Horn Homeschool: Week 4

Continuing with the "A" themes, week 4 of our homeschooling venture (can we really be through four weeks already?!?) was all about ART.

And man, was it fun!

I've decided to nix my weekly practice of listing our homeschooling activities because 1) I realize none of you really care to read all the details, 2) I do NOT want to give my inner-braggart voice by tauting all that we're doing. And believe me, my inner-braggart has a LOUD voice! and 3) It takes a LONG time to post all the nitty-gritty details. That's time that I would rather spend baking granola or taking a shower.

Instead I'll offer up a weekly highlight post showcasing our fave activities and resources.

So without further adieu let me tell you about some stellar kid art resources. I highly highly HIGHLY recommend these resources for teaching art to youngsters.


Art Resources

• Katie series by James Mayhew. I'm evolving more and more into a Charlotte Mason follower. As such I find that using books to teach unfamiliar subjects works very well for little minds. My kids swallow up new information if it's presented well in picture book form. Such is the case with the Katie books. We read both Katie Meets the Impressionists and Katie and the Mona Lisa this week. Both Chloe and Clive were hooked on these and asked for them again and again! These books don't cram facts about art down your throat. The books more gently present art work and subjects of art in a relate-able way. And they're fun reads to boot!
• Classical Baby: The Art Show dvd by HBO. This dvd was incredible. It was entertaining, enriching, and educational (like my spontaneous "e" alliteration?) on many levels. The gist of the flick is this -- a cartoon baby conducts appropriate classical music with animated paintings. So the watcher is making visual AND auditory connections. For example, an action painting by Jackson Pollock is paired with The Flight of the Bumblebee music. Paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Cassatt, Pollock, Mondrian, and others are featured as well as various famous sculptures. The kids asked to watch this EVERY DAY last week. And I let them because they got SO much good stuff into their brains. How many 2.6 year olds do you know can identify Monet's Waterlilies or Rodan's The Thinker? My Clive can thanks to classical baby.
• The Usbourne Art Treasury. I'm learning that Usbourne=Awesome. This book is no exception. The book introduces not only famous paintings but also explains in kidspeak identifying techniques of various artists. AND the goes one step further. After each two page spread of explanation and visuals, a simple project is given to imitate the artist's technique. We only did the Van Gogh project but there were many others that looked promising.
• How Artists See series by Colleen Carroll. We read the How Artists See People book in this captivating series but there are a plethora of other titles. The book clearly compared and contrasted various paintings of children, men and women by posing simple questions to lead in observational discovery. I was genuinely surprised at the kids' attention span for this simple book. They easily made it through the entire thing (Clive not so much as Chloe) and eagerly answered the questions.
• A Book About Color: A Clear and Simple Guide for Young Artists by Mark Gonyea. Excellent book. I stumbled upon this beauty in the non-fiction stacks and it's cover tempted me to pick it up. I'm so glad I did! A simple and eye-catching read, this block-image book teaches lots of color principles using easy images and familiar references. Through this book, Chloe easily picked up several color concepts and vocabulary words (i.e. primary and secondary colors, complementary colors, saturation, and color wheel).
  

Week 4 Highlights

Outdoor painting with cardboard palettes









































Action painting (aka Jackson Pollock style)





































Painting with thick paint ala Van Gogh





















Field trip to the Cleveland Art Museum (this place ROCKS! And admission is FREE. We truly are fortunate to live near such a high-class joint. It houses several Van Goghs, Monet's classic Water Lilies, a miniature demo version of The Thinker, and a Jackson Pollock. Not to mention works by El Greco, Renoir, Mondrian, Degas, Picasso and many others. Did you know you aren't allowed to take even non-flash photos at the museum? Found that out the hard way.)





















Sculpting with clay (Spent two afternoons working with oven-bakeable clay. Chloe made several little things the first day and then the second day she crafted a crown [pictured below] and the letters of her name. I made Bob the Builder. Sculpting sure is harder than it looks!)

My present sufferings

Last night was beyond rough for me. Solomon woke up twice to eat. Prior to that, Chloe also woke up needing consolation from a nightmare (her nightmare subjects are worthy fodder for a separate post). Mere verbal comforting didn't suffice so I crawled into bed with my scared Chloe and tried to sleep.

As you can imagine, sleeping with a wiggly cuddly 5 year old in a full size bed does NOT make for good quality slumber.

Due to my severe sleep deprivation, I assumed Solly and I would skip church this morning. He promptly woke up again at 8:30 this morning jolting me abruptly from my hazy consciousness. When I realized he would be awake for the bulk of the morning, I hastened to get us ready to go. Heck, if he was going to be awake at home, why not be awake at church where a loving capable nursery worker could care for him? Where else could I get a much-needed break if even just for an hour?

I'm inexpressibly glad I went. God had a word to speak to my weary soul. As Pastor Begg talked of suffering and glory from Romans 8, my tears trickled. I've never thought my life contained suffering of any kind. I'm healthy, free, have my needs met, and have never been persecuted for my faith. Most Americans would say the same. We have it pretty stinkin' good.

But as I sat there in the pew sniffling I realized I have been suffering these past months. Suffering from sleep deprivation. Before you turn away and regard this post as incidental, consider. Sleep deprivation is a seriously difficult ordeal. Intermittent sleep taxes me not only physically but also emotionally and spiritually. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying it's hard. I know these days will pass, I know this baby stuff is full of phases, but it's still hard. It feels like suffering to me.

When I think that the purpose of this suffering is to show by contrast the beauty and lightness of the promise of heaven, then my present sufferings are a bit more bearable. And I know that Jesus is here with me in the muck and mire of everyday sleep-deprived life. It stinks and He knows it. He knows, He cares and He hears when all I can do is cry, "Help!".

I'm not trying to be over-dramatic for the sake of hyperbole here. I hope I never forget the deep and real hardness of these days. I hope I always have empathy for new sleep-deprived moms. I hope I don't ever trivialize the difficulties of the first year of babyhood with trite sayings and passing judgments.

And more importantly, in or out of sufferings I hope the God of heaven will always be my comfort.

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Romans 8:18, 23-25

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. . . . And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Lazy Saturday

Now that Matt is slaving away back in the college classroom, weekends have become our family's much-needed and anticipated together time. It is breaking Matt's heart to be away from us so much! It's especially difficult to deal since some evenings he gets home only an hour before the kids' bedtime.

I'm not whining, I realize this is normal life. But that doesn't mean I have to like it!

Today we've all been puttering around the house together working on various projects at a leisurely pace. And though I never experienced a full break from kid-dom, it felt refreshing and therapeutic to slow down a little. I even tinkered a bit with my sewing machine (I've missed you old friend!).

How'd you spend your Saturday?

Clive time

Today a dear friend of mine took Chloe home for an afternoon playdate (thank you, dear friend!).

Imagining the extra time I would have this afternoon with one less child to manage, I immediately envisioned myself doing something productive around the house. Maybe I could finally scrub the bathtub, dust away the inch-thick layers of sediment settling in our living room, or begin working on Chloe's halloween costume. Ah, the lovely fantasies and unrealistic expectations of my dreaming mind . . .

What DID end up happening was that I got to spend some super good quality time with Clive. Since he's the middle child, I don't get much alone time with him. He's a crazy fun and unbelievably adorable kiddo. I love him to pieces. But thinking of a special activity for JUST him and me gave me pause. I didn't really want to dig in the sandbox or play cars in the dirt. But I did want him to feel like the center of attention since he's always living in his older sis' shadow.

Clive got pretty sad when his big sis left so I distracted him with smoothie making. He sat on the counter and dumped frozen strawberries and yogurt into the blender eagerly. We ate our lunch on the porch so we could watch for the garbage truck. (Exciting lives we lead, eh?) After some pretend fixing of the porch railing with his tools, we made peanut butter cookies together.

Making cookies with an active 2.6 year old is certainly an interesting experience. He wanted to do EVERYTHING himself. If I wouldn't have been on my toes, we would have ended up with some extremely unique tasting peanut butter cookies (I barely saved the dough from an extra cup of sugar Clive wanted to add). Once we got the ingredients correctly measured and mixed up, Clive's job was to roll the cookie-dough balls into the sugar. And then he took it upon himself to throw the dough onto the baking sheet. Sheesh. Can't blame him though, I DID call them "balls". And my boy knows what do to with a ball!

We had loads of fun and even though no household appliances were scrubbed this afternoon, I made a lasting memory with my dear middle boy.

How do you make your second child feel special?

Horn Homeschool: Week 3

We had LOADS of fun studying airplanes last week. Especially fun because we took two field trips to see planes up close and personal. This week was enriching for me personally because I know virtually nothing about airplanes. It's gonna be hard to top airplane week!

Here's what we did:

Monday, September 6
* Reviewed long-a and "all" sounds by reading simple readers together (I read 1/2 and Chloe read 1/2)
* Handwriting page
* Annos math games
* Read two chapters in Dr. Doolittle

Tuesday, September 7
* Read several airplane books, identified parts of plane
* Made airplane models from balsa wood and popsicle sticks
* Read two biographies of the Wright brothers and also the book So you want to be an inventor?
* Airplane lunch and airplane spoons. Consisted of string cheese wrapped in salami for plane body, pepper strips for wings, carrot for tail. I taped "wings" on the kids' spoons so they could fly their yogurt into their mouths.
* Handwriting page
* Math workbook page
* Annos math games
* Taught "air" words, wrote on the blackboard and Chloe made a guessing game for me using "air" words
* Matched rhyming words from two columns on the blackboard using long-a and "all" words
* Watched "There Goes a Plane" dvd
* Finished reading Dr. Doolittle
* Sang and listened to "I'll Fly Away"

Wednesday, September 8
* Reviewed "air" words
* Reviewed vocabulary words: biography, inventor
* FIELD TRIP: Military Air Preservation Society Museum. I impulsively threw the kids in the van for this impromptu field trip. It was perfect for our little crew! This small museum was a gem! Run by retired volunteers, the place was nearly deserted and all the older gents got quite a kick out of my active kiddos. We even got a personal tour guide who patiently answered my very dumb questions. :) It was a fairly hands-on museum -- the kids especially enjoyed playing in the gondola (passenger part of a blimp) and manning the anti-aircraft gun.
* Taught "air" combination words (i.e. airplane, staircase, hairball)
* Constructed rubber band airplanes and flew them outside (These cheap little wind-up propeller plane kits were great! Chloe got LOTS of practice counting to 100 as she wound up her plane's propeller.)

Thursday, September 9
Took the day off to pick apples with friends

Friday, September 10
* Read blimp, helicopter, and hot air balloon books -- compared and contrasted these with airplanes
* Suitcase number activity. Since one of the kindergarten objectives is for students to know their number words, I labeled 10 suitcases/bags with the number words from 1-10. Then Chloe and Clive (mostly Chloe) filled the suitcases with the correct number of items. They also put the bags in numerical order. Lots of addition and subtraction was involved in this simple activity, not just counting. Often Chloe would lose track of what she had already placed in a suitcase so she'd recount and I'd ask her a few questions to help her figure out how many more or fewer things she needed to match the number label.
* Airplane/airport game. Chloe and I worked all afternoon setting up an airport. We made tickets, boarding passes, luggage tags, set up a metal detector, ticket counter and created seat assignments. I can not even begin to tell you how much learning went on during this fun activity! Chloe typed our address and phone number for the luggage tags (practice reciting information), she wrote and cut out the tickets (handwriting, spelling, writing monetary values), wrote names on each luggage tag (reviewed spelling family names, wrote proper titles such as Dr. and Mrs.), grouped and organized luggage tags, creatively used household items to construct a (non-working) metal detector. After dinner we led Matt & Clive through the airport process and ended by showing an in-flight movie on the "plane" complete with snacks.
* 9/11 history. In the process of setting up the metal detector, Chloe asked me why such devices are needed. It was the perfect opportunity for me to tell Chloe a little about 9/11.

Saturday, September 11
* Kent State Aviation Heritage Air Show

Soul Music

Like most folks, I have particular musical tastes. Of course I'm keen on a variety of artists from differing genres dependent on my mood, inspiration and activity. But when it comes to soul-stirring truth-speaking music, I have a few all-time faves that I keep coming back to. These artists continually resonate with and encourage me in my daily walk.

For me, the artists below have perfectly struck that hard-to-find balance of poetry and music.

Sons of Korah :: This Australian group is led by a theology prof who sets psalms to music. The kicker for me, besides the sincere vocals and meditative music, is that they don't change the words of the psalms (except marginally). Keeping the text pure makes their sound rich and deep.

Shaun Groves :: In my opinion this guy is seriously gifted in poetry. Seriously. His song Last Notes is a simple but incredibly encouraging look at death.

Keith & Kristyn Getty :: This husband and wife team write modern yet theologically rich and alive hymns. Love 'em. Especially Kristyn's prayerful ballad Still.

Sovereign Grace Music :: There are simply loads of songs I dig by these artists! While their poetry/creativity is not always earth-shattering in its presentation, in my mind they've produced some moving and inspiring music. My favorites are the kids' album, Awesome God, and Valley of Vision inspired by the Puritan prayer book of the same name.

I'm always on the hunt for some new favorites! Who are your go-to artists for inspiration, encouragement and spiritual resonance?

Fall = Cinnamon

This weekend we had a few surprisingly chilly days which reminded me of the impending arrival of fall. Not yet, please!

Something about the cooler temperatures triggered the fall baker woman in me. Without realizing it, I baked FOUR TIMES this past weekend. Once a day I baked up something yummy containing cinnamon -- the delectable spice of fall.

The smell of spicy cinnamon hanging in the air is almost motivation enough for baking. I'm also hopeful that baking more for my family will mean that we'll consume fewer processed foods overall. And that's a VERY good and needful change for our family snacking habits.

Here's what I cooked up:

Friday: Dutch Crumb Apple Pie (This is Matt's all-time favorite dessert. Baked this to celebrate our collective survival of his first week back to teaching.)

Saturday: Zucchini Nut Cookies (Had 1 cup of shredded zucchini lying around so I tried this recipe from allrecipes.com. These were DELICIOUS and promptly consumed by my cookie loving tribe. No one could tell there were green vegetables hidden inside. After I revealed the secret veggie ingredient Chloe proclaimed, "Mommy, it is against the law to put vegetables in cookies!" I'm willing to break the law to make these yummies again.)

Sunday: Morning Glory Muffins (In an effort to have easily accessible breakfast sides, I baked up these healthful muffins. Again, Chloe rebuked me for these muffins contain vegetables -- carrots this time rather than zucchini. They are moist, tasty and full of lovely fall spices!)

Monday: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips (Cookie jar was suddenly empty since the disappearance of the zucchini nut cookies mentioned above. The 1/2 bag of peanut butter chips inspired a batch of oatmeal cookie goodness.)

What are you baking these days?

To-do list

Besides homeschooling and the regular meal responsibilities of the week, I'm looking forward to a few extra fun items on this week's agenda:

* Introducing Solomon to solid foods

* Apple picking with friends

* Local air show

* Making Solomon's first Green Bay Packer t-shirt

What's your week look like?

Horn Homeschool: Week 2

Have we truly completed two full weeks of homeschooling already?!?!? I'm perplexed, amazed and thankful to God for His grace in this kindergarten venture. Looking back at the busy week, I'm agog, simply agog at how much we were able to get done. It helps that Chloe is an absorbent little sponge and a quick study!

Our week 2 theme was "All About Me". Since it's standard for kindergarteners to learn all their basic personal info, it was a natural fit along with our letter A activities. It worked beautifully with our phonics lessons too. This week we tackled the "ah" sounds (i.e. "all", "aw", and "au" words).

Here's the day-to-day breakdown of our week's activities:

Monday, August 30
* Reviewed long A sounds
* Read "You are Special" by Max Lucado
* Made t-shirts out of construction paper representing Chloe & Clive. Chloe had to cut hers out and color/draw her favorite foods, activities and likes on the t-shirt.
* Learned Psalm 139:14 and drew it on a poster
* Learned and sang "God Made Me" together
* Talked about how God made us and our bodies
* Traced C & C's bodies on paper bags. Colored and wrote names on each paper body outline
* Handwriting page (from A Reason for Handwriting Level K)
* Read James Herriot's "Only One Woof"
* Drew pictures of our favorite scenes from "Only One Woof"
* Watched Veggie Tales "God Made You Special"
* Reviewed "all" ending words

Tuesday, August 31
* Began All About Me booklet -- made cover and did three pages (linked here)
* Made "A" shaped pretzels from bread dough
* Reviewed "all" ending words
* Constructed a poem about Clive using interchangeable "all" ending words (this got pretty silly!)
* Reviewed Psalm 139:14
* Sang "God Made Me" and "All Creatures of our God and King"
* Talked about how God made each person different and unique with special talents/abilities
* Read part of Peter Spier's book People (FANTASTIC book! Perfect lesson extension human differences throughout the world and chocked FULL of illustrations and information.)
* Rhyming game using a ball (On the porch Chloe and I bounced a big ball back and forth. For each bounce we had to say a word that rhymed with "ball")
* Read "I Can Draw" and "I Can Read" (To emphasize the abilities God has given Chloe to develop)
* Handwriting page
* Math workbook page

Wednesday, September 1
* Labeled body parts on body outlines and introduced new body vocab to Chloe (i.e. shin, calf, waist, shoulder blade, collar bone, wrist)
* Simon says game using body part vocab
* Completed three more All About Me pages and bound the booklet with ribbons
* Read all of Peter Spier's People (This took us about 45 minutes, believe it or not! It is a good sized book but also very involved. After reading each caption, I had to do some further explaining to nail the concepts for Chloe.)
* Introduced "aw" sounding words on the blackboard
* Handwriting page
* Math workbook page
* Read James Herriot's "The Christmas Day Kitten"
* Drew favorite scenes from "The Christmas Day Kitten"

Thursday, September 2
* Reviewed "aw" words and introduced "au" words
* Read "The Oak Inside the Acorn" by Max Lucado (Beautiful book! Warning though, it may invoke some mommy tears when you get to the end. )
* Sang "All Creatures of our God and King" and "God Made Me"
* Reviewed Psalm 139:14
* Read "Just Me" poem from I Can Make a Difference by Marian Wright Edelman (This book was not as good as I hoped but the poem was just right for our level.)
* Annos Math Games, Chapter 1 (Somehow Chloe got it into her skull that she doesn't like math. NOT allowed in this household! I'm hoping to throw in more manipulatives and math literature so it doesn't become too boring. Annos Math Games has been terrific so far! Chloe asks for more and though an adult can easily see the math applications it feels more like a picture book than actual "math".)
* Handwriting page
* Chloe read the reader "I Can Draw"
* Chloe typed sentences (This is Chloe's newest hobby. Matt has been giving her typing lessons and Chloe enjoys typing "stories". It's usually just 3-4 sentences but it's good spelling practice for her since she already knows that red squiggly underlining means something is wrong.)

Friday, September 3
(Didn't do much in the morning since everyone was feeling sick and I was feeling tired from caring for sickies.)
* Reviewed "aw" and "au" words
* Played silly sentence game (I made three columns on the board for crafting simple sentences -- articles, subjects, verbs. Most of the subject and verb words came from our "all", "aw", "au" words from the week. Chloe and I took turns seeing who could make the silliest sentence using the word from the board.)
* Annos Math Games, part of chapter 2
* Chloe wrote thank you cards (Maybe we'll get these all finished before her next birthday!)
* Began Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (Since we are almost done with our current read-aloud, Dr. Doolittle, Chloe asked that we try Ramona the Brave next. After half of one chapter I knew Chloe was NOT ready for Ramona Quimby. Charlotte's Web is a much better fit.)

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Ready for week 3 -- Airplanes!

Empty

I've been purposely silent on the blogosphere and Facebook this week. This week Matt has gone back to teaching so I've been on my own for kid care, meals and homeschooling. It's been a mad blur. And it's left me empty.

In the midst of the chaos late yesterday afternoon, God gave me a moment of clarity and rest. Believe me, it was less than quiet at the time. Picture it: There I was, holding a screaming baby on my hip while trying frantically to make a bottle, pacifying a 2 year old pulling my legs and asking for a snack and monitoring the pots I had simmering on the stove. Certainly not the tranquil verdant setting for a moment of insight to alight.

Nonetheless, the simple truth hit me again in the face. I'm not doing the work here. I can't possibly be because I'm utterly drained. It's like I'm in slow motion and I'm watching as God's strength flows and works. I'm completely empty. Of strength, of patience, of wisdom, and even of love.

And when I'm totally flattened like that, it's a good feeling. It's not without pain to see the reality of who I am -- a helpless gasping soul who needs to be rescued and buoyed. I need. Desperately. But to be needy is not something to be ashamed of.

When I see how much I need and I glimpse my silly pettiness, God reminds me of that I'm part of something much bigger. That as I blunder and flounder He is working out a grand scheme for humanity. He's in the business of rescuing thousands of souls who are feeling just as lost, tired and needy as I. He's making a kingdom. And I'm a part of that. And someday with the family of God's kingdom I'll sing His praise and leave these cares behind me forever. Ahh.

The extra bonus wonderful part is that I'm in the process of bringing these dear little ones along into the kingdom. That in the changing of poopy diapers, cleaning up messes, and wiping snotty noses I'm serving my children in order to show them what Jesus' love really looks like.

Let Your kingdom come, Lord!

This song says it much better (click "Kingdom Coming" to play).

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"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." [Matthew 6:33-34]

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." [2 Corinthians 12:9-10]

Horn Homeschool: Week 1

Last week I impulsively jumped into homeschooling Chloe at the kindergarten level. After researching many curricula in the various subjects, I decided to move forward with a conglomeration of materials and teaching methods.

A BIG part of me wishes I could plop down $300+ for a total kindergarten curriculum package. It would ease my fears knowing that everything I need would come neatly packaged in a box. But since I don't have $300 lying around, I'm doing the mix-and-match method of teaching kindergarten.

And honestly, I'm glad! It seems to me, novice homeschooling-teacher that I am, that one of the essential benefits of homeschooling is flexibility. The ability to try one method on your student and then scrap it if it doesn't work well is an option traditional educators don't usually get.

It also seems to me that educating your child should cost significantly LESS than $300.

I'm gradually learning that homeschooling should NOT look like classroom-teaching-at-home. It's not simply traditional school with a change of setting. I'm certain that will be a huge hurdle for me to overcome since I have traditional teaching in my background. I've already succumbed to the temptation to buy lots of workbooks -- who can resist those cute ones in the Target dollar spot? NOT I!

Several older experienced homeschooling moms advised me that they wished they wouldn't have put so much pressure on their kindergartners. So, trying hard to go slowly, easily and with lots of fun tools in my belt, I dove in.

And looking back at our first week, I can't believe how much we got done in such a short amount of time!

As a way of record-keeping and accountability for me, it's my aim each week to chronicle on the blog our week's school progress. I'm chronicling this for my benefit; feel free to skip the long boring details and just leave me a generic comment.

This first week was all about the letter A (original, I know). Clive did several of the craft activities with us and then I did the other activities one-on-one with Chloe in the afternoons during the boys' nap time. Here's what we did:

Monday, August 23
* Made an "A" poster: I drew a capitol A and we all drew and labeled A words on the poster
* A craft: Glued pasta and other objects to a paper in the shape of an A
* Had apricot snacks and quesadillas cut into letter A shapes for lunch

* Read alphabet books together

* Handwriting page (from A Reason for Handwriting level K)

Tuesday, August 24

* Talked about alphabet order, sang the alphabet song together

* Mixed up alphabet game (I wrote each letter on a sticky note and then took the first 10 and mixed them up on the board while Chloe went out of the room. She came back in and had to rearrange the letters into proper order. We did this 3 times each time increasing the amount of letters to rearrange. By the 4th time, I mixed up all 26 letters for her to organize.)

* Reviewed short A and long A sounds

* Read several "ai" and "ay" words together

* Read the book "Play Day" focusing on the long A sound

* Wrote "ai" and "ay" words on a small chalkboard mixed in with short A words and Chloe had to identify and circle the long A sounding words

* Sorting activity

* Read alphabet books together

* Math workbook page

* Handwriting page

Wednesday, August 25

* Long A scavenger hunt game (I wrote 15 long a words on the blackboard omitting the first letter, using paper letters/blends I had prepared ahead of time Chloe had to match the beginning sounds with the long A endings to make words. When she made a word, she had to run upstairs to find that item hidden in the kitchen. I used easy to find items/toys like "plane", "mare", "train", "game", "plate", etc.)

* Read "Play Day" together

* Painting with fruit craft (Sliced a green pepper in half and then dipped it into paint to use as a stamp for making cards)

* Math workbook page

* Handwriting page

Thursday, August 26

* Read "ang" ending words

* Pictionary game with long a sounding words (I wrote 12 long a words on a grid on our small blackboard. Chloe and I took turns drawing one word from the board and the other person had to guess the word. When the word was guessed correctly, Chloe had to find it on the board and cross it off.)

* Read James Herriot's "Moses the Kitten" story from Treasury for Children (GREAT BOOK!)

* Drew pictures of our favorite scenes from "Moses the Kitten"

* Math workbook page

* Handwriting page

* Tangrams (I'm a BIG fan of using tangrams and other manipulatives for demonstrating math concepts and developing problem-solving skills. Since this was Chloe's first time ever playing with tangrams, we just played freely and made various silly shapes with them.)

Friday, August 27

* Drew and cut out lowercase a's and Chloe & Clive had to find "A"s from bowls of Alphabits cereal. Glued cereal A's to their lowercase a's

* Starfall reading journal book, 3 pages (This handy phonics/reading journal goes hand-in-hand with starfall.com, one of our favorite fun educational websites.)

* Wrote thank you cards (we skipped handwriting today since Chloe did plenty of writing on the thank you cards)

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Additionally, Matt did several math lessons on his own with Chloe. He wants to be a big part of homeschooling Chloe. But since Matt teaches college level English it's oftimes difficult for him to stoop to kindergarten mentality. When I went downstairs and found him trying to teach Chloe double-digit adding in rows, I had a little talk with him and brought him back to reality. :) He altered the lessons and instead focused on simple addition. Matt even crafted an addition chart with her pointing out patterns in the sums.

All in all, I think Chloe had a great week of kindergarten! Since I eased into things slowly, I didn't think it wise to add all subjects this past week. I want to hammer away at reading, math and handwriting for sure each week and then when I see an opportunity for a science lesson or history application we'll slide that in.

If you're homeschooling, when do/did you begin? What are you doing and how are you keeping things light and enjoyable?

Stay tuned for week 2!

Trying to be thankful

Yesterday was one of THOSE days. You know what I'm talking about.

Solomon was a crab all day long and didn't nap more than 45 minutes at a time. Which meant that by the time I settled down into an activity of some sort (reading to Chloe, working online, contemplating a nap) he was waking up again. And then he was a cranky pants!

I felt frustrated all day long. I know frustration is born from my refusing to let go of my own expectations but try as I might I could NOT shake it.

When the long day wore into evening I was spent. After yet another fussy period when I KNEW with all my mommy being that Solomon was exhausted, I stopped trying to multitask. I put on my flip-flops and took Solly for a long walk in the warm summer air.

Holding my curious baby boy and soaking in the quietness of the summer night I finally stopped regretting the day. I forced myself to stop looking at the "wasted" day and to think instead of the many tangible things I have to be thankful for.

I've been harping on Chloe lately about how fortunate she is. I explain and explain how privileged she is for being healthy, having a loving family, and living in America. But all I get is blank looks in response. I feel like I've reached official mom-status now because I totally get Ralph's mom in A Christmas Story when over a plate of unappetizing food she says, "Children in China would be happy to have that!"

I also get why she wears an apron all the time. I have used spray-n-wash on my clothes every day of my life since bearing progeny.

But I digress.

The clarity of the night and removal of distractions helped me focus on the big thankful things. And even though I didn't feel like it, I spoke truth to my lying emotional heart.

Truth is, I'm healthy. I have a husband who loves me, treats me well and makes me smile. My children may be fussy, annoying, needy, or dirty but they're mine. And they are alive without illness. Truth is, God loves me. The God of the universe. That's huge. I have friends. Good friends that I can be real with and laugh 'til I snort with.

When Solomon and I got back from our walk, he was still awake but no longer fussy. I laid him on the floor and just played with him. Our shared laughter was good therapy and a great reminder to me of the healing goodness of God. That despite my wanderings and self-imposed frustrations, God can wipe it all away in a moment. Through the simple joy of a baby's laugh.

This is the day the Lord has made, I WILL rejoice and be glad today. And tomorrow too with God's help!

What are you thanking God for today?

Keeping me humble

My kids certainly have a special knack for keeping me humble. Coming from the mouths of such small souls, the words are especially hard-hitting and dramatic.

Don't worry, I know better than to take my children too seriously.

But upon reflection, it's good to look back at their quips and quibbles and see God's lessons for me. And lately that lesson has been about humility. I'm so glad God, in His wisdom and humor, gave me these precious little grindstones to make me a better mommy.

Cases in point:

Case #1

(Setting: After Clive's nap he was sitting on the counter eating a snack while I prepared dinner.)

Clive: "Mama, what you cooking?"

Me: "I'm making zucchini muffins."

Clive: "Yum! Mama, you are a good baker!"

Me: "Thanks, Clive-y!"

Clive: "And you look like a jellyfish."

Case #2

(Setting: During the boys' nap time, Chloe was lazing around on the couch looking for something to do while I worked on the computer.)

Chloe: "Mama?"

Me: "Yes, Chloe?"

Chloe: "When I grow up I'm not going to be anything."

Me: "What do you mean, Chloe?"

Chloe: "I'm not going to have any job. If I'm a mom, I'll just be a mom and I won't work on the computer all the time."

Case #3

(Setting: Putting things on the table for dinner.)

Chloe: (walking into the kitchen) "Mmm, mommy what are we having for dinner?"

Me: "Healthy hot dogs, mangos and yogurt, and cheesy veggie noodles" (I was pretty proud of for whipping up a pasta primavera like dish using zucchini, green pepper and corn)

Chloe: "Mommy, you are the BEST cook! I'm going to give you a big hug!"

Me: "Thanks, sweetie. I hope you like it."

(Dinner transpires)

Chloe: "Mommy, this is the BEST meal I've ever had. (Thinks for a few seconds) Except when I have peanut butter and jelly. THAT'S the very best."

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

See what I mean? :) I'm so thankful for these darling little ones. They keep me humble, make me laugh and help me see joy in every day life.

What funny things have your little people been saying?

Interview

Stole this cute idea from blogger friends Christina and Katie. While "interviewing" Chloe and Clive with the questions below, we were all downstairs together in the basement schoolroom/playroom. Distractions abounded! Not that Clive needs much to distract him as you'll soon discover when you read his *interesting* answers.

By the end of the interview Matt and I were both laughing to the point of tears! Experiences like this remind me yet again of the super fun phase we're in with our precious kiddos. It's draining to have three little ones 5 and under but these are sweet precious days!

Without further ado, here's the interview. Enjoy and try it out on your little people!







1. What is something your mom always says to you?
Chloe: "Um, I love you!"
Clive: "No no, I a baby. Babies not talk, babies cry. WAAAH." (I asked the question again this time addressing it to "baby" instead of "Clive".) "Uh, shhh."

2. What makes mom happy?
Chloe: "When I give you a BIG hug!"
Clive: "Sad!"

3. What makes mom sad?
Chloe: "When I disobey."
Clive: "Uh, no I a baby. Uh, I don't know."

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Chloe: "By tickling me!"
Clive: "Tickle me!"

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Chloe: "A gift" (Not sure what she was thinking with this response but she's right on. I WAS a gift to my dear mom when I was a child. Now if I was a lump-of-coal type gift or a bright-shiny-new-bike type gift is up for debate.)
Clive: "I don't know"

6. How old is your mom?
Chloe: "35"
Clive: "3"

7. How tall is your mom?
Chloe: "50 inches"
Clive: "50 inches" (copycat!)

8. What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
Chloe: "Take naps" (So true!)
Clive: "Get in a bus"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Chloe: "Sit and cry"
Clive: "Wash the dishes"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Chloe: "For being superman"
Clive: "I need to wash my hands!"

11. What is your mom really good at?
Chloe: "Taking naps"
Clive: "Eating supper"

[At this point in the interview Clive yells out, "Where's my hammer?!? I need my hammer!" For the next several questions of the interview Clive hammers the bookshelf while singing the Bob the Builder theme song.]

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Chloe: "Lifting chairs"
Clive: "Lifting chairs"

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Chloe: "Teach"
Clive: "Lifting chairs" (guess I'm not very good at my job then according to Clive)

[Since Clive kept repeating Chloe's answers, Matt proceeded to conduct a whispering lesson with Chloe. Chloe wasn't getting it and the whole thing spiraled into silliness quickly.]

14. What's your mom's favorite food?
Chloe: "Cheese"
Clive: "Cheerios"

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Chloe: "She wins races a lot."
Clive: "She . . . . hammering."

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Chloe: "Superman" (Can you tell Chloe's fascinated by superman lately?)
Clive: "Kipper the dog" (HEY, I object!)

[After his last reply, Clive explored the game closet, found the bananagram bag and shouted, "BANANAGRAMS!" while dumping all the letter tiles out.]

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Chloe: "Doing school"
Clive: "Do bananagrams in here"

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Chloe: "We both have brown hair and brown eyes"
Clive: "Both 3 years old"

19. How are you and your mom different?
Chloe: "I can't hear" (Huh? Maybe she meant she couldn't hear the questions over her brothers' racket?)
Clive: "I different and mommy's different too"

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Chloe: "Because I love her"
Clive: "She told me"

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Chloe: "To stores"
Clive: "To Krieger's"

Together

Matt and I just celebrated our eighth anniversary. Eight years already?!?

In some respects it seems as though it's only been a few months. The last eight years have passed by super quickly. In other ways it's as though we've been together forever. And I mean that in a good way. :) Living life together with Matt is natural and easy and good for me. He sharpens me, challenges me and complements me. We're opposites in lots of ways and while that sometimes brings conflict it also brings balance to our crazy home.

And don't get me started on what an amazing and involved dad he is.

If we were on a dance floor, this is the song I'd pick for us.

I love you, Matthew Clive Horn.

Blurry milestones

I have a theory regarding time. Time is proportional to the number of children you have distracting you. Now that I'm the mother to three little blessings, time seems to go by THREE times as fast.

Somehow my baby Solomon grew overnight into a 16 1/2 pound bundle of baby chub. He's rolling, laughing, eating cereal, TRYING TO CRAWL (he doesn't yet realize he's not allowed to achieve mobile status for many more months) and blowing spit bubbles. He's knocking down the milestones like a boxing champ.

And instead of waiting expectantly for these precious baby milestones, I'm a spectator watching as they speed past me in a blur.

Solomon isn't the only one blowing past the milestones at lightning speed. My baby girl Chloe is doing it too. This past week she turned 5, lost a tooth, spent a day all by herself with grandma (during which she got to eat at a super fancy restaurant -- subject for another blog post), and has grown into a lovely "big girl".

Thankfully Clive is frozen in super-cute 2 year old mode. My favorite word he says right now is "actually". He uses it correctly too. It just sounds so darling in his little 2 year old voice!

As the milestones blur past me, I'm reminded to slow down the blurring and savor these moments. To let go of petty minor issues and to focus on the big stuff. Like loving God, living in peace, and laughing with the children He's given us.

What fun things are your kids doing in their current phase?

Homeschooling poll

Ok, I realize I'll be opening up the floodgates here when I ask this question but I don't care! I LOVE hearing what curricula others use in homeschooling and I'm desperate for more ideas. I'm also starting to panic a little since I still don't have a solid plan yet for Chloe's kindergarten year.

But then I remember that we're talking kindergarten and not highschool calculus. Actually, I enjoy calculus so that's slightly less intimidating to me. Kindergarten means art projects, reading LOTS of books, learning to tell time, counting money and fun field trips so why am I stressing?!?

SO, what do you currently use for homeschooling curriculum in the major subject areas? I need advice in every area so feel free to give me a detailed report!

How can he sleep like that?!?

We recently upgraded all the kids to bigger beds. Solomon went to the crib, Clive to a twin sized bed, and Chloe to a full sized bed in her OWN room. Her room is pink and girly. She's already possesive of it and trying to keep her brother out. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen until adolescence?

All things considered Clive is doing great with the new set up. He's always been a thrashing moving type of sleeper so the bed rails are a MUST for his safety. Even with the rails, which cover almost the entire length of his bed, he's already fallen out of bed once.

And with his new found freedom we certainly have our staying-in-bed battles. He's a completely different beast than Chloe in this regard.

I knew we had it too easy with Chloe. Oddly enough, Chloe used to stay in bed and then call for me to get her up! It was as though she didn't realize she could get out on her own. Since she was our first child, I assumed that was the norm. (Please don't laugh too hard at my naivete.)

Somehow, I never tire of going in late at night to peek in on the kids while they sleep. Part of me wants to make sure they're safe. But a bigger part of my heart loves to see them peaceful and innocent while they slumber.

And with Clive I enjoy going in and discovering what crazy new sleeping position he's gotten himself into! Ah to be able to sleep that soundly!

Is my wacky boy the only kiddo who sleeps like a contortionist?

Pretty tips?

Today was an insanely productive day for me. I simply can't believe all that I got done in a 12 hour span of time! I won't tell you what I accomplished because

a) you won't believe me,
b) you'll think I'm bragging, and
c) God should get the credit since HE supplied me with the strength and motivation.

Five hours of uninterrupted sleep and several cups of coffee helped too.

Mid-afternoon I raced upstairs to use the bathroom and as I washed my hands I caught a passing glance of myself in the mirror. YUCK! Who was that sweaty messy person looking back at me? My brushed-once-this-morning hair was disheveled and frizzy. The powder I had hurriedly applied was completely gone. Sweat droplets, red cheeks (will I EVER remember to put sunscreen on myself?) and blotchiness covered my skin.

Besides that my clothes were a wreck! After grocery shopping and plastering layer 1 on Chloe's birthday pinata I felt like one huge stain.

I don't expect to look like a fresh dewy supermodel while I'm in the grind of mommyhood but I DID hope I'd look better than the bride of Frankenstein. It's no secret that I don't spend much time on myself. Primping and floofing are NOT high on my priority list right now. Sleep, having fun with my kids, sleep, making meals, sleep, connecting with my husband and keeping the house slightly cleaner than filthy are tops on my agenda. Did I mention I need more sleep?

Today I neglected to take a few minutes to pretty myself up. It doesn't usually take more than 5 minutes to do my normal routine of face powder, mascara, clean clothes, painted toenails, earrings, a spritz of perfume and lip gloss. (And I must confess, I often apply my makeup in the car. It saves precious minutes in the morning and I can apply almost everything without ever taking my eyes off the road. Granted, mascara is a bit tricky but I apply that at red lights.)

Which leads me to ask . . . what quick things do you do to up your daily pretty factor?