Momma's New Toy

Before I had kids, I worked at a preschool for four years. It was a really nice set-up, complete with an office housing full-sized copy and laminating machines. Those years spoiled me. The lightning fast copies, the kid's adorable crafts nicely laminated to last throughout antiquity. *Sigh*... waiting three minutes for one page to copy off my printer is torture- and Gracie has made so many nice crafts, but I find the edges torn and creased a few months later. Some women dream of expensive purses or spa days. I dream of office equipment.

Which is why, when I found this little beauty, I new I had to have it. Not for Christmas. Not for my birthday.                                                                 

                                                NOW                                                            

                                                                                

It's a small laminating machine. I picked it up at BJ's for about $22 and have already laminated the crap out of half the stuff in my house.

We use it mostly for our timeline pieces- it keeps the tape from tearing them when you reposition them.

                                                                                         
And it is super handy for laminating cute craft projects, especially when you want them to hold up for a while.

                                                                     (Gracie's)    

                                                                          (Caleb's)

I love it so much I sit around all day and try to think of new things to laminate... recipe cards? bookmarks? baby booties?  the cat?

Now all I need is a copy machine. They're a little more than $22, so maybe Santa will bring me one.
                

Teaching Toolbox

My husband is a handy kind of guy. He does industrial HVACR for a living, and drives a work truck completely stocked with tools for every problem he might encounter. Then, he has a stockpile of completely different tools he uses for the house. Whenever anything breaks, it never crosses my mind to call someone- I just know he'll be able to fix it. In almost 10 years of marriage and three houses, he's never let me down.

So recently when I read a child development book, the part that really jumped out at me was about "tools". It said that studies have shown that a child's IQ is directly related to having tools in the home. Not the kind of tools my husband has- although you could teach a child great skills with those- but things like books and maps, tools they can use to gain information and learn skills. It got me thinking about our house and things I consider essential "tools".

Books
I've always been a reader. I learned to read before I even went to school. My mom and grandmom were always reading to me, and I just picked it up by being read to. So it's very important to me to read to my kids, and to have books available for them to read. Even Luke likes to sit on the floor and look at books! We have a very varied selection of kid's books, from funny to serious to educational. I don't care what my kids are reading, as long as they're reading. If they learn to love it, the rest will fall into place.

Maps
Last year we put up a map and I can't believe how much my kids have learned by just casually looking at it. Gracie knows the seven continents and how to use a compass rose. She has a general sense of where most states are located and can find a lot of countries. Caleb can show you where we live, and where Pennsylvania and South America are. Whenever they hear of someplace new, they like me to find it for them on the map. It isn't something we intentionally try to learn; they're just interested and so they pick it up.

Craft Supplies
Gracie is one crafty kid, so our craft supplies started accumulating about the time she turned three. She spends a lot of time coloring and drawing each day. She also likes to make things and her grandmom has just started teaching her how to sew. I try to keep a large amount of supplies on hand so they can make things whenever the mood strikes. Some staples(besides crayons, glue, markers and paint) are: paper plates, sequins, fabric, a hot glue gun, card stock, and poster board. Check out the owl she made:

 

 

Music
Baby Mozart aside, it's good for kids to appreciate music. Whether you play it or just listen to it, it's a part of everyone's lives, and I think it's more enjoyable if you know a little about it. From classical to rock, I let them listen to anything as long as the lyrics are clean. (right now they really like bluegrass and are wearing out my Nickel Creek cd) Gracie has been taking piano lessons for about a year now, and Caleb really likes singing along to his favorite song. But even if your kids don't want to play an instrument, you can still talk about the music you listen to, name the instruments used, and do some research about the artist. You can also have some fun making your own instruments with items around the house-coffee can drums, soda bottle flutes, rice-filled maracas. Or, you can just do some crazy dancing!

Outside play
I love watching my kids play outside. They love hanging out in the "clubhouse" at the top of the swingset and Caleb loves digging in the dirt box ('cause we've never gotten around to buying sand). Outside, kids need things to climb on, balls to play with, buckets and shovels, jars to catch bugs, and bikes to ride. I love watching how their imaginations wake up when they get outside- they're on safari, they're pirates, they're spies and the dog is their arch nemesis. It's good for them to run and play without an adult directing their every move, so when they get outside, I make sure they're safe, and get out of the way.

Inside play

Toys that you can use in a variety of ways are awesome-Legos, building blocks, Lincoln Logs. They get the creative juices flowing and provide hours of entertainment. My kids also like plastic animals that they play farm or  pet shop with. Plastic food and dishes are great for lots of games, and don't forget dress up clothes! Puzzles and board/card games are great for problem solving and pre-math skills.Toys and games that promise learning, like "Leap Frog", sound great, but in the long run I don't believe being talked at by a computer compares to letting kids exercise their minds and imaginations.

Children learn through play. Don't ever think that play time is wasted time. It might not seem like it, but a whole lot of  learning is happening while the kids are building a cardboard box spaceship. You can help by stocking your toolbox.                                                                           

A Great and Horrible First Week

Last week was our first week of school. I hadn't planned on starting quite yet, but thanks to hurricane Irene I was able to spend a few days getting organized and making lesson plans. I spent a whole day organizing and baby-proofing Gracie and Caleb's bedroom to give Caleb and Luke a space to play while I teach Gracie. I have been trying to come up with a plan to keep Luke happy, and I felt like this one was truly inspired. He's always trying to get in there and play with big-kid toys, and I thought if I made it safe and let him loose, he would be no trouble at all.

Monday started great. Gracie got up, dressed, and made her bed without being told. We had breakfast and chores done and were ready to learn at 9:30. We started our day with a Bible lesson. Caleb wanted to join us, and I got out a puzzle for Luke to play with. I had a fresh cup of coffee and there was even cheerful music playing in the background. For like, 5 minutes, we were the perfect family.

The boys were having a hard time sitting still, which I knew they would. So I moved them from the table into the living room to play with some "educational" toys.
        

                                                                                
In became apparent that these toys were not baby-proof and I spent a few minutes chasing Luke around the house and then shoving my fingers down his throat to pull out two foam fishes. No problem, I thought. Time to pull out my ace in the hole, the newly readied playroom.

They stayed in there for 3 minutes.

Luke kept shutting himself in the bedroom and then screaming and yanking on the doorknob. I went to free him, and as soon as I sat down with Gracie, he did it again. And again. Then he tried to crawl through the cat door a few times. Then he pooped. Then I had to sit in the bathroom with Caleb while he pooped (his highness requires an audience). Then Luke hung onto my shirt and screamed. Then they took turns pushing each other and crying about it. Then they were hungry. Then they spent a long amount of time just kind of following and watching me like really tiny stalkers.      

The whole week was like that. The boys are driving me up a wall! We don't have this rigid, structured curriculum that requires silence, but they won't even let me read three sentences to Gracie! Wednesday I collapsed on the bed and cried for a few minutes. Thursday I gave up and put "Thomas the Tank Engine" on repeat play.

*hangs head in shame*                                             

Gracie did an awesome job all week. She never complained and did her best work. I was amazed at how much her handwriting improved since last year! We didn't practice it, but it seems like she is just ready for it and wanted to do her best. She was really proud of her notebooks and showed them to Jeremiah when he got home. She seems enthused about this curriculum. So in that way, it was a really great week. I truly enjoy teaching her.

But I still don't know what to do with the other two. I don't expect them to disappear into another room and play quietly for three hours, but their behavior this week was ridiculous. The fighting, screaming, whining- it has to stop or I will lose my mind! I thought I was prepared- the room to play, the new "school" toys- but I guess not...for me, this is really the hardest part of homeschooling!                                                                                 

This Year's Starting Line-Up

We started school last Monday, and I am very excited about this year! With the exception of Math, we have a whole new curriculum for every subject. Here's what we're doing :

Our main program is called My Father's World (MFW). It's a Charlotte Mason approach and it covers Bible and (this year) American History. I like the Bible lessons because you actually sit and read a passage from the Bible, not just a Bible workbook. Some days there's an activity to go along with it, and there's a list of memory verses. Some examples of activities are: baking bread (Jesus is the bread of life), learning the meaning of your name, the names of Jesus, then making a poster of Jesus' names. The best part is, all the things you need come with it. The bread recipe is in the book. The names of Jesus are there for you to color and cut out. For History, they include a storybook-style textbook for some lessons, and then for others you use readers and biographies that you can purchase separately. There are even lessons on all 50 states! History usually includes a page to color or write on to include in your "United States Notebook", which you add to all year. Oh, and you also work on a timeline, again, pieces included! It's only been a week but I already LOVE this curriculum.

For Language Arts we went with Abeka. A lot of people hate Abeka, put I really like their LA program. The workbook pages are pretty short, it includes spelling and poetry, and reading books. I like that the lessons all tie together. You see the "special sounds" (blends) from the workbook in the spelling words and the spelling words in the reading books. I think it's pretty thorough. The only part I'm not doing is the Handwriting. It seems like busy-work when Gracie's already writing for other subjects.

Math is the same, Modern Curriculum Press. I was happy with it last year.

For Science I chose Apologia Science's "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day". It's a whole year's study on animals that fly- birds, bats, bugs, even pterodactyls! Gracie is really interested in all of that- but we may have to play it by ear. Even though the book says it's for 1st-5th grades, the first lesson included classification and binomial nomenclature. Pretty intense. But it does include cool experiments and notebook activities, so we're gonna give it a good try.

I also purchased a Spanish kit called "Puertas Abiertas". It uses an immersion approach through videos and cds. There are workbook lessons to complete after you listen to each lesson a few times. This is an area I'm not worried about the kids excelling at, but I thought the exposure would be good. So three times a week they watch the video.

Gracie is still taking piano, so that covers music for me, and....we joined a co-op!! It meets every Thursday, and it's only five minutes from my house. We are all really excited about it. (except Luke. He will be really mad at me when he has to stay in his group without me)They have two hours of learning in the morning, followed by lunch and then playtime.Gracie and Caleb both have about nine kids in their groups, so they will have plenty of friends to play with. It will be especially good in the winter when the days start to drag!

As I said, I am really excited about this year. But we have had our challenges already! Gracie is enjoying her books and doing really well. The boys, on the other hand, are not cooperating AT ALL. But that's another entry...