Just a cat and a dog?

We wrapped up our 2nd unit last Friday and surprisingly made it through the whole unit in one week. This may be because I had not learned my lesson yet in our "A is for Musk Ox," unit to leave well enough alone. Cause you know curriculum writers don't know what they're doing anyway so, obviously I needed to add a few things to it, right? Ha. 

They get paid to do that stuff and we paid for both the curriculum and the convienance so I've had to learn to stiffle my instinct to supplement with material from the library and worksheets from other sources laying around my house.  The result being of course that we were able to get everything done when it was suggested without being stressed. Imagine that!

So here is what the girls learned last week:

What a character in a book is, character differences between cats and dogs, how to use a Venn diagram, how to write upper and lower case "H," and its sound, retelling a story, acting out a story, how to read "he," how to tell the difference between more and less and beginning addition, describing characters, painting a picture of an activity, practiced writing her name, and learned that names begin with capital letters. We also reviewed number recognition for 1-20 and writing numbers 2 and 3. Whew! All from what I thought would be a boring book about a cat and a dog.

I can't believe they are learning so much. We are moving into our third unit this week and with the amount of information they have already learned it seems like we've been at it for months. Even Lydia surprised me and read the sight word flash cards for the past 2 weeks. She is so into the lessons now she initiates in the morning and pretends to give daddy lessons after dinner about we learned that day.  And Delores, learning is so effortless for her now. Teaching, learning, homeschooling, it's all so enjoyable now. Following God's choice for the right curriculum for us has been the best decision I've made since I said yes to Josh's marriage proposal.

So yeah, last week was much better. So far I can say that bad week we had was just a fluke.

Time for yet another...

With all this extra self time I have now I find my blog posts becoming less and less enthusiastic and less frequent. I'm pretty sure my readers can sense this too because my page views have been dwindling rapidly since we began our new school year.

It isn't that I'm not passionate about homeschooling our girls anymore but, since I don't put as much time and effort into preparing their lessons now, I really don't have much to write about. I'm not as involved so when I do write it is lackluster. 

In my post "Changing the Tune," I wrote this exert regarding our decision to change curriculum from Montessori to Moving Beyond the Page:

Josh pointed out that Montessori had consumed my life. I never wanted a classroom environment or my home to feel like a daycare and, by God, 4 years into this mommy business and that is exactly what my home feels like. I spend my weekends looking for materials, my nights making or getting lessons together and my days planning and researching. I've completely lost sight of the things I enjoy doing and of myself. After this was pointed out to me I realized that while I LOVE montessori it just wasn't for us as a full time homeschooling curriculum. I just can't devote that amount of time to something that isn't for me. It puts too much pressure on me as a mommy and I do not react well to pressure unfortunately.

Switching curriculums has not only done wonders for Delores it has also given me the time to self evaluate. Although, I have not fully discovered my self yet I have found that I have much more insight to offer on a ton of different issues besides just homeschooling and many more things that I am passionate about.

For instance, did you know that I can feed a family of 4 for less than $250 for 2 weeks and use no coupons? Or that I love the theater and good art? Or that I despise history pre 1920's (not counting the bible). Or that I love archaeologists type fiction based movies like Indian Jones and The Mummy. Or that I sew, crosstitch, quilt, paint, draw, photograph and design. I love rat rods and the timeless look of red lipstick and pearls. I love the smell of books, diesels, pumpkin, fall, Abercrombie & Fitch and leather. I like reggae, classical, 50's to 90's oldies, Paul Simon, techno, acoustic, Hank Williams jr., jazz and soundtrack music. I like to dance with a partner without music. I love to cook and bake but I suck at doughs. I refuse to pay for something I could make myself. I will eat anything twice.  I have dreams to live on a farm, be an interior designer, travel with Josh around the county in an 18 wheeler and tour every continent oversees.  I have a colorful past and a wonderful testimony that no one has heard except for Josh. These are just a few things about me that I had forgotten about myself that need to be shared with the world.

There are also just a few things I'd like to rediscover about myself that I used to consider good qualties. I used to be funny and a good listener.  Somehow in the bussel of motherhood I forgot how to do those things and I regret that.

With all that being said I'm announcing that it is time for yet another change to this blog. No more only homeschool, but I am vowing to myself, here and now, that I WILL start writing about things I am passionate about.  Because afterall, writings without passion are just news reports.

Reading on the horizon

Yesterday we got started on our second unit with "Hondo and Fabian," a seemingly simple book about a cat and a dog and what each animal did on a certain day. Short book. Simple text and, to me, somewhat of a yawner. In fact I read the book twice Sunday night to make sure there wasn't some hidden message or some grand thing that I was missing.  Nope. It was same those 2 times and the same the 3 times I read it yesterday. The girls however, loved the book. If you didn't notice in the last sentence, they had me read it 3 times back to back.

They worked on reading comprehension, naming the differences between what the cat did and what the dog did, acting out the Hondo and the Fabian activities, and 1-20 numerical order and recognition. That seems like a lot for 1 day but folks, it only took us 1 hour.

Delores' excitment after lining up the number cards

 (Don't ya love the hairdo? Lol)

If there is anything I can say about this new curriculum, Moving Beyond the Page, is that it is designed to jam pack learning into kids without them even realizing they are learning. Both the girls have learned more in these 2-3 short weeks than I could have ever imagined.

Which leads me to the reason behind my title. There is a page in "Hondo and Fabian," where the dog and cat are eating beside each other in their own bowls and "dog," and "cat," are written in each of their bowls. When we got to this page Delores, without being prompted, pointed to each of the bowls, sounded out and read each of the words! She read 2 words! Is that not awesome? 

During nap time reading we were looking at a lift-the-flap book with animal sounds on the top of the flap and the corresponding animal under the flap. Just to see whether or not reading "dog," and "cat," was a fluke I asked her to sound out "baa." She sounded out the word, then made the animal sound and then guessed the animal under the flap. I am one proud mama.

Following the Montessori method I've always referred to the letters of the alphabet by their sound instead of their name. Delores still doesn't know the names of most letters. That is meant to come later. Delores instead has learned to associate the letter symbol with its sounds so now she is able to sound out a word one letter at a time and is teaching herself to read!

This by far has been the most daunting task for me as a homeschooler. I've kind of always thought if I could teach her read it would be gravy from there. Probably not, but it is my biggest goal and hurdle at this very moment.

The curriculum we are using now teaches a new sight word every week which is a word that doesn't follow the traditional letter sounds so a child can't sound out the word. It has to be learned and remembered by sight alone. With the sight words in combination with the letter sounds she already knows I can see reading on the horizon. I can feel the reading explosion gaining strength and power and pretty soon our little Delores will be a reader!

Hmm...I guess now would probably be a good time to read-proof my house to make sure none of my embarrassing secrets get out.  :)

Wrapping up musk oxen

With Delores' new curriculum we are "supposed" to cover a new book every 5 days, but with our schedule and her abilities we can't get through everything that quickly nor do I want to. So this week we finished up our unit on musk oxen and the unit's introduction to the alphabet with the super cute and humorous "A is for Musk Ox," which I highly recommend for any children's home library. 

We only had 2 days worth of material to cover but it took us 4 days to get through it. I have to admit it was harder this week than last week.  Not necessarily because of Delores but just because we were still working out all the kinks. All the girls in the house were having an emotional week. Lydia's allergies were bothering her as well as still getting adjusted to the new schedule. Delores has not been sleeping well since, well ever really. But she was really showing it this week. And I was just having a hard week facing what I had to do each day. Oh and Josh had this idea that he was going to attempt to shave the cat because of the frustrating amount of shedding going on. So, we had a peeved off Rosie to deal with too. Sometimes I joke with Josh that we have to treat them like little women complete with their own mood swings, sensitivities and confusing moments just like any other women. And because we are a house full of little women most of the time (including the cat) sometimes weeks are just hard for that reason alone.

But the girls did manage to work on learning the continents, recognizing numbers 1-10,  following words in books from left to right and top to bottom, beggining letters sounds, cutting on a line,  pasting,  writing numbers 1-3, free writing with illustration, narrating a story, journaling, learning how the days of the week work and learning how a calendar works. Below are a few pictures I took of our work this week.

Covering the musk ox with fur

Playing with shaving cream for prewriting practice

Our wall of work for this unit. 

Lydia top, Delores bottom 2.

Even though it was difficult this week they still learned a lot and we made it through. Some of us with more dignity than others. But my hope is that next week, as always, goes a little easier and that we continue to learn about life, ourselves and each other. I'm looking forward to getting started on our new unit and the new book, "Hondo and Fabian."

Rosie's choppy hairdo.

Go!

We kicked off our school year Tuesday and it has been an interesting week. As I mentioned in previous posts Delores is using a new curriculum, Moving Beyond the Page, and Lydia is still doing Montessori activities. 

The first 2 days we had a rocky start. I realized I had not specifically told Delores that she didn't have to do anything on the shelf that holds Lydia's work so she spent almost all morning doing Montessori activities and didn't leave time for much else.  She seemed happy with that though and Lydia did really well too, but I ended up doing some of Delores' work in her new playset after her nap. Which, was a little strained. 

The next day I may have focused too much on catching up with Delores' work and Lydia didn't get any work done because she was so absorbed in what we were doing. I realized she was feeling overlooked or left out because that evening she was a very clingy and cranky girl.

See, Lydia is no where to be found.

So, obviously I was going to have to find a balance somewhere. I had tried getting Lydia started first but she was too interested in what we were doing to do her own stuff. I had tried to get Delores involved with her stuff first but by the time I got to an activity Delores could do without my assistance Lydia had lost interest. I really didn't know how I was going to teach 2 different curriculums successfully.

Then, all of a sudden Thursday morning I had an idea.  No one told me I couldn't teach both of them Delores' curriculum.  Yes, there would be a lot of things Lydia would not understand,  but she is happier being involved than she is being by herself.  So, that's what I did. She did some of the same activities Delores was doing and she did some Montessori activities when there was something she couldn't participate in. It worked out really well.

Friday we had an appointment we had to attend so we skip lessons that morning. We did some review that afternoon with a combination of Montessori, using the wet, dry, try method on the chalkboard and then we used some worksheets from the new curriculum to practice the lowercase "a."

Everyday I've had to make adjustments and work out the kinks. I knew I was going to have to change my teaching style with this new curriculum. I just didn't know how much I would learn in this first short week. Here is what I discovered:

1. I have to teach them the same thing at the same time or one child suffers.

2. I have to let them know what is expected of them the night before and the morning of.

3. We have to take frequent breaks.

4. I have to teach when the opportunity arises, not on a schedule. Even if that means 10 minutes before bath time.

5. I will not get housework done like I would like so I have to get use to a messy house.

6. I need to drop my expectations and listen to my children and give them only what they can handle at one time, not what a book tells me they should be able to accomplish in one day.

7. I have to make time for play.

8. I can't look ahead in the curriculum or I get overwhelmed. 

All in all Delores has learned much more than I would have expected she would learn in four days. She can write capital and lowercase letter "a's" and knows the difference between the two. She learned about an artic animal and their characteristics.  She knows alphabetical order, letter sounds, numbers 1-20, she can read the word "you," and is actually enjoying our lessons. I can't even imagine what we will all learn next week.

Ps: my new non-iPhone phone has many quirks so blogging exclusively from my palm is very difficult. Please bear with me as I adjust my writing to this setback.

Writing obstacle

Delores has been struggling with proper grip of writing utensils for sometime. I've tried all the usual recommended tricks to help develop her muscles and to practice her pincher grasp but nothing seemed to work.  We've done the small knobbed puzzles, tongs, triangle shaped crayons, clothespins, you name it, we've tried it. 

The roundness of the utensil really bothered her delicate slender little fingers. Her muscles were fine for the task but using a proper grip caused a problem because it hurt her fingers and because of that she had gotten into the habit of fisting the utensil.

Obviously, this bothered me a bit but I did what I could to show her and guide her and then I just ignored the issue when it didn't get any better which, of course, bothered me too. I just figured she wasn't ready until I was reading over her new curriculum and day 2 of the first unit required her to do some writing. I want to make this new school experience as enjoyable as possible for her so I set out to find a solution. 

I really wanted her to start using pencils because they have a finer tip and, since Delores' writing tends to be on the smaller side, pencils seemed like a resonable utensil. I had heard somewhere that there were pencil grips for preschoolers to help with grasp but I haven't been able to find any in stores. I'm sure they probably have some at the teacher supply store on Woodruff road, but I don't have any free time to get over there and honestly don't to want to brave that store this time of the year.

So, next option; finding a different shaped pencil. If only there were fatter triangular or even flat shaped pencils. Kind of like a... carpenter pencil. Eureka! A carpenter pencil.  Why didn't I think of that before?

At my trip to Walmart today I found some for 0.83 a piece. I got 2. When I got them home I had Josh whittle the point and cut them in half.  Making a writing utensil shorter, about half the size, forces the child to hold it in the proper place for lack of having anywhere to hold it. And the result?  See for yourself:

Beautiful isn't it? It fixed all our issues. It lays flat on her middle finger. It's wide enough that it fits perfectly behind her pinches and it's short enough that she can maneuver it with ease. It doesn't hurt her fingers and she loved it so much she drew a very elaborate picture of daddy holding a baby. She hasn't even attempted any drawings in a while because she's been so frustrated with writing. I just love when things click and everything falls into place.

So, if you have a preschooler who complains about writing utensils hurting his/her fingers or just can't seem to grasp the concept of holding it properly, give the shortened carpenter pencil a try. You might just be amazed.

And...

In my last post I discussed my exciting delivery of Delores' new curriculum,  but I can't forget about my little fireball, Lydia. If you remember from my post "Get ready...,"  I mentioned that I had decided I was going to continue to use the Montessori method with Lydia but I was going to use a more laid back approach. Below is what I've come up with for her lesson plan for the month of September.

As you can see this is a great deal less stressful than what I was doing for the last two years. If you are unfamiliar with my previous lesson plans please visit "May calendar," or "June calendar," to get a 

better idea. 

Originally I started to put together my usual day-by-day calender but apparently all this free time has made me a little more lenient and the thought of sticking to a schedule just  made me cringe. So, I came up with the list above of some things we'd done before but, I thought she might need a refresher on, and some new things. All while keeping in mind what I would like to accomplish for our first month. When we ended, what I guess you could call, our school year Lydia was developing a good stretch of concentration time.  So, my goal is to rekindle her focus and build on her concentration. 

I also plan on taking a different approach in putting together and presenting lessons. In the  past I would put together a new activity almost every night and put it out in the shelf the night before I presented it.  Which, as you can imagine, was a bit daunting. Beginning next Tuesday however, I plan to put together and put out all the activities at one time. She can go through the activities as quickly or as slowly as she wants and choose what she wants to do. I can't offer a whole Montessori classroom to her but at least I can put out a month's worth of materials at a time.  From there I can judge her interest level and whether I need to increase our decrease the number of activities as well as whether or not I need to challenge her more.  

A lot of changes are being made this year but I can already feel it is for the best. The air doesn't seem so tense and I don't feel stressed or pressured by the subject matter. In fact Delores spotted her box of materials today and get very excited at all the crafty type things we will be doing. Lydia has been showing signs of eagerness to get back to her lessons. So I'm feeling pretty comfortable that this year will be the most successful year we've had so far and that is all I've really wanted.  For my children to develop a love of learning and for us to enjoy the blessing of being able to homeschool. 

Get set...

Wednesday was box day! Before church Delores' curriculum was delivered and I was one eager lady to get back home and attack that box like a lion on steroids.  I can't explain the excitement when materials arrive on your doorstep. It's a feeling only homeschoolers experience I guess. I get the same feeling when I see back to school supplies out at Walmart. Quite the opposite feeling of the dread that school teachers feel at the same sight. In fact, even as a youngan, I had an odd love for school supplies. I guess I was destined to be a homeschooler from the very beginning. But, I digress.

After I rummaged through all the packaging paper and bubble wrap resembling a child on Christmas morning, I found this:

29 brand new books (1 on backorder), 30 individually ziploced material kits, a student activity book, a parent guide book, as well as a world map, paint, playdoh, construction paper, yarn, magnifying glass, paper bowls, a plastic cup and other little goodies. Ladies and gentlemen I may never have to buy or make anything for lessons again! Everything I could possibly need except for a composition notebook and pencils was in that box. It was glorious.

The only thing I didn't like was that everything was out of order. Well, that just would not do. So, after I vacuumed every cloth surface of my house and hand scubbed my hall bathroom's walls, baseboards and floors (I was unusually ambitious yesterday) I did this:

I laid out every book with its material kit in numerical order by unit number with the additional materials in front. Also, the very last row has the 4 holiday related books and materials which have no order other than to be inserted into the week with which it correlates. (Also note the mountain of packaging paper and bubble wrap in the background still carpeting my living room as I write this). In the words of my father-in-law, I got "highly organized."

Then I put it all neatly back into the box, still organized, that came inside yet a bigger box. Materials on one side; books on the other so that all I need to do is pick from the top of the pile with each new unit.

Viola! The holiday unit books and materials are currently on the floor next to the box because there was no real way to put them in any order. I'm sure I'll find a permanent home for them soon.

Now that I have taken care of my compulsive need to organize I can't help but feel like I should be doing something else. For two years when I got the girls' lessons ready it was a week long event. Researching, calendaring, list making, shopping, putting together materials and finally presenting the lessons.  Now: all I do is read some notes the night before,  take some stuff out of a box and present the lesson. Thirty minute max prep work. That feels really strange. In truth I never really wanted it that way.  I always pictured me putting together lessons and never really wanting anything that came with workbooks. And while this does not come with workbooks it still feels unnatural to just do what someone else tells me to do. But I guess that is my nature. Always the rebel. :)

In any event, after reading over the first unit's lessons, I'm still pretty confident we made the right choice for Delores and I am excited to get started next week with a short week after labor day. 

Tune into tomorrow for a look into Lydia's upcoming lessons for the month of September.

What if's

Around the time "normal, " children start heading back to school each year people start to ask what it is I plan to do with my kids when they reach "school age." I'm very use to it and have almost come to expect it. Afterall, homeschooling takes up a large portion of our lives and I understand the natural curiosity.

During this time I get to reflect on that question myself and study my heart to see if I really do want to continue homeschooling when the government says I have to formally teach them. I see all the Facebook posts with photos of people's kids headed off for their first day of school and reading about the parents' bittersweet feelings of excitement from getting rid of them and sadnessnes from seeing their little ones getting bigger and I think "I will never get to experience that."

I find myself asking all the "what if," questions and feeling like I will miss out on the great stay-at-home-mommy reward. I may never do anything for myself or have a career again. I may never finish Lydia's painting or Delores' quilt and I will be stuck with my girls all the time and never have a moment of peace! Of course, this is an exaggeration but that is what goes through my mind when I have to think about teaching them EVERYTHING they need to know and I have that overwhelming feeling of "am I really going to be able to do it?"

On top of that there are a lot of doubters and judgemental people who really don't care. They just want to let you know that they don't believe you can do it and really don't understand why you would choose to homeschool when public school systems are so awesome now and it is just so much easier to leave your kids' lives in someone else's hands who juggles 25 to 30 kids at the same time 5 days of the week in a building that strangely resembles a prison (Did anyone pick up on the sarcasm?). Those are the people who's mother's brother's aunt's cousin twice removed knew someone who was homeschooled and they were just so far behind and couldn't even graduate so they assume every homeschooler is like that and your poor kids are going to turn out that way too. Even though your kids are presently "above average." (Tell me exactly how that is logical reasoning).

After working through my feelings with my more emotionally stable partner and he reminds me of why we chose to do this in the first place (see "How we got here," for a good list of those reasons) there is no doubt in my mind that my first option will always be to homeschool our girls. When the girls reach a mature enough age I plan on giving them the choice,  but until that time comes the only way we would choose a different path is if there is an extreme medical emergency, I die, or God tells me that this is no longer what He wants for us.

And let me just take this moment to say that I think no less of people who send their kids to public or private schools. Every family has different needs and I think its great that those options are available.

Yes, it is still scary and yes, I am still self-conscious but there are tons of resources out there for parents who want to take this homeschooling thing seriously and as long as I take this one day at a time and do what is best for our girls we will be just fine. And since all my readers are understanding and supportive, when you meet one of those doubting, judgmental people do me a favor and encourage them to do a little research on the benefits and success stories of homeschooling since it is very questionable that the person they are referring to even existed. That would help me out immensely when curiosity peaks again next fall.

Get ready...

Last week we took our first time ever family vacation! While Wrightsville beach was fun, relaxing and every thing we needed, I was happy to get home and anxious to get back to our school work. So, Sunday night I ordered Delores' new curriculum from Moving Beyond the Page and will be receiving the boxes of goodies in 1 to 3 weeks. I'm hoping the following Monday l will have absorbed everything and am ready to give the first lesson. After all, for 2 years I created lesson plans from scratch in a weeks time and since this new curriculum is all inclusive it should be a breeze. I hope.

In my last post Changing the Tune, I mentioned I wasn't sure what I was going to do with Lydia because I felt like she still benefited from Montessori lessons but I didn't know if I could juggle two different curriculums. Well, I think I have decided that I am going to stick with Montessori lessons with her and just take a more laid back approach with it.  Reason being is that I've already made and planned her lessons since she will be following Delores' outline from our lessons from last year and this year. That takes a lot of the work out for me. Then depending on her learning style and what I feel will be most beneficial to her, I may change it next year.

Taking these few months off from formal lessons has really taught me something about each of the girls. Delores still learns a lot from everyday life if I am concious to point out the things I want her to learn and from books so, I definitely feel I've made the right choice with her new curriculum this year.  Lydia has an amazing memory when things are verbalized and for order. She immediately implements what you teach her in her own life. Therefore, I feel like Montessori would still be the best curriculum for her. However, both the girls learn a lot from real life experiences. So, remembering to apply lessons in real life instead of doing lessons at a table or in front of a mat are going to be the best learning experience for both of them.

I still have my hopes on incorporating bible time and possibly latin into their curriculum as the year progresses. But I will take it day by day and always do what is best for them.

A new school year gives you a chance to a fresh start and I look foward to what this next year holds for us and what my little ladies will accomplish as they quickly approach 3 and 4 year olds.

Changing the tune

Recently I've been faced with the most difficult decision as a homeschooler. Whether or not to continue giving montessori lessons. From previous posts you can tell Delores has lost interest in the lessons and I have been trying to decide if I should stop trying to introduce new activities all together or just take a break for a while. Poor Josh has put up with me talking about this almost everyday for the past week. 

This was an extremely difficult thing for me to consider because for the last 2 years my life has revolved around Montessori homeschooling. This is the only way I know how to teach. How would I give a lesson on something without a tray or a basket? How would I know what to teach without a lesson plan or an outline? The thought of doing anything besides this terrifies me. But then I remembered what other homeschoolers have told me. Children change. Learning styles change, situations change and family dynamics change. What worked for you once before may not be the best thing for you now. While that may still be hard for me to accept it is very true in our situation. 

I had to face the fact that Delores had gotten all she was going to get out of montessori. Then I had to look at what was most important for us. Yes I thought it was super awesome that she could grade colors and identify things blindfolded, but was that the most important thing I needed to teach her right now? No. I still think those things have their benefit but those things could wait. The things we wanted Delores to understand are the things we use everyday. Skills for life. Kindness, compassion, selflessness, understanding, basic math, a love for reading, a freedom to be herself, a love for God, good manners and a respect for other people. We don't need montessori lessons for that. 

Also, Josh pointed out that Montessori had consumed my life. I never wanted a classroom environment or my home to feel like a daycare and, by God, 4 years into this mommy business and that is exactly what my home feels like. I spend my weekends looking for materials, my nights making or getting lessons together and my days planning and researching. I've completely lost sight of the things I enjoy doing and of myself. After this was pointed out to me I realized that while I LOVE montessori it just wasn't for us as a full time homeschooling curriculum. I just can't devote that amount of time to something that isn't for me. It puts too much pressure on me as a mommy and I do not react well to pressure unfortunately.

Fortunatly, I feel like God has led me to another curriculum for Delores that teaches things through reading popular children's book and doing spinoff activities with the theme from the book in mind called "Moving Beyond the Page." It is for 4-5 years olds but Josh and I both decided she was ready for something more advanced and the child can sit and read the looonnngest books without tiring and retain almost everything. This week and last week we read a Dora book we picked up at the library twice a day and today she recited the whole thing to me as if she were reading the book. That is why we decided to go with this curriculum. It isn't available for purchase until July 1st, but I will keep you posted on how it is working out once we get it.

As for Lydia I haven't quite figured out what to do with her lessons. I don't think she would benefit from Delores' curriculum because it is near impossible to get the child to sit through a book and she isn't artsy so she wouldn't get much out of the activities. I still think she would benefit for montessori lessons but my issue is how do I do both at the same time?

I can't figure that out until Delores' curriculum is in my hands and I can see how it works and how much of me is really necessary in the lessons. So, until then we are just taking a break and enjoying the free time we have with one another. 

I still plan to blog periodically about what we've been doing while we are getting adjusted so keep checking back for updates. I hope by August we will be back in full swing with our homeschooling once again. 

Ps: Just for the fun of it, here are some pictures from what we've been doing lately. 

Playing

Washing a tea set

Making daddy's Father's Day gift from the girls. 

Enjoying the girl with a thousand expressions. 

Weekly highlights--6/8

This week we did absolutely no work in front of the mat. It was definitely a thinking outside of the mat kind of week for me. Delores recently flat out told me the other day that she did not like doing lessons. It broke my heart and I've been struggling with what to do with this for a while now. I could sense months ago that she just did not enjoy doing lessons but I think she keep doing them to please me. I think she would have done some lessons last week if I asked her to, but I just didn't feel like struggling with it. I am still trying to find ways to sneak in lessons were I see opportunities present themselves. Kind of like sneaking vegetables into a meal without kids knowing it. They are still benefiting from it but they don't even realize it's happening. So, here are some activities I snuck in this past week.

Transferring water with a dropper for the first time (practical life)

Lacing shapes (practical life). Even rosy was intrigued by this 

Pouring lentils between two small pitchers or, in our case, one cup measuring cups

Cutting cherries to get the seeds out

Love this face

Mostly we just spent some good quality time with one another while I tried to figure out exactly what I'm going to do with Delores' bomb she dropped on me.

Painting pottery

I have to admit I have not been very motivated to write this week. I decided last week that I was done getting frustrated with Delores about not wanting to do lessons. I'm leaving lesson time in her hands and in the meantime I'm trying to sneak in activities to fill her time with play and activities that incorporate Montessori principles. 

The first was a trip to a local pottery painting establishment, the "Color Clay Cafe," located on East North Street in Greenville. 

Delores chose a cupcake which she painted pink of course. The child is obsessed with sweets and the color pink. 

Lydia chose a little hamster which she painted different shades of blue. She saw that little hamster on the shelf and picked it up, hugged it and said "I love this mouse." That was it. I would have bought her that little hamster if it was $50.00. Thankfully it was only $9 and some change.

I really didn't expect to see any learning going on with this trip. I had only planned this trip for fun. I was surprised when I saw these faces:

That's my dead giveaway sign that there's some learning going on and to take a step back and observe. Lydia worked for a good 30 mins. Delores for a good hour. 

We were there for about an hour and a half and never felt rushed. The whole trip cost us $25.00. We went on a Wednesday which is kids day so we got the 3% studio fee for free. With all the awesome concentration going on I definitely feel like it was a good price and well worth it. 

If you are thinking of taking your kids there wait until they are 2 and 1/2 to 3 years old (I saw some stuff I'd like to paint too) and expect to play by the establishment's rules. I was a little disappointed by the amount of rules and regulations put on the children instead of just letting them do their thang. Like don't paint these colors together. Don't get it too thick. Don't do hand prints or footprints without the employees helping. Don't, don't, don't. Huff.  

But anyway here's how they turned out:

They fire it and 10 days later you can pick them up. Delores decided that this was going to be daddy's Father's Day gift. Hahaha, very thoughtful right? We'll see if it goes in our room or it ends up in her room. I thought that was a sweet gesture though.

As promised here are pictures of what they look like when we got them home

Delores has already decided the cupcake is going in her room. :)

Conflict of interest

As a stay at home mom, taking time for yourself is one of the hardest and most needed things to accomplish. We give and give and give until we crash and burn. Then (if your like me) you throw a little hissy fit, buy something(s) you don't really need and/or go on a cleaning or cooking strike until you feel refreshed and revitalized. And the cycle starts all over again. Many of us realize this doesn't work so we take part time jobs, get a hobby, or schedule time to do something fun for ourselves. 

I have tried all three and none seem to go as smoothly as I would like. I have a ton of hobbies I start with good intentions and never finish. I worked a part time job for a year a a half and realized it wasn't for me. And who really wants to take time out of their busy day to come watch 2 rowdy kids for free while I go and have a little fun? 

Blogging has become my number 1 hobby at the moment and it is easier and has kept it's momentum for going on 3 months now. But of course, it would be since I'm writing about my kids and the activities that take up the majority of my time. 

Even still there are conflicts that keep me from writing as much as I would like to. For instance, I can't write when the girls are awake because they need me and when a thought is interrupted by a child trying to get my attention I don't always respond pleasantly. Which isn't fair to them. That leaves me 2 hours during the middle of the day during nap time.

That might be okay but I also do my cleaning during nap time. I have reminders in my phone that are set up to tell me when to clean something based on frequency. Either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. I can't do top to bottom cleaning in one day because that just overwhelms me so it may take me 5 days to clean our 2 bathrooms. So if I have a reminder that I have to clean something I do that instead of writing. 

I also have it set up to remind me to do a budget and lesson calendar every month and to do a grocery list every 2 weeks. I don't do every week shopping. I don't have time to spend hours at the two different grocery stores I shop at every weekend. So if I have to do those things I don't write.

That leaves the hours I'm awake after the girls go to bed. Between 8:30 and 10:00 when Josh wants to go to bed. Well my brain doesn't work during those times. I veg out and can hardly make a coherent sentence let alone a whole post about something. 

But somewhere around 10:30, laying in bed, I get my second wind and my mind goes crazy with ideas. Inspiration hits and I cannot shut my brain off. Well this is just a tad annoying. I love sleep and I don't know that I've ever willingly got up before the girls unless I had something I needed to do before they got up. That's why I never have on makeup and my hair is usually a mess. I'd rather sleep than get all dolled up to impress the walls of my house, my kids or whoever I may encounter once or twice a week when I get out of the house. So when my brain starts buzzing with ideas all I can really think about is "I want to go to sleep!"

Now when I choose not to ignore my inspiration I do my best thinking and processing but I struggle to get by the next day. 

There is always a sacrifice somewhere. If you take time for yourself, your house suffers. If you work on your house, your sanity suffers. If you take time for yourself and work on the house the school work and the kids suffer. And not surprisingly I have read and heard this from many stay at home moms. 

So what do we do? Well, you can accept that your house won't be as clean as you like, that you just don't have time to do a hobby or a job, you just don't have time to prepare lessons or homeschool or any of the other variations and you move on with your life leaving those other things by the wayside. 

Or you can find a way to make it all work. If anyone has mastered how to do that without sacrificing something else, let me know, would ya? 

May reflections

As promised in my post "May Calendar," here are our reflections and lessons for last month. We did pretty good accomplishing the goals I set for us, with some slight changes here and there. So, have a little looksie.

https://www.box.com/s/s4yczxjktghha6swiaud 

https://www.box.com/s/ktvs5zevks8tx6cl6y4f 

This is the first time I've used Box.com to share files. So, I have included a picture and a link and if it doesn't work for some reason, please let me know. 

I'm fairly satisfied with meeting most of our goals mainly because I feel I have developed a good sense for what the girls are capable of even when we don't really feel like doing anything for days at a time. I never wanted to put unrealistic expectations on them as a instructor or mommy, but I do know they are capable of great things if I allow them and guide them to it. 

I am also happy that maybe we have developed a balance of fun and play and learning and lesson. One of my greatest struggles, maybe developed from the life altering program I went through 4 years ago, I have a hard time seeing the big picture. The month, year or life as a whole. The girls' behavior and personalities over their actions. The struggles of going through "one day at a time," instead of seeing that there really are more days to do whatever it is I feel like we need to do. That this isn't my last day. When I see what we have accomplished at the end of each month and how fast they are learning and growing it really helps me adjust my perspective and really makes me quite proud of my montessori girls. 

June calendar

This past week, while the girls were taking it easy and recovering from all the events the week before, I was busy getting next month's calendar ready. It normally takes me 3 nap times to create, plan and map out each days lessons for the following month. So roughly 3 days of nothing but planning. 

Again, as mentioned is my post "May Calendar," this is more of an outline and a shopping list for me that changes frequently as the days go on depending on the eagerness of each girl.

https://www.box.com/s/gmiqebx69vui7z2hfhnl 

https://www.box.com/s/91ib7vquze2ul20kccfh 

I share this to give people new to the Montessori concept an idea of what kind of activities are done, how often, and how a child progresses. I also do it so you can see what kind of format works for us in case you want to try this type of calendaring for yourself. 

When I first started this journey over a year ago there were no free montessori based scheduling programs or apps to give someone an idea of how to put together a timeline or an expectation of what activities a child could do. I had to start completely from scratch and it was a little difficult and there were a lot of changes. In fact, I still haven't found a calendar format that might be helpful or beneficial to our journey. 

So I hope these can help someone, but if not at least you can get a sneak peek of what we might be doing in any given day.

DIY--nut & bolt board

The nut and bolt board can be found with 5 to 7 nuts and bolts in varying sizes going from largest to smallest sticking up or through a board. It is a practical life activity that develops fine motor skills and the pincher grasp for indirect preparation of writing. 

The bolts do not move so the sole action in the activity is removing and replacing the nuts. We did not know about this activity when Delores was 2 so when Lydia mastered opening and closing lids to jars and lids to boxes it was time to move to this activity. 

Now in my last post "DIY--Sandpaper numbers," I stated it was more cost efficient to just buy it. In this instance however, that was not the case. Plus Josh was looking forward to doing this himself when I told him about it.

Here was our supply list:

Wooden block measuring 8.5 in long x 2.5 in wide x 1.5 in deep--FREE from Lowes. I'm not saying your Lowes will give this to you for free but if they can just give this piece of scrap wood away I can't imagine it costs very much.

5 nuts & 5 matching nuts (1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 1/2, and 5/8 of an inch) from Lowes--under $10.00. 

Small bottle of Gorilla glue from Lowes--$5.00

5/8 spade (wood-boring) drill bit from Walmart--$5.00**

Total: $20.00

The cheapest one I found (pictured first at the top of this post) was from Early School Materials for $19.50 not including shipping.  (http://www.earlyschoolmaterials.com/practical_life/five_bolt_board.html).

Another one I found (pictured second at the top of the post) was from JMPlearning.com for $31.95 not including shipping. (http://www.jmplearning.com/JS_2068_Seven_Bolt_Board_p/js-2068.htm)

We already had the 4 other drill bits so we didn't have that additional purchase. If you don't already have the drill bits you may come out better buying the block unless of course you want to add to you collection of tools and want a project. 

Josh made a grid on the back of the block with pencil to mark where each nut would be placed. A line in the middle the whole length of the block and then 5 lines the same distance apart intersecting the first horizontal line. Then drill through the back at each intersecting points. Put some glue in the holes and insert the bolts. 

After drying we notice the heads of the bolts caused the block to lay lopsided because the 5/8th was so large. To fix this problem he used some scrap pieces of wood to glue to each side of the bolts to level out the block. 

You could just use two pieces along each side but for some reason he wanted to do it this way. It works fine so why nit pick? Put the nuts on the bolts and... Ta da! 

Also, you can see that the gorilla glue expands and leaks out but you could easily shave this off with a razor blade. We didn't because I wanted to use it with Lydia immediately but we probably will take that step eventually. 

This is what it looks like now:

I still have plans to apply some high gloss polyurethane to it because I want it to look inviting, professional and because I'm a little OCD like that. 

Lydia has thoroughly enjoyed it and it was cheaper for us to make than to buy so all in all a win-win situation. 

** Josh just found one of these on Lowes' website for $3.78. So do all your research for the cheapest materials in your area unless you are a one stop shop person. 

DIY--sandpaper numbers

Sandpaper numbers are wooden tablets with, you guessed it, numbers made out of sandpaper pasted on them. They are used to teach the child the symbols of numbers 0-9 after they can count to 20, build the number rod stairs and can tell you the majority of what each number rod represents. The child is normally given three at a time starting with one or two he/she may already know. They watch you trace and say one number at a time and then they do it. You give a three period lesson on those three and then you either stop and wait for another day to introduce more, or you can try to introduce one or two more to the mix. Just depends on the child. 

Simple enough. The concept is that by feeling and saying and seeing the numbers the child is using most of his senses to learn and will retain the information more readily.

If you were to look up sandpaper numbers on Pinterest or bing it ( my preferred search engine) you would find a good bit of information on where to buy these, how to make these the traditional way and how to make these out of a type of fabric like felt. So, why do I feel the need to write yet another post on this topic to add to the plethora of information? 

Two reasons:

1. I assume that my readers are not familiar with the sandpaper numbers and what they are use for or even how to use them. 

2. Out of all the articles I've read not one of them mentioned or advised that  it might be more cost effective just to buy them. From making them myself, I can tell you I probably spent more time and money making these than I would have if I had just purchased them online and waited for them to arrive in their own pretty little wooden box.

For example my supply list looked something like this:

Sheets of 80 grit sandpaper (fyi use a 120, 80 is too rough) from Lowes--around $6.00

Two wooden boards from hobby lobby-- $ 6.99 each

One can of green spray paint from Walmart--around $2.00

Small can of high gloss polyurethane from Lowes--around $7.00

Four foam brushes from Walmart--&0.69 each

That's a total of $31.74.

At Allison's Montessori online (http://www.alisonsmontessori.com/Sandpaper_Numbers_p/m02.htm) you can get the same tablets for $16.50 with their wooden box.

At Amazon online (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002DG50FY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1370262473&sr=8-1&pi=SL75) for $15.13 without the box.

As you can see making these myself was not very economical. These are what mine look like now:

Either way I'm happy with my numbers. If I were to do it all over again though, I would definitely buy them from Allison's because they come with their own box which saves room on my shelf and they are cheaper than what I would pay to make them. My moto is live and learn and then get luvs. I hope I've helped you from making your own economical mistake, but if you just want the satisfaction and a hobby here are some links below to help you do it yourself.

http://livingmontessorinow.com/2012/02/13/montessori-monday-inexpensive-and-diy-sandpaper-numerals/

Good blog post from Living Montessori Now with several links and ideas and variation of the DIY versions.

http://jmjpublishing.com/JMJpdfs4all/09SPNumeralsLg.pdf

Good free template of numbers you can use to print and cut out from JMJ Publishing. 

http://mamaguru.com/montessori-sandpaper-numbers/

Good, detailed, instructional blog post on how to make a very traditional looking sandpaper numbers.

(Trying to) Slow things down

Last week I talked about use getting out of the house more and socializing with other people, but this week I discovered that after all that busyness last week,and with the holiday weekend, we all felt like we needed to take it slow this week and just recover from all of it. Apparently the girls get just as worn out from going as I do. 

Pretending to nap on the couch. 

I still prepared activities and trays to put on the shelf but I let the girls decide when they wanted to work. I think we finally got to some on Thursday. Lydia wanted to do more than Delores but lessons still didn't last more than about 30 minutes. Here are some shots from this week. 

Musical sound bottles made from glass yoo-hoo bottles. 

They come 4 in a pack so they worked out perfectly and Josh and I got to enjoy a childhood favorite. :) Here she is playing only every other one on the musical scale. You can find information for how much water to put in for each scale on ehow.com: http://www.ehow.com/how_5104489_make-music-water-glasses.html#page=0

Playing with the new fingerprint we got. Somehow she decided it would be a good idea to paint her body though. :)

Working with the nut and bolt board daddy made. 

She loved this. I even caught her standing beside her shelf and spinning the nuts on her shelf and then walking away. As a matter of fact she just came and got it off the shelf to work on as I am writing this. 

Realized she could wear the biggest one (5/8 of 1 in) like a ring.

Delores' turn

Working with sandpaper numbers mommy and daddy made.

She did well. She already knew 1 & 2, but did well with 3. Alas, she was done after a brief 3 period lesson.

Lydia's turn. She just had fun playing with these. 

Three period lessons don't work with her right now (very common for 2 year olds) so she just kind of did her own lesson.

*I'm going to try to do a separate post on both of the activities Josh and I made to go into more detail of how you can make your own.*

After that Lydia did some matching with paper clips and picture cards. 

Delores also did some name tracing with the new tracing paper we got. 

I made the name cards by typing their first and last names in Lucida Handwritiing font in the biggest size, cutting and pasteing their first and last name back to back on an index card, trimming down the index card and then laminated each side of the card using laminating contact paper you can buy by the roll where you find other contact paper and drawer liners (best purchase I ever made). 

Here's a close up

 

And her finished product. 

It feels like we didn't do much because we didn't spend much time in front of a mat, but when you look back through all the pictures we still did a good bit. This is really what montessori homeschooling is all about. For most of us having shelves everywhere and keeping all our materials out at one time just isn't practical nor do we have the space. When the principles are applied to everything in your life however, it doesn't really matter how much time you spend in front of a mat or how much money you spend or how much space you have the lessons still sneak themselves in somehow. I just love that.