A Petite-Size Curriculum

My baby will be four very very soon. One week from today, if I happen to publish this post today.  When Mister was four, we began formal schooling at home.  I had a curriculum (The Weaver's Interlock, Singapore Early Bird Math, a growing pile of Usborne books) and I sat him at the dining room table with his two-year-old sister and we started doing school.  I had him sequencing numbers up to 100, he began reading, much to my surprise, and I expected a lot out of him.  I really did enjoy the time together and I look back and remember lots of the fun, preschoolish things we did... but my thoughts and feelings about early childhood education have changed in the six years since.

The first child is always the guinea pig.  Petite gets the benefit of not going through so much trial and error with me as her mom.  She's getting the mom who is a little more relaxed this time around when it comes to schoolish things.  She'll probably have a lot less of the task-master mom I was to poor Mister.

Petite also has the benefit of having two older siblings to emulate and learn from.  She picks up on everything they do and I often hear her copying it, for good or for bad.  She uses bigger words, like they do.  She tries to write like them.  She's always been a part of our homeschool and loves to have a school box like the older two.

She is a natural lover of books.  Her two favorite things, in fact, are Minnie Mouse and books.  I already see the incredible effect  that reading aloud to her has had.  Books are real to her. They carry over into her play.  Her toys reenact the stories she has heard.  She gives them the names of characters in her books.  She is alert to details and studies the pages carefully.  She reads to herself, reciting aloud the stories she knows so well.  I feel very blessed that she loves books so much.

Much of her preschooling will be just wonderful books.  Books like the Madeline series, Eloise Wilkin stories, Robert McClosky tales, and even silly stories by Mo Willems. She loves nursery rhymes, Richard Scary, and the Llama Llama series.  We have baskets of books everywhere you look in our house.  There is a shelf of "special" books in the new school room.  They are on the bottom of the shelf so she can access them, but they are special in that they are the very nicest and best books for her. 

Books are the very best in education, but with two older children to school, I can't be reading to Petite all the time.  That's why we've invested in some other great resources to keep her occupied and learning right alongside her siblings.  I keep many of these items in a special corner cupboard and pull them out when she seems bored or in need of direction.  If I need to spend concentrated time with the older two, there are plenty of activities she can do independently.

Inexpensive foam number and letter puzzles (I found them for 50% off at the Family Dollar Store- a whole 50 cents each).

Lauri toys, many purchased from the My Father's World preschool kit.  Lacing and stringing activities, shapes and sorting, peg boards, and an orientation puzzle.

I also purchased the activity cards for these to diversify the learning even more.

She loves puzzles and Play Dough

and Melissa and Doug makes many wonderful learning toys for children.

I keep these in the cupboard so that they remain special, instead of being things she can access at any time.  Of course, if she asks for them, she may have them.  And we're teaching her to pick-up when she is done.

Petite loves to color and lately loves to draw and is even writing letters. I stocked up on the cheapest spiral notebooks to keep her papers contained and give her plenty of freedom to put pen to paper.  I also purchased the Rod and Staff preschool workbook series. I love this series so much! It is inexpensive and thorough, addressing lots of preschool and kindergarten developmental needs.  I think Petite will love them because she'll have "school books" like her brother and sister.  I plan to let her set the pace for these activities.


I used Handwriting Without Tears with my older children, so we'll use the wooden letter pieces to start teaching letter formation. I also purchased the HWOT chalkboard for her so she can practice her letters if she wishes.

I have times in my daily schedule sectioned off to spend one-on-one time with Petite.  I've found that if I don't purposely set that time aside, she doesn't get it.  It's easy to focus on the older two who "have" to be schooled and to neglect the little one who doesn't have to be yet.  But of course she thrives on attention and she wants to feel like part of things, too.  I also like to employ one of  the older two to read to her or do an activity with her while I work one-on-one with the remaining child.  Somehow, we make it through our days and get plenty of things done. 

So no formal lessons for Petite this year, but I know she'll be learning lots and growing by leaps and bounds!

Curriculum Choices 2013-14

Just call me a curriculum junkie.  I won't be offended.  I don't have to own it, but I'd sure like to.  And I at least love to know about all the cool and amazing teaching tools out there, even if I'll never use them.

Cause the goal, when buying curriculum, is to use it. 

I really enjoy the process of choosing curriculum each year.  I've had moments of uncertainty, frustration, and of feeling overwhelmed, but overall, I love that I get to tailor our curriculum to fit each of my children.

If you've read my blog in the past year, you know how much I loved My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures.  It was our first homeschool year departing from The Weaver curriculum and as much as I loved The Weaver, I had no idea what I was missing!  Having the lessons all planned and all the core books included was exactly what I needed.  I felt like our year was complete and didn't have a lot of gaps in it.  I loved the notebooking pages and the general emphasis of the core.

So it's no surprise that for the 2013-14 school year, I've chosen My Father's World again!  We will continue to follow the Family Cycle and take the next step, doing Creation to the Greeks.  I've spent the last two weeks acquainting myself with the books in our new core and I'm really excited!  You can see the entire package here, but these are the elements I'm most excited about:

English From the Roots Up

My Father's World breaks this study of Latin and Greek word roots up into the next two years. This year, we'll be learning Greek word roots.  It looks fun and simple! Our first Greek word root is "photo" which means light. We'll think of lots of "photo" words we know and some of their definitions!  As a word lover and  the kinda gal who loves diagramming sentences, this kind of geekery is right up my alley!

Patricia St. John Read Alouds

 I've heard amazing reviews of her books from other moms. In fact, I haven't heard a complaint, ever, from moms or their kids.  I love reading aloud and I'm amazed at how the stories stick with my kiddos.  The power of story is profound.  I can't wait to read these for the first time.

Celebrating Biblical Feasts

I have long been interested in the significance of the major feasts of Israel.  We know several families who celebrate Passover each year and have participated in the past.  This year we'll be celebrating the seven major feasts as a family, assisted by this book which is full of recipes, crafts, songs, prayers etc.  I'm hoping and praying these will be memorable celebrations for the kids, or at least a great time of learning more about what God intended when he instituted the feasts.

I'm also really excited about the new math program we're using this year...

JUMP Math

I first learned about JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) math from the Timberdoodle catalogue.  They sell the JUMP at Home workbooks and gave them rave reviews.  JUMP breaks math down into the smallest incremental steps and their philosophy is this:

JUMP Math is a numeracy program. JUMP Math is dedicated to enhancing the potential in children by encouraging an understanding and a love of math in students and educators. JUMP Math replaces the self-fulfilling myth that some people are born with mathematical ability while others do not have the ability to succeed with assumptions that all children can be led to think mathematically.

JUMP is a not-for-profit company founded by John Mighton.  I read Mighton's book The Myth of Ability which covers how JUMP Math began and it's success with students that were otherwise far below grade level in mathematics.  It is a Canadian based company but provides books to meet US standards as well.  I purchased the Canadian versions for my kiddos via Amazon Canada.  The cost for BOTH children with shipping was $56 for one year of math.  That's because teacher's guides are FREE online.  The company truly is not-for-profit and interested in helping teachers and students achieve math success.

And we sure need some help in that department!   I am really, really excited about JUMP Math.  Our philosophy this year, as encouraged by Mighton in his book, is "I will not let you fail".  We won't move on til the kids are ready and I'm going to do my best to eliminate the math stress from our home.  Stay tuned through-out the year for updates.

(As a side note, if you are looking into JUMP Math, teachers guides are FREE online with registration.  Both my sister-in-law and I had major failure trying to register on the website.  We would never get a confirmation.  However, I ended up creating a Yahoo Canada email address and got my confirmation within ten minutes and I'm now in the system.  I emailed JUMP about this problem and received a personal email with access information for my regular email address. )

Considering God's Creation

 

Our core from My Father's World includes science using Genesis For Kids, a book of science experiments based on the seven days of Creation. I have to admit I am not at all excited about this book.  One glance through and all I could do was turn up my nose and curl my lip. However, Josh will be doing these experiments with the kids and I'll be doing Considering God's Creation with them!  This notebooking, Charlotte Mason inspired program is also based on the Creation week, but is much more my speed when it comes to teaching style and what I think is effective for my kiddos.   We'll be getting out in nature and keeping a notebook of what we learn. 



I'll be writing a separate post about what Petite will be doing this school year, but these are the highlights of the upcoming school year for the oldest two and myself!  I am always amazed at how much I learn, too. If you're homeschooling, I hope you're excited about the upcoming year and the curriculum you've chosen.  Have a great time growing together!

A Tea Party of Sorts

We absolutely love audio books while riding in the car.  We barely get the doors closed and the engine on before Mister is asking me to turn one on.  I wrote a whole post about this last summer.  I scored a fabulous find at the annual library book sale- a whole CD case full of children's audiobooks!  Dr. Doolittle and The Secret Garden are the two we've listened to so far, but also included were Tuck Everlasting, The Story of the Orchestra, and a some others I can't remember.  For a donation, this was quite a score!

We've listened to Dr. Doolittle a gazillion times already.  Mister loves it. But I was enraptured by The Secret Garden, a book I read as a girl.  As I listened to it being read by a beautiful English accent, I realized why this book is a children's classic.  It is not just beautifully written, but makes one feel deep and strong emotions regarding the characters and the events... even if you're not quite sure what the strong feelings mean. I'm not articulate enough to expound on it, but what a great way to spend a long car ride to and from camp!

I had a copy of the movie The Secret Garden (1993)- still shrink wrapped- that I found at the Salvation Army one day.  Friday night is movie night and since listening to the book, it was a perfect time to watch it! Because the book takes place in England,  we had an English tea of sorts, though I took tremendous liberty.

Racing through Walmart, trying to think of some British foods, I found these Biscoff cookies.  I remember receiving a package of them on my flight home from London many many years ago. Perfect!  And so delicious dunked in the caramel tea I made.

We set the table up in front of the TV and set it with mugs, cream, and sugar, plus the rest of our dinner- fish sticks (hey, fish n chips are a popular British food!) and English muffins (kind of like crumpets and "English").  I added a dish of baby carrots for good measure.  We enjoyed a wonderful tea while watching The Secret Garden.

I had to keep an eye on Brown-Eyed-Girl. She had more sugar and cream than she did tea :)  

We enjoyed the movie and it was fairly close to the book.  I love nights like this, when we make memories with things that in and of themselves are not very special.  Fish sticks, chipped mugs, a wrinkled tablecloth.  But pulling them all together and calling it an English tea party... it makes for a memorable movie night.

Denny's: A Dream Come True?

It's really kind of funny.   This video I mean.  We love Rhett and Link here, but it's funny how they keep coming up with more and more original stuff that makes us laugh.  And how they get signed on by folks like Alka Seltzer and now Denny's to sell, well, bacon.  And what's also funny is how effective this commercial was with my son...  

On a recent trip to the big city, he nearly exploded with excitement when he saw a Denny's sign sticking out like a sore thumb over the interstate overpass.  "WE have a DENNY'S?" He asked as though this were on par with having Disney World around the corner.  He was blown away.  On another trip to the big city, Josh and I were discussing where to eat lunch and Mister chimed in that he would really, really love to go to  Denny's and have some of their delicious bacon.  We were really leaning toward finally trying the new Five Guys Burgers, but our son's excitement made us agree to his request.

We pulled into the parking lot and were nearly blinded by the shiny exterior of this diner. The place was hopping.  We had a satisfying meal complete with mashed potato made from potato flakes and pancake bites made from Bisquick and, of course, bacon for Mister.  Was it the best bacon he'd ever had? we asked him.

Maybe, he said.  Maybe the second best.

But as he took another bite he said with a depth of emotion,"Thank you for bringing me here!"

And that made it all worth it.

And here's part two of the Bacon Makes It Better series, just in case you loved it too.

School Room Remodel Means a Bucket of Crafts for the Kids!

Have I mentioned that we are making over our school room this summer?????  It is so exciting, but even for a room that's only about 6x8 feet, it is a lot of work. Because first I had to pack it all up and move it out.  This room is essentially our storage area for books, art supplies, and it's our coat closet too. 

 

Check it out. Really messy and desperately in need of order and ya know, a hint of intellect and style. 

 

So I took all this stuff out. Now it's crowding out the dining room and some of it is in the basement. 

 

 

 

While cleaning it out, I felt like a teacher on the last day of school.  I always loved the last day of school, for many reasons.  But one of them was all the nifty stuff my teacher would give away as she cleaned out her school room. Stickers, workbooks, paper, books.... I came home with my backpack loaded up on that last day before summer! 

 

 I have tons of odds and ends, things we've saved as potential craft supplies, and things that never got put away properly.  I had this large pink foot locker hanging around and decided to throw these odds and ends inside.  Voila!  It's our Rainy Day bucket.  Or, our I'm Bored bucket.  Or, our Just-Put-It-Back-When-You're-Done  Bucket.

 

There is some cool stuff in here, and that's the only rule.  Do whatever you want with it, just put everything back when you're done.

 

Pipe cleaners, pom-poms, beads, buttons, foam, clothes pins, clay, sand, canvases, even a button-making kit. 

 

Kids love the freedom to create.  They love when nothing is off limits.  And that's what I love about this bucket too.

 

Again, just clean it up when you're done!

 

This morning, Brown-Eyed Girl made a cool pipe cleaner snake with googly eyes on a pom pom head. He was coiled around a mini teddy bear statue that had once been destined for a homemade snowglobe.  But she discovered something was missing from the Giant Free-For-All Bucket.

 

Glue dots.

 

A crafters best friend.  Now that we've added a box, I guess they will last perhaps a week.  The girl goes wild with glue dots.

 

 

Here's a little craft we made last weekened, as we are in the early stages of preparing to go to Disney World in October.  I found this really cute Pinterest idea for a Disney Bank and was all set to finally use my Cricut I got for Christmas, but those Pinterest finds.... over rated!  They were each content to choose their favorite Disney character, print off a picture, wrap a jar in patterned paper and stick on the character print.  We are using the Dave Ramsey money series for kids this summer, so they are each learning to save some of their allowance in their bank, but they are also earning money by reading.   Fact is, they are going to get money from Mom and Dad for Disney anyway.... we're just making them work for it :)

Can you believe June is almost over?  The new school year is just around the corner!!!!

I know, I'm a sicko.

An 8th Birthday and a Day at the Beach

We celebrated a special birthday last week, that of our dear Brown-Eyed Girl.  I have to admit I haven't been "on the ball" with birthdays and party planning this year.  But we still make it special.  I took the kids out for the day, our first stop at Dunkin Donuts, by request of the birthday girl.

The highlight of our trip out was picking out a fish tank and all the accessories needed for it, because the one thing BEG really wanted was a fish.  We've had a few betas in the past, but having kitties plus a fish is a bad combo, especially if you don't have a tank with a lid.  Since we still have kitties, we got a secure tank and Benjamin Beta the Third joined our family.  He seems to enjoy his bubbling tank with the LED lights that change color.

Daddy brought our girl home a bouquet of rainbow flowers.

The cousins came over to celebrate.  We had a candlelight dinner with music and silly straws set on the table.

The following day the grandparents came for her party. Nana made an adorable owl cake, complete with owlets. 

Brown-Eyed Girl was tickled to get the specific things she had requested- a wheelchair for her American Girl and the Lego Friends treehouse.

Monday we went to the ocean with our very close friends who will not be so close in distance anymore.  The Susens have moved to Florida by now, so we spent their last day in Maine together at the beach. It was overcast and a not as warm as the 78 degrees that had been promised, but the kids never care.  There are so many treasures to be found.

They built a little fort of driftwood and made quite a to-do about keeping the seagulls away.

Mister was thrilled to find a mostly intact dead crab.

The tide went out and we were able to do lots of beachcombing and walk across the shore to an island.

We found a seastar and razor clam, lots of crabs and several interesting shells.

When we returned from our walk across to the island, we found our picnic spot pillaged by seagulls!

They had torn into our bags and demolished whatever they could get their beaks on.  They peeled one banana and got at half of another.

They tore open the bottom of a chip bag since they couldn't get the clip off.

They even tore a square shaped hole into my beach bag.  Nasty critters. But it was all part of the memory making.

These are the moments we'll remember, the little things that really aren't so little.

Each Year Is a Gift

Our most recent family photo, taken by a dear friend at my in-laws 40th anniversary party.

Trying to write this post about our homeschool year is difficult.  For many of the same reasons that accomplishing anything as a homeschooling mom is difficult. My children, well, they are always here.

I make myself a cup of coffee and take it and my laptop onto the deck to enjoy the breeze and sunshine.  I nestle into the comfy patio chair and start to unwind.  I don't get very far.  Brown-Eyed-Girl comes outside and slinks into the chair opposite me, asking coyly if I've gotten her any birthday presents yet.  Her birthday is tomorrow, so that sly little smile tells me she knows I have.  She asks for a hint.

Mister quickly follows, his mouth stuffed full of the sandwich I just made him.  He climbs onto the deck rails and crawls around it on all fours.  He and Brown-Eyed-Girl get into a (loving) argument over flip-flops.

Petite is inside and has just discovered I'm outside.  That everyone is outside.  And she's not happy about it.  She's crying now and I ask Mister to check on her and see if she wants to come out.  She  needs to go potty and though she's able to do it on her own, predictably she would prefer to have help.  So I set my laptop aside and go in to help her.  I put her shoes on and we both go onto the deck.  She almost immediately takes her shoes off again when she discovers the pool has some water in it.  I really don't care that she's not wearing a bathing suit and is about to get soaked.  So long as she is content and I'm able to sit for a few moments, even if I'm frequently disturbed.

Being home with my three children all day is a precious gift, one I often take for granted.  Because it is the norm of my life, it doesn't always or often feel like a gift. Gifts are for special occasions.  Birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day, anniversaries.  They're not for every day, not the kind wrapped in perfectly elegant paper with curly ribbon and a flourishing bow and something expensive inside.  But isn't it true that often the best gifts are the no-special-occasion gifts?  The ones you don't expect.

Being home with my children all day is full of gifts I didn't expect.  Observing Petite's growing talent for drawing and the exact moment when she began adding eyes and mouths and arms and legs to her objects.  Having heart-to-heart talks with Brown-Eyed-Girl.  Seeing my son's attitude change from "I can't do it" to "I can do it by myself" (in math of all subjects!).  Their very presence here with me is so special.  As popular as homeschooling has become- even in the secular community- it still takes many by surprise when they meet someone who is doing it.  It's just so normal and accepted to put your children on a bus everyday.  The thought has never crossed the minds of many that there is another way to educate your children- yourself.  For me, right now, it would be the strangest thing in the world to say goodbye to my children each morning and not see them again til dinner time.  Even the challenges of being together all day are gifts.

The interruptions.  Bickering.  Exhaustion. Lack of "me-time".  The worries and fears that I'm failing my children.  These are gifts because they keep me ever-dependent on the Lord.  They keep me "in my place", reminding me that I'm not any more patient, loving, or superior to the mothers of the public-schooled children.  I am a sinner and nothing has revealed this more than motherhood and the added bonus and blessing of home educating.

This school  year, 2012-13, was one of our best ever.  I loved our curriculum, My Father's World, and we'll be using it again next year.  This is the year my two oldest children asked Jesus to forgive their sins and be a part of their lives.  We simply enjoyed learning about each different country.  We met another special and wonderful family on a homeschool field trip and the second half of our year wasn't nearly so lonely as the first year and a half of being in our new home.  I continue to develop my own philosophy of educating my children. My personal education continues in so many respects, another unexpected gift of homeschooling.

Home education truly excites me. I am passionate about it.  When I wonder what God's call on my life is, He often reminds me that this is it!  I love to talk about it, help others who are considering it ( or already in the throws of it!), and I love to do it.  I try to be ever-mindful that this is not the call of God on all Christians, so I pray that if you're reading this and you don't home educate, you feel no condemnation, just my passion and joy for what I'm called to do.  Whatever you're called to do, do it with all your might!

This morning as I read my Bible, the account of King David taking an unauthorized census and the ensuing judgement, this verse spoke to me.  David said "I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord that cost me nothing" (2 Samuel 24:24)  We no longer sacrifice animals to atone for our sins, but the Lord desires that each of us be a living sacrifice.  Alive, but dead.  I have found such life as a result of the death-to-self required to be a mom.  I can't imagine a better life. I really can't.

Lord, thank you! Thank you so much for six amazing years of teaching my children at home.  It has been such a good gift to me.  You knew just what I needed to die to myself and just what I needed to truly live.  Please, bless this family, and cause all your goodness to go before us, that we may truly know You.