Day 1

Today was the day I decided we would begin our homeschool journey. Here is how our day went:

6:30 - 8 Meredith was the first one up, then B, and then sleepy Andrew at 8am. I let them watch about 30 minutes of t.v. (Sprout channel is a blessing!) while everyone was still waking up (including me)
8-9 Breakfast and chores for everyone
9-9:45 I started B with the day of the week activity. I printed out the day of the week that allowed him to trace the letters. We talked about the days of the week, and little did I know, he knows most of his days! He said, "Wednesday go to grr's (grandma) and pop-pop's house to cook" Yesterday when my parents were over for dinner, my mom told B that he could come over on Wed. when she was off of work and they could cook (his favorite activity!) Smart cookie. Next, I wanted to see which of his ABC's he knew, I know that he knew about 3 or 4 so I wanted to figure out which ones we need to work on. I showed him letters and asked him to tell me what they were. Turns out he knows eight. I did the same with the numbers, to see where we need to start. About 45 minutes was all that he wanted to sit still for so it was time for a break.
9:45-11 Break. Play. Clean, laundry, check/send emails, etc.
11-12 We went downstairs to work on a weather craft (thank you Pinterest). You take a paper plate, divide into 4 sections and write: sun, rain, snow, cloudy. Then we cut out rain drops, a sun, and a snowflake and glued them in the appropriate sections. For the clouds we used cotton balls. Then you take a clothespin and pin it to which ever section it is for the day. It took a few examples before B knew what to do, but then he got it and was so proud of his work! Meredith even made one too. I hole punched it and strung a piece of twine (realized we didn't have any yarn!) through it so he could hang it up. He ran upstairs and hung it on everything he could! It's currently residing on his door knob of his room.
12-1 Prepared lunch, ate, and cleaned up
1-1:30 We read books
And that is the end of the day for preschool for us. After we read, it's nap time and then in the afternoons they play and help me get dinner started.

I am not planning on doing this everyday. If we would send him to preschool, as a 3 year old they go 2x a week from 9-11:30. So I'm aiming for 2-3 days of 'preschool' work, probably on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays he has speech therapy in the morning, so after that I think we will start going to the library or other adventure. Each day I would like to do the day of the week and the weather; I'm thinking we can do that during breakfast.

So that's how our day went. Meredith went right along with it, though her attention span was not that long. So she would hop in and out of activities. Andrew sat in his highchair and ate breakfast while B and I did the day of the week and the alphabet. And then he was very happy to play with his toys while we did the weather plate craft thingy. All in all, it was a good 'first' day.

I discovered that B knows a lot, more than what I thought he did and that's without any formal teaching. Which makes me realize that, especially at this age, learning is all about experiencing life. Every moment is a teachable moment and this has made me more aware of these every day moments.

Day 1 is in the books. A million more days to come. Bring it!

Planning it all out

*written earlier this week, just now publishing*

As I sit here trying to plan out Benjamin's 3 year old curriculum, I find myself wondering what do I teach him, where do I start? Obviously his ABC's would be a good place, and he knows some of the letters, but do I start with A? Mix them up? Is there a method? Turns out there is. Start with the consonants  Who would have thought? My guess was A.

Planning this out is a bit scary, but when I first thought about homeschooling, I thought how cool it will be to watch them learn. To go places, to be able to provide them with hands on learning. And then I realized that (at least for the first few years) it may not be all that difficult. Go to the zoo, count the zebras, what color are they? What do they like to eat? You can get your math, science, reading, and so much more all in a trip at the zoo!

And then I thought about when they get older. How cool will it be to be able to study the Grand Canyon and actually go see it??? Again incorporating math, science, reading, geography, social studies, etc all in a family field trip!

But it is easy to become overwhelmed with all this, there is a lot of information out there. I have decided that I will take it a year at a time. And if at any point we decide that this is not the right path for us, and the kids agree, off to traditional school they will go.

But for now, I am excited to watch them learn about the world they live in. Learning should be fun, it should be exciting! And I can't wait!

Cheers to 2013!

I'm not sure how it's already a new year, but it's going to be a great one! Here is a snapshot of 2012:

• We welcomed Andrew into our hearts and home on March 5 with 5 inches of snow!
• In our home we had 3 cribs...and all occupied! Holy cow! 
• Bed Bugs. Freakin' horrible! Only found 4 and has (still is, required a monthly maintenance for a year) cost us an arm and a leg! 
• Benjamin learned to climb out of his crib in the summer, so we transitioned his crib to a toddler bed. Then a twin bed when he turned 3 
• Benjamin was potty trained at 27 months old
• Meredith learned to walk and talk and developed her little big personality even more
• We went to Sarasota (a 12 hour drive) with a 2 1/2 year old, a 1 1/2 year old, and a 3 month old. We should of had our heads examined! 3 pack n plays! 
• We had a large garden and had more vegetables than ever before
• I learned to can and make jelly
• We finally finished the basement!!! 
• We said goodbye to an amazing Papaw who will be forever missed
• Found out Benjamin is severely allergic to nuts. 

2012 was filled with controlled chaos as we survived the first year of having 3 babies 27 months and younger. I'm still not really sure how we did it! But here we are in 2013 and looks to be promising:

• My freelance writing is picking up, so much that I am struggling to find time to get it all done!
• I will be a health educator (contract basis) for a new organization that helps people with nutrition, weight loss, and training for athletic events. 
• We are starting Benjamin on the 3 year old preschool homeschool curriculum this month! So excited about this new adventure! 
• I'm getting back into running! KY Derby Festival Mini Marathon - here I come!   

So far that's all I know what's going on in 2013! I'm sure with 3 kids, it will be nothing short of amazing!