Monday, Monday

This morning we went to Fayetteville to take my Grandpa a pie that my dad's co-worker made for him. Then on to David's Bridal to try on my bride's maid dress for Jessica's wedding where Alex informed me that I looked like a Christmas tree. I needed a laugh considering the trouble Emma had been all morning.
Alex had PT & Emma had OT this afternoon. After dinner we sat on the couch and did some school work. Alex had an ABC workbook and Emma had a numbers workbook. Alex actually practiced writing A, B, & C on her own. That is big for her because such difficult tasks often take some convincing. She did quite well with it. Both of the girls count very well, but number recognition is not good. We actually did the entire notebook, as each number (1-10) only had 2 pages of exercises and we were on a roll. We counted and I wrote & pointed out the numerals. For example, their favorite part was to count the 7 frogs and then ribbit 7 times. We did that with several number & animals, they got a kick out of it. I'm hoping that all the repetition starts to help with recognition. I think that it is, because Alex recognized the number 3 today, and I don't think it was just luck. We'll keep going until they get it.
Of course we read about a million books today, as usual. Alex is great to sit and listen and repeat what I'm saying, even ask questions about pictures. Emma is getting better, but unless it is an engaging & short book, her attention often dwindles and she wanders off to get a new book.

Friday

Alex woke up not feeling well this morning. Courtney called and asked to have Emma for the day, they had been planning on a big girls shopping day for a late birthday for Emma. Alex perked up later in the morning and we did some workbook pages out of a new book (from Nancy), then we went to Walmart. Emma had a great time with Courtney and came home with a new baby doll and a new shirt for her & Alex. Tonight we laid in the floor for half and hour and read books to wind down a little. I have started pointing out the beginning & the end of the book... one of those things you assume they know, but don't ever really 'teach'. The kindergarten readiness lists that as something to know. Alex already holds books the correct way and turns pages. I am also running my finger below the words while I read, to help her know what I'm reading and learn that words go from left to right. Alex also loves to repeat the words as I say them, and sometimes finishes sentences for me. Never fails, Emma always wants to look at a page we have already read and so we have to go back so she can look at the pictures.

New books

Last night at LIFE Nancy gave me a bunch of education books for preschoolers and 1st graders. I got to looking through them today and I'm so excited to have new material! Some are age and level appropriate for now and the others we will hopefully grow into over the next year or two. Some are workbooks, some are text books, one is teacher's manual. Phonics, letters, numbers, counting, math, concepts, etc. So much stuff! Most all the pages are untouched and I want to be able to use the material over again with Alex as needed and then with Emma later, so I will have to start making copies for our work.
We spent this morning at my Grandpa's house. Alex sat with him and they played so silly. The he told her silly stories and read her a book of bible verses. She turned the pages too fast for him to every finish an entire page, but they read a lot and I think they both loved it.
Alex had ST, OT, & PT this afternoon and Emma had PT. After 2 1/2 hours of therapy Alex is really exhausted.
Nothing on the books for tomorrow, so hopefully we will get in lots of fun school stuff.

Wednesday

Our play date this morning was canceled because Angie had some school stuff to do. We will reschedule soon. We like to get together with the Green girls, but Abigail is still at Children's Hospital, so we are on our own today. This morning we played a game from the Highlight's magazine. The girls counted dots on a puzzle piece and matched it with the correct number. We played a game like this not too long ago, but these numbers and dots were colored and easier for Alex to match up. I keep hoping she will start recognizing numbers & letters, but until then we will keep doing what we are doing. Repetition, repetition...
We also played the Memory Game. Emma turns over the same few cards over and over again. Alex is getting pretty good. The hardest part of the game for them is actually turning over the cards. Those fine motor skills, so hard.
Then we played Chutes & Ladders for the first time. I thought it would be about counting, but it turned out the hardest part, again, was spinning the arrow. Alex & I worked on using one finger and flicking the outside of the arrow, as she was wanting to pick at the middle of the arrow and that obviously wasn't working.
Later we read through the Highlights magazine... again. Alex loves it. Then we played with blocks and made towers that were the same size and different sizes. We also used the blocks to work on colors and even some addition. I took 2 red blocks, Alex took 2 yellow blocks. Then I took two blue blocks and Alex took 2 red blocks. We counted how many of each color and how many all together.
We read 'Around the World in my Red Balloon'. It is about God and sharing God with others, but the red balloon goes to Africa, an island, the Orient, and South America. It was a good chance to talk about what each place is like.
Emma has OT this afternoon and we will go to church for L.I.F.E. tonight.

Tuesday

This morning we did some workbook pages on short vs. long and tall vs. short. Then we worked on opposites and played a card game where the girls had to match the opposites together. They took turns (sort of). Emma had PT today and Alex had ST, OT, & PT. This evening we laid in the bedroom floor and read books for about half an hour. We always read 2 books and then My Goodnight Book, but tonight we read more. We read through the Highlights magazine again and Alex as more willing to do the hidden pictures than she was yesterday. I think the repetition helps also. Then we read Horton Hears a Who and a couple of other books before the Goodnight book. Tomorrow we have a play date with Angie & her daughter Brooke, good social time.

Monday

Last week was crazy with Gma Ann passing away and Drew coming home. We didn't get much school work done. Drew left this morning so it was a hard day for us girls. Alex has PT this afternoon and Emma had OT. The girls got their first Highlights magazine today so any 'formal' school time we had today would be the time we spent on the couch reading the new magazine. We read the poems and stories and looked at the pictures.
Nap time isn't going well lately. We still have the 'quiet time' but Alex can't sit still on the couch and Emma lays in her room and talks for 2 hours. Don't know what to do about that, I feel like Emma especially still needs a nap and I know I need a break during the day.

Thursday

Grandma Ann's memorial was today. When we got home this evening Drew played the Candy Land Castle game with the girls a few times. It is very age appropriate, even for Emma. It is great to practice taking turns, colors, and shapes. Then I sat with Alex & Drew sat with Emma and we played with their new laptops. I think Emma did mostly playing and pushing buttons, but Alex and I had a lot of fun. We went through the alphabet and when you push the letter the computer says the letter, sound, and a word. That really emphasizes the works we have been doing on our own. Alex like the letter "L" because the word it uses is lion and then it makes a roaring noise. It also has a music setting, Alex loves that. There is a phonics game that we tried, but that was a little over her head for now. The last setting has 2 games. We played the game to help the mouse get through the maze. You use the little mouse (and it is actually in the shape of a mouse!) to guide through the maze. It helped us to work on up, down, left, and right as well as hand eye coordination. It is fun to work school stuff into the things they think are just games!

Tuesday

Yesterday wasn't much of a school day with all that was going on with Gma Ann. I do believe going through that with the girls was a lesson that a text book can't teach. They also had therapy yesterday afternoon. Alex had PT and Emma had OT.
This morning we worked in the workbook for a while. Alex practiced drawing lines from top to bottom, circles (although she only draws forward circles, not backward ones), curved lines (she hates this & it is hard, today we did it with my hand over hers), and slanted lines (did very well with this). All of these things help her fine motor skills and prepare her for writing. We then did a few pages on rhyming words and then worked on more letter recognition and phonics.
Right now the biggest struggle is keeping Emma occupied while I work with Alex. I'm praying that these terrible twos are over soon.
Both girls are getting therapy right now. Alex is getting PT, OT, and ST and Emma is getting PT. Drew should be home this afternoon sometime.

Friday

It is almost noon and I think we've done all the school we are going to do today. We spent a while with the workbook this morning. Alex traced squares, this is hard for her to make all the straight lines. If she goes slowly then she does a pretty good job. We also worked on a few colors that she sometimes mixes up, like gray & brown. The worksheet had pictures to color and then a place to draw your own. I didn't know if she would do that, but she chose to draw her own version of one of the provided pictures, using the correct color. She drew a 'mouse' for the gray page. She also drew a 'pig' on the pink page. She has no trouble with the color pink, it was just for fun. Then we worked a little on tall vs. short and big vs. small.
I chose our activity today to be writing thank you notes. We talked about what it means to be thankful and how it is nice to tell people thank you when they do something nice for you. Alex narrated her thank you notes to me and I wrote the words, then she colored the page on her own. Emma spent more time pulling the caps off the markers and coloring her fingers than actually coloring on the paper, but it was fun just the same and I helped her write her thank yous.

Kansas City

Not much school stuff today, we went to Kansas City for Alex's 2 month check up since the casts came off. The x-rays show the bones are still in good position, the shoe inserts she has are fine, and we go back in 6 months. There is still a possibility that if the rotation in her legs doesn't straighten out in the next few years that we will be facing another surgery, but IF that happens it will likely be 2-4 years down the road.
Really the only school stuff we did was watch a letters DVD in the car. Alex was tired and frustrated, but Emma really paid attention and repeated the letters, sounds, and words. Thanks to Christin for pointing out that the letter "H" is for halitosis :)

Great day!

Beautiful weather! The girls and I went to grandma and grandpa's house today to stay with gma so gpa could go get his taxes done. It is a little difficult having the girls there for so long because gma gets stressed out if there is too much noise (and preschoolers equal noise), so I took 'homework' (as Alex calls it) to keep us busy. We are working on number identification and did a few worksheets in the book and then played a game. There are eleven cards with dots on them (from 0-10) and then eleven cards with the numbers 0-10. Each of the girls would take a turn to pick a card with dots and count them, then find the card with the right number on it. Of course I have to help with finding the right number card, but I think that Alex is starting to recognize the numbers. That game also helps with taking turns. Emma had PT from 3-3:45 so Alex and I did some homework in the lobby at the school and did worksheets on the letter Bb, then played our number game again. Then we played on the playground for a little while. Alex likes to swing on her tummy and go up the stairs and down the slide. I think we had a great developmental moment on the playground today. There is a stationary 'choo choo train' that you can sit in and drive or crawl through the tunnel in the front of the train. We were 'driving' and Alex got up and said, "I be little girl, you be daddy." I asked her what the daddy was supposed to do and she said, "Drive." Then later she changed our roles and said, "I be daddy, you be little girl." I was so thrilled that she was role playing that I crawled my big butt in the tunnel and pretended to be the little girl! She has pretended to cook before, or played dress up, but she has never role played like that and I'm so happy she has reached that developmental milestone.

Tuesday

Emma had a developmental evaluation this morning. They had to do that since she is turning 3 next week. I don't know the results yet. Alex & I went to the coffee shop downtown while Emma was doing her eval. She had a muffin and I had a white chocolate mocha. We sat there like big girls and she said, "Mommy, talk to me." She says that a lot lately when she thinks we should be talking about something. Our school work today involved tracing the number 4 and doing worksheets on that number. Then we played Candy Land to practice colors and counting. Emma makes board games very difficult because she thinks it should always be her turn. Alex is really catching on to the game, but seems to lose some attention before we get to the end (I just encourage and we finish). Then we played the Memory game. Sometimes we leave the cards face up and just practice matching (same vs. different), but today we played with 6 cards (3 matches) and played by the rules. She does very well in remembering where the matches are, each time we play I will add in another set of cards to make it a bit harder and see how well she does. Alex had PT, OT, and ST this afternoon. Emma had PT and then we played on the school playground while Alex finished her therapy sessions. Emma played on the slide for 30 minutes... climb up the stairs, go down the slide, repeat. Then we played in the wagon and I worked in a lesson on backwards vs. forward & push vs. pull. We had lots of fun and it was a beautiful day!

She's getting it!

This morning we did a little bit of workbook time, but attention for that was in short supply, so we went on to flash cards. We went through the alphabet one letter at a time, first upper case & then lower case, and said the letter, sound it makes and a word that starts with it. Then we talked about vowels, it was such a hoot to hear both the girls saying a-e-i-o-u! I'm hoping that all this repetition will help with letter recognition. Tonight as we were getting ready for bed Alex pointed out that JoJo (Disney) was on her shirt. I said, "Yes, and JoJo starts with the letter J. J, J, JoJo." She looked at me and said, "J, J, Jelly Beans." Yeah! She is getting it!
We also went for a walk at the park today, the girls love the stroller. It is fun to point out different things like the sound the water makes, the birds chirping, etc.
Both the girls also like to count everything... pictures in magazines, Toto's ears, anything.
Alex had PT this afternoon, Emma's OT was canceled because Daryl was out sick.

Saturday

As we drove down Hwy 16 today Emma spotted a cow... then more cows. So, I made a comment about how cows live on farms. This started the questions of... "Where do Elephants live? Where to Zebras live?"... and on and on. It turned out to be a great learning conversation for them as we talked about lots of different animals and where they live and what it is like there.
This evening we worked in Alex's work book. She practiced tracing straight lines from left to right (for writing readiness), curvy lines, vertical lines, circles, and ovals. Then we went through the alphabet and named each letter, the sound it makes and words that start with that letter. She was getting tired, but she didn't quit. We also introduced ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) and one-to-one correspondence (each doggy gets one bone). One thing I am continuing to notice about Alex is that she switches back and forth between her right and left hands while writing/drawing. I can't really tell which is steadier, but I'm actually beginning to think it could be the left. We'll see.
Emma also had fun jumping in on the ABC's and pointing out pictures in Alex's workbook.

Friday

Lisa, Mary Grace, Hannah, and Abigail came over this morning to play. The girls really played well together and seemed to have a lot of fun. It is good for Alex to be around Mary Grace. She is only 8 months older than Alex, but MG has always been so mature for her age and Alex has always been developmentally behind, so the gap seems bigger. Lisa and I had a nice time visiting, too. We did do a short science experiment while they were here. In MG's school lesson yesterday the experiment called for learning about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation... so Lisa saved it for us to do together today. We boiled water on the stove and watched the steam to learn about evaporation. We put the lid on the pot and watched the water collect on the lid to learn about condensation. Then when enough moisture built up we picked up the lid and watched the water drop to learn about precipitation. All the big words may have been a little over the girls' heads, but we tried to explain the process and it sure didn't hurt anything to try.
Alex & Emma both at PT this afternoon. Alex's feet have been hurting her today and she acts like she doesn't feel well, but she isn't running a fever.

Thursday

Not much to report today. The girls were grumpy this morning so they had an early nap/quiet time. After nap we went shoe shopping for new sneakers, to Sonic for a corn dog, and then to therapy. Alex had an hour of PT and Emma had an hour of OT. When we got home we cleaned house and their room, they played kitchen and fixed me all kinds of goodies, colored for a while and then we had dinner. We snuggled on the couch for a bit and then they went to bed early. They were exhausted today, must be the weather. I'm thankful for the quiet in the house now. Lisa and her girls are supposed to come over in the morning (weather permitting) and we are going to do a project together.

Wednesday

We did our school work at Grandma's house today while Grandpa went to the doctor. Nothing new really, just counting, shapes, colors, etc. We did work on long & short, big & little. Alex had PT & ST (she is being re-evaluated in speech and should have new goals soon) this afternoon so I took Emma to Walmart with me. She got to be in charge of the list and help to mark things off as we shopped. Then to the Post Office where we packed a care package for Casey and she got to give the lady the check card to pay for the shipping. While Emma was in OT Alex and I went to Barnett's for a 'Mommy & Alex' treat.

Tuesday

Today was a snow day so we were in the house all day. We did some workbook pages this morning and practiced drawing curved and slanted lines. Alex needed encouragement, but once she realized she could do it she was very proud. She can say her ABC's just fine (although sometimes she goes straight from M to O), but letter recognition is something we are working on. We are also learning how letters can be uppercase or lowercase and what sound each letter makes. She loves doing this. Tonight we went through a Brainy Baby book and said each letter, the sound it makes, and a word that starts with that letter. We also did 3 other Brainy Baby books... numbers, animals, and shapes & colors. She counts great and I'm always impressed that she can start counting in the middle of a group of items, come full circle and come up with the right number. She doesn't go in what I would think would be the logical order, but she gets it right anyway. After counting the number of items on each page we looked at the number, said it, and traced it with our fingers. I'm hoping this will help with number recognition and later with writing them. The animals book was mainly for Emma, as she loves animals and making all the noises. The shapes and colors book was good for both the girls. Alex knows all her shapes quite well and is doing pretty good with colors. I'm so glad for that because she struggled for a long time. If she is tired or not focusing now she will still say 'purple', but when she is paying attention the only ones that she sometimes has trouble with are green & blue. I'm not sure yet if she just doesn't know the names as well or if she can't tell the difference. Emma knows the circle very well and sometimes will name other shapes, but we are working on that. Also, Emma's answer to, "What color is this?" is almost always, "yellow". We are working on that, too.
Our fun activity for the day was making cookies. The girls sat on the step stool in the kitchen and we learned about recipes, measuring & counting. I also let them taste and/or feel most of the ingredients as we went. That was good since Alex recently learned about her senses.
During bath time I broke out some new foam soap for them to play with. It is like shaving cream, only it smells like strawberries. The foam is supposed to be good sensory stimulation.

Monday

This morning the girls and I went to Heather's house for a play date with Benjamin and Bridger. They had fun playing with the boys. At 2:15 I took Alex to Friendship for physical therapy and an occupational therapy re-eval. Emma also had an hour of physical therapy from 3-4. After feeding the girls dinner we sat on the couch and did a few worksheets from a new activity book I got for Alex. We practiced picking out the different picture from a group of 4 very similar pics. This was hard for Alex but we went through them slowly and pointed out details of each pic until she realized what was missing from the different pic. Then we did a little counting and matching. She wanted to keep going but was very tired and not able to focus so we called it a night and I did a little snuggling with Emma on the couch while rubbing Alex's feet. Before bed we read 2 new books and then our normal "My Goodnight Book". When reading books Alex is beginning to repeat what I read and sometimes even filling in appropriate words or lines when I pause. She would sit and read books all day, but Emma still has a hard time sitting still for an entire book... unless it is Elmo, of course.

Here We Go!

I thought blogging would be a great way for me to keep a log of the girls activity and progress in our homeschooling, and figured that maybe some of you would like to keep up with what we are doing. Of course I will still keep a paper portfolio of their work as we go, but I think this will be a lot of fun, quite resourceful, and keep our friends and family (and of course Drew while he is away) in the loop! I want to say a special thank you to all of you who have been so supportive in our decision to home school. We realize that this isn't for everybody and we aren't trying to 'convert' anyone to homeschooling. Every child and every family is different. We are just very thankful to our friends and family who have been supportive and respectful of this.
First off... Alex is 5 years old and by her age would be eligible for Kindergarten in the fall. However, because of her developmental delay we know (for ourselves and from the professionals) that it would be to her advantage to begin Kindergarten a year later. So, we are currently doing preschool activities and working toward the general goals for Kindergarten Readiness set forth by the Arkansas Department of Education.
Emma will turn 3 years old on March 19th. She won't be of Kindergarten age (by public school standards) until the Fall of 2010. While Emma's activities are much less structured than Alex's, she does participate in some of Alex's lessons and absorbs SO much just by being present.
Our curriculum currently consists of a Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills for Preschool and the Hooked On Phonics program for Preschoolers. I also have a Giant Encyclopedia of activities for Preschoolers that provides many developmentally appropriate activities.

Now, the beauty of homeschooling (in my opinion) is that we have tremendous freedom to work with what the girls are interested in and we have all the time we need to work on things that are more difficult. In addition to the formal curriculum I am also excited to incorporate the little things into learning. For example, this weekend we played outside in the beautiful weather. The girls love playing in the rocks in the flower beds, so we used that as a learning experience... we counted rocks, practiced big/bigger/biggest, opposites (big vs. little, smooth vs. rough, etc.), and fine motor skills (picking up the little rocks one by one and putting them in a basket).
I have no intention of being a drill sergeant and locking the girls in the house for timed lessons and forced learning. What seems to work best right now is for Alex and I to cuddle on the couch and go through her workbook. I let her pick the things that she would like to work on. Sometimes she needs encouragement to work on things that are more difficult, but she really loves it and I hope to keep it that way. Learning should be fun!!! Drew & I want to instill a love of learning in our children. If we can accomplish that then the rest will come.
Both of the girls will be receiving their physical and occupational (and speech for Alex) therapies on an out patient basis. Once we have worked out that schedule we will work other activities in. My friend Lisa home schools her 5 year old (and also has 2 younger girls) and we plan to get together at least once a week for play and a fun activity. The girls and I have also missed out on our church playgroup since they were in school, so we are planning to get that up and running again. Let's not forget the time that they spend in the Sunday School classroom on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. There are also activities at the local libraries that I would like to attend. There are many more resources available to us as we go, and we look forward to taking advantage of them.
Last, but certainly not least, I am really thrilled for the time that homeschooling will allow us to spend together as a family. We now have the freedom to visit Drew and take our school with us. Our learning doesn't have to run Monday-Friday, 8-3. I don't plan for the schooling to stop because the seasons change, we will have a continuous learning year and take breaks when necessary. We can change our approach when the old way become less effective. Our friends and family all have such wonderful and different knowledge and experience to offer and we hope that will also be an aide in our learning.
Yeah! Here we go!