I might write something in here soon..

 

Audrey starts school this Saturday, so I’ll try and remember to write in here at least every once in a while. I’m pregnant, working full time, and homeschooling her, so we’ll see just how often it actually happens. I bumped her work load way up in an effort to help with some of her problems with reading comprehension and math. No idea if it will work, but she’s ready for more of a challenge anyway. We’re adding science, history (we sort of did some history last year, and then I slacked off), geography, language arts, and spelling. We spent a lot of time last year just making sure she could read, and working on some of her social skills. Math was hard last year, so we switched programs this year and she’ll repeat 1st grade math. We’ve got Right Start waiting for us to start with it this weekend, and it looks pretty hands on, so I’m hoping she gets it. I’ll post some more and a complete list of her curriculum sometime soon here- I need to go get the kids in some pajamas now though!

stuff going on

I’ve been trying to pick it up a little bit with our curriculum, because I feel like A is ready to take more on. So we’ve been learning about ancient Egypt in addition to our regular reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic. Audrey is doing great so far, and seems to get pretty into whatever it is we are doing. We made a step pyramid out of sugar cubes, wrote about Egypt and drew pictures, and came up with some vocab words related to ancient Egypt. I really like coming up with ideas and doing school work with her. We are slowly adding some science in as well with a unit on the moon (she got one of those “moon in my room” lights for Christmas).

So everything is going as well as I can expect I guess. I’m about to go lay down with the little one, but wanted to pop on here for an update. I’ll try and take some pictures of recent projects to get posted on here, as well as the little school area I “renovated” (read: moved a couple little pieces of furniture around).

Hiiisstoryyy

 

We’re learning about ancient Egypt right now. Audrey really likes history. Honestly, it’s the only subject we’ve ventured into aside from reading, writing, and math. Still, I wasn’t sure she would get into it. She deals with the other subjects, but I can tell she would probably rather be doing something more interesting. She probably dreams of finding an open container of chocolate icing abandoned on the kitchen counter as I’m yammering to her about adding one turtle to another. So really, I figured this would sort of be another thing to muddle through- but she likes it!

Quick detour here as I make a mental note that I need to find some way to help Audrey feel less like she is muddling through her school work.

Ah, so anyway, we have been learning about ancient Egypt. She is thrilled with the idea of mummified cats. When we open the Egypt library books, she always asks if she can see the dead cats first. I can’t say I blame her, either. I think she enjoys hearing about daily life in the past as well. Trying to explain to her why a nomad couldn’t make noodley- noodles (aka ramen noodles) in the microwave was a big exhausting, but we got through it. We’re using Story of the World as a text and guide, but I add in projects and things to keep it interesting. So far we’ve been basing our vocabulary words off of our history lessons as well. She likes to do vocab and make a book out of the words, which she eagerly staples with her brand new AWESOMELY AMAZING BIG GIRL STAPLER that I got her for Christmas.

Anyway, that’s about all that’s going on here. We’re just trying to stay caught up with everything. I go back to school tomorrow (!!!) and that always puts a little more pressure on. Fingers crossed it works out ok!

Audrey can read!

I think now I can say she’s officially reading! She basically taught herself, too. I checked out some easy readers from the library and she reads them like its nothing! I’m so proud!

working on stuff!

not much of anything different going on here. probably the one thing I’ve changed is that I’ve beefed up the amount of “academics” we’ve been doing. we mostly focus on reading, writing, and math, with a little history and science thrown in there. I’ve mostly been building up handwriting and math, since she seems to be teaching herself how to read well enough for now. once we get into the habit of doing those things more regularly I’ll work up the science and history some more. she seems to really like history. she’s really into doing thing by herself, so I’d like to get her some materials she can work on independently. she’s not ready to do things like worksheets or assignments- they need to be things that feel like play. I’m  thinking of getting some good science supplies for her to explore and work with, and maybe some language computer games or…? hmm.

this is audrey during one of our snow days- she loved sledding! that’s it for now.

to do list

dang, my house is a wreck. this is  a list of crap i need to get done, not just to get ready for schooling, but to have a place we can function in on a day to day  basis-

1) we have so many great books. books are so great and open a world of imagination and joy.. and they are taking over my motha f*ckin house! i swear half of the kids’ room is a giant freaking pile of books. next to the huge pile is a neat little box of library books, which looks pretty dumb, but if it wasn’t for their box they would be swallowed by the cannibalistic mountain of literature on the floor. yikes. so yeah, that needs to be organized or something.

2) ditto the above, only sub books for laundry. at least i can fold the laundry and put it away once i’m caught up on it.

3) the school area. everything in the school area has a place, it just doesn’t stay there. i guess we just  need to get in the habit of cleaning it once or twice a day. i call audrey the crazy artist because her papers and crayons are sprawled out all over the place like she’s been up for days drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and working on her drawings. she gets really upset if i stack them out of order. or if gwyneth eats one of them.

4) stuffed animals. i just need to set them all free in the woods behind our apartment complex. or maybe buy another 17 animal nets?

5) the diapers are everywhere. i’m starting to see a theme here of stuff being everywhere. hrmm.

6) school journals, curriculum, and projects will need to be planned out. we’ve just been doing the bare minimum- following the handwriting without tears books, the singapore math books, and practicing reading a little at night. thinking of enrolling audrey in a part- time program through the school district here, but not sure about that. she would have to go 7 hrs a week (spread over a couple of days). i’d have to be on campus with her the entire time, and i’m not sure how thrilled i am about chasing gwyneth around the school two days a week for three hours a day.

7) stocking up on food and toiletry staples. not really sure why i feel the need to do this- we’ll have grocery money every week. it’s not like we’re getting ready for an alien invasion, yet i feel compelled to stock up on oatmeal and canned veggies. hmm.

8) pick up some clothes for the girls in a size up. i guess just incase one of them wakes up 4 inches taller and won’t fit into any of their clothing. see above for further reasoning.

9) am i running out of preparedness ideas? hmm. ok, well i guess that’s it. there is no #9. goodbye.

Plugging along…

Yeah, so I haven’t written much in here. I’m busy like ALL the time. I’m tired like ALL the time, too. We do Audrey’s homeschooling at night before she goes to bed, and she’s doing fine with that. Right now we are focusing on reading, writing, and math. I throw science and history in there when I have time. She likes history ( we’re working on ancient Egypt right now). One thing is for sure, working and having two kids is er, interesting. I have been trying to decide whether I want to keep sending the girls to daycare while I work my butt off and come home cranky and unavailable to anything except the TV, or quit my job and learn to live without money. Hmmm. So, beginning in February I will try staying home for a while. I’m feeling sort of panicked, excited, and disappointed at the same time. Doing this will make some things easier, and some harder. If we can make it work and get ends to meet without tons of stress I will be happy. Right now our house is a mess, I feel like I don’t know the kids, and I just feel like there is something else I should be doing.

Anyway, as far as the homeschooling goes I’m planning to look into a program here in Kirkland that let’s you pick and choose public school classes and do the rest of the schooling at home. I’ve only read about it online, so I could change my mind all together after talking with someone about it on the phone. It’s a small learning center, the classes are not held at a big public school ( but the children are considered public school students). Audrey is interested in trying school, but I don’t want her in school all day long so I figure this is a good trade off. If we don’t like it we can skip it next year, and if she does like it we can add another class. I need to be able to school her at least part time so I have something to do- plus I feel like she picks things up much more easily when she is learning them from me at home. I just know how she learns- she’s a really straight forward auditory learner. Her memory is scary good, too. She just needs things repeated to her a couple times, and I feel like a teacher trying to deal with other kids is probably going to get annoyed and move on before Audrey really “gets” a concept.

Alright, bed time.