Snuggle Babies

This weekend we went down to Eagle Pass to visit Juan's grandparents.  We took my 11 year old niece, Arrieanna with us on the trip to help with the kids and have fun.  Jovi and Arrieanna shared a bed in our hotel room.  This is a conversation Juan and I overheard in the early morning hours:

Arrieanna, very sleepy says, "Jovi, move over to your side of the bed.".
Jovi says, "But I like to snuggle.".
Arrieanna replies, slightly annoyed, "Just move to your side.".
Jovi says, "Ok...  I know, you can come on my side of the bed to snuggle.".
Arrieanna ignored the offer.

My children love to snuggle with someone while they sleep.  We have finally gotten them out of our room at night, but it took till last month.  Corbin was always crawling into bed with us and Jovi would try to do the same.  Our answer at the time that was only marginally successful was setting up blankets on the floor beside our bed for them to sleep on.  Corbin still climbed into our bed most nights and I was often too tired to move him back down to the floor.  We finally decided last month that the blankets had to go and the kids HAD to stay in their beds.  Or compromise was that if the woke up at night and needed someone they could go and sleep in each other's rooms.  This has worked really well for us, we rarely get a child coming into our room at night and the kids seem happy.  They are usually in Jovi's room when we wake up.  I wondered about this till Juan told me what he saw one night.  Jovi had woken up, gone into Corbin's room, woken him up and she was prodding a very sleepy Corbin through the hall to her room so he could sleep in there with her.  I guess Jovi prefers her room to Corbin's room. 

Jovi's Reading Journey

I wrote this as a post on a forum and wanted to remember it.

We did ETC last year and on the days I had dd do it, we did NOT do handwriting. I, personally did not find that ETC was enough for dd's phonics instruction. I have tried a LOT of phonics programs. Reading does not come naturally to dd, but she wants to learn so here is what I've tried, hopefully you will see something you can use:


Bob Books: dd could memorize them, but I learned that she couldn't hear separate sounds within a word so I looked for something to help with ponemic awareness.



Phonemic Awareness In Young Children has tons of easy to play games that help children hear beginning, middle and ending sounds in words, they play with rhyming and sylables too. A lot of the games require a larger group as it is a classroom program, but some can be done with just one student and some of the games are fun enough that the whole family can enjoy playing. We did not use the whole program, but I know what we did helped dd. *This is NOT a reading program, there is no written component, but it is an EXCELLENT listening program*



Next, dd could hear specific sounds in words, but couldn't blend them, the above program works with that, but I also started using Phonics Pathways. The book stats out VERY simply, we drilled her short vowel sounds and played their blending game over and over. Then she stated doing the "lessons", reading a page a day. We stopped after all the CVC pages were read because even though she could read short vowel words, she lacked fluency. Every word was laborusly sounded out no matter how many times she saw it.



We stopped phonics pathways and switched to www.starfall.com. I had the books and student workbook and I used that along with the online books and games. I had her read a book a week and by the end she was reading each one fluently and it was transfering to other things she read and best of all she loved reading time each day. BUT once we started into the vowel combo books it wasn't enough practice for her, she was getting confused and the rules were not transfering to other things she read.



We switched to The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. We skipped the beginning and got through digraphs, she was progressing, slowly, but she hated it. Reading was no longer fun and now a chore.



A little bit after I started using OPGTR, I got All About Spelling. I really like this program. It includes phonemic awareness, it teaches ALL the sounds for every letter, alphabetical order and dd enjoyed it. I know others have used it to teach reading and could see how it would be very effective doing so. I was using it for spelling, but saw dd's reading ability increase too. But I wanted a reading program to complement my spelling program, I didn't want to use it as the reading program too.



This year we have started using PAL: Reading. I LOVE this program. I warn you, it is teacher intensive, but it is SO effective. Supposedly you are able to take a total non reader to reader with this program except there is an underlying assumption that your child knows their letter sounds and there is no direct instruction on blending, but it is perfect for where my dd is now. It really focuses on vowel combos, it introduces them through poetry and there are LOTS of folder games. By the end of the program, I have confidence that dd will be able to read most children's books and early chapter books. She will also have been introduced to a lot of poetry, new vocabulary and some grammar. I highly reccomend this program if your child can't seem to get past reading short voewl words, it is great!

Kerchina

My mom has been waiting to get Jovi an American Girl doll since she was born.  We both felt that at 6 years old, Jovi could both appreciate and take care of the doll.  For her birthday, my mom took her to the American Girl Doll store and let her pick out her doll.  Jovi didn't want one of the historical dolls, but choose one of the dolls in the My American girl doll series.  Jovi named her doll Kerchina (said Kercheena) and she looks a lot like Jovi, but with straight brown hair.  After she chose the doll, My mom, Jovi and I went and had "tea" (aka hot chocolate) upstairs and the American Girl restaurant.  They even sang to her and she got to blow out candles. 










  

Monks

At the end of August, for history we were studying the movement of Christianity from Rome to England and the creation of the monestaries there.  I made somewhat authentic Monk habits for Jovi and Corbin and brought them to co-op for the kids to try on.  They really enjoyed them and it made for some great pictures.  That same day everyone got to try writing with quill pens.  Writing with quills and ink is NOT easy.  I can understand why copying books took so long.  It was a fun co-op day.

Flashback to 2009

I'm not yet done with my summer updates, but I was uploading these to youtube and wanted to share a few videos.

First Day of School Co-op

This picture was taken August 15th right before we left for our first day of co-op.  We are part of Denton Classical Co-op this year.  It is a group of 15 amazing ladies who all homeschool their children and meet together on Mondays for classes that go along with what we learn at home durring the week.  It is extremely acedimically minded, every subject is covered except Math.  History and science have hands on projects that go with what was read the week before.  They also cover reading, writing, art, unit studies, PE and latin (although we are not following up with this at home).  We also meet for occasional field trips during the week.  They have classes for every age group, so Corbin is in preschool and Jovi is in kindergarten.  We have so much fun at co-op and I know the kids enjoy it.  As the name "co-op" suggests, each mom gets to teach some of the classes.  This year I am teaching History for preschool-2nd grade and the letter of the week/ reading program to the preschoolers and kindergarteners.  I was really happy when I found out what they wanted me to teach because those are two subjects I feel comfortable with (I was not looking forward to teaching something for the high schoolers).  I think all the kids have been enjoying the lessons, at least I hope they have.  I know Jovi and Corbin really like being part of the group and so do I.   

Homeschooling Curriculum

We are choosing to homeschool Jovi and this is her second official year, but since it is the first year she could go to public school we are calling it her kindergarten year.  I figure I should call it what everyone else will and then do whatever work is on her level, so she is doing first grade math and simi first grade reading, her history and science aren't leveled and then I am adding in stuff as it seems appropriate.  Here is a list of the curriculum I am using and what I think of it since we've been using it for 6 weeks now.

I am following most of the recommendations from The Well Trained Mind.  It is a classical education model and I really like it.  I especially like the four year history rotation.  History is broken up into 4 time periods, Ancient History, Middle Ages, Early Modern Times, and the Modern Age and you study one per year, studying more in depth through each rotation.  We are studying The Middle Ages using The Story of the World and I truly love these books.  They make history so accessible and I have personally learned a lot that I probably should have already known.

We are reading the church's Book of Mormon Stories this year for scripture study.  I am loosely following this study guide to help with songs, activities and memory verses.

At our co-op (I will talk about co-op in my next post) there is a memory club that promotes memorization of all sorts of facts.  We use this memory system and for far more than scripture verses.  Jovi also memorizes poems, science facts, math facts and virtue definitions.  Jovi likes passing off her memory work at school to someone other than me and I like that she is motivated to practice.  Sometimes Corbin even wants to practice.  I especially like that we continue to review everything even after it is passed off so Jovi doesn't forget what she has learned, it is a great system.

I have tried MANY reading programs in the past year and a half and I am happy to say that I have found a truly awesome one that I am going to stick with.  It is called Primary Arts of Language Reading and I cannot recommend it enough.  Reading doesn't come naturally to Jovi.  It is work for her, but she actually enjoys lessons with this program.  This program does take a lot of time to teach, it is not a 10-15 minute lesson that any mom can easily do at home with her child, but it is an extremely effective and fun program.  Each day we read a poem and then look for a specific phonetic grouping and/ or another language arts lesson like, vocabulary, homophones or syllable counting using the poem.  We do this during calendar time.  Then, later in the day we have reading games time where we make and play folder games that help Jovi practice her phonics lessons.  This includes a card game that allows her to practice sight word fluency on words that she could sound out (all rules are taught), but she needs to be able to read on sight.  After games, she has a homework sheet with words she has already practiced and she must complete on her own.    Then, as our very last activity she gets to put her phonics sticker on her "Phonetic Farm" and practice her reading with her reading practice page.  The Phonetic Farm is such a neat way to review phonics rules, it is hard to describe unless you see it, but Jovi loves it.  You are supposed to be able to take a non reader who doesn't even know their alphabet sounds and get them reading with this program.  I would NOT suggest using it that way.  I think this program would be very confusing if a child didn't have a firm grasp of at least the very basic alphabet sounds (at the very least short vowel sounds) and the ability to blend them into words.  Alphabet sounds are covered, but not intensely and blending is not touched.  There is an assumption that this has already been grasped by the student.  When I talk about phonics rules I am almost exclusively talking about vowel combos and vowel/consonant combos that are not easily decodable without rules being taught such as ue, ay, ow (both ways to say it), er, ee.  In my opinion, these are not what you teach a child without them already able to read short vowel words, BUT it is exactly what Jovi needs.  I am SO happy with this program and the progress I see Jovi making.  It is wonderful.

We are using Mr.Q Classic Science, Earth Science for our science curriculum.  I like it, I don't love it, but I kick myself regularly that I didn't get all the worksheets that went with the program printed and spiral bound for free when I had the chance.  It is easy for me to do which is nice.  We read a chapter a week, Jovi does narration and that is it at home.  Narration is done for all history and science chapters and sometimes for scriptures to.  Narration means that Jovi must tell me three things she remembers from the chapter in complete sentences and I write it down.  This has helped SO much with her retention of material.  By the end of the year she will be copying what I write in her own handwriting in preparation for writing her narrations herself in the future.

For handwriting, I am using Handwriting Without Tears.  Jovi still prefers to write in all capital letters when she writes things on her own.  She does not grasp her pencil correctly and takes off the corrective pencil grippers whenever I am not looking.  Her handwriting is very juvenile.  The curse of the mom (I hope you have a child just like you) is at work in this because I remember doing all those things as a child.  I hated handwriting and gripped my pencil wrong, but was sure it was the better way than what my teacher was trying to get me to do.  We will continue to practice and Jovi doesn't fight me on it because I told her she has to finish the book before I will teach her cursive which she is very interested in learning.  I want her to have a firm grasp of printing first before we move onto cursive.

I bought Math Mammoth when it was on sale and was going to use it this year.  It is a good program.  I like it and I think Jovi will like it.  But I already had an old 1st grade math book that I bought from Half Price Books for $1.  It is in color, covers alll the basics and is ready to go.  So, we are going through the math book first before we switch to Math Mammoth.  So far it is going well.  Jovi is just starting to memorize her addition math facts, it's exciting. 

I am using First Language Lessons very sporadically with Jovi.  It is an early grammar program and very easy to implement, I just find it hard to get to with all the other things I want to cover.  I plan on doing better in the future.

I use Writing With Ease with the workbook for Jovi's writing program.  I am not totally sold on her method mainly because I find it extremely lacking in creative writing, something Jovi enjoys, but I figure we can add creative writing in and I know doing the copywork and narrations is good for Jovi so we do it.

We will be adding All About Spelling as Jovi gets further along in her reading program.  It is a program we used some last year and I already know I like.

We have been doing a little of this book for geography, but Jovi get a lot of geography in history so I'm not doing as much as I planned.  We also listen to a classical music piece each week.

My one failure this year so far is Spanish.  I got La Classe Divertida (I really dislike their website) and it has not been the hit I thought it would be.  The plan is to watch the DVD during lunch each day, but we are just SO busy it doesn't seem we get to it and it isn't Jovi's favorite thing to watch.  We cover some Spanish each day during calendar time, but not nearly as much as I would like.  I will continue working on it.  This is something the whole family wants to learn, we will find a way to do it.

I teach an art class on Tuesday afternoons to Jovi and two other children using Artistic Pursuits.  So far, the class is going well and the kids are having fun.  I like the program, but am adding some to it to help the kids create better compositions.

The Frisco Rough Riders

In August, we won four tickets from a drawing at our chiropractor's office to watch a Frisco Rough Riders' game that not only included some really great seats, but an all you can eat dinner of concession stand staples (hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, nachos, popcorn...).  We had a really good time despite the 100 degree heat and we stayed till the seventh inning when we were planning on leaving by the third inning.  The Frisco Rough Riders' is a double A team and I learned what that means.  It means LOTS of foul balls, some strikes and very, very few hits.  It was fun to watch though and there was lots of "extra" stuff for entertainment too, like several contests and little girl dancers who I was happy to see did not try to dance provocatively and were actually quite cute.  The food was...free, so I can't complain.  I wouldn't mind buying tickets for a game next year, but we will definitely be choosing a different food package.

My Birthday

Yep, I got a whole year older.  We had some yummy cake and I got some nice presents making it all worthwhile.  The next day I got 12+ inches of my hair chopped off.  I am planning on sending it to Locks of Love, it's only been two and a half months that I've been planning on doing it.  It will happen, right?

Father's Day For Grandpa

For Father's Day my kids gave my dad a World's Greatest Grandpa shirt and hat.  He loved it.

My Garden at it's Best

I came to realize something this summer.  I really dislike perpetually high temperatures.  I really, really dislike being outside in them.  And since this was the second hottest summer on record, I tried very hard to stay inside most of the time.  This is NOT good for a garden.  These pictures were taken at the end of June and it was the best my garden looked the whole summer.  Soon after this the garden became neglected, extremely overgrown and not very productive.  We got lots of cucumbers, but once the heat really started, everything else withered. 
















We will be planting my first fall garden ever today and since I actually enjoy being outside now I hope that it will be well cared for and productive. 

Serious Catching Up In Progress

Ok, so I took a summer vacation from blogging.  I am back and catching up on many of the important events that happened this summer.  I will make one new post a day till I catch up so watch for many future installments.

Our Vacation

Last week we left on vacation for Minnesota where our niece was graduating high school.  We drove the 16 hours, but about 20 hours with bathroom breaks, in two days.  On the way up we got to take our niece, Arianna with us.  She was great to have in the car and helped to keep Jovi entertained most of the way up.  The kids actually did far better than I expected.  My mom made them travel journals with a map of every state we traveled through.  We stopped at all the visitor centers we passed and the kids were able to get a map and a few pamphlets for every state.  It was a lot of fun, I highly recommend it especially for older children.  Corbin was too young, he liked taking the pamphlets, but didn't care about them afterwards.



Once we got to the house, the kids were surrounded by their cousins and taken outside to jump on the trampoline.  The adults stayed in the house talking.  Thirty-ish minutes later Corbin was brought inside crying, holding his leg.  He had fallen off the trampoline and yes, he broke his leg.  One ER visit later Corbin had his right leg in a splint, got a popsicle and stickers for being such a good patient and was feeling better.  I was not.  The splint went up his thigh and couldn't get wet.   The ER doctor said he probably wouldn't be able to walk for 4-6 weeks.  How in the world was I supposed to keep an active three year old from walking for 6 weeks!?!?!  What can you do outside in a Texas summer (100+ degree weather) that doesn't involve getting wet?!?!  These were the thoughts I was left with that night.  The next day was the graduation.  Juan took a "facebook" shot and a group photo.



Unfortunately it was drizzling the whole graduation and since we had to keep Corbin's splint dry, we didn't get to see Kayla walk, but we heard it was great.  The next day was the backyard graduation party and the weather was wonderful, sunny and breezy.  Juan and his brother, Ruben grilled for 200 people.  Ruben grilled chicken and some of the best ribs I've ever had.  Juan grilled the veggies; corn, zucchini, peppers, onions and mushrooms.  The party was lots of fun and had great food, of course.  Corbin spent a lot of the time on the couch watching movies inside, but he got to go outside a couple of times.  Jovi spent the whole day happily playing with her cousins.








When we got back home, we took Corbin to the Orthopedist who put him in a cast under his knee (yes!), that can get wet (yes!) and he can walk in (once it stops hurting), and he should be out of it in 4 weeks (yes!).  Once I told him about how people can write their names on his cast he had all of us write on it, including directing me to write his own name on it.  He asks anyone who comes over to our home to sign it.  It was a memorable vacation with some interesting souvenirs.

     

Laura Visits and a Summertime Birthday Bash

Laura came home for vacation and to attend a friend's wedding.  She flew in the weekend before Memorial Day and stayed for a week and a half.  It was a lot of fun having her at our house again.  On Memorial Day we decided to have a Summertime Birthday Bash for all four of our family birthdays that are in the summer.  We had a very nice dinner and some yummy desserts.  We all got to blow a candle out.


We had a nice group picture, but then Corbin insisted we needed to make silly faces too.  It's his new thing, every "nice" picture needs an accompanying silly face picture.



We gave Emma and my mom their birthday gifts since we would be out of town during their birthdays.  Jovi picked out a doll just for Emma and Corbin picked out Connect 4 for him to play with Ganna, there were other presents given as well, but those were the cutest.
 


We got to spend some time with Laura and played lots of games of Lost Cities.  One of our last outings was to the local snow cone shop, yummy.  Thanks for coming to stay Laura, we love you!

Last Day of History Class

At the beginning of this school year we joined a homeschool co-op.  Every Friday Jovi got to go to a history class that did map work and activities based on our weekly history reading from The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor (Revised Second Edition) (Vol. 1) (Story of the World) (we love this history book by they way).  Then she had PE and sign language classes.  We had a lot of fun as part of the co-op, but we lost our building and the co-op fell apart in December.  The PE and sign language classes were fun, but extra in my opinion.  I felt the History class was important, Jovi was enjoying it and I really wanted her to finish it in preparation for the upcoming school year.  I could have just bought the activity book and done the map work and activities on our own, but many of the activities are more fun with more kids, SO I started a history class on my own.  We met every other Friday for an hour and a half with three other children (we had two more for a month and a half before their family moved).  We had so much fun and the families we came to know are great!  Some of the kids' favorite projects were, practicing Chinese calligraphy, acting out the story of Remus and Romulus, making a crown like the Roman emperor Nero (the first to have a heavy gold crown with points) and enjoying a Celtic feast.  We had our last class the first week of June and ended with the fall of the Roman Empire and a swim party, very appropriate since the Romans invented swimming pools (aka Roman baths).  Here the kids are working on making barbarian heavy bracelets before we went swimming.




I learned a lot about ancient world history as we read and did activities, hopefully Jovi and the other children learned just as much and had fun doing it.  Next school year we will be part of a new co-op and I get to teach history for Preschool-2nd grade (not all at the same time).  I'll also be teaching an art class at my home and the kids I taught this year will hopefully be part of it.  There are lots of fun things to look forward to this coming school year.