Week 1

As a speech-language pathologist, I have worked full-time since graduating with my degree (seven years).  I was, until recently, a little intimidated by the thought of being a stay-at-home mom….make that a lot intimidated.  My family has relocated to Birmingham, AL for my husband's work.  I decided to stay at home most of the time…maybe find part-time work.  I want to make the time spent at home with my kids enriching and intentional….so I have made myself in charge of their preschool education.
Since moving to the area, I have learned these two things:
1. Birmingham is an excellent city for mommies and kids.  2. My kids (ages 4 and 2) are eager to learn and experience and when I pour my energy into teaching them, it is amazing and rewarding for all of us.  Well, maybe that was three things I learned.  We just started working on numbers, so I can't be held responsible. haha!

Abeka Books recommended by a Homeschooling mom and my kids' former preschool director.

For week 1, I'm going by Abeka books' number and letter, which is '#1' and 'I'.  I wondered why they didn't start with 'A'.  Could it be because '1' and 'I' look so much alike?  Just a thought.  I randomly selected a shape to talk about as well…triangle.  Except in retrospect, I think it would have been better to talk about triangles during '3' week, since they have three sides.  Oh well.  I guess there's not a shape that only has one side…a circle?  Confusing stuff….I need some schooling.  haha!

I still remember my Kindergarten teacher having an ABC box.  She would pull something out of it that started with a designated letter.  It was always a surprise and so exciting!  We would get to pass it around and talk about it, using describing words.
                                                             Here is my ABC box:              

Yes, it's a painted shoe box.  Ignore the Steve Madden logo under the paint.

Every day this week, an object that starts with I was inside.  Monday-Iguana, Tuesday-Ice, Wednesday-Insect, Thursday-Iron (which didn't fit in the box and I held behind the box with one of my husband's shirts, that needed ironing, draped over it), and Friday-Ice Cream (I decided to always make Friday's surprise a fun treat-a reward for getting through the week of learning)

We left each surprise I object on the window seal by the table for the week.  The bag of Ice quickly turned to a bag of water. Oh well.

When I was working in a school, I wrote IEPs.  That stands for Individualized Education Program.  The same is needed in a homeschool environment.  My daughter is four and my son is two, so they have very different needs.  Attention spans are not long.  We have worked for one hour every day this  week, starting at 8:00 AM.  They need frequent breaks; especially my son.  They do a coloring sheet for each concept and then go run in the back yard, looking for things that look like a '1', 'I' or triangle.  We watch videos on youtube for each thing as well.  They are listed below.

Triangle song:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_xJ26ugYgQ
One song:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ7hq2pdz6s
Letter I song:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm0mWtnXoTA

                               I have loosely followed this schedule that I found on Pinterest:

After the designated home-learning time is over, we grab some snacks and a water bottle and head over to one of the many fun places this city has to offer to look for our letter, number and shape.
Here is our week 1 list of places:
Homewood Public Library
Birmingham Zoo
Triangle Park and Avondale Library
Sam's Club-just because I needed some things (you can fit learning into errands too!)
Play date at some friends' house


Side Notes:
We have a Bible memory verse of the week as well.  This week was, conveniently Genesis 1:1.  Maybe next week, it will be 2:2 of some book of the Bible.  My husband came home on Tuesday and asked my daughter to say the memory verse.  She gave no response and I commented that it was a "forgotten verse".  ha!  She had it memorized by Wednesday though.

I gave each of my kids 1 cheerio and 1 gummy.  My daughter said, "I have a great idea!  Let's talk about the number 5 and get 5 gummies!" Smart kid.

At the zoo, my daughter found a triangle shape in the flamingo's legs…or "Fla'mango'" as she calls it.

Hybrid bird and fruit?  Don't think so.

On Thursday, I had the excellent idea (I thought) of having a Wyatt Waters-inspired watercolor lesson.  We looked at the book of his paintings and talked about colors and brush strokes.  I then told the kids to make their own pieces.  After maybe five strokes with the paint and brushes, they announced they were done.  I'm glad I got a picture of the maybe two minutes my idea worked.

Can you tell my kids enjoy being in various states of undress?

Any time we are riding in the car, we listen to Mozart or Beethoven Pandora stations and talk about who the composer is and what instruments we hear.  Except somehow, on Friday, we started listening to Stevie Wonder and got into a discussion about Motown style and blindness.  My daughter said that if you're "blonde" you can't see.  Well, I'm blonde and require a very strong prescription in my contacts/glasses, so maybe she's onto something.

Tonight we will order a pizza because of the triangle-shaped slices.  We will get to order another one during circle week!




                                                    Our week in Ones, I's and Triangles:

A plugin in the library floor that looks like uppercase I, Triangle Park, my daughter's painted 1, flamingo legs that make the triangle shape, a lowercase I on a zoo sign, Triangle Park art, a Sesame Street number chorus line song about 1, 1 swan with a somewhat 1-shaped neck, my daughters cutout I from scrap paper, my daughter standing in front of a triangle-shaped rock, and last but not least a triangle-shaped grilled cheese.

What I learned during Week 1:

1. Homeschool is fun, tiring, and rewarding.

2. Homeschool tastes good: Grilled cheese, ice cream, pizza

3. You have to go with the flow and accept that not every idea will turn out Pinterest-perfect.

4. Learning is the point and that can happen in endless methods…it doesn't have to involve the kids perfectly sitting at the table doing worksheets. 

                                               More great resources I discovered this week:
                                            http://ministry-to-children.com/easy-bible-verses/

                                                 http://www.activitycoloringpages.com


Thanks and much love,
Lauren