Mooseum Field Trip

We went to the Mooseum today with the homeschooling group. It would have been more fun for me if I wasn't "about to pop" (as so many people so delicately put it on a daily basis.) I am assuming there were some people that worked there that didn't notice I was "about to pop," because I was asked specifically to milk the cow on this tiny little stool at one station and to sit on the floor at the butter making station. So I milked the pretend cow (Sorry, no pictures of that!), but I found a chair for the butter making. Getting all the way on the floor is something I try to minimize at this point, especially in public.

They made cool cow visors,

milked a fake cow,

watched a video about dairy farms, made butter,

and took a tour of the old dairy farm. Isaac kept raising his hand to ask if he could milk the cow again. I guess he liked that the best. While he was milking the cow, the man told him if he treated a real cow's teats that way he would get kicked. Isaac just turned to him and said, "But this is not a real cow."

Genna also enjoyed milking the cow, but Hannah wouldn't even try it. She was afraid she would get wet.

I've never done anything to make these girls this crazy before!

What did I do? and what kind of crazy did it make them? are the questions I am sure you are asking right now. Well, I reorganized their bedroom in half an hour while Daddy took them outside after dinner. The kind of crazy they went was a good crazy. When they came in, not having known what I was doing in the house, they were so excited and shocked that their room looked so different in such a short time. Here are some of the comments they were yelling to me and to each other:

"Oh, my goodness, Genna, you have got to come see our room! It is BEAUTIFUL!"

"How did you do this so fast, Mom?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are the best mom EVER!"

"I love it!"

"Genna, we cannot mess up our room tomorrow!"

"Hannah, we have to make our beds extra nice in the morning so our whole room will look so beautiful!"

Wow, with all the squeals, "thank you's," and hugs, you would think I bought them all new stuff for the room or something! It was amazing. They drug their daddy and brother in to see. When they asked how I did it so fast, I said, "Well, I didn't have anyone asking me for anything." The reply was, "Wow, we need to leave Mom alone more often!" Funny girls!

I was tired of looking at the Barbie house when I walked into the room and thought their reading corner was not getting it's full use lately with them always reading in the middle of the room or on their beds. Then I found these storage seat ottomans on sale for $7 each when they were regularly $20 each, and I bought the limit which was only two.

Here is the new reading area with the book shelf and the sit and store ottomans holding lots of stuffed animals.

Here is the new Barbie corner which is totally out of view when you walk in the room.

Yes, a mere four days away from my due date, I moved the bookshelf and slid the bed over a bit all on my own. And yet, still no baby! So I guess I can't really brag about it unless it put me into labor like it was supposed to, right? Nothing does. I could climb Everest on my due date and not go into labor. Remember this crazy stunt three days after my due date with Isaac!

I also switched around Isaac's room again to give him a spot to read. He liked it, but was not nearly as enthused as the girls were. He was a little disappointed that his reading corner was not an actual corner. He asked if we could move some walls around. But he looks pretty cozy so I think we won't be moving any walls around.

Drew's room is finished except for two final touches. I have been waiting to post about it until we get these last couple things up on the wall. So, it will be ready soon. I was testing out a theory that if you aren't ready for the baby months in advance (like I usually am) then Murphy's Law comes in to play and gives you a baby before your due date. It didn't work, so I will go ahead and pack those bags and get his room finished up here soon.

Drawing with Children

This was our first real art project from the book Drawing with Children. The medium is permanent marker which is what this book recommends. I think they turned out very well. Genna has trouble waiting until all the instructions are given and sometimes goes off on her own. No surprise there, right? Even though this is fine with most projects, the point of this book is to teach children to draw a likeness when looking at an object. So I encourage her to be patient and follow directions carefully. Hannah's is at the top, my example drawing is in the middle, and Genna's is on the bottom.

Will Drew come when he's due?

That is the question. I have been having tons of contractions, but as I found out with Isaac that doesn't mean a whole lot. Even though they can be as close together as 3-5 minutes and some a mildly painful, they just always seem to spread back out.

I went to the doctor yesterday at, 39 weeks, and Drew's heartbeat was slower than normal, but not slow enough to cause alarm, apparently. At first, they were going to send me in for a non-stress test. Then they changed their mind and did an ultrasound instead. Drew looked great on the ultrasound with a steady heartbeat and responded to movement well with the appropriate amount of increase in heart rate. He is posterior, as I suspected, but I suppose this is better than breech. I have never had a posterior baby and hear it is much harder labor with back pain. Not looking forward to that!

I had a midwife and doctor see me this time and they disagreed on the projected size of my baby. The midwife told me she guessed 8 lbs or so. Then the doctor said, he'll be bigger than Isaac was. I believe his exact phrasing was, "over 10 lbs for sure." I am certain the midwife is wrong and, frankly, hoping the doctor is too. Can't I just have a 9 lb baby?

Drew is the feistiest in utero baby I have had yet. So I although I hope and pray for an easy-going, good-sleeping baby, I am not holding my breath. He is constantly moving and moving big! I don't think he sleeps much in there. Can I hope he is just an active sleeper?

Keeping little ones busy during homeschool

This is a constant topic of discussion amongst homeschool moms. These are the ways I keep Isaac busy when I am working with the girls. I have only had a 2 year old and 3 year old, so younger than that will be new to me. All of these things I will be working towards with the new baby, but it will be a learning process for them and, therefore, take more of my time and make us a little less efficient for a while.

#1 Room time or "Blanket time" (where you give them a blanket and a basket of toys/books of your choosing, then set the timer and do not let them get off the blanket until the timer buzzes. This takes time to learn and you have to start small, like 5 minutes at first. If they get off, you put them back on and explain that they can't get off for any reason until the buzzer goes off, not even to get a runaway toy.) or "Highchair time"(This helps them learn to sit till and do an activity, and the best part is they are trapped for a time.) Room time is just once they are bigger and have mastered blanket time, it is a bigger area to play in and the time can be longer. My 3 yr old has been doing an hour in his room every morning that we do school since he turned two. YOU CAN GET A LOT DONE IN ONE UNINTERRUPTED HOUR! We usually do Math, Handwriting and Grammar in this chunk of time. To help with this since it is not a choice for the child, I set a timer and make it at the same time everyday after an activity that is not hard to stop. If they are having super fun, they will not want to go to room time. For us it is either right after we get home from Mass or right after breakfast if we don't make it to Mass. That way Isaac knows what to expect and after a habit is developed, there are rarely arguments about it.

#2 The occasional 30 min learning DVD will buy you some time. I like Leap Frog and some Sesame Street DVDs. These actually help review concepts and letters that the little ones are learning.

#3 Montessori bins/activities: It is best if these can be independent activities after you show them how to do it initially.
1. pipe cleaners and a water bottle to put them in (Isaac loved this at a year and still does.)
2. sensory buckets (rice/beans and other random toys to play in- a favorite in our house, even with my 1st grader)
3. Felt board
4. Pom pom balls and plastic tweezers to transfer them from one container to the next or sort
5. Sticker activities
6. Magnetic trays- I also have one with letters.
7. Ice cubes and tongs
8. Scissors and paper-at first just let them cut it however they want. If they are older, try teaching them to cut in straight lines or zig zags by drawing the lines on strips of scrap paper.
9. Lacing/Beading-this can be a purchased item or you can make a lacing activity out of cardboard and shoe laces or make a beading activity with pasta tubes and shoe laces. Or, even easier for a younger child, use shoe laces and cut up toilet paper/paper towel rolls.
10. Buttoning practice-I plan to make this this week.
11. Roads and ramps for cars- I am hoping to finish the roads made out of blue jeans this week too. I can't find the blog that I found the idea on since I accidentally lost all of my bookmarks this summer.
12. Puzzles- Put a spin on this and hide the pieces in a sensory bin to make it harder/more interesting for a puzzle pro.

This is all I can think of right now, but you can get lots of ideas on the internet here for minimal prep activities.

#4 Include the younger children in any reading part of the homeschool. My two year old sat still and learned about whales, butterflies, and other random things we studied last year during Science. I also would throw in a book just for him in the middle of the books I was reading to the older two relating to the topic we were studying. My older kids will listen to any book anywhere, even if it is for younger children or the same book they have heard a million times before. Look and Find Books for toddlers can be something you can multitask and do with her at the same time as teaching and eventually they can do them on their own.

#5 It is always an option to send an older child to do something with the younger one while you are working with another child.

I am not a proponent of doing school during nap time b/c I think that I need a break at some point or I might loose it. I know a lot of people who do that though. It is just not something I can do right now with so very little time for myself available. I am more for teaching my young children how to develop their attention span and independent playtime abilities. Obviously there are times when this just isn't going to happen, especially with very young ones, and that is when flexibility comes into play.

Enjoying Nature

I kicked the kids out in the backyard while I made lunch one day this week because we have been having unseasonably beautiful weather.

Hannah couldn't pull herself away from her book.

Then they discovered this toad.

They also found molted skin from an insect and a grasshopper which was perfect timing since we just read about grasshoppers and molting this week in Science.

(Did you notice Isaac's haircut? I am always reluctant to cut his hair because I always think he is so cute just the way he is. However, he is somehow, impossibly, cuter every time I do cut it.)

First Field Trip of the School Year

I took the kids with our homsechool group to a fairly new chocolate factory here in the area called, SPAGnVOLA. They import their cocoa pods from the Dominican Republic. The kids really enjoyed it and got plenty of sampling in. At then end they picked gelato for their treat, and, funny enough, none of the flavors they chose had chocolate in them. I guess they had enough during the tour.

Why do I think this is cute?

I got a sweaty boy picture of him!

This is what happens when he wears his bike helmet out in the heat for a while. He has suddenly mastered Genna's bigger trike and every time she gets off of it, he jumps on and takes off. It's too bad it is a Hello Kitty pink trike. Brian said maybe we can spray paint it and get Genna a bigger one (she has the 12" instead of the 16",) but I am not sure what we will do with the doll carrier in the back. :)

Speaking of growing up, I measured this 3 year old guy on our traveling wall ruler/poster, and he is just over an inch shy of how tall Hannah was at 4 and a half years old.

Preparing siblings for a new baby

I took the kids to a siblings class/tour at the hospital at which I will give birth. I think I was more excited about this than the kids were. The lady teaching the class had four grown kids of her own. They watched a video, practiced holding a baby doll, and took a tour of the Labor & Delivery and Postpartum wards.

The topics discussed made me start thinking about how I have prepared the kids this time and the times before for the arrival of a new baby sister/brother. The main things I tell them are what the baby will and will not be like when he first comes out of my tummy and comes home. He will cry, sleep, make dirty and wet diapers, and drink mommy's milk. He will not walk, talk, crawl, hold his head up, play, or eat food at first. Plus, we go over some rules. Yes, yes, more lists and rules! What can I say? I love them! These are our basic rules:

1. Never pick up the baby alone. Mommy or Daddy will help you if you want to hold the baby.
2. Never feed the baby anything or put anything in his mouth. He will choke.
3. Keep small toys and objects away from the baby to keep him safe. (At 18 months, Hannah would dump out some toys next to baby Genna, and immediately put all the small things out of Genna's reach. I love that girl!)
4. Be quiet and respectful of the baby when he is sleeping.
5. When the baby is on the floor, be extra careful not to step on the baby or fall on him. No running or crazy activity near him while he is on the floor.

Now something I noticed at this class bothered me a bit. I think too often we make the new baby seem like a negative thing without even noticing it. Things like, "You might be sad or want more time with Mommy when the baby comes," are just asking for that to happen. If that happens, then fine deal with it then, but I have always tried to put a more positive spin on it before hand. I play up all the wonderful things about the baby coming so that it is an exciting event to look forward to. For example, I talk about how great it will be when the older sibling will become a big brother/sister and get to be my special helper and what kinds of things he/she can help with. I talk about how cute the baby will be and how cute all of my children have been as babies (and still are.) I tell them funny stories about when they were babies. (My kids are story addicts so they all love this.) I tell them that the baby will need us to teach him things so he can grow and be a good brother someday. The baby will need us to teach him things like how to talk, how not to knock over big brother's/sister's things, and how to share, just like all the children in this family have had to be taught these things.

I think of it in terms of raising expectations and thinking/talking positively. Saying things like, "You are going to be such a great big brother! You love your baby already, don't you?" seem better than "Your baby brother is going to take a lot of Mommy's time, and this might make you feel left out." It is just not my style to put negative ideas into their heads. If there was a problem after the baby was here, I would talk with them about it, age appropriately, and explain then. Maybe this isn't right for everyone, but so far it has worked well for us. I always tell them how much the baby loves them from inside my tummy. When Genna sings to Drew and he starts moving around, I tell her how much he must love her singing. It makes her feel good and be excited about meeting him.

I also try not to blame things on the baby. This is harder than it sounds because the reason Mommy is tired is because of the baby. The reason Mommy can't play is because she's nursing the baby. But I don't have to tell them that. I don't have to justify why I am tired even if I feel I do, and if they want me to play baseball with them when I am nursing, I say, "How about we read a book now and then play baseball after I am finished feeding your brother?" Yes, kids will figure it out, but by blaming the baby it seems like I would be giving them someone to be mad at.

Brian and I really want to teach selflessness to our children. I think when a new baby comes into the house is a good time to do that. We try to always teach the kids that everyone in this family needs love and attention and we should try to put others before ourselves. Certainly, this is not an easy lesson learned, even for adults. Plus, understanding that the baby needs to be nursed a lot now, but one day he will be big enough to eat at the table with everyone else and will not need that kind of extra attention anymore...just like the older kids in the family have all done as they have grown up.

We are all really looking forward to Drew's arrival! I think the younger two may have given up on him ever coming out of my tummy. Hannah, though, knows that two weeks isn't far and is very excited about that. Obviously, Isaac has the hardest adjustment ahead, unbeknownst to him. Surely, he will feel at times that he has been dethroned, but I hope to soften the blow the best I can by giving him the attention he needs and spending some extra quality time with him. This is always my instinct anyway. When a baby is born, I have always had a hormonal sort of mourning the loss of my former "baby," so I tend to want Brian to help out with the newborn a bit while I dote on my former "baby." I remember when Genevieve was born that I didn't voice that desire until I was a blubbering fool who just missed my one-on-one time with Hannah. Brian happily took Genna for a while so I could hang with my big girl. It was just what we needed. Here's to a smooth transistion with as few blubbering mommy moments and jealous kid moments as possible!

Attention Span

I think developing an attention span in children starts from the time you bring them home from the hospital. I usually start reading to my babies by the time they are two weeks old before every nap and bed time (which is a lot of times during the day since they take so many naps at first.) They can't focus their eyes yet, but they can hear. I usually read poems and other things that have rhythm and rhyme. Habits form easily with newborns and they will come to expect and anticipate as they grow that story time always precedes sleeping. I have rarely had a time when my kids, at any age, wouldn't sit still for a book...pretty much any book. Story times at libraries or book stores over the years have shown me that not all children will sit still and listen to a book. I think this is why my children do sit in the middle of the chaos that is present at most story times I have been to.

The next thing I think is important to do from infancy is blanket time/pack-n-play time/room time. Babies who are constantly being entertained or held have a harder time with independent play as they get older. I know this because I made this mistake with my firstborn. Hannah took much longer to be capable of playing independently for an extended period of time because I held her a lot when she first came home from the hospital and responded to her every peep instead of helping her to learn to self sooth. Many first time moms make this same mistake which is why I think the first baby is usually the hardest. I realized my mistake around 2 months old and began to try to teach her to be alone. It is harder to undo a habit even as young as 2 months old than to develop good habits from the beginning. All of my kids have time each day to entertain themselves. Yes, most of their time is spent together, but I find this time apart is vital to developing their attention span and keeping the peace among siblings.

Another vital aspect of creating attention span is making sure your child is well rested. So many kids are overly tired these days. I can tell a difference in how my kids act when they have had a busy weekend and are overly tired. They can not focus as well, not to mention all the other discipline problems that arise when this happens.

The fourth thing that I have felt very strongly about since before my kids were born is the limiting of TV and video games. My general rule is no more than 30 minutes of TV a day. However, that is our maximum (with the exception of the occasional movie) and certainly not a quota. Often many days pass without the TV coming on while the children are awake, especially when there is good weather. My kids LOVE TV and movies, don't get me wrong, but there are plenty of things to fill our day with besides mindless TV. And as for video games, I am putting off introducing these as long as possible which is easier for me since my oldest are girls (I find boys have more of a natural affinity for video games,) and they are not exposed to it via friends at school since they are homeschooled. I think this also improves imagination in kids. Brian did not agree with me when Hannah was born on this issue, but he is now more of a proponent for it than I am. He is the first one to tell the kids they should go outside or read if they ask to watch TV.

The fifth thing that helps are having structured activities and crafts for them to do. The more often they complete activities and crafts the more they learn how to stay focused and pay attention until an activity is over.

Next I would say to help create a better attention span, there should be a limited amount of toys available in one space. I have noticed that in "play rooms" that are packed with toys, kids tend to run from one toy to another like crazy little people. As soon as they get one thing out and ready to play, they see something else that looks better and on they move. This kind of set up turns a room into a tornado really fast. When kids have to pick toys up before starting something new, they tend to finish what they started so that they do not have to clean something up before they even played with it.

I think Montessori activities promote attention spans and creativity as well.

My final suggestion would be having them sit in church without any toys or books. This discipline absolutely has been invaluable to my children.

All of these suggestions have multiple benefits and have truly helped our growing family.

Our Preschool Curriculum

Last year, I included Isaac in as much of our homeschooling as he could handle. I was amazed at how much he learned just by being around, listening to books, and going on field trips with us. Now, not all of it has been retained. For example, I asked what it is called when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly in the car the other day. Isaac's reply was, "Consecration?" He used to know the word metamorphosis but is now confusing it with Mass terminology.

Anyway, I had always worried that he would get left behind in his level of learning while I was busy with the big kids. This, of course, did not happen. He learned all his colors, shapes, numbers, letters and sounds, and all that with out formal teaching. Plus, he can say the days of the week or months of the year or memory verses or poems since that was what the big kids were doing.

Isaac is 3 years old now, and he enjoys having more formal and individualized "learning time." So because he is able to keep up with the big kids, I wanted something challenging for him. I chose the Five in a Row program. They have a Before Five in a Row curriculum for preschoolers, but it seemed that would be too easy for him based on what I read. The length of books that go with the Five in a Row curriculum are just right for him.

This curriculum, if you are not familiar with it, goes through classic children's books and draws out lessons in all subjects with some activities here and there to do. Some of these lessons are above Isaac's head, but there are so many to choose from that I am able to pick ones within his range. We tried one of these out this summer, reading Madeline, which was a book we already had. The girls joined in and were learning right along with him. It is super easy to do multiple levels for this curriculum. The first week of homeschooling this year, we read The Story about Ping. I had never read this book, and I so enjoyed it that I may buy it (we borrowed it from the library.) The reason it is called Five in a Row is that you read the book for five days in a row talking about a new lesson each day and reviewing old ones. There is usually a geography lesson where the kids can look up on a map where the story takes place which is one of my favorite to do since I am so bad at geography. Hopefully, my kids won't be!

This takes 30 minutes or less and he really has enjoyed it so far. I am also singing songs with him before we read. After we read and do the lesson of the day from the Five in a Row book, he has been choosing one of the bins with an activity in it to do on his own. At some point, I plan to start The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading with him and see how that goes. I am in no hurry, so if he doesn't like it, I will put it away for a while. It seems really slow and easy, but we will see.

Curriculum for my 1st grader and kindergartner

Last year I read The Well-Trained Mind and fell in love with Susan Wise Bauer's philosophy of education. Before beginning homeschooling the children, my main reasons lay in their moral foundation and proper (supervised) socialization. Most people think of homeschoolers lacking in socialization, but really they are being socialized by the family and the family's closest friends instead of by "peers" in a setting where morality is skewed at best. However, after reading Bauer's book and experiencing my first homeschool review and finding out what the county's priorities lie I have a new reason. A classical education sounds much more rounded and inspiring than the education that public schools offer nowadays.

That said, it is not an easy one to teach since it is not a bunch of workbooks or independent work in the elementary years. It is a lot of preparation as well. So I am nervous about this year, especially with a newborn coming in to steal away my extra time and energy.

Since Genevieve is so far ahead for a Kindergartner, she will be joining Hannah in some of the first grade work.

Here is my 1st Grade Curriculum (I comment on each whether or not Genna's Kindergarten is combined with Hannah's first grade.)

Grammar: First Language Lessons by Jesse Wise

Hannah and Genna are using this together. It seems pretty straight forward without much prep on my part. Things I love about it are poem memorization, grammar with repetition, and copywork from the classics.

Spelling: (no text)

I will be using the lists and activities from this website...

http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/spelling-levela.html

I could not find a workbook that I liked, but a friend recommended this website and I like the way it groups the word lists. Plus, Hannah will be able to learn alphabetical order while practicing her words every week. This is just for Hannah.

Handwriting/Writing: Zaner-Bloser Handwriting 1

I was not happy with Seton Handwriting last year, so we are switching to this one for Hannah mainly because it teaches the continuous stroke alphabet to make a smoother transition to cursive next year. For Genna, I am going with the Handwriting Without Tears because she seems to need Handwriting to be fun. What's there to cry about when you are writing frog jump capitals, right?

I may use the Complete Writer: Writing with Ease for the 2nd semester for Hannah if she is finished with the Zaner-Bloser book.

Math: Primary Mathematics Textbook , Workbook, and Teacher's Manual 1A and 1B by Singapore

Hannah began the 1A books last year and so we are starting out reviewing in the textbook and then will pick up where we left off in subtraction.

Genna needs to finish the Kindergarten B Singapore book before she will start the first grade ones, but while we are reviewing, I have them combined during Math since the material is virtually the same during the review.

Religion: Faith and Life Series

Hannah will also be in CCD at our parish. The girls will be combined for these lessons since they all did the Kindergarten (Seton) religion last year. I liked the Seton, but was looking for something that came with a workbook/activity book. Someone recommended this to me, but I am not sure that it was exactly what I was looking for either.

Science: The Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia by John Farndon and Jon Kirkwood (August-November)

The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia by Richard Walker and Roy Palmer (December-February)

Green Thumbs: A Kid's Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor gardening by Laurie Carlson (March-May)

For Science, we are dividing the year into three sections, animals, human body, and plants. We are supplementing with library books each week. Hannah and Genna will be doing this together.

History: Story of the World 1 (textbook, activity guide, and teacher's manual) by Susan Wise Bauer

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia by Charlotte Evans

The Usborne Internet Linked History Encyclopedia

This is an amazing curriculum for ancient history. The activity book is a must! It lays it all out for you and gives optional projects and a list of books to check out from the library with each chapter. It is highly focused on narration. So it is very much something I have to be involved in the whole time. It does require a little bit of prep as well...making copies, gathering supplies for selected projects, and getting library books. Both girls are doing this, but Genna is not going to be required to do as many activities or narrations as Hannah.

Art: Drawing With Children (1st semester)

This is a really nice book. I like how it forces me to start at the basics. Our first lessons were very abstract, focusing on getting familiar with the 5 elements of shape. It has many levels for each project so I can include all three kids and everyone gets something out of it. I am sure I will be posting about this one in more detail once we get further into it.

Discovering Great Artists by Kim Solga and MayAnn F. Kohl (2nd semester)

The second semester, I plan to work in more Art History, learning about famous artists. I have a lot of books already to supplement this text (which has projects covering each artist,) plus there is always the library, and I have quite the list on Amazon that I want to get if I can get a good deal on them.

Social Studies: (no text)

This is a Maryland state requirement, but they for some reason do not require History for 1st graders. So Hannah will be doing American Heritage Girls for this subject requirement as well as learning about the people in her History lessons.

Music:

Hannah will be starting piano lessons. Plus, we listen to classical music. I have some of the Beethoven's Wig CDs which is classical music with silly words (sometimes telling a story about the composer or the particular song,) and the kids love these in the car. We also are gradually collecting the story CD's about the composers' lives. We have Mr. Bach Comes to Call and Tchaikovsky Discovers America so far. These are entertaining and informative. Even Isaac enjoys them. The classical music is mixed in with the stories as well. I highly recommend them!

PE:

Hannah and Genna will be doing soccer and ballet/tap in the fall, basketball in the winter, and more dance and T-ball next spring. That should be more than enough!

Health: (no text)

This is another state requirement that I feel Science should include and trump. I will be getting library books on safety and health periodically throughout the year to satisfy this requirement. When studying the human body, I think it should be easy to work in Health.

So the main differences between Hannah and Genna's curriculum lies in Math, Handwriting, and Spelling. The rest I am fully or partially combining them. They are both reading well. We are still doing read aloud time, but less often for Hannah. Genna has to get to her 100 book goal to get her date with Daddy, and so those books still have to be read to someone, Hannah, Daddy, or me. Hannah is going to be reading some literature from ancient times, like mythology and fairy tales from the places we will be studying in History. These she will read with/to me depending on how difficult they are. Plus, I want her to do narration pages for some of them.

Stay tuned for Isaac's curriculum, lessons, and activities. I guess I am all about homeschool topics this week. Soon it will be all about newborn babies, I am sure.

First Day Back

Well, the first day of school didn't go as well as I had hoped, but it didn't go too badly either. I am a high expectations kind of girl which means I have to suck it up a lot because the kids are never going to meet those, at least not 100% of the time. My complaints for the day are that Isaac is continuing to be a stinker and has abandoned his laid back obedience I once loved. He was louder than usual during Mass and had trouble following directions during transition times throughout the day. Genna had the sillies during Science and had trouble following directions during Art. Hannah did very well overall, but she had trouble sitting still during Science with her silly sister leading the way. Hannah does not like down time either, which means that she complains or pesters me if she is finished with something and I don't drop whatever I am doing with Genna to give her the next thing to do. But enough of my complaining, let's talk about what worked and what needs to be tweaked.

First, the schedule...Math took longer than the 30 minutes I had allotted, but Isaac's Five in a Row lessons (which everyone wanted to join in on) and the girls' handwriting, spelling, and grammar were quick enough that we were caught up by 10:30am. That is when Science/History is supposed to start so that was all good. We finished Science early, in part because they were just not focused anymore and in part because I didn't estimate the amount we could talk about in that time slot. This worked out well since Monday was a feast day and I had bookmarks of the Blessed Virgin Mary for them to color. They worked on those and I cleaned up and made lunch. Nap/Rest began on time, and I woke up from my nap at 3pm and somehow got myself downstairs with the kids and taught an art lesson. We went over our 30 minutes of art, but mostly because they did not want to stop which is fine and we just missed a tiny bit of outside play time. So, my conclusion is that even though during Math I was thinking, "Oh no, this schedule is never going to work!" it all balanced out in the end. Now add in a baby...we'll have to see about that, I guess.

As for keeping the preschooler busy and out of our hair or including him, that worked most of the time as well. He had his rest time beautifully, although I had to run up two flights of stairs twice during it, once to help him in the bathroom and once to kiss a boo boo. The girls needed my help for just a few more minutes and so he drew a picture while waiting for me. Then we had his learning time. We sang three songs, read his Five in a Row book (A Story About Ping,) talked about what a "classic" is, and looked at where China and the Yangtze river is on the new wall map. That was it for his formal learning and it was a perfect amount of time for him to focus and behave. The girls joined in at the story time and were just as enthralled as he was about poor Ping who lost his family. I was very happy with how the girls picked up on the moral of the story without me having to lead into it.

While the girls and I did Grammar and Science, Isaac picked a bin from his shelves. I was right, and he picked the rice sensory bucket. He was completely immersed in it and played for the whole time I needed him to. However, it was a giant mess! I think next time I will be opening our basement door to the backyard and letting him sit out there and do it. So as long as I can keep interesting bins that he can do without help on there, that system may actually work.

My biggest problem is when everybody needs me at the same time for different things. During Handwriting, for example, the girls both need me to watch or instruct at different levels. On top of that, Isaac wanted to write his name on his picture and wanted me to help him position his pencil, then help with that pesky "S." I just don't have enough hours in the day to do everyone, completely one at a time. I will have to think this one through and find a solution that works for us.

Other than that, the only other note-worthy events were that Hannah needed more review in Math than I anticipated. Genna read to me in the car to and from Mass and periodically throughout the morning when we had a free second. She is good enough at reading now where I only have to listen. I do not have to sit with her and watch every word.

Next up, my curriculum choices for this year!

Ready for the new school year?

We started school on the 15th of August this year. I probably should have started sooner, but there is a little too much fun going on around here to miss out on.

The room has been gutted and reorganized with some new wall posters, like the world map from National Geographic and our ancient time line.

For Science, I am going to be using this butcher paper to organize our study of the animal kingdom.

Hannah's, mine, and Genna's desks

I made binders like this one for the girls to keep their work organized.

Since Isaac will have minimal written work, his work will be kept in a drawer for the time being. Speaking of Isaac, I am going to try these activity bins on the shelves. For the first week, he has a number matching game with his felt Thomas set that I made, a beading activity, a coloring worksheet, a rice bin (I guarantee this will be the first picked,) blocks and a truck to make bridges, roads, and tunnels. I also have Look and Find books, a puzzle, and a tray of alphabet magnets for extra activities just in case.

My lesson plans are only written for two weeks out because I wanted to see how things went before writing them too far ahead.

Our homeschool closet...

Our toy/craft closet has mostly baby toys ready for Drew at some point and a bin of crafts for the big kids, mainly the girls, to get into on occasion.

All these pictures (and this post) were from the weekend before school started. Stay tuned for how our transition back into school life went.

Isaac's Airplane Party

I have been trying to make myself not do everything from scratch for the parties. It was easier to do everything myself when I didn't have so many little ones to juggle and, consequently, more birthdays to put. For example, I "cheated" for Genna's party on the icing, buying pre-made and colored icing, and didn't make the invitations. Plus, I had my family's help then since it was in Texas. For Isaac's party I made the icing, but bought the invitations and the dips. Plus, my top shelf husband grilled the hot dogs and sausages, took the balloons to get Helium, and was in charge of the pinata festivities.

Menu
As I mentioned before, Brian grilled hot dogs and sausages for our Sunday lunch time party. I bought salsa and queso dip with chips. The ever popular cheese balls ended up being cheese puffs instead because Walmart failed me and was out of the giant cheese ball bucket that I usually get for parties. I made broccoli salad, a cheese and olive tray, and a small vegetable tray. I also cut up watermelon. Isaac only really has three friends of his own approximate age, so the party was a small scale get together with those three friends and their families.


Cake

I made Isaac this fighter jet cake for his airplane themed party. Here are a few cakes that gave me the idea for this cake. This poster of fighter jets also contributed to my inspiration for his cake. Brian helped by getting the jets lined up correctly.



Decorations




Gifts



One of the dad's made this super cool James Bond-like gun with a detachable silencer and a carrying case. He's going to love this!

Lots of sweet Thank you's!


Games

I had a couple ready if we needed them. Just some old birthday games we learned in Germany, but the kids were playing happily enough that I didn't pull them out. But, of course, there was the finale of the party....the airplane pinata!

The best part...FRIENDS!

It was supposed to rain all day, but we were blessed with sunshine! Thank you, God!

Child Summary: Isaac at 3 years

Sleeping
Isaac is a good sleeper. He sleeps from 7:30pm (8 or 8:30pm for the summer) until I wake him up at 7am. If I don't wake him up, he has trouble falling asleep at nap time. He naps from 1pm until I wake him at 3 or 3:30pm. Again, if I don't wake him he will wake up before 7am after a couple days of longer naps. So he is getting about 13-14 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. He will skip a nap occasionally and just play in his bed. This is more likely to occur when we have disturbed his schedule by staying out past bedtime too many nights or by skipping a nap for an event. I recently took most of his stuffed animals out of his bed while trying to get him back into a routine after a weekend full of disturbances. This seemed to work well.

He goes to sleep easily and happily. He has the occasional bad dream and is very easy to calm down. He is in a big boy bed now and NEVER gets out without me. And he is keeping his overnight pull-up dry most of the time now, about 90% of the time.

Room time
We have not done regular room time this summer. We are about to start school again in a week and will start up with an hour of room time in the morning again so that I can get some school underway with the girls first thing after morning Mass. Hopefully, he does well with this transition, and I am not kicking myself for not doing it this summer. We've just been very busy doing fun stuff!

Eating
He eats well, but eats slowly now. All my kids were bitten by the slow eating bug around 3 years of age, and he appears to be no exception. He loves salad, and will eat any vegetable if he can dip it in Ranch. Fruit is a favorite of his, as well. Although he doesn't love spicy things, he will eat them as long as they are not too spicy. He is my only black olive eater in the house, besides myself.

For breakfast, he will eat either cereal (usually Daddy's Frosted Mini Wheats) or yogurt most days. For snacks, he is not picky, but he loves granola bars to death. For lunch, he like Hannah in that he is addicted to peanut butter and jelly. Even though he likes other things, he would rather have a PB&J sandwich for lunch. Most of the time, he is eating his sandwich, standing on a stool the second it is made while I finish up his veggies and fruit. He's always been impatient for food.

Siblings
He loves both his sisters and wants to play with them most of the time. He does seem to favor Hannah a bit still, but I have yet to figure out why since Genna is so sweet and loving to him. He will play whatever they want if they don't feel up to playing trains or Legos with him just so long as he gets to play with them.

He is very excited for his baby brother to "pop out" of my tummy, but he insists that we should name him Baby Conley still. He loves to feel him kick too.

Education
He knows the basics including his letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. He also knows lots of random facts about whales and sharks and other things like baby animal names. He can write his name, except for the "S." This coming year, my plan is to do lessons with him on phonics, math, and use the Five in a Row curriculum for the rest of the subjects. I will not be spending more than 30 minutes a day in formal learning, and realistically, probably not even that much with the new baby. I do hope to include him in our Religion and Art lessons at his own level.

Books
He loves to be read to and enjoys looking at books as well, although not as much as the girls always have. After hearing a book one time, he can retell the whole story, details and all, even weeks later. His favorite books lately have been Where the Wild Things Are and all books about airplanes. His old favorites are The Fox and the Hound, Chicken Little, and Bambi, two of which have hunters in them which is probably why he likes them.

Toys
At the moment, his favorites are Thomas trains, airplanes, and play dough or gak. He loves to play outside, riding his trike, using sidewalk chalk, and blowing bubbles. He plays well and carefully with his toys most of the time. I recently have had to correct him about throwing toys, but I think this is a behavior that has been picked up by other kids he plays with and will probably be a short term problem.

Dentist/Doctor
He did great a t the dentist, sitting in the chair by himself and following directions. He needed me to sit next to him, but that was it. He asked questions and was curious what things were.

At his 3 year well check up, he did not need any shots. I told him ahead of time that I was pretty sure he didn't need any shots. His sisters did not go with us to the doctor because they were playing at a friend's house and so he was a little bit nervous about it at first. I promised him that if he was good and brave he could have a lollipop afterwards since that's what I always got when I was little. That seemed to get his mind off being afraid. He did great once we were there, but he did check with the nurse and doctor to make sure they weren't going to give him any shots.

Talking
He is a big talker, especially for a boy. He talks nearly as much as the girls do. My favorite thing is his expressive face when he talks. He wrinkles, squints, and twists his face while he is talking and uses quite a bit of inflection.

Concerns/Trouble Areas
As of the last couple weeks, he is having some discipline problems. He is crying a lot, when he used to use his words. He has been much more difficult to calm as well. He has also been more deliberately defiant to me (not to Dad as much.) My guesses at the cause or causes for this turn of behavior are, 1)he is getting his 2 year molars in finally, 2) I am being too lax with him because of my lack of energy at the end of this pregnancy, and 3) as I mentioned earlier, he has not been doing his regular room time and I really think that helps with discipline and obedience. It is probably all of those things, and I need to tough it up and crack down a bit on our rules. Normally he is a very laid back, obedient boy who is easy to discipline. Hopefully, he will get back to normal soon. He usually prays "for the best mom he ever had," but on a particularly challenging day last week, he prayed, "I pray that my mom will be the best mom I ever had again." Needless to say, he wasn't happy with how things were going either. Constant discipline and consequences coming from an unhappy mommy do not make "the best mom I ever had."

Schedule
I have already mentioned his sleep schedule and since summer is over for us and the school year begins and our schedule is about to change I won't post a schedule here. During the summer, other than getting his naps and trying to keep to an 8:30pm bed time, we haven't had a set schedule. We have been swimming twice a week and had lots of play dates with friends. Plus, we've played outside with the neighbors whenever it was not too hot.

A wonderful visit from friends!

Some wonderful friends came to visit for the day earlier this week.

My kids couldn't get enough of this adorable baby which bodes well for me and Drew, I guess. They all wanted to hold him and sing to him, and Hannah even was begging us to wake him from his nap so she could hold him some more. I told her that just is the craziest thing any mom has ever heard. Wake a baby just to hold him? I don't think so. That's a quick way to put a mom in a bad mood.

Isaac's buddy loved Hannah and followed her around a lot. It is always a joy to spend time with these friends from out of town. These two boys are so sweet and fun!

Isaac and his buddy are only four months apart. They both have a love for all things with wheels on them.

I wish we lived closer to each other! After Drew is here and settled, we will have to make a trip to see them.