4 Weeks

We have completed our first four weeks of homeschooling. The time has gone quickly, especially since we still have some summer activities like swimming that have kept us busy. In the past 4 weeks, we have made an All About Me book, learned 4 Bible verses, talked about what history means and read about Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall, Noah, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. We have learned a fun song about the continents that Elliott put to good use at the zoo to figure out where the animals live. We are about 3/4 of the way through the first grade box of Hooked on Phonics. We do a calendar and the weather every day, and I have also added storytime to our morning work. We checked out several books from the library and enjoy choosing one each day, and we started reading Charlotte's Web this week.

Elliott has daily handwriting or thinking worksheets and is doing some Montessori fine motor activities. Math is an interesting subject. After completing Unit 8 in our Math-U-See curriculum, I took another look at the book and noticed that there are only 30 units. We had been doing a week's worth of math work in one day! It was all review for Elliott at least, and we probably would have gone through it more quickly than the book suggests, but after I realized my mistake we were able to take a little break from the math curriculum and work on telling time.

Today we went for a hike at a nearby park and explored their Nature Center and pond. The kids were able to see tadpoles in action and even caught a large tadpole that still had a tail but also little legs. It tied in nicely to our lesson on frogs this week and happened completely by accident. I am sure we will be exploring more of the programs offered at the Nature Center. The guides there were extremely helpful and friendly.

I am now planning the next four weeks of our lessons. I have learned a lot in our journey so far. I feel like our curriculum has a few weaknesses, so I will add some activities to cover those. Our schedule is working pretty well. We do calendar, storytime, history and any science or art lessons in the morning. Then we cover phonics and math during Aaron's naptime. I still need to come up some activities for Aaron. So far we've had fun and learned a lot. I think that's all I could ask for the first 4 weeks!

Obsession

My children are obsessed with Star Wars. We have been playing it almost non-stop for several days. Elliott is Luke Skywalker, Aaron is Chewbacca, and I am Princess Leia. Still working on the braids.

This morning we made little miniature Star Wars puppets by printing out internet pictures of the characters and taping them to craft sticks. It's getting nerdier and nerdier around here. I am supposed to be making more characters right now. Shhhh - I had to blog this while E is cutting out the pictures. He's working on fine motor skills though, so I'm counting that as school. :)

You can see the puppets in our play-doh creation of, you guessed it, more Star Wars. Clockwise from the top is the Millenium Falcon (or Molivian Falcon as some members of our family call it), Luke's X-Wing, Luke's house, and Darth Vader's Tie Fighter (in black).

Elliott did say a few minutes ago, "Momma, you're the best!" That definitely makes it worth it.

Oh dear, he's getting the play-doh out. I better finish making my little Star Wars people on sticks!

Elliott's First Day of Kindergarten

Elliott started Kindergarten today! We had a fun time learning about Creation, History, Math, and Phonics. We also took pictures, measured and weighed Elliott and listed his favorite things. The boys really enjoyed singing and acting out a song about the continents. They got to hop and crawl and act like monkeys. It was perfect for them.

I still have to learn the best way to organize our learning time. We did part of our work this morning and then finished up with phonics and math while Aaron took a nap this afternoon. That seemed to work pretty well.

I asked Elliott what he thought about our day, and he said "good." I think that means it was a successful first day!

The Importance of Bedtime

Tonight a thunderstorm rolled through our neighborhood right around bedtime. The boys got to stay up a little later than usual watching a movie and then the thunder began. Aaron wasn’t scared at all when I put him to bed, even though the thunder and lightning were intense. Our power flickered a few times, so I got out the flashlights after I left his room. About 5 minutes later, the power did go out. I came upstairs to check on Aaron and the lights were back on before I got up the stairs. He was looking at me when I peeked in his room, so I went in and rocked him for 10 minutes or so.

Aaron and I have spent a lot of time together rocking in that lovely Pottery Barn rocker that Matt gave me for my birthday 6 years ago. As we were rocking, I was reminded of all those times and the bond that we share because of our middle of the night time together. I was thinking about what a special time that is to share together, even when you’re sleep-deprived and begging God to just please let this baby sleep through the night.

We still do bedtime with our boys. They are still young, but I have found it to be such a special time that I plan to continue it as they grow. Maybe we won’t be rocking and singing lullabies, but it’s a great time to just share about the day and see what’s on their minds. Family mealtimes seem to be all the rage these days, and they certainly are important. But bedtime is also a really important part of our day. It’s rarely peaceful. Sometimes chaotic. Occasionally maddening. The pajamas, the teeth brushing, the potty time, did I mention the teeth brushing? But then, after they are herded into their rooms (finally!), it’s storytime, and Bible time, and prayer time. Aaron still likes lullabies. Elliott likes to snuggle. And in case you haven’t noticed, my boys are rarely still and quiet – which is what makes bedtime so nice. They are calm, quiet, snuggly. I ask Elliott if he has any problems or questions. Did he have a fun day? Aaron wants to sing our new silly version of “All the Pretty Little Horses” over and over again. And then they are asleep, and the house is finally quiet, and I get to spend some time with my sweet husband. And we get ready to do it all over again the next day. And I wouldn’t change a thing.

On manners and dead sea creatures

I will post the picture first as an excuse for the completely unrelated thoughts that are bombarding my brain tonight.

We got back from the beach on Saturday evening. It was such a fun trip, and I will write a real post when I have a few extra brain cells to spare.

Anyway, I have been accumulating children's clothes for 5 years now and have about run out of room in our closet downstairs. So naturally, I would choose this week (after vacation and before we begin homeschooling next week) to go through each and every item of clothing that the boys have worn over the past 5 years and try to determine if it makes the cut to go back into the closet, if it should be donated to Goodwill, or sold at consignment. That giant pile of clothes in the picture is all that I have purged and is almost half of what I started with. I am feeling so free...except for the bags and bags of clothes to go to Goodwill, a friend with a new baby, and the consignment store. I am, however, making progress on the school room (once you get past the bags of clothes) and will hopefully post pictures soon. I could even see enough carpet to vacuum tonight!

Then I came upstairs, put the boys to bed, did the dishes, and found some formerly living sea creatures in a plastic watering can that my niece collected her shells in...last week. It was a bit odoriferous.

And while I was washing the sand down my kitchen sink and hoping that sand sharpens garbage disposal blades, I began pondering what my children should call adults. Up until now, the boys have called the adults in their lives by their first names such as Mrs. Katie and Mr. Chris. In preschool, children call their teachers by their first name prefaced with Ms. or Mr. But in kindergarten, they begin using the teachers' last name. Which made me wonder - is this related to the child's age, the adult's age, the situation, or some other arbitrary factor? Perhaps the difficulty of pronouncing their last name?

And when do you go back to calling adults by their first name? I am pretty sure if I ran into the parents of my childhood best friend, I would want to call them Mr. and Mrs. England even though they attended my wedding 9 years ago and I have 2 children of my own.

I have recently found myself using the adult's age as the standard for their moniker. So if someone belongs to my parents' generation, they will likely be called by their last name. If the person is close to my age, then I would go with the first name.

Are there any rules about this? If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments. Now, please pardon me, I must go Google manners.

On Monday after several days of parties and visiting with family and friends, we took advantage of the holiday to have a family day of our own. Matt and I took the boys to the children's museum for some hands-on fun. The boys had such fun and there were some new exhibits since the last time we were there. After a morning of playing, we had lunch at the crowd-pleasing Chick-fil-a. Then it was back home where everyone took a nap - even Elliott. He fell fast asleep in the car on the way home. He was up late that night, but afternoon naps are always a nice treat.

The boys are ready to hit the road!

Daddy gets to practice his keyboard skills on the tour bus.

I think the day was a success.

Lost Tooth

Elliott lost his first tooth last night! It came out while I was brushing his teeth. He said "ouch" a few times while I was brushing and when I pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth, there was a little bitty tooth on the brush! He put it under his pillow and was most excited to find $2 there this morning.