him re-roll if 11 or 12 pop up, but that never happened today). Then he counted the dots and searched his game card for the right number. Happily, he won both games we played (enjoying the part where he got to yell "BINGO"). Once we finished the first game he wanted to play again. He was done after the second game though.

It went well I think, but I think he enjoyed rolling the dice more than anything else. I may not try this one again until later in the year when he's a bit older. But I'd love to hear about it if any of you try it!!!

Enjoy!

Labels: Homeschooling my 3 year old, Preschool Printables

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:45 AM 1 Comments

Homeschooling Preschool: Weeks 5-16 or... the way we do it now

Ok, so it's been a while since I've shared our homeschooling preschool adventures... and a big part of that is because I've simplified significantly. Some of those "weeks" turned into two, and others were condensed to fit 2 units. I slacked off so much that I thought I was giving up on my goal to be done before baby came. Then I redoubled my efforts to finish in time and have slacked off simplified my plans to make it work for us. In short, though we are still following Hubbard's Cupboard's curriculum, I've axed a bunch of it and am sticking with the easy stuff basics. Please take a look at the lesson plans and resources available for each unit, but what I'm going to share with you is how I've simplified each and made it fit our lives, condensed schedule and energy levels (mine, not Tornado's... he probably could have done it all and then some, and learned even more in the process.)

Schedule
I have exactly 12 units left after the one we're in... and exactly 12 weeks left to "D-day" (assuming this baby can read a calendar... since neither of my other children could in utero, not to mention now, I'm not holding my breath!) To go a step further, there was a time that I was 5 or six weeks behind (meaning I wasn't going to finish.) In order to get us "caught up", I had some condensing to do. Needless to say, we've doubled up some weeks. And really, when I dropped the labor intensive stuff, it didn't take a whole week anyway.

Books
One of the things I've kept in my lesson plans is reading. I go through the quick reference sheet each week and request all the books I can find from our local library. For many of the stories, I am finding that the library doesn't cooperate with this list, so in those instances, I search by topic and pick my own books out. If I were staying on track with updating you, I could let you know which books we've liked... but I don't remember them now. Sorry. Suffice it to say that we have not read all the books we've brought home... but there have been some we've liked a lot!

The basic regime is to read the books to the kids. If Sweet Pea is interested, she sits and listens too. Usually with a book of her own in her lap. Otherwise, it's just Tornado and I. At the very least we read through 1 book (of our own or from the library) several times, but often there are several to go through, about our Bible story. We generally spend 2-3 days on a unit, whether that is spaced out to fill the week or back to back. As far as the stories are concerned, he does a great job with remembering them. He seems to understand them at the time anyway, and often brings up aspects of the stories over the next few days. I also try to refer to them in our daily life as character training moments arise (remember what happened when Jonah disobeyed, doing everything "just as God commanded him" like Noah, etc.)

Memory Verses
This is my greatest focus as we travel through the curriculum... and the thing that stays with us the most. I'm not saying we work on this everyday, and there are days that Tornado just doesn't want to work on memorizing his verses (so I have to sneak it in there somewhere), but we have been continuing to learn our verses. Though the author made some changes in the number of verses she would work on with her own kids, I had planned on trying to do all of the verses. There are a number of verses we've done that she only intended for us to learn about... and I'm glad. But some of the longer ones that were more specific to the story, I've decided to drop. I've found that for Tornado, one verse a week (give or take) is enough, and am not crowding more in when we condense two weeks into one. As of now, he's learned 9 verses out of the 16 units. For many of them I give him a cue or the first word... but others I can just ask him to "say Genesis 1:1", and he can do it. For all of them though, we are constantly reviewing. When he hits a rough spot, we work on it. And, as in all things, rough spots come and go.

There are several verses, too, that have been more difficult for him to learn... for those, I've made up songs and he's learned them nicely! Joshua 1:9 was one of those... and it has come in handy on more than one occasion. We often sing it when he's scared of something! I'm working on a way to share these songs and others with you in the future so that you can use them with your kids if you want to.

Letters
Each of the units includes a letter that somehow corresponds to the story. This week we've been working on "N" for news... as in spread the news of Jesus, or the angels gave the news of Jesus birth. Tornado really enjoys this part.













I always print out the "Letter Art", but rarely follow her suggestions as to how we use them. Instead I've been having Tornado do a modified "tracing" activity with them (as you see above). He does pretty well (better than tracing on a line since this gives him a little freedom for his untrained hand), but he still struggled with where to start. So you'll notice on the pic of "M", that I borrowed an idea from Carisa, and added "stop" and "go" markings after printing them out. (I adore Carisa's website... you will be hearing more about her soon!) This has worked great and is very exciting for Tornado who loves "stop-go" in everything. They play it around the house, he signs it, sings it, and tells us when the light turns to "go" in the car. It's an all encompassing part of his life right now, so when I added it to his worksheet, he was all over it!

The other "letter" aspects we've retained from the curriculum is the song. Each letter has a little song that brings the letter and the Bible story together... "Listen to the Word of God" for L, for instance. Both kids like this part, even our extra preschooler on the days she's here.

Science and Math
Often times these get dropped. Math fell off my checklist when we were in the midst of colors and shapes (something he's know for a while). I'm hoping that I'll be able to jump back in soon as there are some things I do want him to learn as we go through them.

Science is hit and miss. Usually there is a book or two recommended on the topic covered (mirrors or music or weather, for instance). We get those books (plus some sometimes) and read them all week long. If it inspires more conversation or exploration, we do that. When "weather" was our focus, we did all sorts of things. In fact, we're still talking about it every day. Tornado gets very concerned about thunder storms, so we are often talking about what type of clouds are in the sky and whether or not they bring thunder. (I will probably get a bunch more books on weather from the library after the baby comes [or when we finish this curriculum, whichever comes first] and do a special unit focused on it, as this is a real interest for him.)

Other stuff
Other than that, we pretty much skip it (other than the occasional nursery rhyme). If something looks especially fun to me, I'll print it out, but 9 times out of 10 we don't do it after all.

Outside of the curriculum, though, I've been adding things here and there. But that's for another post on another day!


So there you have it... more than you wanted to know about our homeschooling these days. Now don't you wish I'd broken this down over the last 10 weeks, instead of unleashing it on you all at once. Come on now... don't be bashful. I'm sure you do! :)

Labels: Homeschooling my 3 year old

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:15 PM 5 Comments