Chronicles of a mother who never wanted an only child and always wanted to homeschool. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sun, 9 Nov 2008 18:06:00 -0600 Sun, 9 Nov 2008 18:06:00 -0600 I have finished posting both my preschool curriculum as completed and my kindergarten curriculum as planned and in progress at my other blog.  I plan on using that blog as more of a record of curriculum and this blog as a place to write observations on the education adventure and raising an only child. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/616864/ Sun, 9 Nov 2008 18:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/616864/ We've been reading the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.  Two nights ago, we read "The Beginning of the Armadillos".  This led to much laughter because of the following two passages, which I had to read three times each: "Perhaps she said that when you water a Hedgehog you drop him into your paw, and when you meet a Tortoise you must shell him till he uncoils....When you scoop water with your paw you uncoil it with a Hedgehog...when you paw your meat you drop it into a Tortoise with a scoop." "Well, suppose you say that I said that she said something quite different.  I don't see that it makes any difference; because if she said what you said I said she said, it's just the same as if I said what she said she said." So, the next thing I knew, Samuel was asking me if we could go to the zoo to see the armadillo.  I didn't even know our zoo had one.  We went today and at first we couldn't see it because it was hiding, but Samuel was very patient and finally we were rewarded with a sighting.  Even after it has paraded around for us and gone into hiding again, we stayed to "observe" in case in came out again.  So different from the many children I see racing from one animal to the next. So now our next step is to find a good book from the library and learn more about the funny animal we first read about in a made up story. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/615739/ Thu, 6 Nov 2008 19:18:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/615739/ We've had a tough couple of weeks as we lost a dear family member to cancer.  She fought a brave and long fight.  So I will catch up soon.  I did get all of my preschool curriculum on my new blog, so if you're interested in that, check it out (last entry, I'm too much in a hurry to find the link now). I did want to share one interesting thing.  This past week, I had both my son and my nephew who is 11 months older than Samuel, but in the same grade (K).  They were in the car and Samuel and I have been listening to a Top 40 Classical music CD trying to decide on our next composer.  His favorite on CD 2 is Rossini's William Tell Overture, so he had me play it in the car for Tyler.  Tyler said, "I know this song from XM Kids, but it has words.".  I think that must be a station on XM satellite radio which we don't have (or movies in our car!).  So he starts singing along to the piece played by orchestra only.  On the one hand, maybe this is the only way some kids will be exposed to classical music.  On the other hand, they don't even know it's classical music! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/612734/ Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/612734/ I have been playing around with a new blog at blogger.  For now, I have been posting my preschool curiculum and book lists.  Check it out. Jennybell http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/609912/ Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/609912/ Week of October 12, 2008 Bible, Math, Writing - nothing extra beyond what is going on at school Reading - Here Comes Silent "e" by Anna Jane Hays Tricky Monkey Up On Top by Jane Belk Moncure Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss - this took him all week to get through but he was so proud.  It is filled with tongue twisters and nonsense words and he really had to pay attention to the words to read them correctly. Literature - We've been taking a break from my official list, but we still read every night.  We've read some pumpkin books and also If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss.  After that book, S5 made up his own (oral) version.  For 30 minutes each Friday, a parent reader is assigned to S's school class.  She (or he, but so far it's only been moms) picks the books.  One mom has a deaf child (not the one in my son's class) and is the author of several children's sign language story books which she shared with the class.  This past Friday the mom taught the word onomatopeia (I hope I spelled it right), I'm assuming because there were some of those types of words in one or more of the books she picked.  So, Samuel has been saying the word over and over and points them out when we come across one in our readings.  On my turn, I just read three of S's favorite books.  I guess when my turn rolls around again, I'll have to do something a little fancier! Music - Still focusing on Tchaikovsky, we watched some of the scenes from The Nutcracker Ballet on DVD and read Mike Venezia's book about Peter Tchaikovsky.  For the most part I like his books on artists and composers.  Venezia mentioned a few other of his most famous compositions so I have requested another CD from the library to listen to next week. History - We read A Picture Book of Christopher Columbus by David Adler. Nature - We began reading An Owl in the House: A Naturalist's Diary by Bernd Heinrich.  This is kind of long and we don't read from it every day, so it will be a while. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/607048/ Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/607048/ This is a couple days late, but I got a little busy.  I just wanted to talk about S5's first day in "Big Church".  In August, he moved from the preschool church to the elementary church and, since he is really not thrilled with change right now, of course, he says he doesn't like it.  Each week, I offer to let him come to "big church" with us, and Hubby always discourages him by saying he has to be still and quiet.  I actually have been thinking that I want S in church with us and that even though he may not get any or much out of it, at least I would know what he is exposed to.  We go to a mega-church and I don't even know the teachers/workers where he is. Well, Sunday he was adament that he was going to church with us, so I threw a small notebook and some colored pencils in my purse, and off we went.  He spent the whole time pretty much coloring in his little book, but he did stop and listen to the music, he got to understand what baptism looked like (I had explained the why and how of baptism, but the thought just scared him until now), and I even explained communion which of course he thought was a snack. I am pretty sure none of the message would have gotten through, but it was a pretty grown-up topic (How should Christians set an example in turbulent times).  Still, I am very pleased with the family worship experience and hope he wants to continue going with us, at least occasionally. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/604593/ Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:50:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/604593/ Week of October 5 - 11 Despite a sick week for me, when I wrote this down I realize S5 actually accomplished quite a bit, most on his own.  I've always followed his lead pretty much, but maybe I need to stay out of it more (lol). Bible Memory Verse - Genesis 2:8 "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward of Eden." Math Coin recognition game with Coin Country book Putting numbered cards in order 1 - 30 "0" addition facts Music Tchaikovsky - Selections from The Nutcracker Suite and Swan Lake.  S loves all of the selections, but his favorite is the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Reading "The Shape of Me and Other Stuff" by Dr. Seuss "First the Egg" by Laura Vaccaro Seeger "Big Dog...Little Dog" by P.D. Eastman Finished "DK Trip to the Zoo" by Karen Wallace History "In 1492" by Jean Marzollo Nature Study - books from the Smithsonian Oceanic Collection "Manatee Winter" by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld "Reef Hideaway: The Story of a Clown Anemonefish" by Doe Boyle "Otter on His Own:  The Story of a Sea Otter" by Doe Boyle Handiwork - Plastic Canvas Needlework Beading   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/603475/ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/603475/ Week of September 28 School is actually going better now.  He is not complaining as much about the writing and I have seen some of the books that are coming up and know he will be challenged then.  I still plan on "after-schooling" but I do have to work around his schedule and required homework.  This week we spent a lot of our extra time making an "All About Me" book for a parent/student project for school, so it was a light after-schooling week.  I was the parent reader Friday afternoon in his class and saw some of the other books.  I am proud of the fact that his book was not as polished as some of the others and that it really was mostly his book.  I am also waiting on some books from the library. Bible ·    Memory  - Genesis 2:8 “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.” ·    Reading – Genesis 2, I Samuel 2  (NIV)   Math ·    How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara - I had hoped he might want to repeat this experiment, but he said no.  I will bring it up again when we are carving our pumpkins.  Hubby likes to carve fun designs and I like to roast pumpkin seeds....we did this even before S joined our family.   Reading/Writing ·    Finish DK Wild Baby Animals by Karen Wallace ·    Begin DK A Trip to the Zoo by Karen Wallace ·    Rockin’ Phonics video, Volume 1    Literature/Poetry ·   Finished A Toad for Tuesday by Russell E. Erickson ·   Began A Bear Called Paddington by  Michael Bond (read by Daddy and I am really excited by this)  History/Geography ·    Little Firefly: An Algonquian Legend, written and adapted by Terri Cohlene   Nature/Science ·    DK Wild Baby Animals by Karen Wallace ·    Henry and the Great Flood by Gary Richmond.  (“View from the Zoo Stories” written by a zookeeper)   Art ·   Van Gogh – Saved The Mulberry Tree as computer wallpaper and asked S if he could identify the artist and he could.  He said it had swirls like The Starry Night and that's how he knew. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/600116/ Sat, 4 Oct 2008 18:32:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/600116/ Week of September 21   Bible ·    Memory - “And God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 ·    Reading – Genesis 1  (NIV)   Math ·    Double the Ducks by Stuart J Murphy – this is the second time reading this book.  He is really getting this concept.   Reading/Writing ·    DK Wild Baby Animals by Karen Wallace (Level 1 book) – he has not been excited about reading lately, but this is a great find because it is something he is interested in.  ·    Practice writing first name ·    Mr. Brown Can Moo by Dr. Seuss – in a cousin sleepover, I let each child (3 total) pick one book for me to read.  Samuel picked this, but then wanted to read it himself.  This was the first time he wanted to read a book without my asking first!  The only word he needed help with was “ought” and really, what kind of word is that anyway?  LOL  phonetics doesn’t quite work here.   Literature/Poetry ·    Finished James Herriot’s Treasury for Children ·    Memorized 5 verses to Mary Had a Little Lamb (as written in Lavender's Blue) ·    Began A Toad for Tuesday by Russell E. Erickson – we’re going to have a fine on this one because when I went to renew it, it was denied because someone else had requested it…rats!   Nature/Science ·    Zoo program on Big Cats ·    DK Wild Baby Animals by Karen Wallace   Art ·   Van Gogh – Overview using Mike Venezia’s book – he recognized A Starry Night and we talked about some of his themes and some of his techniques and a little about his life.  I saved an Iris painting as our desktop picture. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/596145/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/596145/ This was a light week because I spent two days out of town for a conference and the other days I spent trying to get my parents' house ready for them to come home after being gone for 3 weeks.  Normally this would not be a time-consuming effort, but of course on Sunday, a wind storm caused by Ike downed trees and caused massive power outages. This Sunday newspaper said 52,000 customers were still without power.  Anyway, I had to get a landscaper to come and get a HUGE limb cleaned up, and I had to empty their freezer and throw away a lot of food. Their power came back on Wednesday. Good news - S is liking school a little better.  So here are our notes for the week: Bible “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”  John 3:16 “And God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 Music Home on the Range Reading Berenstain Bears and the Baby Chipmunk Literature Finished Surprise Island by Gertrude Chandler Warner Read four stories in James Herriot’s Treasury for Children History Power outage prompted discussion of how people lived before electricity. Art Coloring with Nana - we have just begun spending each Thursday morning with Nana and PopPop (my in-laws) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/593024/ Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/path/593024/