Wordful Wednesday, Treasured Resource

 

A  while back I found a childhood bible that was given to me from a family friend.  It was one of my favorite books growing up.  Surprisingly the book is still around and I have the privilege of sharing it with my children.  The boys love it!  We are using it in the morning for our morning devotionals.  This year we are trekking through the Old Testament.   Honestly, I prefer the regular bible but these stories are written very well. It’s the perfect accompaniment, in fact it has become our guide. 

The other morning while reading about David and Goliath. We learned that after David defeated Goliath King Saul became jealous of him and tried to kill him.  David fled for his life but remained friends with King Saul’s son Jonathan.  David went on to become a great king. When our reading was done for the day Christopher and Emmanuel were begging me to continue. 

Again I am so grateful this resource is still around. Now I have the privilege of creating a bond with my boys by sharing stories that I literally read as a child.  I will be pulling this one out for years to come.

The hunt is on for a less loved copy of this book. 

Resisting The Tablet Craze

I am going to step out on a limb here and state that I am not on board with the tablet craze.   When I am out and about I see them everywhere.  It’s the latest and greatest electronic invention on the market right now, I get it.  However I just can’t justify the expense.  Everything that can be done on the tablet can be done with my cellphone but the tablet has a larger screen.  At one time my husband and I were close to purchasing one because there was a great sale.  Even then I had a hard time justifying the purchase, we don’t need it.  We can use the money elsewhere.
Personally, my children get enough screen time.  More than I care to admit.  Why should I purchase an extra screen to keep them occupied when we are away from home.  What about a little activity bag with crayons, paper, small books or something else that would keep the child busy without a $300-$500 breakable toy. Are we being lazy as parents and taking the easy way out? Do our children really need something to keep them busy while out in public?  Many of us did not have any of these luxuries and we turned out just fine.  Parenting is tough, there is no easy button. I have three boys and have had my share of public meltdowns with kids who are beyond themselves and need to get home on the fastest thing moving and get in the bed.  And that’s exactly what we do. I gather my children, say goodbye to our friends and we leave.
My family enjoys many modern electronic gadgets and honestly, many of them are nice, very nice.  But, if we are being honest once the newness wears off, you find yourself thinking about the next unnecessary must have item.  One of the problems in this society is we are so quick to do what everyone else is doing, just because.  We feel like we must have the it car, house, bag, vacation, electronic gadget, clothes, etc.  It’s really sad.
Does anyone else wonder how people can afford all of these things. We are constantly being told how bad the economy is.  Statistics show many Americans are out of work. Depending on your political views you will side with one candidate or the other and their spin on the issue. Apparently, there is a disconnect, either we are being lied to about the financial status of typical families or lots of people are living above their means. I think the later is true. The point I want to stress is perhaps we should put more thought into our purchases.  Is the item really needed or is it a passing want. You may find resisting the urge to follow the crowd will yield a better return. Perhaps donating the money that’s burning a hole in your pocket,to a cause you believe in would be best. If you feel that your tablet is a justified expense more power to you.  However, many of us can’t justify our excessive purchases beyond, oh it would be great or everyone has this, now its my turn.
It’s been said that we are the most connected, yet the most lonely.  How about going the extra mile to establish a real connection.  When is the last time you wrote a letter and sent it the mail.  Or better yet have your kids write letters to distant, relatives and friends. How about making something with your kids sewing, woodwork etc.  The activity really doesn’t matter, what is important is that you engage  your kids rather than giving them a device to play with.  Play I spy, make up a game, or just sit and talk. 
I’m choosing to swim against the tide here, resisting the tablet craze. No, the extra money I have will stay in the bank or go toward something that adds value to my life. 
Tiffany

A Math Lesson

The following is a conversation between my oldest son and I

Christopher, what can you tell me about the number five.

It is an odd number.
I am older than five.
Emmanuel is close to five.
Everyone else in this house is older than five.
There used to be only five people who live in this house now there are six.
May is the fifth month of the year.
The number five is in your cell phone number.

Weekly Review 2/13-2/17

What’s New

This was a great week.  I was refreshed and full of vision.  It was one of those weeks where you set out to accomplish x, y, z and you get it done.  Don’t you just love those weeks?

I am still researching curriculum for next year.  I am keeping my current selections for language arts and math but I am not sure about history and science.  Also there are a few other loose ends to tie up as well foreign language and other electives.

The classroom plan is coming together.  We went to IKEA last weekend with the blueprint of what we want (or what we thought we wanted).  Once there my head began spinning with all the possibilities.  We have decided to delay renovations until the close of this school year.  I was hoping to complete the project during our spring break in March but since we are doing some work in the bathroom next door it just makes since to have it all done at the same time. 

Math

Completed lessons 91-94.  We worked a lot with subtraction facts, adding 10 to a number and switch around facts which are examples of the commutative property of addition.

History

Read through Onward a book about Matthew Henson.  Matthew Henson was the first African American to go to the North Pole.   We used our map to locate all the locations Matthew traveled.

 

Science

Learned about gravity and conducted an experiment to see which objects would fall to the ground first.  Our observations showed us that the heavier an object is the more gravity pulls on it.  Read about Galileo.

 

Language Arts

We continue our work with suffixes, root words and contractions.  Also we are learning more about silent letters. 

Reading

We will finish our last Light Unit in the Learning to Read series.  Christopher has to take his exam which I will administer over the weekend.  So on Monday he will begin his Reading 100 series.

Pre School

Math

Completed pages 97-109.  Emmanuel is really doing well with recognizing patterns. 

Emmanuel came to me one day while I was working with Christopher on his math. He said look mom its seven o'clock. He had configured his clock to seven. I asked him to show me three o’clock and five o’clock and he did. Christopher said mom he’s learning to tell time before I did.

Reading

We are almost finished with our Hooked on Phonics workbook.

Motor Skills

I cut up a few pieces of construction paper so Emmanuel can practice putting the pieces together.  Here he assembled the capital and lower case A and N.  There are pieces of wood that you can purchase for this but I am cheap resourceful.  Perhaps I could laminate several pieces of of paper and that would make them more durable.

Science

We learned about animal habitats this week.

Extra Stuff

Completed our first Five In A Row book Owl Moon.  It was really fun.  I checked out several of the manuals from the library and read through them and decided this will definitely be something I will add into our days for next year.   I searched the internet and found an owl craft, plus I picked some vocabulary words out of the book for Christopher. I wrote the vocabulary word on the front of the card and he wrote the definition on the back.

If I were better prepared we would of dissected an owl pellet.  However much that grosses me out, we would have done it because I’m a trooper.  Perhaps another time, when the boys are older.  I have to remind myself there will be other years to do cool projects.  I have the tendency to go overboard.  It’s almost as if I want to cram all the cool things into one year. My husband says I am an overachiever. I think he’s right but I will never tell him so.

Goals for next week

My goal is to get back on track with my schedule of chores.  I have been so focused, preparing for next year that I’ve neglected some of my other duties.  So I am going to stop focusing so much on next year and be present in the here and now. 

Will You Be My Valentine?

This year we joined one of our homeschool groups for a yearly Valentine exchange. There were twenty seven participants and we needed a card for each participant from each participant so that meant there was a lot of work to do.   Emmanuel and Christopher were up to the task.  Emmanuel worked diligently to ensure each bag had a piece of candy while Christopher wrote names on the cards.  Joshua was only interested in the candy.  He kept begging for candy. I felt sad for him that he could not have a piece of candy at that time but he has more than made up for it. 

Today we learned about St. Valentine who was a Christian teacher. He was killed by the emperor of Rome who was not a Christian.  We also learned about how Valentine has been celebrated in the past.

 

Hubby and I plan to go out on our valentine date later in the week.  Hoping your Valentine’s day is filled with love and lots of chocolate. 

 

Happy Valentine

Reading Award

Christopher, received his first reading award of the school year.  He was entered into the Pizza Hut Book It program at the beginning of the school year.  He has to complete fifteen minutes of independent reading each school day for an entire month to qualify.  If he meets his goal he is given a gift certificate redeemable for a personal pan pizza. There is a reading checklist next to his desk that he checks off each day after he completes his reading.

I encourage him to read in his spare time but I don’t force him, this is something he must do for himself. Besides, my goal for him is to fall in love with the written word. Once his eyes are open to the world of books he can learn about anything. (I am digressing ahem, back onto the topic.)Surprisingly, the month of January he went above and beyond his goal.  He read more than fifteen minutes each day.  He is now completing several chapter books each week.   This means next year in second grade we can up the time to thirty minutes of daily reading.

Way to go Christopher! Mommy is so proud of you.  Keep up the good work. 

Dear Sons (1)

Dear Sons,

Cruising the blogosphere one day I stumbled upon this. And I thought, this will be a perfect addition to what I am doing here with my platform. Occasionally, I will drop in and write you all, at times individually a letter to express what's on my heart at that given moment.

There are so many things I want to tell the three of you. Many times one of you will run past me and my thoughts run away from me. You all have been such blessings to me. Perfect gifts, each of you sent from heaven above. Only God could create a mother's love, truly there aren't words that can describe it adequately. My hope is that someday you will read these letters and know just how much you are loved as the unique individuals you are.



Love,

Mom

I Took The Leap

Every since I was a girl I remember watching public television.  Now as an adult my children and I get the benefit of watching public television and now listening to public radio.  My favorite radio if I must say.  Public radio's programming is wonderful. I love, Think, A Way With Words, All Things Considered, This American Life, Car Talk(My guilty pleasure, love those two guys!) and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, I don't get to listen as much as I would like as.  We only have  radio in the van.  The boom box in the house does not get great reception for the National Public Radio station  So, I only get to listen in the car. Its so sad I know. But it gets great reception for the local ESPN station.  Just what this house of four males needs, more sports.  Funny thing is I am actually beginning to enjoy a few of the programs on ESPN radio.  It's a strange, strange, world.

Its been on our hearts for years to donate to NPR.  Finally my hubby made this dream a reality. During a recent pledge drive we were able to make a donation.  What a feeling! Now I need a new radio so that I can listen to all the wonderful programming throughout the day. 

Weekly Report 1/30/-2/03/2012

 

What’s New-  This week I did not feel well, so we did not accomplish as much as I had hoped. Either a head cold or sinus really slowed me down this week.   Plus our schedule was very jammed packed this week. Mental note to self, stop overscheduling your family. Sadly, I had to reschedule some of the appointments we had this week because we were  overbooked.  Next week will be a special back to basics week for us.  I am going to try a few different things with the boys.

Math

• Completed lessons 88-90.
• Learned about fractions.
• Took another exam of which Christopher aced.

Science

• Learned about volcanoes.
• Christopher has been eager to create a volcano for a while now so during our week off we will create a volcano.  My intention was to build the volcano this week but with me not feeling my best I just could not put my full effort into pulling this science experiment off.  So  you will have to stay tuned to see pictures of this next week. 

History

• We finished the The Story of Slavery.
• Read Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter. This book was about Peg Leg Joe a man who taught slaves a song  to help them find their way to freedom.  We read several books about Benjamin Banneker.
• Benjamin was a inventor, mathematician and scientist.
• It is believed that Benjamin Banneker built the first clock in the United States.  He was selected as one of the men to design our Nations capital. 
• He was also well known for his almanacs that he printed.
• Christopher believes he is a mathematician and a scientist. I smile when I hear him say this I just nod my head and reassure him he can be anything he wants to be and a mathematician/scientist is just fine with me.

Reading

• Learned about compound words, the different sounds of ed at the end of a word and three letter blends scr, spr, spl and str .

Language Arts

• Learned to identify the subject in a sentence.  The subject is one or more words that tells what the sentence is about.

 

Books We Read

Volcanoes by Franklyn M. Branley

Follow The Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter

Journey to Freedom Benjamin Banneker by Melissa Maupin

Outward Dreams: Black Inventors and Their Inventions by Jim Haskins

Independent Reads

Marvel Spiderman Secret Identity by Chris Kipiniak

Emma’s Magic Winter by Jean Little

The High-Rise Private Eyes The Case of the Baffled Bear by Cynthia Rylant

Preschool

Reading

• We accomplished a ton this week in our phonics workbook. 

Emmanuel cheering after he finished his workbook for the day.  Please try not to look at the green marker on his head. 

Math

Completed pages 86-96.  Emmanuel was really motivated this week with his math lessons.  He kept requesting another page and another page. 

Motor Skills

• We pulled out the activity bags this week and the boys had the best time.

Emmanuel was given cards with numbers on them and he put the corresponding number of clothes pins on each card.  We we work our way up to the number ten with this exercise.

 

During our read aloud time the boys played with their Legos while listening to mommy.

Books We Read

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Bill Martin

A Kiss For Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik

Spot Goes to thePark by Eric Hill

Goals for Next Week

Next year I am almost certain that we will choose a literature based curriculum so I am doing small things this year to incorporate some of the elements found within a literature based education.  While I like what I have seen so far I really want to dig a little deeper. So here is the plan.

• Continue my research into Before Five In a Row and Five In a Row.
• We will actually Row a book or two to see if this way of learning is a hit in our home.  I will explain what it means to Row a book when I complete my weekly review. 
• Oh, how could I forget I want to do some deep cleaning around the house too. 

Sites I visited often this week

IKEA- We will probably begin purchasing materials for the classroom renovation this week.  I am so excited about the new classroom.  I can’t wait. 

Delightful Learning Michelle incorporates FIAR into her school days for literature, science, math, geography, art and bible.

Raising Olives- Kimberly uses Sonlight and combines FIAR into the mix. 

These ladies have been more than an inspiration for me this week as I ponder my curriculum choices for next year. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Tiffany

Menu Planning Continued February 2012

Over the past few months I have implemented a new way of planning and preparing food for my family. Here are a few pointers that I have learned along the way.

• Devise a plan the works for you. It is very important that you have a plan that fits your personality and is suited for your family. I have chosen to implement a version of Once A Month Cooking but you may find creating a weekly plan works better in your home.

• Don’t be afraid to try new things. Here at Random Uttering there is always a new recipe on the menu. Some go over well, others not so much. The important thing is that you find new ideas to incorporate into your regime to change things up a bit.

• Keep menus from months past, carry over the meals that are family favorites. In our house when I am planning for the next month I grab the current month’s menu from the refrigerator and review it. Then plug in the must haves and use new recipes or special meals to fill in the gaps.

• Lastly, eat the meals that are in your freezer! Don’t let your planning and preparation be in vain. Before beginning a new month of meals look into your freezer and plug in meals that are ready but weren't eaten.  

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