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.

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

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

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.

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!

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.