Outside:
Inside:
Lots of learning happening this Monday morning. David has learned to walk! He has been balking at it for quite some time- he's been more than capable of walking on his own for about two months now, but this weekend he began doing it up and down the hall without realizing he wasn't holding on to the wall. With this new found freedom, he began to go from kitchen wall to living room coffee table, and now, he's walking just about anywhere on his own. All in the space of a weekend. It always amazes me to watch that light bulb go on and how fast the change occurs. He's pretty much conquered going up and down the stairs safely in the same weekend (which is always a challenge for our littles with our split level).
The next big milestone is potty training Lorelei. I think it will go totally different with her than it went with the older boys- I've learned a lot about it since then, and what does not work. I think I am a lot more relaxed about it too. She is definitely ready- I think I could have started a few months ago- but I learned with the boys that is better to wait until lots of traveling and schedule uproars are over (like through the holidays) so that there are long stretches of uninterrupted time at home to "get it".
We started back on the school schedule last Monday, and it's been going well. This time around seems a lot calmer from start to finish- we start about the same time each day after the morning routine is finished (make beds, wash face and hands, brush teeth, and I've cleaned up the kitchen and started the laundry). Starting with the morning circle time has definitely helped- it really eases the transition. We start with our Bible reading, and then some of our Sonlight readers. After that we move into math and handwriting work, language arts. It's usually lunch time after that is done, so we break for lunch, and then the littles go down for naps while I read some more to Ben and Isaiah. After that, it's quiet time for the boys, where they are allowed to 'read' on their own on the couches, and I work through my tasks for the day while the littles aren't under foot. By 2:30 or 3 the littles are awake and the bigs are allowed to play. Sometimes we go out for a while if the weather is warm enough, and run errands and go places like the library. I am sure this seems self evident- routine always helps- but with the wacky appointment schedule that Isaiah had last semester for therapy (that was completely out of our control and couldn't change) our school days looked nothing like this. Now that the new year has arrived and I was able to get with the secretary, most of Isaiah's appointments now fall after 1pm or later, and most are scheduled for the same day. It's made a huge difference! I've started Teach Your Child to Read in a 100 Easy Lessons with Ben after it being highly recommended by every homeschool mom I talked to. What we had been using before really confused me and seemed haphazard. This is very straight forward and clearly delineated. I do think it's funny that I am such an English geek, but the mechanics of actually teaching someone how to read were lost to me and I felt like we were moving to a point where Ben was beginning to dislike reading. I feel much better now. We did add in some math for Isaiah- a Kumon workbook that works through the numbers from 1-30, in addition to continuing to work math counters like beans and blocks and cars and cheerios (and, well, anything can be a math counter). I think this will help me really see if he's 'getting it' and progressing before I start him in on a 'formal' math curriculum. I love this aspect of homeschooling- that I have the freedom to go, "hmmm....let's try something a bit different and see if it works better for you". It's neat to see Isaiah finally getting some of the sequencing skills- his therapists and I both have been really trying to focus on it.
The next big milestone is potty training Lorelei. I think it will go totally different with her than it went with the older boys- I've learned a lot about it since then, and what does not work. I think I am a lot more relaxed about it too. She is definitely ready- I think I could have started a few months ago- but I learned with the boys that is better to wait until lots of traveling and schedule uproars are over (like through the holidays) so that there are long stretches of uninterrupted time at home to "get it".
We started back on the school schedule last Monday, and it's been going well. This time around seems a lot calmer from start to finish- we start about the same time each day after the morning routine is finished (make beds, wash face and hands, brush teeth, and I've cleaned up the kitchen and started the laundry). Starting with the morning circle time has definitely helped- it really eases the transition. We start with our Bible reading, and then some of our Sonlight readers. After that we move into math and handwriting work, language arts. It's usually lunch time after that is done, so we break for lunch, and then the littles go down for naps while I read some more to Ben and Isaiah. After that, it's quiet time for the boys, where they are allowed to 'read' on their own on the couches, and I work through my tasks for the day while the littles aren't under foot. By 2:30 or 3 the littles are awake and the bigs are allowed to play. Sometimes we go out for a while if the weather is warm enough, and run errands and go places like the library. I am sure this seems self evident- routine always helps- but with the wacky appointment schedule that Isaiah had last semester for therapy (that was completely out of our control and couldn't change) our school days looked nothing like this. Now that the new year has arrived and I was able to get with the secretary, most of Isaiah's appointments now fall after 1pm or later, and most are scheduled for the same day. It's made a huge difference! I've started Teach Your Child to Read in a 100 Easy Lessons with Ben after it being highly recommended by every homeschool mom I talked to. What we had been using before really confused me and seemed haphazard. This is very straight forward and clearly delineated. I do think it's funny that I am such an English geek, but the mechanics of actually teaching someone how to read were lost to me and I felt like we were moving to a point where Ben was beginning to dislike reading. I feel much better now. We did add in some math for Isaiah- a Kumon workbook that works through the numbers from 1-30, in addition to continuing to work math counters like beans and blocks and cars and cheerios (and, well, anything can be a math counter). I think this will help me really see if he's 'getting it' and progressing before I start him in on a 'formal' math curriculum. I love this aspect of homeschooling- that I have the freedom to go, "hmmm....let's try something a bit different and see if it works better for you". It's neat to see Isaiah finally getting some of the sequencing skills- his therapists and I both have been really trying to focus on it.
Awww, I can't wait to see him in action!
~R
Posted by: Rachel Pearson | January 23, 2009 at 08:56 AM