Summer fun... At the cabin

We recently had the chance to spend a nice weekend with my inlaws at their lake cabin. They actually took the boys on Thursday and we met them up their late Friday. It was a nice little break and always helpful to have my mother-in-law around to give me a hand with the boys. She bathed them, changed diapers, cooked and even slept with Judah (gotta love a full nights sleep!). So here are some pics from that fun trip!

The crazy tadpole man! He caught tadpoles EVERY chance he got! Which, for this little guy who like to have his hands washed, was pretty darn impressive!

Eve this guy got in on the tadpole action!

A little Grammy Hair Styling!

The book he is reading is called "Who Pooped in the Park"- fairly appropriate if you ask me!

Rhythm & Grammy

Our little fisherman!

And the other one!

The Handsome Carpenter!

We all love that chair!

Lincoln Logs!

Brothers!

The first day fishing with Pappy!

First Week of Kindergarten 2011- Hello Reality!

Wow- what a first week. If I'm being completely honest, it didn't go at all as I had planned or expected. In some ways I knew that there would be some adjustments that would have to be made, I just had no idea they would be so drastic. I'll tell you right now that the first part of this post is a bit of a rant, but it gets better at the end, and its filled with honest homeschooling mama confessions, so stick with me!

For starters, the school room that I have been so vigorously planning and working on is still not finished. A sprained ankle sidelined The Carpenter (my hubby) for a day last week which took a huge chunk out of his available time to work on the desk he is building for us. I think once he gets it finished I will fairly quickly be able to organize everything and finally get the room to the unchaotic state that I have been planning on, it just hasn't happen yet. And let me tell you, I will be really glad when we are done trying to accomplish school on a tiny card table!

So after the schoolroom hurdles came scheduling snafoos. I ended up having to run errands for our business first thing in the morning on our first day of school, which put a serious kink in my day- REALLY not the way I wanted to get our school year started! So two hours behind we finally managed to get sat down and start things rolling. And this is where some of the good stuff comes in- Rhythm was so excited and he put forth so much effort, more than I have ever seen him put forth before. I can honestly say that he was making his absolute best effort and I was just so surprised, proud and delighted!

Despite our late start, our school time on Monday ended up turning into such a sweet time with both my children, fully focusing on them. Lion Cub shocked us all by really getting into his Tot School activities and keeping happily and unmischieviously occupied the ENTIRE time (which I will go into more in my Tot School post for the week) and Rhythm and I were able to really work together to get through his core subjects. We were even able to go set up his play tent in the yard and read together while Lion Cub took his nap in the afternoon- what a priceless memory to mark the beginning of our school year with. That alone truly made the day feel redeemed!

However, (back to one of those unexpected hurdles I hadn't planned for and really probably should of) I quickly found out that once we made it through Calendar time, Bible, Math and Reading, Rhythm really started to check out and he has every day since. He has never had to sit and concentrate for this long and it was obviously becoming too much for this active little boy. One morning he was so distracted right from the get go that I made him go out in the yard and run laps until he was good and worn out and ready to sit and concentrate. It wasn't his best day but those laps definitely helped!

So, as a result of this realization, each day I have done it a little differently, but basically I have started planning in a break right after we finish those 3 core subjects- recess, essentially. One day we went for a walk. Another day the boys wrestled and played with trucks while I got dinner in the crockpot. So far it seems that that break ends up falling about the time that they are getting hungry for lunch, so I have moved our lunchtime up to about 11:30ish. It seems to work best if I go ahead and just let him have his independent play time until after I get Lion Cub down for his nap and then we can resume again, just the two of us, to work on all the fun stuff I have planned. Ya know, the stuff I spent countless hours mapping out for the entire year!

It has become dramatically apparent that I have definitely expected too much and my plans are far loftier than he is capable of handling at this point. But ya know, I am also more okay with it than I would expect from myself, especially considering all that work! I think that I feel more grateful than anything that we are homeschooling so that I can pick up on his cues and really create an environment and timing that he can work best in. As I discussed it with The Carpenter this evening he expressed the same thankfulness that our incredibly active little boy isn't being forced to sit at a desk for an entire morning and end up totally checking out (and likely getting in trouble) wasting away these precious learning years.

Now, I won't lie and say that it hasn't been a bit discouraging as well. I have such fun stuff planned! But as I saw with the plaster homemade globe we attempted to make this week that ended up turning into a 100% mommy project in about 2 minutes, what I think is fun may not be as fun for him, so I really have to taylor what I'm planning to him and respond to how he is doing with the projects I present to him. however, I do have to say that he did enjoy the painting of it (he just really didn't like having the plaster on his hands!).

In all honesty there have been times this week that I have considered completely postponing our geography, science and history plans (which are a combined unit study) until next year when he may be more up for it, but I still haven't come to any real conclusions on this. For right now I think we will forge ahead but just not be afraid to cut out the things that he isn't ready for. There is so much wonderful literature included in what we are studying and beautiful opportunities to learn about God's creation and everyone's need to learn about Him, that I hope to still be able to make a lot of it work. The key will just be to not burn either of us out and try to come at it in a more relaxed way. And really, like I said, I'm pretty amazed that I haven't had a nervous breakdown because things are so not how I prepared for- it absolutely cannot be me. I truly feel that God has given me an extra measure of grace, patience and flexibility this week because if it had all been me, well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty and we would all most likely already hate homeschooling by now!

So thank you Jesus for answering prayers, giving guidance and most of all giving me a little boy who is eager to learn combined with affording us the priceless opportunity to still let him very much be a five year old boy!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- August 9, 2011

I was singing a song the other day- kind of in a goofy way- and Lion Cub shouted out, "Fwoot Cake!"  (Translation- Fruit Cake!)  He has a habit of calling names (most of which are nonsensical, thank goodness) but this one just cracked me up!!

______________________________

Lion Cub: Knock Knock
Me: Who's There?
Lion Cub: "Lion Cub"
Me: "Lion Cub" Who?
Lion Cub: "Lion Cub" Bak Kook! (this is the main nonsensical name that he calls people all the time.  He uses it in anger and affection- its very odd!)

______________________________

In our house we generally refer to "manly parts" as chickens (don't ask me why!).  Well the other day I nearly died laughing when Rhythm (5) apparently hurt his manly business and yelled out, "Oh my tenders!  Ya know, cause that's my chicken and these are my tenders!"

Curriculum Choices for 2011-2012- K & Tot School!

 

 **UPDATE** I originally posted this about a month ago, but wanted to update to say that I have officially finished Rhythm's lesson plans for the year!  Wahoo!  I am now working on wrapping everything up for Lion Cub and co-op, along with working on our school room- which I am very excited about and can't wait to share with you all!  My posting has been sparse in recent months but I fully plan to dive back in and being documenting our year as soon as we start, the week of August 22, so subscribe and stick around!  I'd love to get to know you!***

I can't believe that Rhythm is actually heading into Kindergarten this fall!  How can this be possible?!  Needless to say, we are both very excited!  In fact, I have been considering curriculum for almost two years to figure out what we would be using this next year and began the official buying of books and working on ideas in February!  I have been slowly writing our lesson plans now for the last two months, but have been feeling the urgency lately to get things wrapped up since we plan on starting school August 22!  I am currently up to Christmas and plan to finish the rest when we get back from our little holiday.

Before I really get into the details, though, I feel the need to not really apologize, but I guess explain that my little plan for this year really doesn't seem to look like a lot of the other Kindergarten plans I have recently come across in blogland.  I come at things from a Charlotte Mason, Unit Study, slightly eclectic style because I believe in it and think it will work best for my children.  It is definitely a method that takes more planning, preparation and organization on my part, but I really believe that both of my boys are going to learn well from this approach and we are all going to enjoy the process more than we otherwise would.

Much of my inspiration for this style of learning has come from this wonderful lady- Susan Evans at Hands-on Learning!

I stumbled upon Susan at last year's local Homeschool Conference and was instantly enthralled with her energetic, immersive style!  You could just tell that her kids LOVE to learn!  She takes the hands-on, unit study style to a whole new level!  I was thrilled to be able to attend both of her workshops at this year's conference and learned so many awesome ideas for incorporating journals into all sort of study and art projects with history lessons.  You have just got to go check out her site!  Her blog also has some wonderful articles and her You Tube Channel beyond rocks!  I really hope to incorporate more and more of her approach over the next couple of years, and honestly wish we were friends and I could just go sit with her family while they do school for like a week to see how they do it all!  Although, her videos do offer an awesome glimpse.

Anyway! Alright, now that I have given that little disclaimer, here we go...

Rhythm- Kindergarten

Bible-
We will be using Grapevine Studies, Beginner Level as our main curriculum to really get in the word and learn the actual accounts.


With that said, Bible will be our main, over-riding daily focus and I am going to do my best to incorporate it into as many aspects throughout our day as I can.  We will start our morning by reading/reciting our memory verses (using the system from Simply Charlotte Mason) during breakfast and going over Bob Jones' Bible Truths for Christian Growth K5.  The boys will be having their own quiet times in the afternoon where they will listen to The Word of Promise Audio Bible or praise music while looking through picture Bibles and spending their own little time with Jesus.  During dinner we will read a short chapter from Leading Little Ones to God and go over our memory verses again.  Then before bed The Carpenter will read the boys a story from The Jesus Storybook Bible.

Math-
Horizons K- In all honesty I think Rhythm is going to fly through this curriculum fairly fast because he has a natural pension for math, but I plan to just meet him at his level and we will move on to 1st grade math as soon as he is ready.

Reading-
This is a harder one because Rhythm has a harder time focusing in this subject.  Our plan right now is to start over with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, use You Can Read for sight words, use Abeka's Blend Ladders for some drills and hopefully incorporate some word play ideas from 1+1+1=1 as well.  If All About Reading comes out with their level 1 curriculum this summer I may also consider using it if it seems like a good fit.

Spanish-
We will be listening to Spanish podcasts during lunch every day and using some spanish learning apps on my phone (and hopefully my iPad if I get one by fall), then we'll see where it goes from there.  I am also considering getting a subscription to Speekee, if money allows and it is also kind of dependent on that iPad thing since my computer is too slow to play video very well.

Piano-
I will be teaching Rhythm some very basic piano using Bastien's Young Beginner series. We were going to use these last year but he just wasn't ready.  I think he finally has enough of an attention span to start again though.

All the rest-
Ok- this is where I get all carazay! The rest of our subjects (yup- geography, history, science, art, writing composition, handwriting and whatever else you can think of) will be covered unit-study-style using a combination of Galloping the Globe and Expedition Earth.  We will be incorporating a lot of hands-on projects, copywork, lapbooks, narration and living books to accomplish this.  This is where I think the bulk of my blogging will come into play to document how we are taking this little journey into unit-study land.  This is also the part we are both most excited for and I hope to be able to tie Lion Cub into our studies as much as possible as well!

Co-op-
We will being attending a co-op this fall where Rhythm will be taking three classes- Music, Learning with Playdough and Lego Build.  He is beyond thrilled and we love that we get the best of both worlds- he get's the "school" experience with teachers, friends, backpacks, lunch boxes and all the rest, while also being homeschooled.  We are thrilled to have found this independent & Christian option so close to us.

In addition I will also be teaching two classes at the co-op, which I am totally pumped about!  I will be teaching Improv for junior highers, since I have extensive experience with both acting and junior highers, and A Becoming an Explorer class for 2-4th graders!  And yes, I will be posting all the fun details about this class right here on the blog so that hopefully some of you can utilize them in your homeschool or co-op as well!

Hip-Hop & Breakdancing-
Rhythm will be continuing his hip-hop and breakdancing classes at a local breaking studio which he totally loves!  He is really coming along and being introduced to more power moves this summer!  It is absolutely hilarious and, even better, Lion Cub is really catching on!

Lion Cub- Tot School (2 Years Old)

As I mentioned above, I really am going to try to include Lion Cub into most of what I am doing with Rhythm, but at his own level.  I do want to do a few things just for him though because I really think he will thrive on things geared just for him and absorb them quickly.  We tried out some of Carisa's Tot School printables last week and he ate them up, so we will likely be doing one letter a week.  As far as printables go I will also probably be mixing in some Tot books and packs, just to keep things fresh for him.

In addition, I plan on having a selection of tot trays for him each week and a monthly themed sensory bin.  I made a very basic one for him recently and he has adored playing with it.  My only hang up is finding a way for my house to not get covered in beans or rice or whatever happens to be in the tub while he and Rhythm play!!  These are the themes I have planned out for the year:

September: Asia/geography
October: Fall
November: Thanksgiving
December: Christmas
January: Winter
February: Valentine’s
March: St Patrick’s Day
April: Spring
May: Spring cont... Butterflies & bugs


So that's the break down!  It's all still a little subject to change as I nail things down (more so for Lion Cub than Rhythm), and I still have a TON of work to do to get ready, but we are really excited and looking forward to a great year!

What are you doing for school next year?  I'd love for you to leave a comment and a link!

Chirp Chrip... Chirp Chirp...

There are crickets- do you hear them?  Ok- you all probably thought this blog was abandoned becaue well, it pretty much was!  With the launch of my new blog (BOLD Turquoise) a couple of months ago, my efforts and pictures have mostly been stashed over there.  But as we're heading into summer and I am vigorously working to get all of my lesson plans written for next year, I have been feeling drawn back to this space.  I mean, this is the boy's blog, after all, and it is supposed to be all about their life and homeschool.  And since Rhythm will be heading into kindergarten this year and it all feels so much more official, I want to do a better job of documenting, sharing and gathering ideas from you all about our little journey.

And then there's Lion Cub!  He is such a busy, inquisitive little guy that I really think he is going to take much more to Tot School than Rhythm ever did.  Not to mention the fact that I am going to need to keep him busy with things while I am trying to work with Rhythm.  So there will be a lot to share about his little "school" days too.

So, basically all of this to say that in the next couple of days I am going to reside my place in this little space and be posting about our kindergarten curriculum choices, Tot School plans and start posting pictures again from the boy's activities and day to day lives!

Thanks for hangin' around!  I love you ladies more than my luggage!

-MacKenzie

Our little Breakdancer!

Rhythm had his first breakdancing/hip-hop show this past weekend and it was hilarious!  He had only been taking the classes for three weeks before the show but he did surprisingly well!  He practiced a lot at home and was very serious during his classes! 

The day of the show he asked me if he would be singing as well.  When I told him no, just dancing, he replied, "Well, are you sure mom?  Cause I could write a really great song to sing!  It would be really good!"  This child has no fear!  He loves to perform!  (Hmmmm... wonder where he gets that from?!)  I love that not only did he want to sing but he actually wanted to write the song too!

So, ladies and gentlemen- Enjoy!

Sheer Wonderment!

I love to see my children's faces as they see the first snow of the season!  It is one of the most precious things to me about this time of year.  I managed to capture them this year- enjoy!

excitement at first sight

wonderment

joy

"I have no idea what's going on!"
Oh, and notice the chipped front tooth- yup, that's a new one this weekend!  Now both my boys have chipped teeth!
Lovely.

And this is the view overnight!  About 4 inches!  Insane!

T-Ball with 4 year olds!

Quite possibly one of the funniest things on the planet!  In fact, if I would have had video of one particular episode, I am pretty sure we would be at least $10,000 richer via Funniest Home Videos and probably could have take home the $300,000 grand prize.

Rhythm is second from the left on the bottom row

You see, Rhythm is a very enthusiastic little guy, who is always very busy and apparently playing for just his own team wasn't enough- he not only hit the ball when he was up to bat, but ran after it and threw it to first base!  He then repeated these actions with the next TWO kids who were up to bat from his own team!  It was hilarious and he was completely delighted with himself!  So funny!

Here are a few of the pics from his games and practices:

Some help from dad!

Whack it!

There he goes!

Up to bat for real- my little bobble-head!

At the lake...

We have had a few opportunities to spend sometime out at a nearby lake last summer and I just wanted to share some of our pictures from the fun times we had!

The first time we headed out for a local street fair with Nana (my mom) and boy oh boy, was it a busy and HOT day!  We had a really fun time though!  One of the highlights of Rhythm's day was getting a tattoo (airbrushed on)!  He felt like such a stud!

 

Tough Guy!

We checked out the local sandcastle artist...

And a fountain in the park...

Then, to escape the heat and have a little fun, we dared drag that darned stroller all the way down the steep, gravely beach to go swimming and build some sand castles of our own!

Woo!  A little deeper and colder than expected!

Teamwork- precious and rare!

Check out that booty!  And that is without a diaper!

COVERED!

buried!

When we were done at the beach we headed up to another fun little fountain in the park to wash off and get dressed to go.  I love this little fountain- it gives way to a little stream that runs all the way down to the lake and you can walk in it the whole way!  Refreshing and fun!

"Ahh!  It splashed my face!"

Gotta wash those feeties!

And I swear- I really was there, even if I'm not in any of the pictures!  Haha!  Isn't mama always behind the camera?!  It was a great day and just the first of a few that we had out at this little lake town- but I'll save the rest for another post!