What Aidan is Reading

***I grew up LOVING the Berenstain Bears and Aidan seems to be doing so as well. I spent hours re-reading them even when I was a teenager. Many of them out of our collection are the originals and well-loved so I have them taped up in spots. I am not, however, enamored of the newer stories. To me, they are just not as well-written as the older ones and honestly, they are so focused on "Godly" matters... they just don't seem to be the same Berenstain Bears I knew and loved. (Not saying there is anything wrong with the "Godly" theme but it's like it's a different family) I love that Aidan is able to read the Berenstain Bears books now. It's fun passing the love of a story down to your children.

*** I've said it before... I love the older readers and whenever I see them... I snatch them up. I found a small set of Puddle Lane readers in a Goodwill and think they're quite cute.

***The Breyer Stablemates books are such a good fit for Aidan. She loves horses and the stories are nicely written (although formulaic) and just- right for her level.

Bennigan...again

Bennigan has turned out to be a really cool dog. His transition into the household has been seamless. Rarely has he had accidents, he's intelligent, he plays fetch, he is quiet in his pen, he's playful without being overly so, and he plays rag doll the minute anyone picks him up. The only issue I see with him is that his hair grows fast and so he'll need grooming practically every week.
(Hopefully I can groom him myself)

(starting to look like a poodle)

Aidan adores him and treats him like a stuffed animal. For whatever reason... he allows it.

Surprisingly, Ainsley likes him as well. She usually doesn't like dogs because they get all over her... but I think his cuteness has softened her.


Even dirty... one cannot help but love him!

Bicycles in the Park

Today, for family day, John and I took the girls (and Bennigan too) up to the park.

First we fed the ducks and the turtles!

Then the girls rode their bikes... for a whole 5 minutes! LOL Not only was the day hot but neither of them get a lot of practice so their legs tire easily. I made a certain length of sidewalk a goal for them to reach. Ainsley wasn't thrilled about finishing it but when I encouraged her so that she did finish... she was really happy and shouted "I DID it!"

Aidan thought it great fun that Bennigan would follow her.

We then played at the park until we had to leave because of the heat.

(She's starting to look like an older kid now
... she's losing the babyish look... as well as looking
more and more like her Daddy)

Poor Bennigan was exhausted!

Time4Learning (T4L)

Wednesday I signed Aidan up for Time4Learning. I had seen this mentioned on so many blogs and websites and message boards but for some reason never looked it up. However, once I did, I liked what I saw and signed up for it. With the 14 day trial period I thought... why not? Well..... I LOVE it! Really really! The way the website is set up is that each child is allowed access to 3 levels/grades of work. (Aidan has K, 1st, & 2nd) The subjects are Math, Science, Language Arts, and LA extensions. (LA extensions and Science are only for 1st grade and up and Social Studies is added after 2nd grade.) Mostly everything is set up in a game-like format. If not a game... then it's a read aloud book... or a quiz to cover everything learned.

Language Arts:

K level goes through the letters and their sounds.

1st grade level does short vowels, long vowels, digraphs, variant vowels, contractions, plurals, suffixes, compound words, reading comprehension, etc.

2nd grade level does silent e, story elements, sequencing, homophones, synonyms, antonyms, inferences, cause and effect, summarizing, main ideas, etc.

Math:

K level starts out with sorting, colors, and number recognition.

1st grade level has comparing, ordinal, whole numbers, counting by 2's and 5's, place value, odd v.s even, money, beginning fractions, positions and directional words, weight, probability, shapes, temperature, graphing, and the list goes on.

2nd grade level has the same subjects as the 1st but they're harder and more involved.

Science:

1st grade level begins with living v.s. nonliving and has classification, weather, water cycle, etc. There is not a lot on this level however.

2nd grade level has life cycles, habitats, magnetism, astronomy, etc.
Again, there is not a whole lot.

LA Extensions:

(To me, this just seems to be the hodge-podge subject. )

1st grade level topics are planets, pollution, constellations, cultures, neighborhoods, jobs, farm animals, early America, vertebrates v.s. non-vertebrates, weather, biomes, jobs, Native Americans, etc.

2nd grade level topics are spiders, worms, hygiene, health, maps and globes, sound, heat, hurricanes, conflict resolution, laws, nutrition, directions, goods and services, etc.

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The best part is that it's an inexpensive program. Your first child... for a month... is $19.95 and each subsequent child... $14.95. I only signed Aidan up because it's completely unnecessary to give Ainsley her own account. Frankly, Ainsley doesn't do that much and when she does... is doing the K stuff off of Aidan's account. (you also can do each lesson however many times over you wish to) Since they allow 3 grade levels at a time...and if your kids are close in age.......hehe.

I do, however, want to say that except for Kindergarten... I would not call this a complete curriculum. I know that there are homeschoolers out there that use T4L as a complete curriculum but I do not think it covers everything that is needed... nor does it go far enough into depth. It is a wonderful way to introduce topics or just supplement them... but not enough for a whole, complete school year. But that's just my humble opinion.

Our First Week

This first week was fun and with the exception of Wednesday... we did school every day. There was no set schedule. Playdates and activities were planned and so we naturally fell into our "whenever and wherever" habit. I do plan to try to somewhat keep to a schedule next week but I'm not planning on being rigid with it. Surprisingly (especially because I'm Mamarazzi)
I didn't take any pictures.

The hardest part of this week was struggling with balancing Aidan and Ainsley. Aidan wants my full, undivided attention and whenever I start working with Ainsley... all of sudden... Aidan doesn't understand anything and has amazingly forgotten everything... even something as simple as writing the letter "a". So, I had to work with having them work independently while I do something with the other.... and I imagine I'll be working with that for some time. I did figure out though... that they must be separated and not at the same table... because then neither will get anything done.

MATH

Aidan reviewed math facts and addition. She did addition problems using a number line, a hundred board, manipulatives, etc. I felt that the first week should be a straightforward, easy week. I also went ahead and introduced her to Number Bonds... which I had not done so before. (It's the first thing in Singapore 1a and I put that off until January.) She understood it fine and was actually somewhat bored with it. I had the idea to just introduce her to concepts she'll encounter later... just so that we can breeze through them without a glitch.... but it's obviously not necessary.

Ainsley did counting exercises, patterns, and sorting. She also worked on number recognition. So far her favorite thing to do is simply sit with me and a small wipe board and do various exercises. (lol... so why do I have a room full of manipulatives?)

LANGUAGE

Aidan worked on E.T.C. She did two lessons out of book 1.5. Our goal is to do the whole book by December so that we start on both 2 and 2.5 in January. I started her on working with the Spelling book she has as well.

Ainsley practiced with her phonic cards I made her and... again... with the wipe board. She seems to enjoy sounding it out but it's mostly a game... not a serious thing to her.

READING

I had Aidan run through her list of reading words this week and of course, Aidan read a lot of books... the majority on her own. She has really branched out into quite a little reader. She reads for pleasure and wants to bring books with her wherever she goes. She even insisted on bringing some to the pool! I know that when she reads on her own... she skips the words she doesn't know.. so that kindof worries me because I don't want her to develop bad habits... but I also do not want to discourage her from picking books up by herself.
So... hmmm?

Ainsley was read to. :-)

SCIENCE

We had no formal Science lesson this week except what Aidan did on Time4Learning. I believe she did lessons on parts of a plant and what part they each play and did nonliving v.s. living things.

ART

This week we worked on collages... having fun and making them.

THOUGHTS

We did not get everything in Aidan's folder done. There is a copywork page and one math worksheet she did not complete. However, considering the randomness of this week, I'm surprised we finished all that we did. Next week... since we do not have as many things scheduled... I plan to stick with schooling in the mornings and have Aidan do T4L during Ainsley's nap time. I've recently started having Aidan stay up in the afternoons and have "quiet time" instead of a nap because she would stay up too late at night. So far... this is working out and quiet time is a perfect time for her to play on the computer.

SwimDate

I barely belong to our old playgroup. All the older kids are in preschool and opportunities for socializing the girls have become scarce. However, today we went to an awesome playdate in this awesome pool. It was great. My friend Denae and her girls were there (which is always a draw because my girls LOVE her girls.) I acted like a big kid and was probably too loud but we had a blast!!

I had to push Aidan into going on the slide. She tried it a few times to please me but then afterward refused. I'm just happy she tried it. I push her to do things to a certain level and then I'll back off. I feel bad about pushing but if I didn't... she'd play it safe always and with my pushing... she has discovered many loves.

Ainsley loved the slide as long as she had a float... and little Miss Independent would climb up the stairs and go down all by herself. "I got it Mom" is Ainsley's attitude.

Although she was afraid of the slide...Aidan did do an awesome job being in the water. She jumped in off the side, she floated on her back, and she swam across the pool by herself. I was proud of her.

*UPDATE* After this pool visit... Aidan took off her arm floats and is now swimming only with her safety suit. Go Aidan! Ainsley will now swim without a float. Go Ainsley!

Meet: Bennigan Owen

I have always rescued dogs. I've never bought a dog... until yesterday afternoon. Yesterday, the family and I went to the local flea market and like always... we looked at the pet section. The pet section is depressing. Puppy mills have cages after cages of "purebreds" and"designer" breeds. Most are sick with respiratory infections and whatnot and are undersized. Anyone who has any sense would not buy a dog from them... instead, they would call the authorities. I have walked through that flea market a million times and have ahhhd over many a cute dog. But yesterday I looked into a cage and a puppy looked at me and wagged his tail... and I was a goner. It was love at first sight. We bonded.

I LOVED that dog.

I really really WANTED that dog.

But I walked away... heart-sore.

I went home... teary-eyed.

I told myself a billion and one reasons why getting that dog was crazy, irrational, and irresponsible.

But then John and I went and picked him up later in the afternoon.

I HAD to have him.

His name is Bennigan Owen.

He's a shih-tzu/min. poodle "designer" puppy.

LOL!!

I have never wanted a "fru fru" dog and I have never wanted a poodle anything.
I'm a large dog/ retriever lover.

But even now... when I think of all the potty-training and all the messes and training I have to look forward to... I don't really care.

I love Him and he belongs with me.

(I just hope he'll turn out to be well-behaved so that everyone else loves him too.)

;-)

Lack of Sleep

I don't really know how this started... but for the last week... the girls are waking up all night long... literally... every 30 minutes... crying...whining... this hurts and that hurts... and IGOTTAGOPOTTY! We all are seriously suffering from lack of sleep. We all are cranky because of it. It has come to the point that I'm desperate to make them sleep. McMama and John are desperate for them to sleep. Today Aidan asked me to set the tent up and I then had a brilliant idea to let them sleep in it. John made a cushion of many many blankets and as I type this... after midnight... they haven't woken once!!

Will this be the end of our troubles??

Ready... Get Set....

Well.... the 16th is almost here. I'm slowly getting things ready and that means actually planning out timelines and such (which I have never before attempted.)

Recently, I read back through posts and I couldn't help but laugh. I realized that anyone reading this would have to feel... at least mildly... confused. My plans seem to change a lot. All I can say about that... is that I'm a great planner!! *LOL* (Reality doesn't always go with the view in my head.) A prime example: a few posts back... I wrote that I would let Aidan decide what and how much she'll do every week. Yeah... that doesn't work. Aidan likes having structure and goals and a checklist. She dislikes things being "up-in-the-air" and "at will." So, hence the workfolders and checklist.

AnyWAY... as it stands... this is THE PLAN

From August 16th until December 10th... the girls are in school. Ainsley will be doing random things if and when she is interested in them. I will have her folder full of things for her to do but there will be no requirements of her. If, while Aidan is doing school, Ainsley wishes too as well... then she will.... if not... then she won't. Simple plan and easy to put together.

Aidan will have a weekly checklist of things to accomplish in her folder... including worksheets, readings, activities, games, art projects, etc. I have a simple list of things I want accomplished before December 10th. I'm going through and making timelines of when she'll finish certain books, units, etc.

I'm sticking with my original idea of starting the official school year in January. It makes more sense A) because I plan to school year-round and so the end of the year corresponds to the end of the school year and B) their biggest break will be in December and with John always being off for 3 weeks and Christmas and all...it works out and C) it just happens to work out that way with when the girls' birthdays are.

As of January 10th... Ainsley will be in pre-school and I'm officially calling Aidan a first grader. (so from now until December I suppose that means she's finishing Kindergarten) I also am plotting out a complete first grade year for her to do. I thought for awhile I'd just call it Kindergarten even though she's doing everything at least on the 1st grade level but... really... what's the point? A spade's a spade. If it walks, talks, writes, thinks, breathes like a 1st grader... then it's a 1st grader. Now, she may end up doing 2 years of 1st grade... or skip 2nd and go into 3rd grade. I DON'T KNOW. I'll wait and see but I'm going to try not to worry about it because I have a few years of wiggle room so it's pointless worrying ...

... for that matter it's probably pointless to name a grade considering she isn't "school-aged" until another 2 years from now...huh?

Sooo, yeah, I'll just end this post with... I'm considering their school year to start in January.

(I'll try to remember to make a note if I derail from this plan.)

Happy Birthday McMama!!!

RainWalk

What Aidan in Reading

Some of my favorite readers are the older I CAN READ books. You can find me scrounging around yard sales and Goodwills looking for them.

Some neat reader sets from Houghton Mifflin that I found in a junk shop!

Clocking In

LIFE has been really busy and lately our household has been under a lot of stress.

Luckily, most of the stress seems to have disappeared.
So, I'M BACK!

I am SOOO ready to start school back. I've discovered that Aidan becomes quite a little monster when her brain is not stimulated. This child seriously needs school! I'm setting August 16th as our official "back to school" date. In this interim, however, I've been preparing and setting things up.

The playroom is now the schoolroom/ playroom...



Here is a TOUR...

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I've set up a workbox type plan but with using folders instead. (The folder idea came from Homeschool Creations) This way seems the simplest to me.

In the first pocket I have a complete checklist of everything to be done...

Each subsequent pocket has all the necessary papers and worksheets to be completed for one subject...

The last pocket is a list of all the books Aidan has read.

When the week is over all sheets will be hole-punched and put in a large binder. I plan to keep a binder per year per kid.

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I've actually kept up with the reading chart for Aidan. Every 25 books she reads she gets to go to the dollar store and pick something out. Every book is not counted... only the harder ones. However, she's filling in her chart a little too quickly so I'll either stop using the reward system (she doesn't need it ... it's just fun to do) or make it 50 books instead.