First Field Trip! UNOFFICIAL

Today we went on our first official field trip! Well, It all began as a trip to our local nursery so that I could get some pricing on a tree as our died back in June. It's taken us this long to get it removed and finally go shopping for one. So, as we were walking through the tree's I think the best one for us is going to be a Chinese Pistache! They grow easily in our area which is a good thing because I am not that good, focused or diligent enough to care for a needy tree! Ha! 

Here is a Chinese Pistache that is 4 years old, (The one we are buying is actually 2 years old) It's a great shade tree, too!

While we were there, they happen to have two bounce houses! The first one was a fire engine one that had like a "rock climbing" wall in it, which lead into a slide to the other side. The boys were excited! Well, at least ONE of them was... 

 Here is my daring Kien who loves anything climbing! He got all the way to the top! 

And of course, he had to stop and pose from the other side. Meanwhile, Gabriel was waiting next to me as I was taking pictures.

And WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! No fear = lots of fun! (safely of course) 

Now mind you, Gabe is a very observant -watchful one. He doesn't like to just get out there without evaluating first. He saw brother do it, and was very skeptical! He refused to go in the first time around. Finally, when he saw Kien having a great time (and my encouraging him a few times) he finally decided that it was OK to go inside! Kien even came over to help him in! What a helpful brother!

Of course, Kien totally ditched Gabe ad went straight up and down the slide, leaving his brother to himself. He got up and was trying to walk to me FRIGHTENED saying, "I want you, I want out, I want youuuuuuuu!" Looking at the photo don't be deceived. If you zoom in, you might realize that look in his eye is actually being scared and unsure. :( I was hoping he would have had the courage to go through to the slide, but no go. So, of course, I came to the rescue to help him know in his heart that he didn't have to be afraid.

Off to the second bounce house... This one had Toy Story Characters on the outside, so Gabe clearly stated he would, "like to "try" the Toy Story one." We put shoes on and went over to the 2nd one. Kien jumped in straight away! He loved this one as well and tried to jump as high as he could, but I just couldn't catch a very good shot of him in the air!

And as for Gabe? Well, this is about as far as he got. On the step outside the bounce house. Yeah, again, he didn't want to go inside. There was a little boy who joined Kien, and even then Gabe wanted NOTHING to do with it. And that is OK!

Once we put our shoes on we went over to the area designated for photo ops with tons of pumpkins, decor and hay bails. The boys were very interested in going around this "mini maze."

They were shaking hands with this welcoming scarecrow! Gabriel didn't know what to think at first, but then be realized it wasn't real and wanted to hold his hand also!

I loved this one because it was just their size! They even liked it! Kien, as my inquisitive acrobat could only hold it in for a couple shots and then just HAD to climb the fence behind!

As he was climbing up, I thought I should be the good parent who controls their child from going wild all over the property when I noticed that there was running water behind them and realized THAT is what he was looking at. So, walking over the little bridge, look at what we found! Ornamental Koi fish! So we learned that Koi is "carp" in Japanese! Very pretty domesticated fish!

I couldn't resist this perfect "brothers" photo. They were checking out the fish together! And then I had to ask them for a huggy photo as well :)   

Gabe wanted to go back to the hay and look at the pumpkins. This one was GINORMOUS! They couldn't even roll it over! :) 

After their efforts, we decided to go over the bridge again and look at fish. 

This time around I was assuming that it was feeding time, because either side of the bridge we walked over the fish would follow with their lips coming above the water as if it was that time! I giggled and told the boys to look, they are so hungry they are kissing each other! Ha!

I asked the woman standing by the register if she would happen to let children feed the fish, and she smiled and handed us a paper cup 1/2 full of fish food! Oh, the boys were EXCITED! Even GABE wanted some of this action! And it was FUN! They giggled as the fish were trying to beat one another to the food. :)

So, once we purchased the bail of hay, we went home and had some jello in an orange for a snack. It was a great trip to the nursery! We will be going back very soon! 

9 Weeks In!

I have to say that we have been SO busy -and not just with homeschooling. We have had a full 1 1/2 week of nothing but construction around here! Our fence has been re-done. We finally have gutters on the back half of the house, two new back doors, one being a sliding door and our garage doors are re-framed and caulked! WHEW! Another near 2 weeks of being sick (mainly due to weather/stomach/allergy bug)!

I am finally sitting up at 10:27 PM typing this and am extremely tired!! So, instead of going on I will just say that I'll catch up soon! Ha!

Week 3, and moving right along...

We have officially completed week three, and I am so encouraged because I am having such a great time with my lil guy. He is so open to learn, and just soaks everything up. Sure, there are days he still wants to play and not do the work, and he is realizing {slowly but surly} that the longer he has attitude, the longer he has to sit there -the longer it will be before we can complete our lessons. Once he gets out of his funk, he really gets into it and has a great time. My prayers are going to be focused on asking God to give me the positive encouragement to speak over him in these times. So far, maybe about 3-4 times he has done this. It's also only the 3rd week!

We actually had to double up lessons due to doctor's appointments and a mishap with hubby's tires. No biggy because it was well worth the time!

I was concerned that he was having issues with the short vowel "e" because he would mix it up with the "i" sound and missed it in some words. I definitely took the time to really focus more on phonics and even became a bit creative, and WHHHAAAALLAAAHHH! He got it!

Today was basically Oral exams (non -graded, just notes on his ability to follow directions and see if he is struggling in any of the taught lessons) and he did FANTASTIC! YAY!!

So, I have found that instead of letting either of the boys watch pointless movies, Super Why and Leap Frog have had a bigger and better impact! Even my 3 year old is somewhat learning along side his big brother!
YAY!

Now, with the hubby out of town for the weekend, I am going to take advantage and get some lesson planning completed for the next couple of weeks!

Second Week Complete!

Yes! Another successful week!

We worked on vowels Ii, Ee, Uu and just introduced Aa today! He does ok with naming that vowel in small three letter words, although he has a little trouble remembering the Ee. He did manage to write it correctly this week, though! I found that he was a bit more "in tune" with naming them when there was a bunny cracker for a treat ;)

Here is our typical home school day as of right now. {I think the first six weeks are not as much work}

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday we begin no later than 9 AM. I want to use the mornings for getting up, dressed and basic tidying up completed so I am not thinking about all the things that need to be done and I can be focused as well. ;) We start with prayer by asking God to help us learn so we can be trained and used for His glory! Then Kien tells me the months of the year, days of the week and then tells me what day of the month it is. Then we will say the full date, IE: Friday, September 7th, 2012. Then he gets to share the weather report! Sunny, cloudy, rainy etc...

Once this is completed we move on to counting one to ten then ten to one. I then will continue with the Numbers curriculum. Then we move on to writing, phonics, social studies, science, bible activity & Awana's verse of the week. Kien is in Sparks this year and Gabe is in Cubbies. I work with Gabe as well (after Kien is finished with his daily lessons).

So far Kien has been learning about the 7 days of creation and his scripture for the last week was: John 3:16 For God so loved the world....
This week he is at -John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son...

I love how they break it up to make it easier to remember!

Well, there ya have it. That's all for now, I am about to start planning for lesson week 3 before I have to get dinner in the oven! Every little open window helps! I cannot even imagine what it is like to home school more than TWO! I am glad Gabe doesn't really "start" for 2 more years!

Until next week!
Cathi~

Things I have learned so far...

I hope for anyone else who may be reading who are also homeschooling has had a great 2 weeks thus far! I  am learning SO much from my son. It seems as if him being in the preschool Mother's Day Out class has just helped him excel so much! I just love that God lead us to a place where all the teachers just love/loved on my little boys. I have to give them a special shout out because I really believe they played a vital role in planting the seeds of WANTING to learn and some simple things like teaching them a sense of order and respect along with a lot of love!

With that being said, I have known that Kien likes to color with both hands but does not like to write much. He writes stronger with his right than his left, but sometimes will want to start a letter with one and finish the letter with the other hand. Although I am not pushing him to use one over the other, I do ask him to use his right hand for writing. We did manage to write the lower case "e" correctly instead of backwards and upside down after a bazillion tries and finally using my own description instead of the curriculum's example. When we reached that accomplishment, oh the praises were flying high and his excitement was even more! Over a simple little "e" ?? Yes!!!

- He likes to get up out of his seat (so glad that there are a few -stand up sit down- games for listening for certain vowels in words etc...)
- I have learned that he is more motivated when there small breaks and is willing to do more work when HE decides instead of me planning it.
- I learned that I have a deficiency in organization and I am constantly making sure to stay organized, but my patience level rises higher on the scale than I thought it was going to be.

Today marks the first day that Kien and I were able to sit down together with NO distractions  (minus the barking dog when he needed help getting up to go potty outside) from others as the Mother's Day Out started for Gabriel! It was quite nice him and I.

Other than these -probably non exciting to others- things, I am not even close to realizing what lies ahead. Between prayer and guidance by God's word and other seasoned homeschooling parents I can't wait to see the actual fruits of our labor in the heart of my child! I keep confessing that if God lead me to it, He surly will equip me for it! So far, it's going very well!

First Week Survived!

I am excited to say that we have survived our first week of home school! To solve my flannel board issue previous post, I mentioned that I went ahead and ordered right off the A Beka Book site. THEY CAME! YIPEE!! Can't wait to show pictures as we use them next week!

As for Kien, he is such a sweet spirited boy, and if you would like an invite to our personal blog {of which I also don't have much time for either lol} here is your invite! I would love to give you a window into the life God has blessed us with! www.walshnews.blogspot.com

Now, one week down, another yet to come. I have three exciting news updates. One, Gabriel is officially enrolled in Mother's Day Out! This will be his 3rd year, and we are so very happy for him! He will be attending 2 days a week, which will be very helpful while I can actually have 2 days a week one on one time with JUST Kieney bean! BLISS!

Secondly, Kien is officially enrolled in GYMNASTICS! YAY!! I am so excited for him because he carries the ability to agile and flexible -and I mean BEYOND anyone his age! We have always compared that Kien lands like a cat and Gabe like a dog. Two very different in their physical attributes! We also discovered that there is a position called the "Asian Squat" and Kien sure knows this by ALL NATUR-AL! It comes naturally to those of the Asian race. It's a "comfortable" way to squat and trust me, I TRIED and it is NOT comfy!

Lastly, Grandma will be here by end of next week! That's right! She has sold her house in Canada, bought the perfect house for her here in Texas. I am very happy for her and happy she will be here to be a part of our lives and her grand children's lives!

So, there is my update for the first week. I am loving so far the A Beka Book curriculum and it is so easy to teach. Kieny Beans favorite subject so far seems to be phonics as he is so into listening for the words with the correct short vowel. YESSSSS!

On a my final post of tonight, I wanted to mention that I have planned on using the Awana's Club for our Bible/Scripture lessons. I was worried that Gabe would have a hard time with it as he IS 3 years old and he IS a squirmy little fella, but WOW was I blown away with his ability to remember his first scripture, "God loved us, and sent His Son." 1 John 4:10 He was a little apprehensive at first to repeat me, so I am going to be praying specifically that he breaks that and eases into remembering. Of course weekly rewards at the Club will help reiterate all that. :) :)

I will share some of the lessons and what we are learning as we move along. The first few weeks are not "grading" weeks, so we are just trying to get into the hang of things!

Thank you for reading!
Be sure to join the H.O.P.E group if you haven't already. There is SO SO SO many resources and experience from new to very seasoned homeschooling parents.

God is good!

Flannel Board and Learning Room!

One of the tools I will need this year (strongly suggested) would be a flannel board. I checked online and at hobby lobby and unless I want to spend $80.00 for a stand alone flannel board I would have to make it myself. SO- as some of you know {or those who don't} I am pretty crafty when it comes to creating things such as this because I just have the tools and talent to do so! {er--most of the time}

I purchased a thick poster board and glued two large black (adhesive) felt sheets on to it. 

While at Hobby Lobby I also tried to locate some bulk letters/numbers/shapes in felt that I wouldn't have to cut out myself. Everything had adhesive though, which I wouldn't be able to use. I was quite disappointed that I could not locate any felt items that had NO adhesive! 

I used my Cricut to cut out 30 shapes of circles, triangles, squares, hearts and stars on card stock to use for the counting part of the Numbers/Phonics Curriculum. Then I glued a small piece of felt on the back of them and it works great. I dreaded the thought of cutting numbers and letters out - sounds a bit time consuming! But- I finally searched further and found that the A Beka website had felt numbers and letters and ordered for $22.50. YAY!! 

I have officially turned our breakfast room into our learning room. Here are a couple photo's of what we have set up so far.

As for my 3 year old, here is where he learns and plays while we are working on school work. Along with a Leap Frog/Blue's Clues/Super Why Netflix video! YAY! This photo was actually taken a few days ago, so he has certainly been grouping/counting/learning through play all along! ;)

First Day of School 2012!

Here we are! Another year. Seems like summer went by so fast and now I have a tall handsome sophomore in high school and a sweet boy starting kindergarten! I am truly blessed! 

Here is my Jeremy who was not thrilled about the photo, but I gently reminded him that the photos are for me. They are my right, by bragging rights and for my own use copyright via stretch marks! I did promise him though that I would not post the photo on Facebook! Keeping my promise! 

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Here is my Kieney Bean! I love my child so much! He was SO ready to start home school Kindergarten! He stated, "Mom, we are a team and we are going to teach each other!" How sweet is that?! AND-- how true it is as well!

I am so thankful for the opportunity to home school my youngest children. This is definitely an adventure that is exciting yet terrifying at the same time. If God brings us to it, he will equip us for it! That is the very saying I am holding on to with this adventure! Happy School 2012 Year!

YAY!!!! My curriculum has arrived!!!! WOOT! WOOT!
So very exciting! Now, off to figure out the method works and what all I need to put together! AND-- A BIG thanks to all you seasoned homeschooling mom's who have helped me so far get through the in's and out's of choosing a curriculum and your experiences! Much love!

A Beka Book Curriculum Is Ordered!!

I decided that instead of trying to put together my own curriculum for Kindergarten (books here and there I picked up from various stores) I was just going to ask my fellow home school friends in our Facebook H.O.P.E page { https://www.facebook.com/groups/308673932547008/ } what would be the best curriculum to use for Phonics. Then it came to me. It was brought back to my remembrance that I absolutely loved the curriculum I helped teach when I was a 1st grade teacher's aid. So, I did some research {including seeking prayer and wisdom} and it was final! Friday, August 10, 2012 was the official ordering day.

I ordered the whole parent/child K5 kit including a Science and Social Studies book to incorporate into the curriculum as well. It is a Christian-God based curriculum, and they did have for another couple hundred dollars the whole Bible Program, but I decided that since this was my 1st year homeschooling, I wouldn't over do it. Not to say that I shouldn't have a biblical subject included, but the boys are BOTH in the Awana's club at church that goes on during the whole school year. They will have a memory scripture every week (sometimes two scriptures) and homework that I will use as their Bible class.

Trying to patiently await the order, I finally received the parent kit yesterday (and yes, I squealed). Today the  child kit will arrive!

I sat down last night and went over the parent guides and made the copies I needed. I have pretty much everything I need except for a flannel board with some visual aids. I will be visiting hobby lobby this week. :)

Once my kit arrives today, I will spend this week preparing. Home school starts August 27th!

Our Venture to Homeschool

I have always wanted to home school. I started working with my older two before Kindergarten thinking I wanted to see if it was for me. We moved right at the time where we only had a couple months to decide before my eldest child was about to start Kindergarten. We ended up going to a church that had a private school as well and in the remote area there were no home school support groups. So, both my eldest children  (now 18 and 15) started their first couple years in a private Christian school.

Fast forward to now and I have one graduated, a sophomore, one entering kindergarten and a 3 year old who will be on his 3rd year of Mother's Day Out. So here we are doing it all over again, except we ARE choosing to home school. 

I am quite excited about this because one, it IS on my heart and I feel as if this is what God has called me to do. That is first and foremost. Secondly, my husband is on board as well. Having him in agreement is very important to me because he was very skeptical at first. I am excited for him to see what a wonderful choice this is for our family. Thirdly, we have had some pretty big changes going on in our lives that God has laid in front of us an AMA--ZIIIING group of families who also home school their multiple children. I can do this, and I know this is what God wants me to do. 

So with all that being said, I have to say that I was VERY overwhelmed with all the curriculum out there. I was planning on attending multiple classes available at the curriculum fair held in Arlington this last May, but I was encouraged NOT to go because it would just bring to a place of more frustration. So, I heeded the advice and did some research on my own. I decided at this point that I was going to dedicate some time to putting some lessons together for the first part of the year until I could find different types of curriculum for each individual subjects I would need. I sat down for about an hour doing so and became even MORE frustrated because it was so time consuming, and from what I read, it doesn't have to be THAT time consuming especially for KINDERGARTEN! In sharing that with my sweet friend Angela (who also home schools her daughters) she told me that I was SO over thinking it! She was VERY right. 

So, bringing back to my remembrance of being a 1st grade teacher's aid for a year, I remember that they used the A Beka Book curriculum and I actually LOVED IT! I was able to prepare the days lessons for the teacher and even on days she was out, I was able to teach the lessons. I certainly was NOT as good as she was, but she was a great mentor and even let me learn how to assist one on one with the students. 

So, I decided to ask some seasoned home school mom's what they thought of the A Beka Book curriculum and there was not ONE negative review. So, guess what?! I ORDERED! YAY! 

Funny side note, I had made my order on a Friday from the A Beka Book website. Completing my order I had an order number and it stated that I would receive an email confirming my order shortly. Well, all of Friday I was watching for it to ensure there were no bumps in the order. Saturday, Sunday, Monday came and still no email confirmation. I decided to call later Monday afternoon to see what the hold up was and the customer service lady had a hard time at first locating my order. She explained that when they receive and order they have to manually add me as a new user to the website and it takes a couple of business days to process the order information. My order was in, it just wasn't processed. Then, FINALLY patiently waiting, I received my confirmation email YESTERDAY!! WOOT! The email suggested that my order will be shipped in 1-2 weeks.

Happy Homeschooling! 

Introduction

Welcome to our blog that is designated to share our homeschooling experience. I am an avid believer that we can all help one another with the wisdom that come through our experiences in every aspect of our lives. Including homeschooling our children. Whether we are 1 or 100 we are forever learners and will never arrive into full knowing until we sit at the feet of Jesus. Let's Learn!