School-time?

Having spent Jan-July 2013 learning the alphabet with the children, and sharing that journey on this blog. I am excited about teaching the children more officially in the fall. My eyes have been opened to their capacity to learn and remember things and the joy that they have when they accomplish tasks. I am hoping to continue this "easy" style of home-schooling into the fall. Instead of focusing on the alphabet again, I have decided to plan my weeks around children's stories. I am getting most of my ideas from the book Five in a Row by Jane Lambert. I am also using Math Play! 80 ways to count and learn by Diane McGowan and Mark Schrooten as well as using ideas from the internet to fill in the gaps. I haven't found a phonics program that I love yet, but I will still work with Tristan on reading and writing. I'll keep you posted on what we end up with.The plan is to cover every subject every day. 15-20 minutes a subject. Since all of the learning for the week will center around one book (read every day) it should be easy, fun and natural. That's what I'm hoping for! I have been challenged by my amazing husband to be more organized with planning this year and to keep better records of what the kids and I are doing together. This is good advice considering I will have a newborn and may not have the time I had this spring to print learning aids and come up with ideas on the spot. This doesn't mean I'll stop blogging about our school/learning times, but I will also keep more official records and I am already half-way through my lesson planning. Jason made me an amazing custom lesson planner modeled after the one in the back of the Five in a Row book. I am free to share it with you (Thank-you J!) pickering.cc/homeschool.

In this time while I am feverishly lesson planning (before my resources go back to the library:) I have been working with the children on their fine motor skills. Tristan has made many crafts using strips of paper as he practiced cutting straight lines and Anastasia has made similar versions of those crafts as she practiced drawing straight lines. We also memorized our address as we discussed numbers and their importance in everyday life. We learned our numbers one to ten in English and Spanish and we have learned head and shoulders knees and toes in Spanish. The kids love to sing, so I think my "in" with the foreign language is through song. A little bit of a challenge going forward, but I'll keep my eyes open for good resources. I have tried reading little books in Spanish, like... "Are You My Mother" (Tu Eres Me Mama?) by P.D. Eastman and they have all gone over like a lead balloon. I am glad to be making progress through song!

That sums it up for today...back to the lesson-planner!

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