Tales From The Chicken Coop

Organic Eggs

The whole reason we decided to raise chickens was because we wanted free organic eggs everyday.  We eat a lot of eggs and we thought to ourselves, we have a big back yard why not get some chickens, raise them, and get eggs for free?  We also love the size of our back yard and feel we have plenty of room for growing veggies and raising chickens.  And since we have 4 kids who love animals and love to learn, and since Julia belongs on a farm and seriously is so gifted with animals this was a no brainer of a choice.  I mean we raised butterflies for 2 weeks during homeschool science last year...how hard could chickens be?  

Rosa, Sophia, and Kiki (Spikey is eating in the coop)

On July 9th we picked up 4 chickens for $2 a pop, our friend Christa and Jason who moved gave us their chicken coop and fencing which was so helpful and we became that weird chicken raising family which kind of makes sense when you think about us anyway.  Everyone knows we love the farm life.  So a few months has passed and it has gotten slightly cooler and so John needed to build a bigger, warmer, more insulated (Spartan-like) coop.  At 5 months old chickens start their egg laying duty...we are a few weeks away from getting eggs!  Our Rosa, Sophia, Kiki, and Spikey are about 4 months old now.  They eat ALL the time.  They are always hungry.  They are super easy to care for and the best part is that John cleans all the chicken poop out every weekend, without me even asking him.  Did I mention that the chicken raising was ALL his idea?  

John built this coop in 2 weekends...it's pretty amazing.

The coop is in the way back part of our property behind our shed and next to our vegetable garden.  I have no idea why John spray painted a red Spartan helmet on the door, but it makes him very happy so let's just let him have it.  He says we are raising Spartan chickens.  

Some things you may not know about chickens are that they are very quiet.  We never ever ever want a rooster because they are loud and because we only want 4 chickens.  Having a rooster would mean we would have baby chicks in the spring...and we only want to manage the 4 right now.  Plus, my neighbors would not appreciate a rooster.  Let's be real.

All chickens lay eggs at 5 months for a time...I still have to research how long they actually lay eggs for...I'm guessing at least a year or two...maybe more?  They lay one egg a day and I can't wait for the day to open their coop and actually start collecting organic brown eggs...side note, Mark's chicken is an Americana bird and she will be laying blue eggs!  

The chickens come out of their coop during the day to hang out in the pen area and they eat bugs and grass and love pecking the ground in search of yummy bugs like ticks and spiders (another reason to love them).  We make sure inside their coop where they sleep at night has shelves for hanging out, hay for keeping warm and water and food.  Each morning I feed them organic chicken feed and it looks like wheat germ.  Soon they will start eating kitchen scraps...and I've heard they love watermelon and strawberries.

Julia and Mark have helped feed the chickens after school, but last Friday, Julia fed the chickens and left their food latch open...all 4 chickens flew right out of the coop and in the morning I had a lovely surprise in the backyard.  I had to rally 4 chickens into the coop and let me tell you I was a sight for sore eyes.  I had my nightgown on with a t-shirt thrown over it, leggings and my Toms on!  My neighbor Cesar lent me a hand.  I caught 2 of the chickens and returned them to the coop but Rosa and Spikey were too hard to catch.  I put extra food in a smaller coop and by 2pm they wandered in and I closed that coop shut.  Let's just say it wasn't their finest hour.  I really thought about eating chicken for dinner.

The kids love the chickens.  They are part of the family now.  Even if they tried to escape and forced me to run around crazy like a lunatic in my own back yard.  

Surviving Standardized Testing!

Our First Day of School 2014 Picture

The Year is Drawing to a Close

Our curriculum books are nearing the end.  We have finished our 24 weeks of Classical Conversations Cycle 3. We have learned so much in the past 7 months and we still have about 6-7 weeks of school left.  But now its time to really start assessing how much the big kids have learned and see how well I have taught them.

This year I wanted to do standardized testing for many reasons.  Actually, I wanted to test last year but with the move happening and being in my third trimester with Amelia I decided to wait until I could test both big kids this year since Mark has almost completed Kindergarten and Julia is now towards the end of Second Grade.  If I tested last year Julia would've done it alone.  This year I was able to prepare both kids at the same time and each of them got to experience it together but in their own age appropriate group.

We started prepping for the test at the beginning of January and our official test was the second week in April 6-8 (during most school's spring breaks).  In January I registered my children online and bought sample test booklets through BJU Press and I even bought practice workbooks in Reading and Math at Barnes and Noble.  I figured that we could work on it a little bit each day.  

We also did some fun activities when we completed the sample test and workbooks as a reward for the hard effort and time they put in.

Testing Skills To Teach Young Children:

1. Do your best!

I went over this a lot with my kids.  I told them that this test is just one way of showing us (John and I) how much they have learned.  We already know they are brilliant.  This is their first big standardized test and it will help all of us to see how they compare to other children in the country and help us to see if they are at the correct grade level.  Testing is just one tool to use to assess, there are so many other ones!  Some kids are more articulate and verbal (Julia), some kids love to read quietly and solve problems (Mark), some kids just want the test to be over as quickly as possible (Julia), some kids find tests to be really easy (Mark), some kids love a new challenge (both my kids).  I am excited to see our results.  All I wanted them to do was their best.  

2. Take your time! 

For the kids who just want to hurry up and be done it is helpful to tell them to take their time. So often students make silly errors when they rush.  It is really great to prepare ahead of time with a practice test from BJU press because we were able to see how the testing process works and go over the right answers (they give you the answers at the end to review with your kids.  It was an extra $15 but worth it. 

Teaching students to read each question throughly, and to eliminate wrong answers is a really important life skill.  We worked on eliminating obvious wrong answers and talking through the process of choosing the best answer for each problem.  It's was a lot easier to teach this for Math than it was for History, Science, and Reading Comprehension.  I noticed throughout this testing process that Mark is a naturally good test taker.  He just gravitates towards all the right answers.  Julia is a true thinker, and sometimes she over thinks questions.  She did well, but I could see that sometimes she didn't understand the question completely and over thought her answer choice.  It's something that we can work on for future tests.

3. Choose an answer even if you aren't sure!

I wish I would have gone over this one a bit more.  Remind students to try not to leave blank answers when they are unsure.  It is actually better to take an educated guess than to leave the answer blank.  At least then if you guess, you have a chance of being right as opposed to automatically getting all the blanks wrong.  Explaining this ahead of time is key!


4. Don't forget to pray before the test!

Don't be so focused on getting to the test on time, packing lunches and snacks, filling out forms, and remembering your number 2 pencils, that you forget to pray.  (I'm so thankful my kids both had proctors who prayed before the test because the first day I totally forgot with all the rushing and preparing I was doing.)  It's so important to trust God with these special moments and to teach our kids that ultimately God has a plan, all we can do is our best.  And it is so important that if they are nervous to pray because God loves when we bring our concerns to Him.  It was a good thing for me to remember because my kids were not nervous at all, but I was for them!  And in the hustle and bustle I forgot to pray in the car with them and so it was a great opportunity for me to say, hey guys, mommy forgot to pray with you, let's do it now!


The three testing days went faster than we expected.  Mark's test was only Monday and Tuesday.  Julia's was all three days with 3-4 sections each day.  So we showed up around 8:30 and left around noon each day.  By the time we got home the kids were ready to eat and play.  I let the rest of the days be very low key, no school work type days.  We even went to the park the first day and got ice cream because it was so hot out!

We survived our first standardized test with two babies in tow!  Micah and Amelia hung out in the nursery while I served there with the other little people.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

Homeschooling can be difficult when...

Surviving Homeschool with Toddlers

Most parents know how hard it is to have babies in the house.  They are needy and unpredictable and require a lot of one on one attention.

When I tell people I homeschool after they ask me how I feel about socializing my children (that's always everyone's concern) they then say, "How do you do it with a baby?"  And that question is the most difficult to answer because everyday of homeschool for us is different.

My goal everyday is to do at least 3 hours of homeschool with Julia and Mark.  We usually start at 8:30 a.m. and end right around lunch time.  But as you know life with an almost 2 year old and a 6 month old (not to mention the demands of my 5 and 7 year old) is very chaotic, demanding, and intense.

This gets even trickier when you add elements like sickness, snow storms, and sleepless nights.

Homeschool was easier with only 2!!!

Homeschooling is most difficult when you or your child is sick.  Last week and this week we have dealt with 2 sick parents and 2 sick babies.  Julia and Mark have been healthy, but keeping the schedule when everyone else is feeling yucky can be very hard.  Thankfully John stayed home when I was sick and took over my home school duties (and added some extra subjects like Chinese...my poor kids...lol).  But when Dad must go to work, keeping the schedule is almost impossible.

The beauty of homeschool is that we are not confined to the clock and can do school after lunch, after dinner, or after nap time.  But I find it easiest to get the bulk of our school work done between the hours the kids are the most energetic and alert which is 8am til noon.  Then we have time to go on field trips, run errands, or go on play dates, or do chores/responsibilities in the home.

Homeschooling can be difficult during bad weather because the kids get so excited by the snow!  But it can also be a great incentive to finish school work, so one can go sledding or build a snow man. On snow days we still do school (another beauty of home school) and I like to add something fun like baking, or a craft on those days to make them memorable and special.

Homeschooling can be difficult when there are sleepless nights...and when you have a newborn there could be a lot of those.  I have found that 3 cups of coffee does wonders!  I have also found that my children can do a lot of subjects independently.  They can do their math and spelling without my help (except for checking or teaching a new skill).  Reading can be done while I am nursing or they can read to each other or to a younger sibling.

One thing I am still struggling with is keeping Micah (my almost 2 year old) engaged while we do school.  I hate that sometimes I have to revert to putting on a show for him to watch in order to complete a subject.  I never let Julia and Mark watch as much t.v. as I have for Micah...and that kills me.  But I also have to be responsible to get school done, so I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

In December, I enrolled Micah in a gymnastics class called Ready Set Go and he loves it.  He goes twice a week for 2 and a half hours and he is able to play, do gymnastics, make friends, do crafts, and have his own school time, while mommy does school with the big kids.  It is close to home so I use that time only for schooling.  We also make sure we take Micah to the library once a week for a class time just like I used to do for Julia and Mark.  They do their school work at a table and read books, and he gets to play and interact with kids his age.

My big kids!

Homeschooling has been a roller coaster this year, but yesterday I was proud of how far we've come.  I feel like we have a rhythm and we are even doing extra things this year like Classical Conversations on Wednesdays and the Social Studies Fair is coming up (we are studying China), and prepping for Standardized testing in the spring.  

It isn't always easy, everyday is different, but we are plugging along and doing our best!

The Mommy Guilt

Doing Your Best To Give Quality Time

I love having a big family.  I do.  But the hardest part for me is spreading myself out to each member of the family in equal amounts.  And since I'm always pregnant (well, that's how it feels) I am constantly learning how to juggle and re-juggle balancing out quality time with everyone all the while meeting the demands of a little one.

I can't help but feel some sort of sadness once my pregnancy draws to an end (I didn't feel this way after Mark because he was already almost 4 years old) because I know that the youngest child will somehow get slighted when it comes to getting attention.  Today as the big kids were away at VBS and I got to spend yet another day one on one with him at the library I started to feel that sadness that feeling knowing that he will no longer be "the baby" but will have to learn to wait, and share, and sometimes need me and I won't be there just when he does.

Mommy Guilt

The Mommy guilt creeps in and I start to panic and wonder, how will I manage with ALL FOUR KIDS?  How will I nurse Mia, run after Micah, and homeschool Julia and Mark? How?!  I start to doubt everything I have learned these past 7 years raising the first 3...and I start to worry about raising the fourth.

But I am reminded that I am not the first Mom to have kids close together, there are moms with multiples, moms with kids 11 and 12 months apart.  Moms who have way more than 4 kids.  Moms who balance it all.  After all there is nothing "new under the sun".  Just because something is new or foreign to me, doesn't mean it has been done, done well, mastered, and conquered.

Obviously, God knew I would have four kids.  Obviously, he has equipped me to raise and teach them.  No, it's not going to be a piece of cake, but I will just have to work at it and find my own rhythm and just do my best.

I'm sure in a few months I will be blogging about how I survived life with a new baby, a new house, and homeschooling through it all.  When I do, remember that it wasn't easy.  Remember that I had lots of guilt, lots of doubt, and many concerns.  

I'm sure Micah will be a great big brother...even if he is only 1 1/2. I know that him having to learn how to wait, be patient and share is a part of life.  He can't be the baby for ever...although those lips and cheeks and chubby thighs make me believe he will be.  

I'm really thankful for this family God has given me.  And I just pray that I can be a good mom.  A woman who is faithful, patient, loving, firm, fun, and balanced.  I want all of my kids to secretly think they are my favorite because I loved them lavishly.  Even though I do not have any favorites.

My Mommy guilt is starting to disappear...

Write The Author (Homeschool through the Summer)

Keep Using Language Arts and Writing Skills During the Summer!

Just because it is summer time doesn't mean we just forget all about our reading, writing, and language arts skills.

It is amazing how much kids forget over the summer if they are not constantly using these skills.  There are so many fun ways to keep writing, reading, and using language arts during the summer.

A few ways we have been using them lately is writing to pen pals.  Julia has been writing a letter a week (at least) to 3 different pen pals!  She loves using stationary, adding stickers, and putting the stamp on too.  We chose some local friends and a sweet friend who lives out of state.  Mark has been writing his local buddy Charlie.  The kids are learning how to not only address envelopes, and write a formal letter, but they are building friendships too!  I try very hard not to correct these pen pal letters because I know it is meant to be fun.  It's actually adorable to see their phonetic spelling.

This week we decided to write a few of the authors we've been reading books from the library.  When I was a teacher we would read a novel a month in our classroom after lunch time.  After we finished a novel (if the author was still living) we would write the author and tell them what we loved about the book and include a picture of our favorite scene or character...the best part was waiting to see if the author would write back!  And believe it or not most of them did.  I still remember getting a post card from Ms. DiCamillo the author of Because of Winn Dixie and the box full of book marks from Andrew Clements after we read Frindle.

Writing to authors also helps with perfecting grammar, using punctuation, and reading comprehension when they have to remember their favorite part of the book or explain why they liked a certain character.

Here is what we do:

* Choose a book we really enjoyed that week.  

* This week we read The Broken Promise by Ravi Zacharias.

* Go online to see if the author is still writing books (still living).

* Look for a publishing address usually on the first 1-3 pages of the book.

* Get some stationary, a stamp, a pencil and an eraser!

* Tell the author what you loved about the book! What was your favorite part?  What did you learn from the story? Who was your favorite character?

* Include a picture of your favorite scene, favorite character, or of yourself!

* Ask the author to please write you back!

* Don't forget to include your name and the grade you are in!

* Address your envelope and be sure to include a return address so they can write you back (usually they send kids book marks or posters).

* Wait patiently!

Happy Writing

Isn't Socializing Your Kids Important?

Homeschool Talk

I know it's summertime, but when you are a homeschooling parent the topic of school always comes up one way or the other.

"You must be so happy school is out!" 

"What grade are you going into?"

"Do you miss your teacher?"

Sometimes I let the big kids answer and sometimes I just spare them and say, "I homeschool them."  Then I get the weirdo looks like, "Oh, honey, you are crazy." and "Wow, you're ambitious." or the most frequent one "You've got your hands full, and you homeschool?!"

As we were house hunting this weekend we brought Julia with us and our realtor started to ask her questions about school.  I chimed in, "We homeschool."  And he looked horrified.  "At some point you are going to send them to REAL school right?  Isn't socializing your kids important to you?"  I think this is the most hilarious question and misconception of homeschooled kids.  I mean, really, do you think we stay HOME all day long every day of the week?  Seriously?  I can barely stay home for two days straight let alone a full week.

Outside Activities

As homeschool parents we have options just like other parents.  We put our kids into sports, music lessons, and bible school at church.  Our children ARE around other kids.  We live in a neighborhood!  We live in a community!  My kids play soccer and basketball and baseball in the street with the other neighborhood kids.  They play dodge ball, they play house, they play school with other kids.  We have play dates.  We do field trips with friends.  We visit parks.  We actually see and spend time with other people of all different ages at coop. 

1. Awana at Sayre Woods Bible Church (all ages)

2. Gymnastics at Freehold Gymnastics Club (all ages)

3. Taekwondo in Old bridge (all ages)

4. Bible Study Fellowship at Lincroft Bible Church (specific age group 0-6 years)

5. C.R.E.A.T.E- our homeshool coop at Lincroft  (all ages)

6. M.O.P.S- Crossroads Assembly of God Church (specific age group 0-6 years)

7. Library Story Time/Craft Time (specific age groups)

These are just a few of the regular outside activities that we have participated in over the last 6 years. Even if I wasn't a homeschool mom, I would have done most of these programs while being a stay at home mom so that I could socialize with other moms and so my children could make friends.

I think there must be a question behind the socializing your children question...maybe it has little to do with whether or not I allow my kids to be around other people, maybe the real question that many are wondering is: How capable are you as a teacher to your child?  And honestly that is a very fair and honest question.  However, it's also a very personal question.  I have a degree in education.  I have a masters in education.  But that didn't make me any less nervous to commit to homeschooling my kids.  In fact I was terrified to teach my kids Kindergarten.  I have taught pre-k, third grade and fourth grade, but I never had to teach my students how to read.

So, am I a capable teacher?  Absolutely, but not because I have a degree in education.  I am a capable teacher to my children because I have made the personal decision that this is what I want to do right now.  I have done the research.  I have bought the curriculum.  I have sat at the dining room table and taught my kids reading, math, history, science, bible, grammar, spelling, etc.  When there is a will there is a way.

Every parent who homeshools does it differently.  We have to.  We all have different kids.  We all have different experiences.  We all bring different talents to the table.  Some of us have degrees and some of us don't.  A degree does not make you a capable parent.  I have met so many wonderful homeschool moms who never graduated from college and yet they are more hard core and intense about academics than I am.  If you have a passion for learning, you can definitely pass that love and passion for learning onto your kids.

Why New Experiences Are Great

Camp

I was so excited when Mark turned 5 this May because I knew this year he would be eligible to join Summer Quest at Timothy Christian School along with his big sister Julia.

Last year at gymnastics camp (we only did it one day a week) Mark had a VERY hard time leaving me.  I wasn't sure if it was because Micah was just born, or he is so shy, or he was overwhelmed, but every time I dropped him off there were tears, and I ended up walking to my car crying and calling my best friend Suzette to pray.

I knew that my kids needed to learn how to separate from mommy.  I knew that new experiences and challenges would make them stronger.

I just did not like pushing them to do something that was not comfortable for them.  Now, Julia, is a completely different story.  She tells me that she will miss me or that she is nervous to go, but she at least tries and makes a million friends in the process.  She doesn't let her fear paralyze her the way Mark sometimes does.  I know they both have different personalities and so I am working on helping both of them.

When we found out we were pregnant this year my first thought is what will I do during the summer when I will be SO pregnant????? I knew the big kids would need something fun and new and energetic this year so when I started seeing posts on Facebook about Summer Quest 2014 at Timothy Christian School I knew it would be AWESOME.

The Must Haves

First of all, it's at a christian environment.  That is very important to me!  I want my children to hear about Christ and be surrounded by His love wherever they go.  The first day of camp when Julia came home she goes, "Mom we prayed A LOT!"  It was so awesome to know that they are hearing about Jesus at camp and that the workers are people I've worked with and known and loved for years and years.

Second of all, it is pure fun!  At camp the kids get to sing, play at recess time, draw, create, do crafts, and go on Field Trips.  It is all about having fun and going outside to run and play.  We work hard during the school year so summer time HAS to be time for fun!!!

Lastly, they are together.  Julia and Mark ARE twins. At least they think they are.  At gymnastics camp they were separated by age and so they could not be together.  At Summer Quest all the kids are together.  However, they may break off into groups at times, but at least Mark can see Julia and feel comfortable.  He knows I am coming back for him.  He knows his sister is there and that she has his back.

The Skills 

By allowing your child to do something new and challenging them you are helping them to spread their wings!  I wasn't sure how Mark was going to do on that first day...I was scared.  I was apprehensive.  But John talked to him the night before and prayed with both of them.  We layed down our family rules and reminded them what we expected from them when they were there.

When I dropped Mark off his hands were in his pockets and he was quiet, but when I picked him up he was all smiles and telling me all about his day!  He loved it.  Of course Julia made 6 new girlfriends, two of which I met and loved, a little Indian girl named Critika and a Chinese girl named Chelsea...both first graders like Julia.  I love that Mark told me he didn't make friends that day, but that he still had fun and talked to the other kids.  (today he said he did make a friend, Aaron, I was so happy).

Children need to learn to be friendly, and social, and well behaved wherever they go!  Camp is a great place to practice all of those skills!  I am so excited for this summer adventure for them.  We still have the rest of this week and another week in July.

So far we love Summer Quest!!!!! Miss Ramunda and all the awesome helpers are so amazing with the kids.  They make sure everyone is having fun and feels accepted.  Thank you Becky and Bethany L. and Emma Sibilla and Sarah Hubler.  WE love you all!

Why We Love DEAR Time

Drop Everything And Read

School is out.  Summer has begun.  But as a teacher by trade and a Mom who likes her children to succeed and grow and continue learning no matter the season, we will be reading every day this summer.

First of all, my kids love the library, they love books, and they love reading.  I wrote this exact post almost 3 years ago, and my son was only 2 at the time and my daughter was only 3.  I started bringing Julia to the library by the time she turned 6 months for the baby story time class.  I started bringing Marky when he was 4 months.  I think Micah was 2 weeks old the first time he went on his first trip to the library!

Click here to read that post.

Now, reading is a whole new ball game!  Both of them are actually READING!  Julia started reading fluently this year in First Grade (technically she's a Kindergartner by age by I homeschooled her a year early because at 4 1/2 she was ready for Kindergarten material).  Mark started reading mid year and he is in Pre-K.  He just turned 5, 2 weeks ago.  

Before when we did DEAR time they were choosing books they loved hearing and reviewing the pages and reliving the stories by memory.  (A great starting point for babies and toddlers).  I will never forget picking up Julia from Sunday School class when she was 3 and hearing her teacher say, "Julia CAN read already?"  Julia was in the middle of the floor "reading" a book.  "Well," I answered, "Not quite, she's using her imagination, looking at the pages, and predicting what the story is about."  But because she was such an animated reader she even had the adults fooled!!!

Why Allotted Reading Time Works

1. My kids like to predict what they are doing next!  Since they know we do DEAR time 20 minutes before nap time, they grab their pile of books, maybe a pillow and get comfy on the rug or couch.  It's just part of our calm down routine in the afternoon.

2. Start kids young! Micah, who's only 1,  walks around during this reading time and listens to each big kid read.  He even joins them sometimes for a snuggle or he sits in my lap and wants me to read to him.

3. The kids can ask me how to pronounce words they don't know!  They are broadening their vocabulary by choice!  I just love it!

4. The kids ask me questions about the plot and characters or information they are reading.  It's like a school lesson without it being planned.  This past week Julia chose a human body book for kids and it showed how a baby grows and gets nourishment inside the mother's body, how it breathes, why it cries when it is born, etc.  Julia was amazed!  We talked about that for a lot during reading time and afterwards.  It was a great learning time for her.

5. Encourages the young ones to model the good reading they hear.  Mark is so determined to read Julia grade level books now!  He is pushing himself to read harder material because he sees her enjoyment of reading.

6. It gives parents (Moms) a time to read a magazine, a devotional, the Bible and model good reading to the kids.  Our kids should always see us learning more, and gaining knowledge.  We want them to see that reading and research and learning is a life skill, that it is important and that there is incredible value.  We have to model it!

7. It encourages my kids to want to read even more throughout the day because if they start a book they haven't finished they bring it to nap time and read it, or they wake up and want to finish it.  It cuts out "I'm bored!"  And it limits TV time.  We rarely watch tv during the day.  I want my kids playing outside, using their imagination, or reading, writing or coloring.  I don't want them in front of an IPAD or TV.  Seriously.  I don't.

How to Start it:

1. Grab some books for your kids.

2. Set the timer! We started at 10-15 minutes when they were 2 and 3, now we go for 20-30 minutes.  You know what your kids can handle.

3. Choose a cozy spot.  Add pillows, a favorite blanket or beach towel or find a soft rug.

4. Set some reading rules: Read quietly, Whisper read, After you finish a book start a new one, do not get up from your cozy spot, do not disturb your friends aka siblings, etc.

5. Model reading with them!

6. Try to do it at least once a day at the same time to start a routine!

Happy Reading!

I Love Summer

We ARE Loving Our Lazy Summer Days

As you all know, we've been done with school (we start in August) and so the past week or so have just been really fun just being together without school books.  We still do a ton of reading and some writing, but for the most part we are out and about at parks, in our backyard, at the library, picking berries, playing with friends, and just RELAXING!

Summer begins for me, when the school books close, and the sun stays out, and we can just be a part of the outdoors and have lots of new adventures!  Even though I am pregnant I am trying to plan one fun outing a week and the rest of the week we stay close to home but do fun things like painting, writing stories, playing with friends, visiting family, and being creative.

I am seeing all our flowers blooming and our lawn is so lush and green (thank you Lawn Doctor, thank you).  We also have several new robins who visit our trees and sing to us in the morning.  These sunny days are just so lovely and happy you can do nothing else than go outside and be a part of it.

Success in Spelling: Homeschool Front

On the Home School Front

Wrapping Things Up

As any good teacher would, I like to look back over the year and see what worked well and what didn't with my current students.  This year, Julia who technically is only in Kindergarten by age, will complete First Grade curriculum.  I was very excited to teach her Spelling because A. I am a great speller. B. I know it is a skill she will need as she gets older. C. I knew it would help her vocabulary to grow.  D. I was excited to watch her reading skills increase. E. Did I mention I am a good speller?

The first couple of lists went great!  She was getting 100's like nobody's business.  But as the lists grew longer and the words got bigger she really started to struggle, and the first time she didn't get a 100 on her test, she cried.  It broke my heart to see how hard she was on herself.  It reminded me of me.

So for a few weeks I stopped testing her on Fridays.  I would just do a quick oral test to get an idea if she basically could master the list.  It took the pressure off and she wasn't so concerned about seeing that 100 on top of her paper.  My thing as a teacher is I want to stretch my students but I don't want to break them!  I didn't want her to get discouraged so I felt my new plan was working.

Then I started focusing even more on her reading skills.  I found that once she really mastered the beauty and smoothness of phonetics and special sounds and reading really really well, so much so that she was animated when she read, I saw that her love of writing and care about spelling really grew.  She wanted to write.  She wanted to spell things correctly.  It actually got annoying to some degree because this kid wanted me to spell while I was in the shower, driving in the car, making dinner.  It really became her passion.  And do you think it stopped her when I said, "You have to wait, or sound it out?"  Not.  At.  All.  I love how first graders spell things phonetically and it is completely wrong but totally understandable.

She wrote my sister in law a "Congradulashin" card on her twins and said, "I know you will be a grate mom."

Just recently the past few weeks we went back to the traditional written testing towards the end of the week for a grade to see if she mastered the list and Julia has been getting only 1 wrong or a 100.  I've been so proud of her.  She has done so well.  I wanted to share our success tips in spelling.

Success in Spelling

1. Practice at least once a day orally.  Say the word, spell the word, say the word.  Have your child say their words to their pet.  Have them say it to a sibling.  Have them say it to Daddy when he gets home.  Have them say it in a mirror (Julia loves the mirror practice!)

2. Practice every other day on paper.  You can be creative and write sentences, do ABC order, do cursive handwriting, use chocolate pudding or colored markers.  Make it fun! But practice!

3. Pre-test on Wednesday orally and written and study from the mistakes.  This is what really helped Julia to do well by Thursday/Friday depending on our test schedule because she could zero in on the hard words.

4. On Tuesday write each word on index cards and carry them everywhere, to the store, in the car, to the park, and have them "practice" by themselves.  Visual learners need to see the words more often!  This also teaches your child how to study on their own at a young age.

5. Write sentences OR orally make up a story using all or some of the spelling words to discuss meaning of the words.  Julia and I loved making up silly sentences or stories.  And she also loved illustrating them!

Mommy is so proud of you Julia.  I loved learning and studying with you!

Guest Post About Homeschool Sisterhood

Homeschool Sisterhood

Today you can find me at The Joy of Homemaking blog where I am guest posting about the sisterhood of homeschooling!  I had so much fun writing this post because God has blessed me so much with awesome sisters in Christ, and awesome homeschool friends who constantly encouraging me in the quest for achieving the highest academics for my kids!

http://www.godlyrose.blogspot.com/2014/04/homeschool-sisterhood-guest-post-by.html

Click the above link to check it out!

Kids Love A Challenge!

Our Reading Challenge

Happy April!!!!

Doesn't every kid love a good challenge?  Mine sure do! In fact as a teacher in the classroom years back, I think one thing that made me a good teacher is that I was always looking for additional ways to stretch my students and challenge them to learn more, grow more, and do better.

Julia and Mark and I are winding down the school year.  All we have left are about 25 Math lessons, 3 Spelling Lessons, and a few pages in our reader.  We will be done with our Bible Curriculum on May 1st when Awana is finished.  Right now we are enjoying learning about Amy Carmichael  (Julia's extra credit Awana booklet since she finished the original book in Dec.)

I wanted to think of ways we can continue to learn over the summer months since we will be done with school mid May (but we will start Aug. 4th our Fall Semester before baby arrives).  Julia and Mark love the library and love to read so I created a Reading Challenge.

Each week we will visit the library at least once a week (Monday seems to work well for us).  The kids can stock up on some books, and in addition read some books from our own collection.  The goal is for Julia to read 20 books a week (she read 5 today so I do not think this will be a problem).  Mark's goal is 7 books a day since we basically do most of the reading for Mark still.

There is now a Longaberger basket by our front door for all of the library books and DVD's we take out (the basket ensures that we don't put library books on our own bookshelves and cause mommy to have late fees)  It's also easy access so when we know our next library trip is coming up we grab our books to be returned and stock up on the new ones.

We have a clipboard and paper to be attached to the basket with a pen.  And each week the kids get to tally up how many books they read.  They must reach their assigned goal but they are of course allowed to go over.  If they complete their goal for the week then on Friday/Saturday they will get a special reward.  This reward will change from time to time.  Like this week I have two coupons to Baskin Robbins so on Friday I will take them out to ice cream if they reach their goal.  But next week we may just run to Dollar Tree for a prize.

I'm super excited about our Reading Challenge!  I explained all the rules today in the car after we left the library and the kids read their books for the rest of the day.  Like I said....this will not be a problem!  I set attainable goals and having a reward each week will be fun for all of us!  We are excited to finish the rest of the school year strong!

Happy Reading!

Fernbrook Farms: Homeschool Is Awesome

Spring Is Here

Our Spring Semester at Fernbrook began yesterday!  We are taking an 8 week course at this farm and the cost was so little compared to the amazing work of all the farmers and teachers.

This program was booked within seconds of open registration.  All of my new homeschool moms friends raved about it and I told one of my awesome library friends, Nina, about it because she has been homeschooling her daughter at home.  

The Pre-K class is where I stayed since the big kid class age 6-11 is completely run by the staff and they don't allow parents to really tag along.  It was hard at first for me to just "drop" Julia off, but she knew tons of friends from coop and the 2 hour outdoor class was jam packed with learning experiences, a craft, and games that she didn't miss mommy for a second!  Julia's first class learned all about bats...and for the hour drive home...all we heard about was BATS!!!!!!!!! She learned so much and it was all hands on, and she played with her craft the entire time while she explained to me what they ate, how they slept, how they survived, etc.

I got to stay with my Mark in the pre-k class and they learned all about dirt and composting and soil.

Each kid got to observe their own paper with rocky soil, sand, and good soil.  We did a lot of looking, and touching and the teacher was awesome at having each child have a turn to share.  The kids were so cute.  They loved having their own magnify glass.  They loved touching the dirt.  And then the compost pile came with WORMS...

This was the favorite highlight for Mark.  Seeing all the worms and the compost.  Then all the children got a marigold seed.  They each put their seed in different types of soil and we will see which soil is best for planting over the next 7 weeks.  We put our seed/soil/cups in the window to grow and watered them.

The Pre-K class is only an hour so we wrapped up our class outside with the animals.  The sheep just had babies and so did the goats.  They were gorgeous.  We got to play with them and pet them.  We saw the cow T-Bone and the chickens and then hung out with our friends and waited for the big kids to be done!

I love Fernbrook!  I am thankful my mother in law kept Micah because it was 37 degrees and very windy yesterday.  But the rest of this week will be warmer.  I can't wait to bring Micah to this farm!  The hour drive is so worth it!  I love homeschool outdoor learning!

Teaching Your Child How To Read Without Knowing It

Mark Is Reading

I have vowed that with Mark I would not push him as hard as I did Julia.  I was trying to teach Julia to read before she was 2.  We did TV programs like Your Baby Can Read, we bought Hooked on Phonics, we started homeschooling her at age 3 with curriculum and used How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons...and guess what it wasn't easy and she did not learn from any of those methods.

I was an over eager parent seeking to get her ahead of the game and be the poster child for reading at the age of _____! Whatever I thought would get me an award or a pat on the back I'm sure. Needless to say I got very frustrated.  Julia didn't start really reading until the end of last year (Kindergarten), and is now reading well as a First Grader.  What was the rush?

I think I was so determined to do it right with the first kid that I ended up doing it wrong.  So this post is really a post on what not to do and how by not doing any of what I did with Julia (of course I had good intentions) and just going with my gut with Mark.

Mark was not ready to homeschool at age 2 or 3.  He wouldn't write like Julia.  He wouldn't practice his words like Julia, and he didn't memorize like Julia.  And I didn't push it.  I wanted to, but I held back and let him enjoy circle time, reading book time, library time, etc.  I never made him do school unless he seemed like he was interested.

This year, oh my word.  I can not find enough curriculum to contain this kid.  We do school in shifts and Mark begs for his turn and wants to keep going and going and going, and mommy gets so tired.  He is only in pre-k doing Kindergarten reading and First grade Math.  And it has been all on his own.  He has wanted to and he has shown interest.  I can't tell you how many trips I've made to the teacher store buying him more books to keep him busy and satisfied.  He's like this learning sponge that won't be quenched.  It's a great problem to have.  So here is how I think it happened.

Read Books Daily and Visit Libraries Often

Family reading time is our favorite, that and eating ice cream and tickle fests.  Since the kids were in the womb we have read to them.  Even now with Micah at 8:00 pm, we sit on the floor with a pile of books and read to him.  He walks around the room sits on all of our laps and points to the books he likes and we all read.  There are always books that babies choose as their favorites and Micah has these two flap books that I literally have to read 5 times each and he keeps pointing and asking for "again".  

Mark and Julia are on to novels now.  Currently we are reading The Pilgrim's Progress for little kids and we read a chapter a night.  We do not skip a night or a word in the book.  They love it.  We also visit our public library at least once a week and sometimes twice because now Micah really loves going there!  Julia and Mark are allowed to go into the older preschool class by themselves.  Parents sit outside the door and wait for them.  The big kids love going and they love telling me what the theme of the day was and what books the teacher read to them.  I have found that the more I expose the kids to the library and reading they just want more and more books.

Journaling

Since August we have filled up composition notebooks with journaling.  I bought the kind of book where there is space for a picture and then lines for words.  The kids LOVE journal time.  I started out the year by picking the topics but now they like to pick their own.  They draw a picture and then write sentences describing their topic.  I started out the year writing for them as they dictated to me but now Julia writes on her own, and Mark likes to do some words on his own.  The beauty of journaling is they are becoming their own writers, they are making up ideas, writing stories, and creating on their own.  They are broadening their vocabulary and using spelling words.  I can't wait to look back on these journals in a few years and smile at them.  They are works of art.  

Special Sounds

I believe Mark picked up reading just by exposing him to books, the library, and special sounds (Abeka curriculum)  For example ch is a special sound like in church, watch, chirp, and check.  We do flash cards 3 times a week and the kids take turns and love practicing.  We make a game out of it.  These special sounds help them to read not just one word but begin sounding out many other words they come into contact with.  I have found that constant practice and consistency has been my best friend.

Spell Everything

Some homeschoolers do not believe in taking the time to teach spelling words.  I am not one of them.  I want my kids to know how to spell and to build their vocabulary so we do spelling words each week.  We have completed our spelling curriculum for the year and we still review and practice and now make stories and write sentences from our spelling words.  Mark doesn't do spelling yet.  However, he will next year.  Mark is a spell-a-holic.  Every where we go he is spelling things for me, sounding things out, and reading signs, posts, bill boards, posters, cereal boxes, magazines, comics.  He loves to spell!  It can be very annoying though.  Sometimes we have to tell him it's time to eat right now we are not spelling!  He is so over zealous.  

I refuse to not feed this desire he has so instead of waiting til first grade to start spelling, my little happy kindergartner will do it next year!  I feel like, if he is ready, and he is willing and able, I will not hold back!

Just when I think my son and daughter are the smartest and most intelligent kids in the world they bring me right back down to earth.  Mark in the tub tonight told me when he grows up he is going to definitely be a super hero, it's a toss up between iron man or bat man....he thinks bat man because he gets the poison ivy lady.  It's times like that I remember they are normal kids, growing up like the rest of kids everywhere, happy to just be loved, alive, and learn and play.

10 Things I Like About You

Creating Sense of Love and Positive Thinking in the Home

I don't know if it's been the snow, being cooped up at home, full moons, or what, but my kids have been sort of mean to each other lately.  "Get out of my room!" I hear Julia say, or "Julia, I don't like it!!!!!!!!!" screams Mark.  Normally these two are best friends.  They are only 17 months apart and really only know life together and basically fall apart with out each other (well, mark does anyway).

God gave me a great idea in the shower this morning.  Give them a love assignment where they have to stop and think about what they like, love, or appreciate about the other person.  I gave each big kid 3 sheets of paper.  At the top the paper said Daddy, Micah, and Julia or Julia's said Mark.

They had to draw that person and then list 10 things they like/love/appreciate about them.  They both did Daddy and Micah's first! I thought that was funny.  And then they really started to think about what they loved about the other person, they listed things like, they play with me, they spend time with me, they read to me, etc.  It was really sweet.  I think we need to do more activities like this once in awhile so we remember why we love each other!