8.5 month Baby Summary Update {ww37 and babywise schedule}

by Meghan // May 27, 2015 // Comments off

Well, here we are; somehow Ila is 8.5 months old! To think she is closer to 1 year old than a newborn baby … =( It is going by so quickly.

But God meant for healthy things to grow, and she is surely growing! She is a little over 20lbs and 28.5″ long; not as big as her siblings at this age, but that is okay.

Ila has 5 teeth and is working on one or two more. She gave up nursing around the beginning of April, and though I was devastated and continued trying to get her to nurse, she was completely done by the third week of April. Trying to nurse had become a battle that stressed us both out. I really thougth she was going to nurse for the long haul; she was my best nurser out of my three babies. But just like the others, once she realized the milk in the bottle came out faster, with less work involved for her, (even though it was the smallest size Tommie Tippee nipple), she was done with mama. =(

She still has a head full of hair, and that is the first thing people notice about her. The second thing they mention is how happy she is. And she is happy. The happiest baby ever; I know I say that on all of her summaries, but really. She doesn’t get upset over much, she has never spit up a day in her life (which I attribute to not getting dairy protein through nursing or her formula), and the only time she has a hard time with sleep or not feeling well is during wonder weeks; she is even pretty happy while teething, with only one or two rough days. I know this won’t last forever, at some point she will become a tiny tantrum on two feet, but for now, it is bliss!

Eating At 8 Months

Ila is eating every 4 hours … sorta? =/ She is eating solids LIKE CRAZY. If we are eating, she wants a bite of it. Which means that she has been eating: burger meat, steak, meat loaf, rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, spaghetti, cooked carrots, cooked green beans, sautéed zucchini and onion, grapes, apple sauce, pears, banana, eggs … and really the list goes on (though no processed foods). Basically if it is soft enough for her to chew, and homemade with real ingredients, she gets it. I did give her some BBQ from a local restaurant the other night, and she liked that too. =)

So at 3 of her 4 feedings she eats solids, then takes her bottle. She refuses her bottle before she eats real food, and she won’t take it right after she eats … so a little after she has eaten she is ready for her bottle. Oh- and if she hasn’t had a poopy diaper she won’t take a bottle, so basically her life revolves around when she poops! haha But I am working on not letting her eat as much food before her bottle, since that should still be her primary form of nourishment right now.

Schedule

Ila has moved seamlessly to a 2 nap schedule. I knew it was time to drop the cat nap because her naps were being interrupted, but she was still tired after waking and about 20 minutes later she would go back to sleep. Also, the third nap just seemed to be messing with her night sleep and first morning nap. So … we dropped to a 2-3-4 schedule (loosely) and it has been working great. Really it is more like a 2-2.5-4 hour schedule. She hasn’t quite worked up to 3 hours at that second nap yet, but it won’t be long. I imagine after this wonder week (ww37) she will be ready.

So at 8.5 months, her schedule looks like this:

7am wake, bottle, solids
9 down
10:30 usually wakes, rest until 11
11 up, lunch, bottle
1 down for nap #2
2:30-3 wake, solids, bottle
5:30 dinner, bath
6:30 bottle, bed
Asleep by 7pm

Development

Ila is doing new things every day! Since my lsat summary, she has started sitting up, scooting on her belly, rolling all over the place to get to things she wants, clapping, and signing. She likes to roll around on the floor and is really trying to crawl; she is thiiiiiis close to crawling! But honestly, with the move, and rent house, etc. I am not a huge fan of her crawling too soon anyway!

She has started signing for milk and more. I think she started signing for milk about a month ago, but I wasn’t 100% certain. Then she began signing for more, and it was pretty obvious what she was wanting! haha The baby is covered with fat rolls and loves to eat, what can I say?

The other day at the rent house Ila was in the floor with Scout (the singing talking dog). It was singing a song and she started DANCING. It was possibly the cutest thing ever. So now, she just bounces and dances when it plays music.

Ila is working on grasping small pieces of food, and while she can usually pick them up, she has a hard time getting them into her mouth. She has also discovered throwing things .. including her water cup! NOT FUN. Ugh. But our little Mister is so sweet and gets it for her every. single. time she “drops” it. haha He is helping create a monster. =)

Big brother and sister adore her. I mean … just smother her to death adore her. Including Mister- she is his “sweet baby girl Ila.” I love that he is (usually) so gentle and good with her. And big sister is mama’s BIG helper. She is also in love with Ila and is always teaching her new things (works on signing with her) and cheering her on! Did I mention Charlie loves her, too?

As far as the WW is going … there is some fussing at sleep time and all around weirdness going on, but in the nest 3 weeks that should end. *whew*

That is all of Ila’s 8month update I think … I *love* this stage! (minus the wonder week!)

What is your favorite “baby stage?”

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

Weekly Wrap Up: November 2014 {and Notebooking American Girl Books}

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

This month has flown by! Thanksgiving is already over and everyone is prepping for Christmas.

We haven’t had any real weekly updates the last few weeks, because well … we haven’t done a lot of formal schooling. Most everything has been relaxed and theme based. And of course, we spend a lot of time just snuggling Ila. =) I mean, I spend 6 hours a day nursing her, and after every feeding Lexie and Max both request a turn to hold her. So, we school when we can. 😉

Fall Indoor activities {quietinthechaos.com}

Lexie and “Jane Kirsten” having a picnic, building forts, happy baby ila

We worked on some pumpkin activities, which involved Max making his own pumpkin description book. (you can find it at www.ThisReadingMama.com) He really enjoyed it! We are still working on NOT eating the markers … =)

Handwriting Practice and Fine Motor {quietinthechaos.com}

practicing handwriting, coloring with markers, gluing pumpkins in book

We also had our first big snow: (Lexie doesn’t mind the cold if she can play in the snow. Mister refuses to keep his clothes on, so of course he gets “too cold” and needs to come in. haha)

Lexie is still notebooking her way through the Kirsten of American Girl series. She loves doing this and I am so glad she does. I am going to introduce her to a timeline soon. We have been talking about so many things in history lately, and I know it will help her understand something so contrast if she can see a visual. We have two chapters left to notebook, and then we will move on to the next book. I got our blank notebooking pages from notebookingfairy.com. I chose the biography pages, whole punched them, and put in a folder with prongs. We will add to it as we go.

Notebooking “Meet Kirsten”

Last Saturday I was working on some knitting, and Lexie asked if I could show her how to knit. Of course I said yes! I love that my girl wants to sew and knit! So, this is the little progress we made. You may be wondering how I helped a four year old knit- I sat on the edge of my chair, and had her stand between my legs, so I could get my arms around hers. I place my hands over hers, and we just went through the motions. By the end, she knew exactly what to do, although she struggled with the dexterity needed. I have no doubt she will be able to do it herself before long!

We did do lots of reading about Thanksgiving. You can see my post of supplemental books for Thanksgiving HERE (link coming soon). Lexie really enjoyed this and learned lots of new vocabulary from these readings. She has been using the new words every chance she gets!

And then, of course, we had Thanksgiving dinner. Usually we spend Thanksgiving traveling to see family, but this year with Ila being so little we just decided to stay home. It was my first year to cook a real Thanksgiving dinner for my family- we had turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (from scratch, might I add…) and pecan pie. And of course I am using my turkey bones to make bone broth! As my sweet Lexie said, it was a “real Thanksgiving feast!” She was so funny, she was kinda wiggling around on her seat during dinner, and she says, “I am just wiggling my belly so I can make room for more!” haha She definitely belongs to us!

Between all this I have slowly started back running on the treadmill, and decorating for Christmas. I hope to get you a recipe for that DELICIOUS green bean casserole soon, and an update on our Advent activities. =)

Happy Holidays, and stay warm!

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

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*

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!

Maestro Classics: Stories In Music {a review}

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

We love music in our home. We also love classic books on CD or MP3- Maestro Classics has combined the two to bring us their collection of Stories in Music. Maestro offers several titles, but we were able to review Casey At the Bat CD and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel CD. We’re always listening to something, whether we’re sitting outside enjoying the sun or having a dance party in the kitchen. We appreciate the creativity and passion that goes into the music and it would be rude not to enjoy it whenever possible! We’re thinking of investing in a new speaker, something similar to the polk audio t15, so that no matter which room of the house we’re in, we get to listen to our favorite songs.

Maestro Classics has combined wonderful narration with the music of Stephen Simon and the London Philharmonic Orchestra to bring these stories to life. I reviewed the physical CDs, but you can also purchase the MP3s (see links at bottom of post). Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel is recommended for ages 4+, while Casey At The Bat is recommended for all ages; my oldest is 3.5 and loved them. They are definitely appropriate (and fun) for any child that likes to listen to stories and/or music. Both stories in music can be purchased in the MP3 version, for $9.98; the CD version is $16.98.

Quick back story: Each day my children have independent play (IP) in the mornings. We get up, snuggle and have breakfast, play and do learning time, and then at 9am they go to their rooms for IP. While in IP, I always turn on “Jesus songs” for Lexie (children’s hymns). Max doesn’t have a cd player in his room, because soon they will share a room and he will just use hers. (So for now he plays with a key board that has songs on it in his room.)

Casey At the Bat

When we received our books on CD, Lexie immediately wanted to listen to the books in her room during IP. She climbed up in her bed with her “writing book” and pen, and doodled while listening to Casey At The Bat. The first time I joined her so we could listen closely for the different instruments in the music. We pointed out where the songs got LOUD, and where they were quiet. She really enjoyed the book itself, and of course listening to the orchestra. While listening to the story, you feel like you are really at a baseball game- there are cheering crowds, spectators, and the sound of the game itself that all bring the story to life, right in your home. When we listened to it with Max, he really enjoyed the cheering and clapping, and wanted to join in. =)

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

In our home, we love Virginia Lee Burton books. I think we have all of them now! Maestro Classics has taken one of her great stories, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and paired it with classical music, including bag pipes (which aren’t as annoying in the story as they may sound). This musical CD won a Parents’ Choice GOLD award and is beautifully done. The story is about friendship and loyalty, which are always valuable life lessons for little ones. All the titles from Maestro looks wonderful! I can’t wait to purchase more of them as gifts.

What I Thought

I think it is pretty clear that we are still enjoying both of these stories in music. The sound was clear and the narrator was easy to understand; the music of course was lovely, and the background additions were great at bringing the story to life. I love that they offer the CDs and also MP3 versions.

What I also found very exciting is that Maestro Classics has and entire educational materials page for activities and lessons that you can pair with their books on CD. They have FREE homeschool curriculum guides to go with the audio CDs-these include all areas of study! And, they have teamed up with A Journey Through Learning to bring you lapbooks that go with the CDs! This is awesome, and I think we may do some this summer for fun. Definitely check out the entire Maestro Classics website!

Where to Purchase:

Directly through website– there are links for both the MP3 and CD versions

Connect with Maestro Music at:

Facebook
Pinterest
All their titles here

Read more reviews from other Crew members:

Sonlight P4/5: What I think so far

by Meghan // April 7, 2014 // Comments off

After I wrote this post , I did a lot of praying, thinking, re-googling and reading, and a lot more praying.

The next morning I woke up, and began purchasing what we need for Sonlight P4/5 for next year. Between Sonlight, Amazon, and eBay I got everything we need, plus supplemental materials, for less than the package from SL. This is important to our family; we try to live on a budget and I needed homeschool for this year to fit into that budget.

I don’t know if we will go with SL in the future? I don’t know if it will (mostly) fit what I want for my kids as they get older, but I do know after looking in the instructor’s guide for P4/5, it will fit us perfectly this year!

In the Instructor’s Guide, I am excited to see (and wasn’t expecting):

extra activities, cognitive and hands on, that we can add into our lessons and Max can be included
room to write in other activities- like our extra memory work, math lessons, etc
character traits to focus on that go with the week’s memory verse (LOVE character lessons in this house)

I went back and ordered the binder and tabs. The tabs (which are weekly) can’t be found elsewhere up to week 36, and the binders have their own reputation for holding up well. I also bought extra color-coding stickers for our book spines, because I plan to add more books into our reading. (I may get their P3/4 sticker labels for our BFIAR books, so I can organize them as well for Max later.) We read a lot. But what I like about adding in our own selections is that we can read them as quickly or as slowly as we want, and it just adds more great literature.

There are a few titles that I am super excited about; the The Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature is one of them! I think that will fit nicely with our Big Book of Play and Find Out Science Projects we will add in on our own, and nature studies.

Another title I think will be fun is the audio CD of American Tall Tales. We love books on CD, and this looks like a great one. We have the stories that go along with these in our book of Children’s fairytales and fables, A Treasury of Children’s Literature, though Sonlight doesn’t actually call for the physical books for them.

Now, I just have to structure out our extra memory work (poems), All About Reading, and Saxon math lessons into our schedule, and we will be ready to go! Well, I also have to decide when we will begin, because with baby #3 coming in September, we will need to start early (probably August); but I also like the idea of just taking the month before baby to do nothing but spend time with the kids outside and hold the structure off until after baby comes. Who know what we will do! =)

Have you used Sonlight P4/5 in your homeschool? Are you using something else? Please share in the comments!

Spring is here! {2014}

by Meghan // April 4, 2014 // Comments off

{pictures March 28, 2014, on an oddly wind-free morning!}

This winter, Lexie learned to swing all by herself! And, she can actually go pretty high… Then I convinced her (why, oh why?!) to jump out! She is very proud of herself.