Thursday, May 6, 2010
Addition to Previous Post
Ok, after additional reading I am NOT going with Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. Apparently it is boring and can be hard to transition to regular print since they use special symbols with certain sounds. Instead I want to share a fun, FREE site that I used while I was teaching in special ed., Starfall. I actually taught children to read using this website and their books. They have really developed their program since then. I've let Jovi play on it occasionally and she liked it, but when I started her she didn't have the patience to go through each lesson. Anyway, being on the computer is really motivating for kids and Starfall does a good job introducing sounds, but you'll probably have to sit next to a younger kid to make sure they go through the lesson appropriately instead of just playing. I am thinking about getting their teaching guides and using it as my reading curriculum. We will see. It's a great site no matter what I choose though.
Preschool websites to share
Starting in August I will be teaching two preschool classes. One for Pre-K and one as a mixed 2s and 3s class (if, by chance you live in Frisco I still have openings). They will have totally different curriculums. The 2s and 3s is pretty easy, it is an alphabet based curriculum, the same one I used with Jovi. The Pre-K curriculum though will be totally different and I'm writing it myself. It will have monthly themes with regular school subjects being covered daily.
Anyway, I've been doing lots of research and thought I'd share some of the amazing websites I've found. There are two blogs that have just blown me away with their generosity. This lady (i believe her name is Carisa) has put together a bunch of awesome resources. If you go into her tot books and packs she has all sorts of printable, themed activities that you can make into super awesome folder lessons (a step up from folder games). I've already printed out a bunch and will post pictures once I put them together. Her tot trays has a bunch of great ideas, especially for multi age or medium sized groups. You can focus each child on specific skills you want them to work on. The rest of her website has lots of good information too.
The next site I want to share, I found through the first site. This lady is a homeschooler and makes me want to homeschool with how organized and FUN she makes it sound. She finds and lists the coolest lesson resources and posts downloadable, printable items that she makes for lessons. She created her own alphabet curriculum and I'm thinking about buying it (it's only $10) to supplement what I currently have. The large percentage of what she has on her site is FREE, it's just if you want everything, all in one download that it costs money.
I want to warn you about the next thing I want to share, it costs money, a lot of money. It is meant for school use where no one thinks much of dropping several hundred dollars on a good curriculum. This curriculum is called TouchMath. The first time I was introduced to it was when I was an elementary school special ed. teacher. My mom also used it in her special ed. class. The teacher I took over for so she could move to a fourth grade class had used it for years and taught it to her fourth graders. Six years after I learned it so I could teach it, I still remember and use my touch points when adding and subtracting (before that I was a closet finger counter). Anyway, I cannot speak highly enough about this system. It makes math tactile without manipulatives and allows kids to see what is happening without a numberline. I just bought the preK program off of ebay. The company will send you a FREE training DVD and manual so you know how to teach using the system and they give you some FREE items with it. Anyway, I ordered the DVD and if I have 5 more people watch it with me they get all the free stuff along with it plus two more items they sale on their site. If you are interested let me know (if enough people from Justin are interested, I'd come up there to watch it). You can make your own worksheets and items once you know the system so you don't HAVE to buy their stuff, it just makes things easier.
And the last item I want to share is the one I know the least about. If you know anything about this book, I'd love to hear. I am thinking about using Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons as the basis of my PreK reading program. It is phonetically based and made for one on one use, but I hope to adapt it to a group. I've looked at it online and skimmed through it in a bookstore. I hoped my library would have it so I could make sure it was what I was looking for before I bought, but no such luck. I'm ordering it from amazon and will make a final decision about using it after I read through it.
I hope you found something useful in what I posted. :)
Anyway, I've been doing lots of research and thought I'd share some of the amazing websites I've found. There are two blogs that have just blown me away with their generosity. This lady (i believe her name is Carisa) has put together a bunch of awesome resources. If you go into her tot books and packs she has all sorts of printable, themed activities that you can make into super awesome folder lessons (a step up from folder games). I've already printed out a bunch and will post pictures once I put them together. Her tot trays has a bunch of great ideas, especially for multi age or medium sized groups. You can focus each child on specific skills you want them to work on. The rest of her website has lots of good information too.
The next site I want to share, I found through the first site. This lady is a homeschooler and makes me want to homeschool with how organized and FUN she makes it sound. She finds and lists the coolest lesson resources and posts downloadable, printable items that she makes for lessons. She created her own alphabet curriculum and I'm thinking about buying it (it's only $10) to supplement what I currently have. The large percentage of what she has on her site is FREE, it's just if you want everything, all in one download that it costs money.
I want to warn you about the next thing I want to share, it costs money, a lot of money. It is meant for school use where no one thinks much of dropping several hundred dollars on a good curriculum. This curriculum is called TouchMath. The first time I was introduced to it was when I was an elementary school special ed. teacher. My mom also used it in her special ed. class. The teacher I took over for so she could move to a fourth grade class had used it for years and taught it to her fourth graders. Six years after I learned it so I could teach it, I still remember and use my touch points when adding and subtracting (before that I was a closet finger counter). Anyway, I cannot speak highly enough about this system. It makes math tactile without manipulatives and allows kids to see what is happening without a numberline. I just bought the preK program off of ebay. The company will send you a FREE training DVD and manual so you know how to teach using the system and they give you some FREE items with it. Anyway, I ordered the DVD and if I have 5 more people watch it with me they get all the free stuff along with it plus two more items they sale on their site. If you are interested let me know (if enough people from Justin are interested, I'd come up there to watch it). You can make your own worksheets and items once you know the system so you don't HAVE to buy their stuff, it just makes things easier.
And the last item I want to share is the one I know the least about. If you know anything about this book, I'd love to hear. I am thinking about using Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons as the basis of my PreK reading program. It is phonetically based and made for one on one use, but I hope to adapt it to a group. I've looked at it online and skimmed through it in a bookstore. I hoped my library would have it so I could make sure it was what I was looking for before I bought, but no such luck. I'm ordering it from amazon and will make a final decision about using it after I read through it.
I hope you found something useful in what I posted. :)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Pirate Dolls
On May 1st, Jovi's preschool is having a family picnic and silent auction as a fundraiser for the preschool. The whole picnic is pirate themed. They asked for donations for the the silent auction so I made three pirate dolls. Hopefully the will find good homes on Saturday. All their accessories are removable.
I'm thinking about selling a few of these. They are a Bit of Whimsy pattern and she sells ready made dolls and patterns HERE. I have two more pirate dolls, a girl with red hair and a boy with black hair. I could also make plain dolls or dolls with matching kid clothes. You could choose skin, hair, eye and clothing color. I'm thinking about selling plain ones, like the one I made for Corbin (below) for $25 and dolls with accessories or matching kid clothes would be more. Email me if you are interested and we can talk about the perfect set for you.
I'm thinking about selling a few of these. They are a Bit of Whimsy pattern and she sells ready made dolls and patterns HERE. I have two more pirate dolls, a girl with red hair and a boy with black hair. I could also make plain dolls or dolls with matching kid clothes. You could choose skin, hair, eye and clothing color. I'm thinking about selling plain ones, like the one I made for Corbin (below) for $25 and dolls with accessories or matching kid clothes would be more. Email me if you are interested and we can talk about the perfect set for you.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
More Bunnies
A week ago we were working in our very small garden (we have three 2 foot squares). While I was adding some compost to the strawberries I noticed a hole in the dirt near the corner of the box. I investigated further, lots of grass and rabbit fur. I pulled it back and found five, yes FIVE, baby bunnies. Their eyes were open, but they were only the size of hamsters, smaller than our last set of bunnies. Unfortunately they were crushing my strawberry plants so I felt we needed to move them. Juan dug a burrow for them nearby and we all had fun moving the bunnies to their new home. I tried to get a picture of all of them, but it proved impossible, they were fast.
That night we saw mommy bunny come. We had a great view from our master bedroom windows into the yard. She was recognizably confused. It was as if she was saying where are my babies?!?! I was really worried that she wouldn't find them and thought about moving them back even if it hurt the strawberries, but by the morning she had obviously found them. Unless someone came into the yard she sat near the new burrow watching over her babies. We checked on them once each day and I am truly amazed at how fast they grew. By Friday they were a little bigger than the other bunnies we found and by Saturday they were gone.
That night we saw mommy bunny come. We had a great view from our master bedroom windows into the yard. She was recognizably confused. It was as if she was saying where are my babies?!?! I was really worried that she wouldn't find them and thought about moving them back even if it hurt the strawberries, but by the morning she had obviously found them. Unless someone came into the yard she sat near the new burrow watching over her babies. We checked on them once each day and I am truly amazed at how fast they grew. By Friday they were a little bigger than the other bunnies we found and by Saturday they were gone.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Catching Up
It's been a while since I've posted. This month we've been sick a lot, but have had some fun and exciting times too. Juan took off Friday the 16th and we went to the farmer's market and the Dallas science place. It was a lot of fun, but the bottom level of the museum, the part made for kids 6 and under was super crowded with a bunch of school groups. Friday is apparently field trip day. I recommend going on a different day. They had a light exhibit that the kids really enjoyed in the nature museum, or as Juan calls it, the stuffed zoo. Here are some pictures in front of the nature museum.
Jovi is growing up. Sunday, the 18th Jovi gave her first talk in primary. She talked about Joseph Smith's first vision. We practiced with her a bunch at home and she said she wanted to do it without our help, so on Sunday she stood up all by herself and gave her 2 minute talk and did a great job. That night she lost her first tooth. We had noticed that it was loose only the day before. After her bath I was just trying to see how loose it was and out it popped. She was so excited. I made her a super quick felt tooth pillow so she would have a place to put her tooth for the tooth fairy. The next morning she found a half dollar and a Sacajawea dollar. I've gotta say that there has been some hefty inflation on baby teeth since I was little and got a quarter for my first tooth. As you can see, Jovi was pleased.
Corbin is getting bigger too. He talks all the time, mostly in correct sentences. He wants to do everything Jovi does and it is a good thing he is super cute because he is two year old Trouble, if something can break or spill he is sure to do it. We went and saw How to Train Your Dragon earlier this month and Corbin loved it. He switched between sitting on his seat, my lap and Juan's lap the whole time, but stayed relatively quiet and very interested in the movie. He talked about the movie the whole week afterwards. He is very into TV and movies right now and wants the TV on all the time. I'm planning a TV free week next week I will try and post about how well that goes.
Jovi is growing up. Sunday, the 18th Jovi gave her first talk in primary. She talked about Joseph Smith's first vision. We practiced with her a bunch at home and she said she wanted to do it without our help, so on Sunday she stood up all by herself and gave her 2 minute talk and did a great job. That night she lost her first tooth. We had noticed that it was loose only the day before. After her bath I was just trying to see how loose it was and out it popped. She was so excited. I made her a super quick felt tooth pillow so she would have a place to put her tooth for the tooth fairy. The next morning she found a half dollar and a Sacajawea dollar. I've gotta say that there has been some hefty inflation on baby teeth since I was little and got a quarter for my first tooth. As you can see, Jovi was pleased.
Corbin is getting bigger too. He talks all the time, mostly in correct sentences. He wants to do everything Jovi does and it is a good thing he is super cute because he is two year old Trouble, if something can break or spill he is sure to do it. We went and saw How to Train Your Dragon earlier this month and Corbin loved it. He switched between sitting on his seat, my lap and Juan's lap the whole time, but stayed relatively quiet and very interested in the movie. He talked about the movie the whole week afterwards. He is very into TV and movies right now and wants the TV on all the time. I'm planning a TV free week next week I will try and post about how well that goes.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Easter Bunnies
Let me warn you, this story starts out sad. Last Saturday Juan and I decided to work on our neglected yard. I mowed our two foot high weed patch in the back yard along with the rest of the yard and then Juan went around weedwacking. Well, while Juan was weedwacking he found that we had a family of baby bunnies living in our yard. One had come out of the burrow and was hiding in a weed patch near our fence. Juan felt so bad when he found out, it was too late for that bunny, but he was extra careful the rest of the time and found another bunny near the fence and their burrow with two more bunnies in it. These bunnies were about the size of large hamsters, they were old enough to have their eyes open and be venturing out, but not old enough to run from us humans. The bunny in the first photo what the second one Juan found and he just sat there the whole time Juan was weedwacking the yard. When he was done, he came in and showed me and I took the kids out to look at the adorable bunny. He let us come right up to him and then Corbin bent down and picked him up, ack! I took him away and said we would put him back in his burrow with his brothers, but before we did I let Jovi hold him. She wanted a picture to commemorate the event.
Here is a picture of all of them in their burrow.
Sunday evening mama bunny came around. (Look hard, she blends well with the grass)
Monday morning we had an empty burrow. We think mama bunny moved her babies away from our prying eyes, but it was so cool to see our back yard bunny family for the two days we knew they were there.
On Friday, 3/26 we went to our first Easter egg hunt held by Frisco at Pizza Hut Park. It was ok, nothing special except they had "healthy" snacks for the 2 and under crowd like cereal and animal crackers instead of candy Corbin barely grabbed anything because he was looking for the candy.
Last night we went to our next Easter egg hunt. On Sunday, sitting next to our Sacrament Bulletin (which was on a chair in the chapel) was a flier for an egg hunt at a Frisco park. I was excited, what a fun ward activity, so fast forward to Friday. My parents come over, we go to the park and see all these people from 5th ward out there (we used to be part of 5th ward till it split and now are part of 7th ward). Well, maybe it was a stake activity? No, no it was the 5th ward's activity and we crashed it. I was so embarrassed. None of the few people who were our friends were there either so it was just a bunch of people we kind of knew, but there was no way to explain that to the kids who had been looking forward to an egg hunt all day. I don't think anyone cared, but it was very embarrassing.
Juan and my mom went with Jovi to hunt eggs in her age group and I went with my dad and Corbin to his egg hunt. He was SO funny. He would pick up an egg, open it, make sure there was candy in it and THEN put it in his basket. He did it for every egg he picked up and then after the hunt was over, he threw out the plastic eggs and just kept the candy in his basket. He was very sure about what he wanted.
Happy Easter everyone!
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