Not quite on schedule....Ugh...

So I made a few mistakes this week. First, this was the week that all of our "outside" activities and classes were starting back up. That in itself would be challenging. Then, In some kind of new year organizational fit, I also scheduled all of our "catch up" doctor appointments, you know my well woman, the kids well child checks, the ENT, I have kinda jammed it into the first three days of this week and it has really killed off our leisurely school life. Plus, as a result of one of my exams, I'm on a brand new medication that gives me the same symptoms of the stomach flu. That was like the cherry on my overwhelming sundae. So we have only managed the barest bones of school work for the past three days.

I'm probably over thinking this, but I do feel disappointed that we haven't gotten as much done as usual. Brian thinks I am too hard on myself, we do school year round and we usually don't take all the breaks schools take. Tomorrow we have another appointment and we are at desperate times for grocery shopping/menu planning, but I am hopeful that we can do more in the afternoon that is fun stuff and get back on track!

Practical Living: Handwashing and Squid Soap

We are all over trying to teach practical living skills to the kids. I was thrilled to find that squid soap had made it to my dollar tree store. This stuff is so cool. First of all, it honestly is packaged cool and the kids like to play with the squidy tentacles. But the truly neat part is whenever you go to get soap the squid "inks" you. He puts a little red dot on your palm, and that dot will only disappear if you wash your hands for the proscribed amount of time. Its like having a tattling bottle of soap. I need something like this for tooth brushing, anyone have an idea?

Native American Unit: day 5 and weekly recap

Well, there are no pictures. I couldn't find my camera ... bummer. But I have it now! Okay so this was a good day. Emma finished her first "grown up" book. She had been reading it all week it was about 75 pages, with no pictures, solid print. She was SOOOOO proud of herself!!!! Brian and I read alot, and she sees me reading a whole lot, so she has decided that reading is a grown up thing that she can do with us, that her brother and sister can't do yet. It was really nice all week when I was snuggled up for "quiet time" reading with the younger two tucked in for a movie, she would bring her book in and sit in my lap while we both read. I really liked that she was choosing reading over TV time.

This week went really well despite the fact that we weren't feeling quite as awesome as normal. We didn't complete my whole lesson plan, but I am satisfied with what we did. The thing that is the most satisfying to me is that we HAD FUN! It was lighthearted and everyone was very excited when we would get started to know what kind of interesting things we were going to do that day. We all had fun while we were learning. I think we might try to make up some of the work over the weekend since it was some of the fun stuff that got the shaft. I like a nice, tidy, completely cleared lesson plan. But even if we don't, I am really pleased with how much we got accomplished and with how the week progressed. It felt like there was alot of balance to the week. We were able to get all our school work done, and the house was reasonably tidy, dinner was on the table every day and I managed to get some time to myself even. I have to chalk this up not really to my superior skills, but to the tools I have been recently using...

• laptop: okay this was awesome. Our computer is in another room, having the laptop right out there where we are doing school means that I was able to do whatever I needed to do online while the kids were busy with work, but I was still there to answer questions. I spent most of the time looking for recipes, doing my shopping lists, ordering more books from the library, tweaking my lesson plan etc. If we had a question about something we read, I could google it right there, it was very helpful.
• the crockpot: AWwwwwwwweSOME!! yeah, I couldn't make it without my crockpot. A good portion of our meals came out of the crockpot this week and it just made everything run so smoothly. I was able to throw everything in the crockpot at about 10 or 11 and then it was magically ready to eat at 5pm. Which left me free to do chores, or cleanup, walk the dogs, whatever I needed to do without being chained to the kitchen.
  

Native American Unit: Days 3 and 4

May I present my Indian princesses and brave to you. They have all chosen their Indian names. We tried to pick our favorite activity and mesh it with our favorite part of nature. Emma is Rides with Butterflies. John is Runs with Puppies. I am Reads by Moonlight and Chloe is Sparkles on the Lily. Yes, really.....don't choke, and for goodness sakes don't make any remarks about shaking dew off. When I asked her what her favorite thing to do was, she answered "sparkle"....and, well its fitting.




Being on the puny side of health has not been good for the school part of us. We have managed to keep up with our reading, and with our math, but me reading aloud hasn't worked out for the past couple of days because I have a sore throat, and its too much for me. So yesterday we braided our hair and got out for some fresh air. We took a walk around the lake in our neighborhood with the puppies.

Today we did our basics and then went to chick fil a. It was pretty much a cop out. We needed to get out of the house badly, and we had errands to run, two birds....one stone.

Native American Unit: Day Two

We started with some find motor skill work. The girls had these cool sticker books their awesome mom had gotten them for Christmas (haha) so we used the prying the stickers off and putting them back on the page to help their fine motor skills

Plus lets face it, stickers are fun!


The we used our tweezers to pick up objects. We started with the glittery pom poms. Then we moved on to the beads. That was alot more difficult. John decided to stick with the pom poms.





















































































John decided to start "reading" on his own. It was adorable! He was narrating the pictures for us.

Emma read her hooked on phonics book and two of her readers to everyone.


By then it was time for recess, but it was yucky outside. So we decided to use the christmas present our friends the Ridge's gave us and play indoor tag. The goal is to rip the tail off the hider. It was FUN!!!!

unfortunately, Mac is a herding kind of dog, and he would snitch on whomever was hiding. He can't stand for anyone to break formation.






We moved on to math, and we had a guest professor. Professor John joined us...he was a scream. When Chloe talked out of turn, he sent her to time out! She played along, but she would act all sad when he was watching, and then giggle when he wasn't looking.

Daddy is scheduled to read some of the Birchbark house to the girls after dinner.

Native Americans: Off to a pretty decent start

We started our school day with Emma reading a chapter of her Hooked on Phonics book to John. He is almost always lurking nearby when we do school. I can only hope that some of it is creeping in. Usually he and Chloe stay for some of the classes we do, and then run outside to play for half of them too. We tried a new system today that really seemed to keep everyone focused, we did a class, then had 20 minutes of recess. I think it made the day a little longer than normal, but I had more time to sneak in chores here and there and the kids were very attentive, I think they just need to run their wiggles out in between subjects. We might stick with this routine, it worked really well today.

Then we moved onto Math, we use Saxon Math. we did our math meeting where we go over the date, the weather graph, and our pattern for the day. We started our main lesson. Today we learned about triangles, and the angles in triangles, how to sort items by characteristics, and worked on our handwriting with our numbers. Then we got 15 of our toys and sorted them into groups by their characteristics. This was a big hit with the kids. Later on in the day, they were still sorting things, randomly, just cause they wanted to.... Mommy likes, mommy likes.

Since our theme is Native Americans, I let Emma select from our pile of Native American themed Readers. She chose Thunderhoof. A wild horse, refuses to be tamed by the cowboys but misses their company after they give up and turn him loose.

Then we did our Grammar lesson. I'm sorry, but that is just too boring for me to blog about.....

After lunch we snuggled up and I read part of The Birchbark house out loud to everyone. It has totally lived up to my expectations I am happy to report. We also spent some time looking at a few of our picture reference books to find things we read about today, like moccasins and skinning.

To close our day, Emma used her Kung Fu weaving skills to make me a potholder. She wants me to use it, but its not really very thick, I think I will burn myself... yikes!! I tried to convince her it was for decoration, she isn't buying it. AND I bought the extra big bag of additional loops, so I could have like ten of these by the end of the week.

Really awesome children's books

The list is from Mother Reader an awesome blog I follow that really gives a good literary look at children's literature.

2008 Fiction Picture Book Finalists

Abe Lincoln Crosses A Creek: A Tall Thin Tale 
(Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend)

written by Deborah Hopkinson, 
illustrated by John Hendrix

Schwartz and Wade Books
In a year abundant in releases about our 16th president, this picture book title stands out for its originality, vibrant illustrations, and interactive flair. While the setting is historical, the mood is thoroughly modern in this clever celebration of the oral storytelling tradition.
--Travis Jonkers, 100 Scope Notes

The Big Bad Bunny
written by Franny Billingsley

illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Atheneum
No rushing stream or mucky swamp can stop Big Bad Bunny and his long sharp claws. Through the tangly bushes he marches, fierce and scowling--and a worried mama mouse has just discovered her baby mouse is missing. Suspenseful pacing, engaging art, and a delightful twist ending make this an enchanting tale for the preschool set.

-Melissa Wiley, Here in the Bonny Glen

Chester's Back
written and illustrated by Melanie Watts

Kids Can Press, Ltd
A sublimely pushy cat vies for attention and control with his author and illustrator in this wildly funny book. With creativity and innovation, the author allows her persistent character Chester to scrawl over her illustrations and text with a red marker, creating immediacy, tension, and humor.
-Cheryl Rainfield

How to Heal a Broken Wing

written and illustrated by Bob Graham

Candlewick Press
When a pigeon is injured in the middle of a busy city, no one stops to help until a little boy and his family take the bird home to heal it. Told mainly through pictures with minimal text to drive the plot forward, the story is touching one of kindness, patience, and humanity.

-Pam Coughlan, MotherReader

Katie Loves the Kitttens
written and illustrated by John Himmelman

Henry Holt
The dog Katie can’t contain her desire to play with the new kitten companions in her home, but unfortunately her exuberance is overwhelming to the tiny creatures. With redirection and restraint, Katie finally finds a way to show her love for the kittens. The humor in, the situation, the story-telling, and illustrations will engage kids of all ages in this fun, romping story.

-Pam Coughlan, MotherReader

The Sea Serpent and Me
written by Dashka Slater

illustrated by Catia Chien

Houghton Mifflin
An extraordinary friendship begins when a sea serpent drops from a faucet into a little girl's bath. As their friendship grows so does the sea serpent, until the girl has to admit that this creature belongs in the sea. This charming tale of friendship is propelled by lovely, energetic watercolor illustrations that create a world full of whimsy the reader will find hard to leave.

-Stephanie Ford, ChildLit

A Visitor for Bear
written by Bonny Becker

illustrated by Kady Denton

Candlewick Press
When a mouse ignores the sign on Bear's door that reads "NO VISITORS ALLOWED", Bear can't get back to business as mouse continually reappears in Bear's home finally making Bear wonder if he really prefers to be alone after all. The text begs to be read aloud and the subdued watercolor, ink, and gouache illustrations chock full of personality that creating a tale every member of the family will adore.
-Stephanie Ford, ChildLit

Wabi Sabi

written by Mark Reibstein

illustrated by Ed Young

Little, Brown
A Japanese cat searches for the meaning of her name, and discovers that beauty can be found in simple, ordinary things and experiences. The text shows many layers and depth, the haikus are well-integrated into the story, and the collage illustrations are astonishing in their texture and beauty.
-Cheryl Rainfield