After 5 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I found the wonder of mothering slowly starting to get crowded out by the mundane feeling. I realized our world seems to surround people with the negative, and complaining about blessings seems totally acceptable. So I decided to fight against that "normalcy" and focus only on the positive. I look back to my first year as a mom when everything was new and keeping house was fun and I aim to have that attitude again. This blog is my outlet to showcase the daily miracles that surround me in my blessed life as a stay-at-home mom so that I will never forget the wonder of it all.



Saturday, May 11, 2013

Sum it up Saturday

We've made tally marks, worked with the clock, played with nickels, planted seeds 5 inches apart, picked up toys in groups of five, counted carnival tickets by groups of ten, used the beautiful number grid in the back of Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 to skip count, and simply practiced together in the car while driving.  And this week, it clicked!  He still stumbles over the order some, especially through the teens, but this week Logan mastered skip counting.  I screeched and hugged him too tight the first time he counted from 5 to 100 by 5s.  Its victories like this, which *I*, not a school teacher, get to share with my kids, which makes home schooling so amazing.  We have worked hard together, and we celebrated together.  :)

This week was a jumbled week.  Arrow wasn't feeling too well and pretty much did not sleep for three nights, which means this Mama didn't sleep for three nights.  I had to look back into my camera to even remember what we did this week.  It was the type of week I tend to call "free".  Not free because we don't do anything, but free because we followed the kids' lead more than the books.  These weeks used to scare me because I worried we didn't accomplish anything.  Now I'm learning that we accomplish so much in these "free" weeks and its not always about having a completed worksheet.  So much learning goes on outside of worksheets!

 
Logan wanted to make his cousin a birthday present.  Zac helped him, but Logan used most of the tools himself.  He was very proud.

I introduced the kids to Mr. Rogers this week.  I wouldn't say I loved T.V. as a kid, but I do remember loving Mr. Rogers.  We streamed his shows from the PBS website.  The kids love it, especially Kian, as its geared towards his age range.  Its fun to hear the things they retain from these episodes.  One episode featured the group Stomp.  The kids were enthralled by Stomp so we got on youtube and watched more of their shows.  They were especially excited about this video, where Stomp members are shown making music while hanging suspended from a billboard.  With brooms, my old ironing board, drum sticks, an old metal serving plate, and wine barrel hoops hung from a chin up bar, the kids reenacted Stomp.  They had so much fun!



The kids got to do a bit of phonics and handwriting with my Mom yesterday.  I love when others offer to do school with the kids.  Its fun for them and I think its good for them to learn how to take instructions from someone other than just me all the time.  They both learned new concepts in phonics this week.  Felicity learned a new blend and Logan learned to read two syllable words.  Grammy said they did great with it.

This week I read a little bit about how the children in Finland are taught.  One article said they are let outside to play every 45 minutes.  When a teacher was interviewed and asked how she could ever teach them enough when they break every 45 minutes, the teacher said there's no way she could teach them if they DIDN'T get their energy out every 45 minutes.  Play is such a huge part of learning, and for the home schooler, I think it is especially big.  We can take play breaks whenever needed and I'm trying to do that more.  That being said, when we are home all day, we are limited to our SMALL backyard and the cul de sac for outside play.  We've tried to be creative with space to really give a lot of space over to the kids and this week we added something new to the backyard.

Hooray for play!
 
How was your home schooling week?
Feel free to do your own Sum it up Saturday post and link up in the comments area.

8 comments:

  1. Looks like the kids are having a great time!

    I hear you about letting the kids out for a break. I'm a little nervous letting them out for more then a half hour during the middle of school days. We've had a lot of people move into the neighborhood and some have been a bit nosy about the kids and school. We do plenty of school and I hate keeping the kids cooped up when their done with work, or waiting for their turn with mama or just need an active break but I don't want unneeded intrusion into our home. I mean really who needs that stress even when you know you are doing the right things. I'm just really irritated about that right now. I wish there were a few more home schoolers on our street. Sigh.

    We did have a great school week though you can check it out here:

    http://meadowmagic-meadow.blogspot.com/#!/2013/05/nature-studies-co-opsfield-days-and.html

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    1. Oh that would stress me out a lot. I've never had anyone question us in that way, thank God! I read your post. Thank you so much for linking up! I love that you added that list of curricula. Maybe I'll do that in my Sum it up Saturday post next week. I love hearing about what other families use in their home schools.

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing your successes and struggles found along your homeschool journey. I find it very inspiring. Also, I'm in love with the play boat in your back yard

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  3. No post from me this week. I read the article about playing. We're blessed to live out in the country theres no one around and I feel comfortable letting the kids wander. When its nice out I probably let them have a little too much free time . Before we moved here we lived in a quiet little town on a busy street with some questionable neighbors, the kids couldn't play outside at all. Moving here has been wonderful, I do try not to go into town during the day much because we are usually questioned about the children not bring in school and some of the towns around us have a day time curfew.

    Jenny what did logan make ?

    Im also in love with the boat :)

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    1. I've never been questioned about why the kids aren't in school during school hours. But I guess our "out and about" time is usually to friends' houses or the park. How lucky that your kids have so much room to wander!
      Logan made a lego minifigure display board for his cousin. I forgot to get a picture of the completed project. Basically he painted a board and glued 2x2 lego bricks to it. So it can be hung on the wall and the minifigures attach to the bricks and "stand" nicely displayed, if that makes sense. Zac made one for Logan for his birthday. I should take a picture of it.

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    2. GENIUS. my nephews birthday is coming up and that would be perfect. i'd love to see a picture. you guys come up with the neatest things. <3

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    3. It was a Pinterest project. :) I'll try to get pics of Logan's board up on the blog soon for you. He loves it!

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  4. Hooray for play, yes!!
    I smiled so big reading about your homeschool week- learning together is truly a gift!

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