Valentine's Day 2012

We were finally able to make it back to our Coop today after 2 weeks off. The building we use was having some major plumbing issues. We were ecstatic that our Valentine's party was actually going to happen!

Madeline had to learn patience today waiting for the party to start. She had her literature class and gym class to attend first. Grandpa graciously agreed to babysit so Duncan could stay home.

THEN the fun began. She got to eat lunch with her new friend.


We handed out Valentines. Everyone put their bags/boxes in a line and we put the cards and candy in them.


We then played a get to know you game and got to make fudge in a bag (aka armpit fudge).



Madeline and her new little friend were inseparable. Until today, Madeline hadn't really made any friends at Coop. She enjoyed going to the class every week but never talked about playing with anyone in particular. I was starting to think we wouldn't be back next year. After today I think we'll probably stay with the group.

In other Valentine's news, Eric got me a card. Normally I wouldn't even mention it but we had said we weren't going to do anything this year so I totally flaked on even getting a card for him. Typically I now when he gets me a card because he tells me he has to go to the store which he never does. This year he didn't mention anything about going to the store. So even though his present to me was just a card, I think it was one of the best Valentine's days I've had since 2005! I love surprises, even little ones!

Chugging Along!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted an update. I had hoped to have some Disney pictures to share but my computer cord is MIA. So that will have to wait. Madeline is doing really well. Since the last time I updated,

Madeline:
math- can count by 10's, 5's, 2's, and 3's. Has learned 1/2 and 1/4 in fractions. Added subtraction to her repertoire. Can add pennies, nickels, dimes, 1/2 dollars and dollars. We'll be done with kindergarten math in a few short weeks.

reading- chugging away at Ordinary Parents Guide and has read Green Eggs and Ham and Put me in the Zoo to me. We'll be reading part of Little Bear later today. I can't believe that she's almost ready for 2nd grade readers!

handwriting- she's almost done with the Abeka K4 workbook and will start A Reason For Handwriting K in 2 weeks. She has some technical kinks to work out.

Science- we finished the Berenstein Bears Big Book of Science and Nature. It is a fabulous book filled with so much information! I'm currently looking into science for next year. Madeline wants to study anatomy so I'm leaning towards Apologia BUT it might be a little much for her. Sonlight science A is an option but I'm not sure if it's deep enough.

Read-A-Louds- we continue to read through Uncle Wiggily, Book of Virtues ect. ect. We are also reading The Moffits right now. She's really enjoying that one! I'm thinking about picking up Charlotte's Web from the library because she is going to see that play in a couple of weeks. We shall see.

I think that pretty much sums up Madeline's progress.

Duncan is running and climbing and just being a boy. He is trying so hard to talk. He has taken to screaming to get our attention which can be deafening at times. We're hoping he grows out of that really soon!

I continue to be busy with running the kids around, teaching Story Hour, and all of the other things that moms do. Eric was gone for a week in Canada which was a challenge but we survived!

What's been missing?

Pictures! This week I have pictures. We finished week 7 of our school year today. I have pictures, some from this week some from previous weeks. I meant to do a week in pictures but in true Shannon fashion I forgot my camera at our outings.

Madeline started another year of ballet on Monday. She loves it even more this year. She was so excited to go! Our first coop class was cancelled because the leader had a death in the family. We'll start that next week. On Wednesday Duncan woke with a fever so we didn't go to music class. Thursday was our first day of Coffee Break at church. Today was the first Tap/Jazz of the year. This week was actually not as stressful as I had anticipated. If Duncan hadn't gotten sick it would have been wonderful!

Madeline learned a lot this week yet again.
Math: started counting by 2's, odd and even numbers, ordering, adding change
Handwriting: she is doing really, really well with it. No more complaining and doesn't even like to trace the letters before writing them. She is now writing complete words instead of just letters. Her numbers are also improving greatly!
Reading: ai, oa, ee, ay. She is doing fantastic reading longer and longer short and long vowel words.
Science: mammals and their habitats
Social Studies: learned about Pilots and what goes on in an airplane
Read-alouds: finished the Wizard of Oz, struggling through The Horse and His Boy, read some great stories from the Lion Storyteller Bedtime book.
Bible: "Forgive and the Lord forgave you" read about Joseph and Moses.

And now for some pictures!

A craft we did a couple of weeks ago- making fireworks




Kids at the zoo ( a school reward)


apparently Duncan loves to mop SCORE!

Duncan enjoying some fettuccine alfredo


Madeline working on her fall lapbook




Labor Day pedicure



THIS week she decided to put on some make up


She was so proud of herself. I even let her leave the house like that. Unfortunately the make up caused a little breakout/rash so she won't be allowed to play with it anymore.

Working on math this morning- days in a week, how many days does ___ month have, ect.


I've had a bunch of people ask me what the baby does while we're doing school, well here you go!


Next week will be very busy. On Sunday we're going to my parents to pick up their van. They're letting us borrow it for our drive to Disney World!! We then have a full week of school and activities. We leave for Disney Thursday night and will be driving straight through. Hopefully I'll be able to get all of the packing done and the house cleaned before we go.

Week in Review... Week 6

Another week has flown by. We had 2 complete pajama days this week. Next week the craziness starts. Monday- ballet, Tuesday- Coop, Wednesday- music class, Thursday- Coffee Break which I'm teaching, Friday- Jazz/Tap. I'm crazy. Next week should be interesting!

Madeline is doing fabulous with everything! She is way too smart! This week she:

learned about obedience in Bible. Doing motions really helps with memorization!
learned about living things and classified living vs. non living things in Science
learned perimeter and reviewed a lot of other things in math
enjoyed Uncle Wiggily a lot
is starting to write complete words in handwriting
learned long vowel plural words, that ai makes the long A sound, and is improving overall in reading speed
coming up with wonderfully creative stories that I really need to write down

Duncan:
continues to pee on the floor AFTER Eric takes him off the potty
is learning to run
loves, LOVES playing outside
is trying really hard to talk but isn't quite there yet
is starting to point to different parts of the body when asked
is trying to imitate animal sounds
seems to have chosen a stuffed animal to sleep with

I:
plotted out the rest of the year for math
got a pedicure with my mom :)
really made an effort to get off of the computer more
ordered Disney on Ice tickets for Madeline
took it easy because starting next week I'm wondering if I'll be able to even breathe!

Week 5 in Review

Madeline has made great strides this week! And we've determined that apparently Duncan does not need sleep. Seriously, I don't know how that kid can be so happy all of the time with a maximum of 12 hours of sleep total in a day.

I do have 1 or 2 pictures to add this week but I still have to upload them so will do that later.

This week Madeline:
Learned to count by 5's, fill in and read a bar graph, perfected 10's and 1's place value.
Learned several more ways to add (number line, counting on, in columns ect.)
Learned the difference between two, to, and too.
Learned soft and hard G and C.
Perfected long vowel/silent E.
Learned about Honesty and recited Ephesians 4:25.
Is much better at neatness with writing letters.
Learned about the phases of the moon and the life cycle of the caterpillar.
Completed the seasons science study.
Went on a nature walk and found a dead frog and some acorns.
Started library music class.
Started the read aloud The Horse and His Boy and continued The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

This week Duncan:
Started story time and music class at the library.
Played in the park.
Learned to climb DOWN the stairs and how to get off of furniture! :)
Played a lot with his shape sorter. He still needs matching help but he's getting much better.
No longer takes a morning nap.
Made lots and lots of messes.

This week I:
Made a bunch of delicious meals that the kids actually ate without complaining!
Booked our condo for our April vacation!!
Did a little organizing ( a VERY little).

Friday Already?

This week flew by! It was our last week before the fall activities start back up. Next week the library things start. The kids will both be in music there and we'll go to story time once a week hopefully. Pretty soon the Coop we are planning to go to will start and the same week dance starts.

This week Madeline:
learned about counting on in Singapore. This greatly simplified adding for her and made things go much faster!
learned the parts of an ant in science class
made great strides with handwriting
greatly improved her reading speed
finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe read aloud and watched the movie
cut our school time down from 2 hours to between 60 and 90 minutes by focusing better. :)

Duncan:
learned to climb onto the couch using one of his toys as a step stool
learned to get off said couch by rolling onto his belly and sliding down
started really trying to say words. We still can't understand them but he's getting closer
drank from Terro ant baits causing us to call poison control (all was fine)
pretty much gave up his morning nap

I:
called poison control for the first time
finalized all of our Disney plans for next month
added teaching story hour at church to all of the other things I do (starting to think I'm crazy)
completed all of the lesson plans for children's church through December
decided on a Sunday School Christmas program and started planning that

Bribery works!

Madeline is capable of a lot of things. She is also perfectionist. She tends to not want to do/try things unless she is certain she will be able to do them correctly and perfectly the first time. We have resorted to bribery. We set up a points system. Every time she completes her handwriting without complaining she gets a stamp. She also gets a stamp every time she completes her reading without fighting us. This week she earned enough stamps for a trip to the children's museum. We took this field trip on Thursday. Before we get there lets review what we did this week!

Last Saturday we took the kids to a little fair at a church. Madeline got to ride a horse and get her face painted(and a bunch of other things) and Duncan got to play in the playground.





This week Madeline:
Math- counted dimes, pennies, and dimes and pennies together, added using number line and linking cubes, counted by 1's, 10's and "in between".

Reading- continued silent e long vowel words in OPG, and got some Bob books from Costco

Handwriting and readiness- Ll-Pp and worked on our memory skills

Bible- read about the Tower of Babel, Abraham, and Lot, memorized 2Corintheans 9:7

Science- learned about the wind, tornadoes, and the months of summer

Read-alouds- more from Uncle Wiggily, and started the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Wizard of Oz.

This week Duncan:
Worked on his peg board. He has amazing fine motor skills.
Started favoring his right hand more then his left.
FINALLY broke his 8th tooth.
Loved playing with the Play silk.
Was introduced to the training potty and swiftly peed on the floor after getting off said potty.
Turned 13 months old (today!).
Played outside every chance he got.
Enjoyed a Popsicle during read aloud time.


We enjoyed our song of the week also, Father Abraham.


We also took a nature walk and discovered Cat Tails by the pond and how corn grows.

I'll leave you with pictures from the kids favorite thing we did this week, the children's museum.