Goal Planning - Thanksgiving week

Happy Monday!!

(If I say it cheerfully enough, I will believe it, right?)

Last week's plans:

1.  Finish this Math Unit. We will be done by tomorrow.  We took an extra day off because Jude slept all day (a 5 minute time out turned into a 5 hour nap!) so we have our section test to take today.  Tomorrow we can do the Unit test, and then pack it up for vacation.  I have a couple of workbooks that I'll take with me - we can do some "fun" and "review" things, and start fresh when we get back.

2.  Lesson Plans.

I have some vague plans sketched out for vacation.  I'll take some math work and our journal, definitely.  I also have some "fun" activity books -- "dot-to-dot", matching, etc. -- so I'll pack those as well.  We may also rely a little more heavily on iPad apps, too.  I really need more "busy" work to keep him occupied while the other kids are doing their assignments. 

I also want to try to organize December's lessons (including Ruth).  Um...I'll do it while we're gone??
I think our first week back will be "pick up where we left off" and then flesh out from there.

3. Inventory our art supplies.  1 out of 3 isn't bad, right? The big boys each had projects for school this week (Luke did a haiku turkey and Matthew a project on the role of Mitosis in cancer) that required more of our stash, so it was a good time to inventory.  We could use more construction paper, some new markers, and lots of blue paint!

Next week:  I have no goals, other than to enjoy vacation!  I will take his books with us, but I think we will probably do some more "accidental" learning -- hanging out in Innoventions at Epcot (lots of science-based activities), identifying signs by what letter they start with, and patience standing in line!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Little Turkey, Big Turkey

This week we have been focusing on Thanksgiving.  Our reading books have been about Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, but for arts and crafts we have mainly stuck with turkeys, mainly because they lend themselves to lots of different projects.  Irony: we don't usually EAT turkey on Thanksgiving, as we are usually in Disney World (my theory -- if you want turkey that badly, hike over to Frontierland and get yourself a drumstick), but since we have several flocks of turkeys that live in the woods surrounding our house, Jude is well acquainted with the birds.

I saw a really cute idea online that used heart shapes to create a turkey.  I've seen Valentine's day "Heart Mice" but never a turkey.  On the (heart shaped) tailfeathers, the child can write things he is thankful for.  We created ours and Jude decided he was thankful for "Celia," "Mom," "Dad," and "Jude."  ("Celia" and "Dad" are harder to read since he used a red colored pencil to write those.)  Jude was happy to make his arts-and-crafts turkey - seeing the colorful pile of hearts was great motivation for him to finish the rest of his work.  (Arts-and-crafts ALWAYS come at the end of the day, as his reward for finishing everything.)

Damien was hanging around coloring and mimicking Jude through most of our school day, so I cut him out a heart turkey as well.  However, by the time Jude was done with his work, Damien was already laying down for his nap.  I set the packet aside, figuring he could work on it later.

Then big brother Luke came home with an English assignment: write a haiku about something in nature, and then write it on an illustration of your topic.  Waste not, want not, but poor Damien...like most Thanksgiving turkeys, the leftovers were remade into a new masterpiece.  Luke re-cut the pieces to (as he put it) "de-kindergarten-ize" it, then arranged the feathers and wrote the haiku across the tail.  He used the pattern of the feathers to separate the lines: the 5 syallable lines flank his body while the 7 syllable lines arch behind his head on the yellow and orange feathers.

The haiku:

The wild turkey struts
His tail feathers spreading wide
Marching tall and proud.

Note the google eyes - despite being a high school turkey, he needed a touch of whimsy.

Tomorrow we will make hand outline turkeys.  I think instead of making Damien wait until the end of the day, we will start his day with coloring.

Goal Planning Monday - Nov. 12

The difference between writing down goals and making a mental to do list is it seems like stuff actually gets done!

Last week's goals:

1. Keep working on adding a little more to each day. Getting there. We attempted "gym" three days last week.  Day 2 was easier than Day 1, once we figured out some adjustments to help him with technique.  We also have done a few art projects - they definitely are motivating for him. Today we added back in a "literature" component with a cute little Turkey printable - hopefully our new reading books will be here soon.  He wasn't totally enthusiastic about sitting for so long, but we stopped midway through for an "exercise break" and we actually did two crafts today: one that tied in with our Religion lesson and a paper turkey.  The promise of the turkey project kept him motivated.  

2. Contacting the Therapy Department at duPont and find out where he is on the waiting lists, and if it's going to be a while, start looking into other providers.  Phone tag.  Ugh. 

3. The Jesse Tree -- time to start printing out the pictures for the Tree.  Change of plans.  Instead of a Jude-only project, I am going to make this a family project.  I didn't get anything printed, but I found a new resource that has not only the symbols but also accompanying Bible passages.  I haven't decided how we are going to do the symbols themselves, but we are going to put the ornaments on the tree as a family, and the big kids will be taking turns reading the passages.  I am thinking Jude may take them on as an "arts and crafts" project so that they are ready for each evening when we gather as a family.  

4. Try to not be doing blog posts late at night!  Well...it's not so late right now!  LOL I've been doing "A Month of Thanksgiving" over on our family blog, and I admit, it's keeping me up.  But for these posts, I've been trying to start them via the iPhone App so that after everyone is in bed all I need to really do is pretty them up -- rearrange pictures, adjust color/type, etc.

This week's goals:

1.  Finish this Math Unit.  Jude only has about 6 textbook pages to his next section review, and then that's the end of the Unit.  We are going on vacation over Thanksgiving, and we will have a break from most of our studies. The big kids will have schoolwork to do, so we will take a few things with us.  I'm thinking maybe we will just do some review pages, or even more "game" type things, rather than trying to start a new unit.  I'd rather not have a 10 day break and be starting down the barrel of a Unit Test first thing Monday.

2.  Lesson Plans.

I don't want to have a whole lot to do, but I'd like to have a few easily-packed things for him to do while the other kids do their work while we're away.  One thing I definitely plan to do is our next Bible unit (Deborah).  I was originally planning to combine Deborah and Ruth, because there isn't a lot of activities for Deborah.  But after reading the "script" for the unit on Ruth, I decided not to and instead we will do a unit study on "Family" to tie-in with Ruth.  Jude is just starting to grasp relationships (ie grandmother is a parent's mother, Uncle Scott is Mommy's brother, etc.) so I want to capitalize on that.

I also want to try to organize December's lessons (including Ruth).  When we get home, we will be diving headlong into the holidays, so I'd like to have the month fairly organized so we're not either scrambling for either things to do or readjusting because we didn't leave any flexibility for skipping a day or two.  I also want to try to plan one "field trip."

3. Inventory our art supplies.  Some things we need to replace right now (we are out of blue paint...quelle horror!), but I think some arts & crafts things would be good to ask Santa for.


Hope everybody has a good week!  Set your own goals and join the party over at Real Life: Unscripted.

Ketchup to the Rescue!

This week we have been working on the letter C, focusing on the "hard C" or /k/ sound. Jude was struggling to hear the /k/ sound at the start of several words.

The exercise we were doing was to sort words that started with /k/ sounds from ones with miscellaneous other sounds (/p/ and paints, /h/ and horse, etc).  He was mispronouncing /k/ as /t/ - the word "comb" was sounding like "tome", cup like "tup" etc.  When I asked him what sound they started with, he was confident it was /t/.  When I corrected him and had him repeat the sound, he said, "Yeah, /t/."  He was over-enunciating, and I was able to see into his mouth - it was a classic "right church, wrong pew" moment.  His tongue was against the top of his mouth, but too far forward.  Instead of being a "palate"sound, it was coming out as a "dental" sound, with his tongue just behind his teeth!

Ketchup as a speech aid.  Who knew? 

I know that in speech therapy, it is not uncommon to apply a viscous food to the mouth to encourage the tongue to position itself in that area.  The most common food traditionally is peanut butter - most kids like the taste, and it stays put until the tongue wipes it away.  There is just one - slightly major - problem with that. Jude is allergic to peanuts.  We do have sunflower butter in the house for Matthew (also allergic to nuts), but Jude hates the stuff.  He also dislikes nearly every other sticky substance we have - marshmallow fluff, a Nutella style but nut-free chocolate spread, honey, etc., and even refrigerated, Hershey syrup is still pretty runny. Suddenly, a thought hit me like a falling brick--ketchup!!  This is a kid who eats a few fries with his ketchup, and then licks the leftover ketchup from his plate.  I know he will accept that!  I poured some into a bowl, grabbed a clean paintbrush, and we got back to work.

I had him open wide so I could see his palate, and dabbed ketchup about halfway back.  I told him to lick it off with his tongue while he said the word "cow."  Eureka!  It started with a /k/ sound.  Another dab and the word "cup." Spot on!  We went through all of the words in the unit, and with ketchup, he got them all.  I never thought we would be using ketchup to learn letter sounds, but since it works, why not?  When we work on other sounds/words, we will try it and see if it helps get them more accurate -- and accurate sounds are the first step to isolating sounds, because you can't isolate the sound you're not making or hearing! 

And since ketchup makes everything more palatable, maybe it will make phonics and speech not so dreaded. 

Joseph and His Coat of Many Colors

This week's Bible Study theme was "forgiveness", told through the story of Joseph.  Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful coat of many colors, and his brothers got jealous.  The boys threw him in a well, and sold him into slavery in Egypt.  Eventually Joseph became the Pharaoh's helper, and his hungry brothers came begging for food.  Instead of staying mad at them and letting them starve, Joseph forgave them and gave them food. 

We usually spend 3-4 days on each lesson -- enough time to get the point across, but not so much time that Jude tunes out.

Day 1:

We followed the Discipleland lesson plan and made "Good News"/"Bad News" faces.
 

 Whenever the story script said "The Good News is..." we held up our happy faces.

The Good News is...Jacob loved Joseph

Whenever the story script said "The Bad News is..." we held up our sad faces.

The Bad News is...his brothers were mean and jealous.

When Jude found out Joseph's brothers threw him in a "wishing well", he thought that was just plain silly, because everyone knows you put MONEY in a wishing well, not people.

The Silly News is...what???

Day 2:

We re-read the story of Joseph using the picture-prompt version in our workbook.  Then we painted Joseph and his coat using bingo-dabber style markers. I love when we use these -- they remind me of my Gram.  She and Mom used to play Bingo one or two nights each week when I was growing up.  The side of the bottle said Dab-O-Ink (read as three words -- Dab.  Oh.  Ink.).  However, she once read it too quickly and said, "These have a funny name -- they're called Daboinks." (pronounced "duh-boinks.")  To this day, even on the rare occasion Mom and I play Bingo, we ask each other, "You got your Daboinks?" 

Maybe it's a little sacrilegious, but here is our Daboink Joseph.  I think Gram is laughing up in Heaven.

Day 3:

We watched YouTube videos!!

I picked out a few excerpts from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for us to watch.  Jude enjoyed watching the singing and dancing, and even was able to piece together the story from the scenes.  This one was his favorite:
 


He was amazed at the children's clothes changing colors.


I'm looking forward to next week - we are studying Moses. I think we may split that into two lessons - baby Moses in the basket, and then adult Moses leading the Israelites from Egypt.  The Prince of Egypt is one of his favorite movies (mine too!) so that will be a nice break from bookwork.

Spreading the love! We're linking up with Raising Mighty Arrows for their Proverbs 31 series, 

AND Blogging through the Alphabet! Come join the fun.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine (a Schoolhouse Crew Review)

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine via iPad App. 

We're starting on a new homeschool adventure!  I'm hoping to become a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, a homeschooling group that reviews lots of great homeschooling-related products and then blogs about them. We have several homeschooling friends who are members of the crew, and I'm impressed with the products they have reviewed -- we are already looking to incorporate some of them into our own curriculum.  I am starting out by reviewing the November issue of their monthly e-publication, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  I originally read the magazine on my (laptop) computer, but there are also Apps for both Apple and Android devices.  I downloaded the Apple version onto my iPhone and iPad and it's a great interface.  (They are available at www.TOSApps.com, though I downloaded it to my iPad via the App Store.) I enjoy reading the magazine better from my iPad than the iPhone, but that has little to do with the app and everything to do with approaching middle age and needing bigger type! It's easy to access not only this month's edition, but also past editions - great for when I want to go back and revisit something. There are some articles in this month's edition that don't really pertain to us now (like how to write poetry, or some ideas for how to be successful with Unit Studies) but will be great to refer back to when we are ready to do those tasks, so easy access is great. 

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is a free magazine for homeschooling parents that is chock-full of great information.  I admit that I was a little worried that I wouldn't find anything terribly useful in it -- not only are we a new homeschooling family, but starting out at the very early basics -- a PreK/kindergarten hodge-podge for Jude, and a very basic PreK2 program for Damien.  However, I found myself reading it from cover to cover.  Not only was there pertinent information for my homeschoolers, but several articles that will be helpful in "co-schooling" the older kids and working with them on at-home assignments that their teachers have given.  The articles and reviews of writing curricula will be especially useful, because this is an area where the big boys especially need extra help.   While actually an advertisement, there was a link to World Atlas that I immediately linked onto my Pinterest board.  While I would like to use maps with some of the units I have planned for Jude, I also think it will be an invaluable resource for the older ones as well.

One thing I pay close attention to when looking at homeschooling items is the "slant."  Many homeschooling items have a conservative Christian undertone.  This is not something that I am inherently opposed to; being a conservative Catholic and wanting to raise my children in the same manner I am fine with this perspective.  However, I am not interested in items that have a Creationist or other "this denomination is the only right one" viewpoint.  This magazine, while definitely written with a strong base in Biblically principled living, is neither exclusionist nor sectarian.  Someone looking for a purely secular viewpoint will likely be frustrated, because many of the articles do use Bible passages and Christian tenets as examples and/or support, but the tone of this publication is right for us.   

The articles on the cover grabbed my attention, especially the announcement that this month's edition featured articles on the Amish.  Living near and interacting with Amish people on a regular basis (at duPont and when we visit the nearby Lancaster PA "Dutch Country" area), I was definitely interested in reading about the "Plain" people. I found the articles very informative but also very respectful of their culture.  I enjoyed "A Day in the Life of a Young Amish Mom," Liz Lane's interview of Rachel, an Amish wife and mother.  Her morning routine - prayer, breakfast, getting the kids off to school - sounds pretty much like how my day starts, and continues on with chores and child-raising.  While we definitely do things differently (my prayer devotionals download each morning to my iPhone), being an Englisch Mom doesn't sound much different from being Amish Mem.  I also am looking forward to trying Rachel's Brunch Casserole (featured on page 119).  I think that we can very easily substitute some of our allergy-safe versions of milk and cheese to make it work for our family. Trisha Goyer's short story, "On an Amish Farm" is a sweet tale of finding a new friend.  It has a smattering of Pennsylvania Dutch dialect that nicely reflects how the protaganist would think and speak without overwhelming the reader.

There were two sections in particular that are of immediate use to us:

--As parent-teacher of a special needs child,  the column The Struggling Homeschooler by Dianne Craft was very helpful.  The biggest thing that I took away from the article is that when teaching a differently-abled child, the rules need to be rewritten.  If we don't get as far as we "should" in a day or week, that's how it goes; if we need to try a different technique because the current one is not working...that's normal and expected.  Obviously, we will have to take our own journey to find what works for us, but after seeing so much curriculum that does not seem to fit our needs, it's reassuring to read an article that supports the idea that "It's not us, it's the book."

--The section The Classical Homeschooler focuses on music as part of the homeschool curriculum. A music program is something that I have been wanting to add, but really have no idea how to begin. One of the column's suggestions is to just turn on a CD and expose the student to the music.  I can do that!  The article pointed out that music appreciation does not need to be taught through lessons. As Jude gets older we can worry about composers and styles, but for now, just listening is enough. There was also a "spotlight" feature on music that included reviews of several music items.  There were two curriculum-like programs (one for an organized approach to classical music appreciation, one for learning to play the piano) and one featured recording artist (Oasis Chorale) that appealed to me and are on my list of things to find more information about.  The magazine provides hyperlinks to programs featured in it, making further research very simple.

The only item that elicited any strong negative feelings was an advertisement for a book called A Girl's Guide to Home Skills, featuring information "for your daughter" on homekeeping skills. There are so many articles featuring gender-neutral information (including on home skills, chores and discipline) and writers speaking of their sons through the magazine that it was jarring. I realize the book author is responsible for the title of the book, and yes, as I stated, the magazine has a traditional tone. I just was surprised to see something so clearly marketed to a "traditional women's role," when even the article about the Amish mother Rebecca mentioned that she had her own part-time business outside the home. It was the only thing that really was unappealing, and a single half-page ad among nearly 160 pages of otherwise good content is pretty minor, but it is something that really stood apart, so I feel it is worth mentioning.

The Homeschool Review Crew section featured reviews of some items I had already seen (I follow bloggers that reviewed the products) and a few items I had not (they do not have children in the age/gender ranges or with interests that the products are intended for). I now have one book (I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist) on my to-read list, and one for Celia and me to share (Heroines of the Past Bible Study) over next summer.

I am happy to have had the opportunity to explore The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I plan to look at past issues for homeschooling information and support while I wait for next month's edition.

Disclaimer: This magazine and iPhone/iPad app are free items. I was asked to by the Schoolhouse Review Crew to review them and give my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor have I received any compensation for this article. All opinions are my own.

 Want to see other great stuff the Schoolhouse Review Crew is checking out?  Click the button!

Snow!

It's pretty hard to pay attention to your work when every time you turn your head, you can see the snow outside. Especially when it's the first snow of the season!!  We were about due for a break, so we went outside to play.  It turned into an impromptu weather & science lesson on wind and snow while we played.  

Heading into the yard...

I'm impressed with Jude.  He actually played in the snow -- in years past, he hasn't been excited to be outside in the cold and wet.

I know we have boots around here somewhere...but in the interest of getting out while the snow was falling (the original forecast was a rain/snow mix), I decided it was better to just toss the sneakers into the dryer when we were done.

And he's off!

Jude has an obsession with snow angels, but he wasn't interested in making angels today.  He wanted to make lots of footprints.

It's really coming down...big, fat flakes the size of quarters and half dollars!

The boys had a good time pulling themselves up the ramp  with the ropes and then sliding back down it.

 "I made it!"

Attempting to build a snowman.

He squished his hands together a little to hard.

Damien decided to help.

 

Jude wasn't interested in catching snowflakes, but Damien had a great time.  I couldn't resist sharing this one.

Goal Planning Monday - Nov. 5

So much for having goals for the week...along came Sandy and they all went swirling in the wind!

After some chaos the week before and then two "Hurricane Days" last Monday and Tuesday, we were finally back on track Wednesday.  We started adding one new activity for each day, and it didn't go so well.   He liked the added art project, but he wasn't quite so excited about having to do "gym" class.  I had pulled out the little activity mats I had mentioned last time, but he just didn't want to get started.  I set up several mats in a circle, varying the type of activity being asked of him,  but he wasn't going for it.  We settled on 5 of each exercise, and after a lot of coaxing, five circuits.  It was really hard for him -- his coordination was really poor -- so I think we will stick to it (he may or may not like it, but that's life!) and see where we go.  He does much better with hands-on input and cueing (repositioning his body, reminding him to reach up, etc.), but this is what he looks like when left to his own devices.




Moving forward to new goals.

1. Keep working on adding a little more to each day.

2. Contacting the Therapy Department at duPont and find out where he is on the waiting lists, and if it's going to be a while, start looking into other providers.  If he doesn't come up soon, we are going to have to start the evaluation process all over again.  He isn't any better, so honestly, I will admit I just don't want to see that (or that he's comparatively worse since he's now 6 months older) on paper.  I'd rather just look at it as "We know he needs extra help, so can we just get it already." 

3. The Jesse Tree -- time to start printing out the pictures for the Tree.

4. Try to not be doing blog posts late at night!  

Looking to set goals for yourself?  Come blog about them over at Life Unscripted!

All Saints in Heaven, Pray for us!

This week, we celebrated All Saint's Day. We did our first lapbook-style project.  We worked on it over two days.  (I had originally planned to take four, but we lost Monday and Tuesday due to Hurricane Sandy.)

Wednesday

We started with the Armor of God paper craft from DLTK-Bible.  Jude colored in the boy, and then dressed himself in Armor to become like the saints.  We learned Saints do what God asks them, and tells others about God.  We revisited the words righteous and faithful, both words that described Old Testament Heroes that we have studied so far.  Enoch was a righteous person, while Noah was faithful in obeying God's commands. 

We also cut out, pasted on, and labeled pictures of two saints: Mary, Queen of All Saints, and St. Jude.

Thursday

Thursday was All Saint's Day.  We started our day by attending Mass.  Big brother Luke and the rest of his high school was joining in the parish Mass at Sacred Heart Church, so we attended with them.  Jude did an excellent job of being righteous -- being good when only God is looking.  Little brother Damien was singing "Happy Birthday" through the First Reading, so he and I retreated to the vestibule while Jude remained quietly in the pew and paid attention.













 When it was pretty obvious that Damien and I weren't going to be able to sit back down (Damien had grown bored with "Happy Birthday Cha Cha Cha" and moved on to serenading with "Row, Row, Row your boat..."), I motioned for Jude to join us.  There was a glass door, so Jude was able to watch everything going on and participate.   I had to smile a little when we finished the Lord's Prayer and he whispered, "Mommy, they forgot the AMEN!"  (Note to Fr. Goyette and the universal Catholic Church:  Please do not deviate from the Kindergarten Script.  Please forward the message to the Pope that there is an AMEN after "Deliver us from evil." Thank you.)












When we came home and started our school day, Jude colored in a picture of St. Jude, his Patron Saint. I found it, along with a number of other Saint coloring pages, at City Wife, Country Life Blog. 

 

Then he drew a "frame" around the picture and cut it out...

 ...and added St. Jude to our poster.

Finally, we read about Mary Queen of All Saints, St. Jude, and the Communion of Saints.

 

We talked again about how Saints are people who were righteous and faithful and are in Heaven with God and Jesus.   We talked about how there are lots of Saints, but these two are important because Mary is Jesus' mother and the Queen of Heaven and the Saints, and St. Jude was one of Jesus' best friends.  Because Saints were good people who did what they were supposed to when they lived on Earth, God and Jesus listen extra carefully to them now that they are in Heaven.

Mary, Queen of Saints, Pray for us.

 St. Jude, Pray for us.

All Saints, Pray for Us!

Wanna know what everybody else did this week?  Click to find out!