Curriculum Craziness

I bet you’ve never gotten sidetracked googling something, have you?  One simple little search, and you’re in front of the computer way past your bedtime, clicking on way too many results, eyes aching from staring at the screen.  

Despite the fact that I’ve been adding to the ever-expanding list of favorite links for homeschool ideas and activities, I’ve been able to decide on a basic preschool curriculum outline for Gwen.  It feels weird to be doing this, since I never really wanted to do anything official for the kiddos, but it’s kind of exciting at the same time.  My organizing, list-making genes are going haywire!

One of the things that I keep telling Phil and my mom (who homeschooled me and my sibs for a number of years), is that I can’t believe how much work and preparation is going into a simple preschool plan - which isn’t even official school!  How will I survive the coming years, when the content gets meatier?  Someone please tell me it gets easier!  Maybe this is the practice round, getting my feet wet.

Since incorporating Biblical concepts is important to me, I decided to go with the ABC Jesus Loves Me 3-year-curriculum, using the supporting concepts that appeal to me.  I’m scrapping their outline, but I got the idea for having a theme and vocab word for each week from Brightly Beaming Resources’ Letter of the Week program.  I love that I was able to find these resources and tweak them to fit my preferences. 

Each of the two curriculums has different outlines and covers different materials for a different amount of time; it took a bit of time to put it into a schedule that seems doable for us.  And who knows – I may change it as I go!  I decided to put the material into a 3-days-a-week framework so we don’t get overwhelmed, but if Gwen wants to do some school activities on “off” days that’s just gravy.  It’s not like I have a shortage of resources!    

Basically, each week will have a Bible story and verse, theme, vocabulary word, letter, number, and shape or color.  Any supporting materials – crafts, activities, stories or songs – will revolve around these elements.

Thank goodness for free resources on the internet – I’ve found a host of wonderful offerings!  Here and there I’ve been plugging in activities and ideas for each week as I come across them.  I absolutely love the idea for Montessori-inspired Tot Trays and my Mom picked up some trays at Lakeshore Learning.  The kiddos took to them right away, and I love having their projects contained.  I think they would be content to sit at them for most of the day as long as I rotate their activities and provide snacks every now and then. :)

Totally Tots and its sister site 1+1+1=1, the inspiration for Tot Trays, has proved to be an excellent stomping ground for all sorts of ideas.  I’ve linked them to the right under some of my favorite homeschooling resources.  In addition to the excellent content, I love that it was designed for and by Christian moms who choose to homeschool.  Some of my favorite ideas: Tools 4 Tots (I like the Hide n Seek Bowls, Mix & Match game – which I already made! – Ocean Waves Bottle, and Paper Clip Colors, to name a few), sensory bins, Tot Books, and alphabet memory verse cards.

Here are some of my favorite resources (so far, and in no particular order) for coloring pages, worksheets, and other printables:
Homeschool Creations
Christian Preschool Printables
Preschool Coloring Book
Twisty Noodle (customizable pages)
First-School Preschool Activities & Crafts
Coloring Castle
Activity Village
Nature Detectives
Making Learning Fun
Crayola
DLTK Kids

My mom teaches Sunday School, buys loads of things for the grandkids, and sponsors children with Compassion International, so even though she no longer has littles of her own she still gets all sorts of kid-related stuff and puts together arts and crafts.  She started putting together lapbooks for her Compassion kids, and it got me interested in the concept.  I decided to try my hand at simple file folder games first, and created a few for the kiddos.

File Folder Fun has some cute ideas, and I made a few of their games, laminating the playing pieces and glueing envelopes on the back to hold them: Beautiful Bees color matching (a 2-color combination), Dinos color matching (a simple 1-color match for Josiah), and Cupcake Counting.  I haven’t used any yet, but Bible Story Printables also has some file folder games.

I finally decided to make a couple lapbooks to go along with our first preschool lesson, starting the end of August.  You can customize them any way you want, make them as simple or as complicated as you want.  There’s the basic lapbook, pocketbook, tot book, double lapbook… arrrgh, pick one!  The theme for the week will be the four seasons, and the Bible story is about Creation.  I did a seasons lapbook first. 

 

 

Most of the materials were printed from the season unit study at Lawteedah, and I also found some mini books for each season from DLTK’s database.  I had fun putting it together with all sorts of activity pages, a puzzle, matching and sorting games, and stickers.  I decided to do one on creation as well. 

At first I just printed out a couple activity pages that I found on Lapbook Lessons, but I ended up using some of their other creation printables to fill the lapbook. 

I find them labor-intensive since I’m putting them together myself, but as Gwen gets older she’ll be able to do more of it herself.  And I hope when she does the coloring and activities that it will have the stamp of her personality on it.  It might be neat to do a lapbook on the letters we learn each week, too.

Trying not to get too far ahead of myself, especially if Gwen doesn’t take to the idea – I don’t want to push it.  I tend to get ambitious then get disappointed when my ideas don’t go over well. *sigh*  At least I can be sure that the creation snack (a healthier version, anyway) will be a bit hit. 

The Garden Experiment

In the past Phil and I have done a tiny garden, tomatoes in a pot, container herbs… but this year is the Garden Experiment.  We decided to build three raised beds with a variety of vegetables (mostly from seed) and see how they fare. 

 
 

The kids quickly decided this was their new playground/sandbox.  What fun it was trying to keep ‘em out once we actually planted seeds.  Especially Josiah, whose main goal in life is to get as dirty as possible. 

 

Phil rigged some metal fencing as climbing posts for the eventual squash plants – but the kiddos saw its true potential.  They love tunnels.  A good ol’ cushion and blanket tunnel will keep them happily occupied while I do the laundry.  Or the dishes. 

Now I don’t have much of a green thumb, so just getting green shoots to come out of the ground is sweet victory to me. 

Sweet Victory…

 

Early on we enjoyed spinach and lettuce greens, and a couple weeks ago I was thrilled to notice some peas ready for the pickin’.  I hadn’t noticed them because they blend right into the greenery or hide behind the leaves.   

 
 

We enjoyed them straight from the vine, and I’m afraid the plant has since been picked clean. We love fresh peas!  I excitedly started checking the other plants, and found a whole slew of baby veggies which are getting bigger and bigger each day.  Just like the kiddos! *sniff sniff*  Many of the veggies have beautiful flowers that bloom before the veggies grow, and I love the little curly vines that – which just a little coaxing – hang onto the trellis for support. 

 
 
 

I’ve been very anxious at the state of my rainbow carrots, but every time I take a peek underneath the soil they’re still so tiny, despite a plethora of carrot greens growing above-ground.  We finally decided to thin them out yesterday so they would have more room to grow.  Some of them are so small, they can’t even be considered baby carrots.  I call them fetal carrots.  So sad, I hope they survive.  We did find one good-sized, beautiful red carrot.  It was delicious, but I was disappointed that the inside is orange like a traditional carrot.

 

In addition to the greens and peas, we’ve also picked some beans, potatoes, and onions.  It feels so good to be grow food from seed, take care of it, and enjoy its bounty.  Talk about health food!  I try to imagine what it was like when living off the land was the norm for people. 

So far, the verdict is that we need more garden space, so we’ll probably add three to four more raised beds next year.  This is a learning process for me, from deciding what, when, and how to plant, to taking care of the plants and deciding how to harvest them (pick from the bottom, top, pinch off the top before it flowers?).  In the beginning I was picking the spinach and lettuce while still small, but decided to leave them alone for a while and see if they thrived.  Now, the spinach is tall but I’m not sure how much more I’ll get from it and the lettuce is in abundance, but the bigger it gets the more bitter it tastes.  I need to find a happy medium!

I’m excited see what ripens next.  Besides adding fresh produce to our meals, I hope to try some new recipes for canning and freezing.  Put ‘em Up!, a canning and preserving book I got from the library, has some excellent ideas that I hope to try - including rhubarb pickles, of all things.  I’ll probably end up making salsa, ketchup, and sauce with the tomatoes, and pickles from the cukes.  And I’m dying to try zucchini relish, but need to get the recipe from a friend.  Do you have any favorite canning/preserving recipes?  Do share.  

While I was in the yard yesterday, I happened upon this butterfly enjoying the flower gardens.

Homemade Yogurt

I never really liked plain yogurt, opting instead for yummy store-bought varieties like black cherry, strawberry banana, coffee, caramel, key lime pie, anything that sounded yummy and un-yogurty.  When I  had Gwendolyn, I knew I wanted to make homemade baby food, and got excited when I discovered you can actually make your own yogurt! 

Of course there are many resources out there on the world wide web, but the few recipes I  bookmarked mentioned sterilizing your equipment, heating the milk to a certain temperature (making sure it doesn’t burn in the process), cooling it to a certain temperature, adding your starter, and then maintaining a specific temperature in order to incubate the active cultures.  Needless to say, I wasn’t too thrilled with all these steps – but decided to undergo them nonetheless.  Having to babysit the yogurt and add more hot water so it maintained the optimum temperature was my undoing, and I finally decided to purchase a yogurt maker.

Following the steps that came with the yogurt maker was a no-brainer, and the little glass jars provided the perfect portions, especially for feeding the little ones.  I still bought my own flavored yogurt. 

When making some healthy changes last year, I decided to eliminate milk and milk products from my family’s diet (except for cheese, of course, which is its own essential food group).  Each step along the way has been a learning process, and when I learned about the benefits of cultured dairy products – specifically from reading Nourishing Traditions –  I slowly started adding some of these items back in.  We still don’t drink plain milk or use it in recipes, opting instead of almond or coconut milk, but I buy whole milk for making yogurt (and buttermilk!). 

Rachel over at Clean. recently posted a recipe for homemade yogurt, and I implemented her suggestion for using a small amount of starter (either from a store-bought carton or some left over from a previous batch) for the best results.  I always added a carton of yogurt, and was pleasantly surprised when the smaller amount yielded a better yogurt.

As much as I enjoy the ease of making yogurt in my yogurt maker, I’m limited by the amount I get – especially since one of the glass containers broke and I haven’t bought any replacements.  Now that both the kiddos and I often have yogurt for breakfast, use it in smoothies and baked goods, I go through yogurt much more quickly these days.  I was really excited when I came across another recipe for yogurt, and in discussing the directions with the author and some of her readers, learned that maintaining a temperature isn’t key to keeping the cultures alive.  I was all set to get out my canning jars and try a batch, when someone mentioned that her favorite way of making yogurt was in her crock pot.  Yogurt in a crock pot?  I have a crock pot!       

I already had a half gallon of milk and some yogurt in the fridge to use for a starter, so I decided to whip up my first batch of crock pot yogurt.  I was a bit nervous because I started it earlier in the day, which meant it sat on the counter for half a day and overnight… but in the morning when I removed the towel wrapped around the crock pot, opened the lid and peeked inside… it was filled with yogurt! 

I filled a couple containers, and strained the remainder to ake Greek yogurt/cream cheese.  

When you strain yogurt, the liquid that comes out is called whey.  I’ve used it in pancakes and baked goods for part of the liquid, for soaking beans and grains, but I’ve learned there are lots of different uses for this precious liquid which is packed with vitamins and minerals.  I would love to try making Ricotta cheese.   Don’t throw it out!  Just the other day I used some of it in the cooking water for pasta and again for cooking rice.       

Our favorite way of eating yogurt for breakfast is topped with frozen blueberries, ground flaxseed, walnuts, and honey.  And let’s not forget smoothies!  This morning, Gwendolyn comes out of her room and says, “My tummy’s sick because it’s hungry.  I want blueberries in my smoothie and blueberry pancakes and blueberries in yogurt.”  I reply, “So you want blueberries?”

I’ve got another batch of crock pot yogurt brewing right now.

Simplicity Parenting Book Club – Chapter 5

From birth, we’re told to put our children on a schedule – or at least be aware of patterns throughout the day.  There are so many thoughts on what type of schedule is the best.  Feeding schedules, sleep schedules, activity schedules.  Just the scheduling is exhausting, nevermind the activities themselves!  I’m thinking perhaps unscheduling may be the way to go.     

My kiddos are only 3 and 1, but I can’t believe how many people assume they’re already in some sort of program – or soon will be.  It’s expected that our children will just be put somewhere, rather than remain with their parents.  And for kids that young, I bet any “classes” they take equate to playtime at home.  I understand there are different situations, some parents may not have much of a choice, but I always feel bad when I see daycare signs that advertise admitting children as young as 6 weeks (or less).  I firmly believe babies and young children need to be around their parents; they may survive just fine around other people, but I don’t believe they will learn and thrive and grow to the same extent.       

I was so disappointed that I had to return the library copy of Simplicity Parenting since there was a hold on it, but I was able to read this chapter.  I agree with what some of the other mamas have said, feeling like it gives us “permission” to say enough to the busy-ness, even though we still often feel like we need to be doing more!  Especially if it’s “educational,” right?  “Activity without downtime is ultimately unsustainable; excess ‘enrichment’ is not soaking in.”  At young ages, kids just need to be kids and explore their worlds.     

I bring my kiddos to storytime at the library every week, since we’re already there to get books/movies.  There’s a playground right next door, which means even more interaction for them.  We go to church every Sunday; the littlest one is in the nursery, and the older one has Sunday School.  Even just running errands and getting outside, we interact with lots of people and get to enjoy many activities (especially when the weather is nice).  I like that my children interact with people of all ages, since only being with their peer group creates an unrealistic environment.   

Playdates are a good idea in theory, I suppose, but I’m not too crazy about them. Putting a bunch of kids together with a bunch of toys just equals a headache; you spend the whole time teaching them how to share and get along!  It’s hard enough at your own home, nevermind trying to adapt to someone else’s rules.  Then try to carry on a conversation at the same time!  It’s exhausting for me, really.  I do, however, enjoy getting together one-on-one with friends and their children for specific activities from time to time.   

As your kids get older, I suppose trying to find the balance between activity and calm becomes more of a challenge.  Right now, we have specific days when we do routine things (church, grocery store, library), and since I consider running errands “activities” for my kiddos, I try to limit how much I go out the rest of the week.  We’re homebodies, but sometimes I feel the need to get out of the house or I’ll go crazy.  We may go to the zoo or the beach when the weather is nice (which means a longer day), or head to the farmers’ market on the weekend.  I notice that we usually need to “recover” from a long day, and the kiddos get really tired and fussy if I don’t make a point to slow down.  ”Rest nurtures creativity, which nurtures activity.  Activity nurtures rest, which sustains creativity.”  

I, too, was somewhat disturbed reading the statistics on children involved in organized sports at younger and younger ages these days.  Sure, it’s cute – but seriously?  I played soccer for a number of years when I was younger, but even as I got older the focus was mainly about having fun and creating a sense of teamwork rather than being the best and winning the game.   

One of the points made in this chapter, is that no matter how much your children may enjoy something or want to do it, it doesn’t mean it’s in his or her best interest to overschedule.  I keep thinking how much my 3-year-old seems to enjoy structured social activities (Sunday School, storytime, kids’ Bible class at her grandmother’s church), but that doesn’t mean that more equals is better.   I hope to homeschool my children, and sometimes I think, Why not put her in public school?  She may enjoy it, and I won’t have to teach her.  But then I remind myself of what’s better for her in the long run.     

I loved the section on the importance of boredom, but I don’t think my kids are old enough to understand that concept yet (and come to think of it, I don’t think we ever say the word).  There’s always something for them to do, and my daughter especially is very creative, good at playing by herself.  “You can’t direct [deep play]; you can only leave time for it and trust that leisure and activity will nurture your child’s creativity.”  I think sometimes when they’re tired or not feeling well, they don’t necessarily want to play with the things they have, but that’s another matter.

Some of our best days are spent outside in the front yard – the kids find cool rocks, dig holes in the dirt, draw with sidewalk chalk, and run after the guinea hens that come through our yard.  We also have a blast when we go peach-picking, spend a day swimming at the beach, or pick our favorite animal at the zoo… but I think that’s because we make these once-in-a-while activities rather than every day occurrences.     

Read my thoughts on Chapter 1
Read my thoughts on Chapter 2
Read my thoughts on Chapter 3
Read my thoughts on Chapter 4

Downtime

Our computer crashed about two weeks ago and I was without Internet the whole time.  *gasp!*  Yes, it’s true – and I survived!  I did feel somewhat disconnected since I rely mostly on e-mail for communication, and there are some blogs I frequent, but for the most part it was a refreshing change.

In fact, I find it refreshing whenever I go without some of the technologies we take for granted and rely so heavily upon these days.  Aside from the initial withdrawal, it’s so much more relaxing when I’m not getting sucked into the mindless vortex that eats away at my time and energy, stealing my focus away from more important matters.

Trying to keep a balance between activity and rest, going out and staying in, can be difficult – especially when the weather is nice and you feel the need to get outdoors, just go somewhere.  We have our usual errands – grocery shopping and library run – and I often incorporate a stop at the playground and a picnic, if I’ve been able to plan ahead and pack supplies.  The kiddos and I have been going to the zoo every chance we get, making good use of our family membership.  We met up with Auntie Nikki and Elijah last time, which was a nice treat.  Nikki should be having her baby this month, and I’m always thinking this may be the last time I see her before she has her baby!  I can’t wait to meet him/her (she has a feeling it’s a girl this time around, and I’m hoping she’ll get to use all of Gwen’s baby clothes).   

I was so disappointed that I had to return Simplicity Parenting.  I had renewed it, but there was a request on it so I couldn’t renew it a second time.  If I can find my notes on the last chapter I read I may be able to drum up some thoughts when the book club discusses the fifth chapter.

Since I had returned the book and didn’t have another waiting to be read, I was excited when I found Dead Reckoning, the latest novel in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris.  My brother had initially given me the first two or three books in the series when they came out, and I’ve kept up with each release.  I like the earlier books in the series best, although there are some interesting twists and turns the more you read.  I was intrigued when I heard about True Blood, the TV show based on the series, but after watching two of the seasons on DVD I was disappointed at the liberties they’ve taken with the storyline (or maybe it’s been too long since I read them).  Without the computer to occupy my time, I finished the book in a few days.

We used to frequent the local Christian bookstore growing up, and my mom always let me pick out one or two books, knowing how much I loved to read.  One of my all-time favorite series is Mark of the Lion, by Francine Rivers.  I’ve read it a number of times already, but started reading the first book again and always enjoy the read.  My sister-in-law has been reading the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling, raving how much better they are than the films, so I’m thinking I may cave and start reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – though I have my reservations about it feeling like a children’s story. 

The garden is growing by leaps and bounds!  I’ve started harvesting spinach and salad greens, and having fresh fixins with dinner makes me feel so warm and fuzzy and healthy inside!  I can’t wait till the other veggies are ripe and ready. 

It has been warm and humid lately, and one day in desperation I broke out a big tupperware bin and filled it with water for the kiddos.  It was  a huge hit!  We have a kiddy pool, but I didn’t feel like blowing it up just then. 

One of my favorite things to do on a hot day when I was a kid was to run through a sprinkler - but ours broke last year. :(  I asked Phil if we could turn one of his blue tarps into a slip ‘n’ slide, but he said the texture was too rough.  My sister-in-law assures me that all I need to do is add some dish soap to make it slippery, so I may just try it one of these days.  Anything to get the kids out of the house and cool off on a hot day!   

When the kids are especially well-behaved, I like to reward them with some sort of treat – a living room picnic and a movie, dessert, staying up a bit later than usual to read more stories, whatever.  Well, Summer is the perfect time for just such a treat. 

What is it about the seasons that make you crave their offerings?  In Autumn I long for apple cider, apple crisp, and pumpkin lattes.  In Winter it’s hot chocolate and all manner of warm comfort foods.  In Summer I want smoothies, salad, fresh fruit, Del’s, and ice cream.  Since we’re avoiding refined foods this is definitely an occasional treat; a pity that the ice cream shop is just down the road. *sigh*

Memorial Day saw me and the kiddos visiting my grandparents’ grave with my parents.  My mom - big on genealogy – plants flowers at many of the family graves at cemeteries throughout the state.  After we planted flowers, we wandered through the cemetery, looking at the beautiful inscriptions and admiring the decorations.  It was somewhat surreal, watching Gwendolyn and Josiah tread happily over the ground that holds so many loved ones that have passed away. 

We have once again been reacquainted with Internet, and I’m trying to recover all my “favorites” files that were lost – all those links for recipes, articles, stores, ideas, arrrrgh!  I can’t believe June is upon us already, Father’s Day and 4th of July fast approaching.

Do you have any Summer plans?  How do you make the most of your downtime?