Preparing to start soon.

 

So I have been working on my first 9 week plan for school.  We will be starting in 10 days! so I figured it would be a good time to get things in order.

To start with, we live in a tiny house with lots of littles (please insert TREX voice from Meet the Robinsons). So the only thing I got for me is a book shelve.  SO here we go for order.

Top Shelf: Lego box, box of old school readers (from the 50s), and a box of Discovery Toys.  Side note:  Just found discovery toys and love them, there are so many cool things to use with homeschooling.

Second Shelf: Blue box of flash cards, mint condition.  I have no idea, I love buying flash cards, but we never use them. The basket on top is all of speech stuff.  All those workbooks are left over half done stuff.  So we will work them into our days, because I cannot throw them away.

Third Shelf:  This is our work station.  A basket for Mr. Family Clown and for Miss Helper.  I figured I would put just that day’s work in the blue basket.  Then a shoe box with pencils, scissors, and pencil sharpener.

Fourth Shelf:  A box for each kid to keep all their active workbooks.  I have another big box for all my teacher manuals.  That binder is My Father’s World Kindergarten with all the tabs for each unit and letter.  You can see it here in full.

Underneath is the Marbleworks and all of our coloring books.

 

I should have taken a before and after, but to give you an idea how I work.  This is a before and after of my desk!

So we I am getting excited.  The last of our stuff will get here tomorrow.  I still have more things to get together, like enrolling them in an umbrella school and unenrolling them out of public.  So counting the days down.

~trish

Our 2011-2012 Course of Study

 

 

We are using a lot of what I have had in the past.  The main reason is, in the last 3 years I have purchased a lot of different things and either didn’t finish it or just never used it.  (ESPECIALLY WORKBOOKS!  Yikes!)

My other thing is my 1st grader would be great with workbooks and creative play, my kindergartener, not so much.  He quickly bores in a workbook.  I will use a workbook to keep use on course, but he will be using a lot of hands on learning and games.

The Kindergartener – Mr. Family Clown

Phonics: We will be using My Father’s World (MFW) K Curriculum for systematically introducing sounds.  He know most of the letters, but I want to be sure that he has a strong foundation.

 

We will also be using Learn to read in 100 Lessons.  I love this book!  I used it on my last year K, while she was still in school.  She immediately began jumping through their frequency words, because she could read them.  I know it says that they are not to sound them out, but up until then, the words were just shapes that she was trying to know the names of.  Too much guessing.

For my Mr. family Clown, this is work.  I will be pulling him along the entire way through this book, but it will be a great investment of energy and patience.

Penmanship: We are winging it, but plan to do a lot of writing. MFW has 1 day a week of penmanship in the curriculum.  I will be also be using the printables from www.DonnaYoung.com, she has a set of printables to go along with teach your kid to read.  Of course, we will be using our notebooks.

Math: We will be counting 100 days of school and tracking the calendar.  we will be using the Spectrum Math Workbook to keep us on track.

We will also be using Hands on Math for K-1 grades, to help us from getting too bored and not making me invent too many activities.

 

My 1st Grader – Ms. Helper

Phonics:

We are finishing off Learn to read in 100 Lessons.  We will also be doing a lot of reading.

A Reason for Spelling! - A

-

We are already working through the phonics review.  It is most definitely a review for her.  I look forward to getting her into the spelling.

Grammar:

Spectrum Language Arts – 1

Printables from Starfall

Penmanship:

www.donnayoung.org

Math:

Spectrum Math –1

Hands on Math k-1

 

Unit Studies:

We will be using the My Father’s world K curriculum of unit studies for each letter.  we are picking up where we left off at last year, even though my son will be doing the phonics from scratch.  I plan to take as long as we want to on each unit.  The nice part is that there are great hands on projects for the kids to do in each study.

So we will be starting off with Bird Nest.  So once, I begin planning that, I will post all the information I am using for that Unit study.

~trish

Sweet Fields of Sugar

  I love seeing the fields of wheat and corn that are always posted by our northern bloggers.  Well to share a little Florida fields of green, here is a land of sweetness.

In the southern most part of Florida is sugar country.  On Father’s Day, we went to my husband’s hometown that is surrounded by sugar fields.  I always thought of it is a beautiful scene in the summer with the deep contrast of the sky from on oncoming storm.  I am not sure if there is anything more beautiful in the natural color of blackish blue and brilliant green.  My pictures do no give it justice for showing the color.

SO I made my husband stop to let me take pictures to share with you.  He quickly realized I did not grasp the amount of sugar cane that we were in, he got out and ran into the field.  He excitedly said, I bet it didn’t look this tall from there.  He was right, I thought it was about 3 feet, not 6 feet.

As we headed home, my most favorite sight of all.  A thunder storm.  I love it.  The summer in south Florida is a sticky, heavy wet hot blanket, but when the storms are rolling in, the air immediately cools.  It is the most amazing sight and sensation to be in a south Florida summer afternoon rain.

As our summer rolls in, we will be able to set our watch by the rain.  Every afternoon about 3pm.  The natives will be seen with sweatshirts and shorts.  Shorts, because it is so hot.  The sweatshirt to keep you warm after being caught in the rain and having to go inside with air conditioning.

So here is a little taste of my side of the world.

~trish

Compromising with The Publix Ballerina

As I am letting go of this idea of perfection, apparently time management and priorities are leaving with it.  Hmm, I might be digressing in my maturity.

So I was so excited to get picked for the Breakstone Sour Cream House Party!  Gave me a reason to invite some peeps.  I got vouchers for sour cream, dip bowl and so much more.  See.

Nice, right!  But before all this could happen, I had to go get the sour cream.  Well, as a couponer, I have been on hiatus from it for the past week.  So the night before at about 2am!  I realized everything I needed to do, before for my mommy pals would show up.

All of the morning’s calculated schedule was based on the fact that Publix opens at 7am. So when you are loading 4 littles out the door, there will be compromises you have to make because of pure procrastination!

Here was mine!

The beloved ballerina bathing suit.  She wore it to Publix at 7am.  The nice part of shopping this early in the morning is no one is awake enough to cause too much of a problem and the kids weren’t too bad either.

So this momma had a baby strapped to here, 3 children tagging along behind in loud and crazy way and I do believe no one in the store was awake enough to notice.  SWEET! 

~trish

Needing Speech.

My son was about 3 1/2 years.  Every day was a melt down. Let me repeat that, every day, every hour, every moment.  I could not figure out how a precious little perfect baby boy had turned into a melt down machine waiting to explode. 

It was a couple months before he turned 2 and a month before #3 was born that he morphed into this child.  I figured it was the terrible twos, but we were a year and a half later and it was just uglier.  Thankfully, I was on the phone with a high school friend telling her about my precious son and my trials (clearer picture, I was cringing with complete frustration that I had an out of control kid with obvious behavior problems.)

The light was turned on.  She told me, she had the same problems with her son and then he got speech therapy and transformed back to his preciousness. I had never considered that he needed speech, he was just slow to talk. And then the light came on, at 3 1/2 years old, I only understood about 20% of what he said. What that is not normal?!

By the time we went through all the hoops to get him into the public school therapy, he was 4 and I could already understand about 50%.  Well in that next year in the VPK program with speech therapy, he is 100% understandable.  He is also a happier kid.

I absolutely had no idea how frustrated the little guy was.  Now that I look back, I feel like a horrible mom.  I was so frustrated with him too.  I mean, I was buying into the bad mommy phsyco-ness of maybe he did not spend enough time with his dad. (I was seriously thinking of packing a briefcase for the little guy and sending him to work, it would have made my day so much easier).

Now that my son is not frustrated and can communicate, you have got to see the wide eyes of shock when I tell them that I am keeping him home.  Gasp! I here all kinds of responses.  The speech therapist convinced my husband that my son will digress. I have been told his behavior improvements is the result of structured environment with socialization. I was also told he needs to be challenged.  

At all of these accusations, I laugh in the face of controversy.  So really, I scratch my head at friends and family that have such good intentions, but no idea what my reality is really like.

1. So will my son digress in his speech? Umm, I don’t think so.  Now that the kid can be understood he never STOPS talking.  Trust me, there are days that his lack of articulation would be welcomed so the girls have no idea the names he is calling them or the sing song taunting he is so good at. The reality is, this child has now learned how to use his mouth correctly and a mom to gently remind him when he forget to.  Backsliding will not be a problem.

There are programs available to do speech at home and then there are also private speech therapist that will do all the speech therapy you need or guide you and evaluate your needs and progress to stay the course. so we will not be dropping out of a speech program.

2. Is my kid more socially adapted because of school? Uh, no.  When I hear of comments that school has done so good for him, well sure it has, because speech was part of it.  On a side note, I do not think that public education is a waste, I believe it is what you make of it.  And for me and my house it is just not for this momma. 

If my kid ends up being a weird homeschooler, trust me they would be a weird public schooler too.  In fact, if they are one of those kids, they are better off being with their own kind. At least until the self confidence is obnoxiously good, that they would never know a difference and the rest of us can be the weird ones.  It is all about perception.

3. Will the boy will be challenged?  Are you kidding, if anyone can challenge him, it is his momma.  How in the heck can a teach be focused on him, when they have a classroom of kids.  If he needs anymore challenging, I can challenge him to pick up his room until he is good at it and then we can move on.

Ha! Showed you, didn’t I?  An answer for everything, trust me I have them.  So we are working on making it all work.  I will promise you, I do not have it all figured out.  In fact I had to quit homeschooling after 2 months last year, so my husband is a little untrusting of me. 

My only theory is, I have to homeschool them, it is a desire that burns in me, long before having kids. I cannot make it go away and I will never be satisfied until I am just doing it.  My other thought is, if this desire that God has put in me than He will provide.  So I am winging it and I will not get over ran in the desire to be perfect, just done.

So with that note, I guess I will take these hoodlums to the library.  Isn’t that where weird homeschool kids go to hang out, that and the local riff-raff. And trust me, we are the local riff-raff.

~trish

What is my chaos?

Hmm. It can be many things.  I live in a tiny house with 4 littles.  I plan to homeschool the 1st grader and kindergartener with a 3 year old and a 1 year old at my feet.  I have my 2 middle children needing articulation therapy.  So against all worldly reason, I am withdrawing my kids from public school and therapy to keep them home.

Many of you will be following me from my first blog.  I have ended it, because it is just not my focus anymore.  Although I write this at midnight, I am no longer a midnight crafter.  I am a 5:15 am, I hope I can get an inch of quiet time before they wake up.  Why I am a wake right now, is beyond reason and mostly because I miss reaching out.  I have put so much of my crafty stuff up, for a time when my house can handle it.  My house handling it, has more to do with space, than management.  I am sure if I was a great Martha Stewart kind of chick, I could orderly contain, use, and put away.  But I am not.

So for the past 6-8 years, I have been entranced with this simple, orderly living.  The magazines have actually led me to believe that people can live this way and I am not living up to potential by having a cluttered house.  But these people in this house can not live in that much order, so we are rebuking the system. We will live in the make the best of it mentality.

So schooling in this chaos, will probably have more to do with schooling me.  You will laugh, you will be in shock, and hopefully you will be inspired.  Inspired that you don’t have to or did not get stuck with, what ever it is I ended up doing for some unknown reason.

I have been a SHAM for almost 4 years now.  I am perfectly capable of getting lost in my own ideas.  I have an uncontrollable need to try, learn and test things.  Mentally, I usually have a great sense of order, even if I live in clutter.  Currently, I have no order.

So I plan to share with you, my adventures of homeschooling my littles.  My progress and trials of providing speech therapy for 2 of my children.  My slow, but hopefully progress in creating some order in my life.  My progress on being a home manager and a Fly Lady drop out.  and of course, share my uncontrollable quest for knowledge on any adventure I attempt to take.

So I hope you can handle the craziness of it all.  Hopefully, you may be a kindred spirit in the chaos and we can be a shoulder to lean on, or you might just be laughing hysterically and I enjoy a good laugh, especially at myself.

We will see how it goes!

~trish