The One With a Puppy {Simple Woman’s Daybook 29}

by Meghan // February 6, 2017 // Comments off

Outside my Window …
It is warm and cloudy; why is it in the 70’s in February?! I won’t complain about the fog and early morning drizzle, we need the rain. And I won’t complain about the warmth, but I mean really?! If this means we will have snow in May, I’d rather it be cold now!
I am thinking…
I have so much to get done this week!

I am thankful…
that we had a friend from AR come visit this weekend, that we had rain this morning, that we have a little farm, and that we added a new buddy to the farm this past week!

In the kitchen…
There is bone broth in the crock pot, eggs on the counter, and leftovers for dinner.

I am wearing…
leggings and a shirt

I am creating…
a few things in my sewing room

I am going…
to Costco and the library this week

I am wondering…
if we are going to have anymore winter between now and spring?!

I am reading…
Teaching From Rest, as recommended by so many homeschoolers … it is a good book. Except I have already implemented most of what I am reading so far, and my train of thought is already there, so I am wishing I had picked it up at the library and not purchased it.

I am hoping…
I find more info in the book that is helpful, and not just a bunch of ideas and thoughts I already have, agree with, implement in my home. =/

I am looking forward to…
The warm week-warmth means mama and Baby can go out more (she does NOT like the cold, even bundled up, so I’ve been inside more than I’d like this winter).

I am learning…
how to work with a puppy, specifically and LGD puppy that is going to hopefully bond with and protect my chickens and family- he is NOT for playing with. He has play time, in the evenings, but the rest of the time he is watching chickens, sleeping with chickens, and sitting with me as we learn about chickens. The cows are too big for him to be with right now, but I wouldn’t be against adding a few calves for him to bond with soon. =)

Around the house…
It just is. Things are pretty clean, tidy. I just have a ton of laundry to get through.

A favorite quote for today…

One of my favorite things…

Meet Huck! As in Huckleberry Finn. He sure is a sweet, sensitive boy that likes adventure. We are sure the 40 acres will be a good place for him to learn, grow, and protect.
I won’t write about how we are training him, because honestly there is a LOT that is going into it, and I don’t know if it will all be successful. I have spoken with a consultant that has assured me Thora’s escalating resource aggression wasn’t a result of anything we did. So I am hoping that what we do for Huck can prevent any issues and create a great guardian. Because these kinds of dogs don’t necessarily “bond” with chickens like they will mammals, we have to do a little extra work to ensure he is okay around them.

However, so far he gets very upset when he is not in the run with the chickens. He was raised with his parents and chickens for 14 weeks, until we got him, so he is used to them. It is just avoiding playing with them at this point, that is important.

Huck is part Great Pyrenees, and part Anatolian Shepherd. Anatolian Shepherds are more aggressive with predators than a Great Pyr, and are better able to take on a coyote than a GP might. They are also more likely to stay closer to home than a GP, or so I read. So we will see how he does. =)

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Run errands, do school, get some sewing done, work with Huck, menu plan, and work around the farm in the WARMTH! woo hoo

A peek into my day…
See Huck’s photo collage above.

We did school, then went for a walk in the woods after lunch. Aaah, fresh air, and fun!

The Beginner’s Bible {with new artwork}

by Meghan // January 4, 2017 // Comments off

The start of a new year tends to bring new books into our home. This year we have been so blessed to review The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz.

How We Have Used It

We have gone through 2 copies of The Beginner’s Bibles in our home since my now 6 year old was 2 years old. Growing up The Beginner’s Bible was my first Bible. For my children, it was an every single night story book for several years, and my oldest could recite the stories to you by heart before she was 4. My son and second daughter have also loved this book, and when our last copy was so well loved that most of the pages were taped in, they were excited to receive our newest copy!

They were even more excited to see the illustrations were different, and more vibrant (they used the words “more colorful”). This updated version is perfect for my oldest to read to her younger siblings, and also for my son to begin reading as he learns to read. Daddy often lets everyone pick a different story to read from it for bedtime. My 2 year old is a “page flipper,” she *loves* to sit and flip through the pages of books while talking about the pictures. This is one of her very favorite books to pick up.

The book is a hardcover edition with beautiful colors, with 512 pages containing over 90 Bible stories.

What We Think About The (updated) Beginner’s Bible

I appreciate that the pages are thick and durable; with so many little hands using this book it is important that it stands up to lots of love. The cover is sturdy, and colorful-it definitely draws my children’s eye when choosing a book to have read to them.

I like that my 6 year old, who reads on a higher level, is able to read this book with ease. Something new I noticed is that in the back is a short glossary of terms used in the stories! Woo hoo! This is so neat, and a great way to introduce glossaries to young children. My daughter really likes this section of The Beginner’s Bible.

I feel like I can trust Zonderkidz and especially The Beginner’s Bible product line, because I grew up with it. Reading the stories nightly to my children helped me (even as an adult) have a better understanding of some of the history in the Bible.

Though simple, it is thorough enough for children to get a great view of Biblical truths without the use of fantastical additions. This is so important to our family. The Beginner’s Bible doesn’t discuss the more mature content of the Bible, but is still able to tell the stories with beauty and truth, while also avoiding adding in details that aren’t Biblically sound.

We are very choosy about books in our home; I want to make sure that what my children read is quality, safe, and appropriate while still being fun, engaging and lining up with our values. Zonderkidz does just that with The Beginner’s Bible.

You can click HERE to see comparisons of the old artwork with the new. The images are now more vibrant, and I think easier for little eyes to decipher. They also include lots of fun resources to download through that link. Enjoy!

Connect With Zonderkidz

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Weekly Wrap Up {homeschool update} with Baby #4 Summary

by Meghan // November 23, 2016 // Comments off

So, how goes being a mama of 4, 6 years old and under? It is going really great!

We have fallen into our groove with routines, baby is sleeping great *most* days for her naps, which helps with our learning time as a family. The kids are enjoying their school time; we have finally gotten pretty comfortable with Mister doing more activities while I teach Lexie. Ila walks around with her ABC flash cards (I laminated them and put on a ring for her) during most of learning time. She likes to come sit in my lap through out the morning and “read” to me. =)

Lexie (6 years old)

The Lady is just flying through everything I give her or introduce her to. She enjoys reading; we are still going over the rules as we work through All About Reading, because I don’t want her to have gaps down the road. However, she is reading on a 4-6th grade level. Next we are going to start working to build her vocabulary, because when reading at a higher level, she is coming across many words she doesn’t know yet.

She is learning her math facts in math and really enjoys challenging herself with those. She does her math sheets independently and we do calendar most days (sometimes I just forget ..). Whenever we do hands on math with manipulatives Max likes to join in. He can do math on her level, but his writing skills aren’t there yet so we don’t focus on a math curriculum at all for him- just hands on fun! (like it should be).

We have started using the CD that came with our science (Apologia’s Astronomy 2nd Edition)- that way I don’t have to read, but I can listen along and pause it to go more in depth or explain something a little better. The kids follow along in the book, and then Lexie does the science journal.

Handwriting and math are part of her “clip board work,” that she does independently; I check over these after she has completed them to be sure she did her best, or understood everything. She loves watching herself improve, and I enjoy the discipline she is learning in completing her work on her own.

Max (4 years old)

Mister is just reading like crazy. He does not like to read formally, off a piece of paper yet. He likes me to write words on the board for him to read, and I am 100% okay with that! He is only 4, after all.

He is working through Reading the Alphabet by ThisReadingMama.com- I used that with Lexie and she *loved* it, so he is enjoying it now. Each week we go on to a new letter/site word. His favorite activities are the mazes (he is constantly asking me to find mazes for him to do), and he enjoys syllable counting. Max is also very interested in counting to 100 .. every. single. day. Which is great so I go with it; he likes to get out his number chart for that (check our Rainbow Resources for those!).

Mister is still obsessed with puzzles and anything he can do with his hands. We try to make sure he gets plenty of movement, hands on learning, and has lots of play time so he continues to grow a love for learning.

Ila (2 years old)

Ila is tagging along with us in everything we do. Right now she enjoys puzzles, dolls, coloring, and practicing her letter sounds. She doesn’t actually know the letters that correspond with the sound, but she likes to try and I like encouraging her. She is going to follow Lexie in her eagerness to learn and read, I think.

Our Routine For Now {baby #4 is 4 months old}

7am baby up, nurse
7:15-7:20ish I get Max up for mama and baby time while I give baby a bottle
Mister gets “the sisters” up =)
I cook breakfast, baby hangs out in bumbo or bouncer, older 3 do morning chores/get ready for day
everyone eats breakfast and we do our morning basket “stuff”
8:25 baby down for nap
all 3 bigger kids go outside or downstairs to play until 9am
9am we begin school
10:30- it is time to get baby up and fed. We are usually done with school by this point, Lexie may have some clipboard work to finish on her own for the rest of the week
11:15 everyone has lunch
12:00 baby takes nap, then I put Ila down for nap, bigs go outside to play
12:45 Mister goes down for nap, Lexie has rest time reading books, mama writes blog posts, does chores, or rests
2:00 time to get baby up for feeding- Lexie usually comes in to spend time with me and baby
3:00 everyone up from naps, outside or downstairs to play or we run errands
3:30 baby down for last nap, I prep dinner if not yet done
5:00 Baby up, nurse
5:30 everyone eats dinner, baby gets solids
bath, wind down, sometimes we watch a show like Mister Rogers, Bob the Builder, Boxcar Children, etc
6:30 baby gets bottle and goes right to bed
7:00 everyone in bed, unless Mister napped good then he and Lexie get to stay up a little later (but they’re always ready for bed-that’s what happens when you spend most of your day running around a farm!)
Mama and Daddy time- this is my favorite part about keeping a good routine while our kids are young~I get 1:1 time with my husband and we can unwind from our days together without little people needing us non stop. It’s nice!

Not everything is set to a specific time, but naps and feedings are. Everything else works around that, and just sort of falls into place; it is simple and flows well because I don’t have to force anything.

Coralie {4 months old}

Baby #4- wow. She is already 4 months old (19 weeks) and SO happy. The best thing I could have ever done for this baby is getting a good sleep schedule down- without it she would still be crying, fussy, unhappy, and unpredicatable.

Because of her eating and sleep routines I am able to pinpoint what she needs, she rarely cries (and if she does it is because something is wrong), and she sleeps very well as long as I hit her wake time right (too short results in a short nap, too long results in crying).

But the BEST part of her routine-she went from HATING going to sleep in her crib, to *loving* it. Before about 15 weeks old, she cried every time I laid her down on the changing table to put on her sleep blanket (we use THIS ONE). Now, the girl is happy, kicking, and ready to go to bed as soon as I zip her up! We talks and babbles while I sing Jesus Loves Me, sucks/gnaws on her hand (teething), and when I lay her down she goes to sleep within 20 minutes. Sometimes she fusses after talking for a bit, but never cries for me to get her. IF she is crying-crying, I will go rub some oil on her gums or try to burp her and then lay her back down. Then she usually drifts off to sleep.

She is still a very social girl, loves talking and playing. She got a jumper from her grandparents for Christmas, which I had to let her play in early because A) babies outgrow things fast and it seemed silly to waste a whole month of having it but not using it and B) she is all about kicking these days. She loves it. This way she can see everyone and know what is going on, which is right up her alley.

She is eating every 3.5 hours, her wake time is anywhere from 85-95 minutes (lengthens as we go through the day), and she is experimenting with solids. We have done soft boiled egg yolk, green beans, squash, carrots, and peaches. She devoured all of them, and stares at us while we eat. I think she is ready for more in her day, but honestly I am not ready to have to tote around baby food, spoons, bibs, etc every time we leave the house. I already have to pack formula and hot water, so Im good for now. I am going to try to get by without daytime solids until 6+ months. She is only having them at our dinner time (5:30) now.

That is pretty much it for our weekly wrap up and summary. We are just trucking through everything, enjoying it as we go.

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Baby #3 {2 Year Summary}

by Meghan // October 20, 2016 // Comments off

Poor Ila … she has hardly any updates just for her. I know, having a 3rd really shows in my writing … ~~or lack there of~~. But, she is getting her 2 year update. =)

Well, Baby #3 was a perfect baby. She didn’t cry until she was cutting her first tooth. She was floppy, and lazy and let everyone squish her and tote her and tickle her until she was about 8 months old. Then she started walking at 13 months and became a different baby! *ehum* a toddler …

The girl is a spit fire! She is SO fun, but man can she be a naughty one. 😉 She is precious, but has definitely made it clear she will not be lost in the shuffle of a big family!

Everything is, “don’t like” right now, even if she does in fact like it. She has discovered stomping her feet (whaaat? I don’t think so!) and throws herself down in a silent protest.

Yep.

We have entered terrible two territory.

She hates having her hair brushed, and is insanely tender headed; her hair is really long right now so soon we are cutting it off again soon. I hate to see her cry over brushing her hair and because she still has baby soft, fine hair it gets tangles super easily. She loves to brush her teeth, and putting on “big girl panties.”

She has potty trained! Well, at home. =/

When we leave home she tells me when she needs to go, and she sits on the potty (whether the little car potty or a big potty wherever we are) but she is really tense and won’t relax, so then she won’t actually go. So next week at home we are going to start practicing TTing on the big potty. Sometimes when we leave home she stays dry, but today we went to the doctor, then the park, and despite sitting on the potty multiple times, she had 2 accidents.

We are going to keep working on it.. But no more accidents at home which means only 1 baby in diapers! Woo hoo!

But along with the terrible two’s comes lots of learning, and growing, developing, and FUN!

Ila loves doing puzzles, she enjoys naming animals, is obsessed with books (all books- board books, picture books, and loves thumbing through chapter books. They’re probably her favorite) and gets very excited when anyone writes the ABCs on her magnadoodle while singing the ABC song. She wants to read like her big brother and sister; it’s really precious when she points to every letter and makes the t or s sound. She’s trying. 😉

Ila is still sleeping in a sleep sack in her crib, with her sister in the same room. She naps from 12:00-3:00 every day and typically sleeps for the entire nap. She goes to bed at 6:45pm each night, but stays awake waiting on big sister to come in at 7:00pm.

Lexie has started volunteering to help dress Ila, get her out of the bath, and ready for bed. She pulls her around the yard in the wagon. They bounce on the trampoline together, although Ila prefers to do this by herself. She is hilarious bouncing all around.

Her new favorite phrases are, don’t like, wait me!, and eat whole apple! She enjoys eating, singing to me while I cook, and LOVES to give giant hugs. We were at the park after checkup appointments and as we left, she just stopped and gave another mama a great big hug and said bye bye! It was sweet.

She is genuinely a sweet girl, even if she is determined to get her way- but what 2 year old isn’t?

As Lexie plays with her dolls, Ila will often brush her mini American Girl Doll’s hair; she carries her around in a purse. I love watching her play with baby dolls; Lexie never played with baby dolls much as a toddler but Ila *loves* them. She feeds, changes, and burps her babies. She also insists on helping me with her new baby sister, Coralie. It’s nice having her under foot to help carry diapers to the trash and grab burp cloths too. 😉

Ila is growing up to be a very snuggly, silly, yet independent girl. We have so much fun with her and I can’t wait to see what the next year will have in store for us!

What is your favorite age/stage in motherhood?

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Wordless Wednesday {the one with Baby #4}

by Meghan // August 3, 2016 // Comments off

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Our Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2016/2017

by Meghan // July 28, 2016 // Comments off

Aaaah Every homeschool mama’s dream- getting the new school year’s supplies and curriculum all planned out and organized.

As you all may know, we *love* Sonlight’s curriculum as our core- Bible, history, and read alouds. We also love their readers (books children learn to read on their own).

This past school year (2015/2016) we used Sonlight Core A with the intention of stretching it out over two years- I planned to do that by reading sequels to books, adding in lapbooks and other units, while alternating weeks of SL and these other things, etc.

Yea … so we still flew through it! The kids asked all the time to read our “learning time books,” and did not like me alternating some weeks of all the great read alouds and history books from SL in an attempt to stretch it out.

Because we didn’t stretch Core A over 2 years as planned, this left me with an extra year to fill- a year known in the homeschool world as a “gap year.”

As it turns out, SL revamped their cores for 2016, which means Core A has some new books added and some old ones removed! They also separated their language arts from the core itself. This helped me create a new plan for our next few school years.

Here is what we will do for the next few years:

2016/2017- Gap Year using Beautiful Feet Early American History as core (ages 4 and 6)
2017/2018- Revisit Sonlight Core A (ages 5 and 7)
2018/2017- Begin Sonlight Core B (ages 6 and 8)

Why is this helpful? Because it means I can keep my two oldest in a Core together, and my two youngest (who are toddlers and a soon to be born baby) will core together when they are ready to begin. Inserting a gap year here puts my two oldest at the best possible ages for the Cores; with Sonlight it is generally better to be in the top of the age range than the bottom because book content is heavier as you get to Core D and the farther in cores you go the more chapter books you encounter.

Break Down of What We Will Use for 2016/2017

Last year my 3 year old tagged along for Core A, as I have mentioned, and learned to count to 100, ID all his letters and their sounds, and just found a love for learning (slooowly but surely). My oldest, 5 years old, loved every minute of Core A, and began reading anything she could get her hands on, including books on 3rd-4th grade level. She seriously just picks up any book and read it.

They both LOVED the pioneer era, so I thought for our gap year doing an Early American History study would work out well! We chose Beautiful Feet Books Early American Primary Jumbo Literature Pack for our curriculum this year. I am truly 100% excited!

We have done 2 years of other cultures/world history so I thought this year we could take a break from that (though I think I may have a couple of future ap world history students!) while we enjoy a little bit of studying closer to home, before we jump back into world cultures/world history with Core A again.

2017 Curriculum Choices (Kindergarten age 6, Preschool age 4)

Together we will all enjoy:

History/Core– Beautiful Feet E.A. History- this also incorporates copywork and writing
Bible- Reading from Egermeier’s Bible Story Book
Memory work (Bible verses, poems, etc that I have chosen)
Science- Apologia Science Astronomy second edition (oh my goodness we are LOVING this-review to come in September) used with the Jr. Notebooking Journal for Kindergartener, the preschooler will tag along/color pictures as we read
Art– Artistic Pursuits- we love this program, hands down

Kindergarten (age 6)

Reading– AAR Level 2/3- we are about half way through Level 2 now, so we will continue on to Level 3 once we are done
Readers– we will continue using Sonlight’s readers, as well as other first and second grade readers from the library
Spelling– AAS Level 1- we did not being AAS last year as I had planned (mama was just too sick/exhausted with pregnancy to add in anything else at the time) so we will begin it this year. Lexie is very concerned about how to spell her words and because her reading level is so advanced I figured this is a good time to gently introduce spelling.
Math– Saxon 1/2- we will finish Saxon 1 and move on to Saxon 2 this year. Max, the preschooler, will tag along using manipulatives to understand concepts instead of writing
Handwriting– we will use our faithful copywork, as well as A Reason for Handwriting book B
Writing– copywork, journal, and modeling (I plan to introduce more formal grammar/writing at 2nd grade level)

Preschool (age 4)

Reading- All About Reading Level 1 (mixed with some games from the Pre Reading level because he loves them)
Math- tag along using manipulatives to understand concepts instead of writing, learn to write numbers
Handwriting- Handwriting Without Tears Preschool or K book (I haven’t decided yet… he is still very much at the pre writing level, but I know Lexie flew through that stage once she got started, so we may just go to the K book first)
I plan to use lots of hands on and games with him; he loves puzzles and mazes, building things, and sports right now so there isn’t a ton of interest in paper and pencil learning just yet. I don’t want to burn him out or push him too young. He is excited about learning to read and write letters, but short of that it will be a lot of play.

Miss Tot (2)

Ila will tag along, get some one on one time with mama, and enjoy independent play during our school time. She is learning her shapes, colors, ABCs, and how to do puzzles right now. Really, she has mastered her puzzles and counting to 10, so we will just continue with songs, finger plays, and other tot-time learning for her. =)

In addition to our curriculum, we will do LOTS of play outside, work on the farm, and learn through nature.

So, as for now, these are our plans for homeschool this year! If things change or I add something (haven’t yet placed my last order..) I will do a part II and let you know.

What will your school year look like for 2016/2017?

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

2014/2015 End of Year Homeschool Overview {Pre-K and Preschool}

by Meghan // June 24, 2015 // Comments off

{6/21/2015-we are now done with Sonlight P4/5- yay! I am still unsure of when we will begin 2015/2016 school year}

In the past few weeks we have been finishing up our 2014/2015 school year. We really have a few days left of reading from Sonlight P4/5, but we are traveling at the moment, and I chose not to bring the books. So we will finish when we get back home.

But, here is what we have been doing in the last few weeks.

Lexie (4.5yo) Pre-K year:

Lexie has been finishing Sonlight’s P4/5 core (Bible, history, geography/other cultures); we have loved the bible in this core, and may sub it in next year, through Core A. (or use it for little brother).

In math she has been working through the last of our Singapore Early Bird books. Honestly, this has taken what seems like FOREVER because I haven’t stuck with it as much. She can do everything in the books, but doing the assignments is good practice. In between working through the pages, we have done hands on math using manipulatives like: blocks, counting bears, unifix cubes, and

She has been working on recreating and expanding patterns on paper and using manipulatives, skip counting (which she LOVES to do), and counting backwards. She is now seeing patterns in everything we do, and everywhere we go, which is fun!

In science we have learned about and discussed the types of animals and what attributes make them mammals, amphibians, reptiles, bird, insects, etc. Lexie lap booked the frog lifecycle and really enjoyed that. We have also learned about the seasons and a bit about outer space and the planets. Obviously none of this was very in-depth (she is 4.5, after all). But it was all interest led by her and Max. We used our online science program, Digital Science Online and books to read about and better understand these topics.

In reading, language arts, and handwriting Lexie has been breezing through All About Reading Level 1 and HWOT pre-writing. We are still working through AAR; some lessons are longer and while Lexie’s ability to read is fairly advanced, her ability to sit through an incredibly long lesson isn’t there. As in most children, her abilities and development in other areas don’t all match up perfectly (hence HOMESCHOOLING bliss!). So we still have about 10 lessons in AAR to get through. We are going slowly to keep her confidence up and she loves it! I hope to finish AAR Level 1 over summer, before we actually begin Core A for the next school year.

HWOT has been great! I think we are pretty much done with needing the pre-reading level. She is ready to move on; we will use the K level for this coming school year. Honestly, I am not sure how long we will stick with HWOT. It has been great for her because her confidence while holding a pencil or crayon was terrible, and now she LOVES writing and drawing of all kinds. But I am not sure how the methods will work for creating pretty, neat, legible handwriting. (I hate my handwriting, and wish someone had made me write neater growing up. So I hope to help encourage her neat handwriting.) There are a few other programs out there, and after we do the K book, she should developmentally be ready for something a bit more thorough and strict. We will use HWOT for Mister when he is ready to learn writing; I do believe it is a GREAT beginning program for little ones that need a bit of direction and encouragement. But again, not sure how I will feel as they get older and need better handwriting.

Max (2.5yo) Preschool:

Mister has been learning to identify his letters. He knows them now, but his first reaction when asked about a letter? … “I don’t know!” But he does in fact know … So, again development and personality play a huge part in that. =) We are working on identifying his lower case letters, and he does pretty well with that also. We will be using our book, S is for Smiling Sunrise, to help with that task (read more about that HERE) through next year.

He is still working on identifying his numbers (he knows a few), has grasped and enjoys counting with 1:1 correspondence, counting past 20, counting backwards, and sorting. He loves to sort by size, color, etc. especially when we play with the counting/sorting bears

For science he has just tagged along with us through the year, focusing mainly on weather, seasons and animals for him. He likes just about anything that involves him getting attention or touching things! Typical 2 year old male. 😉

I went ahead and got Mister the AAR Pre Reading Level for next year. I hope to do a quick lesson with him first thing each day, while Lexie does independent work, so maybe he won’t “need” me as much during her big girl school. It will be fun for both of us, and encourage his love of learning and reading.

Recently I started back to our circle time routine. I had taken a break from it after Ila was born, simply because I didn’t have time with nursing & pumping every two hours and I was worn out. Max also wasn’t very interested in it before now. Since we have started back he *loves* circle time, singing the songs, and absorbs everything we are doing. It also helps get some of his wiggles out before we start reading our core books and learning time, which means he is less of a detraction and more cooperative! *score*

We are also working through his Before Five in A Row, and will continue that through next year. When that is complete he will just do literature based unit studies that go with whatever topics we are discussing in Core A, until I can decide who will team up with whom for school.

Developmentally and maturity wise, Mister is not where Lexie was at almost 3 years old. And that is okay! Some days it is hard, because he is all up in the terrible two’s and Lexie’s were never like this, but he is fun, active, and has a HUGE imagination. I in no way want to discourage that or put that out by pushing him into academics too soon. He loves to just run around, dancing and singing or playing with his trucks and tractors.

We will technically homeschool year-round with several breaks throughout; this will allow us to take off when we have illnesses, spring fever, or mama just needs a break. We will take a few weeks off in the summer from full blown school hours; but we will continue some activities many days of the week just so we have some focus in our home during the day. Being at home with no routine just in the last few weeks has driven ALL OF US crazy; the kids are begging for school every day, and J.Tom and I are definitely feeling the difference in their attention and behavior with no real structure.

I will do another post on our hours/weeks of school and breaks. Since we are in the process of moving to KS (again, love homeschooling because we can start/finish/continue/break when we need to!), I have not yet figured up our number of required hours per day and all that.

2015/2016 will be my trial year for record keeping, so I will update you on all that soon!

Through all this year, I have reminded myself that BOTH of the older kids are still little. They are young, and while they love school and learning, play & reading books are still the most important things! We will end this year on a great note, play and learn all summer long, and pick back up right where we left off in the fall!

How has your homeschool year gone? Are you ready for a break?

Surviving Airplane Travel and Vacation with Small Children

by Meghan // June 12, 2015 // Comments off

As I write this post I am relaxing while my children take naps.
Our family (and I mean my husband’s ENTIRE family-18 of us) are all vacationing this week. It has been Ah-mazing, and has opened an opportunity for a good “how to survive…” post. If you’re not lucky enough to be able to hire a private jet with Jettly, read on!

So, here is it: How to Survive The Airport and Vacation with Small Children

1. Food- When all else fails FEED THEM. I packed a bazillion snacks for our plane ride. As a matter of fact, I carried an entire back pack full of snacks. Fussy? feed them. Ears hurt? Feed them. Tired but won’t sleep? Feed them. Bored? Feed them. Talking too loudly on a red eye flight? Feed them. (oh yea, if they’re hungry you should feed them too!)

2. Seating- On an airplane you can make sure your family’s seats are together by logging into your account online (or calling, I’m sure). Our planes had two rows of seats, 3 seats wide. So for us, with a family of 5, it was best to have: number 1 child at the window, number 2 next to number 1, then daddy on the aisle seat to help managed them, while mama sat across the aisle in the aisle seat, with baby. That way if we needed to hand/trade off we could. I could easily pass baby to daddy while I made her bottle/got her food out, etc. Also, brother (2.5yo) could come see me when he needed to. Also be sure to check your seating arrangements the day before you fly because they could have been changed without your knowledge!

3. One Activity- For us, drawing and writing is infinitely interesting to our kids, most of the time. Whatever it is that occupies your kids at home (that isn’t huge or require a lot of little pieces), take it with you for the plane and long lay overs in the airport! **Don’t take a TON of things. Chances are your kids will be just as content (if not more) having only one or two things to focus on. However, if your kids are at the “throw down and lose everything/have mom pick it up” stage, skip this entirely and let them play with the magazines on the plane!

4. Personal Backpacks– If your kids are 2 years and older, chances are they can carry a small to medium sized backpack with ease through the airport. With most airlines, each person that has a seat/ticket on the plane gets to take a carry on bag. That means even children can “carry” a bag on the plane. Take advantage of this! My daughter (4yo) took her own small backpack that had her “planner,” pen, a favorite book, and lovey for sleeping. In her brother’s backpack we carried them both a change of clothes, extra diapers for him (for sleeping and to prevent frequent bathroom breaks), and his sleeping lovey. Bringing a backpack is especially useful for long haul flights. We’re thinking of taking a trip to England since we found some good deals on stratford hotels. I’ve always wanted to visit that area but we’ve always been put off going due to the long flight. I might just wait until the kids are a little older though.

5. Change of clothes– This is HUGE. I never would have thought to take a change of clothes for the plane (this is my husband’s tip). But if you are flying over night, or all day long, a change of clothes can go a long way for everyone! Putting kids into their pajamas at night when they would usually be getting ready for bed sends a sleep que to them, and can help them be comfortable and relaxed. Also, a change of clothes (undies, shirt/yoga pants, shorts, or dress) for mom and dad is also nice. After all the loading, moving/running through airports it is nice to be able to change just your shirt. Don’t carry an entire new wardrobe, just enough to help you feel refreshed/clean/better.

6. Wear Baby- I found that wearing baby was a life saver! I didn’t really know how much I would use my carrier, but it turned out to be awesome. Now, don’t go get a carrier the week of vacation; you will want plenty of time to use it and get comfortable using it with and without help. I wore #3 on my front for the plane, and on my back at the beach. I did need help getting her in the carrier for my back because without a bed to drop her on (accidentally) I am just not comfortable doing it blind. What carrier should you get? That’s up to you; I love love love my Baby Hawk Mei Tai. There is also the BabyHawk baby Carrier that snaps! I sorta wish I had seen that one when I bought my mei tai before #3 was born… snaps are fast and easy, though not as versatile. (Just make sure you read how to properly wear baby, please! High on your chest/back, no facing outward, etc)

7. Sleep!- Let them sleep! I know on vacation it is hard to stop all the fun and going/doing for naps. But, for us, everyone is much happier and can go and do much, much more if they are well-rested. If the kids are exhausted and can’t function, how can you have a good time?! So, take a few hours, go rest, then get up refreshed and ready to go! The best way to get refreshed and energized by a good nap is if you’re staying in a beautiful and welcoming hotel while vacationing, like Boutique Hotel Downtown San Jose. This way, you and your child can rest up with a comfy bed while staying in luxury!

8. This thing: Trust me, you need it! Leave the pack n play at home and carry this for travel sleeping arrangements; we LOVE ours
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What’s your favorite tip for traveling, flying, & vacationing with little ones?

A Homeschool ABC-Book {a review}

by Meghan // May 14, 2015 // Comments off

As we have started including Mister (2.5yo) in our learning time routine more and more, I am always looking for fun ways he can learn along side big sister. Thankfully, we reviewed a precious book, S is For Smiling Sunrise and its audio sing-along song, by WordsBright; we have enjoyed reading this book each day as part of our learning time! He considers it his special learning time book, but big sister loves it too! It is inspiring, positive, and a fun way to include an ABC-book in your homeschool!

About S is For Smiling Sunrise {and why we love it}

This hard back book was written by a father for his daughter to grow up with; it is perfect for children of all ages. You can read this with your toddler, and it continues to be great for emergent readers as your child ages. My children are 2.5 and 4.5, and they both enjoyed (and are still enjoying!) the book.

S is for Smiling Sunrise isn’t your typical ABC book, which I love! It includes both character traits and fun rhymes that your children will grow to understand and love. The illustrations are lovely, bright, and printed on heavy, crisp pages.

What’s even better, WordsBright has included a Pre-K and K to 3 Teacher’s Guide to help parents expand on the content in the book. There is also a precious audio CD; we really enjoyed listening to this during in-home transitions (such as after learning time, before lunch, etc.), and the kids listened to it during their independent play time in their room. You can get the song as a free MP3 download directly form the website.

My son loved pointing out the capital letter and “little” letters at the top of each page, we made it a game which really helped encourage him to identify his letters (one of his goals for our homeschool year). The illustrations are beautiful and so much fun for little ones! He also learned new words, such as interesting, and dawn, while identifying things he knew in the pictures.

My favorite part of this book, is you can just tell it was written with love; almost like a sweet love letter from a daddy to his baby girl. The little rhymes are fun and it is much different from any other ABC book we have read, or own. The Teacher’s Guide helped give me more ideas for expanding on the book, and we enjoyed that as well!

Connect with WordsBright

Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2015/2016 (K5 & Preschool)

by Meghan // April 22, 2015 // Comments off

Wow- I can’t believe I just typed in title! This year has truly snuck up on us; but alas, I am ready! ~~(I think ..)~~

I am going to break this down by child/age. It is hard with Lexie, mainly because she is 4.5 years old, 5 in the fall, and doing a mix of kindergarten and first grade work, but is still not old enough to register for school. So while she will be doing mostly first grade and K work, I am not sure what to tell you in terms of “grade” for you to compare or look at for your child. This will be her K5 year (next year will be K6 and she will start 1st when she is 7).
I would recommend looking at the curriculum’s scope and sequence for each level, and ALWAYS do their placement test (at least look over what will be taught in that level and what prerequisite skills are needed to be successful). I will say, Lexie probably didn’t HAVE to begin with AAR Level 1, but I am SO thankful we did because she got that firm foundation before moving on. I know a few parents can get overwhelmed with the school curriculum, which is totally understandable as we’re not professional teachers and have no idea how to even do this work half the time, so seeking advice or a little help can be really useful when setting work for children. Some parents choose for their child to use a tutoring Adelaide service and others choose to use online tools, like YouTube, but whatever the method is, as long as children are learning something it’s all worthwhile.

Good foundation ALWAYS trumps advancement in my opinion, no matter the subject.

Lexie (4.5/5 in the fall, working on K and 1st Grade Level)

Core: Sonlight Core A– (history/cultures, geography,Bible) We did P4/5 last year and Lexie just flew through it; she never skipped a beat and I swear she still talks about some of the stories which I have long forgotten … She LOVES it, and so does Max. So we will do Core A next, and Mister (and Ila, too) will sit in with us. I plan on stretching this core 18-24 months, and using it as her “Kindergarten” year curriculum (when she is 6 and we register with the state). We are adding in LOTS of sequels, and I will probably buy the Five In A Row literature pack from RRC (I already have the teacher’s book and a few of the read alouds) to add in also to help stretch it out. This core is SO exciting; we get to begin our timeline book, learn more about geography, look at maps, and expand our learning tremendously! It will be fun!

Language Arts:

All About Reading Level 2– Here, AAR is going to give her all the reading skills she needs
All About Spelling Level 1– They suggest beginning AAS when your student starts AAR Level 2. From what I have seen this will mostly just reinforce the reading rules she already knows and teach encoding. For all intents a purposes, we will say she will be 5, which is young for a spelling program; but after looking at the scope and sequence, I think she can do it and it will help with her writing. If we aren’t ready, we can shelve it til she is =)
Sonlight Language Arts 1- this is really just for extra practice; I like that they include spelling words, narration, comprehension questions, and copywork so I thought we would use it mainly for that. I bought some of the readers, but not all of them. We will just see how we like it. (I don’t feel like their LA’s is “enough” for us, so we will use it as a supplement)

Math:

Saxon Math K– we were going to use Saxon K this past year, but I just continued on with Singapore K (early bird). Because Lexie isn’t registering for school I am going to use this as a “review,”/nail in the foundation year for math. Plus Saxon will go a bit further & deeper than Singapore did. It will start very basic, but that is fine with us. Max will probably sit in on some of the more basic lessons.

Science:

Elemental Science– I went around and around on our science choice for over a year. Every single time I landed back on ES. So I finally said, Okay! This is it! You may have read that we enjoy the Charlotte Mason and Classical Education models. I like teaching and organizing this way, and the kids seems to thrive learning with these models (for now), so it is a win win. ES is a classical/CM combo curriculum, and I like that! I will do another post entirely on why we chose ES some other time.

Extracurricular:

Gymnastics at a local gym
Violin lessons with a local teacher
ARTistic Pursuits (best art curriculum EVER)

Max (2.5/3 yo in fall) Preschool

Ah, I can’t believe I just wrote my baby will be “doing” preschool. Honestly, I am not sure where to begin with him. haha

Mister is definitely a boy- he is developing much faster physically than Lexie was at this age, and isn’t quite where she was cognitively at this age. (for instance, he just started gymnastics and is MUCH better at it than Lexie was when she was 2/5, but he isn’t reading cvc words like she was at that age, either).

Before Five In a Row: You know I love some BFIAR! It is easy, fun, and means lots of snuggles with my baby. He *loves* the stories and I think he will really enjoy all the activities, too. My favorite resource for all things homeschool is Rainbow Resource Center- they almost always have the best prices, and here is their literature pack. Trust me when I tell you, you cannot buy all those books, even used, at that price; many of them are also out of print so to get them brand new from RRC is pretty awesome!
Language Arts– I know a lot can change in just a few months, but for right now I don’t think Max is ready for ThisReadingMama’s curriculum. Whenever he is, that’s what we will use as a supplement and beginning curriculum. I think maybe by fall or Christmas he will be ready to start! Until then, we will just review a letter a week or so, and continue with BFIAR. The other option is when he is to start him on AAR Pre-Reading; I never used that with Lexie, we just did our own thing to learn those skills, so I may just teach him myself without a curriculum.
Math: I don’t have anything in particular ready for Max and math. We have a TON of manipulatives and will just use them to learn basic math concepts and number sense- 1:1 correlation, sorting, patterns, more/less, etc. We are already playing with some of those concepts and will just continue down that path. Also, we will work on recognizing his numbers (he surprised me the other day by recognizing way more than I thought he knew!), and counting past 20.
Play, Play, Play, Play, Play! We will play a LOT. He is not my desk learner; he does LOVE to join us for learning time, he enjoys sitting at the counter and writing and listening in on Lexie’s lessons, but he isn’t ready for a long stretch of school yet, and that’s A-Okay! So we will play and learn through play.
Sitting in- Mister will sit in on our read alouds, join us for science lessons (and probably keep his own little science notebook), and anything else he shows an interest in.
Extracurricular- He has started gymnastics and *loves* it. He keeps asking about violin, but unlike Lexie I don’t think he will be ready at 3. So, we will see if he still shows interest as he gets older.

That’s it! That is our curriculum choices for 2015/2016.