Thankful

What are you thankful for? I have so much to be thankful for...... and I am.

Being a mom...... (what an honor!)

Joy.......

little smiles......

pretty curls......

laughter............

my girl..............

Just Play!

Katie has grown up a lot in the past 5 months. Yes, it has been about 5 months since my last post in eduKatie. Katie and I have done a lot since my last blog post. Honestly, I wasn't able to keep up with my ABC projects. I began leadership in a local Bible study. And then the holidays completely overwhelmed my time. Katie and I still cooked together and read a bazillion (if that's a word) books!

I am still going to homeschool Katie. We recently started getting into reading, phonics, math skills (number sense), and handwriting. This past week Katie did some amazing things that make her momma proud. It also proves to me that I CAN do this. Homeschooling seems overwhelming when you feel that you are alone in the process for 13 years. But the truth is we are not alone. There are SO many resources available to us either on the internet or in our communities. I am planning on getting involved with a local Homeschool group. Having people around is a great support system. Especially when those moms are going through the same challenges that I am.

Last week a friend of mine contacted me and asked me what she should do with a 3 year old for homeschool curriculum. I had to giggle a bit because I feel like, "why ask me? I didn't even accomplish my first preschool plan." But then it dawned on me that I learned something that didn't work and now have a better perspective on this thing.

I have been reading a lot lately in the area of child development and learning. I have a wealth of research under my belt from years past, but current research is even better. So much of what I learned in my Master's program was about the power of play and how profoundly it impacts kids. Much of my reading this past month has reinforced this fact. Play is a powerful tool in learning. Do not underestimate or undervalue play!

With Katie I am focusing on the areas where I feel that she is ready to be challenged. We started tracing letters and shapes again and she is truly ready for it now. So we will work on the alphabet letters each week just a few letters at a time. We work right up to the level of frustration. I do not want her to be frustrated, but I do want her to be challenged. This week she wrote her name! Now it was huge (literally), but she did it! I didn't hold the pen at all. I was so shocked that she could do it. Just a little practice, lots of love and motivation is all she needed. She's 3 by the way! Another thing she has been doing that caught my eye was sounding out letters. She has known her letter sounds for some time now, but she is now starting to put words together. When she sees letters on a sign, t-shirt, or T.V. she is often making the letter sounds out loud and trying to solve the words. This is a clear indication to me that she is ready to try putting small words together. I pulled out some teaching resources on farm animals. I had the animal cut-outs and word that match each animal. We sounded them out together and matched the words with the pictures. By the end of it she could independently sound out the 3 letter words and tell me the words. Again, I am beaming, but what mother wouldn't??? I am a teacher and this is the stuff that really gets me excited. I loved seeing my students grow. Especially my first graders who came in not reading and by the end of the year they were reading above grade level.

So, do I have a plan for homeschooling a 3 year old? Yes. It is curriculum based? Not really. My curriculum is Katie based. We read, play, watch shows repeatedly (because repetition builds knowledge), play, do crafts, go places, play, and talk a lot.

So my advice to my friend and anyone else who has a young child is this; do what is best for your child. If your kiddo is not interested in learning how to read then read to them because they will start to learn print concepts just by watching you model. A year from now they will learn more about reading just because you read to them. Find their strengths and build on that. If your child loves arts and crafts then have them count the beads or measure the string. Find a book about what they like. Then let them play! Playing builds the imagination and their problem solving skills. And remember that they don't need "smart" toys. Perhaps the more simple the better.

Have fun playing!

Happy Girl!

My happy little girl! She had just gotten a sticker after her ballet class. She was so excited. It still amazes me the little things that make her happy. I think she is also learning about being proud of her accomplishments.

This little 3 year old is just like most; she pushes boundaries, tests her mommy (daily), and requires much correction with love. However, she is still perfect in my eyes! It seems that as much as I teach her....she teaches me as well.

Lately, like the last month we have been completely out of routine. And now I find myself in an interesting place. I have a format established and although I wish to continue in the same routine I don't think that my new schedule will permit. So we have a new schedule in order to accomplish the same tasks. It seems that I am daily learning how to be more and more flexible.

Monday: day off
Tuesday: Reading and Language
Wednesday: Bible
Thursday: Art
Friday: Ballet

It seems that every week Katie cooks with me so my recipe will not be given a specific day or time, but we will make a recipe based on the letter that week. I will be incorporating science into our reading and art activities. Part of being a good educator is knowing your student's limits, weaknesses, and strengths. Katie is 3. I have some big goals for her this year, but I refuse to cause big stress for her or I. I am fully committed to teaching her and helping her learn. I also want her to discover and grow a LOVE for learning. If learning is burdensome she will not enjoy it. Right now her favorite way to learn is by playing. Through my professional experience and much research on how children learn, play is a huge factor. This helps children learn from the world around them. I have written about this before. If your children are playing they are learning! Encourage play by surrounding them with toys that allow them to pretend and use their imagination.

Stepping off my soap box of educational know-how, I am a mom like you and know how busy life is. My life has suddenly exploded with "busy". Part of my preschool plan for this year was for me. I need to learn how to balance and organize my time so when she is 4, 5, and 6 I can really do this homeschool thing. Otherwise she will be in a school. You may be in the same position with your young children. I hope this helps someone.

This week for the letter "H" we are reading and learning "H" words. Our art activity is handprints (Thanks Hollie). Our recipe is Honey Buns.

Memory Verse: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words will never pass away." Matthew 24:35

Have a great week!

Finally Getting Here!

Finally Getting Here is right! Weeks that we learned "F", "G", "H", have been anything but normal for us. Katie had her 3rd birthday party, we visited my mom in Daytona for her birthday, and we have a Murder Mystery party in our home tommorrow evening! Fortunately we have maintained some of our homeschool routine.

For the letter "F" we did some finger painting. Katie does not like getting her hands dirty so finger painting is a little like torture for her at first. Once she gets messy she starts to enjoy it. As you can below I got a little smirk..... She was mostly just curious. I think the texture of the paint and using her fingers intrigues her.

Go ahead and give your preschooler pretty little blobs of paint and in no time they will mix all the colors together. I think the plate of paint was just as pretty as her paintings!

Pretty little rainbow fingers!

The next week was "G" week. We read our memory verse and lots of books. We went to the library too. Katie has not been very interested in tracing letters so I have pushed that aside for now. I am focusing on reading books and talking to her. When she wants to pick up a pencil she will....... For our art activity we explored glitter glue. Katie was very curious about this sparkly stuff. She called it pretty glue. We made a birthday picture for her Grammy. That fit nicely into our "G" theme. We spent several days in Daytona with my family so we mainly had fun!

This week is "H" week.....hmmm...... That is pretty much all I have. I think we will start the letter "H" on Monday. I started to get a little frustrated with myself because I just can't seem to fit all of my planned activities into my days lately, but I think it is because of my many extra activities that have consumed our time. I remember being in the classroom and at the end of the day I would reflect on my lesson plans and prepare for the next day. Some days I would have only hit 2 or 3 of my objectives. Those days were just as frustrating as my current week. However, there were just as many days that I went above and beyond my expectations. Some days Katie and I read 2 books all day and then other days we read nearly 10 or 12. So again I learn to be flexible and accept (humbly) that I am not perfect. However, I will persevere. The next few weeks should be pretty calm in our house. For that I am grateful.

Have a beautiful day and remember to give yourself some slack...it's okay!

Goodness Gracious We've Been Busy!

The last 2 weeks have really been a challenge for us with so much party preparation and vacation, but we have managed to do some really fun things together. Katie and I are completely off schedule or I should say..out of our routine. I am hoping to get back on track. Tomorrow will be another fun and crazy day though so, we will just have to see. This is "G" week.

Our memory verse is "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

Katie has learned the first 5 verses, but not last week's yet. It was a long one, but I confident that it is planted deep in her heart. I pray everyday that God's word will sink deep in her heart and that when she is older the verses will come naturally to her. She is a precious child and I cherish the role I have as her mom. What a great responsibility that God has given to me!

We started BSF this past week. I am absolutely thrilled! I have dreamt for years that one day I would take my child to BSF. Bible Study Fellowship is a fairly academic bible study with a four fold measure of learning. My favorite part right now (as mom) is that Katie is learning the same lesson that I am each week. WOW! Wednesday was our Bible lesson day (which I planned) and now she gets to go to her own class. Her and I will still be reading her Bible with her and learning verses, but she will now be going to BSF.

Our Art activity this week will be glitter glue. Oooh fun!

I have not decided on a recipe yet because our week is a little mixed up. I am thinking something granola?!?!

For science we will play with gravity. FUN!

This weekend we are going to Grammy and Pop Pop's house for Grammy's birthday! We have 2 more weeks of busy and then things should slow down a bit...until the holidays begin.

Have fun this week and check back later. I will update again this week!

Freedom to be Flexible

Tomorrow....... I am going to continue with the letter "F". We had so much fun last week at Disney we didn't really get much school done. Katie didn't have an opportunity to do all the "F" activities that we could do.....so I will do them this week. That is a beautiful aspect to homeschooling your children; you can be flexible. Katie got a fossil kit last week so I think we may make some fossils. We are also preparing for her third birthday party this weekend.....so we will be doing plenty of baking.

That memory verse was a long one so an extra week on that should do us both some good.

Have a great week!

Fabulous French Toast and Fruit

Mmmmm.....Fantastic Fruity French Toast!

First thing this morning we went for a walk/jog. We showered and went straight to making our breakfast....french toast! This is not a new recipe for us, but usually I don't have Katie helping me.

Katie helped me get everything we need to make our recipe.

You need one egg.....

and a teaspoon of vanilla will add a little more flavor.

We used 1 cup of milk and a dash of cinnamon.

Mix everything in a medium bowl.

Dip each piece of bread in the mixture and place in frying pan. I also put some butter in the pan. Repeat until you have all the toast you need to feed your group or when you run out of the liquid mixture. We only made 4 pieces of toast. So you may need to double the recipe if you plan to feed the whole family!

Sprinkle the French Toast with powdered sugar (aka: fairy dust) and add some fruit!

Then ENJOY!!!!

Funny Fishy Faces and French Toast!

We have made it to the letter F. We are ready for some Fun so let's get started!

Fishy Face!

It is noon on Monday and I am just getting this posted! Yikes! Where is the time going?

I went to bed early last night with a headache. I knew Monday morning would be a hectic time to try and get this posted, but sometimes things come up.

This week we will be learning about and focusing on the letter "F". Each week I am surprised at how any teachable moments pop up that correspond to the letter we are learning about. We are going to Disney this week. I try not to let events interrupt our daily lessons, but DISNEY???? Hello...I will find a way to learn about the letter "F". We are going to have FUN FUN FUN with our Favorite Disney Friends!

Memory verse: "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Monday: Recipe: French Toast

Tuesday: Library storytime, Finger painting

Wednesday: Bible: Forgiveness and Language lessons on beginning sounds "F"

Thursday: Disney

Friday: Disney

Have FUN this week!

Edible Peanut Butter Play Dough

Wanna make some play-dough you can play with and then eat?
Sounds like delicious fun!

Let me show you how!

First you need some powdered milk 1 1/2 cups

And some yummy peanut butter any kind will do. We used Simply Jif since we were adding so much sugar to it. You will need 1 cup.

Light Corn Syrup (sugar) Sweet and sticky syrup give the play-dough a stretchy ooey-gooey texture! You need 1 cup.

MMMmmmm Fairy dust....I mean Powdered sugar. Katie likes when I sprinkle fairy dust on her food. You will need 1 1/2 cups.

We added all the ingredients to a ziploc bag and then Katie mushed and kneaded it until it was done. I used to make this in my classroom. I would let the kids dump all the ingredients in a bowl while I mixed it with (clean) hands. They loved seeing how yucky and sticky I got. Katie and I kept it clean this time. She had fun mixing it in the bag and I was not concerned about the mess at all. Last thing I wanted to do was clean corn syrup off Katie or furniture.

After you mix and mix and mix it.....(about 5-10 minutes of kneading). You will eventually get a tan looking play-dough. The more it is played with the smoother it will get.

Katie liked looking at it and seeing it change.

Then of course we had to wash our hands. You will want to have clean hands to play with your food! And yes they will eat it .....as much as you will give them.
I put a piece of foil on the table so she could play with it. She rolled into a ball and then a snake. She kept putting it in her mouth too. I got out some chocolate chips so she could decorate it. She gave her snake eyes!

Have fun eating your play-dough!

Here Are Our "E"asy Cake Cookies

I know it is a stretch to use this as an "E" activity, but I really didn't have a better plan. I was boggled with what to do for many of my "E" activities. Some other ideas were eclairs, elephant ears, and eggs. Ummm, this is for a 2-3 year old to do so I opted for the "easy" activity. My sister-in-law Rochel came over and she shot most of these pictures.

Katie cutting.....

Katie dumping the cake mix.....

Katie very proud!

All the ingredients you need.....1 cake mix, 2 eggs, 1 stick of butter...... oh and chocolate chips.

Katie mixing.....

Katie pouring in chocolate chips....

Oooooh Katie sneaking in a chocolate chip or maybe 2!

Did they see me? Uhh we have a camera on her.

Katie stirring the chocolate chips into the mix.....

Cute tippy toes!

Good girl helping mommy with the clean up.

She has to learn the whole process, not just the fun parts.

Patiently waiting.......

Sweet rewards!

Ooey gooey chocolatey goodness.....what a mess!

Beautiful "Easy" Cake Cookies

Are You Excited For "E" Week?

We are excited for "E" week. I have to tell you that "D" week did not go as well as the 3 previous weeks. We had a few interruptions in our schedule and took time to do some non-d related activities.

We took a walk almost every morning. We made donuts. Katie drew letters during her bubble bath. We read books. I told her about David and Goliath. She was a David fan immediately as she does not like giants. We read in her children's Bible all the stories about David. Katie counted on her calendar and can now count to 31 with minimal, if no help. I plan to teach her to count backwards and then by two's. I wrote all that to explain that we did do learning, but it varied a little from my normal planned week and I think that is okay.

I have a feeling this week is going to be a little off too. It is "E" week. I am excited to finally know what I am going to teach her that starts with the letter "E".

Memory verse:

"Encourage one another, while it is still today." Hebrews 3:13

Monday: Recipe: Easy cake cookies ( I will post the recipe later.)
Tuesday: Art: edible play-doh (peanut-butter play-doh)
Wednesday: Bible lesson: Eve
Thursday: Language: beginning sounds "e" and reading
Friday: Science: elephants (Since Katie loves them we can learn more about them.)

Some of our everyday activities include: taking a walk and talking about anything new we see, calendar math, reading books, watching Leap Frog Word Making Factory video, saying our memory verse and practicing our old ones, playing games like Memory and Candyland, and cutting and pasting.

I hope you have a great "E" week. May it be exciting, energizing, easy, effective, enlightening, enjoyable, excellent and extraordinary!