WFMW

This week is my first official week of doing preK3 at home with Owen. When I did preK3 with Madeline we often ran into the problem of Owen (who was 1 at the time) making a mess of whatever activity Madeline was doing at the time. Sometimes it was fine and she didn't mind. Other times we could quickly distract him with another activity she had already completed that he could pretend to do. But many times it frustrated Madeline and make things a little harder than I wanted them to be. We worked around it, but some days were more difficult. Planning for this year I had a feeling I was in for the same battle this year with Ben being 1. I wanted to learn from the past and try to find a new solution. So I thought and thought and thought. In the past often a solution was to do the work at the kitchen table, but that gets tedious. And boring. Working in the morning while Ben naps works, but only if Ben actually takes a morning nap.



Then I remembered pocket charts. And I found my solution. I purchased a relatively inexpensive pocket chart off of Amazon. Jon brought home some great heavy-duty magnets to hang it with. And since the door to our playroom is metal it works well. I can work with Owen while Ben plays in the playroom and everyone is happy.

Owen loves the pocket chart. We can move it high enough so Ben can't reach the materials in the pockets. I can take it down each day if I want, or we can leave Owen's completed work for Jon to see when he gets home. Since the chart is hung by magnets I can raise and lower it to allow Owen access to the higher pockets and he can keep completed activities up if he wants to. As you can see our letter this week is A.

The best part is that since it hangs from a door it doesn't take up anymore room. And when you live in a small(er) house space is at a premium.

I am linking up with Works For Me Wednesday. I have seen posts about it around the blogs I read but I never feel like I have something to share, but this week is different! If you are stopping by from there please leave a comment. I love to visit new blogs!

Changes and more changes

There have been a lot of changes around here in just the past 7 days.



Last week at this time I was working on accepting that Madeline will be in school in less than a month. I was working to keep the house clean and hoping and working towards finding a buyer so that we could purchase a bigger house in a nicer town for our family. I was working on letting go of things I can't control.



And then this past week happened.



In the past seven days homeschooling is once again on the table. We are now looking into becoming landlords and renting out our house. And the price of the house went want dropped another $12,000.



I'll start with the biggest change- becoming a landlord. This is nothing I ever planned to do, but our house is not selling. And getting mortgages is becoming more difficult. Our realtor feels that, based on these facts, if we want this particular house (and we REALLY do) we should consider renting out our house. He tells us that there is a need for rental properties, especially houses, right now. We have enough for a down payment without selling (with the new house price) so we are looking into the ins and outs of being landlords and getting qualified for a mortgage while still owning our current house. It is a scary prospect, but also exciting.



Jon and our realtor went and looked at the house we really want. After the extreme price decrease we were becoming concerned that there were more problems than we had originally seen or that the mold had taken over more of the house. The mold is still there but has not progressed much. It still looks contained to the basement which means we can demolish the finished walls, clean it and be done. Obviously inspections need to be done to ensure that there is nothing else wrong, but we are cautiously optimistic.



As for the homeschooling, that change a large shock to me as Jon was the one who suggested it. There is a reason for this. In our current city if we were to hold Madeline out this year (for homeschool or preschool) she would be required to enter first grade based solely on her age. Because of this fact Jon was pushing for kindergarten this year even though we are not convinced she is ready. He didn't want to keep her home and then be required to send her to first grade, whether she was ready or not. The other option, of keeping her out for two years, is not something he sees as ideal. In discussing our possible move the idea of holding Madeline out a year came up again (I was talking about a mom I know who held her son out for an extra year in the new town). Jon didn't realize that if we move to the new town and we choose to keep Madeline home another year we can still enroll her in kindergarten next school year if we choose, regardless of the fact that she will be 6 at the time. Because of this he would prefer to keep her home this coming year and homeschool her with the kindergarten curriculum. This way the following year we can decide, based on Madeline herself and not her age, whether she is ready for first grade or needs another year of kindergarten. Needless to say, I am ecstatic at the prospect.





I never expected so many changes in 1 week. At this time last week I was struggling so much. But now everything is falling into place. I know nothing is definite, there are still so many things to figure out, but I am so much more optimistic. I am very scared at the prospect of becoming a landlord, but all of the positive things that can come because of it are slowly helping me to realize that this is a risk that will help my family. I am a believer that we control much of what happens to us through our choices. This past week has shown me that although I can control many things I still need to open my eyes and look at options that are not familiar to me and be open to these changes.

Why we may homeschool

There are many homeschooling blogs out in blog world. And I admire every mom (and dad) who has taken on their child's education for the long run. These blogs were very helpful to me last year when I kept Madeline home last year and taught her at home (as I will for Owen next year). Now we are considering homeschooling for next year and while I am excited at the prospect, I am also completely overwhelmed. The idea of being in charge of Madeline's education is a scary thought. Jon and I are already in charge of these tiny people, keeping them safe and loved and teaching them how to be good people. Now I want to take on the additional role of academic teacher as well?



But isn't it all the same? I mean I can teach my kids to be good, kind, loving, productive, moral and ethical people without teaching them academics. But at the same time I can teach them all of those things while teaching them academic skills as well. At least that is what I keep telling myself.



The first reason I considered homeschooling is full day kindergarten. I know the studies (I have read many of them) that children who go to full day kindergarten do well academically. But I haven't seen enough proof that these children would NOT have done well academically if they went to half day kindergarten. I also know that "at some point we need to let our children go." Well, yeah I need to let my kids be who they are and not tie them to my apron strings. But who decided 5 was the age where a child will spend the same number of waking hours at school with their teacher as they will at home with their parents? I read about homeschooling, and this is because it is a 1:1 ratio or something close to that, I learned children that are home schooled need between 30 and 90 minutes of academics a day to learn all they need to know in kindergarten. So why would I send my 5 year old to a school where she will be 1 of 25 (or more) for 6 plus hours a day?



The second reason is my child herself. When she went to preschool this year her teacher thought she was one of the youngest in the class based on her behavior. As a former teacher I know what that means. I means she acts younger than everyone else. She doesn't hinder others' learning time according to her teacher, but she doesn't do what she needs to do. And she needs a lot of individual attention to help her stay on task. And I question is this who she is? Or is this a sign that she needs more time to mature before being in a structured environment all day five days a week? She is doing fine academically so holding her back does not seem to be a great option. We are setting up a conference with her teacher in the next few weeks to get a progress report, but from the quick notes I have been getting I believe she has not grown as much as we had hoped.



The third reason is the schools. Jon thinks public schools are okay. I am wavering. And it isn't just the school district we live in. I think about the large numbers of kids in the classrooms and the 1 teacher. The teachers get an aide, sometimes, but the aide is for the kids who need a LOT of help. And what about the kids who need a little help? Or the kids who need a challenge? They don't always get the attention that they need. I am not bashing teachers, I am one and I am married to one. But my views on the profession definitely have changed in the past few years, partly because I am now a parent and partly because of all of the laws and regulations that are going on. I am sure those teachers are working as hard as they can (as Jon does and I did) but you cannot reach every child all the time. I don't want my child to fall through the cracks. And while Jon and I plan to be involved parents, why do I need to spend a few hours every night reinforcing what was done at school if I can simply spend a little more time during the day teaching it? Of course since Jon and I are on different sides of this belief we have a lot of discussions before any decisions are made.



Right now we are taking it by kindergarten. Jon is in agreement about the maturity factor. He also feels, as do I, that if our children need to be retained at any point it needs to be before grade 3, preferably in kindergarten or 1st grade. But I am concerned about holding a child back due to maturity alone. What happens if Madeline (or Owen or Ben in the future) were held back for maturity but then were bored because they were not academically challenged? I see that Madeline is doing fine with her preK work, except for handwriting but that is an attention issue not an ability issue. I see no reason to have her do preK again, but as I told Jon, I don't want her to hate kindergarten because she is so structured. She already tells me that she doesn't get to play as much on the days she goes to school. If she is aware of that now, what will next year with 5 full days be like?



This was sort of a rambling post. And I am sorry for that. I am sorting out my feelings on the school issue right now. Of course if we do homeschool, even for just kindergarten, it means that we will live off of one income for a longer period of time than originally planned. And that needs to be taken into consideration along with everything else.

Independance

I am really frusterated with people telling me that my four year old needs to learn independance. Especially when it involves her crying as I leave her at school.

I get that she needs to learn to be away from mommy. I know that and I am not fighting that (well maybe a tad bit, she is my oldest baby after all...). But what does independance really mean? Does it mean she must survive and like preschool two full days a week? Or does it mean that she needs to be able to do things on her own (like tie her shoelaces, use the bathroom, get dressed) and make decisions that are age appropriate? And how does going to school make her independant? Does that mean if I chose to homeschool I am raising children who will not be independant?

I really thought I was okay with preschool this year. I am sad that my oldest baby is old enough for school. But I thought this will be good for her and I. But when I drop her off and she is sad and is crying to see me go how is that good? I know what some will say- she is fine when I leave, she will get used to it, changes are hard for everyone...yada yada yada. And much of this is from moms who have gone through this themselves. And I am not saying they are wrong. And I start to agree. And I remind myself this has only been three days of school.

And then I start to think what would happen if I homeschooled her? Would that be bad? And then I start to think I could never in a million years teach her while I have a newborn and a 2 year old at home as well. Last year was a struggle at times and that was only with one other child! But I won't lie, there is a part of me that really wants to homeschool. And everytime
I read a blog about a mom who homeschools I am a little jealous. I don't get jealous of moms who have all their kids in school...well okay occasionally I think how wonderful a few hours of kid free time would be.

I am trying to figure out what that means for me. And how my wants effect my family. And if I would be selfish if I pushed for homeschooling. I won't lie, Jon does not support the idea. I used to agree with his main reason- socialization. But I feel like I can overcome that. We also agree that for the most part public schools work. But I am not fully convinced they are the right thing. I would love to send my kids to Catholic schools but I can't afford it.

I am at loose ends right now and the worst part is that I can't trust myself to know that I want this for the right reasons.

Can you tell I am a bit mixed up?

Money Saving Tuesday- crafts

I love crafts. Luckily so do my kids. Sometimes Madeline will ask "what are we making today mommy?" I love that!

Crafts can be expensive if you let them. Buying all those little kits adds up. So I try not to (even though I am tempted by the pretty illustrations on the boxes...) But where to get the ideas and supplies?

With little kids construction paper is cheap and easy. A bottle of glue, some paper, scissors and crayons (or paints if you are feeling brave)and you can make tons of things! This week in honor of Easter we are making baby chicks (I will post pics of them later), sponge painting bunnies (Ramblings of a Crazy Woman) and making an Angle Rolled Away the stone craft (www.dltk-kids.com). All are being made with things I have in my house and all will be enjoyed by kids and mama alike.

I get a lot of questions about where I get my ideas. People have told me how creative I am. HAH! I am not super creative, but I like to have fun and do creative things. So I find ideas. I used to buy books of ideas when I was teaching and had the money to do so. Now my main goal is to do things without spending money if I don't need to. So where do I go? Books at the library (my favorite place), other blogs (love you all!) and websites are a wonderful source for ideas. And when I see an idea I like but do not have the supplies for I don't run out and buy them (okay, well sometimes I do), I try to modify them. If something calls for foam and I don't have it, paper will suffice.

Another place I get ideas is Oriental trading. I LOVE their products, who can resist things that come with each project separately wrapped with all pieces included (no cutting or sorting by mom needed). But the cost adds up, plus do I honestly need 12 projects for my 2 kids? So I look through the catalogue, get ideas and often make the items myself. Or I substitute and make something similar. I saw a cute hand print butterfly idea that I simply cannot justify buying BUT I can make with things I have at home. I also saw a whale flowerpot craft that I cannot justify buying either, but can modify with a yogurt cup (tons of those lying around and free), paper I precut, googly eyes that we always have and some paint. Cute craft for a fraction of the price. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Oriental Trading, but if I were to buy their crafts I would blow my craft budget in a month instead of a year.

Some of my favorite blogs and websites are:
Kaboose
Dltk-kids
Totally Tots
The Crafty Crow
Preschool Express

And when I am looking for a craft for a specific season or holiday or letter I google it. There are so many ideas out there it is amazing!


Doing crafts with kids can be expensive and messy. But it doesn't have to be...well I can't promise anything about the messy part, that is all up to your kids but daddy's old t-shirts make GREAT free smocks! Look at some of the sites I mentioned, look around your house and see what you can do. HAVE FUN!

Giveaway at Home Grown Hearts

Home Grown Hearts is having a giveaway! She is giving away magnetic pom poms which my daughter loves! I made a small set for Madeline but they are starting to fall apart and ERin's look so much nicer that I am hoping to win a set rather than make a new set. Don't know what you would do with magnetic pom poms? Stop by her blog and see how she uses them as well.

If you want to try and win some stop by her blog! She has some great homeschool activities that I use ALL THE TIME.

Homeschool Time

We have had some trouble with our homeschool schedule this past week. We took Monday off since Jon was home (no school in MA). Tuesday we worked for a solid hour. Then yesterday I had to work in the morning for an hour, but with travel time it took the entire morning. Today the kids slept in and then we had library time. We did some puzzles and read many books this morning, but no letter or number work. Tomorrow we will hopefully get some time in before our playgroup, but if they sleep in again it won't happen. I decided last night to continue next week with the work we were supposed to do this week. My goal was to get through the alphabet before the new baby comes and since we have done 16 letters at a letter a week I think it is safe to say that goal will be accomplished. With numbers we are up to 11, she recognizes 0-11 and can count objects up to 10 ( we are still working on counting to 11). Madeline can count to 20, she just can't count objects that high.


The work we did this week and will continue next week is:
Letter H:
Read "My 'h' sound book"
H printable for our ABC book that she glues clipart to the Hh page after coloring the letters
H and h heart sort- I cut hearts out of pink foam and wrote H on some and h on others. M sits and sorts them into the correct piles.
Hippo size sorting
Hippo cut and paste
Hippo puzzle
Hippo Cutting Practice
Hh letter search
H is for house craft activity
Paint bag- I filled a ziploc bag with tempera paint and Madeline practices drawing the letter in it. Confessions of a Homeschooler uses on as well if you want to see a picture.

Math Skills-
Smallest Object worksheet printed from here
Hippo Pattern Activity
I found this great rpintable activity but lost the link. I printed off two sets of cards, one has the numbers 0-9 (one number per card) and the other has different numbers of dots. Madeline has to count the dots and match it to the correct number. Becuase the dots are large this has really helped with her one-to-one correspondance skills when counting.

Handwriting-
We are waiting for our handwriting without tears workbook to come. In the meantime we use foam shapes to build our letters as well as the stamp and see screen that my sil got Madeline for Christmas. I also have tactile cards that I bought on Amazon last year that we trace with our fingers.

Other:
Heart file folder game printed from here
Puzzles from our closet
Roll and build games from Play 2 Learn printables
Play Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
Practice Hopping

I have a few other projects in the works that may get done for next week, or may get done after that. But as you can see I don't make most of the things up by myself. I am not that creative and I just don't have the time. Plus one thing I have learned is not to re-invent the wheel!

We obviously don't do every activity every day. Some we do each day and others we rotate through. Some activities are only done for a week (usually the letter specific ones) and others will re-appear over a few weeks. My goal is 6-7 activities a day, no more than 1 hour. This time does not include arts and crafts or stories that we read.

Visit some of the blogs and websites where I get my materials from. You will find lots of ideas for things to do with your kids as well!

Advent Week 2 update

This has been a crazy busy week. Madeline and Owen look forward to the advent calendar every day, I still think that the candy is the motivator, but they love the activities! I have gotten better about prepping the activities the night before which cuts down on trouble during the activity. Some activities we do in the morning and some in the afternoon (todya's activity will actually be done after dinner.) It all depends on the lenght of time needed and whatever else we have planned for the day.

Our activities for this week:

Day 6- Getting our Christmas Tree

Day 7- hand and foot print reindeer (I traced and cut out the hand and foot prints and the kids glued on the pieces)

Day 8- Gumdrop Christmas tree (idea from chasing cheerios) note to self- there is a large difference between spcie drops and gum drops, namely the sugar coating...

Day 9- gingerbread house (messiest by far) and decorating the Christmas tree

Day 10- cotton ball snowmen (Owen was not in a participating mood this day)

Day 11- paper place Santa (idea from Blue Eyed Blessings)

On top of our advent activities we have been keeping up with our preschool work. This week we did letter S for Santa and Snowmen. This coming week we are working on letter G for Gingerbread Men (I should've saved the gingerbread house for this coming week but that is what I get for not pre planning!) We are doing a lighter load to leave time for advent and Christmas activities but are still spending about 45 minutes to an hour a day on it.

Visit Sugarplum Creations for more advent ideas!

Homeschool Preschool Update

Things are going so so so much better with the preschool attempts over here. This is due to some awesome bloggers who share all of their materials with everyone. I have lots of ideas, but just don't have the ability to carry some of them out. I love to do hands on sorting activities with Madeline but I do NOT have the computer skills to make them and doing it by hand takes a long long time and never comes out quite the way I pictured in. Then a couple weeks ago I started looking for other homeschooling mom blogs and found two that I am in love with. Confessions of a Homeschooler, Home Grown Hearts and Sunflower Schoolhouse share all their awesome creations as downloads. All I do is download, print, cut and laminate. This week we did a lot of pumpkin activities. And I have found great math activities (my trouble spot) which Madeline is much more receptive to. In this one week I have actually seen growth in her number recognition. She is less frusterated, I am less frusterated and life is good.

We have also settled into a routine that seems to work for us. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we don't have planned activities so we spend a good 1 1/2 hours on math and letter activities.

Our days look something like this:
7- wake up, dress and eat breakfast. (yup early risers in this house)
7:30- clean kitchen and playtime for the kids (otherwise known as don't kill each other so mommy can clean up your breakfast mess)
8- calendar, bible story (I got this great children's bible which both Madeline and Owen love), finger play/song/poem and then read our letter book (I got the set on craigslist for $15) and do our letter activities.
8:30- break, usually tv time
9- number activities- learn/review new number of the week and then counting activities
9:30- art activity
10- snack, play, errands, walk and so on.
12-lunch
12:30- After lunch we have started what I call "quiet play." I pull out puzzles, pattern blocks, file folder games, lacing cards, bead sequencing kits and let Madeline and Owen choose. With Madeline I work so that she completes at least one activity before just playing, but they are all toys so she feels like she is playing all the time.
1- tv time
1:30 storytime and nap
After nap is playtime, dinner time and then often a walk with Jon. Two days a week I am not home when they wake up from nap so I don't build preschool activities into the afternoon.

Yes I am one of the moms who builds tv time into the day. I have found with my kids they are less likely to ask for it at other times since we have a routine. We watch one show in the morning, one before nap and one before bed. Occasionally (on rainy days, or lately on days where morning...err most of the day sickness is bothering me we watch extra)

On Thursday and Friday we have storytime and playgroup so we do a shortened preschool day. On those days we do calendar, bible story, poem/fingerplay/song, read our letter book and do one math and one letter activity. Storytime is working out really well this session. Madeline is old enough to go alone. They take all the kids into another room, read stories and do activities without the parents. She is loving it and so am I! Our afternoon schedule works the same.

I am considering homeschooling next year and I do waver with the idea of homeschooling completely, but I am not sure it is right for our family. The more I read about other families doing it the more I wish I could, but it will take a lot of readin,g researching, talking with Jon and really figuring out what works for us before I can make a decision. Added to taht the new little bundle we are expecting this summer and there is a lot to take into consideration.

So that is my update. Thanks for the comments and ideas!

Teaching Math

I stink at teaching math. I just stink at it.
ABC's? No problem!
Small motor skills? Easy as pie.
Handwriting? can do.
Religion? Just got our children's bible today!

But math? boring boring and more boring

I am in a rut. One month in and I am in a rut already. This is bad. I have not been able to come up with fun ideas to teach Madeline her numbers. And to make matters worse the methods I am attempting to use to teach her are just not working.
Examples?
I made a file folder game. No good.
We work with flash cards. Nope.
We do our calendar each day. Well, that method is helping a little since she loves to stick the numbers on the calendar with velcro. But the number sense isn't carrying over to other areas.

The only thing that really works is counting candy. Now I am all for this once in a while. But unfortunatly candy is not the only thing in life Madeline will need to count. If only life were that easy!

We count whenever we can in life. Shoes, clothes, dolls, food, books, pictures. You name it and we count it. I don't want it to seem like math is only 20 minutes a day. But I also don't want to count things 24/7.

Tonight I did some (much needed) research. I found a great Montessori based activity here that I am going to attempt to replicate this weekend. I also found some great picture books that can help with teaching math. When it comes to creating activities from picture books I have a great time. So hopefully tomorrow's store and library trip will inspire activities galore. I also found some great games here that I hope to create over the next few weeks.

Maybe if I have fun with math, then Madeline will have fun with math. I honestly shouldn't say all math is a problem. She does great with sorting and with sizes and shapes. It is counting and number recognition that is not going well. She can count one and two objects. But she cannot recognize the number one. And we have been working with the number one for 4 weeks. I am not trying to be pushy here, but a month on one number? Ouch!

Any suggestions? Reccomendations? Activities?

We are way behind

We are behind in many things, but today my concern is about homeschooling. My goal was to work on one letter and one number each week. This week we fell behind. Last week I did not do anything on Friday so Monday was catch up day. Then Tuesday became Monday's plans, and so forth. Yesterday was cut short due to a special playgroup we were attending. Then today we went to the Big E and did not do anything academic. Madeline learned a lot about animals and other things while we were there but nothing of what I had planned.
So Monday I will still be on Wednesdays plans for this week. I think we will just finish D and 6 and then spend the last two days reviewing all the letters and numbers that we have been working on.
The way I plan is on Sunday I sit down and look up craft ideas for the number and letter I am working on. Then I look at our planned activities for each day and decide which days we will do our crafts. This week I had planned on being home a lot more on Wednesday but we ended up with only half our morning at home. Which meant my time to work with Madeline was cut in half as well.
Earlier this week I wrote about my struggles with working with Madeline at home. I am committed to homeschooling her this year and have some thoughts on how I can make it a more positive experience for both of us. One is to continue to have a routine but change it a little. I think I try to get too much done in each learning session. I do switch activities often but I think I plan too many activities in a row. My new schedule is going to look something like this:
Calendar, song and letter book -15 minutes
Free coloring time- 10 minutes
Letter activity and/or craft- 15 minutes
Snack- 10 minutes
Math/number time- 10 minutes
tv time- 25 minutes (yeah I am one of the moms who allows tv every morning)
Handwriting- 5 minutes
Walk- 30-45 minutes
Playgroup, storytime or other activity (zoo, park, museum, etc) or just playing at home.

The days we stay at home I will also work on small motor skills- lacing beads, cutting with scissors, lacing cards, and things like that.

I am going to try this schedule for a couple of weeks and see how it works. Hopefully this will work. Otherwise it is back to the drawing board. I know if I keep trying I will find what works for us, I just need to patience for it!

Can I Really Do This?

I am having one of those days. You know, where you have these great plans and projects and ideas for the kids and then they just won't comply.

I try to start each day with some preschool lessons for Madeline. After breakfast is over we usually work for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It is not all at once, I work with her throughout the morning. And today she just was not having any of it. I was trying to do a letter and picture matching review with her and all she wanted to do was play dress up. Then we were trying to do numbers (which she is not getting the hang of) and she wanted to watch tv. I am trying to get her to make a number book and an abc book that we add to each week but getting her to color the pages is like pulling teeth.

I know she is 3 1/2. And normally I am fine with her choosing what activities to do. In fact normally I like that I don't need to find tons of things for her to do, she can open her toy box and find something to play with. She is also getting really good at directing Owen and I in her games, our dog oftens gets parts and directions as well.

But when it comes to working on homeschool lessons I want her to be able to follow directions and do what she is asked to do at that time, not only when she feels like it. I know that if she were in school there would be some times when she had choices on what she would do, and other times where there were things she needs to do. That is the balance I am looking for at home as well. I want her to spend some time in ABC's and 123's in the morning, and when i can give her choices on waht activities we do or what order we do them in. I try to get the "academic" stuff out of the way early because I KNOW that is when she works better and it is when I can have some uninterrupted time. As we get later into the day we have more things to do and often places to go as well. And as Madeline gets more and more tired her focus isn't as great. I have tried doing some activities after nap, but often she just wants to be outside. I would love to do handwriting after nap, but she hasn't been a willing participant yet.

I am trying to follow a schedule each day as well. That way we do things in the same order and she gets used to what will come next. Each day we start with calendar and a morning song. Then we read our letter book and do some letter activities-crafts and games as well as some worksheets. Then it is break and free play time. After that we come back and do a few number activities- file folder games, matching games and counting items. Then break and snack time. After that it is fine motor skills- handwriting and scissors are out two favorites at the moment. And all that is done over a period of 1 1/2 or 2 hours. Some days we do less than others.

I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Some days go really well and others just don't like today. I don't want learning to be a miserable experience for any of us and I really want to do preschool at home this year. It has been a month and I don't feel like I am making a whole lot of progress. Added to it I have a very active 16 month old who would like my attention at the same time.
I don't want to give up, but obviously I need to make some changes. Are my expectations to high? Am I trying to cram to much into to short of a time period? Should I spread it out thorugh the day more? Should I do less "academic" things each day? I do try to change the activities every few minutes and bring singing and movement into anything I can.

Okay, I am writing in circles here so I will end this post with a request:
If anyone has any suggestions or ideas please share them!!

Preschool

Yes another post about preschool.
This is different though. I have started, well attempted to start, with homeschool Madeline. I also started a new blog where I will write about the activities we do and how it goes. I will probably not write about that here as much since it could take over the blog if I let it. And that is not why I started this blog. This is supposed to be about how we live in one (and 1/4) incomes. Not that I have written about that in awhile. '
But still.
So if you want to read about my preschooling adventures go visit my new blog Alphabet Days and laugh at me as I figure at the difference between teaching 20 first graders (my former life) and teaching 1 three year old.

Am I the only one?

I was settled in my decision. And then I was uncertain. Now I am settled...
I think.
What decision? Sorry to be confusing. I am talking about my decision not to send Madeline to preschool this year and instead do a sort of homeschool with her. She is three and I just feel that she will be in school for so many years anyway. Why send her this year?
I am an educated person and a teacher when I am not a stay at home mom so I am not making this decision lightly. I know the value of a good education. I also believe that four is a fine age to start school at.
Anyway, I was settled. Then I came home from vacation number 1 to find that the only mom of a three year old that I know NOT sending her kid to school this year has changed her mind and now is. It was easier when there was at least one person who was doing the same thing as me.
Is that sad or what?
So I bugged, er talked to, Jon about it again. His only comment was that if we did send her now I would have some one on one time with Owen. True. But is that a reason to send her? We both agree no. Plus this is not an end all be all decision. I can enroll her in February when she is almost 4 anyway.
Plus I am excited to try homeschooling this year. I have started my plans and made some purchases of materials that I think will really help.
I am set.
I am excited.
Why is motherhood so confusing? I am the only one who second (and third, and fourth, and sometimes fifth) guesses herself this much?

Alphabet books for homeschooling

I am in the process of slowly building up my homeschool supplies for the fall. I am not buying a curriculum, instead I am creating one of my own based on a few that I have found at ABC Jesus Loves Me, Mastery Skills for 3 year olds and Letter of the Week Preparatory Curriculum. Between these three websites I have found a wealth of information. I have begun planning the yera's curriculum and have most of it outlined as well as the first few weeks lessons planned. I know this sounds insane to some, I mean I won't start until August. But Jon has a few weeks off this summer plus he is only working part time. For these reasons I don't want to start homeschooling since he will be around and we will ahve chances for a lot of fun. I plan to start in late August, but I may back it up to late July depending on how things go this summer.
Back to my buying problems. I have bought a few things- bead sequencing set, tactile letters, pattern block set, letter lacing cards- and have begun to introduce them to big rugrat. I want to buy a set of alphabet books. I am torn between two sets. One is this set which we have used a few times just for letter introduction and fun reading time. Big rugrat really likes this series. However, after doing some reading I have also found this set which I feel is a better phonics teaching tool. I can also purchase the entire set for a nominal price, unlike with the first set where I would depend on my library to have the books when I need them. What I am leaning towards is buying the second cheaper set, and supplementing with the library set as we go along.
I am going to do a little more research (and possibly a trip to the library tomorrow morning) before I make my final decision.

Dollar Store

I have been in the dollar store in the next town over once. I remember thinking that it was a good place to go, but have not returned.
Today I went over and wow! I love that store. Everything is $1 and they have a teaching section. I have decided to go through with homeschooling big rugrat in the fall and have been doing a lot of reading over the past few days. I had originally planned to get things going now since I am out of work for a few months, but I may wait until she would actually start school to do "formal," well as formals as you can get, homsechooling in the fall. I found ABC Jesus loves me, a website that has some great ideas! I don't know that I will follow a strict Christian curriculum but I love the way she has set hers up for three year olds. I have also found several other websites that I will be using as I build my curriculum.
Jon expressed his only big concern as big rugrat sees me as mom, not as a teacher that she would see in a classroom. I said I think that will be a small hurdle, getting her to do things she wouldn't necessarily choose to do. But that is something we go through on a daily basis since she is three. I think if I get a structured schedule to our day, and have certain times where we do "school" type activities and others where we do "play" type activities we will be alright. Plus I think learning honestly should be as fun as it can be and plan to make our lessons as interseting to her as I can.
So that is what is going on over here. In addition little rugrat will be 1! tomorrow. WOW! We are having his party next Saturday due to the fact he shares his day with Mother's day this year. That is what I will be working on this week. I also found some great goodie bag goodies in the dollar store for his party next weekend. I have a few more things to buy, as well as all the food I will need, but the budget for his party is looking pretty good. I will make his cake (always do), we are doing hot dogs and hamburgers, a salad and probably a watermelon. Juice, soda and water (from the tap) will pretty much round out the menu. Always fancy at our house!

Happy Mother's Day!

One Task Completed

What cards you ask? Why the letter sounds cards I have been planning for over a month now. I was cleaning out my cupboards this weekend and found a pack of 4x6 index cards that are perfect for the cards I wanted to make. Now I had no excuse. I had a bag full of pictures I have been cutting for awhile and the cards and the glue. So I sat and glued and glued. And the I glued some more. I made almost 100 cards this week. It was a slow week at work so I took the opportunity of not having kids around and did quite a bit there.
Then I sorted by letter sound. I have more sounds that I originally thought. However I am missing Q,X,Y and Z completely. But the rest of the alphabet is coming along great.
How will I use these cards? Many, many ways. First to help teach beginning sounds. Also to teache vocabulary (big rugrat may be unfamiliar with some pictures I ahve chosen). Later on we can sort them in different ways and even play letter sound memory with them.
I have a recipe box that I will be keeping them in.
Next on my list is to order sandpaper letters. I have found some at different places and they vary in price. I am not decided on which ones to order yet.

Preschool

I sat down and wrote a long post last night, and they blogger wasn't able to publish it. I hate when that happens.
So the gist of it is that Jon and I have decided not to enroll big rugrat in preschool in the fall even though she is three. I think if we were to send her she would learn and probably enjoy it, but that the first month or so would involve horrible mornings filled with tears. Maybe I am wrong, but that is how life goes with my kid most of the time.
Anyway, that is NOT why I am keeping her out. I feel that she will be in school for enough years and that she does not need the additional year now. I also feel like I can teach her the academic skills that she would learn in school while keeping her at home. THe main reason for school at this age, in my mind, is to teach socialization skills as well as how to act in school (becuase really that is a whole different set of rules from most of life). The socialization I think she gets from playgroups, storytime, music class, swimming lessons and gymnastics. I also feel like she learns about waiting her turn, sitting quietly when the teacher (or leader) is talking and doing certain activities at specific times (not just when she feels like it).
The problem? Literally EVERY mom of a three year old that I know is sending their kid to school in the fall. Am I missing something? I do not feel the need to raise my child the way EVERYONE else is raising theirs. However, I do feel akward to be the only mom in my MOMS Club with a three year old not in school.
I thought I had adjusted when yet another mom of a three year old asked for reccomendations from my MOMS Club. It hit me again just how many kids will be in school.
So my ideas? One is to find a playgroup where there are three year olds who are not in school. Another is to shut up and suck it up =)
Jon and I have talked about this a lot. He feels that she would do fine in school (and I agree) but at the same time he won't be the one watching her scream and cry (as she is prone to do when I elave her in new places) for as many mornings as it lasts. If she was four I would push it. Because I do feel that at four she will need school, if for no other reason than to prepare her for kindergarten when she will go five full days (that is all that is offered in our town).
I am planning to homeschool her in the fall. We will do letters, numbers, writing and reading. I will do themes that include science and social studies as well as arts and crafts and music. We will even do "field trips" when they fit in as well as when they don't. But most importantly (at least to me) is that she will have one more year of childhood that is not structured around school schedules.
I will still question my decision a lot. I know it. I will probably drive Jon crazy,
Who knew preschool decisions could be so hard?

Time to rethink

Okay, time for a confession. I have great plans but I have HORRIBLE follow through.
Let me clarify. On the day to day functioning thing I am fine. I keep up with planning groceries and bill paying and all that good "keep the roof over our head and our bellies full" kind of stuff. But the things that seem like there is always more time for- I am horrible.
Case in point- getting started with the homeschooling of big rugrat. She is now three and we are holding off on preschool until she is four. However, I want to teach her some things that she needs to know and that I want her to know. And I want to do it in a fun way.
I have been planning this for a month now.
And I am still planning.

I have all the excuses lined up. I just went back to work (yeah all 10 hours a week). She is only just three (been saying that since it was "she is not even three yet). I need to get more books (how many hours can I spend planning and searching for books?) Little rugrat needs attention too.
Really I need to just get off my behind and get started. I want to, and I don't know why I don't do it.

So I am saying here and now that I will start my "homeschooling" (I don't know if you can call it that when there is really no set curriculum, we will just go by what I want her to learn and her interest level) by May 1. That gives me three weeks to do my "planning" and getting anything I feel that I need. It also gives me time to figure out some sort of schedule and where to begin. My main goals are:
Know letters
Spell own name
Count with one to one correspondance up to at least 10
Match colors
Follow up to three rules
Write own name (just first for beginners)

Those are the basic skills. I originally planned to do a Montessori type curriculum. But after doing some reading I am not going strict Montessori. While many of the methods are ones I like, my teaching methods don't fit her methods as a whole. My plan is to do a story themed "curriculum." I have found several blogs that I am going to use and every two weeks I will pick a story to use. I will base some art activities, math and writing activities out of it as well as choose a fwe other books along the same theme.

Now after saying how bad I am at following through plans (need I mention the gym membership that is gathering dust and the ten pounds I have been trying to lose for about 7 months now) I am going to try REALLY hard to follow through this time.

Please help hold my accountable for this.

PLEASE!

How do they do it?

Big rugrat will be three next month. How did that happen? Husband and I have decided not to send her to preschool in the fall although many people do at age 3. We decided not to for a few reasons. One is that we are both educators (he is middle school and in my pre-mommy days I taught first grade, now I work with college kids), we feel she has many chances to interact with other children and honestly I am just not ready for her to go (I'm not sure she is either).
Because of this I would like to homeschool her next year. I have not decided I am going to set this up yet. I have pretty much settled on the Montessori method and have read books, websites and blogs on how to go about this. However, every blog I read the mom who homeschools only has one child. I have two. What do I do with little rugrat while I try to teach big rugrat? Big rugrat has the attention span of about .02 seconds. If I sit with her it increases to about 3 whole seconds (you can see why I don't want to send her to school yet). I want to work with her, and we have started. We choose a letter a week and we talk about its sound, we look at the letter and trace it with our fingers and we look for the letter in books. My method right now is completely informal, but she has grasped M (the first letter of her name), P and is working on T. We have only been doing this about a month now. She knows her colors, many shapes and can count to ten. She often can count objects up to three. I don't know if this is normal. I do know that her pretend reading is great. She picks up a book, and makes up a story and "reads" it to her dolls. This is actually a great pre-reading technique.
I ramble a bit. My main goal is to have her on equal footing with other 4 year olds when she goes to preschool the following year. Now I have to figure out how to go about it AND keep tract of little rugrat.
How is this related to living on 1 1/4 incomes? Pre-school costs a LOT more than homeschool, even when you factor in materials I may buy. This is not the deciding factor, but it definatly weighed in when we were talking about school next year.
Off to read more blogs about Montessori method.