A is for Apple

Last year I purchased a home school program, Hands on Homeschooling, because I didn’t know where to start.  I used the program, but I honestly was not a huge fan.  I felt like the curriculum was pretty “jumpy” and my brain works better with consistency and having a common theme.  There was also a lot of focus on religion and bible stories and, to be honest, I struggled with this part in particular.  I couldn’t figure out how to relate many of the stories to the children in a manner they would understand.  They also never seemed focused when it came to that part of the lesson, so I eventually just eliminated that as part of the program and I substituted in my own activities.  This year, I decided to develop my own program and it has been great so far.  I don’t know if it is the advancement in their age and learning abilities, but they are loving it and I am enjoying watching all of their new skills.  

I have done some research to find out what they should be learning around this age and what skills they will need to have before they enter school.  I used this information to make some learning objectives for us (Disclaimer: I am not in education and this list is not all inclusive, this is just what I feel is important for them to learn based on the information I found.)  We are going to be working on tracing and writing letters with the overall goal of writing our name.  We will be learning about sequences and making patters.  We will learn about the difference in uppercase and lowercase letters and the sounds the letters make.  I also plan to help them learn the meanings of words such as beside, behind, in front, etc.  They are pretty good with their colors and shapes, but we will be reviewing those along the way as well.  

Each month I have an overall theme and then I do weekly breakdowns based on a letter (until I run out of letters!)  Last year we did a lot of focus on colors and shapes, so while those are incorporated this year I don’t necessarily focus on them.  Once I have decided on the theme I start exploring the internet (Pinterest anyone?) for pictures/ideas/crafts.  I try and find activities that focus on a few subjects in particular (math, science, phonics, music) and then just some general crafts or fun activities.  I start making lists – I am a huge fan of making lists and crossing things off so this is what works for me – and grouping the activities I find by their subject (ie math, science).  Generally, I try and do one Science activity a week, one math, lots of letter worksheets, music, and as many crafts and reading as they want.  Reading with them is very important and they love to read so we fit a lot of that into the schedule.  I typically go to the library early in the month and find as many books as I can that fit the theme.  I do try and plan it out specifically day by day, but our days don’t always work out as planned so I am flexible.  

Here is a general outline for the week:

Monday: Letter worksheet, craft based on the letter, reading

Tuesday: Reading, Music activity, craft  

Wednesday: Letter worksheet, reading, science activity

Thursday: Reading, math activity

Friday: Letter workbook, reading, sorting activity/outing

Keep in mind that I am working with two very active three year olds so I don’t plan for very long activities.  (As a general rule, the attention span of a three year old is 3 minutes!) We try and do our school specific activities in the morning, but I work education into their entire day – shhhh, don’t tell them. :)

So for September, I chose a farming theme –

Week 1: Letter A as in apple, hay

Letter Based Craft: We made a torn paper apple craft.  I pulled the outline of an apple from the internet and had them tear red paper and glue the shreds to the apple with a glue stick – they love anything involving glue. 

Reading/Phonics: We did several different letter A worksheets.  I found the workbooks at Target and at Dollar Tree and just removed the Letter A pages.  This year I am focusing more on the sound the letter makes and them being able to write the letter, so we trace the letters together and then they practice.  They also really enjoy watching Leapfrog Phonics Farm (Netflix) as a way to help them learn the different sounds of each letter. 

Math: We read the book 10 Apples up on Top by Dr. Seuss and they took turns stacking red and green Duplos on each others heads to make towers of 10, counting along with the book.  

Outing: We visited an apple orchard and picked our apples and talked about the apples and the various animals they had on the farm as well. 

Science: They really enjoyed the apple volcano – an idea I found on Pinterest.  You just hollow out a small piece of the top of the apple and fill it with some baking soda.  The kids took turns pouring the vinegar over the baking soda and watching it bubble out of the apple.  You can pour the vinegar over the apple several times before it “fizzles” out.  

Music: We sang “Old McDonald had a Farm” many times throughout the week and played with our Little People farm.  I also caught them to be singing on their own and pretending to be various animals throughout the week. 

So that is my basic process.  I get a lot of my supplies in the dollar section at Target or at Dollar Tree.  I have some plastic drawer containers in the closet where I keep everything organized and labeled because that is just the way I am- ha ha!  I would have to write a whole other post about the supplies I keep on hand – maybe next time!

Toddlers are an uphill battle... in heels.

There is no better time to start your blog than after one of “those days.”  There is very little positive I can pull from today.  They were just “off” and to put the icing on the cake I was attempting to get them to use the potty all day – we had one success each and a whole lot of laundry to show for it.  Tomorrow is another day and I am hoping that after a night of sleep all three of us will be fresh for tomorrow’s attempts.  Maybe I should have pushed the potty training sooner – before they reached the feisty age of three.  It may not have worked then either though, so I can only push on… It has brought on some interesting conversations though.  Landon and I had to have an anatomy lesson when he questioned if the “water” came from a hole in his foot because he was standing in a puddle. 

 We took them to their 3 year check up this week.  Landon is 3 feet tall and weighs 28.2 pounds, so he has grown three inches since last year and has gained 4 pounds.  Riley is 3’1” and weighs 31.8 pounds, she has grown almost 3 inches as well and has gained almost 6 pounds.  We were given a take home sheet entitled “Normal Development: 3 Years Old” and after careful review my children are “normal.” They can” jump, gallop, walk on tiptoes, and walk backwards for long distances”. Walking backward is a favorite for Riley, she likes to walk ahead of you and direct you like you are the plane she is landing.  They are both “showing improvement with crayons” and Riley was able to almost stay in the lines today – she gets frustrated easily though when she feels she has messed up.  I think they have both covered the “tests limits constantly” quite nicely as well as the “quarrels with other children.”   Without counting, I would say they do “speak about 1000 words.”  They have started to “use pronouns” but 99% of the time they use the wrong one.  They both “love to learn short rhymes” and enjoying “imaginative or imitative play” is a daily favorite for them.  Riley has let me dress her up as a princess a few times and most of the day, every single day, she is pretending to be a puppy- crawling on all fours, picking things up in her mouth, and licking my face.  Landon prefers to dress as either a fireman or a policeman.  

 

 Landon continues to be my emotional one.  He has developed this new habit of wanting to hold on to my hand while we are riding in the car – it is cute, except it about throws my arm out of socket.  He wants to be held and carried.  He asks to kiss me on the face and wants more hugs and kisses at bedtime.  He loves when we play with him and make up stories with his Rescue Bots and buildings, but he is also content to play by himself and manages some pretty elaborate conversations.  He loves to talk and laugh and his smile begins conversations with strangers.  He is a bit of a picky eater and doesn’t eat many fruits or vegetables and prefers to snack all day.  He likes the Special K crisp cookies (“white cookies”), fruit snacks, and applesauce pouches.  He will eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at any time of the day.  His reflux is doing well and the doctor noted the improvement at his last appointment.  There is some concern with him having larger than normal tonsils, but hopefully that is something we can continue to monitor and will not require surgery.  He plays with his Rescue Bots daily and creates elaborate stories with them.  He loves fire trucks and anything having to do with firemen.  He helps me to pick up the toys and prefers for his toys to be “in order” and has recently been lining them up by size.  He likes things to be a certain way and prefers his routine, he has been known to have some meltdowns when the routine is off or something is different (ie mommy driving daddy’s car).  I can see a lot of my personality in Landon, maybe that is why he is so attached to me.  

 Riley is busy.  She is much less content to play by herself and wants Landon or myself to play with her most of the time.  She is also usually the one that is about 6 inches from me at all times and most often wants to play from the comfort of my lap.  Riley did manage to have her first trip to the dentist on Friday.  She was running through the hall on Thursday and fell face forward.  I didn’t think much about it until Friday when she started screaming after she tried to bite into an apple and I felt the loose front tooth! I had a moment of panic and a call to The Hubby and we decided to take her to a dentist.  She did pretty well considering it was her first time – we go back in two weeks for a follow up and to have her first official cleaning.  We just have to keep an eye on it and look for some color changes and hope that we can avoid any further damage.  She is very busy so I am pretty sure it will not be our last emergency trip to a doctor/dentist.  Riley loves to play with her brother’s cars and trucks and has recently started playing some with baby dolls – she still much prefers those traditional “boy toys” – unless it is a stuffed dog.  We have developed a pretty massive collection of stuffed dogs.  She loves to watch Rescue Bots, Mickey Mouse, and George.  She brings me MANY books a day to read and will even “read” them to herself.  She loves to sing and dance and I can often hear her singing to herself – sometimes it appears to be songs she has made up, but she gets embarrassed when I ask about it and stops singing.  Her main food of choice continues to be cheese and she will literally ask me for it as soon as I get out of bed in the morning.  She also loves applesauce, mac n cheese, fruit snacks, and pudding.  She will eat a little bit of anything and everything really – even vegetables.  Riley has also effectively given up on a nap and will only nap about twice a week, which can make for a very exhausted mommy some days.  

 

We had a few adventures this past month.  We went to the aquarium as a family and then spent the afternoon playing 25 cent video games.  I took them to see their first movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and they loved it! They were so excited to sit in the big comfy seats and eat their snacks.  We went to Discovery Place Kids as well as Discovery Place.  They even had a daddy day at Discovery Place Kids.  We have been to the Build and Grow workshops.  We went to a birthday party at a gymnastics studio and the kids had a blast trying out all of the equipment.  The kids have also been to a lot of places in their imagination this month as they have pretended to be Minnie Mouse, princesses, policemen, and firemen to name a few.  They certainly keep us busy and we keep them busy in return.  I am going to start school again with them next month and I am excited with the lesson plans I have created! More on that later, but for now – pictures.   n

Loved the chance to play games.

Riley in a nutshell

Then there is Landon

Testing out the heels

Let it go!

Roofing is very entertaining