• Jan. 2, 2007 - A new year
Hi everyone. Well a new year has started. I do not make resolutions but I do like to reflect on the last year and plan for the next one. The homeschool journey is ever changing and presents wonderful lessons to the teacher. I hope I have learned to be more patient with both of us. I fall into the old trap of comparing dd to ps students when there is no comparison. I was so proud of her at the family Christmas party. She took her favorite lapbooks and showed her work proudly to everyone. She is the only one homeschooled and there were more than a few sceptics. You know the old comments,does anyone check on you? what about socialization? is this legal? etc..... After seeing her work the comments changed to , animal classification at her age ,wow,ring of fire?, bats are mammals,really..etc The beginning reading lapbook received more than its share of interest, a couple of the moms wanted to know if I could teach their children also.
I have grown to accept the classroom taking over the house, experiments in the window sills,& watching movies in the classroom .
Hands of a Child has been wonderful and allows me to plan a great curriculum for my little angel with the different learning style. Thanks !!!!
I would like to wish everyone a super new year ,filled with love and happiness
ttyl Liz |
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• Dec. 22, 2006 - Merry Christmas !!
| I think I have completed all of the wrapping. I hope I have not forgotten where I had everything hidden. Today is baking day. We have 2 Christmas celebrations, one with our immediate family and one with our extended family. The second one we rent a hall and have pot luck. It is always such fun, kids you have not seen for a year, catching up on family news and just rejoicing in being part of such a large caring family. I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas and enjoys time spent with family and friends. .....Liz |
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• Dec. 16, 2006 - Beginning Reading
| We have just completed the Beginning Reading project pack from Hands of a Child. I have tried many phonics programs but most were ineffective because they failed to keep Katrina's interest for long. If a program is 'no fun" learning is not happening! Learning should be fun and this unit is designed to be a great fun learning experience. I felt that Beginning Reading was absolutely wonderful but more importantly dd loved it. She asked each day to work on her book and reviewed the previous days lesson without being prompted to do so. This unit gives you all the tools you need to teach the short vowel sounds(a,e,i,o,u). The method utilized is unique. Each vowel has activities that start with an engaging short story. Sam,Ella,Izzy,Ollie,and Uncle Uzzy grab the imagination of the child.Each story is followed by activities and games which are not only fun but allow the child to use the newly learned sounds.The variety of activities keeps the child anticipating the next lesson. The last activity introduces blends and is perfect as a lead into phonograms and further vowel studies. As Katrina says vowels are confusing but this is fun. She has now decided she should teach her almost 4 year old cousin how to sound out words. It is so cute watching her teach, and what is amazing is how much he is learning. To his parents surprise he is starting to recognize vowels and their short sounds. Who would I recommend this unit to? I would recommend this unit to anyone who has a beginning reader,to anyone who has a child who needs hands on activities , and to anyone who has a struggling early reader. Please go to the Hands of a Child website and check out this unit and all of their other wonderful products. Liz |
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• Dec. 8, 2006 - Snow,Snow ,Snow
Good morning all We live sw Ontario. and last night we got over 2 and 1/2 feet of snow . IT IS STILL SNOWING. Nothing is moving in the city .... well off to shovel. Have a good day
Liz |
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• Dec. 5, 2006 - The Ants Go Marching
Good evening I wanted to give a review of this wonderful unit. I originally purchased this unit to keep a very busy little 4 yr old occupied while dd did other lapbooks. I felt she would not enjoy the unit or feel it was too easy for her. WRONG.... It is a superbly crafted book that was extremly easy to adapt.
It is based on the song, the ants go marching, and the activities are based on the 10 verses of the song. We sang the little song so much I still am humming it..lol. (if you ever heard me sing you would know why I am humming)
The 4 yr old loved the song and memorized it. He learned left from right,up vs. down,counting 1-15, more vs. less, writing m's and t's and many games. Many of the activities are kinetic in nature which blended nicely with the written work. GENIUS. 
I adapted the unit to dd in the following ways, she reviewed the water cycle, completed an "m" word vocab list, learned how to tie her shoes, did a mini book on bees and ants, skip counting by 2's ,5's, and 10's,and wrote a letter to a friend, I am sure I have missed a few but you get the idea.Instead of gluing the pieces in the lapbook we placed velcro dots on the pieces and use them on the felt board to retell the story.
This unit, as with all units from HOAC ,stimulate my child's curiosity, creativity and love of learning. Thank You .
Please go to Handsofachild.com and check it out..
Liz
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• Dec. 5, 2006 - Sinus woes
Hello everyone I am back. I have had a terrible sinus infection, I am finally feeling better. yeah ...... I felt like I was going in reverse while dd was in fast forward. We are back to work at school and loving it. We finished our lapbook " the ants went marching" I will post a review later today. Our next projects include Symbols of Christmas ,Christmas cheer, and Beginning Reading. All of these from HOAC of course.!! ttyl
Liz |
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• Nov. 29, 2006 - Normal is not happening
Our day is not going well!! Dd has had too much excitment over the last few days, birthday ,company, field trip etc.. She is bit like a pinball today with absolutely zero focus. After lunch I think we will have some quiet activities. like reading .Maybe we will do some prep work for our Symbols of Christmas lapbook. Our school is definitely eclectic and child driven.. Schedules are next to impossible to keep. Even with our unusual schedule she accomplishes so much. I am sure the pm will go better.(I hope)
Liz
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• Nov. 29, 2006 - Birthday
Good morning The 26 th was dd's 7 th birthday. As she says she is officially 7 now. Apparently you must have a party to be official ! It was fun to watch the little princesses trying their best to be regal,eventually the crowns and wands were left behind and the games began. I will post pics when I get a chance and if I don' mess it up.  Nobody I know can mess up pics like me. I seem to have a mental block about cameras. Today's plan is to get back to normal ,whatever that is!!!! ttyl Liz |
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• Nov. 27, 2006 - Sale at Hands of a Child
Good morning everyone
Just a quick note to let everyone know that there is a great sale on ebooks at HOAC. 30% off . Go check it out. I will be back later to tell you about dd's birthday.
Liz
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• Nov. 25, 2006 - Product review
Good morning everyone. I wanted to tell you about the greatest company! It is In the Hands of a Child . They produce ready to assemble lapbooks. The products,the individualized service and their positive attitude are invaluable to me as a homeschool mom. Before I discovered their e products homeschool was extremely difficult. I tried making my own lapbooks but found the process very time consuming. My dd has ADHD and needs hands on learning. Her short attention span and constant movement are not compatable with workbook learning. Finding the time and sometimes the energy to do the research etc. often found me at my computer at 2 am. The next day I would feel overwhelmed and grumpy. Now, with the research done for me and ready to assemble I can enjoy learning with my dd. What a blessing!! In fact, dd only wants to do packs from HOAC. As Niki says dd has turned into a HOAC snob  .
We just completed Charlotte and Wilbur ebook project pack from HOAC. It is a super story about friendship and loyalty. Dd learned so much from this project(and so did I ).I am sure it will be one of her favorites. The information about spiders and pigs was great .Did you know that baby spiders are called spiderlings, or that an egg sac can contain up to 2000 eggs,pigs are omnivores and slop is is rather digusting ? The graphics are wonderful and the different folds make a visually appealing presentation.Dd is waiting patiently(not) to learn more about spiders and pigs. Fortunately for me HOAC has ebooks on both. yea!! When teaching a child with a different learning style, finding the right tools is often difficult, as I said in a previous post. HOAC is a perfect match for dd's learning style. I would recommend that you check it out.
Liz
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• Nov. 22, 2006 - A better day
Good evening everyone  Today was a much better day! It was almost the same as yesterday , the only thing that changed was my attitude lol. We completed our lapbook and it is wonderful. I am so proud of my little lady, she worked so hard. For any of you who have special learners, you will understand what I mean. Just the fact that she sat for that long two days in a row is a miracle . She wants to take her completed books to the family Christmas and show everyone the work she does. She is the only homeschooled child in the extended family, so it should be interesting. I want to post the great resources I use and eventually photos .. I need to have a goof proff camera. I am the one person that no one trusts to take pics.  See you all later. Liz |
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• Nov. 21, 2006 - Will this day ever end????
 Hi everyone. Is anyone else just having one of those days??It is only 5:50 and I feel like I could go to bed and stay there till day after tomorrow. Dd was especially busy today and refused to even consider doing anything except her lapbook . She is completing her lapbook on charlotttes web. We worked on it for over 6 hours. The only way she would stop was her need for food....  Dd has adhd and some days it is just less stressful to let her go with the flow. Until I found lapbooks ,dd would not complete workbooks or just about anything else. So while it was a long day ,I am so thankful she is enjoying learning . I must go supervise bathtime.. My plan for the evening includes early bedtime for me too.. Have a good eve everyone. |
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• Nov. 20, 2006 - intro
 Good evening everyone !! This is my first try at blogging . I hope to get back often and gather information from other homeschoolers. We are homeschooling our 6 yr old dd. She and the public school were not compatable. They thought she should sit still for 6 hours a day, and she felt that was extreme. Her daily visits to the office were not enjoyable and rather frightening for her. After much soul searching we decided that homeschool was the only alternative. That decision was made just over 1 yr ago, and we love it. She is thriving this year. I must confess last year was very stressful. This year is great... I discovered the how to teach a VERY busy child methods. Not bad , it only took me a year !!!! Hope to be back tomorrow
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