Learning to Read

Learning to read can be an overwhelming tasking, even for the parent. When to start? Phonics vs sight or whole language, what resources to use. As someone who has studied child development and still reads up on the topic the easiest and general rule is when your child starts to write letters it a great time to start learning to read. This is can be a long process so don't expect your child to be reading soon. Follow their lead, if they are writing at 4 introduce the letter sounds while they are learning to write. Do not push, some kids are not ready until they are closer to 6 and that is okay. Keep reading often to them and get them to love reading, don't make it a chore. I do short mini lessons with my daughter who is almost 4 1/2. We have been using some apps and the Finger Phonics series. We also on occasion read Bob books. Lessons are usually 5 minutes long and are done very relaxed. "Lets read this book together, do you want to play your phonics game on the kindle? Do you want to read a Bob book tonight?" I don't push, if she pushes back I stop. I've found short daily lessons are working for us. She now can read some simple words, cat, mat, sat, hen, pen. Working on rhyming words has helped a lot. We use letters from the fridge magnets or from a puzzle and will go through, m-at, r-at, f-at, c-at, s-at and so on. Liv is building confidence in her reading abilities, without pressure or fear of failure. I find the combination of sight and phonics is a great way to start and gets the best of both worlds. Here's to my little prereader

New Year New Us

2014, wow that came up quick. This year I have to much I want to do and so much coming up to do, weddings, deciding to homeschool or not, possibly moving, deciding on having a third. I also want to get more done, be more productive. I often find when I finally sit down at 8pm I realize I can't recall much of what I have done, or it sounds like stuff that should of filled 1 to 2 hours of my day. I recently read "Eat that Frog" now I'm working on reading "Getting things Done" This also means I'm using my planner more and trying to set up goals, with a deadline on them. That was the number one idea I got from "Eat That Frog" I've been working on organizing more, so I can spend less time wandering looking and less time cleaning. Both girls have gotten new bookshelves to help with their rooms and it has already made a big difference. I'm trying to work out consistently. Get back into my old clothes. Who knew weaning would bring on weight gain? Building back up muscle that I used to have. I'm trying to find more time for prayer, for Bible reading and for church. Hoping to spend less time online and more time with real life friends. I many ways I'm trying to make my home life run better, waste less time, and find more time to be healthier and happier. Hoping this fire in my belly keeps me going. Studies show if I can make it to February I should be in the clear. I want out of my Stay at home mom rut and to feel back as my old self, which is my exercise is a top priority on my list. Mentally, physically, I need the energy and I miss feeling strong, and I miss seeing my abs. I can do it, right? Yes, 2014 the year I got my life back and balanced kids, motherhood, being a wife and being me.

Back to School

Liv is back in school, 3 days a week of pre-k. While part of me still dreams of homeschooling I just don't know if it will ever work out for us. One huge part is I know myself and know I crack with out a break. I need some time with out fighting, yelling, biting (well that's Eve not Liv)whining and just time for me. So far everyday Liv's been in school I've hit our local trail for a run/walk. (I can not run even half of it, but hey I'm trying) I'm not alone, Eve is in tow. But its much more peaceful of a walk since she has no ones hair to pull or no one to poke out when she gets bored half way through. Today I just walked with 2 other moms, and boy was it nice. We walked, talked and enjoyed the fall breeze in the air. Talking to two other adults while the toddlers enjoyed the leaves falling and Eve some coloring and snacks too. I'm hoping to stick to this work out schedule, since it feels so good and maybe, just maybe I'll get back in those skinny jeans. 3 hours with one child, yes that is a huge break and relation for me. Funny to think of one child being a break, but any parent of more than one will tell you it really is. Is also nice to get to spend some one on one time. And Eve actually really enjoys playing alone, something she rarely gets to do since Liv wants to always play with her. I get so much done not having to play referee. I give so much credit to those homeschooling moms and dream of maybe a part-time way for me. If I could afford it I would maybe pay for some classes during the day. They actually offer so much around here. Dance, art, natures, music. But for me to afford all of that I need to work. But those classes would give me the break I need. And hopefully some socialization they love. People around here are very "modern" full time pre-k, preschool at 2, dance lessons, swim lessons and soccer. All of that doesn't leave too many friends around for playdates. That is a huge reason I put her in school and even if I had the money a big reason why I still might hesitate homeschooling. The homeschoolers here are far and few inbetween. Right now I feel like I'm living my homeschool dream. She's out a little bit, but still home enough so I can enjoy time with her. On non school days I homeschool pre-k stuff with her. Right now we are working on phonics. Next week we'll be starting "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." Pinterest is also an amazing homeschooling tool. I have so many cute crafts planned. Liv being home more also helps me do religious studies with her. Its important to me that she understands her religion and is raised with good Christian values. Part of that for me is having her home enough to show and teach her that. As their mom I feel I am best to teach them, as I feel most other moms are their own children's best teachers. So for now I'm enjoying the part-time school part-time homeschool life and dreaming of lotto winnings, a move to a cheaper state or a big fat inheritance to make that dream come true.

Early Reading at home

I have an almost 4 year old who is starting to get interested in reading. She says she wants to learn how to read so I have been working with her a little bit to get her ready to really learn to read. I am a big believer in going at a child's pace and not pushing them. Learning at this age should be enjoyable and fun, not forced at all. One thing I have started doing with her is reading a story I know has a lot of a certain letter. Today we read a bird book. So I gave her a block with the letter B on it.She traced the B with her hands, lower and upper case. We made B sounds and I told her to listen for the letter b. When the letter was prominent like in bluebird I pointed it out to her. We also love the Curious George Learns the Alphabet Book. It is so wonderfully illustrated and she has for a while learned to associate letters with certain words and sounds, like S-snail or T-tomahawk We are going slow, working on a letter every few days. This gives it time to sink in and helps so it doesn't feel so school like. I want my children to crave learning, love it and really want to learn. Not think of learning as some passive experience where they are drilled with flash cards and words. While this might help an older child learn, a child who is not even 4, yes it can be taught to them, but at what consequence? And are they truly learning it or just repeating blindly like a parrot? If she is reading at 4 she will be a young reader, but I have seen it pushed on kids even younger. But do children really younger than 4 understand phonemes and language rules? This is even hard for a 4 year old to grasp which is why I am going slow with her and teaching phonics. She already has picked up some sight words but over and over again I read how the combination of whole reading and phonics the best way for a child to become a great reader. Maybe tomorrow we will read the Cat in the Hat and work on C, or maybe if the rain clears we will spend the day in the sun, digging in the dirt and listening to the cicadas. That is the wonderful thing about this age and learning at home, no pressure, just love and enjoyment.

Chalk Art

The Easter Bunny took Liv's binkies and left some wonderful gifts in return. The transition to life with out the binkies has been challenging but I'm am glad to say she is sleep okay with out them. We have some nights and naps that are not great, but it seems to be getting easier. One of the gifts the Easter bunny left was a small chalkboard with colored chalk. This has been a great source of entertainment for Liv and its great for learning. She loves coloring with it, drawing and also cleaning it. I have to say I really forgot how nice it is to color with chalk. There is something so easy about it I enjoy playing with it too.

Liv often tells me things to draw. She learns a lot from observing. She usually doesn't jump into things or just try she watches and watches over and over again till in her mind she thinks she has it then she tries it, usually with great success too. I was not to found of drawing with crayons on paper so it is nice now that I can enjoy drawing while she studies my techniques, or lack there of. But I guess it really doesn't matter much to a 2 year old. She is still working on drawing simple shapes so her watching me draw the sun or moon is teaching her about circles. She also watches me to see how I hold the chalk. Once she gets shapes down better I am planning on using a Montessori method for teaching her how to write her letters. I plan to make sandpaper cut outs of the letters and she can use those to copy the letter on the chalkboard. I am not one to push learning on my young child so I don't think we will start this till the fall, if I think she is ready now. But we do work on letter identification now. I will draw letter and she names them. For the most part our chalkboard is used for art but it amazes me how something so simple could be such a great source of learning for her. Simple really seems to be best when it comes to learning for children and most enjoyable.

Home Pre-school

To help get a little more routine to our days and rhythm in our life I am planning to start doing a little home preschooling come March.
Liv will be 2 1/2, which around here is a common age to start pre-school. Personally I feel this is too young, but I don't feel some more structure and lose learning and playing is the same as actually going to pre-school.
I've been having a little bit of a hard time getting a nice routine with our days since Eve has been born. I am planning on starting the New Year with getting back into some more structure then come March do one day a week like a pre-school, or more accurately called a play school. Liv is too young for real schooling, but not too young for story-times, crafts and other types of play.
Thursday will most likely become our pre-school day.
Keep an eye out for my curriculum for her. I will be doing things to help learn letters, colors and shapes, using stories and other activities.
I think March is a great time for us to start since it will be Spring so I can use lots of seasonal things to bring in our home and play time.
I really enjoy the Waldorf philosphy so I'm hoping to use some of that in my pre-school for Liv.
I've been collecting ideas and started a binder for my ideas.
The binder is divided by months since I plan to teach along with the seasons and holidays. I'm going to put all sorts of appropriate activities in my binder for children up to 5 years old, but will only use age appropriate stuff. This way I won't lose any ideas that are great for older children, and I can reuse lots of fun seasonal stuff that is great for all ages.
Wish me luck!