Weekly Wrap Up: Fall is here 2014 {w/o October 5}

by Meghan // October 13, 2014 // Comments off

The past few weeks we have slowly been adding our learning time back into our routine. Honestly, I could continue our break from it, but Lexie and Max both request it. So back to it we go!

We try to start our Mondays off strong, getting in as much reading and foundational lessons as possible. This week we did good in that area; Lexie read her AAR readers like a pro, and flew through her sight words. Since The Miss {baby Ila} was born, the hubby has been taking Lexie to gymnastics on Tuesdays. When Ila is a few weeks older, we will spend Tuesday mornings at the children’s museum with some friends, then head from there to the gym. Until then, J.Tom taking her works perfectly. It allows Max and I to have some time together during Ila’s naps, too.

Wednesday is our day “off” from learning for now; I got caught up on laundry, pulled out more of Lexie’s baby clothes for Ila (if there is anything Ila will NEVER need, it is clothes!), vacuumed, and the kids did some art. This is going to be our mid-week cleaning day. Sometimes I can get a TON done on Wednesday, other times not so much.

Thursday we did more Sonlight reading and took a walk outside. I wish I could say we were walking more, but honestly I haven’t found the time to get out much yet. Between nursing Ila, then pumping for Ila, reading to the kids, and making daytime lunch/snacks there isn’t a lot of down time for me until the kids are down. Then I get a breather, but obviously can’t go for walks! (thankfully we have a treadmill now, so soon I will start walking/running on it.)

weekly wrap up October 2014 do a dot paints

We love Do-A-Dot paints!

This week Lexie decided to write her cousin a letter, we made snuggly pallets on the floor, kept the windows open, and I began work on the kids’ some more fall/winter clothes. I am making Lexie a dress and a ruffle pants outfit, and for Max a few pairs of pajama pants with matching shirts. I plan to make Ila a skirt or two to match Lexie’s clothes.

The past few weeks we have been so blessed by precious friends that have brought dinner, which has made it much easier on J.Tom and me those nights. Then our church family (where we have been visiting for about a month before Ila was born) brought us a beautiful gift basket/storage bag with diapers, Burt’s Bees Baby products, and an outfit. I am getting anxious to get back to church and running around town, but honestly with all the illnesses everywhere, I know we need to wait until Ila has more of an immune system- this is cold and flu season, on top of the enterovirus and possible Ebola fears going around.

Here is to a beautiful fall!

reading and snuggling on pallets

A Peek into Our PreK Day with Pictures {Crew Carnival}

by Meghan // October 6, 2014 // Comments off

Our Homeschool Day in Pictures {Quiet in the Chaos}

This week we are linking up with the Review Crew’s “Our Homeschool Day in Pictures.” Click on the image above to read other Crew members’ posts!

This week Lexie’s reading EXPLODED! She has been reading her AAR readers like crazy; we love this program. I am so proud of her, but mostly I am just thankful her confidence has gone through the roof. She will try read just about any word I point to. We are working on using her finger to point to the words (she doesn’t like to do this, but reads much better when she does) and not using the pictures to guess what the sentence says. As you can see, we used an envelope to cover the pictures so she will read the words first, then look at the pics.

And now we do a whole lot of this ….

We have snacks outside, twice a day. (I think this is their favorite thing to do …)

The Mister enjoys playing “connect four” and reading books.

We have also been gardening (LOTS of tomatoes coming off our plants), and just adjusting to having a baby in the house. Overall, everything is going smoothly and everyone is adjusting well! =)

{a review} Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at your feet

by Meghan // October 1, 2014 // Comments off

While Lexie is technically a preschooler, I am also trying to homeschool with two other little ones! One of those littles is a very rambunctious, loud, two year old boy … So I was very excited (and blessed) to review the e-book for homeschooling moms, Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at our feet ($2.99). This was written by Kendra Fletcher from Preschoolers and Peace and is a wonderful resource for all homeschooling families with preschoolers running about.

About the Product:

This e-book is inspired by the “best of” posts from Preschoolers and Peace website. (If you haven’t visited the website, and you are a homeschooling parent to littles, I would suggest checking it out!) The chapters covered in the e-book include:

What a Homeschooling Mom Needs
Preparing Yourself to Homeschool Older Kids with Little Ones Under Foot
Planning Around Preschoolers
How Do I Keep Them Busy?
What Does a Two-Year-Old’s Day Look Like?
How Do I Get Any Preschooling Done?
How Not to Just Kill Time
Circle Time: Or How We Pull the Little Ones In
Preschool Boys
When All Of Your Kiddos Are Preschoolers
Preschool Chores
Planning for Preschool
When Mama is Worn Out (or pregnant)
Meal Planning 101

Really? Do you have any idea how amazing it is to find a resource with all this information in one place?! I am a member of several online homeschool groups- the number one most posted question posted is, “how do you keep your little ones busy while homeschooling your older kids?” This is also MY number one question!

Lexie and Max are not close enough in development at this point, for us to do formal schooling together- At two years old, he obviously isn’t learning to read, write his numbers, grip a pencil properly, or create lapbooks. His “learning time” is just as important as my 4 year old’s, but it looks much different right now. And keeping him busy and quiet while she is trying to focus on reading her Bob Books readers?! That has been one of my biggest challenges. He joins us for read alouds, and circle time, but at two isn’t ready for the same activities she is at four years old.

What I Thought About It and How I Use It

Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at our feet helped remind me of my options, and give me ideas for more options. But more than that, Kendra begins her book by reminding us of our relationship with God; that Christ is where our identity lays, and that making time for prayer and Him are first and foremost to homeschooling.

My favorite tip that she gives is one in a series of steps- determine what activities you can do with littles around, and which ones you cannot. There are certain lessons you may not mind your toddler being underfoot, such as Bible, or read alouds. Then there are lessons you may want to do while the “nappers are napping;” for me, that is definitely reading/phonics. The e-book is full of activities you can use to keep your toddler busy while schooling your older children. I am going to post the list Kendra provides on our bulletin board in the kitchen, and rotate the activities Max gets to enjoy each day/week. That way I don’t have to work hard to plan things for him to enjoy, yet he still feels like he is part of “learning time.” (Because he asks to do it with us all the time.)

But as I have mentioned, this book is more than activities. It is a collection of ideas, homeschool how-tos, and inspiration that every homeschooling mom needs! I found the e-book to be so helpful I have printed it out, highlighted it, and re-read many parts of it in just the few weeks I’ve owned it.

Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at our feet has helped me rearrange our time, relax, and make our homeschool days count! I try to live each of our days as if this precious gift of homeschooling my children will end tomorrow, and this book has given me a refresher course so I can do just that!

Connect With Preschoolers and Peace

Weekly Wrap Up: September 6, 2014

by Meghan // September 24, 2014 // Comments off

{written week of September 6, 2014} Lexie has been very excited about learning time- she loves our “learning time books” (Sonlight read alouds) and doing her activities. I had planned to sorta put school on the back burner these last few weeks before baby, but she is having no part of that This week Lexie (4) has been working on:

reading with AAR (she is doing great!) and sight words
writing numbers 1-10 with Singapore and identifying more difficult shapes (soon to be 3d shapes)
fine motor skills/writing & strokes HWOT
Bible, read alouds, and science with Sonlight
Bears lapbooks (she wanted to learn about bears)
we have also been playing with play do and Sands Alive for fine motor and creativity
writing words- she has “writing books” her daddy brings her from each country he visits. She has been practicing writing out words phonetically. It is amazing what she can write! very proud of her

Max has also become VERY interested in our “learning time books,” aka read alouds. He likes to climb in my lap and read with us, which is great. He even retold a story (kinda..) to his daddy when he got home the other night. He is also learning his shapes and we are still working on his letters. For his birthday, my Granny got him this ABC puzzle by HAPE Toys; we *love* this puzzle because it allows him to manipulate the letters (standing them up, etc). It is wonderful for tactile learners. I hope to start Before Five In A Row with him after Christmas- I think he will really enjoy the stories and activities.

Playing letter sound BINGO- part of AAR Level 1

Overall it has been a wonderful last few weeks in our homeschool, before we add another tiny human to our home!

Preschooler {3 yrs old} and Toddler {23 mo old} Summaries

by Meghan // August 29, 2014 // Comments off

(Written Thursday, August 28, 2014)

17 days until baby wright #3 should be here (September 14th) … of course it could be more or less than that, only the baby and God know the plan. I talked with my very sweet friend that is going to have Bug and Mister while I labor, and it feels good to know my babies will not only be safe and taken care of, but that someone else is praying about this for me. God knows our circumstances, and theirs and we know He will send baby on when the time is right.

I woke up this morning, about 2:30am, to more storms. We have had a TON of rain here the last 10 days, so much the trail and parks we enjoy most are flooded terribly. (Good thing we decided not to have the birthday party at those parks, just in case in rained). I couldn’t go back to sleep so I hopped in the shower and am drinking my first cup of coffee since July 2nd. I quit coffee, mainly because I like it with cream and I am doing no dairy for baby, so this is really nice even if it is with rice milk.

I can’t believe that next week my babies will be four and two years old! I will begin with Lexie’s summary.

Proud of her birthday dress

To say Lexie is vibrant, happy, and full of silliness is an understatement. She loves to play in her dressy dresses, go “camping” with Max, and read books (all. day. long). She is currently reading the Bob Books: Advanced Beginners books. You can read a bit more about that Here.

She enjoys our learning time together, helping me bake, and playing downstairs. Of course outside is usually her very first choice of play time, especially if it involves water. Developmentally, her language is amazing. Her fine motor (writing) skills are improving, and her confidence has grown by leaps and bounds.

If there is anything I can say about being a parent for the first time, it is that you can definitely go with your gut. Lexie has always been very social, but despite being in daycare and Mother’s Day Out when we lived in Arkansas, she was/is still very introverted in a group. Whether it is at daycare, library story time, or gymnastics, if it wasn’t her close friends and family, she wanted to sit by the grown up in charge and watch (she is my people watcher!) or play mostly by herself. Today, she starts out that way in a new setting, but quickly warms up! And just a few weeks ago at the neighborhood block party she jumped right into the festivities without needing us to encourage her at all! My point is- we have never rushed her. We did not push her to stay the night with family before we felt she was ready, participate in things she didn’t feel comfortable with, and here she is learning within her OWN boundaries how to feel confident. There are definitely rules to raising an introverted child, and being an introvert myself I understand her insecurities and what makes them “flare.”

I love watching her grow and change, but am very sad my baby is almost four and not such a baby anymore.

Lexie and Max are sleeping in the same room now; it is going surprisingly well! Hopefully it continues to go well after baby arrives … Lexie wakes some nights needing to go potty, and sometimes that wakes Max up, but in the last few weeks he has gotten used to her being in the same room and he sleeps through it.

He naps in his crib from 12:15-2:30/3:00. J.Tom comes home for lunch and Lexie spends that time with him; at about 12:45 she goes downstairs and has “rest time” on the bed down there. She is allowed her books on the bed with her but must be quiet. She does pretty good with it.

As for Max Payne, well he is a little “stinky pot,” as he calls himself. He is TT potty trained; we are still working on poopy, which he usually does after he wakes up at nap time, but some days that isn’t the case. I am not sure he has distinguished between having gas and needing to potty, or if he is just a bit afraid of using the potty? Either way, he will get there and we have aaaall winter inside to get it down! haha In the mean time, we are down to using 2 diapers a day (nap and night time) and that makes this mama a happy camper!

He does and says everything big sister does. Everything. They are a mess together and I am thankful they are such good friends (for now..) and pray we can continue to foster that relationship as they grow. He can identify many of his letters, but not all. He just hasn’t been interested in learning them like Lexie was, and if there isn’t interest it just isn’t going to happen. So I haven’t been pushing it. He loves to count and read nursery rhymes.

Oddly, he isn’t a big fan of messy play or crafts. He gets most interested in painting, but even that doesn’t hold his attention long. He would rather be driving trucks and engines around on the floor and furniture. =) Or playing in water. The boy still loves water, and being outside. He and Lexie will spend what seems like hours downstairs playing pretend together.

At this point (well, for a while now), he is jumping with two feet, climbing everything he can get a foot on, and LOVES to bounce on the trampoline. “Dog dog” is his buddy- poor Charlie girl puts up with a lot from Max! He refuses to say Charlie, although we know he can. She is just “dog dog” for now. She doesn’t seem to mind. =)

loving on his “dog dog”

His personality has just blossomed in the last 6-8 months- he is funny, rowdy, and so sweet. He and Lexie are both obsessed with their Daddy, and we are so thankful we have had this summer home with him. It has been wonderful watching him do nap time with Lexie during his lunch hour every day, and eating dinner with him every night.

The Bears (that’s the boys, per Lexie) spend time together every night when Daddy gets home, just rough-housing and being “bears.” Lexie gets a bit jealous; she is very much her daddy’s girl and wants to join them, but she loves to laugh at them and their silliness. We try to encourage her to let daddy and Mister have bear time. Both of them are super snuggly and I think they will do great with Baby #3!

petting the “baby cow” at the fair

enjoying the cool mornings and teaching Max to swing

Silly babies!

I really can’t believe we will be a family of 5 soon- Lexie and Max will both be such good big siblings. *feeling blessed*

Curriculum Choices {summary} 2014/2015

by Meghan // July 30, 2014 // Comments off

curriculum choice 2014/2015 Sonlight

This is a more condensed version of my original post here. That post was more on what we were choosing and why. This is just a quick summary of our choices and supplements for this year, 2014/2015. Lexie will be turning 4 in September, Max will be 2 in September, Baby #3 is due in September!

Core/Spine- (includes: Bible/memory verses, history, science, and cultures)- Sonlight P4/5

Math– Finishing Singapore Earlybird Math, begin Saxon Math K (at some point, probably after first of the year when things are more settled with baby)

Handwriting/Fine motor– Handwriting Without Tears PreK (we *love* this program/book and will be using their entire series for the future). We only use the workbook and teacher’s manual. It has built Lexie’s confidence tremendously in coloring, which she refused to do before we started it. And because she will now color, her fine motor skills (writing/drawing) are improving. She has never enjoyed coloring, which is fine. But we do need to start building her dexterity.

Reading– All About Reading Level 1 Again, *love* this program. She pulls our her Bob books now to read them all by herself. She is doing great! We are working through it slowly, and we are both enjoying it a lot.

Supplements- we will supplement with:

“Reading The Alphabet” from ThisReadingMama.com Lexie enjoys her printables/activities.
Bob Books Set 2-Advancing Beginners (we have started these, when she shows interest and so far they are GREAT)
Lapbooks by topic as Lexie and Max show interest
Nature study through nature walks and using The Usborne Complete First Book of Nature (Lexie calls this her “adventure” book) and the Big Book of Play and Find Out Science
Lots of play!

This is what we will work through the next year. We started early, because the baby is coming in the fall, but we are working slowly as we find time. Some days we just play, cook, bake, and make messes. Other days we are outside all day and just don’t find time for anything but play and reading books. Which is why I *love* homeschooling my babies!

Have you narrowed down your curriculum choices for 2014/2015, yet?

Weekly Wrap Up: July 11, 2014

by Meghan // July 18, 2014 // Comments off

The last week we have finally gotten back into a routine form our travels to AR and TN. We got all the hard stuff (unloading, unpacking, laundry, etc) done the afternoon we got home and madly did it pay off! We had the rest of that week to menu plan, get groceries, pay bills, and just get things back in order. The last thing we want to do is find payday loans in Texas, United States. However, if we have too, we will.

The following week we started back on our learning time routine. We did a quick review and a lot of playing. We have spent all morning, every morning, outside playing in the back yard, playing in the pool, eating apples, and playing with the dog. It has been wonderful!

Here are a few snaps I managed to take during this week:

Lexie found a picture of blocks in the back of her Highlights magazine and she wanted to build what they were building. I helped her with a few pieces- but I was amazed at how well she would perceive what they had done. Some of these were HARD!:

We have read more books this summer than I think we did while stuck inside last winter. Mister has really become obsessed with reading books, and of course Bug wants to (read or) be read to all the time.

My children *love* to be outside- we spend most of our time outside when the weather permits. Lexie had a great idea when she wanted to combine their love for books with the great outdoors!

Our sweet Charlie girl:

Charlie Our Springer Spaniel {Quiet In The Chaos}

Charlie Our Springer Spaniel- 11 months old, July 2014

As you know, we *love* the free and fun curriculum from This Reading Mama (we use it with our AAR). Here, Lexie is working on her new sight word, “me.”

The week wouldn’t be complete without baking something yummy. We made (whole wheat, NO refined sugar) chocolate muffins. Lexie just had to lick the spoon. =)

Last week was a lot of fun- during all this fun, we also started potty training Max. I do have some SUPER cute pictures of that, but they’re probably not appropriate for the blog. haha

Monday the painter comes to paint Lexie’s room; then the kids will start sharing a room! *so scary* Just praying they get used to each other and sleep through the night fine. Lexie wakes up needing to potty and sometimes with night terrors, so that could be a problem. After Mister’s room (aka the nursery) the nursery is painted, I can begin decorating, organizing, and playing in the nursery. YAY! Eight More weeks until baaaby!

We Choose Virtues {a review}

by Meghan // June 9, 2014 // Comments off

I have mentioned before how much we enjoy character lessons in our home, so when we had a chance to review a set of Parenting Cards ($38.49) by We Choose Virtues. The parenting cards are a wonderful resource for any family wanting to implement character lessons in the home, and are best used with children ages 3-18. (I reviewed the NIrV of the parenting cards- this version includes both Old and New Testament verses. The NKJV only has Old Testament verses.)

Each set of cards teaches the same virtues:

diligence
helpfulness
perseverance
gentleness
contentment
attentiveness
honesty
kindness
self-control
patience
obedience
forgiveness

How We Used The Parenting Cards

We enjoy character lessons, and integrating them into our conversations through out the day- everywhere from reading Bible stories to our own behaviors- Lexie really likes to point out which character traits/virtues we should be working on and when. =)

Implementing these cards into our homeschool was very natural for us. You can teach the virtues in any order you’d like. As you may have read we are using Sonlight for our core curriculum. Each week of our SL lessons includes a character/virtue topic with a matching Bible verse; I thought this would be a perfect way to add in our We Choose Virtues cards. I simply organized the cards in alphabetical order for easy navigation, and choose the card that is most closely related to our topic in the SL. Some weeks we had perfectly matched character traits (obedience, attentiveness, diligence, and kindness to name a few), and some weeks we just had to choose what was most closely related to our topic. I loved doing it this way.

So after I chose which card we would focus on that week, I quickly looked it over. The front of the card tells you which character trait you are focusing on, has a really cute catch phrase for what the trait means, then it also explains what that character trait does not look like (which is a great reminded for little ones!). At the bottom there is a Bible verse that goes with the trait. You can see an example below:

The back of the cards is where any “teacher notes” can be found. Here you will see a “User Challenge” section that give your family a challenge for the character trait, such as doing kind things for others without them knowing (on the Kindness card). It has a reminder of what the trait looks like coming from the parent, so for instance, “kindness is best taught by passion and lead by example.” There is a “Teachable Moments ….” section that gives you things to think about, topics to discuss with the family, and activities to enrich your lessons. At the very bottom on the back of each card, there is a “Kids of Virtueville” section that has the name of a character that goes along with the card to help children remember that particular card. We didn’t focus very much on the characters themselves, but we did read their little story and discuss the question included.

What We Thought

I truly love using these cards in our home! I posted ours up on my weekly board in the kitchen, where I write down what we are studying (so I have everything handy for us talk about throughout the day). This was a perfect spot, because every time bug looked up and saw it from the table, she wanted to discuss it!

I like that each cards says, “I am … ” Kind, Obedient, etc. It is positive reinforcement that they already have these characteristics. Then the “I am NOT …” tells what the trait is not and reminds us what behaviors we should avoid. These cards are meant for the whole family- and I love that! Because can’t we all use some character lessons sometimes? (I certainly can!)

The cards themselves are made of a great quality cardboard material, so they are very sturdy. If you have a laminator, which many of us homeschooler do, they would be easy to laminate, though not necessary. They are 8.5 x 5.5 cards, which means they are nice a BIG, but not too big. The illustrations and words are big and bright enough to help make them stand out.

We also received the We Choose Virtues Download Bundle; this bundle is $7.99 by itself, but is free when you purchase the Homeschool Kit. The bundle includes extras to go along with your cards:

Teacher’s Handbook
Family Character Assessment
Coloring Pages
Butterfly Awards
Sing along song sheets

These were fun and easy to incorporate into our lessons- the teacher’s handbook has tons of helpful information and activities to include. I did the character assessment for Lexie, but really she is a little young to understand the concept- however, she can understand the concept of improving, so that is what we focused on. The coloring pages are of the characters that are mentioned on the cards; we didn’t do these with the lessons, but just for fun when she wanted to do some coloring (she really doesn’t like to color very much ..) We have not used the butterfly awards yet, but this will be a huge hit! And the sing a long sheets are fun!

****And for the month of June, use Promo Code BIG50 for 50% off WCV’s amazing set of 12 11×17 Kids of VirtueVille Posters! Then, from June through August, use Promo Code BTS20 for 20% off anything in our WCV Store. This includes any kit. Let’s start School with Virtues this year! (*Only one promo code per order)

Connect With We Choose Virtues

Beginning Sonlight P4/5 Part I: new schedule/routine

by Meghan // June 2, 2014 // Comments off

Monday, May 26th, we began our Sonlight P4/5 curriculum. You can read more about my first impression when we received everything here and why we chose what we did, here.

I wasn’t sure if we would begin in the summer, or closer to the fall when baby #3 arrives. I have been so excited to get started, and in desperate need of a new routine for Lexie’s learning time, that I decided to start now. I am glad we did!

Had we waited until fall, we would probably be all the way through our current math (which is Singapore early bird) and would begin Saxon. But, since we are starting early, we are just continuing on with Singapore. I am not super impressed with their program, and don’t find it challenging for Lexie at all cognitively; but it does keep us in the routine of doing some math thinking skills so we will continue with it for a bit.

We also began our All About Reading Level 1– to say I LOOOOOVE this program is an understatement. Love love love. Honestly, everything she is doing now she has been able to do for months; almost a year, actually. But it is giving her a great foundation and building her confidence in literacy SO much. Lexie has been sounding out CVC words (like “cat” “cup” “pig” etc) at least since her third birthday, but when I would introduce a reader like Bob Books, she would always say, “I can’t read the words. You do it.” So, while we played around with decoding (and reading by sight words), I didn’t push her. (besides, she has many years before she needs to be a fluent reader!) I just follow her lead on what she is comfortable with at this point.

All About Reading has built her confidence so much, and in just the first week. She has been reading any cvc word I put in front of her, loves the short activities that go along with the program, and looks forward to getting everything out of her workboxes each day! (well, we don’t do learning time every day, but when we do do learning time …)

(In addition to AAR, we are still using our little curriculum from ThisReadingMama. I will talk more about how we incorporate it in my following posts in this series.)

Like many children her age (under 4) her writing and fine motor skills are still developing. Her cognitive development is way beyond her writing abilities, so we are practicing fine motor skills and handwriting (just how to form the letters and numbers, not making them perfect). She does not like to color very much (bummer) and prefers to “write,” in her special books daddy brings home to her. She is still enjoying Logic of English, but we are only using the handwriting portion (because we love AAR).

So here is what our schedule looks like now for days we have learning time (it’s a little detailed ..):

7am- wake/brush teeth/milk and snuggles/breakfast/clean kitchen
(we do our memory work and Bible verse during breakfast)
8am- kids clean up any toys they got out. I get our Sonlight read alouds for the day and potty chair for Max, we all go to Lexie’s room and read while Max plays and practices pottying
9am- Max to independent play, Lexie’s learning time, then independent play for a few minutes while I clean up, get laundry changed over, and do other chores
10am- walk to park, play outside, pool time in backyard, play games, chores, run errands
11:15- lunch, clean up, free play, baths if necessary
12:00- nap for max. depending on our morning Lexie will either have a little more independent play here, or she will go down for nap
1:00- Lexie goes down for nap if she had a low key morning
1-2:30/3:00- everyone is napping, including myself if I am super tired (and at this point I usually am)
2:30/3:00- up and go to the pool, park, play outside, or run errands
That’s it until dinner, baths and bed!

So, you can see learning time doesn’t take up our whole day, or even a whole hour usually. We are also doing some lapbooking (which is SO fun) , on days we lapbook or do puzzles or something during learning time it takes a little longer to complete. But we have FUN and play a lot. On days we don’t do learning time, the kids play out back, either with me or together while I do chores.

I live by routine and schedule; my kids need the structure and so do I. I don’t do chaos well, however we alway have fun! We are always dancing, playing music, singing songs, etc. But we just do it in a controlled-chaos kinda way! 😉

I like this routine, because Max can be involved with our read alouds; but during the time Lexie needs to focus and have my undivided attention Mr. Rambunctious is having his down time in his room. I would LOVE for him to sit in on learning time, but at this point he is way too hands on wanting to be in the middle of everything she is doing; it just makes it harder for her (and me). So we play and learn with Max later during the day through songs, puzzles, outside, and just good ole conversation!

When the baby comes along, his/her naps and feeding schedule will go right along with everything we already do. I am not worried about that at all. I am actually looking forward to it! =)

(I did the red as an example for her, she did the rest) activity from Reading The Alphabet

My second Beginning Sonlight post will be about how I organize all our materials for everything.
My third Beginning Sonlight post will be more details about our Sonlight curriculum and how exactly we use it as well as along with our other programs. Every Sonlight family uses it differently, but we are really enjoying it this way so far; of course if that changes, I will let you know.
And, look for my post on our workboxes!

Sonlight Box Day: P4/5 {our first ever}

by Meghan // May 30, 2014 // Comments off

As you may know we have chosen Sonlight P4/5 for our homeschool learning fun this year. I did not buy the entire package they offer for a few different reasons. As easy as it would be, we already had a few of the resources, some I didn’t really want to include, and others I found less expensive elsewhere.

While I did purchase many things directly from SL (my IG, binder, tabs, several books, etc), I didn’t get everything from them. So .. because of that we would not be having a regular “box day” like many homeschooling families get to enjoy. But, the school supply and book nerd in me desperately wanted a box day (yes, I did it partially for me) and I also knew Lexie Raye would LOVE it! And if it involved books, so would Max. So I took an old sturdy box I have been collecting all our resources in, and used it for our “box day!” I am so glad I did!

Lexie was asking me questions about every single book she pulled out. I knew several were going to be favorites right away- anything that looked like a chapter book (she LOVES them), the Berenstein Bears Big Book of Science and Nature, and Peter Rabbit. Oooh how we love Peter Rabbit in this house. =)

We can’t wait to dive into our Sonlight P4/5 curriculum! Lady bug is so excited, and Mister is too.