Home School Take 2

After a rough first week of homeschooling preschool, week 2 went much better.  By this time, I had already made a call to a public preschool and signed Ella up.  I have to give mom's who home school full time and with multiple children a ton of respect.  I don't know how they do it but I'd admire them greatly.  Even though Ella will be going to preschool two days a week, I am still planning on continuing as much homeschooling as possible.
I'm trying to keep the goal in mind, giving my kids a ton of fun learning experiences and my time.  It is so hard when there is laundry, cleaning, cooking, photography, soccer, upcoming wedding events, a new baby coming, and graduate work on my mind.  I have to often stop, take a deep breath, and remember what is important. 
This past week was our camping theme and the kids had so much fun with it.  I set up a tent in the playroom and they spent hours playing in it.  When I took it down this weekend, there were a bunch of tears.

Our letter this week was F for fire, campfire that is.  So I used Popsicle sticks, paint, a straw, and a q-tip for a fun craft.  Ella was working hard at building her campfire with wood (Popsicle sticks).

 They used straws the blow the fire (paint).  Yes, that is spit coming out of Mason's straw. :-)

 Then, they used q-tips to spread it around since they were getting a little light headed from blowing the paint.  I think Ella would of kept going but I stopped her in fear that she was going to pass out. :-)

Our sensory bin this week was dried split peas to look like grass.  I put in camping vocabulary cards under the peas and the kids had to find them and then find their match that was laid out on the floor. 

 We had a cookout and roasted marshmallows with our friends the Dunigan's and Hume's.  She let her kids have marshmallows? Gasp!  Yes, I did.  I even let them make s'mores.  Notice our "campfire" didn't hold up too well.



We read a bunch of camping books this week and did the Camping Preschool Pack from 1 + 1 + 1 = 1, http://homeschoolcreations.com/campingpreschoolpack.html. to go along with our theme. 

Ella had her first day of public preschool today and I feel great about it.  She was awesome, of course, and loved every minute of it.  I have moments where I feel like a complete failure in that I wasn't able to home school her full time but I also realize that my sanity is important to our relationship too. :-) 

My Love for Teaching

Since I was young girl, I've always loved working with other children.  In high school, I started giving swim lessons as a summer job and LOVED it!  I also had a strong passion to work with children with disabilities.  Maybe God knew I was going to have a child with special needs and was preparing me? 
For the longest time I wanted to be a pediatric nurse but when I had to go to Riley Hospital and saw where my sister had her last days, I couldn't.  My heart broke for all the sick kids I saw while I was there and I didn't know if I could handle that pain on a daily basis.  So, that is when I decided to become a Special Education Teacher.  I only taught for 5 years before deciding to stay at home with my kids but I can't hold back my love for teaching! 
This past summer I decided that I would do home school preschool with Ella.  (I'm blaming it on the pregnancy hormones.)  The first week felt like a complete disaster but now that I look back on it, we did a lot of fun activities, and I feel like Ella did learn something.  If you know Ella, you know she is one of a kind.  She is a strong willed, impulsive, stubborn little girl!  By Day 2, I was calling public preschools and put her on a waiting list for the same preschool she went to last year, Calvary.  She will only be going 2 mornings a week and I still plan on doing activities at home.  I feel like a failure but at the same time, I have to realize that she will learn more if she isn't being taught by her mom.  We are too much alike and I remember being the same way when I was her age.
I wanted to share some of our activities from last week.  I didn't even think to get my camera out amidst the chaos so I don't have any "action" shots.  I got all of my ideas from the following websites:
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/letter-of-the-week
http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/index.html
http://totallytots.blogspot.com/

Brian created this space so I can display all the kids work.  Our letter of the week was O for Ocean since that was our theme. The kids colored an ocean and made fish out of paper plates.  The kids glued pieces of paper on their fish.

 Here are some of the books and activities we did.  We also went to the Library, played in our sensory bin, played with the felt board, had a dance party, made sea creature out of playdoh and toothpicks, looked at our pictures from our family vacation to the beach, and spent a ton of time outside!

 Every morning we start with calendar time which is really basic.  We sing the Days of the Week song, talk about the date, count to the date, and do the weather.  We then sing the ABC's and a song to go with our weekly theme.  This week's song was I'm A Little Fishy.  We then read, and they usually want me to read all the books at once. :-)

This week our theme is Camping and I'm doing a much better job of capturing the activities.  Ella starts preschool next week and I plan on continuing a weekly theme with a lot of fun activities.  At least that is my plan. :-)

Smoked Ribs with Homemade BBQ Sauce and Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

The chef of the family, my hubby, did it again!  He created this wonderful meal on Sunday and it is a keeper!

Smoked Ribs with Homemade BBQ Sauce (Grilled Sweet Potato Salad recipe is below)

We bought organic ribs at Moody's Market in Avon and Brian smoked them on the charcoal grill all afternoon.  Here is the Homemade BBQ Sauce recipe that Brian got from Mark's Daily Apple (primal eating) blog, http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

1/3 cup (about 3 ounces) tomato paste

2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 – 1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 – 2 tablespoons honey
2 – 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons tamari
1/2 teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoons water
1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
1⁄2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

In a small bowl mix together tomato paste, butter, hot sauce, honey, vinegar, tamari, mustard and water.
In another small bowl mix together allspice, cinnamon, pepper, chili powder, paprika and onion powder.
Mix the spices in with the wet ingredients.
Brush on meat before grilling or dip cooked meat into the sauce.

I LOVE sweet potatoes and could eat them everyday.  When Brian told me he found a new sweet potato recipe from his Weber Grilling Cookbook, I was pretty excited.  It was delicious!!!  I ate all the leftovers for lunch yesterday and I'm ready to make it again! :-)

Grilled Sweet Potato Recipe
Dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
4 large red bell peppers (we used canned roasted red peppers)
3 green onions, cut thin
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

To make the dressing, whisk together the dressing ingredients.  Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into thin slices.  Lightly brush with dressing and grill over medium, turn occasionally for about 20 minutes.  Once done, chop the sweet potatoes, add the onion and cilantro, and any remaining dressing. 
Enjoy!

Back to School

Ever since I received this email last spring, I've been a nervous wreak for Haiden.
Hi Abby,
Haiden did such a nice job at the play today. I love when he is proud of himself... that confidence continues to grow! It was so cute to see your little group of kids sitting around you for the play! They were so good! The reason for this email is to share that the whole special ed team at WL feels that if you were interested or ready for Haiden to head back to his home school, we are all in agreement that he is ready. We are basing this on the level of sp ed support he needs to be successful. He has done so well in every facet, everyone has readily agreed that he could return to Eagle if that is what you would like for him. This is not a decision you need to make right away but if Haiden attending Eagle in 2nd grade is a goal, I need to start some transitioning discussions. Let me know your thoughts.
Maria
While at White Lick Elementary, I always had a sense of security for Haiden.  I knew he was in a good place with exceptional teachers, and had a crutch if he ever needed it.  It had always been our goal for Haiden to be able to go back to his home school but I didn't realize it would happen so quickly.  I was thrilled and nervous all at the same time!
So as the summer flew by and the school year crept right around the corner, I became "crazy, nervous mom" as Haiden was ever so cool about starting his year in a new school. 
The morning of his first day, I sat down to eat breakfast with Haiden.  He just kept smiling with excitement.  He then said, "I can't wait to walk to school with Tate."  (Tate is our neighbor and Haiden's best friend.)
I replied with, "Yes, that is exciting, I think I'm going to walk with you too."
With his head down, he looked at me, and in the most annoyed voice said, "Seriously?"
All I could do was laugh but I still walked with him. :-)

All day I thought about him and how he was adjusting.  Were his teachers going to understand his quirks?  Was he going to be okay with all the change?  So when he came home in tears, my heart broke.  I immediately went into "crazy mom mode".  The procedure for what to do with lunchboxes was different than he was use to and his lunchbox was misplaced, the teachers couldn't find it, so he came home without a lunchbox.  I figured I could come to the rescue, run back to the school, and find his lunchbox.  When I returned to his school, I was met by a very busy secretary who seemed annoyed by my request to find his lunchbox.  I was allowed to look in the lost and found but that was it.  I couldn't look in his class and she didn't want to contact his teacher.  So I stomped (yes, I'm sure I stomped) out of there after saying a few things that I shouldn't have, got in my car, and started to cry.  Why in the hell was I crying?  I'm pregnant and just hormonal right?  I had a rough day with the two younger kids and that was just my breaking point?  I was a mess over a freaking lunchbox!  I called his teacher and the special education teacher at the school to see if they could help.  Thank goodness for them!  They quickly got ahold of me, found his lunchbox, and I went back and picked it up.  I'm sure I've terrified them and I'm THAT mom now.  

Haiden had a great rest of the week and I'm calmer now. 

I need to learn to let go, he is going to be okay, I can't fix everything, and he needs to learn how to handle frustration and disappointment without me.  Always easier said than done. :-)

Making the Most of Everyday Play

I've been working really hard to encourage play based learning.  Don't get me wrong, I believe there is a ton of power in free play and I make sure the kids get plenty of that each day.  I just also think it is important to make the most out of play. 

Remember those "gems' I bought?  Well, I also purchased small plastic cups, gave the kids a container full of gems and let them explore.  They spent about 10 minutes dumping, pouring, and throwing (that would of been Mason).  Then I stepped in, and we started counting, sorting, and labeling. 

 

Ella loves anything jewelry so when I told her we were going to make bracelets, she was thrilled.  She spent almost 20 minutes stringing beads onto pipe cleaners.  When I notice her starting to finish up with an activity, that is when I step in.  We then counted the beads, identified colors, and made patterns.

 Haiden is probably the most difficult to engage with and get creative with.  He is very rigid and everything has a purpose.  So playing with clay was a great opportunity for sensory play, exploration, and using his imagination.  Of course, he wanted to spell his name first.  Then we made animals and food with the clay.

 A felt board is a great, inexpensive tool for pretend play.  I just tucked a large piece of felt in the frame of a bulletin board we already had.  Then I cut out shapes and other figures for the kids to explore with.  I didn't step in at all with this activity.  The kids made different things with the felt and even role played.

 Sensory play!  Haiden wouldn't of touched shaving cream 4 years ago but now he loves it!  I just let them play with it in the beginning and then I step in.  I encourage Haiden to draw pictures and spell words.  I helped Ella work on basic prewriting skills like drawing vertical and horizontal lines.

 You can never go wrong with play-doh.  Ella wanted me to play with her right away.  We made pancakes and pretended to serve each other food.

 Ella loves Fancy Nancy!  My friend, Karin, got Ella an awesome Fancy Nancy sticker book.  What I loved about this sheet of stickers is that Fancy Nancy was making all kinds of facial expressions.  I took this time to work on emotional intelligence (if you know Ella, you know this is an area of need).  She would peel off a sticker and tell me what she thought Fancy Nancy was feeling based on her facial expression.

 I got this dropbox idea from www.playathomemom3.blogspot.com.  I just had it on the floor with a ton of objects and let the kids explore.  After awhile I stepped in and guided Mason in color matching.

 I love puzzles and so do the kids.  My grandma got Haiden a puzzle of the world.  Not only did he love putting it together but this opened up a whole new obsession.  (If you know Haiden, you know, he just doesn't get interested in something, he gets obsessed.)  He now loves anything geography!  It has been so fun showing him new information and watching him learn so many new things.

 Mason's favorite, dry rice and beans!  I have two storage containers filled with rice and beans.  He loves to pour, mix, and scoop it.  I usually let him play then we pretend we are making "taco soup". 

I'm learning there are so many play based activities to do with your children.  Luckily I found some on-line resources that have helped me expand my creativity a bit. 
http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/
http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/index.html
http://totallytots.blogspot.com/
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/my-printables

Homemade Mayo

I got this recipe and idea from my good friend Aimee.  She has a great blog that focuses on Paleo/Primal Eating,
http://thedunigandaily.blogspot.com/2011/07/walnut-chicken-salad.html.  My husband, Brian, gets all the credit for making this.  He is the chef in the family and I am very grateful for that because I'm capable of burning ground beef. :-) 

Aimee got this recipe from a blog that we are slightly obsessed with called Mark's Daily Apple,
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/alternative-healthy-condiment-recipes/. He has anything and everything you would want to know about the Primal lifestyle. 
We made chicken salad with it and I loved it!

Gooey Bags

I had no idea what to call these things.  When I decided to do this activity with the kids the first thing that came out of my mouth was gooey bags...it stuck with them.  I've been trying to find fun ways for Ella to practice pre-writing skills.  You can do so  many different things with these.  Here are a few we did,
practice writing horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines with finger
practice writing with "gems" (the little clear colored stones you find near vases)
practice making shapes using our fingers
put on the light table (Ella's idea)
squish, role, and feel how cool it is

Haiden "erasing" after he wrote a few words.

 Mason enjoyed putting squishing it with his finger and putting the "gems" on the bag.

 Ella practiced writing for a little while but she loved rolling it up.

Here is how you make Gooey Bags.
Gallon size bags
Hair Gel (I got the cheap stuff at the Dollar Tree.)
Food Dye
Glitter

The kids had just as much fun making these themselves.  Hold the bag and let them squirt the hair gel in the bag.  Let them put a few drops of food dye and glitter in the bag.  Seal it off and let them squish it around until it is all mixed together. 

P.S. Those little "gems" have opened a whole new world of discovery.  I'll be sharing all the activities the kids have been doing with those in a future posts.