Homeschooling My Kinetic Kids

The public schools are finishing up this week, so we decided to end our formal studies as well.  As I think about the past year, here are a few of my favorite things: - free printables created by other people (especially Imagine Our Life and Every Star is Different ) - my laminator (available on Amazon here ) - Universal laminating sheets ( here ) - big zipper pouches for binders ( Staples ) - Safari Ltd Toobs (like these ) - the local library Basically, our entire first year of homeschooling can be summed up with those six things.  Next year, I hope to add some more hands-on materials including more Toobs, life-cycle figurines, a globe, a felt world map, and lots more printed materials.  I'd like for us to continue introducing bits and pieces of the Montessori method.  Eventually, I hope to have "learning shelves" with trays of activities for them to chose from during school time. With Dragonfly (who will be 4), I'd like to see her master numbers and their values (...

We didn't end up doing very much this week, but here are a few ideas. Theme: Q is for Quilt Activities: magnetic quilt pieces                   pattern blocks Books: "Nature's Patchwork Quilt"             "Mother Earth and Her Children"             "The Kindness Quilt" And, so ends Year One of our Homeschooling Career! Follow In Our Pond's board "Q is for Quilt" on Pinterest.

Theme: X marks the spots (pirates) Sensory: pirate sensory bin (coconut)                felt pirate play mat                pirate dress-up Activities:   map folder game  (objects)                     counting treas ure                    treasure map (directions practice)                    walking the plank (bilateral)                   Books: "Shiver Me Letters"             "How I Became a Pirate"             "Pirates Don't Change Diapers"             "Shiver Me Letters- Pirate ABCs"             "Pajama Pirates"             "I Love My Pirate Papa" ...

In true Montessori fashion, Dragonfly did this activity three times before she felt like she had mastered it. Theme: Z is for Zoo Work Boxes:   Which Animals Am I? matching game                         land, sea, sky sorting                         habitat sorting with tongs                         Which One is My Home? folder game ( free )                         Zoo Animal Matching ( free )                         Animal Roll and Cover game ( free )                         Mommies and Babies Matching (using wild animal and babies toobs) Books:   Life Size Zoo - This is a book that we keep coming back to and one that we'd...

This blog is an Amazon Associate. The preschool community seems to be divided on what the "jungle" is.  Some think it refers to all big, exotic wild animals (lions, tigers, elephants, etc).  I'm choosing to make "jungle" mean the rainforest, specifically, the Amazon Rainforest. Monday:  We started our week with a taste of fresh pineapple (from Costa Rica) and talked about how and where they grow.  The kids decided that they liked pineapple even though it was a bit "spicy" on their tongues.  While they were eating, I introduced them to the concept of the rain forest in a very broad way.  I also began teaching them our songs-of-the-week, "Whose the King of the Jungle" and "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree."  Later that afternoon, Dragonfly (3.5) and I played the "frog game" using beans that have been painted red on one side and blue on the other.  The beans (we started with 6) are placed in a cup, shaken, then spilled...

I found out this week that it is illegal to own a hummingbird nest or the eggs.  Therefore, I made us the functional scale model using a lip balm container (about the size of a quarter) and a couple of chickpeas for eggs.  I also learned that hummingbirds always lay two eggs at a time. When I was writing the Mommy School Curriculum last summer, I thought it would be a good idea to turn the letter "q" into a unit where the kids' could pick the area of study.  Last week, when we had seven birds at our feeder, Dragonfly asked if we could study hummingbirds this week.  I've decided to expand it into a study of birds, nests, and eggs. Theme: q is for questions (hummingbirds) Practical: Sensory: bird seed bin Educational: comparing different size/colors eggs                       video of hummingbirds from birth to flight Work Boxes: Books: "A Hummingbird's Life"             "Dancers...

It may be late for other places in the country, but here in the Great White North, our apple trees are finally blooming.  The fat bumblebees make the tree hum as they go about their work.  The days are long and warm (about 70 F) and out homeschooling has moved outdoors. This week, we studied the human body.  I know that's a big topic but the kids are young so we just focused on a few concepts.  Sort of by accident, we spent a lot of time talking about injuries and how our bodies heal.  We also tried a new technique called "Five in a Row," (FIAR) where the parent reads one book every night for five nights in a row (we actually only made it 3 nights).  This method is supposed to help kids to absorb information, vocabulary, rhetoric, etc.  The book we used this week for FIAR was "Your Body Battles a Skinned Knee."  The book uses child-friendly pictures and concepts to explain what happens in our bodies when we get a skinned knee.  This has been ...

We only have a few more weeks of official Mommy School left.  This year has gone so quickly; although it didn't look exactly like I planned.  I've read enough homeschooling blogs to know that how we're feeling is normal. Theme: G is for Grasshopper Practical: bug catching outside Sensory: bug sensory bin               -dirt play dough (planned but didn't happen)              - tasting honey Educational: dead or alive ladybug game                     - counting bugs                     - learned that bees make honey Work Boxes: bee folder game                      -  bee folder game 2                      -  bee counting busy bag                 ...

I recently added a "Pin It" button to my blog, so I've been going back through my previous posts and "pinning" everything to it's rightful board.  You can see my homeschooling planning boards and anything else that interests me on my Pinterest page ( here ). One of the things that I've noticed is how bad I've been at blogging our homeschooling journey.  We've been doing "stuff" (or at least reading books about our theme) every week, but I haven't been writing about it.  Bummer. This week, I'm going to start fresh.  Perhaps I'll do better for the rest of the year (we can hope). Theme: Homes and Habitats Practical: map of the area around our home    -difference between a house and a home    -looked at maps of where we live Sensory:  building a fairy home               -sorting animals by habitat Educational: explored Google Earth    -talked about earth rotation and revolution    -talked ...

"Up from the grave He arose.  With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.  He arose a victor from the dark domain.  And He lives forever with His saints to reign.  He arose!  He arose!  Hallelujah!  Christ arose!"                             - traditional Easter hymn We began the day with a reading for the "Easter Story" from the Jesus Storybook Bible, which is called "God's Wonderful Surprise."  Afterwards, we talked about how this day is different from all other days and passed out bags of candy to them (instead of baskets).  At church, we continued the "strange day" by beginning with breakfast before the service started.  During the service, the kids sang three songs about the resurrection, which was special as well. This post is the last one in my "Behold the Lamb" series.  I'm off now to knit a pink ballet sweater.

Traditionally, today has been a day of mourning, silence, and waiting.  We spent the day preparing for tomorrow.  I went shopping alone to buy the kids' outfits for church (nothing like waiting until the last moment!).  When I returned, the kids and I made Resurrection Rolls for brunch at church.  Resurrection rolls are really neat (although a bit confusing for "o-so-literal" toddlers).  They're made from marshmallows, which have been dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon, then "shrouded" in bread dough.  After baking it in the oven, the roll becomes hollow since the marshmallow melted, leaving a sweet, gooey, cinnamon-y center.  So amazingly good!  We had to try them out for dessert before bringing them the church for everyone to eat. We didn't have a Jesus Storybook Bible reading tonight.  Instead, my husband read from Isaiah 56 in the Bible.  We talked more about how Jesus died for everyone's sins. And, now, we wait for morning.......

"So we share in this bread of life.  And we drink of His sacrifice.  As a sign of our love.  Around the table of the King."       - Kieth and Kristen Getty From the smell of the homemade unleavened bread, to the smell of the roasted lamb roast, to the flutter of the red paper streamers above the doorway, today is the most interactive of all the stories.  Today, we celebrate the Passover and remember God's redemptive work on the cross. In the early afternoon, I had the children watch the Jesus Storybook Bible version of the Passover story (called God to the Rescue ).  Then, my daughter helped me make the unleavened bread.  We mixed, kneaded, flattened, stabbed, and striped the bread, talking the whole time about the Sinless Savior who was beaten and pierced for us. We eat the bread to remember Jesus, the Bread of Life. A few hours later, I placed the lamb roast in the oven.  I had been talking to the kids all week about the source of the ...

picture source Today is the hardest of all Bible stories- the crucifixion ("The Sun Stops Shining" in the Jesus Storybook Bible).  As a parent, it would have been easy to justify skipping this story, glazing over the yucky parts and pushing toward the happiness of Easter morning.  However, "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22)" and I want my kids to understand that.  The Bible doesn't leave out the story, so I shouldn't either. The Jesus Storybook Bible begins at the trial and tastefully leads us to the cross.  It spends a lot of time emphasizing the innocence of Jesus and how everything that had happened was part of God's plan.  We're reminded that "the full force of God's fierce anger at sin was coming down.  On His own Son.  Instead of His people.  It was the only way God could destroy sin, and not destroy His children whose hearts were filled with sin (JSB, pg 306)." After we finished the sto...

Yesterday, we read the story of the "Terrible Lie" that caused sin and brokenness to enter God's perfect world.  The last words of the story remind us of God's promise that one day, "God Himself would come (JSB, pg 35)." Today, we skipped most of the Bible (which we had just read during Advent) and read the Christmas story (entitled "The Light of the World!" in the Jesus Storybook Bible).  Since the kids are so young, we wanted to remind them about the Jesus they already knew- the baby- before we deal with the crucifixion later this week.  Continuing the theme of Jesus being the Lamb of God, we read the story about the shepherds visiting. Our Bible time was rushed tonight because the kids were very restless.  And, this blog post is shorter than normal because I just got back from buying our Passover lamb. You can watch the Jesus Storybook Bible video of this story on Youtube.

picture source Yesterday, we read the story about how God created all things.  The Jesus Storybook Bible reminds us that God loves all people and desires a relationship with them- that we are God's children. Today, we read the next story in the book entitled "The Terrible Lie."  The kids learned that the "Terrible Lie" was when the snake told Adam and Eve that they couldn't trust God to be good to them.  The first man and the first woman chose to believe the snake instead of God and disobeyed God's "one rule."  "And terrible pain came into God's heart.  His children hadn't just broken the one rule; they had broken God's heart.  They had broken their wonderful relationship with Him.  And now He (God) knew that everything else would break.  God's creation would start to unravel, and come undone, and go wrong.  From now on everything would die- even though it was supposed to last forever (JSB, pg 33)." The Jesus Storybook...

picture from the Jesus Storybook Bible The mantel is cleared except for a wooden cross- it must be Holy Week.  Today, we started a special Bible study with our toddlers (ages 3, 2, 1) to show them why Jesus had to die on the cross.  I'm calling the study, "Behold the Lamb." Today, we read the first story in our Jesus Storybook Bible, "The Beginning: A Perfect Home."  This section is a retelling of Genesis 1 and 2: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1)."  In Jones' book, God says "Hello" to everything that He makes and pronounces it "Good."  The emphasis of the story is on God's plan and His creative power.  After the perfect home is complete, God created man and woman.  "And Adam and Eve joined in the song of the stars and the streams and the wind in the trees, the wonderful song of love to the One who had made them.  Their hearts were filled with happiness.  And nothing ever made them sad o...

This week, I feel like I've done well with sticking to the theme.  We made chocolate cookies and played with chocolate play dough.  I added some sugar to my regular play dough recipe and liked the slight difference it made to the texture.  We have also been watching Christmas movies and talking about "c" words (like cup and cocoa).  There were many other things we could have done like making cookie cutter ornaments or gingerbread houses.  Our songs this week were "C is for cookie " ( Cookie Monster ) and "It's Called Christmas- with a capital C" ( Go Fish ). C is also for: candy cocoa chocolate candy canes Christmas Follow In Our Pond's board "c is for cookies" on Pinterest.

This week, we focused on the solar system and specifically our relationship to the sun.  We sang a fun song about the earth going around the sun once a year while dancing around a big yellow ball.  We also talked about how our closeness to the sun effects the seasons.  I'm not sure how much the kids understood.  Big concepts for little kids. Follow In Our Pond's board "u is for universe" on Pinterest.

It's turned bitterly cold around here so I'm hoping that the colder weather will get me back on track with Mommy School. The theme this week was groceries.  We watched a few Youtube movies about how food is made and how it gets from the farm to the store.  We also made chocolate chip cookies and talked about how Daddy works so we can buy food.  In the future, I'd like this theme to also be an into to using money.

For the last 2 months, most of our homeschooling has been VERY basic.  I've read them books about our topics and I've taught them the ASL letter of the week.  We talked a lot about the subjects in casual conversation but we've done hardly any "real" homeschooling.  As least we haven't home-schooled like I had been planning.  But, the kids have played outside a lot (we had a long, unusual "Indian" summer) and they played together a lot.  Besides, they're 3, 2, and 1 currently.  There's plenty of time for schooling later.  Sometimes I feel like a failure... but I'm also learning to accept life as it is happening now.  And, really, it's not that bad. Here are the themes I didn't blog: d- duck (pond)            number line busy bag           spelling folder game e- eggs (metamorphosis, frog and butterfly life cycles)*           folder games r- rain (water cycle,...