Gould Family Chronicles

Graduation to Book Two!!

2011-02-05T16:23:00.001-06:00

Kaden completed the first piano book and his teacher feels he is doing fantastic! I thought...hmm, I should be able to "audit" the lesson, practice once the teacher was gone and thus be able to keep up with my 5 year old for free! WRONG!! By the third lesson when Kaden learned his second scale (whatever it was) I was already completely and hopelessly lost! I don't have a piano bone in my body! I'm so sorry, mom, that you ever wasted money on trying to put me though piano as a child. We gave up then and I've given up again! I'm resigned to the fact that notes, alphabet, and keys will never come together and make any sense at all --for me. Kaden on the other hand, while he doesn't like to practice, picks it up in no time. At this point, if he were to practice once a week he would still get it! Of course, the one day a week when he practices at Grammy's house is the only time he has an observer that know what's correct. It all sounds okay to me and I can stand right beside him and never know if he's playing right or wrong....luckily he hasn't caught on to that fact...YET!

Who knew tracking Santa could be so educational?

2010-12-25T16:43:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve 2009 was the year that someone introduced my son to the joys of tracking Santa with NORAD. He became absolutely sure that Santa was real that night!

This year, we brought up NORAD's Santa Tracker around noon Christmas Eve, looked at all the places that Santa had already visited, were excited to see all the places that we've been studying this year...Egypt, Arabian peninsula, India, China, and then South America. We even remembered one of the new places that we learned last year while tracking Santa, like the South Sandwich Islands!

Well, I have never seen a kid go to bed so fast in my life, as my son did when he found out that Santa was in (gasp!) Canada! He was convinced that Santa had almost skipped him and was truly in a tizzy trying to get undressed and into his pj's! I looked at NORAD, and realized that Santa was indeed in Eastern Canada and would be heading for Puerto Rico next...which gave him a few hours before he would be hitting good ol' Central USA...which calmed the boy down enough to allow time to put some socks on before he zipped into bed, yanked the covers up and said "Goodnight, mom!" and closed his eyes already feigning sleep. What?? No endless request for goodnight kisses or for mom to sleep with him for a little while? ....Oh, no, in fact, he opened his eyes long enough to seriously tell me that he thought "EVERYBODY, should SHUT EVERYTHING OFF and go to sleep!!"...umm, it was only a few minutes past 9pm! So, with a promise that Daddy and I would be heading to bed before Santa skipped our house, he turned over and when I checked on him a short time later--he was already asleep! This from the kid who usually stays up until 10pm or 11pm on weekends playing computer games with Daddy!

Santa did not disappoint! (Well, maybe a little, since not everything on his Santa letter made it to our house...but that Santa is one smart guy and knows when a toy is too babyish for such a big kid who will turn 6 in a few weeks!)

We finished our TOG Year 1 Unit 1

2010-10-31T23:30:00.003-05:00

We just had our Y1U1 celebration and it was great. Kaden is too young for making a skit for the night--I take that back--he has 4 parts in the local youth theatre musical, so he's capable--maybe I should say *I* wasn't ready to add to our hectic weeks by coming up with a script. Instead, I re-reserved all the books we've read from the library and we put those out along with the TOG binder one one table. We also had a table for Math, Science/Nature Study, and Language Arts...and put all his projects, spelling tests, copywork, curriculum, etc out. We invited some friends who are always interested in what we do for "school" and had a kind of homeschool open house. Our friends were greeted (somewhat shyly, by "Adam") and told that they could look around at all his projects and curriculum and could ask questions and graze on samples of food from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, complete with a cookie map of the area! Kaden then read us a book of his choosing (The Hardest Word by Jacqueline Jules) and played us one of his piano songs as well as his scales with both hands, which he learned how to play this week!

He was initially shy when it was one-on-one, but as soon as he got in front of his "audience" to read the book, he was quite the pro! =) This is one kid that is not shy to be on stage!

I'll post pictures, when I get a chance to come down from this hectic week! Kaden also perfomed with his other youth castmates at the Halloween Festival downtown tonight!

1. Unit One Celebration Invitation, 2. Unit One Celebration Invitation, 3. Unit One Celebration Ancient Egypt Mesopotamia Food, 4. Egypt Mesopotamia Cookie Map

1. Q1 - Science Table Astronomy, 2. Q1 - Nature study and Drawing, 3. Q1 - TOG History, 4. Q1 - History Literature, 5. Unit One Celebration - Adam, 6. Q1 - History Literature, 7. Q1 - Language Arts, 8. Q1 - Math & Critical Thinking Table, 9. First Spelling Test - October

Good Books for Little Boys

2010-10-19T20:44:00.002-05:00

These are the books that the boy is loving right now. All of these seem to be about mid 2nd grade reading level, but some have pretty good vocab words if you want to make a study out of them. Kaden is just reading these for fun and I periodically look up reading comprehension questions for a few of the books, to satisfy my curiosity about whether or not he is actually reading them. (He doesn't always get the vocab words, and I think he skips some of the harder words, and yet still manages to get the main points of the story.) Since we cover spelling and vocab for history, and reading comp with certain other books, I just let him read for the love of reading. I don't want to turn every book into a quiz and many of the vocab words he does get the meaning of and can reuse it, but can not define it which may be above the "pay grade" of a 5 year old! ;-)

The Lighthouse Family series by Cynthia Rylant
Stink books by Megan McDonald - (Stink is Judy Moody's brother)
Time Soldiers Books by Kathleen Duey (about a group of boys who travel through time and have all kinds of adventures)
Roscoe Riley Rules series by Katherine Applegate - this was a hit with Daddy as well!!!
Scooby-Doo books by James Gelsey
Ready, Freddy books by John McKinley
Down Girl and Sit series by Lucy A Nolan

Hubble 3D

2010-10-02T12:01:00.000-05:00

We went to see the Hubble 3D this week and it was the most amazing, awe inspiring, beautiful thing I've seen in a long time! The beauty of our universe is wondrous to behold and knowing that a photo captures but a portion of it...The immense beauty of our universe is mind boggling!

I highly recommend this! Some of the commentary was a tad biased towards the evolutionary perspective, but not too bad. Totally worth it to see the images that the Hubble has been able to collect and to see the immenseness of space. The first part of the movie documents the repair missions to the Hubble and Kaden was quite impressed with the launch of the space shuttle and the astronauts.

Fun Projects during September

2010-10-01T23:40:00.000-05:00

Nothing to entertaining...just some photos of work from past weeks. We used the styrofoam solar system from Wally World and painted it. Note to self - spraypaint eats styrofoam! We used acrylic paint and our hands to paint the planets to look like the ones in his Apologia Astronomy book. (They are now hanging above Kaden's bed.) Some were mildly successful, others...not so much! But it was fun, and although he wanted to wash his hands as soon as he dipped his fingertips in the paint, we managed to paint the planets AND have our entire hands "yuck" with paint! YEA for getting our hands dirty!

And our first drawing using the Mark Kestler Mini-Marshmallows drawing lessons online!

Please someone tell me that I don't have the only child who has never liked to get dirty (and yet makes the biggest mess during dinner!) LOL. Well at least if we are working on something and I give him the stink eye he'll reluctantly attempt to get his fingertips dirty! It's too funny!

Our Morning Board

2010-10-01T10:05:00.001-05:00

1. Today is… This is a part of a printable that I downloaded from Carisa at 1+1+1=1. It's somewhat small for the size of his writing with the Vis-A-Vis marker, so I write under his direction.

2. Make the Date - This is also a printable that I downloaded from Carisa at 1+1+1=1. We use real coins with a velcro dot on stuck to them. It was cheaper to use a few real coins than to buy a pack of fake ones! Later we can always remove the velcro and use some Goo Gone if needed, but I'm pretty sure that I can spare a quarter, a few dimes, and a few pennies for a while.

3. Today's Temperature - This is another printable you can find by Jolenthe on her morning board post...It has two thermometers on it for the indoor and the outdoor temperature. It's laminated and we use Vis-A-Vis markers to fill in the ‘mercury’ on each thermometer.

4. Pledge of Allegiance - I couldn't remember where I got this from b/c I added it after I decided to do the morning board idea. But, I just looked it up and it is from none other than one of my favorite homeschool bloggers, Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations.

5. Skip Counting Charts - Another awesome printable from Homeschool Creations! I used some of those small metal wire Command Hooks on the foam board. I laminated each page and punched two corresponding holes along the top to hang them. We pick a different number each week, some he already knows and the rest he'll learn from repetition every morning.

6. Weekly Saying - Printed these off from the Core Knowledge list of sayings/phrases/proverbs for Grade 1.

7. The Weather Outside Is... This is our weekly weather graph also printed from Jolanthe's morning board printables. I may change this out to record these by month or for the whole year (or both) to get some easy graphing practice in.

8. Days in School - This is the Math-U-See printable that I downloaded from Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations. This is a sheet that the boy uses to record how many days we’ve been in school, using the place value concepts and colors that he is familiar with from the Math-U-See program. ~ I think that we will eventually remove the addition and number words b/c he finds that boring. Right now I use it to see if he can remember how to spell the words.

Penmanship is difficult but rewarding work

2010-09-24T19:47:00.000-05:00

This was part of Kaden's weekly map skills subject. I had bought both the Grade 1 and Grade 2 of the Evan-Moore Daily Geography workbooks thinking that they looked pretty easy. (They are...we do the whole week in about 5 minutes!) I have this other map skills workbook that is Grade 1 and it's a lot more difficult...well not content wise, but it is heavy on the writing, which is still physically challenging for the boy! I quit making him write last year for Kinder b/c he was only 4--and it just caused tears. But this year...he still doesn't like it, says it hurts, but he has come a long way in just five weeks!

He's paticularly proud today of his "w" in the word "new!" I was taking a shower, so I wonder how many times he erased it. *smile* I see some eraser marks, and that's one of the letters he struggles with...getting it to have "it's wings close together." But it is dark and has straight decisive lines, and I am so impressed--and he is so proud--that I had to share.

Our Curriculum 2010-2011

2010-09-03T16:13:00.000-05:00

It took several weeks of pouring over blogs, recommendations, reviews, etc, before I decided on this year's curriculum for 2010-2011, which I suppose is “first grade”. This is a list of the curriculum that we are using for each subject this year along with the how often we’ll be working on that subject each week.

Morning Board ~ We start our day off with our morning board. Jolanthe over at Homeschool Creations has a fantastic post about their morning board and I based ours on hers, with a few changes to meet our own needs. I'll post another post about our morning board details.

Classical Literature/Read Alouds ~ I’ve collected book lists from all over the place – blogs, amazon.com, Simply Charlotte Mason, Core Knowledge Sequence, and just books that I remember from my own childhood. In all instances, every effort has been made to find an unabridged version, true to the Charlotte Mason style of learning. This year we have planned, the following at a minimum: {1 chapter Daily}

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Peter Pan
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other Beatrix Potter books
Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh
The House at Pooh Corner
Stuart Little
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Trumpet of the Swan
Charlotte’s Web
The adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Poetry ~ Poetry minimum selected from recommended Core Knowledge poetry recommendations {2-3 per 6-wk period}

Hope (Langston Hughes)
I Know All the Sounds that the Animals Make (Jack Prelutsky)
My Shadow (Robert Louis Stevenson)
The Owl and the Pussycat (Edward Lear)
The Pasture (Robert Frost)
The Purple Cow (Gelett Burgess)
Rope Rhyme (Eloise Greenfield)
Sing a Song of People (Lois Lenski)
Solomon Grundy (traditional)
The Swing (Robert Louis Stevenson)
The Goops (Gelett Burgess)
Thanksgiving Day (Lydia Maria Child)
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (Eugene Field)

Sayings/Phrases ~ common English sayings and phrases from Core Knowledge Sequence {2-3 per 6-wk period}

A.M. and P.M.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. [also in Kindergarten]
Fish out of water
Hit the nail on the head.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Land of Nod
Let the cat out of the bag.
The more the merrier.
Never leave till tomorrow what you can do today.
Practice makes perfect. [also in Kindergarten]
Sour grapes
There’s no place like home.
Wolf in sheep’s clothing

Fiction, Fables / Tall Tales ~ Fiction, Fables and Tall Tales minimum selected from recommended Core Knowledge recommendations and other reading lists {2-3 per 6-wk period}

King Midas and the Golden Touch
The Frog Prince
Hansel and Gretel
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Princess and the Pea
Puss-in-Boots
Rapunzel
Rumpelstiltskin
Sleeping Beauty
Similar Stories, Other Lands - (Cinderella, The Egyptian Cinderella, Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China)
Lon Po Po (China) and Little Red Riding Hood
Issun Boshi, or One-Inch Boy (Japan); Tom Thumb (England); Thumbelina (Hans Christian Andersen); Little Finger of the Watermelon Patch (Vietnam), The Knee-High Man (African-American folktale)

The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Dog in the Manger
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
The Maid and the Milk Pail
The Fox and the Grapes
The Goose and the Golden Eggs

Phonics/Spelling/Handwriting ~ We will be using The PHONICS Road to Reading and Spelling Level 1 again this year. We started this program last year for kinder and then because he could already read and writing wasn’t a focus, we slacked off. This year we are completely starting over, and I’ll probably just substitute when we get to the “reading” booklets b/c they are too easy for him. This is a very intensive course, but I think the spelling results will be worth it. It’s very fast paced. Last year we slowed it down to half pace or less b/c of the writing involved, but I should have just forged ahead and separated the physical writing aspect of it. Oh, well! Live and learn. This year, we are using it at the regular pace. {Daily}

Math ~ Math-U-See is our primary curriculum and Kaden is going to be starting Alpha (the addition book) this year, he could have done it last year, but again I was hung up on the age/grade thing. This year, I’m ready to purchase the next level whenever he finishes Alpha, even if it means 2 or 3 math curriculum purchases in one year. Since MUS doesn’t really cover time, money or measuring this year, we’ll make sure that we cover that during morning board time, science, or the many Dollar Tree workbooks I’ve purchased. {Daily}

History ~ The backbone of our studies this year is Tapestry of Grace: Year 1, Ancient History. I just found this program this year and it is a whopper! So far it’s been fantastic; although I’ve had the free sample lessons to help with planning…I’ll have to make a note to post after I have to schedule a whole week by my lonesome! This curriculum includes a writing program, but we will be using the ones noted above. {Daily}

Geography ~ included in TOG curriculum. I’ve added Daily Geography Practice, Grade 1 and a Map Skills workbook. {Weekly}

Bible ~ correlated to history time frames by Tapestry of Grace, using a great children's bible that is part narrative part verse closely following the King James Bible. The pictures are unrealistically Anglo-Saxon, but we've discussed with how the pictures are simply somebody's artwork and that they may/maynot be accurate. The story form has enabled him to really understand what we are reading and the fact that TOG ties it in with the appropriate historical period helps make connections that he might not otherwise have made. {Daily}

Writing ~ We are using The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease, year 1 (hardback book) and I will be using passages and copywork from our classic literature or poetry. This way, I can pick from what we are working on at the time of the lesson. Kaden will be working through FLL Year 1 after the 4th week of Phonics Road. {Daily}

Critical Thinking ~ We use a couple of workbooks from the Critical Thinking Co. Dr. DooRiddles (A1), Can You Find Me?, and Mind Benders Warm Up (First 1/2) {Daily}

Language ~ First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind is something I have had since deciding to homeschool and before I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to afford buying years in advance! Kaden will be working through FLL Year 1 after the 4th week of Phonics Road. This book has scripted lessons that look fairly easy but cover a lot of material. He may get bored with all the repetition, but he memorizes things so easy that I think saying it a few times really will cement it into his memory. I’ll be checking out the poem printables from Homeschool Creations, a homeschooling mom who shares many of the printables she creates for her own children for free. {Tri-Weekly}

Science ~ This is a subject that has been a struggle. This is the one subject that I have looked forward to since the day we decided to homeschool! The very idea of all the bugs, critters, plants, chemistry, physics, magnetism….that we could explore! The experiments we could do! Well, that bubble burst bright and early last year with the second experiment when he said “ughh, not again! I already know that! You already said ….” Okay--so experiments are not his thing, but when I had to literally body pin him just to get him to TOUCH a little ol’ earthworm, I knew things were not looking good! I totally stalled and we did nothing other than read a few books and bug encyclopedias...now, those he’ll read for hours on end!… So this year, I’m going with Apologia’s Astronomy to start with, so far I like the book and the layout. The text is conversational; the projects look fairly easy and uncomplicated. So far, he likes it. It’s easily accomplished in 2 days a week, with most lessons covering 2 weeks, reading and note booking during week 1; projects during week 2. {Bi-Weekly}

Nature Study ~ This was the least favorite topic last year, and as such, we are only doing it once a week. We may just do a nature hike and then lookup items of interest using Anna Comstock's book Handbook of Nature Study or if he gets into it this year we may lightly follow the Outdoor Hour Challenges which also uses the Handbook. {Weekly}

Music Study ~ We are following the Charlotte Mason approach to studying one composer every 6 weeks starting with Bach. Our list of composers was pulled from Simply Charlotte Mason. {Weekly}

Drawing ~ We were going to follow the artist study from Simply Charlotte Mason, but decided to use a drawing program instead, Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad, although I may try to sign up for the Mini-Marshmallow Art Lessons sometime this year. {Bi-Weekly}

PE ~ PE activity on Friday’s during homeschool group gathering. One of the mom’s organizes a different activity each week. 3 hours {Weekly}

Extra-curricular Activities ~ the other things that take up our days and evenings are:

local Soccer league; 1 hr. (this is our 5th season, I think?) {Bi-Weekly}
Piano lessons; 45 min. {Weekly}
Theatre class; 1 hr. 15min. {Weekly}
Speech Therapy; 30 min. {Weekly}

Wow, that seems like A LOT, but so far we are getting it done by 3 -- and that’s with plenty of free-time (which he heads to the computer for) and a 2 hour nap! Everything is scheduled during the "school" day except soccer, along with dedicated free-time, snack, lunch and nap breaks!

Homeschool 2010-2011

2010-08-26T19:14:00.001-05:00

I'm going to try posting regularly, although I doubt very much it's going to be daily! I don't know anyone who reads this blog, so it's my own journal of sorts. A computer has been part of my world for so long that I no longer think straight on paper! I am always interested in what others are using for curriculum and some of the most useful strategies in our school day come from other homeschool blogs, so maybe this helps someone...maybe not.

The hardest habit to break is thinking in terms of traditional school years/subjects. This year, Kaden is just now old enough to go to public kindergarten, but he’s had 6 months of Montessori kindergarten and we did mostly kindergarten last year, except the writing portion. As seems common among little boys, he has had no interest in writing. But, he has shown a marked distaste for drawing, coloring, painting, legos, etc….anything that takes small hand motor concentration. So, I let it slide last year since he was a little young for a truly formal school curriculum anyway. But, this year is different. He’s had basically 2 years of kinder level academic work. He started Montessori at 3.5 and was placed in their kindergarten class (which was a great experience) after a week or two. He was there for 6 months when I realized that I would be homeschooling for the next year. I thought about the K12 program whom a friend was using at the time and let him take the math and reading placement tests. He placed at 1st grade math (he was 4 yrs old) and 2-3rd grade for reading comprehension, I got mixed results because I kept changing the age to find something that we could use, since he had already taught himself to read, and they don’t test for reading comp. in kinder.

Anyway, I didn’t place much stock in the grade placement b/c there was no way my 4 year old was ready for a first grade or higher curriculum in whole, and while the math test seemed fairly challenging for the stuff he didn’t know…I surely hope that 4th graders are reading at a higher level than what he was testing on! Yikes!!

I struggled last year with kinder, I felt like I needed to follow the state requirements and trying to make heads or tails of all the mumbo jumbo in the Knowledge & Skills outline was really frustrating. I decided to follow the Core Knowledge Sequence for Kinder and while I LOVE the idea, trying to make lesson plans for every single subject by day was just making “doing school” a drudgery. I felt like I was always behind, not enough time in the day, etc, etc. (I’m also working part-time, 1 day outside the home) I still love the CK Sequence, but this year I’m not using it the way I was last year. This year I’m going to think of it as my 8 year “no-gap insurance”.

I’ve calendared out school days, known field trip days, holidays, breaks, etc so that I know how many weeks we are aiming for and which ones I KNOW are going to be short weeks. I have 6 week “grading” periods planned where I’ll make sure we’ve covered what I have planned to cover, do testing (mainly oral narration) for retention, and then I’ll look at the Sequence and check of the things that we’ve covered (no matter what grade the content falls in). Hopefully, by the end of the year we’ll have covered all the math and language requirements and most of the writing requirements. If not, I’ll take note and either try to work them in (if and when they coincide) to our next period or cover them during an easy week if I decide it’s important enough. For the rest of the subjects, hopefully by the end of year 6-8 we will have covered all of it at sometime.

So, I’m trying to let go of my public education trained mindset of learning certain things at certain times and just go with all that Kaden can do. In the end, it’s not too different. He’s still following a grammer level curriculum, but with some kindergarten level expectations like in handwriting ability and motor skills (cutting, pasting, coloring, etc), and a much higher level of expectation in his reading comprehension and math abilities.

Next time, our curriculum…

Easter Bluebonnets 2010

2010-04-08T21:18:00.002-05:00

We've missed the bluebonnets for several years, either because they were so sparse and didn't last long enough for me to actually get my camera, a dressed child, and a patch of bluebonnets (not in the middle of the highway) together all at the same time!

This year they are so lush and HUGE! Beautiful fields of blue.

Cousins

2009-09-04T16:37:00.002-05:00

Port Aransas Mini Vacation

2009-04-29T11:52:00.001-05:00

We went to Port Aransas this weekend for a little mini-vacation. We weren't sure how Kaden would take to fishing, as the last time he went fishing he lost interest quickly. But, he stood out there in the channel and fished for 2.5 hours and never caught a thing! The fish just weren't biting there and it was really, really windy, cloudy, and rained periodically. But, he wanted to go back out on Sunday, so we rejoined one of the guys that Bran works with and fished for a while before heading home. Kaden had a blast and is all ready to go fishing again. I have some video over on my Flickr account if you want to see it.

Best Friends

2009-04-29T10:53:00.001-05:00

These two little guys are Kaden's best friends. I just love this photo, b/c it captures how much he adores these two friends. They are about a year older than he is but really seem to like K. It's so funny to see how much a year will make in how old K looks. He already has lost so much of the baby look, but next to these two kids...what a difference!

Socialization

2009-04-23T09:38:00.004-05:00

One of the most irritating questions I get about homeschooling is that of "socialization". What is socialization? Socialization is the process by which children and adults learn from others based on rank or status in a particular society.

That can all be accomplished in the homeschool environment. In fact homeschooling can be a huge positive when it comes to socialization. Kids don't have to be stuck with other kids based on age and zipcode, but will have a better chance of finding friends who share interests and have compatible personalities. Friends that they can *pick* instead of just being thrown together. That doesn't mean they won't learn to get along with other kids, but they won't be trapped with them. They will learn how to behave from loving adults instead of the children of complete strangers. They'll run less risk of being bullied, and they'll definitely be physically safer.

And, with any luck, Kaden will retain the thirst for knowledge that he was born with. Many schools are getting really good at turning learning into a chore; something to be dreaded or stopped as soon as the bell rings. I love that while reading a book about the zoo, he stopped me yesterday and wanted to know what a "prehensile" tail meant! I love how excited he was, because once I explained it to him, he then figured out what a "nonprehensile" tail was--and we had to promptly inspect the cats to see whether they had prehensile or nonprehensile tails!

My son gets plenty of exposure to all sorts of kids, we go to the park, soccer, playdates, library, church etc. and he loves to interact with them all. At the park, he has to learn to introduce himself to new kids and that not all kids will want to play with him. I monitor closely to make sure he's not in physical danger, but otherwise let him figure it out. Although, I will not let my son be bullied! At soccer, he learns to be part of a team, during playdates he's gets the mental stimulation from other kids of all ages, etc.

I've already noticed the natural trait of trying to fit in...he's like a chameleon. Around younger kids in a social setting, he starts to imitate their behavior, even when he knows better (the screeching, rock throwing, etc) and when it's an academic setting with all younger kids, if he hears everyone saying "I don't know" or not being able to count, etc...he'll mimic. If he's with older kids, he definitely wants to be like them...he'll perform to his academic potential and he'll pick up the behaviors and mannerisms(good and bad) of the older kids.

So, my son IS being "socialized". I just have a larger part in mitigating the negative socialization. Unlike a teacher, my job (my focus) is one child...my child! I don't have to wait to teach my son something because "everyone" isn't there yet. And since I'm taking on the responsibility for his education, I better darn well have/make the time to teach him what he wants to know! My son's education, since it is one-on-one, isn't going to be influenced by the incredible leveling pressure that naturally happens in many school settings. Because I know my child, we can work at his pace without the stigma that goes along with lagging behind or excelling ahead of other kids his age. We are planning on evaluating every year to see whether school--public, private, or charter--will be a fit. If at any time we find a school that will fit his needs, we'll consider it. In these early grades, schools look at age as the main factor for starting school and the few schools that we do like are too far away...I'm not really worried, with kids graduating high school, with anywhere from basic math skills to college-level calculus skills, from basic science knowledge to advanced chemistry, physics, and biology, from basic english to advanced composition...really, where can I go wrong?

Special Celebrations

2009-04-03T18:41:00.003-05:00

We had such a wonderful day helping our friend Tucker celebrate his 7th birthday! I let Kaden pick out the birthday gifts...he had his heart set on getting Tucker and his Daddy--swords!...he was very, very emphatic about getting two so that "Tucker and his daddy" could play like he does with his own daddy! He was so excited with his gift that he carried it all the way from the car and didn't do the usual hand-off the instant he got out of the car!

We got to trek thru the "forest" and see lots of dinosaurs, dig for bones, play on the playscape, and eat cake with friends. Also, most of you know about my driving phobia (I've had my license for three years now?)...so this is the farthest I've driven on my own (without another driver with me in case I have a panic attack), without having been to my destination before! I'm so proud of myself! My hands were shaking by the time I got there and my heartrate/blood pressure was thru the roof, but I made it with only those minor indications of anxiety! Maybe, just maybe, I'm making progress!

Cameron Park Zoo

2009-03-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

We visited the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, TX recently and it was a great trip! The zoo is perfect! It's small and inexpensive, but has some really great exhibits and you can get close to the animals, which with small children is perfect. I have hesitated abount going to the San Antonio Zoo, b/c from what I remember the enclosures are so far from the walk way that the kids can't really see. As it was, a 4-yr-old's idea of a visit to the zoo, is a 2 second look at the animal, then it's "been there, done that...let's move on!" We were there for about 2 hours and got to see the entire zoo, albeit a fast trip around. The zoo has many shade structures and seating, which make it particularly suitable for families with small children.

Getting organized

2009-02-27T12:16:00.001-06:00

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." ~ Benjamin Franklin

I've finally settled on a course of study...whew, three weeks of non-stop researching, checking recommendations, researching some more and deciding to tweak some programs and here is what I've decided to use for our 1st year with some things set aside for 1st grade.

We will be using the Core Knowledge Sequence as our “backbone”

Math: Math U See, Primer level and Alpha for when we're done with that.

Hist/Geo: CK suggested materials, plus whatever Kaden is interested in.

Lanuage Arts: Handwriting without Tears
The Phonics Road to Reading & Spelling

Science: CK topics with lots of hands on experiments

Art: CK topics with lots of hands on experiments

Music: Piano Lessons starting later this year(looking for a teacher)

PE: Lots of park time with our homeschool groups

Deciding to Homeschool

2009-02-01T21:44:00.000-06:00

Well, I managed to avoid the school issue for a whole, what, 5 months? Sometime in January, Chunkymonkey's Montessori kindergarten teacher asked a seemingly simple question..."What are you going to do next year?" -- Well, I had managed to forget about "next year" for 5 blissful months! Ms. Laura is awesome! He loves her, I love her and he already knows more than I thought possible for a 4yr old! Much to her credit, he tested at 1st grade math on the K12 assessment tests (although I want to review all basic kinder math with him)…He knows all his states, and can identify them on a blank map by shape, and knows almost all the state capitals as well as most of the South American capitals. Also, knows all the presidents in order and I think they were just starting to learn the years of each ones term/s in office! He reads way more than I thought he could, although more whole word reading which I'll get to later.

Anyway, after much thought and talking to some other moms and receiving much encouragement, I've decided to homeschool! Some things that went into my decision are:

1) the public school system won't take him...he's too young...and
2) the closest private/charter schools that we wanted (Strickland and Regeants) are an hour away. And,
3) the prospect of 2 more years of kindergarten for him would be unbearably boring for him!
4) Tuition costs. I decided to not wait until next school year and start saving tuition money now.

I have at least until the 2010-2011 school year in which to find out if we can do this...that leaves me 1.5 school years to see if we can get thru Kindergarten.

So, on the math side, we are starting with kindergarten math again to make sure he knows patterns and money better than he did during the K-12 math test, and although he is "reading" alot of things fairly well, I think they were using more of a whole word approach at school b/c he guesses at many of words and while coming close, doesn’t pay close attention to ALL the letters in the word..thus “reading” the wrong word…so I will be starting from scratch with a more phonics based program in addition to continuing to let him read what he wants.

Our favorite resources so far are:
Rainbow Resource Center
Half Price Books
Local used book store, the Book Basket
Bastrop Public Library

Finally get to see this modelled

2009-01-01T23:02:00.002-06:00

Forgot to blog this after Christmas.

I finally got to see this Christmas set that I made, oh...probably two years ago, modeled! This little angel was a perfect fit and I got to see her racing around all day, Christmas day, in this set. It was a perfect day for it too! Not too cold and not to hot! No jacket required when outside playing and nothing needed taking off when we were inside. This outfitted angel went from table to slide to a tumble off the deck...and all the way to dessert and beyond. She had a busy day and I got to enjoy her and her in something that I made for the entire day! She is the cutest, toughest little girl I know.

Rocketship Computer Desk

2008-12-30T21:42:00.002-06:00

Well, it's not completely done, but mostly. It's a eye popping red and blue with white and silver accents. We had to buy more of those mushroom caps and some flat caps, and now I have to get them painted. So, a few more caps to plug the screw holes and we have to attach the footrest yet...but it's great. The Ikea chair is a near perfect match! It will find a home in the computer room along with all of daddy's computer stuff.

Kaden loves that we made it for him, and he since did see Papa helping Daddy hold the sides up one day before he knew what it was..."Mommy, Daddy and Papa made this for me."
It was fun, and I think it came out fantastic...exactly what I had in mind.

Crafting goodness for Christmas

2008-12-23T00:08:00.003-06:00

Well, this doesn't really feel like Christmas at all this year! I haven't decorated...no lights, no pine boughs, no nothing...our house looks like the Grinch lives here! I just couldn't get into the mood this year, we have dozens of unfinished projects started around the house and thus the dining room is dismantled, we are eating in the living room...there is a bookcase laying half in/half out of the dining room, the computer room is "kinda" done in that it is now computer and sewing/crafting room...but there is still alot of junk to get out of there and get it organized...we really, really need that storage shed built...like yesterday!

But, I managed to get going for some of my Christmas gifts and made Kaden 3 pair of jammies with matching undies to top it off. Plus, he is getting a new computer desk that I designed and hubby brought into being with wood recycled from other now defunct projects...and which is now scattered through out the house as the paint is drying...since Texas decided to have a winter after all! Also, I made a little dolly for my brother-in-law's girlfriends little girl...she's a doll herself...2-year-old feistyness!

It's been a long time

2008-12-21T21:38:00.000-06:00

I've been storing up posts in my head, but haven't found the time to sit down and blog about...

The wonderful faces my so suddenly "growed up" son makes when you want him to smile for the camera...

Or the wonderfully hilarious time we spent at the soccer fields this fall for Kaden's first soccer season...

Or how proud I am of him for all his hard work in school!

Or the hundreds of other things that I've made mental notes to share and now can't quite grasp what they were!

5 things I learned today...

2008-11-17T18:36:00.001-06:00

1. The Boy has pneumonia
2. The Boy has an ear infection
3. The Boy is a little dehydrated from the high fevers all weekend.
4. A three year old can be coughing his head off, have "pretend ants" in his ears, have chest/abdominal pain and STILL wonder why mommy won't let him run up & down the sidewalk like the other kids!

And last but not least...

5. The Boy can READ!!! When did this happen?!?

We were sitting in the pediatricians waiting room first thing this morning, and he grabbed a "Word Bird" book out of the bookshelf. It turned out to be an early reader, and as soon as I started on the first page, he took over. I chippedin with a few of the bigger words, but he...was...reading!! Later at grammy's house he read thru the first 43 pages of "Dick & Jane" before deciding there were more interesting things to do!

Where does the time go?

Election Day!

2008-11-04T17:56:00.003-06:00

Why is it that Election day for me has become all about voting for the lesser of two undesirable choices? Why do I have to vote for the one that is least likely to totally destroy all that our country was founded on? I wish I had a candidate that I really, really wanted...and not just that one that I want to defeat the other one!

Anyway...We got to our voting place a little early, about 6:40am, and we were only about 8th in line. The line filled up quickly though. Things went very smoothly and now the wait begins...

Toddler Lunches

2008-10-23T11:03:00.004-05:00

Well, I've been trying my hand at "bento" lunches for Kaden. Bento is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine.

I'm not near as cute and fanciful as others (see Cooking for Monkeys and the Flickr KidEats group) for really cute bentos. It takes me FOREVER to figure out what to pull together...but it would take me forever to figure out what to send him anyway...regardless of whether I make it interesting or not! I've never been very "kitchen" inclined

Here is a blog that lists some good lunchbox ideas...Wendolonia

1st Bike Ride

2008-08-09T15:18:00.003-05:00

1st time outside on his bike (as opposed to marking up my kitchen floor!)
He looks like such a big boy now with his helmet and knee pads! His concentration and determination is evident in his mouth and big grin!

Here's a short video clip that daddy took of this momentous occasion!

1st day of school

2008-08-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

Kaden started Montessori school this past Thursday. He was thrilled with having his own lunchbox and "all the food" that was in it. The school doesn't like for prolonged "good-byes" so I thought I better not get off on the wrong foot by trying to get pictures at school, so I took these just before we left the house. I wish I could have gotten some good sentimental poses, like him walking off into the school, lunchbox in hand and a look of anticipation on his face...what I had time for was "whoops, Kaden...let mommy grab the camera and get a picture of you with your new lunchbox...", "okay, now lets hurry before we're late!"

The breakfast was a big deal, b/c he had his tonsils and adenoids removed just 2 weeks ago, and he's only been wanting to eat for a few days now...he's lost 3 lbs...which is very evident in his bony little back and bird wing shoulders and skinny little legs...he's always been so stout, and while definately not overweight...he always had chubby litte cheeks and stout, tree-trunk legs...he was our linebacker (or so many a stranger has stopped to tell us)...no he seems like a sack of bones! And, it makes him look older...*sigh, sniffle, sniffle*

Temptations, Bribery, Anything...

2008-08-02T01:56:00.000-05:00

Beautiful, colorful eggs! The only reason "the boy" decided to start eating after his tonsillectomy/ adenoidectomy! -- I also had to dye the inside when I scrambled them! Hmmm...pink eggs & green eggs are a little hard to get used to for mommy!

We had scrambled eggs for lunch and supper and breakfast the next day...and just about every day after that! (although, I've finally been able to stop coloring them!) Daddy, wimped out and got "yellow" eggs, even though the egg was supposed to be "orange".

I actually enjoyed opening the fridge to see this dish of wonderfully bright eggs sitting on the shelf!

Fire Ants

2008-07-11T00:16:00.000-05:00

Who was/were the brilliant individual(s) that introduced the fire ant to Texas? I'd like to beat them silly!

Kaden was innocently playing hide-go-seek with Papa today and didn't see the ants that were swarming up the side of the barrel that he was squatting beside...Well they were fire ants and he braced him self with his arm in their path...seconds later he was screaming and we were all running, (luckily Papa reached him quickly since he was only pretending to not see him) and brushed most of them off his arms, hands and legs...getting several bits in the process...however fast we were, this is what his arm looked like and some on his hands as well...I keep a Benadryl stick in my purse for...well, I guess for this reason...later that night after bath, I noticed that his feet had started to swell too, even though we had dosed him with liquid Benadryl as soon as we got home! His feet were mostly okay by morning, but his poor little arm took a week or more to heal and he still has the scars!

To old friends...

2008-07-10T22:48:00.000-05:00

I lost all my content to this...so a quick summary Norman came to visit while in town on business. Brandon hasn't seen him since he left VA, I don't think...so we had a nice visit...lots of laughs and remembering old times...

...and a family photo while I was thinking about it!

July 4th ... in a blink

2008-07-06T02:00:00.000-05:00

July 4th...We went to the park for the festivities, spent a small fortune on various bits of food & drink, played on the playground (I guess the sheer number of kids there make it seem like it's a whole new adventure!). We listened to the symphony, played with friends and worried about the storm clouds gathering...the wind suddenly picked up to in great gusts to the accompaniment of the music and had people running to secure all blankets, chairs, music sheets, etc. For some reason, no one packed up to leave...could have been the fact that the clouds were literally racing across the sky! It was all over in under 15 minutes! The clouds were already receding over the horizon when I thought to take a picture. It was beautiful in a wild sort of way.

We had a great time and Kaden loved the fireworks! He lay on my lap to watch and my poor bruised shins were a testament to his excitement!

Beautiful Eyes

2008-05-25T18:58:00.001-05:00

Beautiful Eyes

The most beautiful eyes in the world belong to...my son! I love these eyes, how they simply sparkle when he's happy...can look so desolate when he's sad...and get all pink lidded when he's so tired...these eyes express it all!

Hard at work

2008-05-22T00:50:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning, daddy took K outside to give me a few more precious hours of sleep! When I got up this is what I saw thru the kitchen window! The screen was in the way, but I knew going outside would interrupt this...drying the lawnmower off! (Okay, that sounds odd, but everything out here in the pine forest rusts *instantly*...so the mower gets washed and dried, before going home to the shed.!)

More "lawn" mowing in action, K loves to help daddy with everything...and that includes mowing our dirt! =) Requirements are of course safety glasses and gloves (Target has some toddler sized garden gloves). You can see why we require the safety glasses! Not posted are some pics from the first mowing session in which he's holding his eyes and crying b/c the dust was blowing in his eyes...upon which daddy realized that K really should have his very own pair of safety glasses, which proudly hang just inside the front door along with K's gloves, ready for every opportunity to work with daddy!

Time flies...

2008-05-22T00:24:00.001-05:00

Picture 028

Where does time go? It seem only yesterday you were our baby!

K is getting so big! It's hard to believe it's been 3 years already! He's turned into quite a daddy's boy... and for the past week and a half we've had a melt down every morning when he finds out daddy went to work!...he "misses daddy SOOOO much!"...sweet...and I guess daddy is missing him as well, since he requested new pictures of "the boy" to show off at work. =) Love my hubby for openly and frequently showing his love for/to the boy.

Trial Boxer Briefs

2008-05-03T21:24:00.001-05:00

Testing out my sewing skills on knits and with my new serger (babylock evolve), a birthday present from my oh so fab hubby! I have a whole pile of stuff to get started making for K, for this summer, including some meeting clothes. Since I haven't gotten the website up for my sewing yet, I figured that when I've finished with my current customer, I'll spend a few weeks focusing on sewing for the boy. Girls clothes are so cute, but I think I'll have fun coming up with stuff for the boy. I recently ordered a ton of knits from Crybaby Boutique and plan on making K**** a bunch of new undies and jammies (how is it that undies, socks, and jammies can get so far behind on size without me really noticing?) and I have about 20 yards of twill etc. to make up into shorts, pants, etc.
Anyhooo....these are from an old shirt of mine that had gotten too short, so it has been repurposed into briefs for the boy!

Things only a parent can love...

2008-05-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

We've been encouraging K to draw more lately, just to get him used to holding a pen (or chalk) which he hates doing. He's not been the kind of kid to grab a marker and scribble just for the fun of it!

Chalk session: So, with a few questions to me about what next and many protests of "you do it, mommy" and after my refusal to actually do the drawing...this is what he came up with... I think it's wonderful, daddy says it gives him nightmares (but, still mooned over it for the boy's sake!) and K was as proud as can be over it.

Painting: When he finished this one this week, he stepped back and said "Oh, Daddy's going to L-UUUU-V THIS!"...and of course, daddy did!

First Fishing Adventure

2008-04-12T21:50:00.001-05:00

Our little friend GM was dying to get K a fishing pole for his birthday so that they could go fishing together and we have had several happy fishing adventures since then! But, here are a few of my favorite pics of his very 1st fishing adventure! I can't be the only mommy whose heart melts to look back on daddy/son pics...right?! Ever since K was born, I live for catching moments like this!

Shopping Extravaganza

2008-04-11T21:18:00.000-05:00

Today was full, fun, and exhausting! K had a 10am speech appointment on the far side of Austin. MIL & I spent about 20 minutes going in circles looking for the place, even while talking to their receptionist! Anyway, finally we found it and they took us right in and let us do the paperwork afterwards! So...he needs speech therapy for some articulation problems, but she also suggested that we get him into an early kindergarten. It was so funny, she would ask him about a picture (looking for a specific word/letter sound combination) and he would start telling her whole stories about it. The boy that was crying was "crying sad" and had "3 eyedrops on his face"...she was quite impressed and had to double check b/c she had never noticed that the picture did indeed have 3 teardrops on the boys face!

After the doctor, we went shopping and K thinks it's his birthday or Christmas! He got a guitar, a Melissa&Doug music set, Melissa&Doug art easel, dry-erase markers, chalk, paint, fingerpaint (all washable, of course), glue and construction paper, a playdough activity set, a remote control dump truck and lots of stuff from Barnes&Nobles (a cutting workbook, a folding workbook, a pasting workbook, and the best score of all...write/wipe flashcards for writing uppercase and lowercase alphabet and 1-30 numeric).

Step 1

2008-04-10T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well...finally attempting to join the world of blogging! I can already see how this is going to go...as K**** is yelling "help!!" from the bathroom!