Curriculum choices for Little T

Okay, as promised I am giving you the limited curriculum choices for our 2yo. Curriculum for the 2yo, you may ask. YES!!! Start them as early as possible!! The more they soak up now, they better off they will be later! That’s my philosophy anyway. They are sponges in these first precious years of life. So, give them all you can!! Go for it!!

Now, let me clarify a few things. We will most likely have a set aside time for his “schooling,” but with him still taking naps it may fluctuate from day to day. Just wanted you to know that we don’t have a perfect household and we’ll go with the flow around here (as much as this momma can stand anyway)! ;) So, here is what we’ve chosen:

Book work - As I mentioned in my previous post, Tyler went to a fantastic preschool starting at the age of 1. He did great when he actually started curriculum at 2yrs old. So, we’re going with what they use this year to see how it works. We are going to use the A Beka Two Year Old curriculum. They work on numbers and coloring for this age, which could prove challenging enough with little T. He wants to “color” when bubba’s doing his work, but it is VERY short lived – so we shall see how this goes! Anyway…specifically we are going to use Numbers and Skills with Button Bear and Learning Numbers with Button Bear.

Flash Cards - Now, A Beka does have flash cards that you can also get to use, but we already have some, so we’re going to stick with those. I recommend having several different kinds of flash cards to use. First, I recommend number flash cards. These will only reinforce what you’re teaching in their book work time. Second, I recommend have just letter or alphabet cards. I use these. Personally, I don’t like the ones with pictures on them as I think that can be confusing for kids. I would choose ones that are just Letters. Now, where the words and/or pictures come in are the Sight Words cards. I use these. I love the ones we have (we found them at a garage sale - SCORE!!). They have a word with the picture on the front and then just the word on the back. We have already started using them with little T. We are currently working on just naming the pictures. Then, eventually they will begin to recognize the word along with it and finally they will be able to recognize the word by itself. I LOVE that!!!

Big Skills for Little Hands series – These are GREAT!!! I’m hoping to get at least the I Can Color! for Toddlers book this year. We’ll see how that one goes before we progress to the others. There are 4 total in Toddler series: I Can Color!, I Can Cut!, I Can Paste! and I Can Trace! I am thinking that for this year we’ll work in the I Can Color! book for extra practice and mix it with our A Beka Curriculum. I will probably do I Can Paste! next, but will wait until he’s closer to 3 to attempt that fiasco in the making!!

Videos & TV shows – First, let me say that TV time in our house is very limited. And, second, we are extremely picky about what the kids can watch. Now, that being said, we will use a variety of videos/tv shows in our curriculum that will actually suit both of our boys. We watch a LOT of PBS in our house and so some of those shows are played throughout the day as well. Some of our favorites are Signing Time (my new favorite!!), Word World, Sesame Street (little T especially likes Elmo), Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, Between the Lions and The Cat in the Hat knows a lot about that. There are a few others that I allow Tyler to watch, but as I’ve already mentioned it is limited. We do own some videos that they watch, but again they are PBS shows on video! We have several Elmo videos, which little T especially likes. They teach many different things and then we talk about some of those teachings with Tyler (since he’s older & able to comprehend the “moral of the story” things). We also have a Sid the Science Kid video and a couple Bob the Builder ones. I am not a huge fan of Bob the Builder (mainly because I can’t stand the theme song), but I must say Tyler and I have had some great conversations about sharing, selfishness and stubbornness from them – so I guess they’re not all that bad. We also have a variety of Biblical videos, but I will discuss those in another post. (Just didn’t want you to think we we’re not teaching our little about the Bible – WE ARE!!!)

We will also do music time for both boys, but again that will be in another post. I have so many things to say about that subject, so I will stop here! ;)

So, there ya have it!! Our choices for the 2 yr old are complete. I am optimistic about this year (we’ll begin in June officially – again, I’ll discuss why in another posting). If you’re thinking about starting up some teaching at home, I hope this helps you with your choices. Feel free to comment or make other suggestions! I’m not the expert by any means. These are just what we’ve chosen to do that will work best for us! There are so many options out there!!! Just start exploring and go!

Many Blessings!!

First Grade curriculum choices

I don't know how many of you will actually care what we chose, but I wanted to put it out there for you just in case. Even if it helps just one or two on their decisions, its totally worth it!! It's been a very LONG and difficult process to make these decisions. Mostly because Tyler is advanced in several subjects (math & reading) and in others we'll just be starting for the first time as he enters 1st grade (okay, now that I type that out I'm a little sad and amazed that my oldest is entering 1st grade! WOW!!!). So, as much as I'd like to go with a single curriculum (for ease on me & planning purposes), it’s much more cost effective for me to use several different ones. There are so many options out there, which only contribute to my confusion & stress level when trying to choose the “BEST” curriculum for us. But, nevertheless, I made it through and I’m pleased with our choices.

Now, I have included links to each of them. Most of them I am getting from Timberdoodle for several reasons. 1) they have flat rate shipping of $4.75, no matter the size of order! 2) they are offering FREE shipping on orders over $120 (which could likely be me this time!) 3) you earn “Doodle Dollar” points, which help you with future purchases!! WIN-WIN!!!

I must also say that I decided on several of these based on recommendations from a friend of mine, Crystal. You can follow her blog (she’s much better at posting than I am) here. She is on several different curriculum review groups & does quite a few reading reviews. She has been a GREAT resource to me this year and I’m grateful she has more time than to do some of the research I could not. However…I didn’t choose the same things she did just because we’re friends. I thought they were GREAT choices & would be a great and natural fit for us this year. (I will write some of my observations about our first year of schooling in another post.) So, without further ado, here are our choices!

Handwriting – This year has been a real struggle for us in the area of handwriting. Since he attended a GREAT preschool program, he came into K already knowing how to write his first & last name, the entire alphabet along with their sounds, some blends, counting 1-100 and MORE!!! When I began researching school curriculum last year, frankly I didn’t know where to start. So, I just went with a book & quickly realized that one was not for us. Then, I just moved on to printing things from the internet to get him writing. We soon realized he HATED writing!! He complains about it daily. So, this year I set out to find something that would give him purpose. He needs to have a reason to write what he’s writing. Which is why I am absolutely in LOVE with the A Reason for Writing series!!! We don’t need to do the K book, so we’re starting with book A/1^st grade. Not only are they reasonably priced, the Teacher’s guide is too & works for all 6 grades!!! WOO HOO!!!! (I know this is getting long, but trust me it’s worth it!) The reason I love this series is because it incorporates Scripture with their weekly handwriting lessons! Then, they give them something practical to do with it. It’s wonderful!!! You can find a sample lesson here. Check it out!!!

Geography – Tyler has always enjoyed going places. He always wants to know the names of streets, cities, highways, etc. A couple years ago, while riding in my parent’s car, he noticed the polar directions were on their display. He began asking what they stood for. My dad told him about North, South, East & West and then they began naming what direction they were going each time they turned. This continued when he got in our car, which did not have a display. Amazingly he was still correct! So, I knew this year we needed something to help him read maps, know his directions, etc. I began looking at a series by Evan-Moor. The Beginning Geography is what I saw and I immediately loved it! But, as this year progressed I realized that might be a little too simple for him & he would get bored too quickly. So, we’ve decided to move up to Daily Geography. We’re also going to get the Beginner’s World Atlas, so he can begin seeing where things are in the world. I like this series because the maps are reproducible!!! That’s a homeschoolers dream! I’m so excited to get started on this series with him. You can also check out sample lessons for Beginning Geography here & Daily Geography here.

Science – this is Tyler’s absolute FAVORITE subject!!! Mine – not so much! ;) But, we do what interests our kids, right?! All I know is that when it comes to dissecting things – he’s on his own! (Or I’ll find him a tutor! LOL) We did a few things this year in science, however, we both need more guidance and I think this series is going to give us just that. He has been very interested in space, stars, astronomy-type things this year and wants to know more than I can give him. So, we’re going with Apologia’s The Young Explorer Series, Exploring Creation with Astronomy. We’ll also use the accompanying Junior notebooking journal (coming this summer). My friend Crystal is also going to use this for her oldest and I thought maybe I should really look into it. I have seen them at our local Christian bookstore and browsed through them, but didn’t really think much of it until I saw she also liked it. That gave me more motivation & confidence in my original thought/choice. I showed him this series and I thought he was going to come unglued he was so excited!! My parents & grandparents both have telescopes – so he is pumped and ready (and so am I)!!!!

Math – Okay, so this was my MOST difficult decision. Tyler has always liked numbers. Before we even started homeschooling last August, he was adding things in his head & sorting things into groups to add them (& essentially multiply them too). I was amazed and knew that if we could teach him how to do it on paper he’d just take off. And, well…I was right!! He picked up addition in no time & then we moved onto subtraction, which took a little longer. However, he’s got it now. So, I didn’t know what else to do but move on to First grade work. So, we’ve done money, double-digit addition & now he’s working on fractions! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I had no idea what to do with him in this subject. I absolutely LOVE that he’s picking it up so fast, don’t get me wrong, but AAAAHHHH!!!! So, I had gotten the last half of a book from someone to use. He’s just flying through it, but he absolutely loves the lessons (we actually do 2 a day). So, we’re going to continue on with that series. I think by the time we start “First Grade” we will be in book 2, but nonetheless we are going with it. So, the name of our choice is Horizons Math.

History – Okay…I take it back. THIS was my MOST difficult decision. But, not for the same reasons as math. Simply put…I don’t like history – or at least it was my least favorite subject in school. I have been absolutely dreading the day when I had to pick a history curriculum. I looked into several different ones and was not impressed. Frankly, some of them covered waaaaay too much material in my opinion for a first grader. As I researched, I realized that my schooling just covered the “highlights” from history, which I vaguely remember. I want my child to know and understand things that went on in history. I also want to teach it from a Christian perspective. I think the Mystery of History does both!! I’m so excited about this series!!! (Again, a recommendation from Crystal!) Check out sample lessons here on their website. Right now, they are having a sale on the curriculum and its actually cheaper than Timberdoodle. So, when I’m ready to purchase our curriculum, you better believe I’m gonna buy it where its cheapest! ;)

Reading – Well, as I’ve mentioned before, Tyler has become an avid reader (for a Kindergartner anyway). Once we learned our blends & how they fit together with vowel sounds, etc. he took off and has been reading ever since. I will admit, I cried the first time he read an entire sentence by himself! ;) I was so proud! Last summer I had purchased several A Beka readers at a garage sale and I really liked how they built upon each lesson. It worked so well for him. He’s now reading his 8^th first grade reader!! He loves them (despite what he tells me most days). He thinks he’s ready for a chapter book, but he wants his first one to be The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe!! WOW!!! Quite ambitious for a first grader, don’t ya think?! After he read 2 pages, I talked him out of it for now. His attention span isn’t quite there, so we’re going to continue on with the A Beka first grade readers that we have and then move into the second grade readers. I think by the middle of First Grade he might be ready for his chapter book again, but for now we’re going to stick with short, simple stories!

Bible – I will be honest. I have avoided buying Bible curriculum because I thought we could just do it ourselves. I mean, my husband and I both graduated from a Bible college – so we should be able to do it, right?! WRONG!!! I mean, we could do so much, but I have just felt like he needed more. We’ve started morning devotionals for him, where he reads from his Bible (on his own) and then reads the accompanying story and we talk about it. Find what we use here. But, I just feel we need to have something a little more structured/school-like for him to really get it. So, we’ve chosen Apologia’s (yes, I love them) What we believe series, book 1 Who is God and can I really know Him? for this year. I’m so excited that it also has an accompanying journal & coloring book, should we choose to use it (which we probably won’t because he’s not big into coloring). The journal & coloring book are not available just yet, but they are coming soon. I love that they are teaching kids from a Biblical Worldview!! This is exactly what we’ve wanted for him and I can’t wait to get started!

Foreign Language – Okay, so now you probably think I’m crazy!!! Well, I just might be! HAHA!! I saw this series when I was browsing on Timberdoodle and I left it up as a joke for my husband. I thought he would think I was absolutely NUTS for wanting to teach a 5-6yr old Greek. However, just the opposite happened!! He loves it!!! In fact, he and I are going to join in the fun and take it too!!! This is a 3 yr series and he thinks it will be so beneficial for us (adults) in our Bible study time and for our son (and others as they get older) as they grow in God’s Word. I can honestly say I’m a little nervous, yet excited that we’re going on this journey together. I like that this series allows you to buy extra workbooks so we can each have our own!!!

Grammar helps - I have also thought about using a couple of musical helps for us in this area. Learning parts of speech & such can be tricky and difficult to remember, so I've been thinking about using one of two items. The first is called Intelli-tunes by Sing & Learn. The other is Grammar Songs also by Sing & Learn. From what I can read, Intelli-tunes is basic grammar words & like an intro into it and Grammar Songs is when they are actually learning more about their functions and even ready to diagram. I'm still researching these two products, so I will let you know what I decide.

Okay, so that’s it!!! Whew!!! Those are our choices for First Grade. If you’re homschooling now or even thinking about it, I hope this helps you get started on your journey. If not, you’re probably not still reading this! LOL Don’t worry…I’m not offended!! I do have curriculum picked out for Tucker too, but since this post is already so long, I will put it in another one (hopefully later today).

Thanks for sticking with me through this post and Happy Schooling!!!

FREE Children's worksheets

I know many of you are thinking about homeschooling or you've already started the journey. Even if you only have little ones (under age 3), it's not too early to get them started!! I encourage you to begin teaching them NOW!! It's never too late!

We started Tucker at age 2 (just this February) on flashcards. I started out doing them daily, but he quickly got bored. Now we do them a couple times a week. Other days I try to get him to color a page or two or just sit & listen to our Bible story time. In any case, I'm trying to condition him to sit and listen to instructions, then follow them. He's a VERY active young boy (he can literally climb up my walls) and so it takes a LOT of patience. But, when I am consistent with it I can see the difference. He begins to remember from day to day that when he sits its time to listen and do something. He wants so badly to be involved in his big brothers schooling, which makes it a little easier. However, most of the time I have to wrestle Tyler's papers away from him!

In my homeschooling journey, I utilize the internet as much as possible!! If I can find FREE worksheets, why would I pay for a book of them? I have done hours of searching & have a few favorites that I'd like to share with you. (I am getting no compensation for referring you to these sites, I just like them! All opinions are my own.) So, here they are:

All Kids Network - they have a TON of options on their site for seasons, holidays, themes, coloring pages, etc. I would say these are mostly K-2nd grade papers. There are a few in each area that older kids might enjoy, but mostly up to 2nd grade. They also have a monthly newsletter that you can subscribe to. The newsletter gives you links to new items they've added. Just this morning I printed about 10 pages of Earth Day worksheets (we're going to do this in connection with how God has instructed us to take care of the things He's given us) & Spring worksheets. ALL FOR FREE!!!!! They also have coloring pages, but my 5yo is not the least bit interested in those - go figure! I did look at the link on their site for Math worksheets & they have some GREAT ones. We're just moving on right now, so I will use some of those for review at the end of our Kindergarten year in May.

School Express - this site has EVERYTHING!!!! When you go to this site you will see a row of tabs across the top. The second from the left is the one you want!!! It says: 16,000+ FREE worksheets!! When you click that tab, you'll see another list of links. From here you can choose what you'd like! Some of them have hundreds of worksheets with them. I used this site for nearly all our addition & subtraction papers. There are only about 16-20 problems per page, so it was perfect! We made it a game and timed him everyday (once he knew how to do it) to see if he could go faster than the day before. He loved it!! We've also used their phonics, language arts worksheets & their awards. The awards are for just about anything. So far I've utilized the reading rewards. We've got the charts to record the books he's read & now I've got bookmarks to give him when he's reached each 20 book goal! It's so FUN and a GREAT incentive for him!

File Folder Fun - this site has GREAT file folder games you can print for FREE!!! All you need are the folders! These are fun for my 5yo when he's tired of his daily worksheets or I just want to change it up a bit & let him have some fun with learning. You can look them up by subject or age.

Coloring Pages - there are a TON of great sites for FREE coloring pages. Here are a few of our favorites: Crayola lets you see pages by categories, Veggie Tales pages can go with the videos (if you watch them), Sesame Street has both online & printable coloring pages that are fun. If you want Bible coloring pages you can check here for OT or NT pages and here for some that I think are a little more detailed for older kids, as well as Bible stories that correlate with them.

Well, I think that's enough for today. I hope I haven't overwhelmed you. I just want everyone to know there are so many GREAT options out there online to check before you go buy a ton of curriculum. They can also give you a great jumping off point if you're just getting started. These are also GREAT for SUMMER activities when its too hot in the afternoons & they've played every video game in your house! Print out some papers & let the FUN begin!!!

Blessings and happy "FREE" printing!!!

Annette

A Child's Daily Devotion

A few days ago I read a wonderful posting at Passionate Homemaking. It was eye-opening and challenging at the same time. A few paragraphs down she said, "Your children may be at an age where you can start helping them develop their own quiet time. Guide them in learning how to pray, look at Bible story books (Jesus Storybook Bible, Big Picture Story Bible), listen to a CD of Christian music, watch a Bible story DVD, or color Bible story pictures. I remember using Keys for Kids when I first launched into my own quiet times. They are free and can be ordered in paperback copies or downloaded on the web. While they do that, you can have your own quiet time."

This small paragraph really got me thinking. My 5-yr old is reading now (32 books so far) and doing very well. So why is he not reading THE most important book of his life?! WOW!!! I followed her advise & looked up Keys for Kids and signed up for their daily emails. The emails are sent every morning to my inbox & I just copy/paste them into a Word document and print them out for him. I lay them on his Bible. They are ready & waiting when he awakes. Now, ideally I would LOVE for him to get up and run straight to his Bible for his daily reading. However, my son is NOT a morning person and he needs time to wake up. Time to adjust to the surroundings again and time to eat his breakfast (usually consisting of a pop-tart (when we have them) or most recently a cinnamon roll). At 10am the TV is shut off for the day and I play soft Christian music throughout the remainder of the day. (We are working on cutting out TV from their daily schedules, but so far we've only dramatically shortened their watching times.)

Anyway, I was impressed by these daily devotions for young children. They give a scripture reference to read and a story that relates to their everyday lives. My husband was even impressed. My son has given me some brief grief about more reading, but honestly once he gets into it...he can't stop!! If you have young children that are learning to read or can already read, I highly encourage you to start them on their daily journey with God. He wants to know them - EVEN NOW!!!! They need to know Him - ESPECIALLY NOW!!!! A child's faith is something to behold and it has been such a JOY watching my son get excited when he finds the verses for the day - or like today he asked if he could just read the WHOLE CHAPTER!!!! Uh...SURE!!! ;) I am so thankful that someone saw it important to blog about getting your own children started on a Bible devotion/reading time. I hope you will take the challenge too!!

Blessings!

Being thankful for blessings

Many of you have probably read my previous posts about our views on childbirth. Unfortunately, some of our family (and friends I'm sure) don't agree with our views. I must say that makes it difficult for us to be completely elated when we find out news of a new blessing coming to our family. We want to be able to tell our family have a wonderful, joyous & genuine excitement fill the air as we announce it, but its not that way. We continue to pray that our families will accept that this is what feel God has called us to, but its still hard.

It is also difficult to figure out when to tell certain people because of the loss they may have recently experienced. I always want to know when people are expecting another blessing (even right after my miscarriages). I want to rejoice with them! I want to join with them in singing praises to our faithful and wonderful Lord!! I am learning (which is always a difficult process in and of itself) that we MUST praise and give thanks to our Lord in all things - at ALL times!! Now, I have not experienced a loss of any magnitude since coming to this realization, so I'm sure when that first one hits its going to be more than difficult, but I know its what I must do. If I can't praise him in the hard times, why is He going to listen to me in the easy/good times?? He is always faithful to me and so I must be to Him. (I just hope I can live up to that.)

So all that to say - We're expecting another blessing!!!! God is so gracious and giving and we are so thankful that He has chosen to bless us again. We have told our families and now I wanted to announce it to my readers first. I will put this posting on facebook, but with the title I'm sure I won't have many readers - only the few faithful. We found out December 17th, but (as we traditionally do) wanted to wait until after our first ultrasound and appointment. I was able to confide in a few friends so I would have someone to talk to in case of a miscarriage, but otherwise no one knew until this past week. I will am 11 weeks today (Monday, 1/31) and I'm feeling much better. I was very sick for several weeks and wondered "How in the world am I going to do this?!" But, once we figured out it was the prenatal vitamins and I switched to kiddie chewables, I've been feeling GREAT!! Tired - but GREAT!! There are many questions we have and I'm sure some of you do too, but we are trusting that God is in complete control and that He will see us through this as well. After all, if He feels we should be blessed with another child - HE alone can provide for that child!! I'm so excited to see how that will play out and what is in store for our family. (It's not a very clear picture, but this is what the little peanut looked like at our first ultrasound.)

Tyler is five (he will be 6 in June), Tucker turns 2 this Thursday, Madi will be 1 in April and this little blessing will join our family in August!! I think we're gonna be busy!!! Right now my main concerns are rearranging rooms to prepare for whatever we're having (boy or girl), getting curriculum nailed down for next year (as we are probably moving into year-round schooling & seeing as I'm going to be out-of-commission most of August this needs to be done asap), preparing things for our local JBF sale at the end of February and just general de-cluttering!!! I know our house and life will run much smoother if I can get the house in order before I get too far along. I will post more on my de-cluttering and organizing tips tomorrow! See you then!!

Homeschool help and sickness update (not a clever title I know - sorry!)

I've been having trouble connecting with my 5-yr old during our school times. This morning I came across this blog post and I now have a new hope!! I just wanted to share this with you all today in case there are some of you out there thinking of homeschooling or are in the same rut I am.

http://www.homeschooling.net/blog/homeschool/first-a-relationship/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+DianeHopkins+(Heart-to-Heart+with+Diane)&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

By the way, we are still sick in the Breedlove household. I think we are finally on the mend with the 5yo and baby, but I can tell you now this is ONE TIRED MOMMA!!! I'm pretty sure we would become millionaires if I invented a "disinfectant bomb" for the house!! Until then, we'll use our lysol, vinegar/water mixture and WASH, WASH, WASH!!!!

Happy schooling and healthy days are ahead (I just know it!)!!

Long time no type!

WOW!!! It has been a really long time since I've written anything. We took a break for the holidays and then our family has been battling sickness (various forms) for about 3 weeks now. I think we are finally on the mend, but BOY am I tired of sickness! I really don't have time (or anything but sickness to write about) to do an entire post as I'd like, but I wanted to share this one with you. I read this post this morning from one of my favorite blogs. I must admit I am new to this whole homemaking thing. I have been a homemaker for over 3 years now, but I have never thought of my "job" as more than making do & keeping up with the piles of laundry that come with 3 kids!!! This mornings post really hit home with me and the "slump" that I have been feeling. I've been down due to sickness and then have felt over the past few weeks that I'm not adequate to keep this house up the way it needs to be. Now I realize its because I've been going about it ALL wrong!! I've been looking at it from a JOB perspective instead of an ETERNAL perspective!! WOW!!! Talk about a light-bulb!! I am so ready to move forward with the new attitude of doing work around the house to make a lasting impression on my kids lives! I couldn't ask for a better JOB!!!

I also read this post and thought, how can I make lasting impressions on my sons! They are my oldest two kids at the moment (yes, we plan on having more!!) and the ones I am "training" as I do things around the house. I am still working on that, but I'll get back to you when I have some ideas and answers! Our daughter is not old enough to do or learn (homemaking) things just yet, but I can't wait for the day when I can teach her to cook (one of the MANY reasons I have taken up an interest in this now), efficiently run a house with multiple kids & schedules and SO much more!!!! I'm so glad God has blessed me and challenged me with these tasks at hand. I am up for it!!!! Are you???