Week One in Review

Well, this week went wonderful. We didn't follow the schedule as I had wanted. Instead we did it during naptime since both the boys lay down and she doesn't. I think that this worked well because there were no distractions for her. She absolutely loved this week. From the hands on crafts to the worksheets (she really likes to use her special Dora pencils), and at the end of everyday she asked for more! If only getting her excited about school would last through all of her years. lol

As of right now she doesn't quite get the phonics factor and is just memorizing the words that I tell her start with 'a'. Yes, I do realize that this is only our first week...and Zak reassured me that at this age all she really needs to do is identify her letters and maybe know a couple words that start with that letter. I just need to figure out a way to make it click with her. The way I'm explaining it just isn't working. So this weekend I am going to research more on how to teach phonics, and we will see if that produces anything fruitful.

I'm including a couple pictures of art projects completed this week. Enjoy them...we certainly enjoyed doing them! Ok, off to phonics research....happy blogging.

jess_hak


The circle at the top is our 'apple pie' it's a paper plate painted brown, sprinkled cinnamon on, and put apple stickers on...fun. :) The yellow construction paper is actually Asa's attempt at apple stamp painting. The funny looking thing with tissue paper on it underneath Asa's art is called a stained glass apple (contact paper with tissue paper stuck all over it lol). The blue piece of construction paper with the Aa on it is Annabelle's apple stamp painting. The middle is an apple tree finger painting. And last but not least the world is actually part of a Bible lesson...it has pictures of things God created on it.



This is Annabelle enjoying craft time...she had a little friend over this day so she was doing school with us.


And one last picture. Our apple tree (sorry about the glare from the flash). Annabelle had a really fun time putting these apples on the tree.

Red, Apples, Creation, letter Aa, and the #1

What do Apples, Creation, the color red, the letter Aa, and the number 1 all have in common? They are the theme for our first week of preschool. That is right today is the day that I start my adventure of teaching my daughter, and she starts her adventure of learning. It is a milestone, and quite frankly I'm a little emotional about it! LOL I didn't think that I would be. Apples and Creation are the actual weekly theme. We also have a color, letters, and number a month to focus on. This month those happen to be red, Aa, Bb, #1 and #2. Here are some pictures of what I think will be the highlights of our week. I will also post pictures at the end of the week of crafts and such.

These next couple pictures are a couple things that I'm using this week to help learn the letter Aa. I believe learning for Annabelle (and really most preschoolers) happens when they are playing and having fun, so you will see a lot of games as reinforcement in my teaching method.

Feed the Alligator: A fun game where Annabelle will toss the beanbag into the alligator's mouth.


Aa File Folder game: I have one of these for every letter. You can either match the capital and lowercase letters to each other AA aa, or match them in sets a capital with a lowercase letter Aa.




One-to-One Correspondence: Just a fun little game to match one object to its outline.



Creation Circles and Creation Clothespins: These are just a couple fun little games to help reinforce our Bible focus for the week. That God created all things and hopefully it will help Annabelle learn the order He created them in too! I still have problems remembering that...so it might help me as well. LOL





Alright that is all I have time for today. I meant to post all this a little sooner, but just didn't have the time. Ok....enough already, time to actually start teaching her this stuff :) Happy blogging!

jess_hak

The Countdown

Preschool begins in T-minus 7 days. Am I ready? Well, as ready as I'll ever be. August is all ready to go waiting in the folder ready to be used. I didn't quite finish November before vacation like I wanted to, but I only have a couple minor things to finish up for that before I move onto December preperations. I am hoping to have December done before we start next week. I think later this week (Friday or Saturday) I will post my theme for the week and our color, letters, and numbers of the month and some basic activities that we will be doing with those. I am only waiting because Zak didn't have time to show me how to upload pictures on the computer this weekend...and it just wouldn't be interesting without pictures :)

Something else bittersweet has happened since I've last posted. Silas, my sweet baby, has given up on crawling and is now walking as his primary means of getting around. Such a big milestone! Just sad that my sweet baby is growing up, but I suppose that is what they are supposed to do.

Well, I guess I should get back to the voices that are standing here saying for the millionth time since I've sat down to type this, "Mommy...I want breakfast."
Great things being posted later this week...don't miss it! Happy blogging :)

jess_hak

Why Home school?

I have asked myself and thought about this question a lot. I have come to several conclusions that I would like to share, but first a disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER: I in no way think that people have to home school for their children to succeed in life. I do not think that everyone should home school. It is right for some and not for others. I do not judge anyone who does not home school. I believe that well rounded individuals come from all degrees of education whether it be public, private, or home schooling.

For those that are worried about the socialization issue, please don't. I can tell you that my kids are socialized well. They are typical toddlers/preschoolers. They have their little friends and enjoy being around people. After all I was home schooled for a long time, and I turned out alright...at least I think I did...let's not debate that. :)

Ok now that that is out of the way I will get on with it. :)

My first and foremost reason is that the moral base that children will live to the standard of for the rest of their lives is usually set by the time said child reaches middle school. I want to be the main influence/role model that my children see. Granted I am not morally perfect, but my standard/ role model is found in the Bible and He is morally perfect. There are just so many questions about the moral standards (or lack there of) in a public school setting. I do not wish to shelter my children from the world and what they will be faced with in society, but I would like to maintain their innocence. There is no need for elementary children to be so worldly wise at their young age. Now I do not think that you cannot be morally healthy if you attend public school, I know plenty of people who are. I'm just saying for my little family I want to influence them every hour I possibly can.

My second reason is a little more fun and less heavy. As parents we are ecstatic when our children smile and laugh for the first time or when they learn to walk and talk. As they develop into preschoolers we think that they are amazing (most of the time lol). I cannot imagine not being the one to teach my children how to write, read, or figure numbers (although...I am bad with them, Zak will be helping with that...otherwise they might not know how to do anything other than simple, basic things). I can't think of anything I'd rather do than to be there as my kids discover the world of learning, it's just too much for me to miss out on!

My third reason (and final for the moment) is that for quite a while all I've wanted to do was be a mommy....or a teacher. Now I get to do both as full time jobs! I'm excited to relearn the things that I will be teaching my daughter. I don't have to be away from my kids as I pursue my desire teach. It's the perfect solution for my family.

There it is. All laid out. I don't know how long I will school them at home. Right now the plan is to at least have them complete elementary school at home. We may give them the option to go to school at that point, or we may wait until high school. If any of them want to continue at home when they reach high school I would be more than happy to oblige. Again there is no judgement, and I do not think that those who do not home school are making the wrong choice. This is the choice for our family. Every family is different, and every child is different. In terms of education...to each his/her own. Well, time to start prepping lunch for the stupendous seven I have running my house today.

Happy blogging :)

jess_hak

Holy Preperations Batman!!!

I haven't posted in a while. This is all due to the fact that every spare minute I have has been taken up by me obsessively trying to get ready to start preschool the first week of August! And to tell you the truth I don't have that many spare minutes with 6-8 kids, 4 and under running around my house. :) No, they are not all mine. I'm temporarily watching my friend's three beautiful children. I also watch my little nephew 2-3 times a week, and another little boy a couple days a week. So chaos is a word that comes to mind daily here.

I have successfully gotten everything put together and ready to go for the months of August, September, and October thanks to quite a few 1-2am nights. November is well underway and should be done in the next couple of days. Hopefully I will have it completed before we leave for vacation on Thursday....correction: I must have it done before we leave for vacation! December is in the process of being typed and printed and possibly can be all printed off by the time we leave on Thursday, but isn't essential for my sanity. I would however like to have through December completed by the time we start...which is totally doable. How long does it take me to prepare a whole month? Well, because I have been insanely working at it, usually 4-5 days. I have never went through so much printer ink, paper, contact paper, or velcro in my life lol!!

This is what a month generally entails give or take:

File folder games - at least 2 a month, but most times 3 or 4

Felt board stories/songs - print out, laminate, adhere velcro to all objects (there are a ton of these!)

Math and Language games - 4-5 a month...really fun stuff that puts learning into action

Bible Manipulative's - more felt board preparations...some for every day of the month

Additional work page print offs - try to get one a day in a month...sometimes two

Doesn't appear to be that much work...but it is very time consuming. I'm whipping things out like a well oiled machine now that I've gotten into the swing of it. I'm excited to start to share with you all the things that have consumed my time as of late. But I'm even more excited to share it with Annabelle...who has been eyeing everything I'm doing with quite a bit of interest. She continually asks me when school is going to start (Ahh...the joy of learning at a young age).

Well, back to November preparations....Happy Thanksgiving...err, I mean....Happy Blogging

jess_hak

Favorite Resources

Ok. Just listed my absolute favorite resource links (at the bottom of my blog page). All of these links combined are what I used to put together the preschool curriculum....I know....it was a lot of work. But hopefully by my sifting through them all (and there are a TON out there) someone else will reap the benefit! If you have any questions on what site would be the best to find something specific ask me. These sites and I have been fairly intimate over the past couple years, and I would be happy to find something for you!

Today I'm leaving you with a basic description of the sites that I'm using that way you don't have to visit each one to know what is on them.

Carpe Diem....time for me to get my butt moving, it's cleaning day! Happy blogging.

jess_hak


Laternfish/Boggles and TLSBooks both have fantastic absolutely free worksheets for preschoolers. These sites alone will equip you with what you need to give your child what they would learn in preschool.

Teaching Toddlers(Pamm's House) - This site has all the themed weeks that I'm doing...lots of good basic stuff at this site that you would be able to just open up and follow with hardly any preperation. Can sometimes be young for preschoolers, but easy to beef up.

DLTK - Love, love, love this site....soooo much stuff in here...most of the crafts offered require only a printer with ink, glue, scissors, and basic things that you have around the house, you could be at this site for a long time and still not see everything!

Everything Preschool - This site I mostly just use the Alphabet Ideas tab...but there is other good stuff too.

Preschool Express - Just like the dltk website, you could be here forever and still not see everything!! I absolutely use this website for almost every day that I have planned....great, unique ideas.

MSSS Crafts and Bible Lessons - This site is where I get most my Bible lessons from....look to the right near the top...it will say Bible Lessons with options for OT Lessons or NT Lessons....click on one, pick what you want, then a whole big list will come up....I find that the ones marked Mission Arlington are the best...if this explanation is confusing let me know and I'll see if I can clear it up...

Henny Penny - This site has great supplements for OT Bible lessons....I only wish they had more!

Hello Blogging World!!

In an attempt to keep myself accountable while homeschooling my daughter, who is in preschool, I will by blogging to the masses (or whoever might be reading). I have been working very hard and diligently since she was two to put together a 'curriculum' and believe that I have achieved what I set out to do. I plan on posting our weekly themes, lessons, projects, and of course pictures of it all.

Anyway, sorry for the thesis statement.

It is amazing to think that my beautiful Annabelle is almost four. I remember the day she was born in vivid detail (not too pretty so I won't share...). I'm really excited to watch her learn and discover things this year. Hopefully I won't screw her up or teach her something wrong, and she won't come out of this thinking that 'c' is for elephant.....

We will begin our preschool on August 2, so as you can imagine the month of July is crunch time for me. I've been preparing like a mad woman all the games and lessons. All the hustle and bustle of it is making Annabelle anticipate something great...and I only hope I meet her expectations.

That is all I have time for tonight. I do plan on posting my Daily Routine, favorite resource websites, and anything else that might be of interest, to you all. Also to come will be a post on why I chose homeschooling...nothing preachy, more of a 'in case you wanted to know' post.

Sweet dreams, don't let the bedbugs bite....and happy blogging

jess_hak