Home-Made School

The best part about having all three kids at "mommy's school" (other than the priceless amount time I get to spend with each child), is that Van calls me "Mommy-Teacher-Mommy." He only calls me this from about 9am-noon which is about how long our "home school" lasts. The nerdy preschool teacher mom inside of me loves it.

Here's a taste of what we have been up to! I highly recommend it.

We started with the basics. Trees. We read books about trees (The Giving Tree), picnics, and tea parties (Miss Spider's Tea Party) then took field trips to Fred Fletcher Park and Oak Grove plantation. There are goats, horses, tractors, and BIG open fields to roam filled with pecan trees. You cannot go wrong.

 We read about seeds and flowers (Little level 1 reader books from the $.99 bin at the Teach-Me store). The kids planted their own seeds and grew some daffodils!

Then it was St. Patrick's day so we read a book on the iPad about leprechauns and set some traps for them. We made shamrocks from their hand prints and painted them. We hunted for four-leaf-clovers in the front yard with a magnifying glass.

Insert about 5 days of cold weather and rain here. We got creative... we took many trips to the library (Van and I started reading "The Boxcar Children" series), we made lots of goodies... (cupcakes for Pop-pop's birthday!), practiced tracing letters, had some concerts, and did puzzles.

When I realized having all three kids at home-- all day long-- was a genuine long-term reality...I got a little more organized. We started a "spring" theme (Thanks Mary Rob). Butterflies, daffodils, birds, nests, caterpillars... This is truly a great time of the year to make some neat crafts, take lots of nature walks, and go on field trips to parks.

Bumblebee thumb prints

Toe-print caterpillars

Eat popsicles and make daffodils...

They collected leaves and made bird's nests. We went on a field trip to Logans and bought a bird feeder. The kids filled it up with seed and have enjoyed watching birds (and squirrels) come to our yard to eat.

Next I made a chore chart, manners poster, and a schedule. (These things probably should have come first, but I am learning slowly how to keep us clean, well-behaved and organized!)

We start our days with a Bible story and prayer. We have a small (5 minute) lesson about our topic (Easter, spring, raindrops, clouds, bunnies, eggs, frogs, etc...) then I read them a book about the topic. If we don't have a book that is applicable, I download one on the iPad. (The kids love this!)

We go over a letter and a number of the day. The iPad apps for letter phonics and numbers are incredible. Van practices writing each a few times. Jean-Margaret colors. Then we usually have a craft or field trip. Lastly, we exercise (dance parties and yoga on the rainy days...walks and outdoor time on the gorgeous days).

Believe it or not--that will get us to lunch time! I try to make a somewhat different lunch each day (incorporating new fruits/veggies/sandwiches) while we reflect on our day. I'll let the kids watch some TV or read, then we all rest. 99% of the time, I fall asleep with one of the kids.

Putting a little more effort in organizing the night before has made a world of difference the next morning. This week we played a "crack the egg" game...the kids had to poke open a construction paper-ed egg through some tin foil over a muffin pan. Each compartment had a chocolate coin with a picture on top. (Kite, bird, star...) Van had to tell me the sound each word started with in order to keep the chocolate. (He shared with JM).

Today we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"  and "The Itchy Scratchy Caterpillar" books, painted some cool worms (Van made a patterned-worm), then played "dig for worms!" (Thanks Bex). And I made them do their own version of the "itchy scratchy" caterpillar dance.

Digging for gummy worms in a big bowl of flour. They loved this.

I think mommy teacher mommy is going to miss her kids this fall!! :)

*Disclaimer... this has not been as smooth of a learning curve as it may appear in photos...there are many moments of TV [they watched Frozen about 5 times last week] and rowdy outdoor time when both kids are covered head-to-toe in mud, tears, scratches, and runny noses--most certainly Abe will be screaming...    yeah you get the picture.*


In other news, Abram turned FIVE months over the weekend.

He has been such a little trooper throughout this process. He loves having his big bro and sis around the house. He tries so hard to keep up with them and gets frustrated when his wiggles and scooches don't suffice. He is teething really badly and we are hoping he gets some teeth soon.

Van started TEE BALL and GUITAR LESSONS! Finally :)

Not so into the "catching" part... but loves to hit!

 Lastly--Evans and I took a much needed R&R trip to the beach...solo...need. one. again... soon. :)