Uncategorized

  • “Be still…”

    Xander was tested by PSI for speech today.  I’m not sure how he did, because she said she expected him to be totally different based on the “file.”  I guess that means he must have done pretty well.  I guess I’ll find out at the IEP meeting.

    Speaking of the IEP meeting.  I totally freaked out today when I realized that one of the forms I have to take to the meeting is a referral from a physician.  The meeting is Monday and I don’t have it filled out!  I know I won’t be able to have the forms filled out by Monday, because the military clinic will want me to make an appointment and they will not have one available that soon, since Xander’s not sick.  Not only that, but I also need a completed immunization form (a special form, which they
    didn’t give me and I don’t know where to get) and I had not been planning to take Xander back to the doctor until after his 3rd birthday so he can get all of his shots updated.  I need to make appointments for both boys on the same day to update their shots, because the doctor’s office will not allow me to bring Sebastian with me unless he also has an appointment.  I can’t leave Sebastian with the childcare center on base, because they said his registration is expired and he needs an updated shot record!  It’s a catch-22, which is why I was planning to just wait until Xander’s birthday and take both boys in at the same time and get everything updated at once.  This means that I’m not going to have everything I need for the meeting on Monday!  I’m going to call the doctor’s office tomorrow to schedule appointments for both boys for a date after Xander’s birthday, then I’m going to call the PSI lady and tell her the situation.  It may mean that we have to reschedule the meeting, but I hope she’ll just tell me to go ahead with the meeting and give her the papers when I get them.  After all, the services will not start until the new school year begins, anyway.  My stomach is just in knots over this, because I got these papers March 22 and I set them aside thinking all I had to do was fill them out.  I started filling them out today and realized all this!  UGH!

    My stomach is also in knots over the fact that one of the forms was a school registration form, and I didn’t realize that he would have to be registered at the school as a student.  I’m not sure I like that idea, so I also need to talk to the PSI lady about that.  I need to make sure that it doesn’t mean I have to start being accountable to the state if I choose to withdraw him from the program later.  I think that it probably won’t be a problem, since I believe the law says “if a child under 7 has attended more than 20 days in a public school, he is subject to the compulsory attendance laws.”  It says “attended” and Xander will not actually be attending the school, so I don’t think it will apply.  But I do want to make sure!

    This afternoon, the boys made safari hats and paper cameras for a pretend safari!  They had fun getting messy with the fingerpaints to decorate their cameras!  We sang a song about zebras, which Xander really liked.  Sebastian had fun sneaking around the house pretending to be “on safari” taking pictures of the animals!

    Today was Ben’s birthday.  To celebrate, the boys and I ordered pizza for dinner.  We wanted cupcakes too, but it was threatening to rain all day and I didn’t want to get caught out in it, so we never went to the store.  We had ice cream sandwiches instead.  They were yummy!  We were all sad that Daddy couldn’t be here for the party.  We really miss him.

    From my home to yours,
    Andrea

  • You Are 63% Peaceful
    You are a very peaceful person. All is good in your world, no matter what’s going on.
    Occasionally you let your problems get to you, but you generally remain upbeat.
    Your inner strength is inspirational – much more so than you may realize.
  • Block Schedule for Kindergarten

    I don’t like following a rigid daily schedule for homeschooling.  I feel that one of the great benefits of teaching your children at home is the flexibility it provides.  With Xander’s therapists coming and going during the week, it’s all but impossible to teach the same subject at the same time every day.  So, what I’ve done is come up with a block schedule. 

    I assigned each subject one block and there are nine blocks for each day.  Some days math may take 15 minutes and other days it may take an hour, but it always counts as one block.  I arranged the blocks in the order I want to cover them each day, being careful to alternate between heavy and light subjects and to include a short break for free play after every three subjects.  I also switched up the order from one day to the next, to keep the days from becoming too monotonous.  I scheduled Literature for bedtime because we already read aloud then, and it seemed like the natural thing to do.  The result is a schedule that allows us to stay on track even on days where we start late, have interruptions, or find a lesson particularly difficult.  We’ll always know what’s coming next, and we won’t be watching the clock.

    Monday-Bible & Character, Reading, Spanish, Break, Math, PE, History & Geography, Break, Language Arts, Science.  Literature at bedtime.
    Tuesday-Bible & Character, Math, PE, Break, Reading, Music, Language Arts, Break, Science, History & Geography.  Literature at bedtime.
    Wednesday-Bible & Character, Reading, Science, Break, Math, PE, History & Geography, Break, Language Arts, Spanish.  Literature at bedtime.
    Thursday-Bible & Character, Math, PE, Break, Reading, Art, Language Arts, Break, Science, History & Geography.  Literature at bedtime.
    Friday-Bible & Character, Reading, Spanish, Break, Math, PE, Science, Break, Language Arts, History & Geography.  Literature at bedtime.

    Xander’s “schooling” will be done in the afternoon, after Sebastian is finished.  Since Xander’s entire preschool program only takes about 45-60 minutes per day to complete and is mostly arts & crafts, it doesn’t make sense to try to fit it in alongside Sebastian’s work.  It would be too distracting.  So, I’ll just tack it on the end as another “block.”  Some days we’ll finish at 2 pm and some days we may work right up until dinner time.  The point is to always know what’s left to accomplish and never feel behind.

    From my home to yours,
    Andrea

  • Do you have Pharasaitis?

    Follow the link for a description of the condition, a simple test to see if you have it, and proper treatments.

    Pharisaitis Test

    From my home to yours,
    Andrea

  • What a great day!

    The boys and I had a wonderful day today!  Krista came this morning to provide Xander’s speech therapy.  He did very well, by the way.  Sebastian kept us in stitches telling us about his imaginary friend, Billy, who uses an “intulator” to change from a grown up to a little boy and from visible to invisible.  Billy has been around for awhile, but today was the first I’d heard of the technology behind his invisibility.  That kid cracks me up!

    After Krista left, I laid down newspaper, tied on art smocks, and let the boys paint pictures.  First they used brushes, then I let them fingerpaint.  They enjoyed that a lot, and I have some beautiful new art pieces.  I think Xander’s in his blue period. 

    Sebastian and Xander spent a good portion of the afternoon playing a JumpStart animal adventure game on the computer.  It was one we’ve had awhile, but that they recently found again, so it’s new to them.  Sebastian was so cute talking about “leaf cutter ants” when he was finished.

    I spent the afternoon organizing our school supplies.  It seems that I have to do this regularly due to use and the acquiring of more “stuff.”  I managed to get all of the craft stuff in one box and all of the paint supplies in another box and the markers and pens in a box all of their own.  A place for everything, and everything in its place!

    At around 3:30pm we left to go to dinner at my friend, Anne’s house.  She has seven wonderful children whom she homeschools, ranging in ages from 17 to 2.  She is a wealth of friendly advice and emotional support and I thank God that I have her in my life.  I hadn’t been to visit her since before Christmas, which is terrible, so I was really looking forward to seeing her.  The drive there is 45 min long on a good day, and today it poured rain starting as soon as we got into the car and ending just before we arrived at her house.  We stayed for dinner and my boys had a ball playing with her boys.  We talked about homeschooling and parenting and Ben’s deployment and just stuff in general!  It was a really great visit.  I finally got the boys ready to leave at 8pm (their bedtime) and we drove the 45 min back  to the house.  It’s 10:30pm and the boys just fell asleep about 15 minutes ago.   They were beat!

    This has probably been my best day since Ben left!  I sure do miss him, though.  It would have been nice to share all these experiences with him.  At least he’ll be able to read it here later!

    From my home to yours,
    Andrea

  • I found a bargain!

    I took the boys shopping at the mall today (which I rarely ever do, because the stuff there is usually way over-priced).  I decided to go into Waldenbooks and they were having a 50% off the already-reduced bargain price sale!  I picked up a couple of things, but what I’m really excited about is the Great Flip-and-Learn Wall Charts portfolio!  It is 16 wall-charts spiral bound to a cardboard easel.  When you want to put them away, you close it up and it looks like a portfolio complete with plastic handles!  Here’s the only picture of it I could find on the net (this one is an Aussie version, the one I bought is the American version).

    The portfolio includes these 24″ x 16″ charts :
    1. The Alphabet
    2. First Words
    3. Numbers 1-20
    4. Colors and Shapes
    5. Addition Tables
    6. Hundred Chart
    7. Telling Time
    8. Animals
    9. Dinosaurs
    10. Skeleton
    11. The Solar System
    12. Multiplication Tables
    13. World Flags and Capitals
    14. U.S. Map and National Anthem
    15. Months, Seasons, Holidays
    16. State Flags with State Capitals, Birds, and Flowers
    So inexpensive, the kids LOVE it and we can use it for YEARS!!  I love sales!

    From my home to yours,
    Andrea

  • Ben and the Boys at Grandmama’s

    Sebastian being huggled by Daddy – May 2007


    Xander on Daddy’s shoulders – May 2007

  • Sharing My Bookmarks

    Tonight I was going through the process of organizing my web bookmarks when the thought occurred to me that I should make a back-up of them somehow.  I thought about making a text file, but if I stored it on the same computer, it’s not much of a back-up.  Then a wonderful idea came to me!  I should share my bookmarks on my blog!  This serves two purposes, I thought.  First, it allows me to have a back up of my links stored on the net instead of on my computer.  And second, others could benefit from the websurfing I’ve already done.

    So, here we go…

    Homeschooling Links
       
        Book Lists
           100 Great Books
           1000 Good Books
              
        By Subject
            Library Skills
             
    Book Care
              Library Skills
              Proper Care of Books
              Library Media Program
            Math
             
    Living Math
              That Quiz
            Science
              What Tree is It?
            Sign Language
              Video Dictionary of Signs
     
       
        Charities & Causes
           The Book Samaritan
       
        Conferences
          
    Georgia Homeschool Expo
       
       
        Curriculum Suppliers
            All Subjects
              By Way of the Family
              Charlotte Mason Research & Supply Co.
              Christian Book Distributors
              Educational Learning Games
              Living Books Curriculum
              Love to Learn
              My Father’s World
              Notgrass Company
              Rainbow Resource
              Sonlight Curriculum
              The Learning Parent
              The Tanglewood School Curriculum
              Veritas Press
              WinterPromise Publishing
           
    Character
             
    Brite Music, Inc.
              Pearables
            History
              Hands and Hearts
              Hold that Thought
              Home School in the Woods
            Music
              Classical Magic
              Pfeiffer House Music
            Science
             
    Apologia
              Real Science 4 Kids
              Noeo Homeschool Science Curriculum
              SAM’s Science Adventures

        FREE Curriculum
          
    Ambleside Online
           Classical Christian Homeschooling
           Free Curriculum on the Internet [Links]
           Free Home Education [Links]
           Mater Amabilis
           Old Fashioned Education
           HS Treasures Free Resource List

        General
          
    The Homeschool Mom
           Georgia Department of Education
           HomeHearts
           Guilt-Free Homeschooling
           Katherine’s Pages
           Teach-At-Home
           The Checklist
           Cindy Rushton
           Homeschool Highlights

        Methods & Techniques
           Charlotte Mason
             
    Ambleside Online
              4 Real Learning
              Outside the Box
              Our Golden Apples
              Charlotte Mason Study Loop
              Simply Charlotte Mason
              Penny Gardner
              Real Learning
              Skylark
              GentleHearth
              The Parker Family
              Lakeway Learning
           Classical
             
    Camrose Classical Academy
              Classical Christian Education Support Loop
              Classical Christian Homeschooling Newsletter
              Classical Christian Homeschooling
              Trivium Academy
              Veritas Press
           F.I.R.E. Method
             
    Ignite the Fire
           Lapbooking
             
    Literature Amidst Roses
           Notebooking
             
    Homeschooling with Notebooks

        Online Resources
          
    Online Books
             
    Books by G.A. Henty
              Etext Center
              International Children’s Digital Library
              19th Century Schoolbooks
              Children’s Books Online
              Webster’s 1828 Online Dictionary
           Online Games & Activities
              Reading & Language Arts
                
    Literactive
                 Book Adventure
                 Starfall
                 Spelling Time
              Math
                 AAA Math
                 Art of Math
              All Subjects
                
    iKnowthat.com
           Online Lesson Plans & Worksheets
              All Subjects
                
    Enchanted Learning
                 Busy Teacher’s Cafe
                 Schoolhouse Printable
                 Kid Printables
                 Fun Lesson Plans
                 Kinder Printables
            Bible
                
    Kidz Playce Download Center
            Language Arts
                Language Arts Lesson Plans and Resources    
                Handwriting for Kids
                Story It

        Organizations
            American Library Association       
            Homeschool Buyers Co-op
            Home School Legal Defense Association
            Georgia Home Education Association
            HEIR of Georgia

        Scope and Sequence Charts
            Typical Course of Study
            Hillcrest Academy Curriculum
            Raritan Valley Montessory Curriculum        

    [Disclaimer
    These links are my personal bookmarks that I have collected while surfing the internet.  I am not affiliated with these sites in
    any
    way.  I provide these links to you only as a convenience and I am not
    responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained
    within a linked site.  The inclusion of a link does not imply my
    endorsement
    of the linked site.]

    Well, I hope you enjoy visiting these websites, and if you have any links to share please leave me a comment!

    From my home to yours,
    Andrea

  • Rainy day…


    It’s been raining here all day.

    No thunder.  No lightening.
    Just rain.
    Ben would love it.
    He always loves rainy days.
    I don’t think he gets many in the desert.
    When he does, I’m sure it’s yucky.
    I wish I had a little bottle.
    Then I could gather up some raindrops and mail them to him.
    He’d like that.