Well, we survived week one! And have our first day under us on week 2. I have gone back and forth with idea of homeschooling since Emma was born! And then when Zariah & Tony came along, the idea seemed so overwhelming! As I began to plan for fall preschool, the only way I can see affording preschool is a miracle by God but I have also had a tugging on my heart to homeschool for a long time..... I am not NEAT (a slob), not organized and not a good planner. The idea of having to have lesson plans for kids stresses me out..... BUT.... our first week went really well overall & I am falling in love with it more & more & so are the kiddos! I realized the other week that I have a K4 curriculum on my computer from a ebook set I got last year.... Well, I love it, comes with lesson plans and all! After more research, I am going to most likely take a step back & use her LOTW preschool program (Letter of the Week). I feel like both the girls are not on the same page with their letters after our alphabet review week and this can include Tony more and I'll still use some K4 materials.... especially for the one that seems to have gotten her letters faster. And if I move on with K4 more than I can use LOTW more for Tony because he wants to be doing stuff too. The hardest thing for me is planning out their worksheet learning time and trying to figure out what to all do at once & what to split up and trying to go back & forth with the kids. I feel this will come. I am considering Abeka for this fall as well & looking forward to talking to a friend about this soon before I make a final decision. And if this goes well, we will most likely use Abeka for Kindegarten next year.
So, we have our group time.... we usually start with a warm up song to get everyone in the mood (even mom)..... we sing & dance to SHAKE by MercyMe..... and yes its a pretty good work out too.... b/c we Shake & praise the LORD! :)
Then, we use ideas from K4 Curriculum (Confessionsofahomeschooler.com) and stuff they were doing in preschool already that they enjoy....
Pledge (the flag just got posted to the wall by the principal, lol, they were not too happy about this today but I told them after last week's drama over whose turn it was this was the plan!), and then the girls break out into songs: My Country Tis of Thee & I love my Flag (I Love My Flag, Oh, Yes I do; I Love my Flag, Red, White & Blue, 50 Stars & 13 Stripes, 7 are red & 6 are white!!!) :)
We do our calendar time and sing songs: Days of the Week to "The Adams Family"
Today is...... :) to "Frere jacques"
We also sing ABC...
We look at Today (is), Tomorrow, & Yesterday on our board and each gets a card to post.
Then we look at the Weather out the window.... and post those cards & then it's memory verse time.... we are using a cd..... 1st week's we learned Matthew 19:14, it has a little story and the verse & a fun song we dance to: "Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them for such is the kingdom of Heaven." They have done really well with this. This first week, we used 3 different children's books one time each through out the week about this verse!
Then it's time to start individual time! Today, we started a little different since we started later, i gave kids a snack and then after group time, we had to pull out SHAKE b/c kids were struggling with attitudes.... I think i am just going to have to expect Monday's to be hard, Sunday's are great days for our family but also a very long day! Girls slept til 9ish this am! (another thing i like about homeschool)
We then do different activities during individual time, some we do at the same time others we do one and then switch around. Sometimes Tony can stay involved and other times i have to give him something else to do. First week, we tried to read through out different times in the day about our ABC's, got some books from library & have more from home.... girls really have gotten into this & have been practicing their ABC"s a lot..... We also practiced our sounds after watching The Letter Factory several times this week..... one fun evening girls took turns with figuring out 1st letter of words by sounds.....while swinging (they could swing ALL day!) I also uploaded some apps on my phone & kindle & let them take turns with these. We had a play date after one homeschool day with Callie Rae & Auntie & our friend Jessi came & babysat them on Friday after our work was done so I could rest before a night shift. They have our friend Tori tomorrow while I go to dentist & work :( but they LOVE these girls and cant wait til they come! (we have been blessed w/ 3 awesome friend babysitters.... cant leave out Mandy!!!)
So, I am incorporating all of this into trying to exercise & eat better daily now! We are starting to eat more REAL Foods and love it! Slowly getting rid of boxes of junk (processed foods).... and it means more clean up, more dishes! Today girls helped in kitchen which also means more of a mess.... but they did a good job and it was fun! This week we are reviewing #'s, all 3 kids are doing well with their numbers to @least 10! :)
& we may start our A the week after, not sure, going to call about swim lessons for the next two weeks if they have spots so that may change our mornings.....
BIGGEST changes in our home since starting this is...... Zariah, she is like a whole new child, still has her whiny moments..... but now i can totally see the attention seeking behaviors & I am dealing with her better! I find myself yelling less and just ENJOYING my kids! They are great kids.... a hand full but a blessing!!!! God is showing me so much in this & blessing my heart & mind as well..... I truly believe this is what He has been wanting me to do for a long time! So we are going to give it our best! I have also been obessed with our church's new program: RightNow Media (ministries) and have been listening to bible studies online while preparing materials, etc. and this has given me a huge encouragement with my walk with the Lord.
God is good all the time!!!!! :) So, I'll let you know how it goes! :)
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