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!

Week 1 Tot School- I just never expected...

For months I have considered in bewilderment what to do with my very mischievous 2 year old while we embarked on our first "official" year of homeschooling. There is not a day that goes by that I don't find him into something. Whether it is pouring an entire new gallon bottle of laundry detergent (bought desperately in the first place because I had just run out of my homemade stuff) all over my tiny laundry room floor (even under the machines), emptying a bottle of shampoo into my bedroom carpet (took "shampooing the carpets" to a whole new level for me), taking apart a brand new toy, or covering his face in super glue (this one actually happened when I wasn't at home, so I can't take all the credit there), our dear Lion Cub just never takes a break from finding new (or old) things to get into.

Many days, it utterly exhausts me.

So, as you can imagine, the prospect of having him not be either into something or a constant distraction while I worked on school with Rhythm felt daunting. Whatever would I do with him?!

Well, our first day of school rolled around this week and I had a loose plan of what I would try with him- some montesorri-inspired Tot School activities from 1+1+1=1. Right after calendar time, which we included him in, and Bible, which he pretended to draw along with, I broke out some button and a painting tray from Michaels for him to sort colors into.

And he sat there.

And he did it.

For 10 whole minutes he sat happily sort colors, mostly correctly (also to my surprise). It was bizarre.

So, as he began to lose interest I quickly switched the buttons out for some colored craft puff balls, a different tray and a pair of kid chopsticks from PF Changs. Jackpot! He LOVED this! Another good 10-15 minutes of giggly fun as he transferred balls into the tray. To be honest, we all had a good laugh a few times because the balls just kept popping out of his grasp. A little distracting, but hey- he wasn't destroying anything so I could encourage Rhythm to ignore him.

After that, also to my amazement, he went in the living room and sat down in the recliner with Rhythm's Mobigo and played for the rest of school time. Now please realize how extraordinary this is- he doesn't even actually know how to use it. He has picked it up and messed with it many times before but never for more than five minutes! Craziness!

Day two we broke out my new iPad (actually, let me rephrase that- I don't think I ever want to use the words "broke" and "iPad" in the same sentence!) and he played some games and watched the free Toy Story interactive book with headphones on so as not to distract Rhythm with the sound. That kept him busy for a good bit of time, but once that was over he headed over to play with the duplos. Once again, these are not a typical toy for him. He has never really just sat down and started building with them. But, low and behold, he sat and built, and built and built- FOR OVER AN HOUR!!!

Excuse me while I pass out- I feel a bit like I have entered an alternate universe!

I just really cannot express to you the relief that has spilled over me in this area over the last few days! SO many people asked me whatever would I do with him in order to let Rhythm actually have a shot at learning this year, and although I could tell them what I planned and hoped, I was really thinking the same thing. But somehow, someway, God worked a miracle this week. I don't know if it is the sense of structure or maybe even the more active sense of my participation with them (even if my attention is mostly focused on Rhythm, I am there with them and not busied by housework or whatever else is going on in life, which I think he picks up on)- whatever it is, it's a miracle and I praise the Lord that He has made it so!

I know we will have rough days, but just knowing that he can stay busy in a nondestructive way and we can get through school without him being a total and complete distraction is an incredible encouragement!

How did your week go with your smallest learners?

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

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!

Wordless Wednesday- Eatin' like a big boy!

What I love about you- 15 months!

You are still a total and complete handful (seemingly more so by the day) but you are also getting more and more fun!  These are the things I love about you right now:

Your cheesy grin!  You love smiling for the camera now!

Your silliness- you really like to by sly and funny and see if anyone notices.

One of your big mischievous moves these days is finding the remote!

Yup- you're naked behind that milk jug!  You LOVE taking off your diaper and running away as fast as you can!

Your new-found love of your apron!  You bring it to me all the time so I will put it on you!

Just Cute!

You are enjoying books more.  Now you not only tear them off the shelves but actually sit and look at them for a while!

You have an inherent sweetness behind the whining and mischief!

How badly you wanted to "hunt" with you dad and brother! You were freaking out because you wanted to be in the blind with them so much!  You can't wait to be older!

Sweet love!

You have always wanted to be held, but you are becoming more of an actual cuddler these days.  I love those moments!

You and your brother pick on each other to no end but you also love each other and I catch you snuggling every now and then.  I love how you go around the house calling for him (although you say "mama" you mean his name) if you can't find him and the way you two interact is priceless.  I can see a life-long friendship flourishing and it is incredibly sweet!

You are cutting teeth, sleeping horribly and constantly ransacking our house but I wouldn't trade you for the world!  You give me a total run for my money and I love you to pieces!  

Oh, and you weigh 25.14 lbs and are 33 1/3" long!!  Just 7 inches shorter and 5 pounds lighter than your brother who is three whole years older than you!  It's insane... but I have the most toned arms of my life!

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!