End of Summer Fun

My daughter loves clowns, the circus and anything that has to do with the circus.  One of those things is face paint.  She has a lot of it and every so often, we get it out and I paint her face.  I'm not very good at it, but I try my best.  This last time we got the paint out, she decided she wanted to paint my face.  Here is how it turned out:

I can't believe summer has come to an end.  It is still hot here in Texas, so we don't signal the end of summer by the lack of hot weather - we signal it by the end of the pool being open.  Here are some pictures from our last trip to the pool in 2012.

Unexpected Sleepover

Recently, some of our closest friends had their power go out for 2 days.  It is hot here in Texas so it was not comfortable to stay in their house with no air conditioning, especially having 2 young children.  They called and asked if they could stay at our house and, of course, we said yes.  Lilly was delighted to have her friends come and stay at her house.

 

Aren't they all so cute, sitting on the couch in their PJs watching a little TV before bed?  Even our puppy Lucy is with them.

Tadpole Club

We signed up to attend this free program at a nearby park.  It is called Tadpole Club and it is for 3 and 4 year olds.  The children learn about an animal or a plant, hear stories read on the topic, learn songs and finger plays about the topic, go on a hike to explore that topic, make a craft and even have a snack.  It is super fun.

On the first day, the Ranger asked, "What is nature?"  I was so happy when Lilly raised her hand and answered, "All the things that God made."  That's my girl!  That is exactly what we explore at the park, all the things that God made.

One week we talked about the 5 senses and in the past 2 weeks we have learned about turtles and camouflage. 

Cheese Grater Girl

I normally buy already shredded cheese, but just recently I decided to buy a block of cheese instead.  For dinner that night I decided to make quessadillas which are one of Lilly's favorite foods.  I called her over and told her I had a special job for her to do.  Reluctantly she came to the kitchen because normally my "special jobs" are not fun for her. When she got to the kitchen, I showed her the cheese grater and the block of cheese and said, "I need you to grate this cheese for our quessadillas."  She looked at me with the strangest look.  So, I showed her how to grate the cheese and how to be careful with the blades so as not to cut her fingers.  She thought it was the best thing ever!  I told her she was the best cheese grater girl I ever met.  Smiling, she kept saying, "Aren't I doing a great job, Mommy.  I listened to your directions and I'm grating a lot of cheese."  I think from now on, I will buy the blocks of cheese, just so she can grate the cheese.

Building

Lately, a favorite activity in our house has been building with Jenga blocks.  I have been really impressed with how creative and structurally sound Lilly's creations have been.  Her friends have been building at our house as well...with the Jenga blocks, toothpicks and gum drops, foam shapes, whatever is around.

Gymnastics Day 1

On our way out the door to go to her first day of gymnastics class:

Me:  I need to get my camera so I can take pictures of you to show Daddy.

Lilly:  No, Mommy, I don't want you to take any pictures of me. I just want you to drop me off and go somewhere else.

Me:  What?!  I want to watch you and see what you're learning and your Daddy wants to see pictures of you on your first day since he can't be here to see you.

Lilly:  Well, you can take pictures if you want, but I'm not going to look. 

 

I Think We've Reached the End

You know there are lots of "firsts" that we remember about our children, but sometimes it is hard to remember the "lasts" because you don't know it is going to be the last until it already has passed.  I remember starting to potty train Lilly when she turned 2.  I remember that it seemed like she was never going to catch on, but eventually she did and I can't remember when exactly that was.  At that time, I knew she was not ready to focus on night time potty training because she was still waking up wet almost every night.  After we were pretty solid on going to the bathroom during the day, I began to focus on the night time.  Again, it seemed like she would never catch on and I wondered if I would have one of those kids who still wet the bed when she was 7 or 8 years old (it is not uncommon).  I would take her to the bathroom before I went to bed and I would get up in the middle of the night and take her again and then again in the morning.  It was very tiresome.  *I will put in a a plug for bed pads here though because they are an awesome invention.  You stick them on top of the sheets and when your child wets the bed you can just take off the bed pad, throw it away, and put a new one on.  You don't have to change the sheets or anything else - wonderful!

The point of this post is this...I haven't taken her to the bathroom during the night in a few weeks now and she has been waking up dry with no accidents.  I don't remember exactly when it occurred but I think we have finally reached the end of all potty training phases. :)  So, I guess..."soon she won't need a Mommy anymore."

First Day of PreK Home School Style

When everybody else was taking a "break" for Labor Day, we decided we would begin our first day of PreK.  I wanted it to be special, so about a week before I talked it up big.  We went to the store and she picked out a new shirt to wear for our first day.  I told her she could pick a special breakfast for that morning - she chose bird's nests (cut out the middle of a piece of bread and cook an egg in the hole). 

So, our first day went well.  I think it was a little hard on Lilly because we had not done any "sit down" work all summer long.  She loved reading the books and doing the Bible worksheets, but she didn't really enjoy the handwriting part. I knew that was going to be a struggle for her because she likes to do things her own way, especially when it comes to drawing or painting or anything like that.  Letters and numbers have a certain formation to follow and that just doesn't work for her. I'm hoping with time and encouragement it will get easier and not as frustrating for her, but I suppose we all have that one area where we struggle.  The big lesson from the handwriting part will probably be perseverance.

7 Acre Woods

Ever heard of Groupon?  Well, I don't buy a whole lot of them, but I did get this one for a place called 7 Acre Woods.  Actually, a few of my friends also bought the same groupon, so we all went together.  It was a really preschool friendly place. 

 

Riding to the park with friends!

 

Feeding the animals.

 

The llama was soooo soft.

 

Mother and Son love.

 

Policegirl Lilly

 

Policegirl Nyah

 

Ezra on the run from the police

 

Mommies in jail

 

Hanging in the boat

 

Big bouncy balls

 

Claire trying to figure out how to get on the big ball

 

 

 

Eating lunch in the wagon

 

Driving the tractor

 

 

Lilly's favorite part of the trip was the zip line

Homeschool Schedule 2012-13

Here is my weekly schedule for the 2012-13 school year.

Monday:
8:00am   Get dressed, breakfast, Bible reading
9:00am   chores/ housework
10 - 12    Gratitude Journal
               Handwriting
               Phonics
               Reading
12:00       Lunch
Afternoons of errands - grocery store, library, etc

Tuesday:
8:00am   Get dressed, breakfast, Bible reading
9:00am   chores/housework
10:00am Gratitude Journal
              Math
11:00 - 11:45  Gymnastics
12:00      Lunch
Afternoons are free

Wednesday:
8:00am  Get dressed, breakfast, Bible reading
9:00am  Chores/housework
10 - 12   Gratitude Journal
              Handwriting
              Phonics
              Reading
12:00      Lunch
1:30        Tadpole Club


Thursday:
8:00am  Get dressed, breakfast, Bible reading
9 - 2       Wacky School

Friday:
8:00am    Get dressed, breakfast, Bible reading
9:00am    Chores/housework
10 - 12     Gratitude Journal
                Math
  12:00     Lunch
Afternoons are free


           

New Homeschool Room

Recently, we have made a switch at our house.  We turned our old school room into a reading room which I have really enjoyed and we turned our old game room into the school room.  I know you don't have to have a school room to home school, but it is nice to have everything in organized and easily accessible in one room.  Plus, being an ex-school teacher I love having my own little classroom. :) 

My plan is to start "preK school" on Sept 3rd.  Lilly is really looking forward to it and so am I.  Originally, I had planned to buy a curriculum to use for this year, but I still am searching for one I really like so I will continue to use bits and pieces from various websites as I have in the past.  Once a week, we will have "Wacky School" where Lilly and 2 of her friends will alternate between having school at our house or their house.  It is a nice arrangement because they love being together to learn and it gives myself and the other mom a break every other week.  Along with "Wacky School," we have gymnastics and Tadpole Club that we are signed up for, so between all of those things there should be a lot of learning and growing going on this year.

Wacky School

What is Wacky School?

My dear friend and I have worked out a plan that is a win/win for everybody involved.  On Thursdays we alternate teaching each other's children.  So, on Week 1 Thursday, she will have her children plus Lilly and will do a fun and exciting lesson with them.  They eat lunch over there and have lots of fun playing together from 9am until 2pm.  Then, on Week 2 Thursday, I will have her 2 children and Lilly at my house and we will do fun and exciting lessons together. 

The children love playing and learning together.  It gives us mom a day every other week to do whatever we need/want to do. 

The kids started calling it Wacky School and it has stuck.  We took a break over the summer because of all the traveling we did, but now everybody is ready to start it back up. 

Homeschool Goals 2012-13

I have talked to several friends who want to know what we are doing for homeschool this year.  Many of them are considering homeschool, but don't really know what to do.  I don't really know what to do either being that this is my first year to really tackle it, but I am relying on prayer and my 9 years of teaching experience to get me through.  **Note - I don't think you need to have any teaching experience to be able to homeschool your child!
 
Since we are doing PreK, I decided not to use a curriculum just yet.  For this year, I took a list of kindergarten standards off of a school's website and used them to make serveral goals for Lilly.  Here they are:
Reading/ Language Arts:
recognize and read simple words
write and read consonant/vowel/consonant (cvc) words
write all letters properly (upper and lower case and numbers)
answer story comprehension questions orally
 
Math :
add and subtract simple problems using manipulatives
recognize shapes, numbers, and number words
more/less - graphing and sorting
fractions 1/2 and 1/4
recognize coins and know the value
calendar/simple time with clock
know how to use a ruler and that various objects are used for measuring different things (ex temperature and thermometer)

My goal is also to transition Lilly from reading/listening to Bible stories from her children's Bible to hearing the stories read in the NIV (or the adult Bible as she calls it).  Of course, memorizing scripture will be a big one for both of us - I definately want her to have God's Word written on her heart. :)

Here are some websites that I use to come up with ideas:
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/index.html
http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM
http://cullensabcs.com/
http://www.activitytv.com/
http://www.preschoolexpress.com/game_station01/game_station_aug01.shtml

I know there are tons of others that are excellent as well.

East Coast Trip Heading Home

After leaving Grandma Collins' house, we once again stopped again at Tara's where we joined her for church.  Then, we had 2 more nights in Charleston with my dad.

 

 We went to Frankie's Fun Park with my brother Scott.  We were on our way to the mall when I  remembered Frankie's so I had to get Scott to call my dad and get directions because it had been years since I was last there.  Anyways, Lilly didn't know what it was, so she was crying the whole time, "I want to go to the mall, not Frankie's!"  Scott and I were trying to tell her that Frankie's was super fun and she would like it much more than the mall.  She didn't agree until we walked in and saw all the games and super cool stuff she could do.

 

This pelican is made with all trash, pretty neat!

A few nights with my cousin Laura and her family in Tallahassee, FL.

And then it was on to Houston.  What an amazing, eventful, and exhausting trip!  When I first got home I said I would never do that again without my husband, but as I'm writing this (a month after) I'm thinking I would consider it - we'll see.