This blog is a way to examine my many adventures as I try to make the most of this life, and teach my boys how truly magical every moment can be. We may have ups and downs, but either way we are learning through exploration. My job is to try to make learning enjoyable so they always have a thirst for it.
I can't believe I haven't been blogging in over a year and a half. YIKES! I have to learn how to do things all over again. Back in 2012, I started really examining my motives for blogging, and started to slowing stop. Taking a year off, I realized that blogging actually helps me be a better mommy. It held me accountable to actually PLAY with my children. Busyness of life crept in, and with that the time my boys spent in front of electronics increased. Confession.....I became a lazy mom. In all fairness, living in Alaska, the long winters are tempting times to bunker down and hibernate.
We are in the process of adopting from foster care. Something I will share about more when I am able.Something we talk about a lot in training is attachment disorders. The amount of time kiddos are in front of television, movies, and electronic devices can exasperate an attachment disorder because they don't have to bond, attach or socially respond to other people. Even for children who aren't at-risk too much time with inanimate devices can diminish their social skills. The great thing about the adoption process and all the training and poking into your life is you get an idea of the type of mom you want to be. It is a reboot to your family. One we are in desperate need of.
So it is back to more actively, engaged time playing with my children. It is time to get silly, dirty, creative, exploratory, and active. I'm ready for more healthy and happy children who are connected with their family and the security, delight, and wonder that attachment brings.
For youth group last Tuesday we had to dress up with the theme of the unit we had been teaching on: Space Quest! I knew exactly what to make for "A"-a jet pack costume! The greatest thing is I had all items on hand using recycled items and it was completely free. I originally saw the idea on Pinterest and a different variation at Classy Miss Molassy. Mine is a lot less fancy because I am a no fuss type of gal. So without further adieu...
Blast Off!!!
Directions:
Take two 2 Liter soda bottles and I taped them together with clear packaging tape. Then tape them to a cardboard piece (I used a flap). Punch holes in the four corners of cardboard. Add string to be able to put it on like a backpack. Add red & orange tissue paper for flames. Viola-easy peasy you are done!!!
"A" also wanted to make a space man "helmet". He just cut a hole in a box (the same one we got the flap off for the jet pack) and he decorated it with space drawings and "buttons".
A little fun with lots of learning-1st try at apple bopping
So we have finished our first week of homeschool and my first book of Five in a Row: How to Make an Apple Pie and Travel the World by Marjorie Priceman. It is a cute book about a girl who travels the world to get the ingredients to make apple pie. So here is our row:
Math:
Various farm theme math sheets for cheap Grade 1 workbooks
We did all the maps from the How to Make an Apple Pie lapbook from homeschoolshare and the Vermont coloring sheet from Crayola
We love this song on Youtube to teach the names of the continents
We also studied about Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman). What a truly amazing American. Here "A" is writing about how he would throw a party for Johnny Appleseed. He had to know some of his likes to answer the questions.
We also filled out this Look Who is Famous informational sheet. I think we will use this sheet for all amazing people we learn about. You can find it at homeschool creations.
Literacy:
This is our poetry journal which I will do a complete post about in awhile. He highlights high frequency words and illustrates it. Here is with apple paint prints.
Our apple picking sight word game. I took the idea of my popcorn game and wrote our high frequency words on apple prints and wrote the word Rot for the word to send the apples back. Check out my popcorn post on how to play.
We had a vocabulary word each day that he wrote on apples and defined: harvest, acquaintance, crop, coax
We did a comparison of the All in Just One Cookie to How to Make an Apple Pie and mapped where the books got their ingredients.
This isn't the best picture but he had to write an alternate ending to How to Make an Apple Pie. What if he really wanted vanilla ice-cream. What would he need and where would he go. The only thing extra is vanilla which in All for one Cookie we learn he could go to Madagascar if he wanted-s that is what he did.
Science:
He labeled the parts of an apple. This printable is from here
This is a salt evaporation experiment that is in the Five in a Row Volume 1 book. The worksheet is part of the lapbook at HomeschoolShare.
This experiment I read on Pinterest and can't find the owner. Let me know if it is you. Take one clean apple slice and then drop another, rub your hands on it, etc and see which molds fastest. Great way to discuss germs!
Of course we made an apple pie! This is part science and math. We also made homemade applesauce because I love it!
We also had to do an apple tasting. This is great to do for once for everyone. "A" loved the sour and hated the sweet-me complete opposite!
Art:
We studied still life paintings. Did you know that apples symbolized knowledge and in religious paintings it represented temptation? Here is our set up-we ran out of red apples so we had to imagine.
Here is"A's" finished piece using watercolor pastels.
Here is my still life. I love how this is something we can learn to do together. We are both students.
This week I have attempted once again to start up Tot School. As I have mentioned many times before my tot is behind in speech and some other cognitive development areas due to his Sensory Processing Disorder. Previously, I would print out tot school pages and suggested activities and it just brought to light all that he couldn't do and not what he good. It made me feel frustrated and grieving the fact he wasn't where other kiddos were at. I am going to do things I know he can succeed and like-period!
A is for Apple Color sheet from Twisty Noodle with our color of the week RED!
Going on a red hunt. I had these in a basket for the week. I had to help with this because he has a hard time sorting and matching. That is why we are staying on one color and trying to saturate him with it!
Montessori-open and closing containers with different trinkets inside. This he excels at and loves it!
Apple prints. I put a corn on the cob holder in the apple so all he had to do was stamp it.
Another thing he recently learned to do and enjoys is stickers.I colored the tree for him.
This week was his first time using a glue stick. He LOVED it but had some difficulty.
He did the bingo paint plotter. We both loved it and will keep doing it. I definitely had to model it by guiding his hand for the about half of the sheet.
He tried apple bobbing after watching brother. Then we did an apple tasting. He has trouble chewing so this was a sensitive activity but he did great under TONS of supervision.
A red collage-Mommy precut the pictures and he helped put them on the page.
Matching-this is REALLY hard for him so it took about 3 days.
All that he achieved in his first week. A lot to be proud of!!!
We used the awesome Aa is for Apple pack from Allfordays. We will be linking up with Tot School at 1+1+1=1. She is the go to for anything and everything tot school related and such an inspiration.
Starting Monday we will be rowing our first Five In A Row book: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. We have a week chocked full of apple fun, science experiments, math, continents, and more. I can hardly wait to begin our first full week of homeschooling. This past week we introduced some routines and I assessed him in reading, writing, and math.
If you haven't heard of Five in a Row you should check it out (even if you don't homeschool). FIAR is curriculum where they chose some quality picture books that you row for a week. What is rowing? Well, you read the same book each day and focus on a different core subject for each day. One day you focus on literacy, another math, science, social studies, and art. You can do the days in whatever order and the books have excellent suggestions of what to do for each book. I am kind of bitter that I didn't write this curriculum because I pretty much have been doing this exact same thing with my boys for years. When researching what other bloggers do with FIAR I came across some amazing gurus. My two favorites are Aussie Pumpkin Patch and Delightful Learning. Delightful learning has a blog roll for each book so there is amazing resources available.
Delightful Learning had a great idea of making a sensory bin to accompany How to Make an Apple Pie. You know me-I'll take any excuse to make a sensory bin. Her's is truly great and she did some great social studies activities with the bin that we will be doing next week. Here is my take on the sensory bin to go with the book.
What is included:
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (for filler)
Chicken & an toy food egg
Cow & toy food milk
Sugar, Allspice, Salt, and Cinnamon
Toy apples
Apple block from Alphabet train
Apple tiles from Zingo game
Apple and Tree from Guidecraft Feel & Find
Felt Apple Tree
John Deere tractor and combine
Farmer
Vermont state card (where she gets apple in the book)
plant from my backyard to mimic wheat (don't have any up in Anchorage)
So it is official.... as of next week I will be a homeschooling Mama/Teacher. Wow! That is weird to say. I am a public school teacher! I Triple Heart Love public schools. Let me revise that to say I triple heart love schools that follow a social constructivism style of teaching. I want the student to take an active role in their education, rather than passively listen as they are being lectured to.
My 1st grader son has been having a hard time since the move and struggles with irrational fears, explosive outburst, negative feelings about himself, and inability to be still and focus. He is also funny, kind, social, and smarter than any other child I know (seriously). Everyday I was seeing a spark go out as he went off to school to sit at a desk that he was unable to get up from ALL day, except for lunch and his one and ONLY recess. He cried with happiness whenever I picked him up and exclaimed,
"Having you get me is the best part of my day."
I have had to stay home this year to take my youngest to FIVE therapies a week. He was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder four months ago. We have found a great pediatric therapy clinic and he sees an Occupational Therapist twice a week, a Speech Therapist once a week, and a Feeding/Speech Therapist twice a week as well. I am home anyway, I am qualified to teach, and my oldest son needs me right now. It isn't what I intended, but it is what needs to be done.
The good news is since I will be forced to do AMAZING and AWESOME activities with my boys my blogging will INCREASE tenfold. I am really excited to start blogging again and have some amazing things to share with you all. So next week in-laws are visiting and my curriculum is arriving. I am excited to start Five in a Row among other things. Our first theme will be apples and I have TONS planned.
Getting the classroom set-up (will share pics later)
Amazing school desk I got at a garage sale for $10-Wahoo!
We have moved to a new state, new school district, and new school. I am a little hesitant this year because the kids are forced to sit in a desk all day. As many of you know I having my elementary teaching degree and I thought we had moved away from the idea of direct instruction with kids listening to lectures at their desk to more active learning. I think it is imperative for students to be able to move, have choice in books and what they write about, working in small collaborative groups, and an environment that encourages meta-cognitive thinking. Evidently, not in the AK.
On top of the classroom environment the school days are about 30 minutes longer than his other school (which I don't mind), but he only has ONE 20 minute recess ALL DAY. Also he can't have any snacks. For my little active sensory kiddos I feel like this is just setting him up to fail. So what can I say-I am remaining hopeful (although not positive). I am also making contingency plans to pull out for homeschool if it comes to that. But anyhoo, here it was "A's" first day of first grade...
For the adorable first day of school signs you can go to Super Mom Moments blog. I am so grateful for creative people out there to help me make memories with my little ones.
