Week 4

Last week was much of the same. Nothing of tremendous creative schooling to report (what a way to get you to keep reading this post).We had school every day last week, for which I am very thankful. I am learning to push through the many distractions that could easily get me off course.

In phonics we did lessons for letters f, g, h, j, and k. On the day of our g lesson, the read aloud was Lily's Garden by Deborah Kogan Ray. This book would be a good book to own if you were to do a study on gardening or seeds and plants. It has a two-page spread for each month of the year, and what is going on in the garden during that month. Joey and I planted a garden this year, but more for just the enjoyment of seeing things grow with the hope of a little harvest, but no real scientific study of seeds or plants. But since we are daily picking tomatoes, it was a timely read, and as a bonus presented many words that began with g as it is a book about gardening and growing.


Reviewing the short vowel sounds before each new phonics lesson is proving to be helpful. Today Joey could identify correctly each vowel when I would say the short vowel sound. Yay for progress!


The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading creates a poem that grows line by line as each new consonant sound is introduced. I drew a grid to separate the inside of a manila folder into 21 boxes and each day Joey places a sticker of the upper and lowercase of the new consonant in the next box and then draws a picture that corresponds to the rhyme. He can't wait to get through the lesson to get to the part when he can draw the new picture, and the poem and pictures seem to be cementing these sounds into his brain, so I guess that means for now I am happy with TOPGtTR.

For Bible memory, we worked on the second part of I Peter 3:8 -- "love as bretheren, be pitiful, be corteous." The brother and sister dynamic in this house provides many opportunities to be full of pity, and to be courteous and show good manners, so it is a great verse for us to memorize.


In math, just a few more worksheets. The student workbook for Saxon Math 1 should arrive this week, so we will start that soon. I was pleased to discover that Joey thinks solving word problems that I present to him while driving in the car is a fun game. The word problems always seem to relate to how many cookies or slices of pizza we have, or eat, or take from one another. It is all about food in this family. Especially since I am in the throes of my huge mid-pregnancy appetite (and weight gain). Hey -- I could make a word problem out of that: "If mommy gains two pounds this week, and three pounds next week, how many pounds...?" *


Well, that is all for now.

Have a great week!



*too many :P

Week 3

I'm already playing catch up here. Arg. Here we go, week three:

We moved through the lessons of the sounds of consonants B, C, and D, which he already knows, but I figured a good review wouldn't hurt, and the lessons are very short. I started a consonant chart inside of a manila folder where Joey is writing the object that corresponds to the letter sound in our little consonant rhyme (we are using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading). We continue to review the short vowel sounds every day.

I have a math workbook, the kind that you would buy in a drugstore in the educational workbook section, that was given to me. I started working through it with Joey because I still haven't ordered my Saxon 1 workbook, and because Joey likes doing workbook pages. He completed around 30 pages last week, and we will probably be done the book this week.

We worked on memorizing the first part of 1 Peter 3:8, compassion being the key word of the week. It was the first time I used a dictionary with Joey to read a definition of a word. He thought it was rather neat, and has since asked me to look up other big words. I would have never predicted that.

Friday, Mom-mom was over again, with hours of crafting, and I am wondering if I can just call that a day of school, since it really is one big art class:)

So that was last week in a a nutshell. We are moving forward, and that was what I was hoping for. I am still working on exactly how my day needs to be scheduled to best accomplish all its tasks, but I suppose that will always be tweaked here and there.

Hope your week is lovely!

this day

Today was void of any phonic lessons since we went out in the morning, so after lunch we did some math workbook pages. Yesterday Joey did about twenty pages and loved it. Today he did four and told me he had enough. He was tired and I was tired, so we were done.

I know there will be days when we have to push through and get done what needs to be done, but today wasn't that day. Later he was lining up and counting the tomatoes he picked from the garden. And a few minutes after that when he was creating a boat out of construction paper and tape. And then he was drawing a picture of himself saving Katie from a snake in the middle of a jungle, and I was glad to be homeschooling.

Counting, cutting, creating, drawing, imagining. He is learning. I am learning. I love that we get to do it together.

Week 2

Our second week went well. On Monday, Mom-mom was over so the whole morning was spent doing arts and crafts together. It wasn't really a school day, but they had a lot of fun. On Tuesday, we reviewed the short a vowel sound with paintings of an apple tree using the sides of their hands for the trunk and their fingerprints for leaves and apples.

Joey's tree

Katie's "tree" :)

We then learned this cute little finger play:

Way up high in the apple tree (arms over head)
Two little apples smiled at me. (hands into fists and smile)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (shake fists)
And down came the apples (bring hands down)

Mmm, (take "bite" out of fists) they were good! (rub belly)

Katie loves doing the finger play, her favorite part being when we take big "bites" out of the apples. Joey loves doing art projects, so a lot of what I do to reinforce concepts will probably be art projects.

Wednesday was a "field trip" to the doctors to see the baby on the ultrasound. Joey was excited when he could see the fingers and feet moving on the screen.

Thursday we painted on the plastic tablecloth with chocolate cool-whip that has been sitting in my freezer since I got it for free with a coupon a while back. Both the kiddos thought this was cool, but Katie tired of it more quickly than Joey.

He painted elephants and elbows and the letter E, and we said the short e vowel sound about one hundred times. I think he might be getting it.

The best part of Friday was reviewing our verse for the week, Proverbs 10:12, and drawing a picture booklet to represent the two ideas of stirring up strife, and acting out of love. Joey drew himself throwing mud at Katie for the first, and sharing cotton candy with her for the second.

I am picking verses to memorize that correspond with the character and discipline issues most often addressed in our home. Proverbs 10:12 was used quite often throughout the week, but it is a blessing to use the Word of God to correct their behavior instead of just the nagging words of mom.

Later we reviewed the short i vowel sound by making a 5 page stapled book of pictures Joey drew of things that begin with the short i sound. See, I told you lots of our activities will be art projects.

Two weeks down, only a gabillion more to go. We still love each other, so I think we are doing pretty well.

Days 4&5

Day 4 - Our classroom pocket calendar arrived in the mail, so a good part of the morning was spent punching out all the number cards and weather cards and holiday cards and month cards...I am going to make a Good Morning book in which Joey writes the date and graphs the weather, but for now we are just enjoying the calendar by counting up to the current day's date, and saying the days of the week together with Katie.

Joey and I completed the short o vowel sound lesson. Owen by Kevin Henkes was our read aloud.

Day 5 - We had a good review of Ephesians 4:32, our verse for the week. Joey and I completed the short vowel sound of u lesson and our read-aloud was I like Bugs by Margaret Wise Brown, paying attention to the short u sound in the word bug. At the end of the short u lesson, I put the 5 vowel cards on the table, and told Joey to pick up the card that corresponded to the short vowel sound I would say. He got to keep the card if he chose correctly. He thought this was great fun, and was pleased to have more cards than me at the end of each round. The game confirmed that he struggles with differentiating between the e and i sounds, which is typical.

It was a good first week, I suppose. We got through all the short vowel sounds lessons, but next week will be all review as Joey doesn't have these mastered yet. My plan is to move slowly through all the consonant sounds because I think Joey needs the time to master before moving forward. For both our sakes, I am trying to remove frustration in his reading instruction and attempts, and allow the reading to come when the connections have been made in his mind, not because I think he should be able to do this by now. I will adjust as necessary, but right now I think slow and steady will be our plan of attack.

Days 1,2,3

Day 1 - got started with our reading lesson way too late with a way too tired little boy which resulted in tears, his, not mine, but I was close. Let's just say it was the perfect first day to completely wipe out any fantasies I had about the perfect little mother with the perfect little boy and the wonderful way every day of homeschooling would turn out.

Day 2 - Actually started schooling around 10 a.m. and there were no tears. I considered the day a success.

Day 3 - didn't start school until 11 because of an unplanned interruption, but had fun with the both of them during our together time. We start the day with prayer, and the Pledge to the Flag, and counting, and a Bible story read aloud, and singing. Katie loves when we sing songs. Joey is so proud that he can count to 70. Later, I read The Cat in the Hat and felt happy. I know this is the very small beginning of a very long road, but I think I will like it. In reading we have completed the lessons of the short-vowel sounds of a, e, and i. Joey has a hard time remembering the short-vowel sound of e. I am so glad I am the one who gets to help him figure out this crazy phonics business.

Day one

Today was to be the first official day of schooling, and I wanted to be doing something school-ish by ten o'clock this morning, because that is the hour I have decided is good for starting school around here. But instead of starting school, what do you think I was doing during the ten o'clock hour? I was at Giant buying Spot Shot to get my daughter's poop out of my master bedroom carpet. So instead of a glorious post about my fabulous first day of reading lessons, you get poop. And that is just perfect because I think I needed to be reminded that my life as a home schooling mom is going to be interrupted, and changed, and rearranged, and filled with lots of messes. But let's hope, for your sake and mine, not a lot more poop.