Dear Aidan on turning SIX!!!

Oh my Aidan!

Are you really SIX? Are you sure you're not 16? Lady bug, you are amazing. My heart swells when I look at you. I know that at six, you're mostly formed and I am so so so so proud of who you are. Your heart, your intelligence, your goofiness, your sensibleness, your responsible nature is so wonderful. Sometimes, I admit, it drives me crazy how careful you are with things and how long it takes you to do things. You, my sweet girl, are a perfectionist. You also are a mini John. No one could ever doubt that you're your Daddy's child. But! I truly do love your personality.

About you...

You no longer are a lover of red. I'm somewhat sad about this... it was your favorite color since you were a baby. But now you love purple and blue.

You have your nose in a book all day long. Everywhere we go you bring a handful of books. You are voracious in your appetite. I'm having a hard time finding enough series and books to keep you occupied. Some days you read 3 or 4 books.. and I'm talking about chapter books... not storybooks. In this, you are like me. Yay! I have something to claim in you!

Sometimes you're a little too bossy with your sister and you treat her likes she's a lot younger than you. Which, really, you need to get over because ya'll are only 15 months apart.

I let days go by where we do "nothing" and in that nothing you enact the most elaborate plays and scenes with your sister. I'm quite happy to let ya'll do this for long, uninterrupted hours. It is wonderful to see this especially since imagination seems to lacking in most kids these days.

My Aidan, you try to be an adult. Sometimes its not too bad but often you cross a boundary and become "mouthy." You talk back ALL THE TIME. Perhaps your Aunt Bridgett was right... I shouldn't have given you such leeway to share all of your thoughts and feelings. I think perhaps it has backfired on me now. LOL.

Everything you own is so neatly kept by you that its freaky. Speaking of freaky.... you remind me of the little brother in the Jodie Foster movie "Freaky Friday"... you're as neat and tidy as he is. Everyday you wake up and make your bed, brush your teeth, and do random chores without being told. I caught you cleaning the toothbrush holder the other day "because it was dirty." You meticulously took everything out, laid them all out in order on the counter, cleaned and then dried the holder and then carefully replaced everything. That simple thing is soooo YOU.

Your awareness of people and their emotions is strong. Life is tough for us right now and your sweetness and fairness is so beautiful to see and to experience.

Lately, you've been feeling insecure and have been needy. You also have been retreating back into that shell of yours. You're becoming shy again. It burdens my heart to see this.

Again, I ask... are you sure you're not turning 16? For your birthday, you got your ears pierced, had a mani pedi, and went shopping for jewelry and shoes. I love it! Me, a daughter of a girly girl!!

Aidan, I promise you, that you will be loved and protected for always. You are a very much loved little girl.

I cannot wait to see who you'll become this next year.

Love love love,

Mommy

Learning to Sew

Homeschooling Group Class

Today, the girls started their 1st Homeschool Group class. This one meets once a month at a local Bamboo Farm. They'll be learning about plants and gardening. Both of them were nervous but super excited. Aidan was especially excited because she sometimes mourns the fact that she will not attend "real school" where she can interact with teachers and other classmates. 

 She was picked as line leader and LOVED it. (Can you tell?) During the whole class she worked hard to become "teacher's pet" and learned the hard lesson that to the teacher... she was just another kid and that the world did not revolve around her.

 Ainsley was a little unsure about everything... especially when Aidan wasn't near her... but every time she noticed me looking at her... she'd flash a big grin and wave.

Umm... Ainsley... that's WAY too much dirt!

Planting Sunflowers

The class ended in the organic garden where the gardener walked them around and told them facts about plants and how to care for them. See where A & A are? They both stuck like glue to the teacher so they wouldn't miss anything. My little brown nosers!  :-)

JOY

 Finally!

First Day

 

My Kindergartner and my 2nd grader! 

(Well, I have to declare them as something)

Ainsley was so excited that she continued

 to work during her "Free" times.

 Aidan loves her schedule. She followed it exactly and kept exclaiming "I'm so happy we're finally doing school!"  From this first day, I know I'll be tweaking the schedules a little but for the most part.... they worked well. I just underestimated Ainsley's attention span and I need to add things to Aidan's.

A Little Taste of Unschooling

A & As' newest interest...

One of the many reasons why I love homeschooling is because the girls haven't learned to think it "uncool" to learn about things. In museums they actually read signs and ask questions. 

To them, that's what's "cool". 

Snapshot of an Almost 6 year old

What? When? How is my baby nearly SIX?

Our New Toy

Inspired by Play At Home Mom I've been wanting to make a light box for the girls for awhile. However, it was just a want... everyone has many... and I didn't really think I'd get to it. Well, it so happens that John and I have been updating our home. Our home is older and has older fixtures such as this light........ 

We took this down and replaced it with a chandelier (this light was over our dining room table) and I put it in the garage, intending to throw it or donate it.

Until inspiration struck!

 So we took it apart....

 We added 12 inch lights (3 not 2)

TA DA!!!  This table is extremely bright!

 I took this picture in a dark room... this table lights everything up!

The girls quickly figured out that they could use it as a tracing table. 

A definite HIT!

What Aidan is Reading

This is all I can remember her reading this week. I don't really keep track because some days she sits and reads book after book. She chooses anything and everything. The only consistency she has is that she does tend to favor mysteries.

Snapshot

Ice Age 4

We love 3D!

Jump Start

Since we're starting History from the beginning, to correlate, we're starting Science with fossils and learning about dinosaurs. This Friday.. as a cool jump start into our studies.. we're going to see the "Discover the Dinosaurs" exhibit. Both John and I are such nerds that we're super excited about it. 

The Next Taylor Swift? *lol*

Ainsley tells me that she's going to learn to play the guitar and when she grows up, she is going to be a STAR! I took out John's old guitar and she proceeded to carry it around, strum it, and tell John that it was now going to be her guitar. Of course, the thing is bigger than she is.... but how cute is this picture?

On order....

Yay! More curriculum for my collection! Shelves of curriculum make me so happy!
Perhaps I should see someone about this?  ;-)

Anyway, while doing a general search, I ran across another blog where the Mom was using these books. They look AWESOME. They also are cheap. (Which is always lovely.) I haven't planned on using an actual grammar/spelling/writing curriculum but if these are as cool as the samples online make them seem... I may just use the whole series.

http://www.growingwithgrammar.com/

*I'm not sure what level to start Aidan with so I'm just going to order a couple of levels.

In other news....

I've been in contact with a psychotherapist concerning Aidan. It is WONDERFUL to have someone to talk to that knows about profoundly gifted children. She has validated many things and I've learned that I'm doing a lot of things right. I've also learned that I've done one thing WAY WRONG.... trying to hide her intellect, feeling uncomfortable discussing it, etc. I've apparently done damage to Aidan by showing her (albeit subconsciously) that something's "wrong" with her. My fear of not wanting her to be "bigheaded" has been detremental to her psyche. So, from now on, I am to be open and honest about her being smart. I'm to applaud her and talk openly about her abilities so that she feels that its a wonderful thing. For me, however, it's such a switch from mainstream thinking. If you're musically talented, athletic, or a great artist... you're supposed to be applauded. But if you have a superior intellect, then you keep quiet or you'll be considered a braggart. Oh, and for all those schoolyard Moms who give the silent treatment... I'm supposed to openly admit without any qualms about her ability... with a raised brow and a challenging air about myself. LOL! (a little easier said then done)

Of course, it stings to hear that you've unintentionally been hurting your kid and hard to face up to the fact that you have too many personal hang-ups.

Good Bye Summer!

I cannot believe Summer is almost over! August is upon us and there is so much I have to do my head is spinning. Last night I was reviewing the laws and procedures for what I need to do to declare Aidan as a homeschooler. She's FINALLY old enough to be considered school-aged!! Luckily, in my state, the requirements seem simple and fairly hassle- free. However, I'm stuck between deciding to just declare her as a Kindergartner or trying to bump her up from the start. I'm leaning towards just going by her age and saying we're doing Kindergarten and then try to bump her up later on. Although I am NOT sure how that all works. Do they argue when you declare a second grader one year and a six grader the next?

 For the first time, I'm actually trying to plan out the whole year.... dividing up the weeks by the subjects...especially with History. I'm taking the classical approach and starting with Ancients. We've already learned about Ancient Egypt... so we're going to rewind and start with the first humans and move on. I like learning History chronologically. It unclutters my brain.

 I've given up on labeling grade levels with the girls. Aidan is in her 5th/6th year (age of course) and Ainsley, of course, is in her 4th/5th year. I think I could safely call Ainsley a Kindergartner and not a Pre Kindergartner right now since she's doing basic math and is reading but I'll stick with the age levels with her too. Besides, I don't want any issues popping up where Ainsley's feelings are hurt because she's many grade levels behind Aidan. I'm sure the subject of their differences will come up eventually but if I can assuage it for now, I will.

Oh, our school year will start August 20th and end May 31st.

Introducing....

Savannah

We rescued her from the animal shelter. Poor Savannah had been put in a back room and was waiting to be euthanized. We only by chance saw her. Savannah looked us straight in the eyes and asked us to take her home. How could we refuse? Surprisingly, there have been NO issues with her except her propensity to sit in the house plants. She isn't a replacement for Beau... no cat could be... but we love having her here.

Hello Again World!

I'm baaaaaaack!

Oh, I'm such a slacker.... bad me. My only excuse is that life has turned into new territories and I've been preoccupied with it all. (I'll let everyone know when my novel comes out...LOL)  Anyway, as for school, not much is being done lately. Swimming, playdates, and watching movies have been our top priority. Fun! Fun!

Updates?

I went to the homeschooling convention in Florida and FINALLY was able to put my hands on many of the well-known programs. I found a few new treasures but basically learned that my instincts have been spot on with what I've chosen so far. My intuition works well. I had intended to look mostly for Ainsley. All the hands on curriculum such as Right Start Mathematics, Math you See and All About Spelling, I wanted to see if they would work for us and found out quickly... they definitely would not. They are either too complicated or too scripted or just wouldn't work now. (I abhor scripted... I really do... I prefer to figure out how to teach myself) AnyWAY... I did find a math program that, when she's ready, I think will work for her. Aidan uses Singapore's Primary Mathematics  as well as Aleks math (Thanks Amanda!). But although I love the way Primary Mathematics teaches math in a very well-rounded way,  I just know the faster pace would not work for Ainsley. Soooo, dum dum duuuum, I found at the Saxon table... a math called Math in Focus... its based off Singapore math as well but uses more manipulatives and moves at a slower pace. Perfect! The books are attractive, simple, and engaging. Loved it!

I also discovered a few gems I hadn't heard of before.....

Little Passports : subscription based FUN, they send information, pictures, and a toy from one country a month. The stuff is cute and can easily be used as a spine for learning about other places.

Great Musician Series from Zeezok publishing: Fun little novels about the composers that correlate with the cd of their music. I want to research the novels more to make sure they are fairly accurate in their details but if they are... they'd be really cool to have.

Word Build from Dynamic Literacy:  This can be easily adapted to the way I teach. (I seem to adapt everything. I have yet to use anything like I'm supposed to!) It's a word study using Latin and Greek roots. A quicker and easier way to introduce them at the younger ages. Much easier than most of the programs I've looked at that require long lists and heavy memorization.

Writing Strands: I'd read of this before but never payed a lot of attention to it. Although I would not use it as intended (I'd probably keep it on a shelf and use it to spur ideas of my own from it) I'd still enjoy having it.

As for other subjects....

History.... I looked at a lot of history programs and although a few came close to what I'm wanting... I realize that none of them are exactly what I'm looking for. I think my original wish to use a timeline spine and then to find "living books" to use with the timeline is how I'll go. (Here is the nod to The Well Trained Mind) Of course, a lot of other programs already are using this concept (ex. Sonlight) so I'll probably cheat and peek at their lists of books.

Phonics/Language Arts/Grammar... I will continue using books from The Critical Thinking Company and Explode the Code but in general... I'll be personally teaching them grammar and other concepts myself... while they write papers and paragraphs. This is my strongest area and am quite confident my girls will turn out to be excellent writers. I'll use random workbooks and stuff to ensure I'm not missing anything important. I wouldn't want them to reach the age of 20 without knowing what a conjunction is.



Well, that's it for now. Schooling right now is strictly on the computer. Aleks, Time for Learning, ABCya, Cool Math games, Dreambox, IXL.... etc.

Why the girls love N.C.

It's always fun to have friends!

Goodbye my Beau, my Prince

Today we buried Beau, our spoiled Prince, 

our handsomest man ever. 

This is a blow we will have a long recovery from. 

2002- 2012

Our Florida Weekend

 We stayed all weekend at the Gaylord Palms Resort for a homeschooling convention. This place was beautiful and fun. The girls had a blast exploring the atriums.

Banana trees!

 Costumed Characters!

Wildlife! 

 Beautiful Orchids!

Of course, the water park was even more fun!

 This was the first time I've ever seen Aidan swim under- water!












My version of swimming!

 Such.. beautiful, happy faces!

Snapshot of our Day