CLICK HERE FOR BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND MYSPACE LAYOUTS »

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A break?

People ask me if we take a break from 'school' during the Christmas holidays. Well, I would say no. Both of the girls are preschoolers and we are homeschoolers, so the learning really never ends. We've done lots of great stuff in the last few weeks. Cooking, baking, playing, shopping, decorating... there is learning to be done with all of these things and we take the time to do that. We also focused a lot on giving as a family. Every time we would go to Walmart or the grocery store we would stop to put a little money in the red bucket. I always told the girls that we were giving a little bit of our money so that other people without enough money would have food to eat. We also spent a day shopping for the foster child we chose off the tree at church. It was fun to pick things for this little girl and I think Alex really understood that we were buying for a little girl whose parents couldn't afford to buy her pretty things for Christmas. I also made a point to not buy anything for ourselves on this trip, to reiterate that we were shopping for someone else and not ourselves.
Daddy was home for 2 1/2 weeks and we had lots of great family time together.
We are now at Ft. Sill with him for the next few days and plan to visit the wildlife refuge again while we are here. We are all looking forward to the prairie dogs again.
I'm continually impressed with the knowledge that Alex is picking up and retaining in regards to the alphabet. They got flash cards in their stockings and the other day I caught them in the living room floor. Alex had the cards all spread out and was naming them to Emma. She is really doing great. I sat down with them and asked about certain cards and although she isn't 100% yet, she is certainly getting there. We are still working on colors with Emma and she doesn't have it down yet, but I'm thinking that it will be similar to Alex's process. After working FOREVER, one day it just clicked.
Anyway... we aren't on a learning break. We are never on a learning break. We have a learning lifestyle that always has opportunity for something new and exciting!

Monday, December 15, 2008

stuff, stuff, stuff

Lots of fun stuff lately. Daddy is home until the 28th! The other night we laid in the bedroom floor and put together the creation puzzle together. The girls had so much fun, and in addition to putting together that big floor puzzle we got to talk about so many things once the picture was complete. Nature scenes with lots of animals, plants, etc. We've been singing Christmas songs and just now made jingle bell shakers out of toilet paper rolls, Christmas fabric & jingle bells. We've been shaking and singing Jingle Bells. Lots of cooking lately also. I'm always amazed at how much we learn while cooking. Aside from gaining cooking and baking skills that will develop with time, we measure, stir, taste, feel, etc. And lately they are really interested in watching the mixer as it stirs. Curiosity leads us to most of our learning and it's great! Oh, we also found a little dinasaur that we bought when we went to the museum in Eureka Springs several months ago. We put this litte dinasaur in a cup of water and watched it grow over 2 or 3 days, then we took it out and have watched it shrink back down. It's fun to take a look at it everytime we are in the kitchen and watch how it is changing. Oh, and can't forget all we are learning about Christmas this year. Of course the girls are loving all the Santa and presents stuff, but we are also learning a lot about Jesus' birthday. In fact, I was buying fabric at the Walmart the other day and Alex asked me what it was for. I told her it was to make some Christmas presents and she she said, "For me!?" ... I said, "I don't know, maybe." ... her answer "No! For Jesus!"
Oh, and conversation skills are much improving! I love talking to them and getting a glimpse at what their little minds are thinking about! We are also having lots of fun with the preschoolers at church, preparing for our Christmas program. The kids are loving it and I'm feeling really great about making a special effort to take it down to their level. It may not be a huge & fancy production, but they are most definitely learning something and having fun this year! I'm really loving our learning lifestyle and how it seems to be growing and spilling into all parts of our life. Praise God!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Great day

This afternoon after quiet time we loaded up to go shopping for the foster child we are buying Christmas gifts for. We picked it out together at church a few weeks ago and chose the child we did because she was a 9 year old girl who wanted a Hannah Montana outfit. We've talked about it (casually) a lot the last few weeks and today was the shopping day. Alex was happy to do it, but also had questions that showed me she was thinking about it. She mainly wanted to know why we were buying this girl gifts. We just talked again about how this girls mommy & daddy couldn't buy her presents, but since we had enough money we were going to buy them for her so she had presents on Christmas. She was very pleased with this. We picked out jeans, a sweat shirt, a t-shirt, striped socks, pjs & boots. Mostly what she wanted and few extras.
Oh, stopped in the cold to put a few coins into the Salvation Army bucket. I just told the girls (like I always do) that we would give a little of our money so that other people could have things like food to eat.
Once at home we decided to make 'green things'. If you aren't a member of my family then you will have no idea what those are. The are a lot like rice crispy treats only made with cornflakes and dyed green to look like holly wreaths. We took our time and the girls got to count (and eat) marshmallows, melt the butter, measure food coloring & vanilla & corn flakes... and stir! Aside from tasting as we went, the girls favorite part was sprinkling red cinnamon sprinkles at the end. And for our finale... we wrote a letter to Santa to tell him what they want for Christmas. Word has it that Santa will be in Siloam Springs tomorrow and is planning on stopping by Poppy's house to see what the kids want for Christmas!!! At bedtime tonight Alex prayed for Santa to come and Emma prayed for a pink car from him! So cute... so much faith.

Friday

The last few days we've stayed pretty busy. Wednesday. Therapy as usually, checking on, to church. I have to stop and point out what patience and compassion they are building by being with my grandparents. Both the girls are learning to be so sweet and helpful to grandma. These relationships and character traits are so important in my book.
Thursday we went to the Green's to play. I took the dishwasher box for the girls to play in. They had so much fun and played with it differently than I had thought they would. I was thinking it would be a house, but they were much more creative. The little girls got in and Hannah turned the box up, they all thought that was hilarious. By the time they were done the end was torn open and it was more of a tunnel than a house. So... playing, disagreeing, making up, etc. Then we all went to lunch together. I was most touched by how Hannah helped Alex eat her lunch. It's very hard to eat a taco anyway, so lots of time I help Alex with it. Hannah was sitting between us, and before I knew it they were getting it done on their own. Hannah was helping Alex eat and they got it done. They figured it out on their own. Then... to therapy for the afternoon and back home again.
Today is a stay at home day. Emma found the crayons and wanted to color, so I pulled out to Christmas coloring books from last year. I couldn't believe how long they sat and colored together. Then they moved from the office floor, to the living room floor, to the couch. They worked so hard and got along really well most of the morning.
Other random stuff. We've been singing a lot. Every song I can think of. The current favorites are still "It's raining, It's pouring" the "ABCs". New ones are mainly Christmas songs. They love hand motions to go with songs. It really keeps Emma tuned in. I've also found that I get some great one on one time with Emma for 45 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday while Alex has that extra therapy. We sing, count, do ABC puzzles, and snuggle. What else? We've been counting backwards from 10 & counting to 100 by 10s. Emma's ABCs are getting pretty good. She will tell me, "Q is for quilt" even when the picture shown isn't a quilt. Memorization I'm sure, but she remembers and recognized several letters on her own. Alex's knowledge is also growing in that area.
A book I'm reading (several actually) on homeschooling refers to these sort of things are learning hooks. I had never thought of it that way before. They may not have a full understanding of something that we do, but they are establishing learning hooks to add info on to later and build their understanding of that subject or topic. I really see that happening in our learning lifestyle over the last 6 months. It's amazing and wonderful!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Christmas is coming


Now that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is coming at our house. Monday we spent the day in the kitchen. For breakfast we made homemade biscuits and they were so yummy. I let the girls help knead the dough. They liked that, but were mad when they couldn't keep going. Then we made sugar cookies. They picked the cookie cutters they wanted to use and took turns cutting them out. After baking we decorated them with icing and sprinkles. My patience was running short and I felt bad for not letting them be more creative, but we got through the process nonetheless.
Alex found some papers I had printed out when I was planning our Christmas program for church and has been carrying them around for 2 days. She has a green twistable crayon (the best crayons ever!) and has been 'working' diligently at it. She has underlined sentences and calls it her homework.
More and more often I find the girls in their room reading books. They sit on Emma's bed and go through books and 'read' them to each other.
I've also noticed that Emma's play is getting more imaginative. She was at her little kitchen the other day and playing with the coffee maker. She's done that a million times, but this time she was making the coffee maker noises while she 'made coffee'.
Both girls are really becoming more conversational. Speaking more clearly and in longer sentences. Vocalizing their though processes instead of just repeating what they think they should say.
Alex will be fitted for braces this week. We realize she doesn't need them for her feet, but she does need some stabilization in her legs to help her balance. So, she will be getting braces again very soon.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tuesday

This morning we practiced writing by pulling out our Christmas cards. It's a great way for Alex to practice writing her name and if we do a handful every day then she will have written her name in all our cards. She's getting more confident with it. It is usually legible, but sometimes the letters are in the wrong order or her 'E' had too many arms. All in all, she is doing great with it. Emma also wrote her 'name' in the cards. It mainly consisted of drawing circles, but she was proud and made her mark on our family cards.
Therapy this afternoon. No more therapy this week because of Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Gobble, gobble


This morning we made paper bag turkeys. We crumpled paper to stuff the bags, traced their hands, colored their hands, helped cut out their hands, glued the turkey's triangle nose to his face, and taped the body parts to the body. The results are really cute.
We went to Sunday school & church yesterday and then back for the Thanksgiving service last night. Both girls anticipate leaving for children's church before the sermon. I used to have to make Emma go, now they are both raring to go as soon as it's time.
Saturday Alex carried around part of a deck of ABC cards all day. At one point she handed them to me, so I pulled each one out and asked her what letter it was. There were probably 10 or 15 random cards and they were not in order. The only one she missed was 'G' and she said it was 'J'. Easy vocabulary mistake. Her letter recognition is really coming along.
We are still doing therapy 4 days a week and having play dates with the Green girls when possible, usually once a week.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tuesday


This morning for 'school' we made a Thanksgiving Tree. I cut out a big cardboard tree and construction paper leaves the girls got to tell me all the thing they are thankful for. We talked about why we have Thanksgiving... to tell God how thankful we are for all He has given us. That isn't really a foreign idea since in our bedtime prayers every night we say thank you for...
We've been learning about the seasons... fall to be exact. Noticing the changing leaves, etc. So, making a tree was a good way to merge the two ideas. We decorated the tree with beautiful leaves of what we are thankful for, just like God decorates the real trees with beautiful leaves.
Oh, aside from the concept of it all, they got to use the glue stick and take turns. Emma still isn't very good at taking turns, but we are sticking with it.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Catching up... again

We are still learning, just haven't been posting. The beauty of homeschooling is that we aren't on a schedule and we learn as we go. Since my last post we done lots of fun things. Drew came home when Dad had his heart attack and a day with daddy turned into lots of fun. He turned 2 big boxes into a clubhouse. Very cool, not just a box to play in. They made it into a real house by adding a door, windows, shutters, a welcome mat, front door, porch light, etc. They decorated it by practicing writing their names and coloring.

Poppy being 'sick' prompted learning something new for the day... where your heart is. The girls know that Poppy's heart was sick (and can point to their hearts) and tell you that the doctors made it all better.
Spending so much time in the van the last few weeks has allowed lots of Letter Factory watching time. They are really learning a lot about letter recognition and phonics from that DVD.
We've continued practicing writing their names and Alex is doing even better.
We went to see Drew this past weekend and went to the wildlife refuge again. We went to prairie dog town and remembered to take bread to feed them. There was a 10 or 12 year old girl that went past the fence and was poking down in the holes. We talked to the girls about how the prairie dogs live and how we need to respect their homes. So, we walked a little ways down the dirt rode and threw bread to them and they were getting very close so we sat down in the road and let them come up to us. They were close enough to touch, but we were being respectful and not trying to touch them or scare them. It was great. We could see their little claws and talked about how God gave them long finger nails so they could dig and how they dig and make home in the ground, etc. Great time.
Oh, and all the other Army stuff we continue learning about.

Monday, November 3, 2008

The past week




Once again I'm blogging a weeks worth of school work in one sitting.
On Tuesday we made sugar cookies and decorated them with orange icing and used chocolate chips to make jack-o-lantern faces on them. Both of the girls helped do it all and then we wrapped up half the batch and took them to Lisa & the girls. Alex thought she wanted to keep them all at home, but we talked about how sharing our cookies with them is a great way to show we love them. She was OK with it then. They also each got to deliver a cookie to their therapist that afternoon. They were so proud.
On Wednesday we made paper bag pumpkins and paper towel ghosts in the spirit of Halloween week. We crinkled newspaper to fill the paper bags and then colored faces on them. The girls walked around with their ghosts making ghost sounds all day and expecting me to act frightened every time :)
Thursday after therapy we sat in the drive way and carved our pumpkin. They were each hesitant to touch the 'goop' in the pumpkin at first, but after watching me became more willing and anxious to help. Aside from being a fun Halloween activity I figured it was great sensory stuff. The girls helped to design the jack-o-lantern face (complete with triangle eyes, circle nose, smiley face with 3 teeth, eyebrows, ears and hair). They were tickled with all of that.
Of course each of the girls had therapy throughout the week.
Friday afternoon we went to the preschool for the Halloween party. They played with friends, hit the pinata, played on the playground, jumped in the bounce house, in the corn box, rode the hay ride and had treats. It was lots of fun for them.
Now, as far as academics is concerned we have been practicing tracing letters and identifying colors all last week and again today. They have also been watching The Letter Factory (thank you to Lisa for the recommendation) when we are in the van. It is a Leap Frog DVD that introduces letters and their sounds. It is amazing. Alex is really catching on and making great progress with recognition and beginning phonics. I found some great new workbooks at the Dollar Tree to practice writing skills for Alex and an Elmo workbook for Emma to work on colors. She can match colors with like colors, but still can't really name them. We are getting there though. Tonight in the bath we pulled out the bath paints. Alex remembered mixing colors the last time we used them and wanted to do that again. It seemed to register with her that mixing 2 colors makes another color and she couldn't get enough. "Red & Yellow... Orange!" She loved it. Emma loved the mess, of course :)
Tonight we read a Tiger & Pooh book to reiterate the color mixing and Emma was eager to point to colors and say, "What's this?" Then we read 'Duck For President' (a great book by the way) and I tried to explain why we are going to vote tomorrow. That will be our big school lesson for the day tomorrow. Making civil responsibilities a natural thing is a definite goal I have for them. Now, I must mention that every time I said America Alex would bust out singing... "Oh beautiful for spacious skies..." She cracks me up.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Monday

I wasn't feeling well today so we didn't put a lot of time into school. We did sit at the table for a while and play with play dough. Practiced thick vs. thin (Alex is having trouble with that concept) and just played a bit.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The rest of the week

Thursday and Friday consisted of ABC/abc flash cards and matching games, therapy, some new (old) book reading, playing outside, and a trip to the theater to see HSM3.
Emma is getting better with her letter recognition, slowly. We bought a new Leap Frog DVD that Lisa recommended and really helped Hannah learn her letters and sounds. I'm hoping that will aid us in the learning process.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Tuesday & Wednesday



Tuesday we practiced writing Alex's name. We hadn't really focused on that in a while and it was getting sloppier. After a little bit of practice it got better. I helped Emma write her name hand over hand. She isn't quite to the point of doing it alone. She can draw circles and straight lines though. Then we did a fun activity. We went outside and picked pretty leaves off the ground. Then we put the leaves between two pieces of wax paper and each of the girls got to help me iron over it with a warm iron. The heat seals the leaf in the wax paper. Then we practiced scissor skills by cutting the leaves out. I helped the girls to punch holes in each piece and we strung the leaves on a piece of yarn. I let Alex choose where to hang it and she chose the living room wall in a very specific place, so that is where we hung it. It was lots of fun. It also gave us a great chance to talk about how the leaves change colors and fall from the trees in the fall. Also talked about the 4 seasons. I guess that was confusing because when I asked what the 4 seasons were they wanted to name the days of the week.
Alex has PT, OT & ST that day and Emma had PT & ST.
Wednesday we worked in a workbook to practice pre writing skills. Alex practiced tracing straight lines, curved lines, circles, triangles, squares, X's, crosses, and traced through simple mazes. She did great and improved as we worked. Emma worked in a different workbook and practiced first, second and third. She also practiced circling the first in each sequence. Then we went to the park to play with the Green girls for about an hour.
Alex had PT that afternoon and Emma had OT.
As I'm typing this (Thursday) the girls are sitting in the floor tracing in their workbooks. Another long day of therapy this afternoon. 2 1/2 hours for Alex and an hour and 45 minutes for Emma.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Monday and recap

This morning we did our school work in the living room floor. Alex traced letters and I was really impressed by how many she could identify. She seems to be retaining letters she's learned in the past and slowly but surely picking up on new ones. Emma 'worked' in another book but really paid closer attention to what Alex was doing. Then we learned a new song from a toddler song book I have. Did the hand motions and all and they had fun. Oh, another new song we've learned that they love is "It's raining, It's Pouring, The old man is snoring..." We started singing it last week when it rained and now they sing it every time I wash their hair in the tub.
I am also happy with all the information they are retaining. Alex can still tell me that elephants live in Africa (from our zoo trip), they both sing 'America the Beautiful' & say the Pledge of Allegiance, they count to 8 in Spanish (because that is as far as I can go... give me a break, I took German), they can also say hello and goodbye in Spanish, say the Lord's Prayer, they know my first name and daddy's first name as well our family's last name, and letter recognition is growing. Not only does Alex recognize more letters than ever, she associates the letters with people she knows. N is for Nonnie, D is for Daddy, P is for Poppy, E is for Emma, A is for Alex, K is for Kathy, C is for Casey, etc. Letters without familiar names to associate with have other associations... Z is for zebra, etc. They are both making great progress and I'm happy with how things are going.
Oh, we are also working on the potty thing. Going on Misty's advice of bribery by sugar! Emma is willing to give the potty a try if a Skittle is waiting when she's done!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

The last week

Drew has been home so we've done a lot, but blogged very little. Last week we took the girls to the corn maze and pumpkin patch. We learned where corn grows, and they got to touch it and look at it. We saw farm animals, picked pumpkins, played with other kids in the corn box and rode the cow train.
We've been to Chuck E. Cheese, a football game with friends, had a family BBQ, and played outside a lot. We are learning about the 4 seasons and days of the week. They are doing great with that. Having fun playing with leaves and sticks, and we often talk about the colors and textures of those things.
Both girls can count to 8 in Spanish consistently. Alex remembers about elephants from our trip to the zoo and can tell you that they live in Africa.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Thursday

The last few days have been ABC's, books, church, a play date at the park, and therapy. Nothing remarkable, but important just the same. Emma is asking lots of questions lately and narrates everything she does. Alex is being a very big girl wearing her new arm brace and playing with new people she isn't familiar with. Drew comes home tonight and will be home for 10 days, should be great family school time.

Monday, October 6, 2008

The last few days

Again, I'm blogging several days worth of school at once. I can't really remember what day we did what, so I'll just give an overview.
One day we made yarn dolls. I held the yard and the girls got to cut their yarn. It was good scissor work. Emma has an easier time with that than Alex does. The practice was good. Then we turned their yarn into dolls. Each girl got to help hold the yarn while I tied the right places. They carried those dolls around all day.




We've continued working on letter recognition and today we spent half an hour writing. That seemed to be Alex's limit before she was tired and frustrated. The problem is she wants to keep going but just can't. She did a great job of tracing and then writing letters, all uppercase right now. I worked on drawing circles and crosses with Emma, two basic shapes that lead into writing skills later.
We tied the fine motor skills and alphabet together by doing some connect the dots. A dinosaur book that we got on our trip to the museum in Eureka Springs last month. Each dot has a letter and it was good practice. We did a lot of hand over hand work and then they each did a little bit independently. I've noticed that Alex is using mainly her left hand right now. She seems to do equally well with both hands. I think that Emma favors the right, but it's still hard to tell.
Drew got each of the girls a Hannah Montana glitter art set and Saturday we all sat at the table and played. Markers, glitter pens, glitter paint, stickers and rhinestones. They had a lot of fun... we all did.



Emma seems to have big & little down. She likes to point it out whenever she can.
We are also starting the potty thing again. It's hard work but we are going to give it another try with a different approach this time. I bought them each a new potty chair and we are keeping them in the living room for quick use. Emma doesn't seem to have much control. Alex tries really hard, but the physical requirements for going potty by yourself are very difficult (getting clothes down, getting on the potty without falling off, etc.). We are giving it a try though.
We have also made a habit of meeting Lisa, Hannah and Abigail at the park on Thursday mornings. Fun play/social time and great exercise. I've started a new class at church on Thursday nights and although there isn't a class for the girls, they get to play with Mollie and a few other friends for the evening.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Caring

Yesterday we did a great activity to build on our trip to the zoo last week. We made lion masks. We ripped paper & glued and had lots of fun... and made a huge mess.

We also did ABC work. Counting to 10 (no problem) and then backwards again (new for us) and following the numbers on our poster as we went (hoping to learn numeral identification). Some color work (for Emma' sake) and reviewing of shapes.
Yesterday we read a book about caring for others and had to come up with ways to show people we care about them. Alex thought it would be a good idea to call people and ask how they are doing. So, we called all the grandparents.
A realtor showed our house today, so not much formal school work. We had lunch with the Green girls and both girls had therapy this afternoon. Emma helped me make lemonade today and she thought that was great. I even let her serve Alex's lemonade like a big girl.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday

This morning the girls and I loaded up the van and headed to the Tulsa zoo. We spent a few hours there and the girls really had fun. We started with the elephants and got to see them having a bath. We walked through the elephant museum and Alex learned a new continent. Africa. So now I can ask her, "If elephants aren't in the zoo, where do they live?" and she says Africa. They gave us a good thing to go on, since a lot of the animals there are native to Africa.
We also go to go into Feather Fest and feet the parrots. They would land on the girls seed sticks and eat their seeds. It was a lot of fun.
We had lots of fun and although we only stayed a couple of hours we were really exhausted and ready for a nap when we got home.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wednesday

Worked with the Hooked On Phonics program today. Alphabet & numerals. Then spent some time with the sticker book, matching animal stickers to their outlines. This afternoon we drove through the bank and Alex looked at the man in the car next to us and said, "I no know that boy." Perfect opportunity for the 'strangers' talk. On our way home from church tonight it was dark and Alex made a comment about it. So I took the opportunity to talk about morning, daytime, evening and night. She seemed satisfied with my explanations there. At least opening to the doors to some better understanding and vocabulary.
Emma had OT today and Alex had PT.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Tuesday again

I'm not doing a very good job of blogging daily. Last week took a down turn when Emma busted her head and we spent the morning at the ER. Then Thursday I took Alex to Kansas City for a follow up on her feet.
Yesterday we our art project was from a new (old) book I got. I let them use their fingers to paint the brown on the tree trunk and then they used their finger tips dipped in red paint to color the apples. The had fun but wanted to do more. They seem to have more fun when they get to free style.

We've been playing outside a lot, enjoying the weather. I got a Little Tykes car at a yard sale last weekend and the girls are loving it. Emma's sharing leaves much to be desired, but she has to share anyway. Alex is really very great at taking turns and sharing.
Of course we read everyday and we are still working on the alphabet. We've gone over speech homework. Working on 's' blends. The both say 'mell' instead of 'smell', etc. Emma has been working on locations of things. Where does the refrigerator belong? In the kitchen. Where do cars drive? In the road. Etc. In addition to actual time dedicated to that I ask a lot of questions throughout the day. We have also been working on same vs. different.
Yesterday I kept Mary Grace and Hannah for a while so the girls got to play for a few hours.
Therapy as usual. I am considering taking the girls to the Tulsa zoo on Friday. We will probably do animal related activities the next few days to lead up to that.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tuesday

This morning we worked with the Hooked on Phonics books. We went over colors and shapes (mainly for Emma's benefit, but also to reinforce Alex). Then we counted, trying to relate the numbers they are counting to the actual numeral. We counted different things from the book and also in the house. How many eyes does Alex have? How many eyes to we have all together. Chairs at the table? etc. Then letters. Hooked on Phonics does not teach the letters in alphabetical order and I was impressed that Alex could identify so many letters. A, E, X, T, M, O, P were clearly identified and a few others were on the verge. This evening we did more letter work, identifying letters from our home made flash cards. Repetition seems to be working, we will keep at it and try to add new activities to reinforce the same concepts.
Alex had PT, OT & ST today. Emma had ST & PT. Alex is having trouble with same/different in speech. I think she has the concept, but she has trouble with the vocabulary of it. We will be working on that at home. Alex is doing well with long, longer, longest, etc. Emma is working on her 's' sounds.

Monday, September 15, 2008

The long weekend

Random things from the last few days. Drew was home for 4 days, that was wonderful. The girls got in good Daddy time. As far as learning goes, the highlight was sitting in the drive way this afternoon and inspecting a caterpillar with our new magnifying glass. We held it and felt how fuzzy it was and how it tickled our hands. We turned it upside down and felt its sticky little feet. We looked at the pretty colors on it's head and back and talked about how it would become a beautiful butterfly. We even sang the Hungry Caterpillar song. Fun stuff.
Other than that we read every day as usual and Alex and Emma got to show off some new things for Daddy. Alex said the Pledge of Allegiance. Drew noticed that in church she said the Lord's Prayer with everyone.
This afternoon Alex had PT and Emma had OT.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Wednesday

Alex came down with a fever Monday evening so the last few days have been spent at home. Once she started feeling better we found ourselves getting back to 'normal'.
Today we read three new books about God's creations. They were about how God made outer space, the weather, and our bodies. They were a little over Emma's head, but Alex stayed pretty attentive.
I found Emma with a math workbook today. She was looking and 'studying' so I asked her what she was looking at. She said, "Bananas!" She was right, so I pointed out the numerals on the page that 1-4. She looked up at me and said, "Numbers!" So she is catching on.
This afternoon we made cupcakes together. We read the recipe together and I tried to point out to Alex on the recipe as I read off each ingredient. We measured together and I let Alex pour in the water and Emma pour in the oil. As I separated the egg whites they wanted to touch the yolk. So when I was done with each egg I let them put their fingers in it. We talked about how it was cold, slimy and squishy. Then they took turns putting the ice cream cones in the muffin tin. I did my best to explain as we went along and point out how the batter gets hot in the oven and bakes into cupcakes. Oh, and then we ate way too many when they were done!
They got their new Highlight's magazines last week so we laid in the floor and read part of them today. This month's activity was putting appropriate face pieces on the jack-o-lantern. We played on the blank side of the pumpkin and they created their own silly faces. Then we read a few of the poems and stories. They don't really like the hidden picture activity (I think it is a little bit hard) but they like finding silly things in the silly picture.
Both girls are getting so great at pretending. Alex saw a camel in the magazine and next thing I know she was doing something silly. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was a camel. I'm not sure how to act like a camel, but she thought she was doing it :)
Last night we read the book Morris Goes to School. I showed the girls how to put their hands on their head to look like antlers and be a moose. Emma thought that was great.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Monday

This weekend the girls and I took an impromptu mini vacation to Branson and Eureka Springs. We did lots of shopping and having fun, but took time for something educational. We went to see the Christ of the Ozarks and then went to the museum there. The museum has dinosaur fossils and connects science and biblical theory when it comes to creation. The girls loved the dinosaurs. We looked at how different they all were... some were big, some were little. Alex wanted to see a real dinosaur so I had to explain that they aren't alive anymore, but these are their bones and that is how we know what they looked like. We then spent some time in the museum gift shop and bought quite a few neat things for school. Things on creation and the Earth. A few books, a few workbooks, and a huge floor puzzle. We had fun talking about all the things that God created. WE names people we knew and lots of animals, trying to make the point that everything was made by God. We did the puzzle yesterday and the girls loved it. Although I had to do most of it, I made sure to pick pieces up and point out details of it... then asked Alex if she could see the other birds, etc. When we were done they had just as much fun tearing it apart when we were done. I've noticed that Emma is getting better at staying focused long enough to get something done... like picking up toys. I told them we had to pick the pieces up and put them in the box and to my surprise, Emma actually did it without any extra encouragement. Yeah Emma!
Today we went over shapes again and Alex remembered the octagon. Went over colors. Counted to ten forwards and backwards. Now for the alphabet. Alex is doing amazing. She was looking at a new Elmo book in the van on the way to Branson, it happened to be about ABC's. Then she looked up and said, "N is for Nonnie." Yeah! Then she went on and got M for mommy and D is for Daddy. She can also recognize O & P. So, the letter recognition list is up to A, E, X, D, M, N, O, P, Q. We are getting close to several other letters, but these are the ones that are consistent.
Emma loves books but still can't always sit still through an entire book when I'm reading to them. However, she frequently sits and 'reads' books on her own and always has a few books in bed with her.
We have also been saying nursery rhymes. Jack & Jill and Hey Diddle Diddle are two fairly new ones for us.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Thursday

Today Alex had PT, OT & ST. Emma had ST & PT. This evening we spent an hour laying in the floor reading books. Colors, making predictions, describing feelings, etc. We have also been working on the Pledge of Allegiance the last few days. Alex is catching on, Emma pays attention. We are also learning the days of the week. Singing lots of songs... The Caterpillar Song, 5 Little Speckled Frogs, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Row Row Row Your Boat, America the Beautiful, The Doxology, and so many more. We are also reading a lot of Nursery Rhymes.
Social skills. When we go out to eat the girls order their own drink. They always say hello, please & thank you. They love to play with their friends and talk about their friends when they aren't together.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Catch up

We've been doing school work, I just haven't been blogging on it. Lots of reading. Lots of ABC's. Lots of coloring. Today we made a color book. I pulled out 6 different colors of construction paper and we went through a magazine and cut out things of each color. The girls took turns finding, cutting and gluing. Cutting is next to impossible for Alex. She is so contracted and has very little coordination with scissors. We tried anyway. Then I asked the girls where they would like to hang them. "My room," was the answer. So we hung them on the closet door and looked over them. Alex does great with colors, I'm hoping all the repetition will help Emma.
We also spent some time with flash cards and using full sentences, not just one word answers. I'm also making an effort to get Alex to predict things. Even when there is no 'right' answer. "The dog is running." "Where do you think the dog is going?" Things like that. Then we come up with different scenarios.
Yesterday Alex has PT, ST & OT. Emma had ST & PT. Today Alex has PT and Emma had OT.
Emma has met a few of her speech goals and is moving on to a few new ones... like 's' blends.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Thursday

Yesterday we did ABC's, puzzles, board games, numbers, writing, reading. Alex had PT, Emma had OT.
Today we played outside. We played the EleFun (game) and used it to talk about more/less and count. Alex and Emma both had PT & ST.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tuesday

This morning we headed to the park to play with the Green girls for about an hour and a half. Mary Grace is in first grade now, so it is just Hannah and Abigail during the day. They had tons of fun and Emma and Abigail spent a great deal of time laying in, rolling in, and picking up dirt. They were filthy. I wish I had had my camera there so I could prove to you how cool I was being by letting them get filthy. Lisa and I got to visit, that is always fun for us moms.
We had no choice but to come home for a bath and clean clothes before going to therapy. So... bath, clean clothes, lunch, and therapy. Emma had PT and ST. Alex has PT, ST, and OT. Alex has been curling her right arm up pretty severely lately. We've tried a wrist weight to cue her to put her arm down, but it didn't work. So today Alissa and Daryl casted her arm. They cut the cast on one side and attached Velcro so we can take it on and off. It require her to straighten her arm and I was surprised to see that when she is forced to keep her arm straight her arm actually swings in natural rhythm... something she has never been able to do. After therapy we called Poppy & Daddy to tell them about her cool cast and then we used Sharpies to decorate it. She thinks it is cool today, but my guess is that she will find it restrictive and will need encouragement to wear it.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Monday

This morning we played several games. I made new ABC cards with index cards and colored glue. We played the game this morning where they match the lower case letter with the upper case letter. Alex is doing great at this! Emma is doing better also. We played with 8-10 letter pairs at a time and Alex can match almost all of them! Not only can she match the upper case with the corresponding lower case, she recognized a new letter today. When I handed her a card she looked and said, "Q is for queen." Yeah!!! I was so excited for her. In addition to matching pairs we traced the letters with our fingers (the point of doing the letters in glue, so that they are raised). It is a great pre-writing technique.
Then we played picture dominoes. This is getting better also. I don't have to point out what picture they can play every time, they just know what to look for and are doing great at taking turns. Emma's favorite part is when she doesn't have the right picture and has to draw from the pile. She picks one up, looks and says, "Nope" and picks another.
This afternoon Alex has PT and Emma had OT.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Thursday

Again, I missed a few days of blogging, but we are still going strong with school. Singing songs, saying nursery rhymes, pretending, playing outside, counting, reading...
Tuesday we played outside for a while after therapy. I remembered an activity I had read in a book so I ran inside for paper and glue. Each of the girls got a piece of paper and we explored the yard for neat things to glue on it. Grass, clovers, leaves of all sizes, sticks, seeds, dirt, etc. The girls had a lot of fun searching for things and gluing them on the paper.
I have learned that the end result isn't really what matters, it is the process and experience of doing it. Regardless, the girls were very proud and here is the final result. We hung them in the kitchen after they dried.

They have both had therapy all week and we've also spent time playing outside in the yard. The favorite right now is giving the dogs treats through the fence when we get home.
Wednesday they both got their hair cut. Emma was a very big girl and volunteered to go first. Alex patiently let her. After big girl hair cuts and suckers for a reward I let Emma pay Kendra and both girls told her thank you for the hair cut.
This afternoon after therapy we came inside for another project. I let them each choose whether they wanted a picture of a dog or a cat. They both chose cat. I drew them a cat and then we cut up a bunch of black and yellow yarn. They used paint brushes to put glue on their picture and stick yarn all over to make their kitty cat furry. Again, they were very proud.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Still going

Drew came home this weekend and the girls were a little under the weather so I haven't blogged on school work in a while, but we have still been doing it. I love how we can sit down and do something for a few hours so do just a little here and there, depending on the day and mood. We've been working on the pledge of allegiance and Alex loves to sing America the Beautiful. Both of the girls are interested in maps so we've been doing some of that. Alex will bring me a globe or map and ask, "Where does Aunt Pat live?" or whoever else she is thinking about at the time. She knows we live in America in the state of Arkansas. She likes to point out that Daddy is in Oklahoma and that Aunt Pat (my grandma's sister that she met a few weeks ago) lives in Oregon. I try to think of things about each state, like people we know that live there or times we visited there, etc. They love that. I'm glad, because I was never much of a geography girl.
They still love the posters in their room and want to go over them at night. Great repetition for letter and number recognition. Alex still likes helping Emma with her colors and shapes on the posters.
We've also spent one evening with the giant sticker book. It is fun because of all the stickers but is great for categories. Ex. Animals with spots, Things in the ocean, etc.
Today when we were driving I tried to point out road signs and their shapes, but Alex wasn't getting it. I think we will plan a walk soon so that we can actually touch the signs and make the connection. I just don't think she realizes what I'm pointing to out the window.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Thursday

This morning Alex decided we should paint, so we did. I didn't have the right paper, so we painted on construction paper. Not as pretty, but still fun. One time Alex put her paint brush in the wrong cup. Emma said, "NO!" and put the brush back in the right color. Maybe she can't name all the colors, but she can match them. So, after messy painting it was bath time. Then quiet time and off to therapy. Alex has ST, OT & PT. Emma had ST & PT. Emma was done an hour before Alex so we went out to the playground and played with Caleigh & Caden. Caleigh & Emma played in the and box for a while and then we went inside the school to play. Alissa's kids are in the after school care since she works there, so it was fun for the kids to play together. We read books, built towers, 'cooked' in the kitchen and played ball. When Alex was done with therapy we went to eat and then came home to unwind. We went over the posters we put up the other day, read books and sang songs. Sang 'America the Beautiful' and the Doxology. Said the pledge of allegiance and the Lord's Prayer. We read some new books about helping, remembering, forgiving and saying thank you. Alex was so sweet. After the helping book we were talking about things she does to help and she said "I help Poppy." I asked her how she helped him and she said, "I help Poppy's feet." She was right. We did help Dad a lot when he had his foot surgery this summer. During prayers she thanked God for her normal people and then said thank you for Poppy's new house. Emma has been praying for her friend Lorelai a lot lately. That was her own contribution, not my doing. I love when they do things like that to show me they understand what we are doing and talking about, not just repeating or imitating me.
So, a great day. Lots of fun stuff and great learning.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Wednesday

Today I took Alex to the dentist for a second opinion on her teeth. We then went to visit Grandma & Grandpa, had lunch and went straight to therapy. Alissa tried putting some wrist weights on her arms to cue her to keep them down. So, Alex had PT and Emma had OT.
Home, dinner, play time, lots of books. Their favorite thing to do right now is point out the things they like and what is their favorite. So when we were looking at the picture encyclopedia of animals we did talk about the names, what animals were alike, etc. The girls would point out which animal they liked best on the page and then Alex would say, "Mommy what your favorite?" I'm trying to say what is my favorite and give a reason why, and encourage them to do the same. "I like this frog because it has red eyes." Etc.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Monday, Monday

This morning the girls and I put up a few posters in their room. We sat in the floor and had school time with the posters. One is the alphabet, one is number 1-10, one is colors, the last is shapes. Alex knows her colors pretty well (brown & black are sometimes confusing) but Emma still needs work. It's great that Alex can help Emma with it. The shapes poster has the typical shapes (that Alex knows) but also has an octagon. We've never really talked about that before. Tomorrow when we get out I will try to point out stop signs for her. Emma knows circle and triangle (and sometimes square) but the rest are a work in progress. Again, Alex likes to help Emma. With the alphabet poster we sang the ABC's and went through one by one pointing out the letter and saying it and thinking of things that start with that letter. The numbers poster lists numerals 1-10 and beside each number are the correct number of a certain object. So, we counted the objects together and pointed out the numerals. After time with the posters we sat in the floor and the girls practiced with the lacing cards. Emma coordination is getting much better and Alex still works very hard and gets the job done.
This afternoon Alex has PT & Emma had OT. Then we played on the playground at the school for about half and hour. Before going home we went to the grocery store and I let Alex & Emma push one of the little kid carts and be in charge. The girls loved it.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Notes

I've noted a few things in the last few days. Both of the girls are getting much better at finding objects in a big picture. We have a few books (like I Spy books) where they have to point out certain objects in a hidden pictures and even Emma is getting pretty good. Emma is also making progress on color recognition. She is also speaking much more and in longer sentences. Alex is becoming much more conversational. She has more to say and is becoming better at expressing herself. I've made a point to tell her she does a great job when she vocalizes something instead of just getting upset. Alex is making real progress with her writing. I can't say that it is more legible, but she isn't so afraid to try. It used to take a lot of encouragement to get her to try at all and now she will sit at her table and trace letters by herself. She is getting stronger with letter recognition. There are still a few letters that are the most recognizable, but she gets them right consistently... not just in context.
Today we went to Sunday school & big church. They love playing with their friends and Alex always brings her lesson and craft home with her. I've realized that even when they are restless they are paying attention in big church. Alex knows the words to some hymns that we sing often. The both know the Lord's Prayer and say it along with everyone. Emma claps and says "Yea!" after each song that she likes. They each put their offering in the plate when it comes around. Alex sings along with the Doxology and knows that as soon as it is over she gets to go to the front for children's time and then to children's church. Emma is more confident in going to children's church than she used to be. She used to hesitate and needed encouragement to leave me, but now she goes right along with the other kids.
Tomorrow will start a normal week of therapy for the girls. We should be back in a good routine.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Wednesday

So everyone is gearing up for back to school. We never really stopped. We took short breaks when we needed to, but we've really just kept things going. This is a good time of year for buying school supplies though.
This afternoon Emma actually fell asleep during nap time. So, when Alex & I got up we got out some workbooks. She's pretty well mastered learning her colors and shapes and it's really time to move on. She's ready for letters and doesn't need as much encouragement to work on them, so that is what we did. I love that she is recognizing letters now. She knows A, E & X all the time and sometimes knows P and L. All this repetition is paying off! She's catching on... slow but sure!

Tuesday

Yesterday the girls and I met Lisa, Mary Grace & Hannah at the park to feed the ducks and play. The girls had a great time and they really play together very well considering the difference in ages, sizes and development. It's good for all of them... and me & Lisa, too.
In the afternoon they each had PT & ST. No OT, Daryl went home sick yesterday. No more therapy this week, everyone is in training. We are about to go to Fayetteville to take my Great Aunt Pat shopping while she is here visiting my grandparents.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Monday

No postings since last week because Drew was home for the weekend. This morning we did school work together before he left. We all sat in the floor and played games. The first game was a number game. There were cards spread in the floor and more in a pile. They had to pick a card with a number and find the card with the same number of dots. Then we played a few games of dominoes. Matching pictures, same/different, taking turns & fun. Then we matched upper case letters with lower case letters. They took turns drawing a card with an uppercase letter and had to find the corresponding lower case letter. Since there are 26 letters they begin losing attention toward the end, but both did very well. Improving every time. Emma especially impressed me with being about to make the matches. If she couldn't find a match then we would pull 3 or 4 choices out and she almost always chose the right one. Having too many choices made it difficult at times. They really did great with this.
This afternoon we spent a little bit of time on speech homework. Emma is working on putting the 's' at the beginning of words. Example. She says 'wimming' instead of 'swimming'. We worked on that for a while. Also on the 'y' sound. Example. She sometimes says 'oh-oh' instead of 'yo-yo'. That is also getting better. For Alex we worked on cause and effect. Example. If you play in the mud you have to ____ (take a bath).
Tomorrow afternoon is therapy. The only day this week because of staff training. The rest of the week we will be available for fun stuff and school work.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Coloring

This morning we laid in the floor and colored for more than an hour. It started off simple, then we wound up doing so much more. We kept is casual and low key and just talked and explored as we colored. Alex found a word search in one of her activity books and I circled an A for Alex and asked her if she could find other A's. She did. Then she said, "Let's find P for Pat." I was thrilled for her. She must have remembered this from dinner Sunday night. How wonderful. So we looked for P's and then picked a few other letters to search for. We colored big and small, dark and light. This sparked a game of "Daddy's hair is short, but Mommy's hair is ____." "Day is light, Night is ____." And so on. This went on as long as I could come up with analogies and they did great. We chose and experimented with different colors. I took turns coloring with Alex and then Emma and over again. It was great. No TV, no radio, no distractions... just me & the girls.
Alex had PT this afternoon & Emma had OT. We went to the pool with Nonnie & the girls played with Caleigh & Caden. We read books tonight with Nonnie and Alex & I sang "America the Beautiful" for her. That is currently Alex's favorite song. We also said the Lord's Prayer and sang the Doxology. That is a new one that both girls are quickly picking up on and really love.

The Educated Child

I'm reading a great book called The Educated Child. It isn't about homeschooling, it is just about educating your child. Of course right now I'm ready the preschool section, which applies to the stage of development my girls are in. The principles it addresses are wonderful. Some are...
-Parents are the first and most important teachers.
-The early years build the foundation for all later learning. Make it sturdy.
-Learning requires discipline; discipline requires values.
-Follow your common sense.
-Content matters: what children study they will learn.
It stresses the importance of taking the time to read to your children and gives great suggestions to make the most of that time. This is something that we already do and will continue to do.
One of the best ways to teach is by example. I shouldn't just read to my child, she should also see me reading. I should just tell her how to behave, I should lead by example. Children imitate.
There is great info on fostering the love of learning, which if you have been following our journey you will know is one of my highest priorities. A parents' love, protection and care are invaluable.
We all know that patience is key, but sometimes it is hard. Kids ask lots of questions and need lots of answers. Repetition is crucial in questions, reading, etc. Experience is key. Reading a book about animals is great, going to the zoo and seeing those animals is even better.
Play is the business of childhood. It encourages exploration, provides exercise, feeds the imagination, offers interaction, it's fun. A great deal of learning at this stage of development comes from play!!!
Trial and error are a big part of learning. Let your child make mistakes and help her learn from them.
****No two children are alike!*****
Don't be too pushy. It makes reference to another book that I love, The Hurried Child. Older book, but a great book.
The book also addresses specific subjects and age appropriate activities. Science. Grasping the principle isn't important, right now they are building a foundation of experience and the principles and concepts will come later. Also some basic, but important, ideas on building listening and speaking skills, incorporating math into life and getting ready to write. Preschool art. Sometimes I wonder if what we are doing is good for anything when it comes to art... but I realize that all that doodling, painting, play dough squishing, pasting, etc. is fostering creativity, feeding their imagination and working fine motor skills. It also lets them experiment, problem solve and make their own decisions. It often isn't the finished product that matters, but the process of making it! I've also found that the girls and I tend to start with an art project and wind up incorporating and learning so much more. Fun stuff!
So, I'm learning a lot. I'm learning what more I can do & better understanding development and preparation for later learning. I'm also thinking that I'm not doing too bad of a job here. What a wonderful journey we are taking together!

Friday, July 25, 2008

My little artists



I didn't think today would be very productive, learning wise, but I was wrong. This morning was slow, but we got out and did some yard sale shopping and then came home to make Jessica a birthday card. Jessica, if you are reading this, please be surprised when you get it :) An attempted quiet time... not too successful. Emma seems to be past napping. Ugh. Then we went to the pool for a few hours. The girls love playing with the other kids. They shared their ball with a little girl and played catch for a while. Then we made some new friends. A little girls named Hope and her mother. Hope is two, and she and the girls played quite a while. On the way home we stopped at Walmart for a few things. On the way out we put some school supplies in the donation box. Alex got to put in a school box and Emma put in some markers. I made sure to explain to them that we were giving them for kids who don't have school supplies. They seemed happy about that. Once home we had a snack and then painted. I stripped them down to almost nothing, spread butcher paper in the floor and got the paints ready. They each painted two pictures. They had lots of fun, I just have to loosen up on the making a mess thing. After a much needed bath we played in their room the rest of the evening. We did simple puzzles (Alex is a whiz and Emma is improving greatly). Emma found a lacing card so I got the rest out and they each laced a string through a card. I noticed that since we last used them (a few months ago) that Alex now follows the pattern and actually laces around the shape instead of random lacing through the holes. Emma is still pretty random, but they both did well with the fine motor skill of getting the string in the hole and pulling it through. Then LOTS of reading. We pulled out a book of animals that I had put away. That book does a great job of categorizing animals (spotted, striped, large, small, frogs, birds, etc.) I tried to tell them the actual names of the animals instead of the general name of bird or fish. We do great at repetition when it comes to reading books so I'm thinking they will pick up on the specific names of animals. Then about 45 minutes of other books before brushing teeth, reading bedtime books and saying prayers. They both went to sleep very quickly tonight. A day full of fun will do that to little girls!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Time with Emma

Today while Alex was finishing therapy I took Emma to the grocery store to shop for fruit. We walked through the produce section and looked at all the fruit and bought things to try that we don't usually eat. Like kiwi. I let her hold and feel each item we bought and we talked about how it felt, what shape it was, what color it was, etc. We kept to the fruit today because I'm trying to teach her categories. When we picked up Alex and came home we went through the fruit all over again. Each of the girls got to touch it all and taste what they wanted. Again talking about texture, shape, taste & color. After going through the kiwi, pears, banana, grapes, blueberries, oranges, peaches & apples, they chose to have the strawberries with their dinner.
Alex had ST, OT, & PT today. Emma had PT & ST.

Kindergarten waiver

I forgot to post that on Tuesday I went to the school admin offices and filled out the waiver for Alex to start Kindergarten a year late. That way we have an extra year that she isn't held accountable and we can re-evaluate next year after a year of homeschooling.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Great morning

This morning we started our school time with the new Highlights magazine. It is great for stories, nursery rhymes, hidden pictures, activities, etc. One thing we learned about today was shadows. This afternoon when we are outside I will make a point to notice shadows with them. The magazine also always includes a game. I cut out the game pieces and we played twice. There was a game board with blocks from start to finish. I was the car, Alex was the truck and Emma was the train. We drew picture cards to tell us who got to move ahead. They did really great and loved it. Alex won once and Emma won once, so it worked out great. Then we did the suggested activity. I didn't have containers so I cut a paper towel roll in half. Then we tore construction paper into pieces. I added a little bit of water to Elmer's glue and they used paint brushes to paint glue onto their roll and stick paper on it. They really loved it, got to use the paint brushes, stick the paper, and get sticky! They are drying now but Alex can't wait to show hers to Poppy. After cleaning up that project we laid in the floor for about 30 minutes and read books. Random books really, mostly the new books we just got. One about wind, one about whales, and then just some fun books. One book we have been reading for the last few weeks is the words to America The Beautiful. Alex is starting to sing along. It is a great way to talk about what Daddy is doing in the Army... protecting America.
This afternoon Alex has ST, OT & PT and Emma has PT & ST.

Monday, July 21, 2008

New week

We survived and enjoyed Vacation Bible School last week. It is lots of fun but also exhausting. Saturday we did our first school project in a week. We made posters about the girls. They each go their own. I would start a sentence about them and they had to finish it. For example... My name is ___, I am ___ years old, My favorite food is ___, etc. I would write it on the poster, draw the picture, etc. and they decorated. Emma cracked me up, she was laying on her belly resting her head in her hands and when I would ask her a question she would say, "Hmmm, let's see..." and then give a silly answer to make Alex laugh. One question was... I live in ____. I wanted Alex to say Arkansas, but instead she said, "a house." Well, yes. That is true. So we drew a house and then decided her house was in Arkansas. After our posters were complete I let them put stickers all over them and we hung them on their closet door to admire.
This morning we did a short amount of speech homework. We are trying to get Alex to make predictions about what happens next. We used cards with examples like... a little girl playing in the mud with her dog... next she has to take a bath. The cat jumped on the table and bumped the flower vase... next the vase falls and spills. Etc.
This afternoon Alex had PT, Emma's OT was canceled. Then we went to the pool with LeLe, Caden & Caleigh. Fun fun.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Attention is in short supply

This week is vacation bible school at church. Every night from 6-8:30. The girls also have therapy Monday through Thursday in the afternoons. That leaves us going to bed much later than usual and completely exhausted. This morning we tried to do some school work and we weren't very successful. They can sit still (probably because they don't have the energy to move) but can't pay attention or answer a question to save their lives. We tried to do some pages on what goes together. The first page went fine. There was a picture of a house and then some objects that I cut out. They had to say whether the object belonged in the kitchen or the bedroom. Emma got to hold the glue stick and Alex got to place the object. She did fine for 5 items but got mixed up on the dresser. She put it in the kitchen. In her defense, I have a dresser in my kitchen. So while that answer may have technically been wrong, she was actually right. After that it went down hill. Just about every answer was "I don't know." We finished up the page we had started and called it quits. I don't think I will attempt much more school work this week since there is so much else going on.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Wednesday

Rainy day today. We stayed home this morning, pretty low key. This afternoon Alex had PT and Emma had OT. Alex doesn't like her Monday/Wednesday therapist and has gotten to the point that she gets upset about going with her. She just misses Alissa, but about 3 more weeks and Alissa will be back from maternity leave and things will get back to 'normal'.
This afternoon/evening we played outside for a little while. The girls got new balls at the store and wanted to play with them so we got them out. They are really big balls, but the girls chased them all over the front yard. They would bring them to me and I would kick or throw them and they would do it all over again. Bath time, cleaned their room, read lots of books, brushed & flossed teeth, prayers & bed time.
I was able to organize the office the last few days and get all of our school stuff in order, this should make school time easier because I can find what I'm looking for.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Tuesday

We went to Fayetteville this morning to run errands and visit my grandparents. This afternoon Alex had PT, OT, and speech and Emma had PT & speech. No other school work today.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Monday

This morning the girls and I sat on the couch and read the newest Highlights magazine. We read the poems and stories, searches for the hidden pictures, picked the 'silly' things out of the silly picture, and then tore out the game in the back. I cute the pieces up and we we played several games of 'match the socks'. There were probably about 10 pairs of cards, each with a sock on it. The girls had to pick a sock and then find it's match. The first couple of times we played with all the cards facing up so that Emma could look through and find the match. It was a good chance to work on same/different. Then we played with the cards down, like a game of Memory. That was harder of course and they were beginning to lose attention by that point so I didn't push it. Oh, these games are also great for taking turns and even helping each other. Sometimes if Emma can't find it Alex helps her and then Emma gets to keep the match.
This afternoon Emma had OT and Alex had PT. Then we went to the pool and met Alissa and the kids. Alex, Emma and Caleigh played in the water and Caden played with some of this other friends. We saw our old hair dresser, Sandi, and her one year old little girl. My girls played with her for a little while, too. Cheryl (part time physical therapist) was there and always sits with us and plays with the girls. We convinced Alex to let us take her into the deeper water, so Cheryl held Alex & I held Emma and we ventured out to the rope in the middle of the pool. They practiced kicking and 'swimming' and had a great time.
See? School work, quiet time, therapy, fun/social time.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Potty training

A couple of weeks ago I made potty charts for the girls and we hit the potty training again. They didn't argue about going and Alex always does 'something' when she sits on the potty, but Emma almost never does anything but sit there for a few minutes. Each time they at least tried to potty they got a sticker. After 10 days of that we are no closer to being potty trained than we were before. They will usually tell me when they have to go poop, but never when they have to pee. I just keep reminding myself that this is a motor control problem and they can't help it. We will keep trying as we go, maybe we will get there at some point.
Over the holiday weekend the girls rode in the Lincoln Riding Club play day. Alex loves it, Emma tolerates it. It is great fun and great therapy for them. You don't realize what muscles it takes to ride a horse until you do it and are completely sore! Kyle & Misty have invited us to come to each play day (every other Saturday night) and let the girls ride. I think it will help with muscle strength, balance, coordination & confidence.

Friday, July 4, 2008

July 4th!

This morning we did a fourth of July craft. We made Uncle Sam masks. I tried to explain a little bit about today, how it is America's birthday and America is where we live. I think mainly what they mastered is that their masks are Uncle Sam and Uncle Sam says 'Happy 4th of July!" Good enough for now :)

Other than the 4th theme the masks were fun because they got to use glue sticks, stickers, cotton balls, paper & paper plates.
They still have some energy left so we may try to learn the Pledge of Allegiance. I figure if they can say the Lord's Prayer that we can try for the pledge.
This afternoon we are going to Dad's for lunch and I'm not sure if we will brave the rodeo tonight or not. There is a chance for some rain so we will just wait and see.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

July 3rd

Today was mainly a day at home. We organized some toys (and then unorganized them again) and then each of the girls had physical therapy this afternoon. This evening we played at new game of dominoes where the girls had to match pictures instead of the normal dots on real dominoes. Before bedtime reading we looked at a new zoo activity book I got at a yard sale. Some pages were craft projects to do, but there were several pages we did together. One activity was looking at 'family pictures' of animals at the zoo. The mom and dad were shown and they had to pick the child (animal) that went in the correct picture. Then one to find the tigers & lions hidden in a jungle picture. We looked at the other pictures and picked out animals and chose which were big & little and counted how many there were. The girls were really exhausted so we didn't go any further than that. We read bedtime books for about 30 minutes and then brushed and flossed and the girls just went to bed. It is a little earlier than usual, but they were both yawning and couldn't pay attention or sit up straight, so we called it a night.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

July 2nd

Dottie & I took the girls to the rodeo day at Parson's Stadium this morning. I was designed for kids with disabilities and the girls got to ride horses, ride in the stage coach & wagon, pet the dogs, etc. They had a blast.
This afternoon Alex had PT and Emma had OT. Then we went to Alissa's and the girls played with Caden and Caleigh in the sprinkler. Lots of fun today!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Tuesday morning school work

This morning we started school with the Hooked on Phonics color and shapes book. Then we followed an activity suggestion in the book and made our own color book. Each of the girls took turns coloring pages of certain colors. Alex made 5 pages (black, blue, pink, purple, red) and Emma did 4 pages (green, brown, yellow, orange). I wrote the color name at he top of the page and together we thought of different objects that are that color. I did my best to draw them and the girls colored them. Then we colored the cover page together. I punched holes in the side and tied it with ribbon and we read their book several times. They were so proud. Here's a picture.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Monday

We went to the pool with Mollie and Carrie today. Emma was all over Carrie and they were singing songs about letter sounds and shapes. Carrie laughed and said they were getting in her school time today. Hey, I'll take it since we didn't get anything else done today.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

The weekend

Drew was home this weekend. It was wonderful time for us all, especially the girls to be with Daddy. As far as school goes, we spent about an hour doing stuff on Saturday. I pulled out the Hooked on Phonics and we read through a book of the lower case letters. We also looked through a workbook on numbers. Instead of actually writing in the book we did the pages with our fingers. Each of the girls traced the number with their finger, we did the activity on the page, then the suggested game. Then we laid in the floor with Daddy and played the game to match upper case letters with their lower case partner. Alex was getting tired and got upset about something so Emma played. She actually did very well.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Thursday

The week has gotten away from me somehow. In the last few days we have been to Fayetteville, spent two afternoons at the pool with friends, gone to therapy every day, went to the church for a little while this morning, and enjoyed the weather! School has been pretty informal the last few days. Not sitting down with a workbook or anything, but we work learning into our fun. Example... yesterday at the pool we were having fun splashing and making waves with our hands. The girls were getting a kick out of imitating me making little, medium & big splashes, soft, medium & loud splashes. Medium is something that is hard for them to understand, so that was a fun way to practice. Alex has also started talking about her friends and saying who her favorite friends are. It's really cute. She looks forward to seeing them wherever we go and asks where certain people are if they aren't with us. When we are reading books I have been making a special effort to clarify words she might not know. Example... the book may say 'giggle' instead of 'laugh', so I ask her what that means. She's already picked up on a few new words. Emma' favorite book right now is "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late." I would like to get the other books by this author, they are really cute books. Today when Alex was in therapy and Emma was with me I noticed that she talks a lot more when she is the only kid around. I guess in a group or even just with Alex that she doesn't really have to talk because everybody else does it for her. They are both having a blast at the pool. They can't swim of course, but they are getting pretty comfortable in the water and try to blow bubbles, use the toys to pour water on each other, play ball (great throwing & catching practice), and lay on their bellies and pull themselves along (what they call swimming). It is great exercise, social time, and outside time for all three of us.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Monday

Today has been productive already. This morning we played the letter game and matched uppercase letters to lowercase letters. Alex did even better this time around. Then we sat in the floor and played with play dough. The girls played and made shapes and birthday cakes and pizza, etc. while I made letters with the dough. They would tell me what letter came next and then we would make it. When we got to O I asked Alex what an O looked like and she said, "A circle." I'm so glad she is catching on.
This afternoon Alex has PT & Emma had OT.

Sunday

Today we did school work in the bathtub! The girls played with foam soap (like shaving cream) and Alex & I wrote all the letters on the wall. She did amazingly well. I haven’t purchased the Handwriting Without Tears program, but I am trying to incorporate some of the principles in that program. I bought new play dough and tomorrow we will use it to play (sensory & fine motor skills) and also to form letters. This should help each of the girls with letter recognition and formation without the stress of writing the letters.

We went to Sunday school and church this morning, then home for quiet/nap time. Then we spent about an hour and a half at the pool this afternoon.

I don’t always blog it, but be always read for about 30 minutes in the evening (sometimes more). We read for several reasons. It is party interactive… Alex reading along or repeating what I read, looking at the pictures, me asking questions and trying to incorporate some of the things we have been working on. When I ask questions I encourage them to answer in full sentences instead of just one word answers. It is also a great time to wind down and relax after the day. Sometimes they pick the books; sometimes they want me to pick the books.

Manners are going well. Excuse me, I’m sorry, please, thank you, & you’re welcome are regularly used by both girls. I try to not give Emma what she wants when she yells or whines. I make her say it nicely and use please before she gets what she wants.

We started up the new potty training today. Last night I made the girls each a potty chart. Beginning this morning they used the potty. Alex always goes when she sits on the potty, but can’t usually stay dry between potty trips. Emma sits on the potty but still doesn’t do anything, although she did poop at little in it today! They each get a sticker for sitting on the potty, whether they are able to do anything or not. I’m rewarding the effort right now. And of course they get to wipe, flush, and wash hands with each trip to the potty.

Tonight I made another set of letter cards with uppercase and lowercase letters. Tomorrow we will play the game where they try to match each letter with its partner letter.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Thursday & Friday

Thursday (yesterday) we had a great day. We spent about an hour in the morning doing school work. Practicing more/less & first/second/third. Then spent some time in the floor with blocks. Alex loves to see how tall he can build her tower. While she did that I worked with Emma. We got out two bags and put a princess figure in one. Then I would ask her which bag had NO princess. We are trying to concentrate on the NOT & NO instead of just the word she hears. Then groups of 4 items and she had to pick the one that was NOT a block, etc. She is getting better with this.
Later in the morning the Green girls came over to play for a few hours. Nap/quiet time and then therapy at 2:15. Alex had ST, OT & PT and Emma had PT & ST.
Today, Friday, we went to Gene Eddleman's funeral at the church. The girls went along and were very good. Lunch at Mama Z's and then home. Not much else to speak of. Bedtime is approaching and I'm ready!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

New resource

We are still trying to readjust to our routine after our Texas trip, so no real school work today. Emma slept in until 9:30 (yeah!) and then we went to Fayetteville to see Grandma & Grandpa Whimpy. PT for Alex & OT for Emma this afternoon. They were really so tired tonight and ready for bed... and I was ready for them to be ready!
On the school front... I have discovered the Rainbow Resource Center. I sent for a catalog a few weeks ago and it has arrived. It is an amazingly huge catalog with tens of thousands of books & products for Christian schools & Christian homeschoolers. I already have a list about a mile long that I'd like to have. So far I mostly want books for me. Things to give me ideas, perspective, motivation, information, etc. Once I get further into the catalog you can be sure the list will grow.
Tomorrow we may have a play date with the Green girls and will definitely try to get in some school work.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

3 month recap

I have just realized that we started homeschooling the girls just over 3 months ago. I feel the need to review and evaluate for myself. Although I post on our school work almost every day, I think that doing this every few months will help me to see what we have accomplished and what we can improve on. And of course to set new goals to work towards.
On a personal and emotional level I couldn't be happier with our decision. I really love having the girls with me all day and experiencing life with them. We have a pretty good mix of staying busy as well as down days and we can schedule these as needed. I love the freedom that comes with homeschooling. Sometimes we wind up learning things just because the girls are interested and the opportunity arises. I love to be with them when they catch onto things and see the looks of accomplishment when they do something they didn't know they could do. Drew and I feel like we made the right decision. Of course we can't tell the future and there may come a time when we feel like traditional school would be a better option, but for now we will continue as we are.
We have done lots of hands on learning and 'field trips'. We have been to the Waco Zoo, the wildlife safari in Gentry, the wildlife refuge in Lawton, and the Butterfly Palace in Branson. In addition to these big trips the girls learn from more simple activities and outings. We went to vote together, they help me grocery shop, we care for my grandparents, go to church, have playgroups, go to birthday parties, etc. Let's not forget the things around the house... picking up toys, helping with chores, taking care of the puppy, helping cook, etc. I think that all of these things have been wonderful.
A typical week for us looks something like this:
-4-8 hours of 'school work' (including workbook pages, writing, flash cards, games, puzzles, etc.)
-listening to and singing songs during free play and down time
-1 or 2 play dates
-1 or 2 visits to my grandparents (where the girls like to encourage grandma to eat her lunch and give her hugs and kisses to make her feel better)
-Alex receives 6 hours of therapy a week (including physical, occupational, and speech therapies)
-Emma receives 4 hours of therapy a week (also including PT, OT & ST)
-lots of time for free play and some time to play outside almost every day
-LOTS of reading (at least 20 minutes a night in addition to anything during the day)
-daily nap/quiet time (invaluable for all 3 of us)

Academically I feel like we are doing great. Alex has gone from getting overwhelmed and upset at tracing slanted and curved lines to happily tracing letters. While she is still shaky, she can now write with her right hand for longer periods of time before getting tired and switching to her left. She needs my hand over hers less and less while she is tracing letters. She now understands that there are upper case and lower case letters and can match some of them to their partner letters. Counting is great, she no longer gets tripped up when she gets to 12 and can count to at least 20 by herself. She is very good at counting objects and seems to understand more/less now. Alex is doing awesome with puzzles. She can do a 4-6 piece puzzle where the pieces fit together, not just in their own spot. Alex has also begun to ask 'why' questions. She is also greatly improving on naming the function of objects. Emma is doing great with counting and getting a little better with one to one correspondence. She can now identify square, circle, and triangle whereas before everything was a circle. She is also getting pretty good at finding hidden objects in a big picture. She is also much better with spatial terms such as top/bottom, front/back, in/out, on/off. Three months ago she couldn't do that. She is also beginning to understand what does NOT belong in a group of like objects. They both know the beginning and end of a book and will sit with a book and tell their own version of the story that we have read before. They can also both identify correctly boy/girl.
Things to work on the next few months:
Alex
-speak in complete sentences
-improve fine motor control (in writing and tracing letters, numbers, and objects & coloring)
-letter recognition
-number recognition
-make simple predictions about a story being read (right now she just says 'I don't know')
-sequence 3 pictures in the correct order
-work on using scissors
Emma
-name colors accurately
-improve fine motor control (in drawing, coloring and tracing)
-continue work on spatial terms
-work on asking for things in a nice voice instead of crying or fussing
-provide first and last name (right now she only says Emma)
-work on using scissors

Fun (and important) things to do with both the girls:
-play with play dough
-spend plenty of time outside (I imagine this will mainly be at the pool for next few months)
-spend more time doing physical therapy exercises at home
-continue to work on manners (although they both already say please, thank you & you're welcome)

There are also things that I want to work on:
-balancing both of the girls during school time (helping Emma stay occupied without distracting Alex)
-helping the girls with activity transitions (I know we need to stop when she starts getting tired or frustrated, but sometimes she still gets upset at stopping. I need to have a transition time between school work and taking a break.)
-make a point to do more hands on crafts and activities, even if they are messy! (painting, play dough, etc)

One more thing I intend to re-tackle is potty training. We have tried this numerous times for months at a time and the last time Alex began to get frustrated and upset at my suggestion to go potty. I realize she has physical motor control issues that prevent her abilities, but I would like to try again since it has been several months since our last attempt. I also think that Emma might be able to pick up on pottying during the day even though she can't stay dry at night. I plan to make a potty chart with stickers to motivate them and track progress.