Second Grade Readers List (2009-2010)

To give my seven year old more practice at reading, I have done a little "research" at what other homeschool curriculum companies use or suggest for their readers based on grade level. I have then gone to my library and either gotten that exact book or chosen one that is close to the recommended book. This list is not complete because right now we are in the middle of second-grade work. In addition to our A Beka readers (morning time), the following books are ones that we read nightly along with at least one story out of the Beginner's Bible.

I can already tell a difference in his reading. He is much smoother and reads faster and self-corrects. He has more experience so he is more confident in his reading. It really is about practice makes perfect.

Frog and Toad are Friends
Hill of Fire
Amelia Bedelia
One fish two fish red fish blue fish
Five Little Pumpkins
I Want to be an Astronuat
Put Me in the Zoo
Father Bear Comes Home
Come Back, Amelia Bedelia
Frog and Toad All Year
Grasshopper on the road
Mouse Tales
Pompeii: Buried Alive!
Wagon Wheels
Surprises!
Owl at Home
The Big Balloon Race
Daniel's Duck
The Fire Cat

Again, this is an incomplete list as we are in the middle of our school year but I will be posting off and on as we read and discover more books.

The Portfolio

I've just been looking at the massive stack of worksheets and papers my Jordan produced this year. YIKES! What do I do with all that stuff???? I don't want to throw away anything and yet. . . I do not have the organization skills nor space to accomodate it all.

I've heard several people discussing their high schoolers' "portfolios" and I'm encouraged. After reading a couple of blog entries on the web this one is the best in my opinion. And after talking to a friend who is a school teacher, I'm encouraged. It sounds just like what Jordan needs me to do for him. Apparently, I just need to keep the best work/tests he's done and show growth and mastery. That's easy. Here in the great state of Georgia we are only required to turn in daily attendance and keep a yearly assessment--which is still in the works. So, I can keep my Georiga requirements, best work, goals and objectives all in one place instead of file folders. It even sounds neater. I think a three ring binder will work best. Now, I've just got to get a three-hole punch. . .

It's going to take some time to go through ten months of paperwork and pick out the best but at least it will be fresh in my mind as we plow through second grade in a few weeks. Bookshelf done . . . portfolio--watch out. I'm crossing you off my list next!

Summertime Blues

Today is not going well at all. I'm bored. And my kids continually call, "Mama" in their whiny voice. UGHHHHHHHH!! I am ready for a schedule. I thought I would plan my summer out soo well. "Free play" for the boys always ends up with fighting and not sharing.

This is one of those days that I truly can envy the working mom. I must need Prozac or something. Maybe I'm hormonal like my gyno said. I just feel the need for space from these little guys!! Jordan has had a bad attitude the minute I suggested doing some reading. I resent that. Bad choice of words. I just want him to simply read a few minutes a day.

My original plan was to do some extra character training on a few issues. Well, that hasn't played out. I'm just Ms. Negativity today. Sorry.

I even told my hubby maybe we should go year round. I figured it out. We would have more breaks and could do 15 days of school a month appoximately to give us our 180 required by law. But there's always that one grand notion that crashes to earth in the vehicle of reality. Kinda like my summer. . .

Yeah. . . those hormones are kicking. I feel like I'm screaming inside, "I want some space!!!"

Our situation is this: my mom and my husband's parents live in another state. My sister has her hands full and running over with a 24 year old and 19 year old who don't work. Relatives of my husbands live within driving distance but we don't have the gas money to go visit them. I have friends at church but everyone works or has the money to keep their kids in sports or camps or just busy. Babysitting other people's kids is NOT my forte and in the past creates problems with my youngest! So, my kids have me. Poor things.

Okay, this blog will get brighter. I promise. No more negativity. . . at least, I'm outlawing it for tomorrow's agenda!!!

Tomorrow is another day. Maybe a brighter day, I hope. I am a schedule-oriented person. I function knowing what needs to be done when.

Falling off the Face of the. . . Blog?

Okay. So. . . I was doing good with my blogging and got blindsided by the ending of our school year. And then, VBS, etc. etc. At least, that's the excuse I'm giving out. So, sorry. I was tired and sooo were my little guys. I don't know who needed the break more me. . . or them. I vote for myself. I was ready for a major break. I will never never do school into June. I know and admire the homeschool mamas out there who relentlessly school through the summer. God bless you! I am bowing down kissing your toesies! That's not ME! Sorry. . . .once again. I love a change of pace and my mind and my house are begging for someone to come and clean out our cobwebs.

Jordan on the other hand wants to start second grade. He's a bookie like me. What can I say? He loves a new book--even if they are school books. Poor guy. I, too, am ready to start. I've been drooling and oogling my teacher's book from "My Father's World"--the new curriculum we're going to start in August.

Alas, my brain has got to reorganize and revamp not only itself but all the rooms in my house. I want soo much for this next year to be fun. I want to get the schooling done but enjoy my kids as well. I think I spent too much time on discipline and respect and not enough on just showing them how much fun learning can be.

I've been re-organizing (in my brain) how I want things set up for next year. Yesterday I went through stack after stack after stack of papers. What to do with all those papers? Of course, Jordan's drawings and school tests, forms, and worksheets I keep. But I threw out a garbage bag full of papers. Actually I had to sneakily throw them out--Jordan is a bad pack rat. I mean he keeps everything including receipts.

Well, it's great to be blogging again. My wonderful hubby has bought us a new computer--finally--so I'll be breaking it in, uploading pics and hopefully re-arranging stuff on the blog. It's great to be back!!!

Mexico Week

This week we began our look at other countries and cultures. We took a look at the wonderful country of Mexico. I knew this would be a fun mini-unit study but I never expected Jordan to be as excited as he was about it. He LOVED it! He didn't want to stop coloring. And enjoyed our crafts.

I do have to say, I had planned many more crafts than actually got accomplished. Jordan's seventh birthday was in the middle of the week and we took the day off to enjoy it with him. I hadn't planned to do that. My hubby is very spontaneous and wanted to give him the day off, so what's a mom to say??

However, we had a great week starting the day out with Mexico. Listed below are some of the coloring sheets I used for Jordan (first grade) to make a Mexico booklet. This one has a coloring page of a Mexico blanket, sombrero that my little guys had a blast coloring.

My coloring worksheets from Enchanted Learning were fabulous. We incorporated the Map of Mexico, Flag of Mexico, and animals commonly found in Mexico such as the Kangaroo Rat, Chihuahua Dog, and Roadrunner from their site. Enchanted Learning not only gives you a "coloring page" to color, it is also chock full of great info. I should mention that I am a member of Enchanted Learning. Membership is $20/yr and is a great resource. I cannot recommend it enough.

Spanish dictionary from Enchanted Learning to color and fun to run through the words for the kids to hear a different language! The boys learned spanish words such as siesta, fiesta, Feliz Cumpleanos (Jordan's birthday was last week), sombrero and we reviewed Spanish colors and numbers.

I also hit on a great place to look at some sites around Mexico that gives you a virtual tour . Jordan and I checked out the Chiapas virtual tour and then we got to see the ruins at Palenque along with Agua Azul. Breathtaking waterfalls. This site is loaded with lots of stuff--just be sure to check it before you involve your child. You know how websites can change overnight. I believe there is also a map of volcanoes around Mexico. It would add a little more science/geography to the unit study.

For Mexico crafts and recipes, my favorite website is DLTK-KIDS . We made a newspaper sombrero and painted it. Very cool! My boys love to play dress-up. We also made a colorful blanket they could wear by painting stripes on newspaper and then tying string to the edges which were hole-punched. I cut a hole in the middle for their heads to fit through. Cute! For maracas, I did the easy-peasy paper-plate maracas located on dltk.com's website. All you need is beans or rice, two paper plates, stapler and markers or paint and crepe streamers or tissue paper cut into ribbons.

Dltk-kids also has a cute Spanish song that we have learned to sing to the tune of "Are You Sleeping" that my little guys and I sing all the time now.

For general information on Mexico as country I used Wikipedia as my resource. I also used this site to find out about the sports they like to play such as soccer, baseball, bullfighting, charreria, etc.

To wrap up the week the boys dressed up and put on a show for Daddy. They sang their song and told about all the things they had learned about Mexico. We played "Blind Chicken" after eating some yummy tacos and tostadas and mexican bunuelos. YUM!!

We have had soo much fun learning about Mexico that Jordan is ready to pack his bags and go there to visit:)

OOOh-Lala . . . Free Rosetta Stone

Wow, if there's one thing I REALLY would love for my boys to study it's foreign languages. I would be right there with them, too!! My Father's World curriculum sings the praises of Rosetta Stone's successful approach to teaching languages but alas, it's expensive and doesn't fit into our meager budget. But the cool thing is I came across a CONTEST for a FREE Rosetta Stone Latin program. Check it out below and be sure to go to http://jeneralities.com/?p=541986 to ENTER THE CONTEST.

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!).This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!****

Countries and Cultures

I am so excited!! We are going to wrap up our geography with trips to other countries! Well, not literally. I'm currently writing lesson plans and finding some great websites to enrich our learning of the countries. According to my KONOS Curriculum Volume 1, the author states that to write a lesson plan on other countries and cultures you need to research the following: geography, literature, costrumes, food (the best part!), dances, songs, music, festivals, sports, games, art, religion, and flag. I'm also including native animals and Christian missionary stories as well as climate.

Here is a list of countries that we are going to explore in depth:

Mexico
Peru
England
France
Italy
Israel
Egypt
India
China
Australia
and a few we're just going to graze the surface of Germany,
Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bahamas, Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands.

I wish we had time to explore all of the in depth but I plan on accomplishing that during our third grade year with My Father's World: Exploring Countries and Cultures. I can't wait.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

As a homeschool family, we are in our house 24/7, 365. My boys are very creative. Their creativity in my eyes is spelled M-E-S-S!!!!! It seems one mess is picked up and another one is "invented." This week my sons have invented a motorcycle rider complete with a real motorcycle hemelt and a "body" made of books and toys. It drives me crazy because it is in the middle of Jordan's room and we all have to step around it to get out the back door to the yard. As if that wasn't enough, today it grew arms--hangers, my hangers. We have floor check nightly and the boys get paid $1 a week for keeping their floors picked up. However, "creations" are not mess and all around the "creation" is clean. What's a mother to do???

Now keep in mind that's just one mess. Yesterday, Jordan became interested in an old mill that was operated by an enormous waterwheel. So interested was he that he built one in my living room--with his father's permission---and also built a bakery to go with it. . . in the corner of my living room. Since Wednesday is my "stress" day due to AWANA, I came close to a meltdown. . . well, let's admit it, I had a meltdown. I demanded it picked up by bedtime, then changed my mind and demanded it be picked up before we left for church. And, it was picked up. . .Jordan is a tremendouse picker-up. He gets all the credit. He's fast and thorough.

But, after church, my children received another brainy idea. While watching "MythBusters" for only ten minutes, my kids decided to pile up the covers and pillows on our loveseat and "pretend" to dive into "syrup." Yeah. . .

Today, the focus for Jordan has been creating a rocket ship out of 50 tiny, little cups. For Landon, the focus has been creating a submarine out of about 24 tiny, little cups with toy propellers on the back and tape---lots of tape. The child is tape-crazy is you ask me.

Trying to take all this in stride, I am reminded of the missionary Nate Saint. His mother never discouraged any of her seven kids from their "inventiveness." In fact, she often helped them to make their inventions. If you've ever read about Nate you know that he grew up to become a very inventive and resourceful bush pilot in Ecuador. His resourcefulness most assuredly had been fostered by a mother who took a deep breath and dived right into the madness of messes. In other words, she didn't sweat the small stuff.

Messes will come and go. As a mom of two "inventors", I need to foster the "stuff" that will make my boys problem solvers. I never know what the Master has in store for my little dudes. It could one day help to reach others with the gospel of Christ.

First Grade Schedule Evolution

I'm still going through first grade goodies and posting them for future reference. I was recently asked if I had a "strict" schedule that I follow each day in order to homeschool. The answer is: Yes, I have a schedule. But NOT a strict schedule.

What I mean by that is my family is somewhat flexible. The first mistake I made in homeschooling this year was to set a time for certain activities to happen. This is great for many families, just not mine.

At the beginning of the year, Landon, my then 3 year old was at the YMCA for four hours a day. During this time, Jordan and I completed school in 4 1/2 hours and made sure to get it done BEFORE Landon got home. Landon was a distraction to me and Jordan because he likes to pester his brother. I felt that teaching my older son to read and do some of the "heavier" first grade math lessons (figuring out greatest and least of a number, etc.) needed to be done with less stress. Also, I really needed to get some confidence under my belt--Jordan and I were both learning and adjusting. We also had no break. I was very strict and we had no art or music during school time which I hated. Those subjects are SO important.

Our first schedule went something like this:

7:45 Drop Landon off at the YMCA
8:00 Bible and prayer, Bible coloring sheet
8:45 Calendar, Sight Words, Spanish Words, Address, Phone Number, Emergency Number
8:45 Reading/Phonics/Language lesson
9:15 Math
10:00 Science/Computer
11:00 Handwriting
12:00 Worksheets-phonics and math

I hated this schedule. Jordan hated this schedule. Handwriting was a nightmare because I expected my six year old to sit down and just do the work. I didn't know I had to teach him to stay on task to complete schoolwork. I thought he had learned that in kindergarten in public school. I was wrong. He needed some hand holding and has since learned to stay on task and now handwriting gets down within 15 minutes. And I have hair left in my head!!

When I discovered Jordan couldn't complete handwriting by himself, I devised a system to help him complete his worksheets as well. I would simply explain the worksheet a couple times one section at a time. On my dry erase board, I would then draw lines or numbers, whatever was on the worksheet. I would work the examples out on the board and then let him answer on his own worksheet. Afterward I would write the answer. This did many things for Jordan not the least of which taught him to focus and he learned worksheets are a breeze when you concentrate. He saw just how fast we could get done and he didn't dread worksheet time.

The second change to our schedule came in November. We decided not to send Landon to the Y. It was becoming financially difficult to pay for the YMCA among other things. At first, I was tense. Landon is playful and a pest. A lovable pest. If Jordan is counting to ten Landon is throwing in all kinds of numbers and letters--you know the type?? I thought I could school them together. But it caused too much frustration. Jordan wanted to do the simple, fun things Landon was doing and vice verse. I think at this point in the year we had no schedule. That's terrible but true. Some days I didn't know if I was coming or going with Landon. He was unruly during school time. If I schooled them together it didn't work. If I schooled Landon before Jordan, then Jordan would get mad. If I schooled Jordan first, Landon wanted and needed attention. If I let them play first and then do school. . . . you get the picture. It was a MESS. Thankfully, between Landon's birthday and having new toys, having Thanksgiving and Christmas, we made it through.

In January, I was adamant that we were not going to have ten cows just to get school done. I tried spending time with Landon first and it seemed to help. . . for a week. I tried having different boxes of toys or crafts for him to do. Nothing was working. My husband worked nights at the time and when he would get up he would keep Landon busy with him. Which was great. But I couldn't wait for him to get up every morning. Our school days were LOOONG. 8:00-3:30. Sometimes 8:00-4:00. It was stressful and had strained me till I was mad every waking hour. And I still was not schooling Landon.

Finally, my husband was put on a different work shift. Jordan and I began getting up at 6 a.m. to do school. By the time Landon woke up we were well on our way to being more than halfway done. Somewhere in February, my prayers were answered. Landon settled down. He stopped contradicting me--well, enough for me to do school with him. Also, the weather warmed up enough for Landon and I to do school on the trampoline after I'm done with Jordan. Jordan and I are able to get through with school in 4 1/2 hours. Since February our schedule has calmed down. We don't wake up at 6 a.m. anymore but we are done by 2:00 at the latest. I just had to take a chill pill. I don't freak out if we haven't started by 8:00 or 8:30. I just go with the flow. I just make sure we do things in a certain order regardless of the time of day. So, after pulling my hair out and having thousands of cows and coniptions. Here is our beloved first grade schedule. My it has evolved hasn't it.

Bible/Prayers/Coloring sheet
Art
Handwriting/Spelling
Poetry
Math/Math Worksheet
Break--30 minutes for Mama's sanity- and snack time for Jordan
Reading--A Beka reader
AWANA verses
Karate words
Handbook for Reading
Art Appreciation (Come Look with Me series for Children)
Science/Experiment or History
Health
Spelling Words
Phonics lesson/Phonics worksheets
Free from school!

Socializing the Homeschooler

When I began considering homeschool for my children a few years back, the one thing I kept running into was the "socialization" issue. Yes, I worried a little bit about "socializing". I listened to mothers and close relatives spill their views as to why not to homeschool. I even entertained that my children might not enjoy homeschooling for a lack of "friends".

But, then, I remembered how I, a public school graduate, remained shy and anti-social until my college years. The same is true of my mother, father, and sister. We are shy people. Yet all of us attended public school. Is shyness a gene inherited from parents and passed from generation to generation?? I'm not sure and I would love to read more on the issue.

With my two boys, the differences in temperment and personality are so clear and marked. Jordan does tend toward the shy part of the pond BUT is extremely verbal--mind you, not articulate. He just loves to TALK and ask questions--lots of questions. He loves being around other kids and just playing. My younger son, Landon, doesn't have a shy bone in his body. No where to be found. He, too, is very verbal but extremely articulate for such a young child. My husband and I are convinced he's a brainiac. He, too, loves playing with other children and doesn't mind at all bossing them around or asking their name. He will even make up "stories" to mimic other children. Such as telling a little girl that ". . . Yeah, I have a sister. She's at my blue house." Nothing about that statement is true but he identifies himself with other children and I think that for now that's great.

This past week, I got to observe my children's socialization skills at work and I couldn't be more pleased. Watching them play at McDonald's, the beach, and Chick-Fil-A and interact with various children from different backgrounds, I am not the least bit worried about their "socialization." My children shared, were kind and thoughtful, excessively playful and happy. They did not tattle, scream, hit, cry, kick, attack or stomp off mad at any time. They interacted and solved problems (i.e. verbal disagreements) with ease. I observed my oldest son taking care of his brother. I watched as they obeyed my rules and tested the waters of what someone new was doing. (Swimming in the ocean a little beyond what I had deemed safe.) I also observed my children interact with other adults. Keep in mind these were adults they had never met before. They reacted with kindness and respect. Not at one time did my children shrink back from others or act "shy."

I love that my children have the social skills necessary for their age. They are not perfect by no means. And yes, my children are tattle-tales and we have "sharing" problems just like other families--they are typical children. All in all, my children are developing social skills at their own developmental stage. They are not being rushed into certain types of socializing that would damage their character and cause them to be fearful. I, along with most all of the homeschool mothers out there agree, socialization is not an issue when it comes to homeschooling.

Decorating for Homeschoolers

I've just been thinking about next year. What can I do different? What can I add to the experience to make it more enjoyable? I've been pondering for quite some time how each child learns and what they like. I have come to the conclusion that next year I must decorate.

Jordan reminisces about the decorations his kindergarten teacher put up each month. He loves to decorate and enjoys art. I will be using A Beka Arithmetic for second grade next year and throughout the curriculum they use six themes: Pond, Transportation, Children Around the World, Jungle, Workers and Helpers, and Camping. (Yes, I've already purchased next year's curriculum and I can't keep my hands off it:) Surely I could hang up decorations over the dining room table and designate a "billboard area" for the themes. I wonder if I could pull this off by the time school starts in August?? I guess it will have to be Mama's summer project. Oh, well, I love to color and it's a marvelous stress-reliever. It's also something I can do with the boys. Well, Jordan anyway. Landon just doesn't like to color. I sincerely hope that changes.

I've been "googling" the web looking for the first theme. Here's a couple of the websites I printed from for the pond theme: http://www.colormountain.com/ (lily pads), http://www.karenswhimsy.com/ (butterfly), www.kerkhoffchiropractic.com/images/coloring_pages/turtle.gif (cute turtle), www.familycrafts.about.com/library/graphics/colorfrog1.jpg, and www.freeprintablecoloringpages.net/samples/Birds/Mallard_Duck.png (small duck). Just a thought, be sure to check these sites out before allowing the kiddies to print from them--you know how site content can change overnight!!

It should be fairly easy. I think I will print off coloring pages that are too detailed and arrange them in the billboard area and then I can print and color extra items to hang from the dining room ceiling. The boys can color and cut out something different to go along with the pond theme and I'll display that above the dining table as well. I can't wait!

Hopefully, by then, I can post pictures of it.

Missing Photos

I have so enjoyed posting more frequently. The one thing amiss is the photos I would love to share from my life. I'm actually using our "backup" computer. The great, wonderful, powerful computer with all my great photos went kuput several weeks ago. I think I heard my husband say something about a motherboard problem. I'm clueless. I just want the computer to work like the car (bad analogy): get in and go. Or in the computer's sense: just do whatever it is I tell you to do. It's rebelling. That's it. It's just plain, simple rebellion.

Oh, well. In that case, I guess I'll have lots of updating to do whenever we get it fixed or get a new one. If it waits till we get a new one, it will be quite awhile. The company my husband works for is kind of "iffy" right now. The economy has hit the private jet business really hard and thus, us too. Not to worry. It's safely in God's hands. God gave him his job and will take care of us either way. I think that's part of a working relationship with Jesus. Just give him your worries (ALL of them) especially the ones that come up unexpectedly and leave them, just leave them at the foot of the cross. Not an easy lesson to learn.

Now, what would be a good photo for this post whenever I get access to my precious cache??? Key word: whenever. . .

Fast and Friday

Yesterday was great school-wise. Jordan and I love Fridays. On Fridays, Daddy doesn't go to work and Landon and I don't do school. Friday is test day for Jordan which, for this year, means when you have a test mom doesn't do a "lesson" for the subject were testing in. At first I was worried it would put too much pressure on Jordan. Three tests in one day??? But, he loves it. I let him pick which one he wants to get out of the way first. He always chooses his spelling test--because it's his favorite subject and he looks forward to finding out what new words he has for the next week. Then, it's on to the phonics test and math test. We read in our A Beka reader, go over AWANA verses, and karate words then see what Daddy is up to. Some Fridays I sneak in a short phonics lesson along with science and history. But I have found we do better in the long run to just leave off the science and history on Fridays.

Fridays are just great feel good days. I'm always glad. By Friday, I need a break and I think the boys do too.

2008-2009 Curriculum List

So, this is the week for compiling lists apparently. As I did yesterday with the Book List for the year, I have also compiled all the curriculum and websites I have used for Jordan (first grader) and Landon (pre-k).

My favorite websites:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ - for $20 a year you get great printouts on a variety of subjects. This site is great for coloring sheets, spanish, sight words, science, history, holiday crafts and loads more. It's geared to service preschool up to third grade.

http://www.first-school.ws/ - a free website with great stuff for your preschooler. It's simply a goldmine! You could definitely homeschool your preschooler for free from this website. It is jam-packed with nursery rhymes, coloring sheets, math printables, crafts, handwriting, and tons of alphabetical themes to go with each letter of the alphabet. It even teaches about community helpers, holidays, science and social studies! A great resource for any homeschooling mom. This is my third year using the site, I taught both my boys how to write letters and numbers using this site.

My first grade homeschool curriculum:

Bible curriculum followed the A Beka Scope and Sequence to Moses (that was at Christmas time) and since we cannot afford a whopping $400 just for Bible curriculum, I read the story out of the children's bible or my bible and we colored a sheet from either http://www.coloring.ws/ or http://www.calvarywilliamsport.com/ . We had two lines of Bible coloring sheets going down both sides of the hallway. Jordan loves to color but this didn't work for Landon because coloring isn't his thing. Jordan loved seeing his handiwork all over the walls and he learned a great deal, too!! We also go over our AWANA verses every day between reading and Handbook time. After the holidays, we kind of slipped off doing our Bible which irks me. That's the most important part of my kids' lives! I've been real spotty with Bible stories--some days we do them, other days we just pray. I've gotten in a bad rut and I must get out of it!!!

A Beka Arithmetic (K4 Numbers curr. for Landon; Grade One for Jordan) - I just love the review that's offered at every step along the way. Not only that, the tests are extremely relevant and easily laid out.

A Beka Phonics, Reading and Spelling (K4 for Landon; Grade One for Jordan) -A challenging reading/phonics program. But I have had great results with a child that didn't even learn to read in public school kindergarten.

A Beka Science: "Discovering God's World 1" (Jordan) Jordan has learned so much about animals and insects especially ants (things even I didn't know!!). He really loves this book!

A Beka History: "My America and My World 1" (Jordan)

A Beka Health: "Health, Safety and Manners 1" (Jordan)

A Beka Art Projects K4 & 1 - lots of cutting and gluing

FlashKids Grade One "Addition Activities" - great for shoring up those pesky addition facts! My husband's mom got the FlashKids books from Barnes & Noble (she was a homeschool mom, too!) and they are GREAT!

FlashKids Pre-K "Alphabet Puzzles and Games" - great for kids who are puzzle freaks like my little guy, Landon.

As for Handwriting, like I said above I've used the http://www.first-school.ws/ for teaching handwriting. This year I used it for Landon. I bought the A Beka Writing curriculum for Jordan but teaching my son cursive this year was not a good fit for him. He wasn't ready. It frustrated him and in my mommy-opinion, he needed to really work on his printing. So, I bought a k-2nd grade handwriting tablet from Wal-Mart and made up six sentences a day to review his spelling words for the week. We also wrote the Ten Commandments, the poems we learned this year and sentences, phrases or names (like the name of our church, for instance) that he was interested in. And on the first line of every page, he writes the date like this, "Today is . . ." It's helped him learn his months and the calendar. As of today, my son has neat handwriting and I am proud of his hard work this year. Handwriting was his least favorite subject at times.

Well, as I said yesterday, we're not done with our year. We're shooting for June 10th. But, I thank the good Lord above for guiding us this year. I stared this year in the face with the daunting task of teaching my child to read and thought to myself, There's no way I can do this. I found out I was right, I can't teach my child. But, God can. He lent me His strength and gave me creativity and wisdom straight from His throne. Thanks be to God for this homeschooling year!!!

Pre-K/First Grade Reading List (2008-2009)

Okay, so this is a work in progress as of right now. I'll probably actually finish it at the end of June. We plan on being officially done with school by June 10th. But, unofficially, we will still be progressing along through our Abeka readers and doing math problems daily so we don't get too rusty.



So, here is an incomplete list of all the library books, etc. we have read this school year (2008-2009). Please be careful with the snake books (Jordan is crazy about snakes!). Most snake books are okay. By okay, I mean nothing gruesome or scary but a few of the ones listed below were a little much in my personal opinion. Since children differ and are scared by different things be sure and look through the pictures of the snake books thoroughly before sharing with your dear child. If you're looking for this list to be alphabetized, I apologize. I'm just thankful to be getting this list posted:



Kingfisher First Encyclopedia of Animals
Ocean Explorer
Usborne First Encyclopedia of Animals
Sharks! Time for Kids
Ocean Animals
Treasury of Animals and Nature
The Natural World: Q & A Encyclopedia
The Gingerbread Man
Fiddle-I-Fee by Hillenbrand
Tigers by Ann Squire
Franklin Goes to School
Snakes: Biggest! Littlest! by Markle
The Berenstain Bears and the Big Road Race
Snakes: Look and Learn by Mara
A Frog Thing by Drachman
Pancakes!Pancakes! by Eric Carle
The Best Book of Snakes by Gunzi
The Great Pig Escape by Christelow
Tremendous Tractors by Mitton
Snakes! by Patricia Demuth
Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo? by Blackstone
Diary of a Spider by Cronin
Are You a Spider? by Allen
Night House, Bright House by Wellington
Cookie's Week
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. . . by Numeroff
If you Give a Cat a Cupcake. . . by Numeroff
If you Give a Pig a Pancake . . .by Numeroff
Curious George Makes Pancakes by Rey
The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog
No More Water in the Tub
Moosetache
A Big Ball of String by Holland
The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto by Standiford
A Fly Went By
The Cat in the Hat by Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham by Seuss
Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children by Blizzard
Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art with Children by Blizzard
The Little Engine That Could
Trucks by Barton
Trucks by Strickland
Trucks Roll! by Lyon
Truck Trouble by Royston
Truck (picture book) by Crews
Trucks, Trucks, Trucks by Sis
Tonka: If I Could Drive a Tow Truck by Teitelbaum
Tonka: If I Could Drive a Dump Truck
Tonka: If I Could Drive a Crane
Tonka: If I Could Drive a Tanker Truck
Tonka: If I Could Drive a Mixer
Tonka: Power Lifting
Tonka: Full Strength
Tonka: Run Wild
Tonka: High Speed
Tonka: Exact Action
Tonka: If I Could Drive a Loader
Tonka: I'm a Great Big Monster Truck
Tonka: I'm a Great Big Eighteen-Wheeler
Tonka: Super Size
Usborne Science With Plants
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
The Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Hello, Red Fox by Eric Carle
Snakes by Gibbons
Cats by Gibbons
High-Wire Henry by Calhoun
Henry, the Sailor Cat by Calhoun
The Visual Dictionary of Dinosaurs
Nibble, Nibble by Brown
All About Alligators by Amosky
Fangs! Boas, Pythons, and Anacondas by Ethan
I Am A Little Spider by Prims & Roca
Giant Snakes by Simon
Kingfisher Question Time: Explore and Discover Sharks by Savage
Fun with Pets (A Beka Reader)
Tiptoes (A Beka Reader)
Stepping Stones (A Beka Reader)
The Three Little Rigs by Gordon
The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Geist
Hansel and Diesel by Gordon
Hot Wheels: Start Your Engines by Landers
The Great Race by Awdry
Wild Earth: Volcano! by Hopping
Wild Earth: Avalanche!
Wild Earth: Earthquake!
The Magic School Bus in the Bat Cave by Lane
The Best Book of Weather by Adams
I Love You Stinky Face by McCourt
Five Little Ducks
Veggie Tales: The Clumsiest Cowboy by Peterson
Veggie Tales: LarryBoy versus Spud the Dud by Peterson
Veggie Tales: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Mop by Peterson
Veggie Tales: The Spaghetti Western by Peterson
Veggie Tales: The Case of the Lost Temper by Peterson
How Many Veggies? by Vischer
Junior's Colors by Vischer
The Backyardigans: The Race to the Tower of Power by Lukas
Aesop's The Woodsman and the Amazing Fish
Aesop's The Crow and the Pitcher
Aesop's The Fox and the Crab
Four Seasons for Little People by Ballard
Hot Air Henry by Calhoun
Cross Country Cat by Calhoun
If I Ran the Circus by Seuss
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Seuss
The Dog that Had Kittens by Robertus
Where's the Cat? by Blackstone
I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today by Seuss
Nate the Great by Sharmat
Blue Train, Green Train
Bluewater Journal: Voyage of the Sea Tiger by Krupinski
Ten Apples Up on Top! by Seuss
Goodnight Moon by Brown
Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra
It's Not Easy Being a Bunny by Sadler
Golden Books Snakes
Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett

The Lost Tooth

Well, it's official. My firstborn is growing up fast. Today, he lost his first tooth. Tonight he will join the ranks of children who gleefully peek under their pillows to see just what the mysterious Toothy Fairy leaves him.


My son was overjoyed to say the least that he would be visited by the Tooth Fairy. As is his way, he asked close to forty questions while grinning ear to ear. He finally came up with the fact that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are one and the same. Not quite. My four year old, Landon, told his big brother, "Santa leaves toys. The tooth fairy leaves moneeeey!" You got it, bud. I only hope my hubby remembers to go by the ATM and get some dough or we are going to have one sad little boy in the morning.


While this scene played itself out, I was trying to remember what in the world it was like to lose my first tooth? I can't remember. I do remember one time waking to find that the Tooth Fairy had left me 50 cents. I was always too scared to pull out my teeth early. I was simply too afraid of the impending pain that the actual "pulling" would cause. My parents were great Tooth Fairies though. I never suspected a thing. Not once. I do remember trying to will myself to stay up. Of course, lying down in bed with your eyes closed is a no brainer for me. I close my eyes and that's it. Lights out.

I laugh as I look at the picture above. How excited Jordan was about losing his first tooth and the Tooth Fairy but NOT excited about having to pose for a picture. I just want documentation!!! I want to be able to show him when he's 20- or 30-something and has his kids. Future grandma stuff.

Amidst all the tooth loss today I'm also excited about Spring Break next week. I can't wait. I think I want Spring Break more than my boys do. Just think, a whole week with out getting up in the morning and feeling guilty that I should have done this or that. Or that I should have gotten up early in the first place. I'm not an early bird, I promise. Well, anyway, it's been an enlightening day.

Time Flies!

Wow! I just knew when I signed up I'd be blogging daily. Things are really never boring around here. There's always too much to write about. However, too many days have gotten away from me. Since my last post, I have become a member of The Homeschool Lounge (if you homeschool, this is a great site to talk with other moms like you), signed up on The LPM Blog to memorize scripture (Acts 20:24 right now), attended revival at my church, taken Jordan to six karate classes, been to the library once, slept late too many days and done more loads of laundry than I care to remember, etc, etc.

One of the most important things I've ironed out though is our new schedule. I am proud to say that Landon and I are officially "doing preschool" four days a week. It's been rough trying to teach reading, spelling, writing, and first grade arithmetic to a highly distractable six year old AND try to include the four year old who just wants to pester and tease his brother. Landon thinks playtime is ALL the time. But, flip-flopping Jordan's schedule and starting with the fun stuff first really works for us.


There's also computer time where we learn about one animal a week that goes with Landon's letter of the week . This schedule has been a blessing and less stressful on me and my hubby.

It's sad to say but I was skimping on the art and music just to get the academics done with Jordan. I was just soo stressed and then I would try to start school with Landon. . . it just wasn't working. I love that I can change our schedule to fit us and try different and new directions.
I truly enjoy homeschooling. The boys are enjoying the fun we are having learning our new song and doing art every day. They love it. We're just about out of glue and markers!!

Well, I have blogged enough for today. Better go start supper!

Let Me Introduce You to My Boys

First of all, let me introduce you to my boys. Jordan is six years old and we are working on his first grade work with our Abeka curriculum. Jordan is extremely sweet and thoughtful but he has excessive energy and is a bundle of excitement equipped with a megaphone of a mouth. Trust me, whatever he does for living, he needs to use his voice--this child loves to talk LOUDLY. And, if I could find a way to bottle up his energy and sell it, I'd be a millionaire in no time. But, Jordan has trouble concentrating. He's not ADD but he's not missing the mark by far, let me tell ya.

Jordan enjoys learning. I've homeschooled him since birth except for last year when he went to the public school for kindergarten. At the end of the year, most kids learned to read those easy readers--but Jordan never did and his handwriting was never corrected in ps and he never could count to thirty correctly. At the time I was in college part-time and assumed he would want to go back to school. But one day on the way home he said, "Mama, I want you to be my teacher next time." After talking to my husband, Jordan was elated. He told me, "Mama, Daddy said you could homeschool me." I was sooo afraid. I mean, come on, teaching a child to read is MAJOR. I didn't want to make any mistakes. But, I am happy to report he is doing really good in reading and everything else. He just needs that one-to-one ratio. Public school was a distraction for him--all the kids, the sounds, etc. He couldn't think about learning. So, that's where I'm at with him.

As a side note, I have decided we must change curriculums. Don't get me wrong Abeka is great. But, Jordan is a hands-on learner. Abeka is school work. I don't really want him to just do school work. I want him to learn to enjoy just learning. Learning is fun and enriching and it's not workbooks and textbooks all day long. I want to see his character grow and mature into the man God wants him to be. I've researched and prayed and frankly, gotten bug-eyed over looking at all the curriculums. So, next year we are going to start with My Father's World curriculum. I am excited. It's exactly what I want in a curriculum and it includes Bible. Matter of fact, the whole curriculum is written from a "Biblical perspective." Thank God. The main issue I have with Abeka is that Bible is not included in the standard parent/child kit. It's so important to me to give my kids a view of the world from God's perspective. It's how I wish I had been taught.

Now, let me introduce you to my wild child, "Lil' Toot" or as his birth certificate says, "Landon." Landon is four years old going on thirteen. He is extremely smart and notices minute details that boggle my pea-brain. He is hard to teach. (I need some prayers, here!) He is very vocal but in a negative, whiny, excuse-laden, "I know, I know. . . " kind of way. He has an answer for everything and everyone. Heaven help us when he's speechless. The world must be crumbling away. The sky must be falling if words don't come from this child's mouth. He doesn't comply with "Hush" or "Be quiet" ever. I have tried everything I know with him. Disciplining Landon is like telling a raging elephant not to stampede. I pray daily for guidance and wisdom and patience. Lots of patience. I honestly couldn't make it some days if it weren't for God's endless supply of strength, mercy, wisdom, and my wonderful husband. Please don't take this the wrong way. I love and adore this child. He is the zaniest. He's a real hoot and can be so much fun to be with. But he is a challenge. I used to wonder why he was such a "toot." And then I read a quote that goes something like this, "Children are sometimes used by God as heavenly sandpaper. . . " Well, God is certainly polishing up a lot of areas in my life and teaching me so much through this child.

Landon is a blessing--a delightful blessing, as is his brother, too. I am truly thankful that God has blessed my life with them. Just a thought, but if you have a "challenging" or "difficult" child would you like to share what has or hasn't worked for you?