Homeschooling Noelle

I briefly mentioned that I started a new homeschool curriculum with Noelle but before I shared it with you I wanted to make sure it was a good fit. Noelle completed the Letter of the Week program by Confessions of a Homeschooler at the end of last year. She loved every printable and activity that we did so I wanted to find a similar curriculum that would be challenging and entertaining for her.

I decided on You Can Read from 1+1+1=1. Noelle has completed 4 weeks from this program and so far she loves it. It is amazing how much she has picked up during the past month. The Letter of the Week program taught her the alphabet and the sounds of each letter and now she is memorizing sight words and sounding out words. She currently knows 16 sight words and can read many sentences with those words.

A few minutes after learning the 4 sight words this week (love, mom, dad, as) she read this sentence (I may have teared up a little).

Noelle loves the printables from You Can Read. After printing them I place each page in a clear page protector and she uses dry erase markers so she can do them over and over during the week.

Instead of buying tons of homeschool props, I make my own. Here I taped 6 words to a rubber block and we play "roll the block." This game really helped her with the words she was having trouble with.

Another game we play is called the "box game." I write one word on each box lid and put a "prize" in each box (pretzel, m&m, cracker, sticker, etc). If she gets the word right she wins the prize. This is a fun game to play during homeschool time and also after dinner as "homework." 

We are also doing several printables each week from Raising Rock Stars Kindergarten. Noelle is only three and a half but she loves doing math, memorizing Bible verses and tracing. It doesn't seem to be over her head so we're going with it.

Other things we do daily:

Noelle enjoys the Starfall website. She completed ABCs and is now on Learn to Read. It's also a great site for preschool aged kids who are just learning the alphabet.

She is working her way through the Teach Me Kindergarten app. It follows the Dolch Pre Primer and Primer Sight Word lists just like the You Can Read program so Noelle doesn't get frustrated with words she doesn't recognize. The math portions have been great for her. Since she started playing the app a few weeks ago, she has wanted to add and subtract objects all over the house.

That about sums up what Noelle is doing right now at "school." We only do 30 minutes to an hour each day but that is plenty for a three year old. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. My email address is growingupgardner@yahoodotcom.

-Amanda

Thanksgiving Crafts

We've been crafting away at the Gardner house lately. Here are a few of my favorites---

Cut out a tree pattern on brown paper and put out a few different colors of finger paint to make fingerprint leaves.

Making Thanksgiving Day place mats was one of my favorite things to do in school. Noelle and I made this one at Art Class (she wasn't too interested in elaborating the turkey features).

Leaf bracelets - all of the kids love this fall activity. Wrap a strip of tape - sticky side out - around the wrist and let them find leaves to stick on their "bracelet." A fun thing to do on Thanksgiving Day, then use the bracelets as place cards on the kid's table.

Noelle's hand turkey. Trace and cut out the hand prints, make a turkey body, glue them to paper and draw a face and legs (Noelle wanted orange legs so you can't really see them). And if they want to, let them continue to color their turkey.

I took out the Christmas decorations (going up today) and found this one from last year - our family turkey. We're going to need to make a new one this year with Noah's hand prints.

Linking up with I Can Teach My Child

Where you will find amazing crafts and activities to do with your little one!

My work day + homeschool update

A week before Noah was born I went on "maternity leave" and 5 weeks ago I started working again. My job? Watching my sister's kids, Emma (3) and Evan (2). It's hard work, but hardly a job. Those kids are such blessings.

It's hard to find words to describe Emma. She is far beyond her 3 years. The girl is crazy smart. Tell her something once and she'll remember it for-ev-er. And she is hilarious. Noelle and Emma together make me laugh all day long. I really need to record one of their conversations. Target almost always is mentioned.

I've been watching Evan since he was around 6 months old. He is the sweetest little guy. I'm amazed by how much he has grown during the past 7 months. He speaks very well and now keeps up with the girls. Noelle and Evan play great together. She acts like his little mommy, it's so cute! She asks him if he wants to hold her hand or if he wants to play a game with her. Sometimes she reminds me to do a better job at being present for them. Last week we were walking to the park and Noelle said to Evan, "See that white car, that's the mail-lady, she brings mommy the mail from the post office." And I thought, man, I should have told him that.

Needless to say, things are busy around here. The only thing keeping my head on straight is a solid schedule. Our day goes exactly like this. 

7:45 - the E's are dropped off by my brother-in-law, Sean. Noelle and Emma quickly examine the contents of the bag Aunt Tina packed. See Noelle's face? "Wow!" I can't remember what was in there but apparently it was pretty stellar. 

7:46 - the girls are in their Princess dresses and dancing around the house. 

8:00 - Breakfast, during which the kids catch up on hot topics such as Hello Kitty, Halloween costumes, & lunch.

After breakfast we wait for Noah to wake up (usually at 8:30) then head to the park until 9:30.
It's a short 4 minute walk, but usually takes much longer because puddles are puzzling obstacles,

mailboxes are a math lesson,

 and trees tell when seasons are changing.
(Grandma taught the kids to shake trees to see if the leaves "fall." Get it?

At the park the fun begins. Their new thing is climbing up all of the slides. Apparently stairs are so last year.

Every stranger we see asks one of these questions
Are they all yours?
Are the girls twins?
Is this a daycare?
or simply,
You sure have your hands full!

Emma

While the big kids play, Noah hangs out with his toys and watches all of the park shenanigans.

Like the Chicken & Fox game. I am always chosen to be the fox, surprise surprise, who chases the chickens around the park until I catch one and "eat it."

Where on earth could those chickens be?

"She's coming...RUN!"

Probably why I've lost 8 lbs since I started watching them again. 

Anyone who is around 3-year-olds knows that it's not all fun and games. I probably say, "please share the toy" and "be nice to each other" and "no mean faces, girls" a dozen times a day.

Timeout for Noelle

On our way back from the park, Evan walks a little faster because he knows it's time for his favorite part of the day - the bounce house!
I set the bounce house up in the garage and after a water break, they go crazy. It's short-lived, between 15 and 20 minutes of bouncing, because once I say the word "snack" they are lined up at the door ready for the air conditioner and ice cold juice.

10:30 - Snack time
During snack time, I put Noah down for his 1st nap of the day. He sleeps until 12:30.

From 11 - 12 the kids play on the back porch with water. We have a water table and squirt guns. They love it.

At noon, the kids eat lunch and then we go into the play room (also the classroom) to do school work. It was challenging at first trying to get the three of them to sit quietly and work at the same time. I tried stations, but that failed. I couldn't be 3 places at once. So now, Evan sits next to me and does 2 activities (coloring, numbers, colors, matching) and the girls do their work (patterns, tracing, writing, coloring, letters, etc). So far so good with this routine.

At 1:15, I start to get the kids ready for nap time. They all go to the bathroom and then I read a book...or three. The big kids nap from 1:30 - 3:30ish, and Noah goes down for his 2nd nap from 2 - 3:30ish (when one wakes up, they all wake up).
The last hour is usually spent picking up all the toys dispersed around the house and playing in the play room. Sean picks them up around 4:30pm and then I get busy making dinner.

Noelle usually asks for more school time after dinner, so we do another 30 minutes to an hour. We both really enjoyed J is for Jesus. I found a Mary and baby Jesus printable HERE. All you need is a toilet paper roll, scissors, and tape.

I cut the pieces out and let Noelle do all of the taping. Heads up - the glue stick didn't work.

The "Mary and Jesus" on the right was printed in black and white for Noelle to color. That one is "mommy and Noah" - so sweet.

So that basically sums up a day in my life. Fun, exhausting, and completely rewarding. 

Target School Supply Clearance

Be still my homeschooling, money-saving, target-loving heart. School supplies at 75% off! 

There were stacks and stacks of paper and notebooks on sale for just pennies. I only had time to grab a few things but I think I'll go back tonight to pick up 15 or so more notebooks - only 25 cents each!

Brought home:

Binder .75

Glue .44

4 Composition books .25 each

Mead Planner $1.74

Have you found any clothes for free or cheap with the $5 off Merona bottom, $5 off denim, or the $5 off Mossimo apparel coupons? 

So far I've gotten a super cute Mossimo dress for $1.62, two Merona cotton skirts for free, a black Mossimo tunic for free, two pairs of capri jeans for free (donated), and a blue Mossimo shirt for free.

Also on clearance at my Target today was the kids' bedding. Really adorable quilts and comforters for half off. Happy Target Shopping! 

Homeschool - F is for Fish

Noelle had a couple of first times this week in Preschool.

She wrote her name all on her own!

I was cheering her on with each letter. I even teared up a bit when she was done. One proud momma!

She also matched every capital letter of the alphabet with its lower case letter on her own. This time I wasn't even around. I was making lunch and she was working on it on the floor in the living room.

Another alphabet activity:

On strips of paper I wrote a capital letter with several lower case letters. She picks the matching lower case letter and marks it with a clothes pin. 

Letter of the Week Activities
Measurement

Patterns

Counting & Sorting

Tracing 

Measurement Activity

Supplies:

Rice in a container
Measuring cups / Bottles
Measuring spoons
Tray

Noelle picks what number she wants to fill the bottle to then uses the spoons to fill the bottle to that number. She loves this activity and usually works on it for 15 minutes each day. Great for younger kids too!


Bible Story
Jonah and the Big Fish

Read more about the Whale Milk Jug Craft HERE.

A successful and fun week. I'm looking forward to "G" week! G is for GARDNER!


Letter of the Week Curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler
 

Homeschool - C is for Caterpillar

The "C" is for Caterpillar lesson plan was my favorite thus far. Noelle and I enjoyed all of the fun caterpillar projects. The first three days were challenging for Noelle, she can recognize C but had a hard time with the "cuh" sound that it makes. So we lived letter C for 5 days.

On our nightly walks we looked for things that start with C - car, curb, (trash) can, etc. Every day we made a list of people we know whose names start with "cuh" and we finished each lesson with a hunt for objects around the house that start with "cuh" - candle, cross, cork, candy, cow, computer, cup.

Noelle said her favorite part of letter "C" was "gluing the caterpillars."

{Here are a few pictures from Week 7}

Noelle put the caterpillar in order from 1 to 10 by herself

She was pretty proud of herself - as was mommy.

We had fun with this "game." I had Noelle close her eyes and I put caterpillars on the leaf. When she opened her eyes she counted the caterpillars and found the matching number. 

A little gluing is always entertaining.

I printed this number workbook which has helped Noelle learn numbers 1-20. On each page she circles a number and traces it at the bottom. 

{she asked very nicely to use a sharpie - It was a one-time deal}

Week "C" Bible Verse:

"Children obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right." Ephesians 6:1

Homeschool - Getting Started

I've had many comments on the homeschool posts from readers who are encouraged to start homeschooling or plan on starting in the future so in this post I thought I'd share a few things that have been helpful to me and Noelle.

When I got serious about starting a curriculum with Noelle I was quickly overwhelmed with the amount of information there is out there. I remember my heart pounding and telling Mr. G that I felt inadequite. There were so many sites to filter though and nothing stood out to me. Then I found Confessions of a Homeschooler and immediately I knew I found the perfect place to start. I purchased the Letter of the Week curriculum for $10 and starting printing the first weeks lesson plan. We will be moving on to the K4 curriculum next.
So do some research and find a curriculum that fits for your homeschooler and give it a try! Homeschooling has been one of the best decisions that I have made. I've heard from many moms that they've never heard someone say they wish they didn't homeschool - only that they wished they started sooner. After the first day I was hooked. It is a blast teaching Noelle.

My experience as a substitute teacher was helpful from the start. I've worked in almost all grades from Kinder to High School as a sub. My time in the Kindergarten classes helped me get Noelle's "classroom" set up. If you have a friend who teaches maybe you can ask for a tour of the classroom.

Keeping to a schedule is key. If we don't get into the "classroom" first thing in the morning, I'll get busy with chores and projects and shopping - and school gets pushed back or forgotten for the day.

Prepare, prepare, prepare. On Sunday night I prepare all of the material for the week. It makes everything easier to have it done in advance, especially with a young one. Noelle is not going to sit around waiting for me to print, cut and organize the lesson plan for the day, so I have it all laid out ready to go in the morning.

Find your child's learning strengths and style. Noelle learns fast with songs and repetition. She will learn a Bible verse in one hour if I repeat it 10 or so times when she's tracing, lacing, coloring, etc. About the 5th time she'll start to say it with me. She's very much an auditory and kinesthetic learner.
Noelle and I made this song up to remember vowels. It's a silly little jingle, but ask her what the vowels are and she'll tell you!

"a.e.i.o.u. Oh Ya. a.e.i.o.u. Brake It Down Now"

Pray. I pray daily for wisdom, patience and contagious excitement about learning.

A short Vlog about our "classroom"

We finished up the vowels with letter O and then spent a week reviewing each letter and all 5 Bible verses. I think I'll do a review week every 5 weeks or so. It was fun to go back and see what she's learned and accomplished.
This past week Noelle learned letter B - for butterfly. Here are a few pictures of her favorite activities:

Tracing all of the letters in the alphabet - she did this several times.

 Matching big B with big B and little b with little b.

Tracing B and b

Matching (and gluing)