Aug. 4, 2009 - Pre-school Plan.
My daughter, who is 3, has been pleading with me to teach her to read. She also loves it when I do "circle time" which consists of me reading books to the girls and reading poems while they get to act them out with little people. I do this so rarely because I never have a plan. On days when I get desperate, I call for 'circle time'. My daughters, 2 and 3, have really enjoyed hearing me read the poems over and over, I've memorized more poems and I think the girls have memorized a couple too.
Anyway it brought me to doing a little pre school curriculum research. Most sites and sources don't give examples of a curriculum or recommended books until first grade, but that's 2 years away for my eldest and she is loving the structure. So I decided to throw together a last minute preschool curriculum to start in September.
*We are going to begin learning to read (just for the older one). I am going to start with Phonics Pathways and continue reading aloud everyday, including circle time where I read mostly poems. I think I might even do a daily circle time after breakfast clean up or after naps.
*We are going to start something called Literary Pockets, which consists of projects and activities to go along with nursery rhymes, fairy and folk tales. They also has reproducible pages to practice math and reading skills. There are 24 of them, so it might come out to one day a week for Literary pockets.
*Craft time. This is a big maybe! I am not crafty but my girls ask often if they can do a craft. So I am giving them each a bin and filling them with supplies and tools, and hoping they can self learn their own crafts, or we'll be gluing noodles to paper all year. I'll aim for one day a week with crafts too.
*Math. In order to get Bella ready for Math her Kindergarten year, I need to teach her counting, sorting, money, and other basics. I plan to just teach this throughout the year during our everyday life. Maybe make up some poems or songs to teach her counting by 5's etc.
*Writing. I'm still looking for a great pre-school work book but have yet to find one. If I can't by Sept, I will make my own work sheets and have my eldest daughter practice lines and circles.
I'd also love to spend more time in nature and reading more books. I have a story bible and would love to get through it one time before we start Ancient History in a few years. So I'll have to buckle down on my reading aloud.
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Jun. 21, 2009 - Character Training
I decided it was time for me to write up a character training curricula. Not that training can't occur with out writing up a curricula, but that is how I do things (just ask anyone I live with, I have designed and redesigned my preschoolers' personalized curriculum through 1st grade).
So here is my first plan:
What to train first and when? How to teach things like self-control and assertiveness? These are some of my questions and so I have done a little online research to get my curriculum started. I will most likely modify and update every few months, as seems to be the trend with my other curriculum. Experience is the real teacher and every child/parent/situation is different.
Obedience, respect and self-control. They are all tied together and need to be learned first and foremost. When a child chooses to obey, he/she is showing respect and self-control. Focus more on encouraging the child through a situation and less on threatening a punishment or raising my voice in anger. The best way for me to teach my children respect is to respect them and to respect others.
Explain the definition of obedience and tell my child what I expect them to do. If they disobey, make sure they understand that they chose to disobey and there will be a consequence. Children are just leaning to control themselves and I can help them develop in this area by playing games with them such as...
Simon says or The lets see if you can... (sit still, walk with out ringing this bell game, be so quiet you can hear a pin drop.. etc.)
Begin to introduce character traits(and their definitions) that I will be teaching them next. Such as attentiveness, truthfulness, courage, enthusiasm, forgiveness, gratefulness, and orderliness.
Be a model!! I believe this is by far the most effective learning tool for children. All the lessons, scriptures, discipline goes right out the door if I myself cannot model appropriate behavior. So this is a great time to be growing in these areas myself.
**My plan: define/explain, model, and read some great stories that will idealize good behavior and truth. I will always be working on the top 3 (obedience, respect and self-control) and adding a new one each week or so depending on my children.
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May. 14, 2009 - May 14, 2009
Today we read...
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. Then I put chocolate chips in a bucket and had the girls count up to 5 and then subtract one at a time by eating them up. It was pretty funny. We did it several times and the girls couldn't wait to get the chips out. Maybe if I did it with something like peas it would go much slower. I think I will try that next time.
We also read "Slowly Slowly Slowly", said that sloth by Eric Carle. We talked about how sloth's move really slow and the other animals pictured in the book move faster. Then we went back through the pages to identify all the animals pictured in the back (Eric Carle tends to put all the animals on the back page with definitions or scientific names). My girls like to go back through and see if they can find the animals hidden on the pages. Now we would take a trip to the zoo and observe the sloth but it's so rainy. Maybe tomorrow we will go. I think it helps to be able to observe the animal you are learning about.
It also helps to have a van that is working as opposed to in the shop broken. We could take a stroller to the zoo but that is also in the back of the van, which is still at the shop.
So in the mean time we will sit by the windows and watch Robins pull worms out of the dirt. That is a good rainy day learning activity.
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May. 9, 2009 - Beverages
Don't ask me why but I have been thinking a lot about beverages lately.
During the winter months it is a comfort to have hot coffee or tea every morning, share a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows with a friend, or sip on some hot apple vinegar when your feeling sick. Every winter I make sure to keep cocoa mix, coffee and a variety of tea in the house. Not to mention marshmallows and whipped cream for topping. So that got me to thinking about summer.
Now that it is warming up here in upstate NY, it is time to think of some creative 'summery' drinks. My first idea was iced green tea and/or pink lemonade both served with frozen cherries. Ice tea is always a must have. But plain ice can get boring, so why not ice tea with frozen fruit in it. I would think that cherries, cantaloupe, and maybe even watermelon would do really good frozen and then put in drinks. And I like the idea of blending frozen fruits together and making a smoothie. But you need a lot of energy for that one...Here is my first try with pink lemonade and frozen cherries. It tasted a lot better than it looked!
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May. 6, 2009 - Childhood
We decided to make a garden this morning! So my girls and I walked to the store and bought seeds, came home and began digging(well at least I did).
I couldn't help but to notice my daughters and their joy when discovering a worm under all that dirt, a bumble bee flying by, or how high they got on the swings. Usually I would complain about how hard my job of digging is and remind the girls to stay in the back yard. But God really used this day to show me that childhood is precious. I allowed myself to take many breaks from digging to collect worms with my girls, follow a bumble bee around the yard and witness how high my eldest daughter, 3, can get on her swing now. I still have a lot of digging to do before we can plant the seeds, but it is so great to be reminded of what's really important.
My daughter's are so precious and God has blessed me by giving me a great husband who loves the fact that I stay at home and two great girls that remind me daily what life is all about. This life as a wife and mother has allowed me let go, to love, and to enjoy childhood all over again.
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May. 5, 2009 - Going green??
Am I officially jumping on the "green" band wagon after all my years of skepticism? Why have I been so skeptical to lifesaving information that actually does make sense?
We had a great speaker today at my mom's meeting. It has inspired me to "go green". Not as a way to reverse time or attempt to outsmart God and save the planet, but as a way to promote health in my home. Today I learned that pollution inside the home is greater than the pollution anywhere else on planet earth out of doors. I learned that stay at home moms are 50% more likely to get cancer than a mom that goes to work everyday!! Unbelievable!! The need for fluoride is a myth. Sugar, as we know it, attacks your immune system with great force. Everything that manufacturers make contain sugar, including your toothpaste!! Antibiotics are slowly shutting down your immune system, making it less likely to fight off the next infection and the residue from birth control pills is in our water! Gross! I know I've heard that one before. But it just sunk in today. I need a Brita at the very least or I am getting unwanted hormones in my drinking water.
I also learned that mom's control the market more than we think. Advertisers lie, we all know that one. It is now the time for mom's to educate themselves and make healthier decisions regardless of what Lysol commercials or Huggies ad's tell you!!
So what's a mom to do?!
I have decided to start small and change a few things that I can easily manage at once.
First, I will throw out all current household cleaners and make my own natural version. Cheap and easy.
I will get my Britta back out of the closet, buy a new filter, and start using it again.
Switch cosmetics and toiletries to more natural products as needed or just stop using them all together. Including sunscreen! That's a big one for me because I'm used to spraying it on, Yikes! Good news is that people who use natural soap don't have to clean the shower as often.
Buy Xylitol sugar instead of regular white sugar.
Switch from coffee to tea :(
Use a wet washcloth instead of wipes. That way I don't have to buy super expensive natural baby wipes.
Look up more recipes for natural dish soap, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, etc...
Any household cleaning recipes or other easy ways to switch to a healthier lifestyle?? I need some tips :)
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Apr. 30, 2009 - Books Books Books
So far our homeschooling adventure has consisted of mostly reading books. We do try to do informal nature study. Like today we are going to the conservatory and a large park full of lilac bushes.
We read all the time. We pick out books from the library every 2 weeks. In addition to that we collect books for our own personal library by getting used books online or at library book sales.
Here is our library. Some of these books I read aloud as the girls color, paint, or do puzzles at the dining room table.
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Apr. 29, 2009 - My very own blog..
My first entry in my very own blog.
Today my sister in law is coming over to watch my children so I can run some errands. So very nice! Really it is the luxury of marring a man with 8 siblings. All of whom are currently home schooled.
Along with some other errands, I think I am going to work out with my 'alone' time. It is my very recently new habit. It feels so great to have an intense work out and the endorphin rush is really quite addicting.
I think I should bring extra pants this time, because believe it or not, it is kind of embarrassing to go grocery shopping in work out clothes. And right now I think, I should go tend to the children who are creeping downstairs. They must be done with their 'quiet time'.
More to come from the Beinetti house hold!!
