"Messy Fun"

Today we did "messy fun" in the bath.  I dyed shaving cream and put it in muffin tins.  then I gave the kids paint brushes and let them have at it.  They had a blast...then they wanted to paint on each other...ok sure why not.  Well I'll tell you why not...food coloring DYES skin LOL...Baby brother has a lovely blue line on the back of his arm.  Well he wanted in on the action so I gave him a paint brush.  Now his whole arm is tye-dyed because of reaching over the different colors to get some on his paint brush.  OOPS :)   Playtime continued...no fighting (YAY) and then I went to clean some of it up.  BIG WHOOPS.  Maybe I put too much food coloring (I'm hoping thats the case) but the WHITE grout is now multicolored.  I'm hoping a bleach pen or even time will fix this tiny mistake.  Oh well you live, learn, have fun, and make a mess.  that's what life is all about.  Until next time...have fun!

Coming to an end...

So this week marks the completion of 1st grade Spelling and Science.  I am really amazed.  It feels so good to have accomplished something in completion.  I never remember finishing an entire textbook in school so to me this is great! Now I just have to figure out what we are going to do next...because obviously I am not going to let her slack off (I'm drill sergeant mom here afterall).  So will I go ahead to 2nd grade stuff or do some additional work that is 1st grade level...hmmm.  I am thinking with Spelling I will do more sight word type spelling.  And with Science we will replace some of the weekly lessons with History since we aren't as far along in that and then add experiments a couple times a week for Science reinforcement.   I am excited that the year is becoming complete and we survived our first year of official curriculum.  now to find all the curriculum we will need for next year.  One great thing is that I have our History curriculum for the next two years.

And here is another horticulture update. They look great. Just hope they sprout strawberries soon.

Whoops

Well maybe I spoke too soon. Our strawberries WERE doing great and then: crash  *insert sad and crying faces here*  I'll admit I blew up and was not very "good mother" to the girls.  It was an accident and they were just as devastated as I was...after all it was my first success story with plants...but it was THEIR plant.  I apologized and...

I am attempting to salvage the situation and we'll see how that goes.  I'm wondering if I need to poke holes in the bottom so water can drain...somewhere I think I have learned that but I'll be doing a search to figure it out. I'm giving it til this weekend to see if this solution will work.  If not, off to Sam's we will go to purchase another planter thingy.  We WILL have strawberries...come heck or high water :)  <old southern saying there for ya> 

Working on work box tags

Tonight is the night that I finally make C her very own work box tags.  She has been great baout using Em's left overs but now is her turn to shine.  I decided that she needs her own so that she can feel like she is going to school too.  She loves doing worksheets and checking in her boxes every morning...So precious.  Unfortunately, printing out, laminating, and organizing work box tags...And my orderly desk becomes chaos :(

But the end result is nice and makes me feel better. (the strip with numbers actually hangs on the wall above their desk not right smack dab in the middle of their drawers but I was too lazy to take separate pics so here you have it)  C will love her new PURPLE tags. I love making my kids happy with such little things.

Horticulture class update

We have leaves!!!! It is growing. No strawberries yet but it is alive so that's success in my book. Woohoo

Wow I just realized from the last blog it has only been 5 days!  That is crazy that the plant has grown so quickly.  Thats the kind of gardening I like...none of this waiting mess LOL.  I am so proud of our little plant.  I am excited for all the money we save since Em loves strawberries...now she can go out and pick her own.  I am so proud of the care she has taken of the plant (it is her job to water it...she even knows to water in each hole.)

Its so pretty

Tuesday's and Thursday's are extremely busy days for us. Usually quite a bit cranky as well. So we've accomplished school and PE. We have a little time between that and soccer so I've got the kids outside for a bit. When little man goes down for a nap we are going to attempt cloud dough.I'll be posting an update with results and pics... Oh and here is our horticulture class. Lol. We are attempting strawberries this year. We shall see if they survive.

We did the cloud dough...they are still currently playing with it...that is a success in my book.

 

Some fun adventures these past two days

I have gotten inspired by my friend over at Just Let them Play...she has inspired me to have FUN with the kids. So thats exactly what I did. First we started with Goo aka Gloop which we have used before and we had a blast as usual. This time I was smart and divided the batch into 3 containers (one for Em, one for C, and of course one for ME :)) It is just cornstarch and water but it is the coolest thing ever. It is a great experiment to show liquids and solids.

Let me tell you it is sooooo messy but oh so fun.  *Disclaimer* as per Steve Spangler's website DO NOT put this down the drain...pour this into a zip lock and throw it away...it will clog drains!!!

This morning we broke out the window crayons (you can buy them here).  The kids had a blast and thought it was so neat to color on the windows...of course they argued over where each picture would go but it was still fun.  The fun lasted about 30 mins...may have lasted longer if I let them each have a window of their own.  But none-the-less it was an adventure.

My reasons (written a few weeks back with updates)

When people think I am homeschooling because I want to shelter my kids...in a way they are right.  School isn't what it used to be when I went and definitely not like when my parents went.  I agree there are all terrible things that have happened at any given time in history and yes for the most part "we all turned out ok."  But is "ok" really what I dream for my children?  No I want them to turn out the best they can especially without being tainted by society at such a young age.  I just read on facebook about multiple suicides taking place in 6 week period by children in middle schools.  When I went to school the biggest thing was if our moms were going to take us to the mall to walk around that Friday.  Now I'd be scared out of my mind to drop my kids off at the mall in my hometown to walk around.  It is a lot worse now.  I know there were bullies back then to but apparently it is getting more aggressive in these days.  I am trying to protect my kids from that.  As well as many other things...if you sat down and took the time to find out why I really homeschool you wouldn't think that I am just trying to keep them in a bubble and not let anything harm them.

As a parent, we all want to keep our children from harm but that is virtually impossible.  I do, however, believe that I can keep them from unnecessary harm and "pollution".  I am not a psycho mom that keeps her kids in a bubble...they are with other children for activities constantly but I am present at all these activities.  They have other friends that don't homeschool and some that do.  To them it doesn't matter, they will make friends with anyone.  I don't participate in a co-op because I don't want to relinquish any of my teaching time and partially because I would have to find someone with the same beliefs I have in order to trust them not to teach my children thing I don't believe in.  This isn't entirely religious stuff either.  I don't believe that some of the things taught at such a young age are appropriate.  I believe some things need to be taught by a parent and not a teacher.  It is my belief that God destined me to be their mother and because of that He placed the responsibility of raising them up on me...not a teacher in a school. (I do believe I am a teacher but I am first and foremost their mother, who desires the best for them).  I love that through homeschooling my daughter can excel at a natural speed for her.  There is no reason to hold her back, thereby boring her and stunting her educational growth, because of her age or because the other children aren't grasping something as fast as she is.  I am a firm believer in self-fulfilling prophecy...if you tell them they can't, they won't! (not the reverse psychology stuff...but at a young age repeatedly saying you can't succeed...they won't try, whats they point really)  I also like the option of spending more time on something that she finds challenging or better yet interesting.  This will further her knowledge and growth and possibly help her retain more than I did in school.  There are so many benefits to homeschooling that don't make me a freak or make my children bubble people.

I would also like to point on that public school has become so legalistic that they count the minutes that children are in school.  let me explain... In order to "pad" the schedule for unanticipated snow days, the school system has devised a plan to make up enough MINUTES to equate to one day in case we have our yearly snow storm.  Ok that doesn't sound bad, right.  Well let me explain how they get these extra minutes...they go 12 extra minutes a day (certain days of the week). TWELVE!!! ok but here is the real kicker...they are not consecutive (not that 12 consecutive minutes would really add much to their learning but still.)  No they are 5 minutes in the morning (starting at 8:55 rather than 9) and 7 more minutes at another point in the day.  REALLY?!?!?  Oh and if I remember correctly we went to school from 8 (maybe 8:15) until 3:15...these kids go from 9-2:30!!!  How is it that I went to school for a longer time each day *insert teenage outrage** lol.

So these are just a FEW reasons that I choose to homeschool...I haven't even mentioned the benefits since we are military...maybe another post later on.

Workbox adventures

Unless you've been living under a rock, you have heard of workboxes  (of course I hadn't until recently so maybe I do live under a rock).  Regardless, if you don't know about them then simply search workboxes on pinterest and you will be overloaded with stuff.

We started them in order to ease into a transition for next year when C starts formal schooling.  Em is loving them right now.  They seem to work just as designed (now I have not read Sue Patrick's book on the matter I am simply going off of what I have seen in the blog world and adapted it to fit my family).  The thing I like most about it is Em knows what is expected of her that day...how much she has left (so no more how long do I have left...how long til snack....can I go play)  If she does ask any of these questions I direct her to the number strip which has her box numbers, a picture of snack, and a picture of play time.  She knows how many boxes she must complete before each activity.  I love hearing her exclaim "only 2 more boxes and I get a snack...YEA!!!"  The downfall of the workboxes right now (for us) is that since C doesn't do formal school yet she gets more "fun" things in her boxes.  I have caught Em trading numbers with her LOL smart cookie I've got.  She will just put C's numbers on her strip so she gets a "fun" box.  Since I have seen this I try to include a "fun" thing or two to her boxes that I can incorporate into her lesson.  C got some great Melissa & Doug Puzzle that work wonderfully for Em's math.

It is a work in progress...at this present time we have one 12 drawer cart (you can buy one here)...I also have a 10 drawer cart that should arrive Monday that I hope to streamline into all "mommy's stuff" and split the 12 drawers among the girls.  I will update to let you know how it is working out once I get my new cart.

Its quiet...

and that scares me LOL.  It could mean so many things...should I just let well enough alone or do I go and investigate the reason for the quietness???  Afterall it could mean that all 3 of my kids are getting along and playing nicely (it does happen) and that if I go in there it will disrupt the peace.  However, it could also mean that someone isn't breathing, someone is doing something they shouldn't be doing, or they have run away. LOL  Is the risk worth finding out?  Likely I will go in there and find a mess and as long as nothing is broken then it honestly isn't a big deal.  However, being a mom who likes order and organization (though I do struggle to maintain this), I would most likely flip my lid and start immediately making them clean or start to clean it myself.  What if it was a creation they had made and I just come in like King Kong and destroy it.  That puts a damper on their fun time.  So for now I will cross my fingers, say a prayer, and hope that all really is well and they are just playing nicely (or they've run off haha NOT).

Any advice on relaxing during these moments??? :)  (maybe later I will post pics of what I find when I get the courage to go investigate)

How can I get better at this?

How can I remember to sit and write stuff...as if there isn't enough to do in the day...I have to find time to write here...not the best at that.  So these past few days have been so busy and crazy.  My parents are in town so we decided to do a "Spring break" of sorts..  I figured out how many lessons we had left for the year and decided that this week we would only do the 3 subjects that had the most remaining lessons.  This turned out to be great since we have had so much to do during the day.  Two nights ago in the middle of the night half my bed fell to the ground.  I continued the rest of the night on "Broke Bed Mountain" LOL.  So yesterday was devoted to finding a new bed.

Today we did the 3 subjects then I decided to get out of my comfort zone and let my kiddos paint.  I tend not to do that because it has such a potential to be messy and its not like I don't have enough mess as it is.  However, since we just upgraded to a king size bed...all my queen size sheets needed a new purpose.  Insert fitted sheet on my table and we have lift off....painting creations began.  I must say I truly like the freehand paintings my kids do over just painting preprinted pages.  It requires more imagination and I love to see what they will create.