When You Were Alive

Thing2 exclaimed, "Hey, this book is about knights, Uh-gyp-shin warriors and Arkansas."

"You mean United States?"

"Oh, yeah. This oughtta be intruh-sting!"

Later, after poring over the pictures and discussing with his dad whether or not there was a World War III...

"Mama, you know the soldiers who had triangle hats in Arkansas?"

"You mean United States?"

"Yeah. United States. You know, the ones when you were alive."

"I wasn't alive."

My birthday is coming up, which reminds me of my advancing age, but, really, the Revolutionary War was a few years before my time.

The book is Great Events that Changed the World by Brian Delf and Richard Platt. It really is intruh-sting.

The Reluctant Dragon

It's about time for a book review. I love to look back at the kids' reactions of books from last year (or maybe the year before) when I used to take time to do this.

As with many of our favorite reads this year, this suggestion came from Thing1's Writing With Ease Level 1 Workbook. When he has to listen to and copy from an excerpt, he usually wants to read the whole thing. This is the major reason I am considering using the workbook again next year.

Thing1:
The Reluctant Dragon [by Kenneth Grahame] is really a good story. It is about a boy who makes a friend with a dragon who is a nice dragon. St. George comes, and they talk it all out that he will get him where he has lots of layers of skin and scales during the fight. They had to fight because the villagers told St. George to come. When the fight was over, the boy came over to the dragon, and the dragon opened one eye and winked at him to tell him that he was okay. The villagers learned to not tell people that they need to fight when they do not know about the enemy.

Thing2:
I like the front of it because it has a good picture. I liked when St. George and the little boy took the dragon home. St. George and the dragon and the boy are all my favorite.

Also popular with Thing1 lately:
 The Saturdays
Then There Were Five
The Basketball Mystery

Sadly, he has run out of Happy Hollisters. He will have to reread the ones we have collected since the libraries around here don't carry them.

More popular books with Thing2:
Moving Day
Tic-Tac-Toe Mystery
Flat Track

Every cowboy hero has a different MO.

I learned this tidbit at the supper table recently. I got permission to share just in case you ever get these guys mixed up.

The Lone Ranger beats up the gangs that split up. (Two against the gang.) The Long Ranger jumps from his horse to the bad guy's horse and fist fights him until the Lone Ranger wins!

Hopalong Cassidy finds out stuff and tells the sheriff. He leaves it all to the sheriff, but if he can help, he helps.

The Rifleman corners people. If his son is with him, he tells him to go tell the sheriff. The son says, "Alright, Pa." The son always helps his dad.

b or d?

Make a bed.

I Get Distracted.

This is why I never get any housework done.

I make noble plans to have my house clean and give the boys a choice after daily chores are done:  "You may either stay inside and earn money by helping me or you may go outside and play."

Of course, they choose to play.  But soon, one of them comes in with a question like, "May I put some water in this bottle?  It already has sand in it, and I want to see what happens when I put water in it too." (They have to ask before they play in water.  It's frustrating when all the tennis shoes are soaking wet when we set out to go somewhere.)

I not only comply with the water request, but, to his delight, I add an almost-empty bottle of food coloring.  Now, if I were diligent with my household duties, I would send him on his way and get some serious work done.  But I just can't.  I have to watch him experiment and witness his joy of discovery.  Then I have to go to the computer and journal it so I don't ever forget.  I learn more than he does when I watch him.

And the housework remains undone.

Milestone

At our school, a lot of learning is "snuck in" during dinner time, riding in the car time, bath time, pretty much any time. Lately, my sneaky lessons for Thing2 have been the blending and segmenting games found in Reading Reflex.

From the beginning he could blend sounds to make a word (I say, "c-a-t."  He says, "cat!") almost every time.  But segmenting (I say "cat."  He says "c-a-t.") was beyond his comprehension.  For example, I would ask, "What is the first sound you hear in mmmmouse?"  He would answer, "p!"  I would reply, "Not pouse! (insert silly laughter) m-m-mouse! mmmmm."  And we would try again.  And again.  And again.  We would even reverse the game and try to think up as many 'c' words as we could.  His 'c' words would often include moose, shirt, etc.

Well, I am happy to report that today, after a few weeks of the exercise described above, he actually identified some first sounds correctly!  I believe he is capable of learning to read!

Shapes and Sound Pictures

Thing2's school work yesterday was inspired by Developing Minds Through Occupational Therapy.  We thought of Aunt Jessie when we did this!

Goals:

• Drawing shapes
• Recognizing the sound pictures 'c', 'a', and 't'
• Following multi-step instructions

First I wrote c's, a's, and t's in random places on our Handwriting Without Tears Double Line Slate.

Then I made a key on plain paper and instructed him to use straight lines to make a square around the 'c' (we use sounds instead of letter names), draw a circle around the 'a' (short a sound), and a squiggly shape around the 't'.  The sounds in 'cat' are the only ones we are working on right now.  He still does not recognize the sound pictures well.

Side note:  I have ditched The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, which is a pure phonics method, in favor of the Phono-Graphix method as outlined in Reading Reflex.  I would compare Phono-Graphix to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons but with much more common sense and parental instruction.

This took a healthy dose of concentration, but it was simple enough for almost-4-year-old Thing2 to see it through from start to finish.

 

Mom, the Psychologist

Today is our first day with nothing out of the ordinary planned in a long time.  Thus the first blog post in a long time.

I did a little psychology experiment today.

When the boys woke up, I assumed a stern demeanor and said, "I know you don't want to, but I am going to insist that you play today.  I'll let you do chores and school work first, but after that, you must play.  I will not let you get by without playing today."

I spied the shadow of a smile on Thing1's face before he protested, but Thing2 never missed a beat.  He immediately began complaining about not wanting to play and how he would rather work.

The good news is that chores were done in record time this morning.  Thing2 even picked up his room without Thing1's help.  Thing1's school work did not take long, either. Despite his initial complaints, Thing2 has taken his play seriously today.

The bad news is that the results of this experiment confirmed my hypothesis.  My kids complain solely for the sake of complaining.

 

Condiments

A musical performance by Thing2 this morning went something like this:
North America, South America,
Europe, Asia, and Australia,
Africa, Antarctica
These are the condiments.

During another musical performance, when he realized his dad and I were listening, he stopped and looked embarrassed.  The Husband said, "It's okay.  I like to hear you sing."

"Oh.  Okay.  I thought you were agonizing me."

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

From Thing1 and Thing2.

Thank you, Marmee, for the decals.

Superlatives

Best advice (from a Pioneer):
"I used to think I had to do everything three weeks ahead of time.  Now I realize that most things can be done last minute."

Funniest:  Thing2 watching his first Jerry Lewis movie.

Sweetest (Don't pronounce the R's for the most accurate effect.):
"Dear Lord, Thank you for this day.  Please help us to be good at the park because I love this park, and when we come here, it cheers me.  In Christ's name, Amen."

Best thing I've heard on the radio lately (Building 429): 
All I know is I am not home yet.
This is not where I belong.
Take this world, and give me Jesus.
Thing is not where I belong.
To download song

Most satisfied feeling:  The boys riding their bikes after six months of flat tires.  Three days after their dad banned the Gator and 4-wheeler until they proved they could ride their bikes, they were zipping around like pros.  Hmm.  Also satisfying is that I got some mild exercise walking alongside Thing2.  Thing1 was way too fast for us, though.  I predict that the speed factor will be what motivates Thing2 to lose the training wheels.

More Do-A-Dot Printables

I still consider Do-A-Dots worth the money.  I still bless the day I was stuck at the Learning Oasis and made the impulse purchase of our set.

Thing2 and I are gradually building an Alphabet Binder with Do-A-Dot activities.  (A, E, I, and O so far.)  Reviewing letters and sounds in the binder is fun because we are looking at his work, and he is proud of it.  Reviewing by looking at our Reading Lesson book and the index cards I made?  Not so much fun.

Free Do-A-Dot Printables We Have Used:
Letter Mazes from Tot School
Lowercase Letters from Tot School
Uppercase Letters from Tot School
Alphabet Printables from Homeschool Creations
ABC Phonics Coloring Pages from Homeschool Creations (We fill them in with Do-A-Dots instead of crayons)

Free Printables I Plan to Try:
DLTK (Alphabet, seasons, holidays, animals.)
Making Learning Fun (Lots of book themes, alphabet, colors, numbers.)

Do-A-Dot

Suddenly Thing2 wants to do "school work."  (To him, "school work" is paper work.  I can't convince him otherwise.)

For five months, I tested the waters occasionally by bringing out the letter A and asking if he remembers what it is.  Most of the time he made a point of "not knowing," so I would put the letter away and hope for the best next time.

Enter Do-A-Dot markers.

Thing2 thinks he is very privileged when he gets to "paint" with these. (I don't love paint, so painting is always a treat around here.)

Except for a couple of free-style art projects, I have only let him use the markers on letters that we have learned in his reading lessons. (Don't be impressed; we have only learned A, E, and I.)  I have found some fun free printables on Homeschool Creations, but I'm going to have to look for more.

I found these when I was stranded the other day. I almost didn't buy them because they cost nearly $16, which seemed a little steep for six markers that only make dots.  However, I have not regretted the purchase.  They are a perfect fit for three-year-old hands.

My favorite part is that they dispel frustration.  How can you mess up a dot?  Thing2 can look at his work with satisfaction that it is done "neatly," which, surprisingly, is important to him.

Parkour

I had no idea Parkour was real.  I thought it was just a joke from The Office.  You never know what you will learn in a school day.  The boys were duly impressed, as was I.



Now Thing2 is jumping around like Spiderman.  "Hey, Mom, I'm like Parkour!"  I see some massive bruises in our future.  "Did you see that, Mom?  I'm doin' a good lesson on Parkour!"   He has already performed some daring stunts designed by Thing1.  However, Thing1 has not attempted any himself.

The future is here.  While I was typing, he fell and hit his head.  I need to redirect this activity to outside.

In case you have missed out on Parkour, The Office style, here is an entertaining clip shared with me by my sister (of whom I have an equally entertaining video doing her own Parkour demonstration.  Maybe I will get permission to post it soon...)  You're welcome for your laugh of the day.

Carwash

Here's an idea to keep a preschooler busy.  It is very simple, but Thing2 thinks it is marvelous and loves to do it.  I'm sure it is good for him...somehow. 

The main ingredient is simple and abundant at our house:  Dirty Hotwheels.  The boys like to play in the dirt with Hotwheels.  This makes for a mess when they bring them in.

Give him an apron, a stool, and some soapy water.  He'll be busy for awhile.

And when he's finished, at least some of the Hotwheels will be clean!

Be prepared to clean up a mess.  Your countertop, floor, and cabinet fronts probably need to be wiped down with soapy water anyway, right?

Maybe some of my educated and experienced friends can leave a comment explaining what he is learning.  He's got to be learning something!

Shared with Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations

Bunny Money

My chiropractor was curious about homeschooling when he found out that is what I do, and (while he was working on a very sore muscle) he asked how much time it took out of our day.  I answered honestly that the basic, necessary subjects usually take less than an hour. 

"What do you do the rest of the day?"

"Uh...." Maybe it was because I was slightly distracted with pain at that very moment, but I stuttered and stammered.  He caught me off guard.

"Do they watch TV?"

I lamely mentioned something about involving them in what I do, playing puzzles and games, and that they don't watch much TV.  I lay on that table thinking that we are always busy, but I can't think of one good example of something we do in a typical day.

The purpose of this post is to prove to myself that we don't lay around all the time.

I was happy to find a game that we can all play together...and Thing2 can be on his own team!  Bunny Money is a game Marmee gave to us when she was cleaning out her old school room. 

It is a very simple Monopoly-ish game with a Max and Ruby theme.  All you have to do is roll dice, move the rolled number of spaces, and follow the space's instructions. 

Object:  To buy everything on your shopping list.  Who knew it would be so much fun to have your own shopping list and  your own money!

For simplicity's sake (and so Thing2 could be on his own team), we eliminated the $5 bills and only played with $1 bills.  This allowed Thing2 to count out his own money.  After the third time we played the game, he was recognizing the numbers 1 and 2 so he didn't have to ask me how much to pay.

Did I mention we played the game three times in two days? 

Back to the chiropractor...What should I say when someone asks me what we do all day?  We live.  We do chores.  We play.  Good grief; the boys are only 5 and 3.  What else should they be doing all day?  I don't want to sound sarcastic because I know he was just curious, but the answer seems so obvious to me that any reply I think of sounds smart-aleck. 

If anyone reads this, I am open for input!

Linked with Hip Homeschool Hop

Someday

Thing2 has been thinking of his future a lot lately.  Today he has told me:

Someday he is gonna be on an aircraft carrier like his uncle.

Someday he wants to ride a bull, and he is getting ready for it.

Someday he is gonna kill a rattlesnake.

He is getting ready to go hunt for a buck. (He's looking for a five-point, but Thing1 is looking for a  10-point.)

When he grows up, he will be the mail guy who drives the big black truck and takes boxes to people's houses.  (UPS, I guess.)


On a side note, a conversation I overheard between Thing1 and Thing2 demonstrates their opposite personalities:  Thing2 wants to be the one who drives and delivers to people's houses.  Thing1 wants to be the one who works in the post office and organizes and hands out the mail to the deliverers (in the back where no one sees you).  I thoroughly enjoyed listening in on that conversation.

Goofy Cousins

My entertainer, Thing2, and his just-as-goofy-two-weeks-older-than-him cousin.  

This is right after lunch at a weekend-long church meeting.  He does not have a strange orange rash; that is Cheetos on his face.

Wordless Wednesday