Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Happy Birthday Kate!
Kate had a very low-key but fun birthday party this year! Leah gave her a little pink bear she has had her eye on at the grocery store. Dave and I gave her a Sulley doll from her favorite video Monstoros(Portuguese version). And Grandma Mary made some great Chick cupcakes!
Seattle in March
My parents were brave enough to have us again this year for a couple weeks. Although I never REALLY asked I guess, just told them when we were coming. The trip was full of Leah travel meltdowns and a teething Kate but we had a great time anyway. And by next year my parents will only remember the good times right? I was able to get away for a couple days to visit my good friends Ellie and Nick in Corvallis. And Dave came up for the last few days to join us. I did a HORRIBLE job at taking pictures of the trip. I guess all the girls will remember is the Zoo and Aquarium. Whatever.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
Baby Chicks!!!
It has been a few years, time to add chicks to the flock! This year we ordered 22 chicks from an online hatchery. It was not so fun going to the post office at 4:30 a.m. to pick them up but they all arrived happy and healthy! Plus ordering this way I was able to select the exact breeds I wanted. Let me just say that the eggs for the next few years will be COLORFUL!!!!!
Homeschool Updates
If you would like to follow us on our homeschooling journey go here:
http://tryingtohomeschool.blogspot.com
I had to start another blog to try to organize all the info I want to save!
http://tryingtohomeschool.blogspot.com
I had to start another blog to try to organize all the info I want to save!
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Preschool Drop-out (Take Two)
You may remember a little over a year ago we pulled Leah out of Challenger Pre-school. Well, we've done it again! This time it was all her decision. For the past few months Leah's preschool class size has grown a bit (from 5 to 8 students). They split the class between 2 teachers still giving a 4 to 1 ratio which is really unheard of in a preschool setting. But even with that, Leah has become increasingly "board" at school. She began throwing MAJOR tantrums(not like her at all) surrounding school and throughout the day as well. She started saying things like "I hate school, I am never going back". Oh great. Now what!!!!!
Well Dave and I had a talk with her last week and asked her why she "hated" school. She proceeded to tell us she wanted to go to a "new school" where she could learn something "new". And that she did not want to learn about the alphabet anymore because she "already knows all that". Her idea was that she wanted to go to "KINDERGARDEN". Well, I did not have the heart to tell her that in kindergarden she would likely be much more bored than she is in preschool where they are currently teaching her about irregular vowels. But I did tell her that the law will not allow her to attend K for another year and a half.
So begins our homeschooling journey. At Leah's request, I agreed to teach her "Kindergarden" at home. I knew this was coming but in my mind thought I would have another year or so before really "getting into it" so to speak. I thought she could continue with her current school and the when K time came I would most likely need to homeschool. In preparation and research, we borrowed the K-12 Kindergarden curriculum from a friend a few months ago and have been quickly breezing through it. It seems VERY repetitive which Leah dislikes. But she DEMANDS that we "play school" ever day and this has helped fill that need. But long term I don't think K-12 is a good fit for us.
So after much research I decided to try Moving Beyond the Page. This is a literature based curriculum which seems perfect for Leah. I ordered the 5-7 age range and we should receive our supplies tomorrow! Fingers crossed! I am feeling a bit overwhelmed about having both kids home all day every day. Also anxious about being solely responsible for her education. I just keep reminding myself that she can always go back to school if it gets to be too much. So next week we will start the Moving Beyond the Page. This teaches Science, History, and Language Arts and a bit of Math through literature. We will also finish out the last unit she has left in her Primary Phonics series books ( then I am not sure what if anything more for phonics???? )and keep up with the Jump Math book she is working through. Stay tuned!
Well Dave and I had a talk with her last week and asked her why she "hated" school. She proceeded to tell us she wanted to go to a "new school" where she could learn something "new". And that she did not want to learn about the alphabet anymore because she "already knows all that". Her idea was that she wanted to go to "KINDERGARDEN". Well, I did not have the heart to tell her that in kindergarden she would likely be much more bored than she is in preschool where they are currently teaching her about irregular vowels. But I did tell her that the law will not allow her to attend K for another year and a half.
So begins our homeschooling journey. At Leah's request, I agreed to teach her "Kindergarden" at home. I knew this was coming but in my mind thought I would have another year or so before really "getting into it" so to speak. I thought she could continue with her current school and the when K time came I would most likely need to homeschool. In preparation and research, we borrowed the K-12 Kindergarden curriculum from a friend a few months ago and have been quickly breezing through it. It seems VERY repetitive which Leah dislikes. But she DEMANDS that we "play school" ever day and this has helped fill that need. But long term I don't think K-12 is a good fit for us.
So after much research I decided to try Moving Beyond the Page. This is a literature based curriculum which seems perfect for Leah. I ordered the 5-7 age range and we should receive our supplies tomorrow! Fingers crossed! I am feeling a bit overwhelmed about having both kids home all day every day. Also anxious about being solely responsible for her education. I just keep reminding myself that she can always go back to school if it gets to be too much. So next week we will start the Moving Beyond the Page. This teaches Science, History, and Language Arts and a bit of Math through literature. We will also finish out the last unit she has left in her Primary Phonics series books ( then I am not sure what if anything more for phonics???? )and keep up with the Jump Math book she is working through. Stay tuned!
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