My 1st time Homeschooling Adventures

Earlier this year I won a comprehensive online homeschooling program from K¹². I was super excited for the chance to teach my children from home, at my own pace. It has proven to be slow going, very challenging, insightful and rewarding. 

 

My oldest daughter attended preschool last year at Head Start and was going to return this fall as well. My middle child turned three this year but we no longer qualified for the Head Start program and she was not going to be able to attend. That was ok with me because I had the tools to start homeschooling her. But then we moved to Texas and that changed everything. I had no idea what it cost to send a child to preschool. Since we couldn't afford to send both of the girls, I decided I would homeschool all three of them (including my youngest) together. And that's when the challenges began.

The program offers online and offline lessons. They sent me all the supplies I would need: books, blocks, buckets, flashcards, a magnet, a magnifying glass and much more. I just needed to supply the basics like scissors, tape, glue and a printer for all the printouts I would need. Its has it pros... but it also has its cons. I'll talk about those in a minute. Lets begin with my children...

I believe its never to early to start teaching your children, but it can be difficult to teach them in a structured environment if they are too young. Andrew loves to sit up at the computer with us and repeat his sisters answers. He loves to draw and color and count along with us as well. But he doesn't like to sit still. He likes to play with his toys at the computer and he loves to terrorize his sisters.

Alexis, my three year old, is showing signs of ADD. This is the most challenging for me. I can only keep her attention for a few minutes before she is done or ready to move on with something new. The slightest thing can send her into a meltdown. She loves to color and draw, but almost refuses to do tracing activities with us. She doesn't seem to think she can do it without my help. She would rather color in the bubbles on the letters that trace them. Maybe its her age and she's just not ready or maybe I need to find a new way to introduce her to tracing that she will enjoy. I know I do have more luck with her when I can get my husband to help her.

Audrey, the oldest, has always loved to learn. She was well prepared before her first year of preschool and did great with it. I only hope to be able to advance her and prepare her for kindergarten next year. What we are learning now is stuff she already learned. It makes it easier for me, yet challenging because she had a hard time letting her sister have a turn answering questions and just blurts it out or gives her the answers. I'm glad she wants to help, but need her to step back a minute and take turns.

With the three of them together they can't seem to keep their hands to them selves or keep their attention on the lesson. I have tried doing an online lesson with one while the other works offline and little brother plays with blocks. Even that doesn't work for us. They are more interested in what the other is doing, but even more interested in brothers blocks! We've only been at this for a few weeks and have a long road ahead, but I do see sunny skies ahead. I'm sure I can find a balance that works for us and things will get easier. Hey, its preschool, maybe its not supposed to be easy. I don't know. I'm new to this and it's as much a learning adventure for me as it is for them. 

I don't know what other homeschool programs are like or how they work, but here are the pro's and con's of the one I am working with. 

PRO'S:

-It has helped me better establish a routine in our home
-It is very interactive (as I hope an online program would be)
-Colorful and fun in order to keep the attention of the children
-Lessons are easy to prepare for (once you figure out the guide)
-They send you everything you need to prepare for your lessons
-The guide tells you what items you need for that lesson for easier preparation
-Online lessons are easy for the children to do, even on a laptop
-There is a wide variety of topics to choose from and within each topic are the six basic subjects: Language Arts, Math, Science, Art, Social Studies and Music
-Many of the lessons help keep the children physically active

CON'S:

-Hard to navigate in the beginning
-Guide is online and there is a separate one for each topic (It would be much easier for me if I had a handheld guide in front of me) And you cant really print it out since there are 18 topics and each topic has six subjects and each subject has multiple lessons. Needless to say I would have to print hundreds and hundreds of pages just to have a guide on hand.
-I haven't found a way to mark off the lessons we have completed. If you don't write it down somewhere it's easy to forget and then you spend too much time figuring out what you have and haven't completed. I finally went through each guide and printed off the table of contents pages so I had a place where I could find each lesson title and check it off as we go. 

I would love to have feedback from other Homeschooling moms or even teachers. What things work best for you and what doesn't seem to work? How do you teach children of different ages at the same time? What kind of advice would you give to a first time Homeschooling mom? Thanks.

 

DIY Holiday Decorations, Gifts and Favors

The holidays are upon us and that means it's time to decorate. At my house there won't be any fragile heirlooms or expensive decorations sitting out. With my three children ranging from 2-5 years old... there will be a lot of construction paper turkeys, paintings and re purposed crafts strung about the house! The best part about it is spending time with my children making the decorations and creating memories. And what grandparent doesn't love homemade gifts from the heart!

I've been browsing the web and Pinterest for fun things we can do during the Holiday season. Here are some of my favorites that I think we will try:


Turkey Party Favors
These favors are such a fun idea. I found them here and decided to change it up a bit. We used empty toilet paper rolls for the bodies and stuffed them with candy. (Photo courtesy of kramercottageschool.blogspot.com)

 







Festive Keepsake Potholders

I love this idea. I think we will do some Santa faces for Christmas too. You can find out how to make them here. (photo courtesy of www.pamperedbytammie.blogspot.com)











Glowing Snowmen

We did this last year for Halloween and made jack o lanterns. We hung glow sticks inside to illuminate and set them along the walk way.  My kids will really enjoy the snowmen... especially since we are now in Texas and won't be get any snow this winter. I believe there is a hole cut in the back to place a string of mini lights in it. We will be using glow sticks again.
(Photo courtesy of www.freefunchristmas.com)

 

 







Santa Handprint Ornaments
                                                                                                                                   

 
 

I've been waiting to do this craft since I saw it floating around Facebook last year. I got my recipe here. These will make great gifts for the grandparents! (Photo courtesy of www.thekarpiuks.)

Ornaments

Over at theornamentgirl.com there are tons of DIY ideas for ornaments. Not just for Christmas either. I'm sure we will be trying out a few of these ideas. (Photo courtesy of www.theornamentgirl.com)

 

Get Paid to Shop... Easy Money Making Tips.

I've never been big on couponing. I always wanted to be able to buy a whole cart full of groceries and barely pay anything... but that hasn't happened yet. Sure, I cut coupons here and there and used them as needed, but full fledge couponing just wasn't for me. I don't mind buying generic and most of the time generic items are still less expensive without a coupon.  So I'll just stick to what I'm doing in store.

Thanks to a few of my favorite Mom Friends I have found ways online to make money and get paid to shop and browse online. Yep that's right... I get paid to shop!! I've found some great websites that give me cash back on most of my purchases and pay me when I buy certain products. All of these websites are FREE. They are legit. I use them.

I know there are a ton of sites out there that will pay you and I have compiled a list of my top five.

1. Ebates.com- Ebates works with many online retailers and pays you a percentage back on most of your purchases. They also have coupon codes and special promotions to help you save more. You even get paid to refer friends to them. They will send out a 'Big Fat Check' quarterly. They will usually offer a $10 gift card after your first online purchase just for signing up. Click here to learn more and sign up. **This is the best way to shop online for all you holiday needs**

2. Saving Star.com- Saving Star works with grocers and has coupons that you can automatically load to your local grocers club card. For example, we have Albertsons where I live. They no longer use their club cards for in store savings, but I can have them swipe my card to redeem the coupons I loaded from Saving Star. You don't get the discount in store, but the amount you have saved accumulates in your Saving Star  account and will be paid out when you have earned a certain amount. They recently started the Cashback Mall, similar to Ebates and they also offer online coupon codes. Click here to learn more or sign up.

3. Checkout 51- You can download the Checkout 51 app on Android and IPhone devices. They will pay you for purchasing certain products at the grocery store. New offers come out weekly. Just upload a photo of your receipt and choose which ever offers apply to you. You can request a check payment once you have earned back $20 or more.  Click here to learn more.

4. Swag Bucks- You can earn 'Swag Bucks' for answering quick survey questions, entering special codes, searching online or accepting other offers. Payments comes in the form of a gift card (chosen from what they have to offer). They too will pay you Swag Bucks for shopping online through them. Click here to learn more ands sign up.

5. Bing Rewards- Bing gives you credits for things you do everyday... searching online. Once you have signed up, just make sure you are signed in and just start browsing. There are even more ways to earn credits daily. Payment comes in the form of a gift card chosen from they have to offer. Bing has even partnered up with Swag Bucks and you can turn your Bing credits into swag bucks. Click here to learn more.




I hope everyone finds this information useful. Please feel free to share other websites you use to earn $$ back and let me know if you have any questions.


AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: I may be an affiliate for products that I recommend. If you sign up and/or purchase those items through my links I may earn a small commission. This is available at absolutely no extra cost to you.

Monkeys Running loose in my house!!

 

I've decided to call my kids Monkey, Little Monkey and you guessed it... Crazy monkey!! All they do I climb, climb, climb ALL day long.

I have a VERY open pantry that, to my kids, looks like a very welcoming climbing wall!! They are always hungry and always climbing to get snacks, or candy or just get away from little brother (Little Monkey). As seen in photo, I'm sure you can imagine why the bottom shelves are bare!! I cant keep them down from anything, even the brand new furniture.


Just this morning my 16 month old climbed on the couch to get the remote and turned on the TV and the Xbox because he wanted to watch something. Stop!!!! Rewind!!! Did I miss something? Did he skip a few months or years? He's not supposed to be doing that yet.  He's very electronic savvy and its kind of intimidating. But climbing is his favorite, since its his newest learned talent.

I can't keep him off the kitchen table. He loves to push the dining chairs around the kitchen and climb up to get things off the counter. Last week I found him almost 4 feet off the ground standing on a book shelf. That one definitely topped the 'Scary Moments' list!

Crazy Monkey, the middle child, did the same thing when she was about 20 months old. I walked in the room to find her sitting on the edge of the shelf 4 feet up facing the wall. My heart stopped for a moment and I was beyond relieved that she didn't topple over. She was literally on the edge!!!

There is a silver lining in all of this though... because in the dead of winter when its -20 outside, theres no better jungle gym for my kids than in the comfort of our home.  I cringe every time I see them off the floor, but I also remember that they are kids and that what they do. I cant stand over them forever. 

EmbarK12 Comprehensive Homeshooling Program.

I am excited to announce that I have been chosen to be an

official reviewer of EmbarK^12!  A homeschool program. 

 

I entered a contest through the MOPS INTERNATIONAL Facebook webpage and my entry was chosen! I am so excited for this opportunity to further teach and prepare my children for what tomorrow may bring!!

My 4 year old is almost finished with her first year of preschool. She has had so much fun this year. She loves her teachers and her classmates. I love that she is learning to interact with others and that she gets to get out of the house daily.  Unfortunately, its not all happy butterflies and colorful rainbows!! She picks up the bad habits too.... and I know lots of kids do. But, this whole new attitude she has needs a one-way-bus-ticket-out-of-town!
 
This opportunity just might be that bus ticket!! My husband would like for us to keep her in school next year and homeschool all the kids together later in the day. I'm ok with that. This gives me the opportunity to teach all of my children the things I want them to know, in a comfortable environment and still let them have enough outside-the-home social interaction. 

Maybe it will help her attitude, maybe not. Maybe it will change our minds about public schools, maybe not.... who knows. I may have a lot of preparing to do, but I'm excited for this opportunity.

 

As an EmbarK¹² reviewer, I will:

 

·         Post on K¹² Facebook pages (K¹² national and Building Blocks of Learning) reviewing the product showing the progress I see in my child making

·         Add a story on K¹²’s What’s Your Story page

·         Complete an interview with a K¹² writer for an article on the K¹² blog and MOPS newsletter entry

·         Become a landing page feature in emails for K¹² and MOPS

 

 

 

To receive updates and check our progress please follow my blog and check back often. Also, don't forget to check out the other links above to find out more information and to see my posts.

 

If you haven't connected with your local MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group yet, I would highly recommend it. This year is coming quickly to an end, but I'm sure next school year will arrive just as quickly. It is a great time to fellowship with other mamas and have some stress free, kid free time!!

www.mops.org

 

Early Morning Sunrise

I never thought of myself as a morning person. I hate waking up if its not naturally but when you have little ones running around, you don't have much of a choice if you want to sleep in.

I've worked plenty of Coffee Shop jobs that required me to be at work at 4:45 or 6:00am.... and I could do that no problem (of course my last coffee shop job ended when I was 9 months pregnant with my first).  Even then I still wasn't a morning person.

It seems like as the days go by, I find it easier to get up earlier every day.  My 4 year old is up before the sun daily. She's always been that way (probably because she was up with me in my belly when I was getting ready for work at that darn coffee shop). Lucky for me, getting her up for school won't be a problem... for now!!  But for her, it doesn't matter if she goes to bed at 7pm or 11pm, she will usually be up by 6:30.  I have recently discovered that I love this!!! Yep, that's right, I love that my daughter wakes up early. It doesn't bother me anymore. Why, you ask??? Because...

We have discovered watching the sunrise together!!!!!

And I absolutely cherish those quiet moments we have together before the rest of the house wakes up! We sit down together in front of the living room window with the shades drawn up just enough to see and we watch the sun rise. We talk about the colors we see as they change. We watch the clouds move across the sky. It is an absolutely wonderful and magical moment.

 

 

Now I make sure my coffee pot is set and I look forward to the moment she rolls out of bed and tiptoes through the house. I look forward to opening my eyes as she tiptoes into my room quiet as a mouse. I look forward to our special sunrise mornings together.

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

 

Derived from the popular children book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, I found this poem floating around Facebook.  I’m not sure of its origin but I knew I had to share. It is describes my day perfectly…. And probably yours too!!

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,
She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She’ll pour herself some.
Her three year-old will spill the coffee.
She’ll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks.
She’ll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She’ll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper.
She’ll get out a pound of hamburger.
She’ll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of Hamburger)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The checkbook is in the purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She’ll smell something funny.
She’ll change the two-year-old.
While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She will remember that she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
The kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

A Beautiful Mess

I am a Beautiful Mess. My children are a Beautiful Mess. My husband is a Beautiful Mess. My house is a Beautiful Mess. My life is a Beautiful Mess.

I am very thankful for the friends and support I have found with my local MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group.  They have taught me how to love, share, support, encourage and have more patience. Also to not judge myself and my fellow mamas.

It has been a cleaning and de-cluttering day here.  I definitely have spring fever because I this has been going on for about four weeks.  My 2 year old found a random piece of cardboard this morning, climbed up to the table and asked if she could paint. My first thought was 'Not the paint, that's to messy!!' And I told her not now because I wanted to clean up first. Unfortunately I find myself saying NO too often and YES not often enough.

I stopped myself in my tracks and realized there was nothing wrong with letting her paint. Why not keep her busy so I could finish a few things that I wanted to do. So I got her all set up to paint. Painting only lasted about 20 minutes and I may not have had the chance to do what I wanted, but my daughter had a blast painting picture after picture. She loves coloring, painting, writing and drawing and I feel like I deprive her of that when I tell her no. 

I did the same thing last week when they asked about playing playdough. My first reaction was the same.... but so was the outcome. My girls had fun and we made silly faces, pets, snowmen and spaghetti! We even made homemade playdough for the first time.

I recently realized I spend too much time cleaning and picking up after my kids and not enough time playing and making a mess with them. So, I decided to make a change.  My house has been more of a beautiful mess than usual, but we are also having more fun. 

I'm here to tell other mamas out there that You are not alone.  My house is not perfect and either is my family, but we need more YES and less NO. Laugh more... yell less. Play more... clean later. The time we have with our children goes by way too fast and we need to cherish it more. Stop what your doing and read the book with him, write her name with her, and have more fun. Because that's what will make the mess more beautiful.

Mommy, I have to go potty!!

Why are kids so fascinated with public restrooms? They think have to touch everything,  rub their hands along the handicap bar and fight over who gets to flush.  I hate them... toilets that is, not my kids!! Lol  I will avoid them at all costs!! I will usually have the kids go before we even leave the house but if my girls see a restroom sign they automatically think they have to pee.

When our oldest was potty training we spent most our time at home, but did travel a lot for doctor appointments and family visits. When I asked her to use the restroom before leaving I would always get the same reply... 'No, I can go at a gas station.'  Umm... no!!! If there's a choice, it definitely won't be the gas station!! Lol  She eventually out grew that thought process.

We recently finished potty training our middle child within the last few months.  She's not as crazy about the gas station as her sister was, but she will use any excuse to use the restroom at Albertsons or at sisters school. I did make the mistake one time of telling her to wait 'just a few more minutes' while we made it through the check out line. She of course couldn't have timed it any better.  Some issues came up and we spent WAY more time at the register than we should have.  Unfortunately the restrooms were on the other side of the store so I assured her she could wait.... she couldn't. I felt horrible. Not embarrassed or ashamed that my child just had an accident in the checkout lane, but horrible because it was my fault.  That's right, all my fault.

 

I've learned to listen to my children's needs a little more than my own.  You will no longer find my daughters doing a potty dance in the check out lane but you will find us racing each other down the aisles to see who can get to the bathroom first. 

I can't wait to see what our son has in store for us.