Oh boy… November 25, 2008

Yeaaahhhh, I haven’t updated in almost 2 months! Eep! Needless to say, please accept my apologies. I will try to do better, even in this upcoming busy holiday season.

I do hope to begin adding photos soon…I’ve been rather bad at taking any lately, and I would so love to have everyone see the neat things the girls and I have been up to lately. Provided that things go well today in my cleaning schedule, I might be able to upload some pictures this afternoon…

I’m no longer babysitting Little Miss…Something happened where her mother lost her placement and is still currently looking for employment; however, we do try to get the girls together at least once per week and also to have some much-needed mommy time.

We don’t observe Halloween for religious reasons…We don’t even take the girls out in costume for Trick-or-Treat night (aka, Beggars’ Night). So, instead, I’ve been making things with Munchkin to celebrate autumn, and to prepare for Thanksgiving. We visited the Dollar Tree (for those who don’t know, it’s one of those stores where everything within is just $1) and found some cute and simple decorations. We purchased a wreath with a scarecrow sitting on it like one would a tire swing, with raffia and a banner above his head saying “Welcome”. I also purchased a package of suction cups with hooks on them, in the hopes that I could simply hang our little scarecrow in the door; no dice. The suction cups wouldn’t stick because the surface of the door isn’t smooth but slightly textured. Instead, we have him hanging in one of the front windows.

Leaf Garland

I also love the store Pottery Barn Kids. Not that I can afford much in the store, mind you, but they occasionally have some great ideas that I could easily duplicate at home for a tiny fraction of the cost. The leaf garland they had for sale this autumn for $40? I made a similar one for much less than $5. Granted, it’s not yet embroidered with the veins of the leaves, nor in double layers of felt, but I kind of like it as-is. I made it by printing off some fall leaf coloring pages from dltk’s printable pages found here:  http://www.coloring.ws/autumn2.htm . (Please excuse the lack of direct link…for some reason, I can’t go back and add them!). I printed off four of the leaves and cut them out. I used the cut-outs as paper patterns, and cut the leaves out of four different colors of felt–one leaf per color, totalling 16 leaves in all. I took a spool of grossgrain ribbon and, using a cross-stitch, sewed them onto the ribbon about every 8-12″. I think it’s very cute, to say the least.

Mini Turkeys

Munchkin and I also made mini-turkeys to hang on our front door in preparation for Thursday. With brown felt, I cut out 3.5″ circles and peanut shapes, and with the scraps from the felt leaves I made 6 feathers and beaks for each turkey. i haven’t yet added the wattles, but hey, i think they look cute as-is. On one side of the circles, I told Munchkin we were going to glue feathers. Using Aleen’s Tacky Glue (regular white glue doesn’t work on polyester felt, for some reason) I drew a curved line along the top edge of the circle. Munchkin pressed the “feathers” onto the glue line until all the feathers for that turkey were gone. We let the turkey butts dry (yes, that’s what she still calls them now) for a couple hours, and then we flipped over each turkey body. We glued one peanut shape onto the body, and glued a beak onto the top of the peanut shape. We let them dry even more. Later that evening, I took some 1/2″ circular magnets and the same Tacky Glue and glued the magnets onto the backs of the turkeys. When the glue was dry, I stuck them to the front door. Every time we leave the house, both Munchkin and Buggaboo love seeing the turkeys. Munchkin talks about her “turkey butts” and Buggaboo tries to grab them and munch on them.

This week has proven to be very busy. Munchkin will be 3 this up-coming Sunday, and in preparation for it, she’s beginning to act it. All day yesterday it was challenge after challenge after challenge. Where did my sweet little 2-year-old go? We have also purchased most of her birthday gifts and squirreled them away out of her sight. She picked out what she wanted for her birthday cake (Pillsbury’s Funfetti with matching icing with purple for the lettering), and was asking for it last night. Ever since Daddy’s surprise party last month (oh yeah, I forgot to mention that, huh? I’ll tell you later about it) she’s been wondering about her birthday. She is aware that hers comes after Daddy’s but before Buggaboo’s. After Thanksgiving but before Christmas. It’s so fun to see the anticipation on her face. She gets excited when she realizes her grandparents are coming to see her.

School-wise, we’ve been working on Munchkin’s fine motor skills to prepare her for writing, and teaching Buggaboo to walk. I made a felt “pizza” for Munckin out of numerous little circles of pepperoni, brown mushrooms, green pepper crescents, white cheese, red sauce, and tan and white crust. She also loves to share it with Mommy, Daddy, Buggy, and her friends.

Alphabet Book

I also found large alphabet bulletin board/wall strips at the Dollar Tree. I use one to work on alphabetizing, and another to make a book. These strips have the directional arrows, showing how to make the letters. How I made the book was using 12×12″ page protectors (also found at the Dollar Tree, 10 in a package), 12×12″ sheets of plain white cardstock for the pages, 12×12″ sheets of gray for the cover, the alphabet strip with the letters cut individually, and little adhesive squares found in the scrapbooking section of my local Hobby Lobby. Oh, and I also had a school theme scrapbooking kit with mini alphabet strips in them, which I also used to decorate the cover. On one side of the white, I adhered one letter, and the other side I adhered the next letter of the alphabet. I slid each leaf into a page protector. Once each page was protected as well as the cover leaves, I used 5-1″ binder rings (the kind with the hinges that open up) looped through the holes that were intended for a scrapbook. I’m following the order of letters that Handwriting Without Tears recommends, and we flip to that letter in the book. We use her Magna-Doodle toy to practice writing the letter. When she gets proficient with a letter, I take our greaseboard slates with manuscript lines on one side and we practice using the lines with a grease pen (also found at the Dollar Tree. I found the grease boards for $0.50 each at a yard sale over the summer).

We are also working on recognizing and memorizing the numbers 13-20. After Thanksgiving is over, I’m going to make some more file folder games for her to play with. I haven’t yet figured out other activities to use yet, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

Potential December Crafts:

I love gingerbread and snow people. I also appreciate the look of holly. What better way to put them together than make a garland with all three aspects? I have all the felt purchased (yes, it seems that lately my medium of choice is felt. Sue me. ), and I need to dig through my cookie cutters for my snowman and my gingerbread man. What will happen is the cookie cutters are going to be the patterns for each, and I’ll cut out two pieces of felt for each snowman and gingerbread man. Sew around the edges, leaving a gap to stuff with polyester fiberfill (I have a lot of that stuff! ). Once stuffed, the gap will be sewn shut and each piece will be decorated. Cut holly leaves and berries out of green and red felt, and sew them together. Sew the pieces together, alternating gingerbread man, holly, snowman, holly, gingerbread man, holly, etc. I think it will look great around the fireplace gate, don’t you? I also plan to make some stray pieces and let them hang in the front windows, and on the front door. I figure Munchkin can help stuff and decorate all the pieces.

I was just at my local Meijer store yesterday. I was hoping to find some Thanksgiving tablecloths, etc. on sale, but instead found Christmas/winter items. There was an adorable set of felt snowflake placemats and table runners. Each piece was about 14-18″ in diameter, in 2 layers of felt. The place mats were white-on-pale blue, and the runner was white-on-white and white-on-red. Very quaint, very cute. I figure, I can make some very similar for less than 1/2 the cost. I plan to go to JoAnn’s tomorrow to buy the felt–they’re having a huge sale on the bolted felt for $1.49/yd. Can’t beat that price.

We have lots of beads, and lots of pipe cleaners. While Buggaboo’s sleeping next week during her nap, Munchkin and I can combine the two together to make some really sparkly snowflakes. Might hang them in the windows, on the back sliding glass door, perhaps even find a way to stick them on the mirror over the mantle.

There may be more crafts we’ll do…I just have to go get dinner started.

September 30, 2008

I have been quite lax in updating this blog lately. I have been so busy, and I’ve had little time on my hands to do anything extra. With babysitting Little Miss, and playing referee between her and Munchkin, I had been able to do little else. . .It’s alright, though, because it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

I don’t remember the last date I posted, so I’ll just give some updates on what has been going on in my world: In August, we went camping at Alum Creek State Park, using a 2-room tent (though we didn’t hang the wall). Buggaboo was getting over a cold, and it got a lot chillier than I had thought, so I had to bring her home at 2:30 in the morning that Saturday morning, and return at 8:30 because all our food was in the car I was driving (we had arrived so late Friday night that there was little time to unload it and put it in dh’s car. Dh and Munchkin met us at the playground near the entrance to the campgrounds, and we found that there was a mud-daubers’ nest right under the stairs in the sand of the play equipment. We went out to breakfast, went home to shower (we were still fairly close to home in case of what happened the night before), and took the girls miniature golfing. Let me tell you: it’s quite an experience to take an almost-three-year-old miniature golfing! Lol. She had a blast, and dh and I had many “holes in one” and under “par” because she had such a blast picking up the balls after we putted from the tee and trying to either drop it straight into the cup, or taking the ball to within 6 inches of the cup and hitting it in. Hey, I’m not arguing with her; that was the best score I’ve ever had!

Back home, we’ve been working on reading Dick and Jane. I have not been as good at keeping up with this as I had planned, but I had to delay lessons for a few weeks to help Little Miss become used to our daily routine (um, yeah, I had to develop one really quickly, because she’s one that’s a stickler for schedules, and Munchkin so is not!). I just started working with LM on Dick and Jane, when her mother lost the placement she was in (they terminated the assignment, and as a temp, she has to wait until the agency calls her for something else). So, I have not had her since Friday, and her mom is stuck at home for the time being. Munchkin, on the other hand, is starting to pick up a bit more. This week, we are reviewing the first four stories, working on the words she has trouble with, and then I think by the weekend we can begin the 5th. And yesterday, I was browsing a bit on AtoZ Teacher Stuff, and there was a link to this really great website that works on Rimes and Rhymes, focusing on a single nursery rhyme per week. It’s very neat, and simple, as well as short. First, there is the rhyme card that you print off. Then, there are additional cards to print off that have pictures and words that rhyme with the main word family of the rhyme of the week. I reset my printer settings and was able to print 9 cards to a page–the pictures were still clear, as were the words. Also, there are riddles that can be printed off to help identify the additional rhyming words. I didn’t print off those yet, because I don’t feel that Munchkin is quite ready for it yet. And last, but not least, are the lesson plans for the week. They are broken down by day, each so far taking only about 5-10 minutes of time to execute per day. Mind you, these were written for classrooms of more than 1-3 children, so I’m adapting them so far as I can for a single child, and they don’t take as long as they would in the classroom. So far, they have 28 rhyme lessons available on the site, and they’ll add the last two as the school year progresses (they said it would be closer to the end of the current year). I have already printed off three: “Jack and Jill”, “An Apple Pie When It Looks Nice”, and “Rain, Rain, Go Away”. I printed the Apple Pie one ahead of schedule because it’s apple-picking season and we just went to the orchard on Friday; I thought it more fitting to do it now. Which brings me to seque what we are currently doing.

Friday we went to Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Pataskala to pick some Golden Delicious apples. We also stopped by their roadside stand and purchased some Honeycrisp (wowza! Suddenly, I have a new favorite! Too bad their season is so short-lived…), apple cider, a couple gourds for the girls, and some baked goods. Yesterday, I took some of the honeycrisp and baked them into a pie. Well, I had accidentally cut up too many, and they were already seasoned; so, I threw what was left into the crockpot for a couple hours on high. While the pie cooled, I took the apples out of the crockpot and put them in my food processor. After the apples were ground up, I poured them back into the crock on low for another hour. I took a taste, and WOW! Here, I thought I was making applesauce, but it turns out that I made something so decadent, so wonderful–I don’t think I could do it again, but I could only hope! And not only that, but we each had a slice of the pie for dessert after a spaghetti dinner and oh. My. GOSH! That was the BEST apple pie I’ve ever tasted or made! I did make a sugar substitution–I used brown instead of white, and I added an extra tablespoon of flour. The crust was perfect, just the right amount of crispy flakiness, and practically melted in your mouth and it seemed like it was having fun doing so! Yeah, I loved that pie!

Well, I’m going to update some more tomorrow. My back hurts right now (it’s been a rough day), so I think I should head to bed. G’night!

How to Make a Family Book August 29, 2008

In my previous post, i mentioned making a Family Book or Album for our Family Study. i hope that should you choose to make one for your own family, that you’ll enjoy it as much as i hope we will. This is something that will not only be great for the kids to be able to recognize their family members, but also a great way to make a treasured family heirloom to pass down the line of family historians to keep adding to. It is meant to be an on-going project, or you can make a small permanent one for your child(ren).

What you’ll need:

• binder or loose-leaf scrapbook of any size larger than 8 1/2″ x 11″
• paper–we’re going to use archival quality so that our book will last a lot longer
• camera–we’ll be using our digital, and taking the memory card to a local store for quick developing
• photographs of those family members who are deceased, such as grandparents, etc., or even those who live far away that you don’t very often get to visit
• adhesives–make sure these are non-toxic and safe for the children to be around. In this case, rubber cement is NOT an option, as the fumes can be harmful to anyone. We’ll be using archival quality (acid-free) adhesive, perhaps a glue stick or even those permanent tabs found in scrapbook supplies.
• writing utensils–preferably acid-free. pencils, markers, crayons, gel pens, ball-point pens, etc. or, use a computer printer
• any other decorative implements if you choose.

What to do:

Each family member will have his or her own page spread, meaning once the book is opened, both the left and right sides of the open leaves will be for that individual. Take photographs of each of the members of your family. This can include not only the immediate members of the family (Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters), but also grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. If you have relatives who live states or countries away (for instance, we live in Ohio, my brother and his family are in Missouri), you can choose to contact them to help you and mail to them the supplies needed, or request printed photos and answers to a survey plus the next item I’m going to discuss. you can also include photographs of this person with your child(ren). For instance, we have photographs of dh’s grandmother with Munchkin when she was a baby, but then passed away the following year, just shy of M’s first birthday. I plan to include a photo of Grandma by herself, then smaller photographs of her with Munchkin.

if possible, ask each person to trace around one hand–perhaps their dominant hand (this is just for interest only. Some weirdos, like myself, enjoy knowing handedness. I’m a lefty, and it fascinates me to figure out who is a lefty and who’s not). This handprint can be mounted in the book as-is, or you can cut around it and mount it silhouette-style (i.e., white on black paper, black on white paper, etc.).

Ask each person to fill out a survey, if possible. if the person is a young child, too young to understand, ask the child’s parents about any applicable questions. Examples of great survey questions can be found on the internet or in most email in-boxes.

Ask each person to share a favorite event from their childhood. What would make this a true gem would be to have the person’s actual handwriting and place it in an envelope on the same page as their handprint. If the handwriting is difficult to read or if it’s written in cursive while your child only reads print, retype the story on the computer in the exact same way the person wrote it (grammar errors, spelling errors, etc.) and place the story in the same envelope.

At the beginning of your book, an idea to include would be a family tree. Choose whatever format you would like.

Don’t make this out to be a real elaborate project, for the children will be going through it and reading it over and over. They’ll be trying to match their hands to the handprints on the pages. If you would like something to last a bit longer and have the extra funds, scan each page in its actual size to the computer and reprint it for the kids to use, and save the original for posterity’s sake. Or take it to a printing place like Kinko’s and have it copied and bound, allowing the children to have the copied piece and have the original stored away. For obvious reasons, don’t let the children play with the original, as it won’t last very long. As family members pass, it will be a sweet reminder of them.

Updates August 29, 2008

This is the end of the 3rd week of babysitting our friends’ little girl (i don’t have a nickname for her yet!). So far, it’s gone fairly well, and they’re showing signs of getting used to the idea–the girls, that is. The first week went smoothly, and we did no preschool work; it was basically just a play week. Last week, the bickering and arguing started: Munchkin was tired of sharing her toys on a long-term basis. Sure, she enjoys having a friend here every day, but she wasn’t understanding yet what it means to be a friend and share and get along together. This week, i discovered that my sweet, innocent little angel really isn’t all that sweet or innocent; she’s a fighter. She scratches, pinches, hits, and kicks when she doesn’t get her way. When the other Girl picks up a toy that Munckin hasn’t played with for a few weeks, Munchkin suddenly decides that she absolutely has to play with that particular toy. She then grabs the toy and essentially plays tug-of-war with the other Girl, and when the other Girl wins (which normally happens) Munchkin starts the physical stuff. Ugh. Dh and I were talking about it and wondering where she’s getting these ideas that it’s okay to do that stuff. The only place where she’s with other people and not us is in Sunday school, and I don’t think they’d let the kids get away with that.

So, anyway, we gradually added some preschool-ish activities to our day. Munchkin has been enjoying the break as the other Girl transitions slowly to new environments and routines. Last week, I began adding a daily Bible verse to trace on manuscript paper and broken crayons on a table for the girls to work on. Munchkin normally loves stuff like that, but since the other Girl has been here, she hasn’t been doing as much. Apparently, the other Girl cannot be told to work on her writing–she only does what she wants when she wants to do it–well, within reason. If it’s left out for her to discover, that’s another thing.

Noah’s Ark Update: While I was still expecting Munchkin, my parents found a homemade wooden ark, complete with Noah and the animals. Each piece is simply a silhouette of each animal and Noah holding the dove, cut out by a jigsaw and no paint on them. We have continued with the reading and acting out of the story with the ark. Last Tuesday I put a piece of white posterboard on the coffee table and traced twice around half the animals and once of Noah. Once the tracings were done in pencil, I went over the lines again with a black ball-point pen. i set out a bunch of crayons for the girls to color with. Boy, you’d think they won the lottery or something when they saw it! Munchkin began coloring the animals and the other Girl began coloring everything else. When the picture is ready, I’m going to take the table outside and let the girls paint over it with watercolors. The wax should repel the paint and make a neat effect for the girls.

As I mentioned before, the fighting between the girls has begun. They will fight over anything, and I mean ANYthing! They’ll fight over who gets to use the potty first. They fight over who can say whatever, who can sit in the red or the green chairs, who can play with what toy. There are two really nice baby dolls here in the house. They were fighting over who had which one! Finally, I had enough and made each of them a rag doll. They chose what color yarn they wanted for hair, and i sewed it on and braided it for them. Each doll even has a behind and a bellybutton, too. At the moment, the dolls don’t have any clothing, but the girls seem okay with that right now. This week, i made each doll a blanket and sewed the girls’ initials on them. That seemed to help alleviate the situation a little, but they’re still fighting. In fact, right now they’re arguing as to who has the pink yogurt (they both do–it’s the same flavor). in light of all this, the girls are very interested in discussing their families. The Girl keeps asking for her Papa and MorMor, and Munchkin talks about her Pappaw and Gramma. They also take very good care of their “babies”, and I’ve been encouraging them to read books to the dolls. I think we’re going to slip into a side study on Families, and go from there while continuing to work on Noah’s Ark.

Family Study Update #1: I’m going to observe the girls a little more. i think this will be a good one, and get the Girl’s parents and family involved, as well as ours. I was doing some research last night, and A to Z Teacher Stuff has some neat ideas. i combined a couple of them for our own purposes. I have one idea that I hope goes over quite well. i think we’re going to make family albums, but with a twist. I’ll post about it next today so that others can simply go to that post and find the directions. Once I pay my library fines (doo-de-doo-de-doo), I’m going to start taking the girls up and look for more books on family relationships that are relevant to them. i have some books in our own library, but since we have an ecclectic mix, there aren’t very many dealing with families–well, they do indirectly, but nothing of large significance.

Reading: Munchkin LOVES to read. She is able to read the first 3-4 stories in the Dick and Jane Treasury. l can assess this by taking the same words from that book and putting them in another context. She remembers what they are! it seems that whole-word is working, and we’re getting a little into phonics and sounding out the words, but we’re not quite there to understanding the concept yet. We’re working on “Spot” and “Puff” right now; we start out by reading the stories we already know then progress to the next story. We do this each time to keep reinforcing what we already know, and, well, Munchkin enjoys it. It’s not “work” yet, so I’m taking what I can get for the moment.

A Conversation August 29, 2008

I now babysit for a little girl who is 4 months older than Munchkin. She and Munchkin are both at that famous stage of questions. This is how a typical conversation goes every 5 minutes:

Something occurs, such as an item fell.

Munchkin: What happened?

Me: The book fell off the table.

Little Miss: Why?

Me: Because you knocked it over.

Little Miss: Oh, okay.

A couple minutes later:

Me: Alright girls, it’s time to clean up for lunch!

Little Miss: Why?

Me: So that we have a clean table to eat off of.

Little Miss: Why?

Me: You don’t want to eat off the floor do you?

Munchkin: No.

Little Miss: Okay.

Me: So let’s get the table cleaned up, okay?

Little Miss: Why?

[the sound of Me banging my head against the table]

August 6, 2008

A lot has been happening these past couple weeks. The windshield of my car was broken by an errant baseball at a ball park, so that had to be fixed, and since the new glass has waves in it, I’m now waiting this morning for a new windshield. The girls and I can’t go anywhere today until after the guy comes and takes care of it, which should be anywhere between now and noon. I hope it’s sooner than later because we need to go to Kroger to buy tickets for the State Fair on Friday. I also need to get the girls some more soap, as well as some Castile Soap that I forgot to pick up the other day.

Today, Munchkin and I are going to do some fun things! A couple weeks ago, I purchased the Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends at our local Goodwill store. So, today, we are going to read the first few stories together from “We Look and See”. We’ll probably do this for a couple weeks until she becomes more familiar with the sight words. We’re also going to keep reading “Is Your Mama a Llama?”, which she really seems to enjoy. She has a fascination with sidewalk chalk, so when Buggaboo wakes up (I’m surprised she’s not up yet, but then again, she didn’t take a nap yesterday at all!) I’ll retrieve the chalkboard from their room so Munchkin can draw. She can make a pretty good capital “T’, and is working on the rest of the letters in her name. For the Bible, we’ll read “Noah’s Ark” from 5-Minute Bible Stories, and she’ll be able to play with her wooden ark for a while. I’m also working on making holes in styrofoam plates in the forms of letters so that she can use yarn and plastic needles to lace them through the holes. Or, perhaps I should use cardboard instead so they’ll last longer? I don’t know yet. For our read-aloud book, i was going to read “A Little Princess,” but decided that Munchkin wasn’t paying enough attention. Instead, we’ve started “Little House in the Big Woods”, which she seems to enjoy a lot more. It might have to do more with the formality of the language in the first book, versus the less formal vernacular of the second. At any rate, i believe this to be a better book to start with on the read-alouds to go along with our daily bible reading so that she gets used to it. Perhaps we’ll wait a few more months to try ‘A Little Princess” again.

Last week, one of our neighbors gave us a bushel of plums, so we made plans to make some plum jam. She came over again on Friday to help me, and she brought another bushel full! We ended up making two batches of jam, one plain and the other cinnamon plum. It tastes kind of odd to me, but I think it’s because I used my cast iron Dutch oven. Next time, I’m going to just use my stainless steel pot. If it doesn’t get too warm today, I’ll try to make some plum chutney; I found some interesting recipes for it that I may try. Though, i’m not quite sure what chutney is…I strongly suspect it’s like cranberry relish in a way…

Successful Weekend :-) July 17, 2008

I forgot to mention in my last post that the canal boat ride was wonderful…For those who live in Ohio (or those who are visiting), it’s well worth the trip. You learn a lot about Ohio’s early history, and how we Ohioans became quite successful upon the completion of the Ohio-Erie Canal systems. Across the street from the landing dock is Roscoe Village, which we ended up not being able to visit, but I still highly recommend anyone to go there.

The mill arrived while we were out, and I LOVE it. I’ve been able to make a few loaves of bread already–though, two were kind of funky-looking–and they were delicious! Fresh flour is wonderful! In fact, the other day, I made a great loaf called Banana-Oatmeal-Raisin bread, using fresh whole wheat flour, oatmeal, bananas, and instead of raisins, I used dried cranberries. *drool* It was to die for! The bread was also quite yummy slathered with creamy peanut butter (though, I’m assuming that the crunchy kind would work just as well! ). Definitely making that recipe again. Tonight, I’m going to make another loaf of just plain whole wheat bread so we can have sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.

I went with a friend on Saturday to shop at some yard sales….A local community had 60 families participate in a large one, and we had quite a bit of success. I was able to purchase for Munchkin a Discovery Toys Marbleworks, practically brand-new for $4. Only two marbles were missing out of 10, so I definitely wasn’t complaining, considering that coming from the company it’s $30. I also found 2 great craft/hobby books, inside which are instructions for a myriad of things, including how to make a heddle loom for weaving–may have to use that when the kids are a little older. At another sale I found The Ark, by Arthur Geisert for only $0.25. Oh my gosh! The illustrations are incredible! I also found a few other books at the same price, coming to a total of $3.00 just for the books. They included The Lamb and the Butterfly, Hattie and the Fox, Is Your Mama a Llama?, and a few others. All these books–not including the craft books–are going to be added to my CM list for preschool reading. I know Miss Mason did not approve much of preschoolers doing a lot of reading, but Munchkin so loves books and loves to read, especially with Daddy and I. So, I’ve purposely been choosing books that are meaningful and would enhance our outdoor time while we’re out. Not only that, but it’s an hour drive to my parents’ house and for her to have nothing to do but look at road construction whizzing by (Ohio’s state flower is now the construction barrel) is pointless; might as well give her some books to read, eh?

I have to go for now. I need to get Munchkin ready for bed, and it’s quite late for her to be up. I may write more later, once she’s settled.

An Addendum… July 10, 2008

Last time, I wrote about writing my own curriculum. I haven’t changed my mind, but I have changed how I would like to approach our homeschooling. Over the past week, I have discovered Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education, and have fallen in love with her methods and ideas. We’ve already implemented small parts of what Miss Mason believed to be important parts of education, and since Munchkin is still so very young, we haven’t done much.

We have begun a nature journal. Right now, as Munchkin is not yet 3 years of age, we are working on a family nature journal, and when she is a bit older and more used to the idea, she will begin her own. We have already gone to a couple local parks and made leaf rubbings, and we collected a small bunch of green oak leaves on the ground below a tree that may have been knocked down from a previous storm over the weekend, or perhaps the wind when it was blowing rather fiercely. At the park we visited a couple days ago with some friends, there were some rather odd items that were plant parts which we found, but we still haven’t found the answer to; I left the items with a park ranger to ask the naturalist to give me a call to let us know what they were. It was Monday when we were there. Still no call. Oh well. Tomorrow we are to go to another park with the same friends and perhaps a few new ones for a nature walk, visiting the nature center there, picnic lunch, then have a great time on the play ground. Such fun.

I’m also delving into Miss Mason’s ideas of “living books”…What a concept! Before, when I was looking for books for the girls, I was simply trying to find books that pertain to whatever I wanted them to learn, not really paying attention to content, but more to “developmental level”. Now, I am unafraid of picking up a chapter book or two for read-alouds (we’re reading “A Little Princess” by Frances Hodges Burnett, illustrated by Tasha Tudor, which I found for $1.49 in a local thrift shop yesterday!),  and looking much harder for more meaningful books and trying to get rid of the “fluff”. I’m now inspired to rethink the bookshelves and remove those books which have been identified as “twaddle”.  I’m also compiling lists of books that would fit into Miss Mason’s requirements for a living book. I probably already have a couple hundred in my entire list so far, including those for Preschool through High School Plus. During naptime tomorrow, if I’m able, I will include this list of books that I’ve put together from lists I’ve discovered online, as well as books I’ve personally enjoyed which I feel should be included. Who knows? I may even write some reviews on the books I’ve read, whether they be with Munchkin, in one of my classes, or on my own.

Well, it’s midnight. Need to go to bed. The girls have been awakening early lately, so I need all the rest I can get!

God bless.

New and Fun Stuff!! June 30, 2008

This past weekend, we went to the CHEO convention in downtown Columbus, Ohio. My gosh, was it refreshing! I saw folks who barely knew each other from Adam praying together in various spaces, simply because it was needed. Aaahhh…

Anyway, while dh and I were there, we attended various class sessions. One I attended was on getting organized so you can homeschool. Even though dd1 is only 2.5, she is certainly old enough to be able to accomplish some chores every day. So, her assignments are to take her dirty clothes to the laundry pile, help with the silverware (excepting the sharp knives, of course) in the kitchen, set the table (with adult assistance) and put away her toys once she is done with them. The lady presenting this class even suggested turning your chore chart into a game board, where you move your own “piece” to the next spot when one chore is completed. I love this idea, as I know it will really help dd1 see what needs to happen next (x) before (y) can happen (i.e., silverware needs to be cleaned and put away before we can eat our next meal). Another session was on touring Ohio to learn about Ohio history–can I say wonderful? Unfortunately, dd2 was fussing too much for us to stay through the whole thing, but what I did hear about was pretty great. The presenter gave us ideas for places to visit throughout Ohio to make history lessons come alive, and she also gave us tips to use along the way. One was about using a travel journal. I think this is a great idea! In fact, this week we plan to drive a couple hours to visit Roscoe Village in Coshocton, and I think this would be the perfect opportunity to get started. I also came up with the idea during a brainstorm session during lunch time (hey, it’s really how I unwind) of beginning a nature journal. Dd1 is a little too young yet to do it independently, so we’re going to begin a family nature journal first. Once she becomes more proficient with drawing and learns to write and spell, she’ll be able to gradually have her own journal; in fact, it’s going to be one of her assignments for science class.

While at the convention, I was able to purchase some texts which will get us going a little further in her preschool years. She is already interested in writing, so I found the Handwriting without Tears Pre-K Teacher’s guide and student workbook (they were out of the workbook, so they’re mailing it to me and I should get it in a couple weeks). I became a little familiar with it while working in a preschool before she was born, and I hope she enjoys it. With her being still young, this should last us a little longer than most writing curricula will. I also found 2 art books, one called “Eco Art”, which is geared for 3-9-year-olds, and “the Little Hands Art Book: Exploring Arts and Crafts with 2-to 6-year-olds”. I was able to get these two books used at a great discount, and I love them! I plan to start using them either this week or next, but I still have to sit down and begin my lesson-planning.

The Noah’s Ark unit study is going to be taking a back seat for a couple weeks, since we plan to go camping one weekend in July. I’m working on a short unit study to introduce dd1 to the idea of camping, and do a couple “practice runs” with her so she understands what camping is all about. I’m going to take an idea from here and there from various sites online, as well as use ideas that a former lead teacher and I used when I was still working at the preschool, and also incorporate some new ideas that I have. We’ll also begin our nature journal and we’ll visit some of the metro parks in our area simply to observe (and play, of course!). I’m still working on the brainstorming stage, and once I’m finished with that, I’ll do the web and attempt to post it here.

I also bought some wheat berries–50# of them, to be exact. Dh and I figure that it may end up just being less expensive to grind our own grains to make flour for our bread (I haven’t bought bread from the store in a long while, other than hamburger/hot dog buns). Oh, yeah! We also need a mill! So, last night he ordered the Country Living Hand Mill which works for beans and legumes as well as grains. We don’t know how long it will take to get here, but I really look forward to the fresh, living flour instead of the dead, chemically-enriched store-bought stuff. I’m going to use up as much as I can of the stuff that I have already on-hand before I begin milling my own. I have bread flour, all-purpose, whole wheat, and rye up in  the cupboard. I also have germ and gluten in the refrigerator, though I know I’ll at least need the gluten even for the milled flour. Once I feel more confident about my wheat bread-making skills, I’ll experiment a little and perhaps even try to make up my own recipe.

Long-term Ideas for Curriculum June 22, 2008

Many of my friends know that I intend to write and develop my own curricula as we go along, though we do have to use some purchased materials according to our state laws. For the academics, we’ll use the purchased materials. For the extras, I will completely write my own. As I learn new things on my own, I make mental notes of what I want my kids to learn and what materials should be used for teaching them. For instance, I’m in the process of learning to deep-cleaning my house, and truly learning to clean it properly. I have learned a lot from my mil, as well as various neat-freak friends. Before dh and I married, I purchased a wonderful book (at the time, I had no idea how wonderful it was, as it is a pretty dry read but was well-recommended by a friend) that I have begun to refer to when I need to know how a particular task is done. Don’t get me wrong; I do know how to straighten things up, tidy, vacuum, clean the bathrooms and kitchen, etc., but there are many other things I really don’t know about that can save us money, time, and our health. Please read on. “Home Comforts: The Art & Science of Keeping House” by Cheryl Mendelson is a great book that I plan to use as a text/reference book for when we get deeper into Life Skills.

Another thing I hope to do when the kids become old enough is to teach them the practical arts, meaning handwork. This encompasses sewing, knitting, needlework (including embroidery), crochet, etc. Once they reach the age of 12, a few long-term tasks will be required of them. They will each be expected to begin hand-copying the Bible from Genesis through Revelation (perhaps a chapter per day, excepting the really long chapters such as Psalm 119, which, of course, shall be broken down into smaller portions). They will also begin writing to their future spouses letters about their lives. A friend once told me that an old friend of hers had her daughter do this from the age of 12, and on the day she was married she was able to present to her new husband a box full of the letters she had written as part of her wedding gift At 16 they will build their own cedar hope chests (even the boys, as cedar chests really are practical pieces of furniture). They will also begin compiling items to put in it, from home items which they have personally made to dishes, glassware, bakeware, cookware, utensils, etc. As the children become proficient with various handwork skills, they will all (including the boys) save some of their better pieces to put in their boxes, and until those boxes are built I’ll hold onto them. Obviously, the boys won’t have to use all the frills that the girls will, but they’ll still know how to make a tablecloth and napkins (and how to use them!), knit socks/sweaters, crochet hats, and other useful and practical things. Knitting an i-cord can come in handy when one needs a rope, no?

I’ve started compiling a list of things for them to work on to put in their boxes, but I left my list upstairs and will add it later on another post. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to add them.