HS: Week 1b

It's hard for little boys to be cooped up inside all day long.  And there have been far too many days this summer that we haven't set foot outside.  I blame it all on sweltering Texas heat.  Just the thought of heading to the mailbox makes me break into a sweat. Also, my garden is not so much a fan of the heat either.  Thankfully, there have been some overcast days and more mild temperatures (the 90s are sometimes considered "mild" in mid-August).  We finished up our week of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and spent plenty of time enjoying the outdoors.

Wednesday - Exploring a new park

Thursday - Owen Ray's "Science Experiment"

We love how many colorful insects visit our garden

Friday - Nature Walk

Chocolate Chip Cookie Counting

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Story Wheel

HS: Week 1a

 Since Trey is heading back to school a week before his student's arrive, I figured it would be a great time to officially launch our homeschooling curriculum, as well.  I'd spent the last few weeks fine-tuning what I thought I wanted our homeschooling days/weeks to look like, but I knew not to get too attached to my schedule.

When the alarm clock went off at 5AM, I actually felt relieved.  This summer, we've had the luxury of sleeping in, and my alarm clock has been my 12 month old daughter.  When she starts crying, I jump out of bed and start my day.  Somehow, waking up to the sound of something other than crying felt... well... good. 

 The boys woke up around 7 which gave me two good hours to accomplish the tasks I would normally be doing during the day (the hours that would now be dedicated to homeschooling).  This was a good thing.  Owen Ray had been looking forward to his first day of "Kindergarten," and he expected to get started immediately.  Chandler was, likewise, excited -- he thought putting on his brother's old backpack (albeit upside down) meant that he was ready for preschool. 

During Elinor's first nap, I had planned to do the activities that were geared for Chandler.  Over the summer we've been working through the "Before Five in a Row" booklist, and I had hoped to find something similar to that for this school year.  If you're not familiar with Five in a Row (FIAR), it's a literature based program that uses the best picture books written as a basis to explore broader learning topics.  For example, you might read a book like "Blueberries for Sal" and then plan activities to teach your preschooler about how plants like blueberries grow, information about the state of Maine, or the habits and behaviors of bears -- all things related to the book.  Since we've read every book on that list, I was hopeful to come across a similar program, but with a different booklist.  I was super blessed to score Picture Book Activities by Trish Kuffner for less than $10 on Amazon.  It had a dozen or so activities for each of the 50 stellar picture books she'd chosen.  I created a lesson plan template, and then just plugged in the activities I wanted to do each day of the week.  So easy.

This first week we're reading through If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and completing 2 or 3 activities related to it per day.  On Monday we did melted crayon drawings that we posted on our fridge with Scotch tape because the little mouse wanted paper and crayons to draw a picture and display it. 

  On Tuesday we acted out all the parts of the story using props.  As I read each page, the boys raced around the house to find what they needed (including a box with a pillow and a blanket to take a nap) and baking chocolate cookies to enjoy with their milk mustaches.

 

I really hope to get outside each and every day with the kids.  They need to be able to get outside, soak up sunshine, and just breathe deeply.  We are so blessed to have a neighborhood playground and a small walking trail which my children affectionately call "The Enchanted Forest" (not to be confused with "The 100 Acre Woods" which boring people simply refer to as the frisbee golf course at Bicentennial Park).  On our walk through "The Enchanted Forest the boys spotted a rather weird looking fruit that they wanted to bring home.  When we got home we cut it in half and then did some research to discover that it was the fruit of an Osage Orange tree.  Because its inedible fruit repels insects, savvy folks used to place one under their bed to keep out the spiders.  Owen Ray was fascinated by this and couldn't wait to share his discovery with his dad as soon as he got home. 

Our Neighborhood Playground

This is how Elinor feels about homeschooling.

Brothers are best friends (thoughts on reading-aloud)

 Becoming a stay-at-home mom this past year was not just a major change for me; it was a major change for my 2 and 4 year old, as well.  The daycare center they attended was highly structured and tightly run (and rightly so). My two little guys had rooms on opposite ends of the center, and they did not see each other during the day.  When I transitioned to staying home, they had to learn how to function as siblings; how to share, how to fight fair, and how to live in relative peace and harmony now that they were spending more than just the weekends together.  

In spite of the frequent sibling squabbles, this process of watching their relationship as brothers flourish has truly been a joy. Our prayer for our boys is that they will grow up to be the best of friends.  It's our mantra here.  I cannot tell you how many times (a day) we say "Brothers are best friends".  If we keep saying it, it's got to soak in, right?  

One of the best and easiest ways that I have seen my boys grow together has been through their mutual enjoyment of reading-aloud.  We have spent countless hours together reading through one fabulous picture book after another.  And my heart smiles when I hear those sweet words uttered from the lips of my little tank - "Read it again, mommy!" Big brother often agrees, and so we stay curled up on the couch reading through Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel one more time.  

This past year I've used the book lists from Sonlight p3/4 and Before Five in a Row.  I cannot recommend them highly enough. We don't have the money to purchase all the wonderful books included on the book list, so we check them out from the library instead.  If we decide that we must have a book then we request it from Paperbackswap.com or seek out the best deal online.  

Before Five in a Row

Sonlight Core p3/4

If you've got little ones and you're looking a way to help their friendship flourish, I would suggest beginning the daily practice of reading-aloud to them... together.  These books lists would be a great place to start.

Homeschooling Curriculum Choice for 2013-14: the Kindergartener

I am pretty pumped to report that we have nailed down the core curriculum that we are going to be using for 2013-2014.  After considering dozens of different approaches, the curriculum programs that made it to the top 3 were Charlotte Mason, My Father's World, and Sonlight.  I knew I wanted something that was centered around excellent literature,  but I also hoped for something that would introduce a global/mission perspective from the very beginning.  However, with a 2 year old and a 1 year old in tow, I also needed something that didn't require a lot of additional prep work on my part.  Overall, Sonlight seemed to best fit our criteria, but the price tag of $789 was hard to swallow.

Enter Providence.  I subscribe to exactly 2 blogs -- not alot compared to most folks I know.  So imagine my surprise when one of the week's posts was titled "Where to Buy Used Homeschool Curriculum."  Jackpot!  I followed one of the links and within minutes found a listing for a gently used Sonlight core that was only $195 with free shipping.  It didn't include a handwriting or math component, but it had all the key pieces I wanted (history, science, art, literature, and worldview).  Our box arrived just a few days ago, and all the books were in "like new" condition. Owen Ray has been begging to take his "school books" with him to bed, so he can look through them.

In addition to this core, we'll be using the following:

Handwriting Without Tears  - K

Math-U-See Primer

Reuse, reuse, reuse

My Smith Family Budget Reductions Strategy #11 is easy to understand but so very hard to execute because I like to buy new things.  I want to buy new things.  I feel entitled to them.  It's ridiculous, really.  Here is a truth: I don't need to buy new things very often, and you probably don't either.  In most cases, we just simply want to scratch the itch. 

Owen Ray's Easter basket is a perfect example. Do you know that every year I get it in my head that Owen Ray needs a new one... needs. I don't know why.  He's never mentioned it.  He seems very fond of his little alligator/dinosaur/green thing, and it's been kickin' along just fine for 4 years. Still, year after year, come Easter time, I will head to the basket section and begin the exhilarating process of picking out the absolute, perfect, knock-his-socks-off basket.  Why?  No clue, but so help me I will leave with a brand spankin' new basket and a shopper's high. 

Then something clicks.  My shopping cart and I make a sharp turn and head in the other direction.  This is clearly a Joseph and Potiphar's wife scenario, and that conniving Easter basket has got my cloak. 

Here is my encouragement to you, my shopping friend: run, run like the wind. 

Birthday expectations

There is a little known secret that I am about to share with you.  Ready for it?  You do not have to host a big, costly birthday party for your child every year.  If you just gasped in horror, I understand.  I really do.  You've probably received invitations to attend four separate birthday parties in the next thirty calendar days.  How could you NOT throw your child a party when clearly all of these other kids are having big shindigs?  Isn't that a form of neglect?

Background: I remember having one big, blowout party for my 6th birthday.  I got tons of gifts, all my friends came, and it was a lot of fun.  But I remember my 13th birthday party, too, when my dad and I hung out and went ice skating. Equally awesome. The overwhelming majority of my birthdays consisted of me getting to skip out on my chores for the day, choose the dinner I wanted my mom to cook that night, and decide on the flavor of cake she would bake for me.  My parents would decorate the dining room table for us the night before, and on the morning of our birthday we would bound down the stairs to "ooh" and "ah" at our decorations and party streamers. 

I don't remember my parents being emotionally or financially stressed by our birthday parties, and Trey and I hope to accomplish the same.  So here's our Smith Family Budget Reduction Strategy #10: We host a birthday party once every three years for each of our kids.  That means instead of having planned--and paid for-- 6 parties (4 for Ray; 2 for Chandler), we've hosted a whopping 1 party: Owen Ray's 3rd birthday.  The rest of the birthdays have been spent with family.   We decorate the table the night before, I bake a cake for the birthday boy/girl, and we have a fun, stress-free day, thanking God for putting this special person in our lives.  You have the freedom to mix it up.  Your child will not hold it against you that their siblings were the only people who attended their first birthday party or that they received stacking cups instead of a baby-friendly Ipad.
 
I firmly believe we should be celebratory people.  We should actively seek to invite and share our lives with other people; birthday parties can be a great way of doing that. My kids have enjoyed dressing as pirates and being serenaded by Cinderella; they've traversed a balance beam and leapt high on a trampoline; they've made bird feeders and jumped in bounce houses -- all at wonderful birthday parties.

BUT... if you're a person whose previous party hosting experiences have been filled with anxiety and dread -- give yourself a break.  If your little introvert shuts down and wants to hide in the corner as soon as the guests start showing up -- think about postponing parties until they can enjoy them. If you and your husband are in conflict because you can't decide whether you should dip into savings or put the party on the credit card -- someone needs to throw a flag.  You do NOT have to keep party-planning.  It's not fun for you; it's not fun for your kid.  Go to the park! BBQ outside! Invite a few buddies to share a picnic with you.  Your child will still feel loved... and you can use the money you didn't spend to pay off some student loan debt :).

Oh, Outer Space

Today we learned about the solar system.  The boys each colored their own planets and we cut and glued them to large sheets of construction paper.  We sang a song to help us learn the name of the eight planets.  Owen Ray had so many questions about what made each planet different from the others.  I’m afraid we’ll have to learn most of that together in the coming weeks as I do not remember most of my elementary education regarding astronomy.   Tonight before the boys went to bed I read them the story of the birth of Jesus, of our King.  Chandler saw the star above the stable and cried out “A star! A star!”  Having spent the whole day introducing them to the concept of outer space, I felt like this would be a perfect night to take them outside to see the real stars before they shuffled off to bed.  We walked out onto the front porch all in PJs and I asked them if they could find any stars.  At first, the sky was so vast and so black that we didn’t notice those pinpricks of light, but our eyes soon adjusted and we saw dozens and dozens of stars.  Owen Ray turned to me and asked “Mom, are stars sticky?”  I asked him to clarify, not sure if I had heard right.  “Are they sticky on one side,” he explained, “so that they can stick up on the sky.”  Multiple thoughts followed.  First, my son is adorable. Second, I would love to see the world through his eyes.  Third, are gravitational forces pulling planets in orbit any weirder than thinking that stars have a sticky side to adhere to space?  When we got back inside, I pointed them to the verse that’s above their table right now.  It’s from the Psalms and it says “…praise Him all you shining stars.”  Indeed.