Our first day of Homeschooling 2011-2012

Well... to say that our first day was eventful is an understatement!  But it was a good day... a very good day...   I was up all night with Addison she was sick with her weird thing that we have no idea what it is or what to about it at this point.. we were up every hour with her vomiting.  But life goes on and I told myself a shower and a BIG cup of COFFEE and we are good to go!

The curriculumn for the virtual school was due to arrive on our first day. Nice... a little frustrating cause I like to be prepared but it's free and well there wasn't much else I could do about it.  Instead of waiting I still wanted to start on Aug 22nd for the routine purpose and the fact that we had been counting down the days with the girls to when school started and they were excited.  So we did some work that we had left over from PreK with Taylor and worked on those sheets.  We are doing a bible story a week and we read our story... which was Creation.  Why not start at the beginning! 

 Taylor on her first day wanted to wear the most beautiful dress! :) That's what she said.

Addison on her first day of PreK still a little under the weather but very excited to do school!

 Addison working hard...

Addy did this on her own... which really impressed me.  She circled all the Uppercase and Lowercase Ff!

The girls worked on some fun activities too...

I got out the shape sorter to entertain Jackson and it did for a little bit...

Then he proceeded to take ALL the books off the shelf...

Payton was working on her colors but she got upset with me over a crayon and peed on the chair and pouted and was done with school. (which was perfectly fine by me!) she played with the Dora house.  Which was nice for her b/c there is usually 3 girls playing at the same time. So she could enjoy it all by herself.

 
We did a color mixing experiment and this was ALOT of fun!  I added food coloring to water and each girl had an empty bottle and we mixed the colors to see what other colors we could make!  I had a brain fart and for some crazy reason thought it was a good idea to save some glass jars... yeah I have NO IDEA what I was thinking... so Jackson grabbed one dropped it and it broke... no one was hurt but still glass everywhere to clean up.  I won't do that again!

Addy made organge

Taylor made blue/green

Payton ended up with black... but here she is with blue

Jackson kept trying to drink them all :)

Then while cleaning up the color experiment and taking all the bottles to the recycle bin, Jackson did a face plant into the driveway and scraped his forehead really good :(

 Taylor's Calvert curriculumn was delivered early in the day and she was so excited to open it!  This curriculumn would normally cost $380 but signing up for the Virtual School it's free!  I see why it cost so much there is alot of material!

Here is the big Kindergartener with all her lessons and books!  We did Lesson 1 during naptime.  So our first day was definatly FULL but FUN! :)

Homeschool...part 2... getting ready!

I want to first say that homeschooling is not for every family.  In my opinion it has to be a God thing.  I think alot of Christian moms feel pressure to homeschool and if they don't that they aren't a good mom.  And that is so NOT the case.  If all christian moms homeschooled or sent their kids to private christian schools then we would not have christians in public schools!  We NEED christians in public schools.  It's a calling to homeschool... it's a calling to go to public school (to minister)...  now that is said... :)

I finally had my answer it was time to get the ball rolling!  I learned alot homeschooling Pre-K and that is organization is a MUST!  We moved last year in November and that kind of put a kink in our schooling... in the organizational department.  I had papers everywhere!  And it drove me nuts!  But I had no idea what to do with them... and honestly cleaning up our school rooom for this new year I took all those papers and they now sit on the window seat in my craft room :(... gotta do something with them!  But I have a plan for this new year.... I hadn't heard of this until after starting Pre-K a Portfolio... who knew!  Sometimes the answer is so simple.  Once they are done with their work we'll put it in a big binder. :) Nice and neat... hopefully...  Now with Virtual School for Taylor I am going to have to scan her work and send it in... but I'm sure I have to keep the original copy and it will be nice to have as a keepsake too.  The other problem that we had was work space.  We have a big "backroom" and it is used half as a playroom and half as a school room.  After moving we were still trying to figure out furniture arrangments and such.  The girls were sitting at a coffee table to do work which worked fine, UNTIL Jackson became mobile. :)  He would grab their work and mess it up and the girls would get very frustrated.  I also couldn't sit with the girls comfortably to help them I was more hovering over them. So a bigger table was in order.  Craigslist to the rescue!  We found a deal!  I love it!  So with some rearrangements and organizing... we are ready to start!

Here is our school room.

 Our table! I love it!

Other view of room...

Bookshelf full of goodies! :) Books, games, curriculumn. Notice the bottom 2 shelves are empty... that's b/c of Jackson :)

I hung up cork board squares to display the weeks work and so the girls can show Daddy what they did for the day.  The cubby organizer another Craiglist find and it's a great thing to have!

Chalkboard and drawers full of manipulatives and such...


I did get this idea for Pre K HERE and for teaching multiple children it's a great idea.  All the girls wanted to help with the big calendar and we would take turns.  But this seemed like it would work better.  I made some adjustments for us and it has worked great.  The girls have their own binders and like the ownership of it.  I added a pocket thing to keep a pencil, scissors and glue stick.  So we're not hunting for anything and they each have their own and know where it is.

So here is Taylor's School notebook.  Instead of using this just for calendar time we made it a School Notebook.  It holds their Calendar, supplies and folders to organize their work.

So here is Taylor's School notebook. Instead of using this just for calendar time we made it a School Notebook. It holds their Calendar, supplies and folders to organize their work.

 I actually really like the idea for the calendar cause it gives them extra practice at writing numbers :)

I added folders with numbers inside them so they know what order to go in.  For now it's usually something that they can do on their own.  So this way when they are done with one worksheet they aren't asking me what's next Mommy and I'm looking around for their work.  It's all organized and laid out the night before and they know when they are done with folder they move to the next.  They love their folder work! It also helps for them to see how much work is expected for the day.



The folders is my spin of doing the WORKBOXES. If you haven't heard of them check it out!  I think it's such a great idea!  I did not read the book I get the concept and came up with the folders to make it work for us.  I love the way it's done in the blog that I linked to and will probably change it up and do it that way eventually but for now this was a simple and cheap fix.  Google workboxes for more ideas... there are all sorts of ways to do them :)



Homeschool... Part 1... the decision

So I always thought that I would homeschool our kids... I really didn't think it would be a hard decision. And then I got a taste of homeschooling with PreK.  Most of it was fun and I/we really enjoyed it.  But there were alot of struggles... having 4 kids 4 and under.  Trying to get school done AND spend time with all the kids AND house work AND laundry AND cook dinner (well on the nights that Nathan was lucky otherwise we had sandwiches) ... you get the drift.  And then I found out I was pregnant with #5!  Come January we will have 5 kids 5 and under... ??? WHAT! How am I going to get homeschooling done!? It was overwhelming... and then I started to freak out... if I feel like this now how am I going to feel next year and the year after!  I talked to alot of people... The advice varied some people thought we should send our kids to school... no questions asked.  How on earth could we teach them everything that they needed to know... and it's good for them socially...etc.  All these are good points and would make me quetion myself.  I would talk to some homeschool moms and they would (obviously) make me feel so much better about the homeschool life.  This was NOT helping me... I was on the fence so much and had NO IDEA of what to do. Then a friend gave me great advice.  She said... STOP talking... and START praying!!! DUH! Sometimes I need reminders.... :)  It doesn't matter what people think and people who don't homeschool don't get it... and thats fine... They don't have to.  So I really started praying...  I really wanted to get to the root of the problem... why was this stressing me out so much.  I realized its the planning of the school... the curriculumn... and another great friend of mine said to me... you are doing way to much!  Just enjoy the simplicity of PreK.  I was planning on schooling through the summer... that same friend told me to take the summer off and ENJOY!  So I did! :)  Thanks!  Sometimes we moms need permission to stop and enjoy... well atleast I do.  So now I had my answer of what stressed me out so much and I had to find a solution.  After lots of prayer and research and talks with Nathan we decided that for now homeschooling is the answer.  Homeschooling was still important to Nathan and I for a number of different reasons.  I had to find a solution to being overwhelmed...  we talked about hiring someone to clean... or do laundry! I then heard there are curriculumns that you basically open a book up and its all there... so I started to research those.  That sounded great!  Well to make a long story short we decided to give Virtual School a try.  I've heard great things about it.  Everything (including art supplies) is sent to your door for free because you are technically enrolled in public school.  It's basically a 7 day school week.  You have a certain number of assignments to turn in each week by Sunday evening.  So we can go at our pace but still be accountable to get it done! They offer field trips.  Your child has a teacher that helps and  grades the work.  I TEACH!  Sounds like fun to me and less stress.  I really like to plan the fun craft projects.  We are going to add a bible curriculumn so I will be planning that... but I can handle that.  If at any point it's not working for us we can opt out of the program.  So that is what we are doing... Virtual School for Kindergarten!  Our house may lack alot in the cleanliness department and we'll deal with that... but this feels right for our family! 

Payton

Well I haven't done an update on Payton in a long time... The last time was that she was "ALMOST" potty trained... well I jinxed myself... Not sure why she regressed so many times... maybe for attention I'm not sure.  But we are officially there.  She is a big girl (except at nights she wears a pull up) we have very few accidents and I am so proud of her!  Not sure what happened other than it just "clicked." People say kids do it in their own time and I believe that is so true!  Payton is talking up a storm and is very funny.  She will say something so silly and then slap her thigh and crack up at herself.  She plays very good with Jackson... in fact it has become very normal for Taylor and Addy to be playing in one room and Payton and Jackson playing in another.  I can see Payton and Jackson being so close. :)  She is a very caring and sweet big (and little) sister.  She is still a Mama's and Daddy's girl.  She hangs with me alot and loves to cuddle. 

Our Silly Girl

Daddy and Payton at the Zoo

And as sweet as she can be... She can be just as cranky to the flip of a switch.



She simply didn't want to take a picture... so this is the shot that I get most of the time... Oh well...  We still love you!  You will probably hate me for this pic... but you should of been happier! :P

Addison is 4!!!!

It happens in a blink of an eye... really it does.  One day you have a sweet newborn baby and the next you have a 4 year old!  The summer is really crazy for us we have a birthday in each month and my girls grow a year old basically at the same time. I am enjoying this new stage and Addison is a big helper (when she wants to be :P) She is very sweet and loving.  We call her Sweet Pea for a reason.  She is full of energy and loves life.  We had a special family dinner for her and she knew that day was reserved for her and she really tried my patience!  2 days before her actual birthday we took her to Build a Bear... which is a first for us!  It was so cute and fun and ridiculously overpriced!  But she loved it! :)

Nathan and Addison is front of Build a Bear

Addison named her bear Princess Belle

Making cupcakes for Addy's Birthday... FUN and a HUGE mess!

Addy may or may not have tasted all the cupcakes... :P

Yummy and full of sprinkles!

Addy in front of her picture table

Sisters... Best Friends

Happy Birthday to you!!!

Addy is excited for presents!

A Rapunzzle dress

What every girl needs!

Taylor drew this picture all on her own and wrapped it for Addy for her birthday.  Addison loved it and gave Taylor a huge hug! :)

So Sweet! :) Brought tears to my eyes...



Jackson...

I have dropped the Mama ball... I feel bad... There has been so much going on with Addy that I blogged about all her issues, we have been busy with birthdays, well checks, being pregnant and tired and getting ready for homeschool and haven't updated anything on Jackson since his birthday! :(  Poor guy... I also haven't updated on Payton... (will do that soon!)  But it's never to late!

Jackson is almost 16 months old... He is hilarious and he thinks it too!  He loves to laugh, scream, squeal and chase his sisters.  It's so cute.  All of them are close and have their sweet moments of playing but lately he and Payton have been playing very sweetly together. :)

Jackson started walking at 13 months old and just took off running!  If the door is left open for a split second... he is gone!  He loves to get outside.  He love crayons... :) He loves to play with his cars.  Jackson actually sits on the floor and pushes them around - it is so cute! He is a big eater and his weight/height issues aren't as big of a concern.  Thank you Jesus!  He gained over 2lbs and grew 2 inches in 2 months. :)  He is still small but there isn't much concern about it now.  Jackson is a very sweet boy and loves to cuddle with his Mama and Dada.  He is going to be a Daddy's boy just like the girls are Daddy's girls.  Very sweet.   He may be a loan ranger in this family of girls but he is a blessing and will be a great brother!

It's A....

So, we are expecting our 5th child and are just as excited as we were when we were expecting our first baby!  With each baby I can't wait to find out what we're having...  I've never really had a preference as long as the baby is healthy... then I'm happy! :)  This is our first baby living close to family and its been a joy for me to be able to share this with my mom! :) I wanted to do something fun this time... sooo A Gender Reveal Party sounded like a great idea to me!  We didn't want anything crazy b/c well we have a HUGE family and wanted to keep it simple.  Our parents came and our siblings.... which is still 12 people not counting us! lol

We had our sonogram yesterday and we ask the Ultrasound Tech to please not let us see what the baby is or tell us and to write it in a card that we brought and seal it closed... cause I will look!  She did as we asked and its did drive me nuts!!!  I asked my SIL if she would do the honors and make a cake for us.  So Teresa got the sealed envelope and kept our secret!  She baked a cute cake and on the inside the icing would either be pink or blue to reveal the answer when we cut into the cake... CUTE HUH!!!!???  I loved this idea!  We asked everyone to wear either Blue or Pink to represent what their guess was to what we were having. So... now to good part... pictures...

Gender Reveal Party

Of course I had to make a banner... :)

Boy or Girl?

Father and Son routing for a boy...

 The BLUE team

                                                                    The PINK team
                   (my SIL wore both colors since she knew what the answer really was...)

                                                                       The Cake!

                                          We know... what it is.... :) Yes I'm making you wait...

                                                                PINK! Its a GIRL!!!! 

                                                                     Baby Girl Fields

We are so blessed! :)