Counting is Taking Off

When I post stuff like the following updates on our homeschool, my sincere hope is that it does not seem that I am bragging or boasting. Really, it is just helpful for me to remind myself that we are actually accomplishing anything each week and that I can, in fact, help my children learn. My confidence in that comes and goes. And I should re-emphasize the "helping" aspect of homeschooling; for the most part the kids are learning a ton on their own and I follow their lead.

Tey has been enjoying counting to 100. Sometimes he just counts out loud, but when he has the numbers in front of him, even if not in order, he can do it without error. One day he counted while jumping, which was a fun way to get sillies out too. Of course, with rockets, it is always fun to count backwards! We've been doing that a lot just because the kids enact shuttle launches all the time. Props to Bo for finding this counting maze that gets a space shuttle into outer space. I love when we can build on our nocturnal theme. He actually printed it for Bean, who then pushed it aside thinking it was too hard. Sneaky Mommy then introduced it to Tey who finished it with a little scaffolding. ;)

Bean attempted it today and completed with without any help though he wanted me to sit next to him. I knew seeing Tey do it would ease his reservations. I can see that we have made some strides with him as far as overcoming his fear of failure, but we still have a ways to go. Relating a task to something he knows really boosts his confidence. In this case, I related it to dot-to-dot, but told him it was squares. I dunno what he was afraid of, he can do dot-to-dot counting by threes! It's all about presentation with him. I need to remember that. Bean's made great strides in math and we actually finished his Singapore math kindergarten curriculum, so we are doing first grade now. Contrary to my expectations he writes in his workbooks all the time. Our oral mathematics and real life mathematics complement the workbook/curriculum stuff well but there is comfort in knowing that we are learning systematically with the curriculum. Number bonds are his favorite and I'm going to try to slow down and really reinforce it to really make sure he's got that down pat because I know it's the foundation for later material.

Mei has picked up on counting too. She generally does not enunciate most of her words, but I can tell the gears are turning in her little head. For her counting, she points and goes "Hmm, hmm, hmm" and it sounds a lot like "1, 2, 3." Similarly, when she says "Bean Bean" is sounds like she is "Ga Ga" but as if you had your mouth closed. It's like she keeps the back of her mouth closed or something. I'm thinking she'll soon come around to more actual words, especially since she picked up "owl" in just one day of us trying to teach her it.

Update: Today Bean also did similar space counting worksheets, one counting from 5 to 500 by 5's and one counting from 2 to 200 counting by 2's. 

Owww

Everybody in our little eaglet nest is embracing the nocturnal study. Mei learned to say "owl" earlier this week. 

Disregard the pink and black box taped to the window, that is our makeshift light table for Bean to copy constellations.

My Real Life Ryan Gosling

Have you seen the homeschool version of the Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" meme? Some of them are too hilarious to admit they could be true. Like the one about eating Cheerios out of a measuring up with a ladle for dinner. Even Bo cracked up laughing at that one.

But they are made up. Right? I'm not sure.

I'm blessed to say that my hubs is this patient and encouraging all the time and it's for real. He truly is the best. I would not have ever accomplished as much as I have in my adult life without his constant support and this is especially true for our most recent family adventure to homeschool our three children.

So for Valentine's day, inspired by the Ryan Gosling meme, I made my own little craft (aren't I getting crafty these days?) about DH and some of the sweet things he's done over the past couple months.

I thought it would be kinda cute and funny to use pics of him from when we dated in college. It's a great reminder that 13 years ago we could never have imaged our life being like this. Man, if he even suggested in college that he work and I stay home with 3 kids and also homeschool them, I no doubt would have left him right then and there! Haha!

Bo has had my back from grad school, to earning my PhD, to finding a job and working it for almost 2 years, to quitting to homeschool. He's my partner and best friend in this crazy new life that God has called us to. I can't imagine the test of faith it has been for him to endure the ride with me thus far with all the unexpected twists and turns and obstacles. If that's not love, I dunno what is.

So to my sweet Bo on Valentines Day, I love you and your real love for me!

Here are some close-ups of the pics:

Happy Valentine's Day

The kids got Valentine's Day cards from their grandparents and on it were X's and O's.

Bo: "What does "X" and "O" stand for?
Bean: "Well, "X" stands for "ten."

Thanks to the hubs for teaching Bean Roman numerals last week. That made me smirk today.

Moments to Remember: Blast Off!

Mei flying a rocket around the house.

I think our unit study on astronomy and nocturnal animals is rubbing off on her.

Unconditional Love

Are you on Pinterest? I am. It's an obsession. I'm an ideas kinda gal with sometimes little follow through, so like Johnnie 5, I want "more input!" and Pinterest delivers. I don't have a single creative bone in me and Pinterest lets me steal be inspired by others creativity.  For me, it's extremely cathartic to mindlessly pin, pin, pin after a long, tiring day of homeschooling. 

Speaking of long and tiring days, have I mentioned that homeschooling is long and tiring? Well let me tell you. It's long. And tiring. Maybe not for people who have been planning to stay at home or to homeschool, maybe not for people who have been doing it for a couple years, maybe not for people who have experience working with numerous children of multiple ages at the same time. But for me and especially as we are transitioning...my days are long. And tiring.

Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. But sometimes they drive me nuts!!! Late this afternoon was one such time when I took them to The I.D.E.A. Store to pick out some arts and crafts materials for Valentine's Day and for our homeschooling. That part was awesome. The I.D.E.A. Store is awesome. My kids were being awesome. It was in the parking lot when one of them made a very disappointing choice. Grrr! It took every ounce of my being to keep my cool, to not freak out and to try to make it a teaching moment. 

That moment was not made. I just had to bite my tongue because it was the end of a long, tiring day. I had used up the rest of my patience reserves 2 minutes prior when I attempted to keep them from messing around with the check out counter. I knew that nothing that would come out of my mouth at that point could be positive. So I kept it shut. We drove in silence. 

When we got home Bo took over and I disappeared upstairs to make this.

I'm gaining an appreciation for arts and crafts when before I thought they were pointless and just created something that would eventually end up in the garbage. If for nothing else this it calmed me. I channeled my frustration into bending the wire hanger. I loved the scratchy, natural feel of the burlap and knew that it would allow me to cut imprecisely and not worry about it having to look perfect. I just wanted to make something beautiful. It turned out better than I expected. Thank you Naptime Decorator for the inspiration.

I hung it on the offenders door. I want my kids to know that I love them unconditionally. Even after a long and tiring day. Even after they have committed an offense. We are all rough and all imperfect, just like this burlap heart. I need to remember that more about myself and about my kids.

Weakness and P.E.

It was a long week. I'll just say that. Over the past several days I've gone back and forth about how much to talk about the inner workings of our homeschool and my views on it. We have a lot of struggles, a lot of joys, and everything in the between. I'm still figuring out how to blog about our lives and what to include. I have found numerous homeschool bloggers to be extremely helpful and the best ones are those that lay it all on the table. The raw ones provide the such comfort and encouragement, or at least strength in numbers that we are trying our best and that is all we can do. 

The utmost comfort comes from my heavenly Father. In our weakness, His strength shines through. So I think everyone in my family must be burning from His rays now. I know he has uniquely created each one of my kids and also me. I am also certain that this is where I am to be and somehow I am to raise and teach them. So, wisdom, discernment, and patience are what I am praying for most now.

Well, onto the fun stuff. Eventually I'll do more formal P.E. with the kids, but in the meantime, I'm being ok with just making sure they are active at least an hour a day. But really, who has to make sure kids are active everyday? They are so energetic, it seems like they never get tired. Anyway, I also don't have a set schedule of aerobic, muscle strengthening, learning a particular skill, etc., but we just go with the flow and have fun at this point. I'm cool with that too. When it is raining outside and I'm not feeling creative at all, we can always rely on our default: running around the house. Mei has picked up on this very quickly. And has added flying wings. I dunno if she made that up or saw her brothers do it. Anyway, she is pure cuteness when she does it.

One thing I can feel accomplished about this week is sticking to our responsibilities. The boys helped a ton with their basic responsibilities as well as assisting me out with laundry, cleaning the kitchen and generally cleaning up of the house to have friends over. Bean also helped me take down the Christmas tree (yes, I still had my tree up). At Grandma and grandpa's house they had a blast getting leaves out of the flower bed. 

My hard little workers! They were so proud of themselves. I was too. Ok, maybe I can do this.