Checking in again

Hey ya'll
Yes, it's been an embarrassingly long time since I last wrote on this homeschool blog. Please forgive me. However, we have still been doing school and things are going great! With the exception of the last few weeks of Christmas madness, we have finally found a rhythm and are really enjoying our time of learning. I planned activities for December, but with the busyness of the season we haven't done much except Advent-y crafts like baking cookies, making gifts, and decorating gingerbread houses, lots of shopping, and going to special things like "The Messiah" at the local high school and "The Nutcracker" in Edmonds.

I have been reading a lot about Charlotte Mason, the "founder" of the homeschooling movement. I've heard a lot about her just in reference, but never really understood the specifics. As I started to learn more, I've realized my personal philosophy is very similar to Charlotte's already. The hallmarks of her philosophy include "living books," narration and lots of free time (specifically the afternoons devoted to leisure for the child).
Here are some links I found about the CM method:
Simply Charlotte Mason
Charlotte Mason Companion- currently reading this
Charlotte Mason bio- Wikipedia

It's been fun reading and learning more!

I PROMISE to write a real post about what we've been doing and what's in the works for next year soon!

I wish I could write all day sometimes, reflecting on how the school day is going. School is ongoing throughout the day, and I'd love to record the different things we do that address certain skills. For example, yesterday Caley helped me put away the dishes and it was a great sorting activity. We are always working on kindness with one another, and obedience. When we listen to music I try to tie it into whatever else we might have been learning. And when we're driving Caley reads the signs. I am really enjoying homeschooling because I get to see my girls learn all day long. And God is stretching me in many good ways.

Busy few weeks

The last few weeks have been really busy. We took a weekend trip to Astoria at the beginning of September so I could run the Great Columbia Crossing (which was really fun) and while we were down there we took a tour of the Lewis and Clark Expedition replica fort--Fort Clatsop. We will be learning about Lewis and Clark and other frontiersmen next week. I'm hoping the girls will remember at least some of the tour while we read books and do expedition projects. I'm excited for them to learn about Sacajawea and relate to her possibly because she was just a young girl when she lead Lewis and Clark as their guide.

Before we went to Astoria we studied music and listened to a lot of classical music, drew instruments, and made a leaf craft. Caley read some books to a resident at the retirement center, she and two friends, Mina and Lenora. It was really fun and Caley did great. On Friday that week Caley went to speech therapy for the first time, and she did great and had fun. Mrs Rose is very good with her and she played some games and got some cards with words she is practicing (right now k sound).

So last week we were just getting back into the swing of things from being gone, and we didn't do much school, besides the math book and reading book. Caley also went to speech therapy on Friday. She even had some homework we had to do! I can tell you right now I didn't expect homework to be a part of my homeschooling plan, but what can you do, I think it's good for her. Caley continually amazes me with her reading skill. She has started reading to Amelia and Wesley, actually reading the words instead of just telling the story. It's very fascinating to watch. Last week we also did some potato crafts which was a blast for the girls.

I am very much enjoying the Saxon math book. It moves slowly and gets the kids used to the materials before doing explicit "math." Yesterday we acted out a story problem. And I haven't bought any of the Saxon materials, just improvised with things I already have. Frugal!

KONOS

As mentioned previously, we are using KONOS unit studies to organize what we learn and when during this school year. Here are a list of links about this curriculum.

• KONOS website
• KONOS review
• Homeschool Mom KONOS review
• Old Schoolhouse KONOS review
• Homeschool graduate KONOS review

First Few Week's Report

I've been meaning to write this blog for a few weeks, but could never seem to find the time. Today God gave me the time and I was sitting here twiddling my thumbs, so voila blog time!

We made it through the first few weeks of kindergarten! Week one was fun and busy. Tuesday and Wednesday we squeezed school in between women's group and another babysitting commitment. Those were pretty busy days and I felt kind of flustered. Friday however, we stayed home and it felt much more relaxed and natural.

The unit theme is "Attentiveness" and we have studied hearing, deafness, blindness, Helen Keller, memory, reading book, and intro to math using the Saxon book. I found it pretty easy to do school with both girls, even if Caley needed to do something tailored to her, Amelia was very easy to keep occupied in the meantime. We played Husker Du, colored some silly pictures with hidden drawings, watched "The Miracle Worker."

The first week of school we got Caley a library card, she filled out the info sheet herself and checked out 4 books.

During Week 2 we learned more about hearing and seeing, Alexander Graham Bell and telephones, safety and dialing 911. We also had "Whisper Day" which was amazing for everyone. In the math book we are playing with legos (parent hack of unifix cubes) and beads (hack for teddy bear counters) and the lessons are very gradual, which is surprising for me. It's a very natural progression.

Now we are halfway through Week 3 and we are learning about music and the orchestra. We have been exploring musical instruments such as the piano and guitar, and made our own instruments out of household items. We read "The Nutcracker" and listened to the Tchaikovsky music.

Caley is on lesson 78 in her "100 Easy Lessons" book. The lessons are transitioning from the Distar font to regular font and Caley is doing well. Next week we are going to start reading at the retirement center, in which Caley will bring some books she feels confident reading and sit with a resident and read. Our playgroup friends Lenora, Rachael and Noelle will be there too. This week we also went to Japanese storytime at the library. No, I don't speak Japanese, nor have I been to Japan (falling asleep in the Tokyo airport doesn't really count). But I thought it'd be fun to expose the kids to another culture somewhat, and meet moms I wouldn't normally meet. All the directions, stories and even name tags were in Japanese, but there were a few kind strangers who spoke English with me. From the gestures and pictures they showed, I/we got the gist that they did calendar, weather, and a hello song. We really liked the songs with the hand motions.

One thing is for sure, God is really using this homeschooling adventure to sanctify me and turn me into a Mary more than a Martha (http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/mary-and-martha). I am list-oriented and sometimes forget to slow down and let life take it's course. For all the talk I've done (or written about) school being natural, I have been very checklist about kindergarten so far. And when something comes up that ruins my plan, I can get very frustrated and short with my kids. Which is totally opposite what I want. Sure they need to obey, but I also need to let go a bit too so school can continue to be a positive experience.

A good example is what happened this week on Monday. I had planned on some fun activities in the school room, but the kids were just pushing my buttons and I needed a break. I let them read in their rooms for 15 minutes while I took a shower and tried to press "reset" on the day. I told myself, "whatever, today will just be 'reading day' and I'll forget about the plans I had." Post-shower, we went downstairs and read books (the ones I'd picked out for this week's theme). Suddenly I heard faint music from outside--it was the middle school marching band practicing. We stood outside and listened. That naturally morphed into doing all the activities I'd planned. The day had been redeemed. And the kids had fun and learned. God is good. (God would have still been good if we'd just done reading day!)

Hopefully the next entry will be sooner so I can actually record more rather than just summarize!

It feels like Christmas Eve...

Tomorrow is the day I have been waiting for for about 3 years, the first day of school! I'm so excited. I remember being so excited for school when I was a kid. I would always set out my clothes the night before on the floor in the way I wanted to wear them. I remember the day before freshman year in high school, I watched "The Wedding Singer" with my parents and brother, just contemplating how the next morning I would be an official high schooler and all the excitement and nervousness that came with it.

Looking at Caley's school I am excited that I will get to see her grow and learn over the coming year. I don't know how long God will have us teach her at home, and I am thankful I get at least this coming year to spend the days with her. Although part of me is sad she will have a different kindergarten experience than many of her peers, I kind of hope she won't know what she's missing because intermixed in the fun there can be a lot of scary times too.

I loved kindergarten, actually I loved school, so it surprises me that God called me to homeschooling, at least at this point. But I figure now, it's worth a shot.

Tomorrow's first day will not be a typical school day, since we have women's group in the morning. Actually, with just a few exceptions, we won't even do school on Tuesdays. But I guess that's why homeschooling is great, it's flexible. I planned some games and other activities for this week, knowing we have some commitments already. We will do math and reading as well.

You can be praying for my heart as we go into this year, that I would keep my eyes on Jesus throughout the homeschooling process. Also that I would have discernment to say "no" when I should and "yes" when I should to outside activities. Some opportunities have already come up which I feel torn about accepting responsibility for.

Here we go, woohoo!

Trip to the Locks

We went to the Ballard Locks in June but there were very few fish and I felt jipped...so we made another trip in late July. It was just me and the kids and we had a great time!


My favorite part was watching this huge fishing vessel rise up in the locks. Caley took pictures with her (non-working) phone and got some great shots of salmon.

Counting Down

School is scheduled to begin in 3.5 weeks! I have a start date of September 7, the Tuesday after Labor Day. I am planning on making our primary instruction days Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On weeks in which Monday is a holiday, however, I'm planning on squeezing in instruction (math and reading) on Tuesday afternoons. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days we are usually out of the house with women's group and groceries/errands. Tuesdays and Thursdays will also become the day we will most likely do playgroup/playdates, storytime, and reading at the retirement home.

I caught the homeschooling bug yesterday at the Mukilteo District Surplus sale. Imagine if you will a gym full of boxes and boxes of textbooks and library books. Most items were 5/$1. It was like Disneyland for me! Here is our stash, which we got for a grand total of $10!!

If you look closely you'll see 3 or 4 Little House books, which makes our collection complete, 2 Roald Dahl books, several biographies, several literature study guides, some fun "kid" books, some DISTAR method reading books like the phonics book we've been using, and a Husker Du board game!

Bring on the school year!

What we have been doing

Although it's summer break we're doing a lot o' learning here at the Gerlach house. I'm trying to focus on just having fun with the kids, visiting friends, playing outside, and reading reading reading. I enrolled the girls in the Half Price Books summer reading program which rewards them each week with a $3 shopping card for reading or being read to for at least 30 minutes for 5 days. We've had a lot of fun getting to spend their money at the clearance rack. We've picked out several $0.25 books and a few chapter books to read together. We haven't been doing the reading book or any work pages, but we have been coloring, playing with playdough and just having a good old time.It's been really nice to have a break and have more time to see friends we haven't seen in a while. We have taken a trip to the Ballard Locks, Green Lake, the library carnival, Great Grandma's house for her birthday via the ferry, and a few new parks in the area.

We have also been working on daily life skills and teaching the girls to be kind, share, and take responsibility for their things. I can't believe the summer is half over already. The second half of the summer should be a lot of fun too.

Amelia's Goals 2010-2011

Amelia is, of course, part of homeschooling as well and now that she will be 3, next school year I will "officially" do school with her. Which really means we will be doing the reading book. I have already done a few lessons with her and she really enjoys it. She's a bright kiddo and picks up on a lot already. So here are some goals specifically for Amelia.

• Learn Bible stories and memorize Bible verses (shorter than ones Caley's learning)
• Work through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," repeating lessons as necessary
• Show knowledge of counting and shapes
• Show interest in writing her name
• Learn conflict resolution with her siblings
• Potty Training

Year-at-a-Glance 2010-2011

For my reference, here is a rough schedule of our school year.

I am also planning on including:

• 30 minutes per week speech therapy at local elementary school (more on this later)
• 1-2 times per month co-op or field trip
• 1-2 times per month reading with seniors at Harbour Pointe Retirement
• library storytime

September

• KONOS- Attentiveness: Ear/Sound/Music
• Saxon K Lessons 1-12

October

• KONOS- Attentiveness: Eye/Seeing/Frontiersmen
• Saxon K Lessons 13-24

November

• KONOS- Attentiveness: Indians
• Saxon K Lessons 25-36

December

• KONOS- Attentiveness: Birds
• Saxon K Lessons 37-48
• Christmas Break Dec 20-31

January

• KONOS- Obedience: Authority/Kings & Queens
• Saxon K Lessons 49-60

February

• KONOS- Obedience: Military/Friction/Horses
• Saxon K Lessons 61-72

March

• KONOS- Obedience: Horses/Police & Crime
• Saxon K Lessons 73-84
• Spring Break March 28-April 1

April

• KONOS- Orderliness: Sequencing/Calendar/Seasons/Planets
• Saxon K Lessons 85-96

May

• KONOS- Orderliness: Animal/Plant/Rock Classification
• Saxon K Lessons 97-108

June

• Saxon K Lessons 109-112
• Summer Break June 3

Caley's Goals 2010-2011

Here are the main goals we will be working on next year for Caley. I purposely made these very general, which was difficult for me because I learned in grad school that a goal needs to be measurable and quantifiable. But for many of these goals I just don't know what to expect from Caley. It would be weird to require her to learn X amount of Bible verses and if she doesn't do it then she would have "failed" her goal. Not really my cup of tea. The whole beauty of homeschooling is we get to move at the pace appropriate to each child. Basically for next year my overarching goals (for Caley) are: Learn about Jesus, Get along with the siblings, Read Read Read, Have fun and enjoy learning!

• Learn and memorize Bible verses; teach to Amelia and Wesley
• Learn conflict resolution between siblings and familiar peers
• Show management of personal items; schoolwork for the day, cleanup after oneself, etc
• Continue to show interest and increased skill in reading; enjoy 2-3 types of literature (fiction, non-fiction, Bible)
• Enjoy reading her Bible , "read" to others
• Know basics about Jesus and the Gospel; be able to articulate and teach to Amelia and Wesley
• Independently wipe bottom after BM; wash and dry hands afterward
• Independently brush hair and apply a clip/barrette
• Prepare a simple breakfast or lunch (cereal and milk, sandwich, juice, fruit)
• Help with household tasks; empty dishwasher, sweep, sort laundry, fold laundry, put away own laundry
• Finish Saxon Math K book and pass assessments
• Write a letter to Grama independently (thank you, Happy Birthday, etc)
• Know full name, address, phone #, birthday
• Show appreciation/enjoyment of three types of music

And we're done!

The beautiful summer-y weekend combined with my parents taking the girls to Astoria this week means that summer is here and the school year is done! We did school last week and read a charming book called "Very Last First Time" by Jan Andrews. It's about Eva, an Inuit in northern Canada, who goes under the ice and walks along the seabed and collects mussels. We studied about arctic animals, talked about appropriate clothing for the season, counted and graphed goldfish crackers, did puzzles, read bible stories, and drew a spider that we had captured.

It was a fun week, but more importantly it was a fun and exciting year for our school! The countdown has begun for the fall when it will be officially Caley's kindergarten year and we will dive into this adventure we've been practicing for several years. I'm a little nervous. What if I don't have my lessons all planned out? What if she doesn't stay on track with the math schedule I've written up? What if it's raining and we can't do the outside project I planned? I think this adventure will be a continuous exercise in trusting God. I tend to feel confident when I've prepared as much as I can, instead of relying on God that he will teach me and the kids what he has for us! I'm excited for this adventure!

You might be a homeschool mom when...

...you find bugs and spiders in your house and get excited because it means you have a science lesson for the day!

...you get excited about going to Costco because it's a "field trip" to see the bakery and meat departments.

...you enjoy "school days" more than your kids because it means you can stay in your jammies all day.

...the iron is used for crafts instead of ironing.

...you stock up on paper plates and use them for crafts instead of eating on.

More Enrichment

In Sunday May 30th's Everett Herald, the front page article, Why more girls get the grades while boys struggle in our schools, caught my eye because it discusses the gender gap in local high schools. Girls have consistently higher GPAs over boys and the article suggests it's not because girls are smarter than boys, but that traditional high schools teach in a way more girls than boys can understand. Boys tend to be more active and need classes like gym and shop, which are being offered less at high schools.

To read the article click here.

This isn't a new or unique situation to Snohomish County. The bias against boys in classrooms has been noted before in The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers (which we have a copy of I've been meaning to read).

I enjoyed reading this article because it made me consider why we would continue homeschooling, especially for Wesley. It's hard to tell now how his temperament will be as a older child but I like the flexible nature of homeschooling in which if he (or the girls) need a break to run around the yard before doing their writing work, we have the option. Were they to be in a class with 25 other kids, it'd be less likely they could get their wiggles out before doing work they'd need to focus on.

Just some food for thought, and to keep this article in a place where I can find it again if I need to. ;)

Whatevs

Obviously managing three kiddos, keeping house, making exercise a priority, and doing school, keeping up with this blog has been difficult. We have been doing Five in a Row most weeks since I last wrote, and we are doing all kinds of learning in the Gerlach house. We took a trip to Astoria for 4 days for Spring Break, and it was a great trip too! I have been praying and considering what to do for next year and have a lot planned for Caley's kindergarten year. We decided to refer her for a special education evaluation with Mukilteo School District because of some concerns with her speech articulation, and depending on whether she qualifies will determine some of what we can do for her school next year. I am looking into working with a district north of Spokane so we can access state funds and be reimbursed for some of our costs such as piano lessons if we choose to do them. There are some legalities that need to be determined however, and I'm currently weighing whether the reimbursement is worth adhering to the state's rules. Such as, I'm not sure if I want to commit to a lesson plan for next year when it's our first official year as homeschoolers and we'll (I'll) be learning the ropes doing school and balancing the other two kids and such. I'd kind of rather keep things simple until I understand more of how this homeschooling thing goes.

However I have decided to use a unit study curriculum called KONOS which arranges the units by God's attributes. In the fall we will do a unit on attentiveness and study such things as hearing, ears and eyes, sounds and music, frontiersmen, and indians. To supplement we will also be using Saxon K Math three days a week and 100 Easy Lessons for phonics/reading. I'm not sure what to use after Caley's worked through the phonics book, but I for sure don't want to squish her love for reading, and may just assign her books to read and do spelling lists, etc. Still praying/talking/deciding on that one.

I'm also realizing how excited I'm getting about school! Field trips and books I can enjoy with my kids, seeing them love to learn, I can't wait! Just this week we were researching about Russia because our FIAR book was Russia when I went in another room and captured a housefly! I showed it to the girls and then suggested we draw a picture of it. I put it in a bowl and we each drew it the best we could. We had to look closely to see how many wings and legs the fly had. Instant science lesson that I couldn't have planned if I wanted to!

We have been reading some fun books that I need to at least list here so we don't forget. I would like to get several of them for our personal library.

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel- cute, cute book that almost made me cry!

The Glorious Flight- The girls loved saying, "Papabluray!" because the main character was Papa Louis Bleriot who flew over the English Channel

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World- this one was adorable! Caley and I acted out parts of the book and it made her little imagination take off! We also read the spin-off book by the same author "How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA"

Grandfather's Journey- We weren't as much into this one...

Cranberry Thanksgiving- This was a cute, cute story. It in they sing "We Gather Together" and it gave me the idea to open our school days next year with a hymn, either on the piano or on CD. The book also had "16 Men On A Dead Man's Chest" which the girls loved because lately we've been listening to pirate music in the car.

Another Celebrated Dancing Bear- This one took place in Russia and Caley knew the drill- find Russia on the map and color the Russian flag.

Weekly Wrap Up: Back in Action

We have been doing school the last few weeks but I haven't found the time to blog about it. The week of Valentines Day we read "A Pair of Red Clogs" by Masako Matsuno and it was a beautiful story about a little girl in Japan who got new shoes and accidentally cracked them and tried to trick her mother into buying new clogs. She learned not to try and trick people and tell the truth. It was a fun story for the girls to learn from. We talked a bit about Japan and did some counting and talking about weather. They also made a Japanese flag picture by gluing red yarn on a white piece of paper in a circle. I am really enjoying that through the FIAR curriculum the girls are learning about other countries. They regularly recognize American flags and are showing awareness of other country's flags too.

That same week we picked up doing Caley's reading book again and she showed great improvement and fluency in her reading, although the lessons were review. I realized it might be helpful for her to do lessons at least twice before moving ahead, and it so far is working. Caley is enjoying the stories again, which is so encouraging.

The following week the story was "The Rag Coat" by Lauren Mills which was the sweetest story, and it made me cry. It's about a little girl in the Appalachian mountains in the late 1800s (I'm guessing) who isn't able to attend school because she doesn't have a coat to keep her warm in the winter. Her father worked in the coal mines and said he'd find a way for her to attend school, but is unable too because he passes away. Her mother's friends who work on quilts to sell, "The Quilting Mothers," then pool their quilting scraps and make the girl a coat and she's able to attend school and makes friends. Caley really liked the story and asked lots of thoughtful questions about the girl's friends and funerals, wearing black, and going home to be with Jesus. It was beautiful to snuggle on the couch with her and talk about real things.

That week the girls also made a rag coat craft by ripping paper, did shape puzzles, did some other puzzles, and helped me make laundry detergent. Caley also sorted laundry into darks, lights and towels. It's encouraging to have our school be so much a part of real life and I believe teaching skills through real life makes it much more meaningful.

Last week we read "Who Owns the Sun" by Stacy Chbosky. This was a surprising book. It was written in 1987 by a girl who was 16 and won the "Written and Illustrated by" award which honors young authors. The story is about a young boy who asks his father "who owns the sun," "who owns the birds" and "who owns the flowers" and his father replies, "No one, they belong to everyone." Then the boy realizes someone owns his father, because his father is a slave. His father says he is not really owned, and the boy perseveres despite knowing the hard truth.

The concept of slavery was one that I wasn't sure about broaching with the girls, and I hope to read this book again when they may better understand. But we still did coordinating activities and had a fun week. The illustrations are with paint, so we did some painting, talked about Genesis and creation (because really everything belongs to God), and talked about food and food groups. They peeled some carrots and Caley identified which foods belonged to what group. Caley also did some more reading book and is such a good little reader!

We spent some time at the doctor's office for Wesley's 1 month and Caley's 5 year appointment. Caley was very compliant with her vision and hearing test, and they played "doctor" with the tools in the exam room. Later in the week we went to playgroup where the topic was China so they practiced using chopsticks, "fishing" and eating ethnic foods. We also went to an awesome park with a merry go round, or "merry go around" as Amelia calls it. They also moved rocks and helped Daddy in the back yard, there's nothing like a little manual labor to encourage character! :)

Doing school is largely doing life together, and learning together through it all. Although I am starting to feel the pressure that in September Caley will officially be a kindergartner and school will need to be somewhat more structured, or at least I'll need to make some decisions about how we will do things in the fall.

Weekly Wrap Up: Taking it Easy

We didn't do a "Five in a Row" (FIAR) book this week but we did get back to our semi-normal routine. Mostly this week involved going to our regular groups like women's group and playgroup, running errands, playing games and reading lots of books. We also spent a lot of time cuddling with Wesley!

Next week we will get back into the routine of FIAR with the book "A Pair of Red Clogs."

Friday however, we took a trip to the Edmonds library and made some Valentine's Day cards, and the girls had a lot of fun. We went last year too. The library had all the materials and handled all the clean up, so we just went and crafted for nearly two hours.

This week also we have been working on general obedience and teaching the girls how to play and keep themselves busy while Mommy is busy caring for Wesley. Much of this is in the form of making Caley doing things for herself, like putting on her own socks and shoes, instead of doing it for her. Generally she will get frustrated and yell or cry because she can't do it (or is unwilling to try) and I have to be persistent in telling her she's doing fine and I won't be able to help her. A little bit of frustration is good--it teaches them to keep trying.

Caley is getting better at reading, or at least recognizing words. Grama and Papa Bales gave her some Disney books with a pen that reads the words on the page. Caley plays with the books while in the car and is getting better at recognizing words and letters. She also is interested in writing words and regularly asks how to spell something. During these instances I try to help her figure out what letter is next instead of just telling her. For example she wanted to write "Apple Cider Day" because she and Amelia were drinking apple cider. I helped her sound out the letters in "apple" and then told her to add an "e" on the end because it's silent. Teachable moments!

Something that I'm also working on is patience, and could use prayers for patience in learning how to manage three kids. So far it's going okay, but there are better days than others. Thankfully little Wesley is a good sleeper and I've been getting adequate sleep at night. I just need to learn to rest during the day when I can instead of go go go around the house. Although a small victory in the "managing three kids" category on Wednesday--getting all three to nap at the same time!

Thursday night Caley had a Daddy Date and Amelia had a Mommy Date. I'm not allowed to know what happened on the Daddy Date but I think it involved getting me a present. :) For the Mommy Date Amelia and I sat in the upstairs bathroom and listened to music, ate candy, painted our nails and did makeup! She's such a beauty queen.

Until next time...happy learning!

We haven't done formal "school" in a while because Mommy had Wesley on January 28th! He's so cute and we love him very much. We are practicing being big girls and good big sisters by being patient and helpful. Today we helped Mommy give Wesley a bath and we like to give him his binky. We are hoping to start school next week a little, depending on how Mommy feels. For now, enjoy this picture of when we first met "Baby Boy Wesley."Love, Caley and Amelia

Weekly Wrap Up: Madeline

This week our book of focus was Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. The girls both loved this book and by Wednesday they could recite many lines in the story. Madeline is about a little girl who lives in a home in Paris, France with 11 other girls and a nun. She gets sick and has to have her appendix out. The story is simple, the illustrations are simple but beautiful and there are a lot of subjects to draw from and learn about.

On Monday we took a trip on the Mukilteo ferry to Whidbey Island, and I tried to help Caley understand the importance of living near water since a river runs through Paris. She maybe understood a little, but had a blast on the ferry and playing in the sand on Whidbey. They also colored a French flag and we compared it to the US flag they colored the previous week.

During the week we also took a trip the the Imagine Children's Museum in Everett and the girls, as always, had a great time. We spent a good deal of time in the firetruck play area and the train area. We went to storytime at the library on Wednesday, which was a treat because it's been several weeks. Our friends Bekah and Ashton were there with their mommies Bethy and Patricia and the girls loved seeing friends. We also went to playgroup.

Friday we did some applied math and I was impressed at Caley's skills in this area. We talked about size, more and less, and matching and sorting of little colored beads.

Pretty standard week!

Weekly Wrap Up: Lentil

This week we read "Lentil" by Robert McCloskey. It was a fun week! We did lots of listening to big band music, coloring and, tasting different tastes, playing games and talking about kindness and gentleness.

"Lentil" is about a little boy who can't sing so he buys a harmonica and eventually saves the town! There are themes of music, directions, patriotism, and lemons. We touched on these themes in our activities. The girls colored an American flag (and their faces and hands), listened to John Philip Sousa music, tasted lemons, limes, salt and sugar, made a toilet paper roll harmonica and learned a new song, and colored with pencils.

Aside from Lentil-related activities, the girls got ready for Caley's birthday party on Sunday by filling and labeling gift bags, playing board games and finding a ladybug. Caley also drew several fruits and we talked about fruits of the Spirit, specifically kindness, patience and gentleness. This was introduced at playgroup, because it's January's theme.

They also got a lot of playtime with friends, from bible study to having Dexter and Odessa over and playing at Bekah's because I had a doctor's appointment. We also had Caley's birthday party on Sunday which was a big hit! They played with playdough, did a (semi-organized) game of Twister, ate some cake and ice cream, and had free play. They had a great time!

We're hoping baby boy arrives sometime this week or next, but I've planned activities for school nonetheless. Fingers crossed. :)