The first day of school

Well, after a fun-filled summer and a panic-filled few weeks as I scrambled to make sure that everyone else (aka... me) was ready, the time has come.

We started school!

Miss Leah is meeting all the standards for first grade.  If I were starting her in PS, there is no way it would be at a kindergarten level, so we're going to go ahead and call this her first grade year even though she is only five and a half.  I don't feel any pressure whatsoever about keeping her "up to snuff" on the first grade side of things; if her fervor for learning cools, we may do two years of first grade.  If she keeps on track, I'll continue moving her up.  The beautiful thing about all this is that we can work exactly at her pace!

My big boy is going to do school with us for about an hour a day, and very gently at that.  I absolutely adore the curriculum we're following.  It's just the right combination of early academics and play, and I love that at three he'll be memorizing Bible verses along with us.

I typically would prefer to wait until he's 3.5 or even four to start "formal" schooling - even this gentle preschool program - but he loves to sit with Leah and me while we do school.  He might as well get in on the action!  Plus, the greatest thing about the curriculum is that, because it is Biblically-based, it is still relevant to Leah, and super easy to modify to fit both kids.

I was going for an action shot, Leah jumping for joy in our newly-refurbished backyard garden.  We quickly discovered that jumping for joy with a backpack on isn't as easy as it looks... 

I am so excited to begin the school year!  I can't help myself, I have always adored this time of year.  

And, for the record: Casey's favorite part of homeschooling: 

Jammies are always an option!

So, without pause or hesitation, we are mighty, full of confidence, excitement and joy... and we are coming for you, school year!!!

A year of preschool

With our school year at an end, it was fun for me to go back and look over the progress Leah has made this year.  I am so pleased to have the opportunity to homeschool her, and as I look back I can truly recognize and appreciate the amazing ways she has grown this year.  There's definitely a little brag in this post {whaaaat?  Humility is overrated!} but I can't honestly take any credit for what a superstar she is - that's all her.  She's just built this way, and, as is so often true in the parenting world, all I can do is hang on and enjoy the ride.

Beginning of the year: She'd never held a pencil before.  What?!  She was three and a half!  We'd colored, painted, used markers, etc, but I'd never actually asked her to pick up a pencil and write anything formal (though she could absolutely write a handful of letters - all upper-case - including those in her name).

Now: The kid can write, pretty much without assistance, any letter in the book.  Occasionally I have to remind her which direction something goes, like the hook in a J or the way the tail of a y faces.  But really, she's golden.  We still do most of our writing in upper-case purely to make things simpler as she practices, but she can do the lower case letters as well.

Beginning of the year: She could count to 13 independently without error.

Now: She counts to 20, and recognizes her numbers up to 30 (though 10, 13, and 20 still trip her up if they're out of context).  She also understands mathematical equations and can add numbers under 10 without any assistance - provided there's a picture to help her figure it out.

Beginning of the year: She knew and recognized all her letters, and had figured out most all of the phonemes.

Now: She knows all her phonemes, can segment them in a word (she can make out individual sounds in a larger word), recognizes the difference between long and short vowels, knows a number of her digraphs (th, sh, etc) and knows about two-three dozen sight words.  She rocks at decoding simple short-vowel words; we haven't worked much with long vowels since they usually have a silent e or something more complicated.  Cat, Dog, Mom, Dad-style words, though?  She's totally got it.

Beginning of the year: She'd never held scissors or cut anything before.

Now: With a little focus, she does beautifully.  Her fine motor skills have really picked up with practice this year!

Beginning of the year: She could complete patterns about 70% of the time.  She was mostly grasping that concept.

Now: She's a pattern pro!  She can replicate and extend, or tell you where you've gone wrong.

I've read some different statistics on how long you can expect a preschooler to hold their focused attention on something, and mostly they say about 20-45 minutes.  In fact, several of the curricula I looked into recommended about 45 minutes at most per day for structured activities.  I've found with Leah that she really enjoys the preschool process, and most days we spend somewhere between 1.5 and 2 hours  doing preschool.  Yes, that often includes playing with playdough or painting, but it's usually directly connected to some form of learning that supports our lesson.  The girl loves to learn, and has the ability to focus on one activity for a very extended period of time.

She's also kind of a perfectionist - which is definitely not an apple/tree situation, by the way.  I'm an easy-going, fly-by-night kind of gal.  Yeah.  Her greatest challenge is that she likes to do everything to her own level of completeness.  With things she enjoys, this can take a while because she wants to get it perfectly right.  With things she doesn't enjoy, she gives up super fast because she can't do it perfectly the first time.  I... um... have absolutely no clue where that compulsion comes from.  It reminds me of no one I know...

With this baby coming, I have seriously questioned whether I will have the time and attention necessary to dedicate to Leah's schooling in the fall.  We briefly considered putting her in school, but the truth is that I very firmly feel she needs a kindergarten environment to meet her needs academically and socially, which would place her in kindergarten at four and a half.  Beyond that, our family is just called to this.  That's the message I've gotten loud and clear as I've prayed over it, and even Casey, who was once a bit skeptical of the homeschool route, told me recently that he prefers the idea of keeping her home.

And, on that front, the truth is we're just going to have to do what we can do.  Some days, we may accomplish a lot.  Others, we may just give up and watch TV.  And you know what?  The beauty of this phase is that either is really okay.

Halloween Scavenger Hunt

One of our favorite activities on Halloween was a scavenger hunt that I created at the very last minute.  Leah had an absolutely wonderful time running from place to place around our house and front yard finding and solving each clue.  

I was a little apprehensive about how this would go, given that she's only three and each clue required a bit of critical thinking in order to solve.  It would have been easy to dumb this down just a little to ensure that she could find each clue, but I'm really glad I stuck it out; it was amazing watching her think through the clues and come to a conclusion!  She definitely needed us to read parts of the clues more than once, but she did not require any additional prompting to reason through it.  It was awesome.  

To set it up, I simply made a list of the places I wanted her to travel.  Then, I wrote the clues on numbered index cards and taped a piece of candy to each card.  She had a paper bag that we had decorated earlier in the week, and she got to keep all the candy and keep track of the clues along the way.

This game could be used at any time of the year in any household with a few simple modifications.  For reference, here are the clues I came up with:

1. I am the thing you'll carve tonight 

to give your neighbors quite a fright.  

Once you start, you can't turn back.  

I'm orange and my name is Jack.

2. Here's the place you get all clean,

so dirt and germs cannot be seen.

To find the clue just lift the cup,

but do not drink the water up!

(more specifically, under the cup we use to wash her hair)

3. The next clue is in your room,

with a witch, her cat, and a broom.

Follow, follow, where I lead,

I'm so glad you love to read!

4. For the next clue to put in your sack,

find the place mom keeps your snack.

This is the place that keeps food cold.

Hurry!  I am getting old.

5. Hurry, hurry, the next clue is calling.

From the place where leaves are falling.

Put on your shoes, your coat and hat,

for outside is where I'm at!

(Helpful hint: tie the clue securely to the tree with some twine.  We didn't do this, and got to spend a few extra minutes searching as Mommy frantically tried to remember what the heck the clue said.  We finally found it in the neighbor's driveway.)

6. The next clue is found in a bag

that makes the doggies' tails wag.

When you give the dogs their food,

you will find your next clue, dude!

7. This clue is the very last,

isn't this going fast?

Under where your shows come alive,

you'll find tools you need to survive.

It's the best holiday we've ever seen,

I love you, and happy Halloween!

Her prize was a bag full of pumpkin carving supplies, some glow sticks for trick or treating, and of course, candy.  She never knew it, but I recycled some of the candy we had already gathered from Boo at the Zoo and other places this season.  Waste not, want not, right?  (Plus, it's not as if anyone can actually eat all the candy they get on Halloween.)

Enjoy!  If you try it with your little one, let me know how it goes!

God's Word is a Treasure {hunt}

So, here's the thing: you guys are all about this sensory bin craze, and I am like a bajillionty years behind on this one.  I get it.  Sensory bins = good = Melissa get on the bandwagon!  I feel like I'm the only one still playing Oregon Trail.  I'm all trying to ford the river and dying of dysentery while you guys are all super cool grovin' out on your Just Dance 27.  Yeah, because your slick dance moves are so going to save you during the apocalypse.  I'm learning survival skills, people, like how to shoot antelope with my mouse-musket.  On my MS-DOS.  Booyah.

But you know what?  We caved to peer pressure.  I took your advice.  We did a sensory bin!

Wait for it, I've gotta have the tricked out intro photo:

Just because I'm late to the ball doesn't mean I can't look good dancing, right?

Our lesson was about God's word, centered on the idea that God's word is a treasure.  If you're using the same curriculum as we are, this was a week 1-inspired activity.  And also: SHOUT OUT TO MY FELLOW GLE peeps!  Wooooo!

Here's what we used:

:: Clear plastic bin

:: 6 bags of misc beans (thank you, Tarjay)

:: Jewels, beads, other misc shiny objects or legit gold coins if you happen to be a pirate.  I am not, hence the beads.

:: God's Word is a Treasure printables, which I colored yellow

I hyped it as a treasure hunt, because she was totally excited about finding things during our X Marks the Spot activity.  I dumped all the beans in the plastic bin and cleverly hid our treasure, which was pretty small and kinda tough to spot amid the beans, so I left one or two pieces on top to help her know what to look for.  

She was really excited each time she found an item.  We did a lot of talking about how the beans felt versus the treasure, and trying to see if she could find them just by touch alone (that only worked a couple of times).

Then, because she has never used glue before, I let her go to town with the glue stick.  I may have intervened a little with the order of the printable, but she got to decide where to actually glue them down.  I also had to use the glue gun on a the big round beads in order to secure them properly, but otherwise, she was in charge of this one. 

And, she wanted to write her name at the bottom.  I mean... who am I to stop her when inspiration strikes?!  (Okay, Leah, I guess you can write your name unassisted.  FINE.  If you must.)

So there you have it.  I made it into the 21st century.  If only I'd cave and get an iPad, then I'd really be cool.

Happy Learning, friends!

Salt Tray Letters

Hello, friends and happy Monday!

It's that time again... time for a simple, very cost-effective activity to help your preschooler practice his or her letters.

Here's what you'll need:

:: Foil cake pans
:: Morton's salt
{Feel free to sub sugar, play sand, flour; anything that will create visible lines when you drag your fingers through it.  I knew my little would immediately want to taste it (alright, not the play sand, but I didn't have any handy), so sugar and flour were out unless I was willing to combat a feeding frenzy instead of writing practice.}

Pour the salt into the cake pan until you have a layer approximately 1-2 inches deep.  Draw letters on index cards, and let your little one go to town recreating them in the salt.

Easy peasy, right?

We were working on X, so we practiced it several times.  Then, she wanted to write her name, so we did that, too!  This activity works best if they can practice several different letters at a time, or capitals then small letters would work too.  You could do numbers, symbols, your telephone number, or just a little fun free play time where they create whatevs they're in the mood for.

How'd Leah like it?

As Pete the Cat would say... "It's ALL good!"

Happy learning!
 

Shifting gears: on Preschool and homeschool

Hello friends!  Happy Friday!

I can't thank you enough for your kind feedback on our kitchen re-do.  We truly had a great time doing it at every phase, and it was both really fun and absolutely nerve-wracking to put those photos up for the world to see.  Thank you for your questions.  I promise to respond to them this weekend, but I wanted to give folks a little bit of time to write in if you have any more.  Feel free to send 'em to me at melissa.strassner@gmail.com and I'll answer to the best of my ability.  I do believe we'll have Casey himself in to offer his wisdom after that transformation.  Stay tuned!

So... in the mean time.  Homeschool.  Boy, did you ever have some things to say about that.  

Most of you were all, homeschooling?  What, you mean like what hippies do?  Aren't you concerned that you'll turn your child into some sort of socially deficient derelict?  

And, to answer you, I would say simply: um.... no.  

Actually, I have rather grandiose visions of my child becoming the all-time record-breaking winner on Jeopardy circa 2035.  When Alex Trebec-bot asks, "is there anybody special out there you'd like to thank?" my children will reply without hesitation, shout out to my mom, from whom I learned everything I know! I LOVE YOU MOM! {You could sub the Grammy's or Academy Awards here, I'm not overly picky.}

In all seriousness, the reasons behind our decision to homeschool deserves its own post.  The short answer is: no, I'm not worried about socializing our daughter.  Partly because, well, she's not a dog.  Also because I'm not convinced that there's a lot worth emulating in so many of our public schools right now. (No, that's not an attack on you and your child's school.  That's coming from years of working in and around public schools much later on in a child's education.  For the love, I'm not threatening to kill baby seals or something, just giving my opinion based on my own experience.)  Please rest assured, she has lots and lots of activities to do that involve other children.  We're homeschooling, not locking her in one of those doomsday bunkers.

If she requires therapy as an adult it will be from something else - as yet undetermined - I do that screws up her childhood.

So here's the skinny:

How/where do you get your lesson plans?

This is one of those things I could have done on my own.  Could have, but didn't want to.  I know myself, and I know my fam.  If I had done it by myself, it would have superb the first two weeks and rushed/half done the rest of the time when life gets in the way.  By February we'd be repeating the same four activities and all pulling our hair out.  So I got help.  I started by looking at Montessori curriculum, and folks, it's $600.  Yep.  So that was out.  Then, through the glory of the internet, I came across a year-long curriculum called God's Little Explorers, written by a fellow homeschooling mom for her preschooler.  The best part?  It was free.  FREE!  I got to look at every lesson, every week, every theme and activity before purchasing a for-print version which cost me only $14 (plus the cost of printing it out, about $20 for everything including worksheets for the year.)  

You guys, I'm not all about doing things simply because they're free, but this is awesome.  We are supplementing a little with activities of my own design and the workbooks we already have, but that's only because I'm OCD and couldn't stay out of curriculum entirely.  This is a great program, and for that price (FREE!) you should check it out, too.  

How do you find the time?

The truth is, kids are learning all the time.  At the ripe old age of three, Leah doesn't need 8 hours of focused instruction.  Right now I'm shooting for about an hour and a half of consecutive activity time.  {For the record, "activity time" absolutely can include playing with play dough if it's connected to something we're learning.}  Honestly, that's about all their attention spans can handle.  Some days (like today) we'll go well over that and I'll have to shut things down at two hours.  Some days we may only make it one hour.  Here's the great thing about teaching preschoolers: it's all good!  As long as she is engaged in the activity, she is learning.  

How do you know you're on the right track?  

I don't.  It's lucky that she's still little, because I trust my own knowledge and understanding about what kids need in order to be "school ready."  Will I still be so confident at third grade?  I have no idea.  A good place to start is by doing what teachers do, which is looking at state standards.  There probably aren't any in your state for preschool (there may be; more and more states are adopting preschool standards that align with expectations later on), but you could certainly look at the local kindergarten standards, entrance expectations, etc.  I also looooove this research from the Albert Shanker Institute in DC.  It's a heavy read (in nerd speak, it's a meta-analysis, which means that it's research about a bunch of other research that has been done on what contributes to a "high quality" pre-K experience), but pretty user friendly and definitely worthwhile if you have preschoolers at home, particularly if you're homeschooling.  

Is preschool really that important?

YES!!!  YES, yes, yes.  I can't say it enough.  Yes.  This we know without a doubt.  The quality of instruction kids receive at the preschool level has a lasting effect on building children's cognitive abilities throughout their childhoods.  Yes, preschool is of vital importance. Why?  Because learning builds on itself.  Imagine school as a multiplier.  Let's say that kindergarten will increase your child's overall "learning" by a factor of 2.  So, if your child enters kindergarten prepared and armed with a wide array of background knowledge and vocabulary on which to build - we'll call that a 5 - by the end of the year, your child will function as a 10.  If, on the other hand, your child enters kindergarten without that prep - a 1 - at the end of the year, that same child will only be at a 2.  It will always be this way, even with intervention.  Let's say 1st grade is a multiplier of 3, meaning the first child will end 1st grade at a 30 while the second will only be a 6.  This is how I wound up teaching an 8th grade classroom where my highest reader was reading almost 12th grade material and my lowest was stuck at 2nd grade.  YES, that happened.  Is preschool really that important?  YES.  

Preschool fun fact?  It is estimated that children from typical middle-class families experience 1,000 hours of book-reading before entering first grade, while children from low-income families may only experience 25 hours.  

25 hours versus 1,000 hours.  That, my friends, is why we have such disparity in our educational system.  THAT is how children get left behind.  Because once that happens, there is very little a teacher - any teacher - can do to make up the gap.  

I say none of this to scare you.  Especially since it's Friday and, to quote Marty McFly, that was heavy.  I don't especially care if you're lucky enough to take your child to private preschool, faith-based preschool, in-home preschool, public or homeschool; so long as your child is engaged in some kind of academic prep, they are forever going to have a leg up.  Period.

So kudos, Mama!  Pat yourself on the back (and savor it because, let's face it... there will always be opportunities to fail another day).  

For today, if your kid is in preschool - any preschool - you get an A!

And, with any luck, a shout out from your kid on Jeopardy in like 20 years.  {Disclosure: Alex Trebec-bot probably not included, based on how the whole Dick Clark-bot debacle panned out.  But fingers crossed.}

She goes to preschool. I go, too.

So, today.

All you moms who are on Facebook and you're posting sweet photos of your sweet little ones decked out with new shoes, brand-spankin-new backpacks and those fabulous pencil bouquets.  Your kiddos are SO CUTE!  Oh, and also: your posts about how sad/excited you are to have some free time to yourself while the kids are at preschool?  YOU MAKE ME SICK!  {If you were here, you'd see my big sarcastic smile, and you'd immediately stop with the hate mail you're about to press send on.  Just trust me on this one.}

I'm green, to be more precise.  Green with more than a little touch of envy.

Because we too have met that milestone here in our house.

We, too, put on shiny new(ish) shoes, donned that backpack that is so cute on account of its 70% size-to-wearer ratio.  

We too went on a howcuteareyouonyourfirstdayofpreschool?! photo binge.

But, when we were finished that age-old first day ritual, we did not get in the car and drive away to meet teachers and classmates.  No, no.  Instead, we did this:

and went right back inside.  

Because, folks?  We're homeschooling.

Yep, you heard that right.  Break out your pitchforks.  I can already hear you thinking, first the breadmaking and now THIS?  Where does it end?!  

If it's coming as a shock to you, you're in good company.  I don't know that I've talked about this before.  It's one of those things I've felt called to do pretty much since that pretty baby made her appearance on this Earth.  It was NOT something I planned on when I imagined having kids. It was not something I knew when I was pregnant with Leah.  As a child, when I envisioned my life as a teacher, there was absolutely a classroom and like 25+ kids involved, so I can be completely honest when I tell you that the desire to homeschool was a surprise even to me.

Someday, I'll tell you all about the reasons behind our decision.  They are obviously multifaceted and largely involve two things: 1) faith and 2) my own experiences as a public education teacher.

For now, I'll suffice it to say that I feel so, so good about the decision.  And also completely slightly terrified.  And more than a little overwhelmed when I think about how many years it's going to be before I am ever alone in this house again. GULP.

This choice is not for everyone, I realize, but it's one that we as a family are so ridiculously excited about.  All joking and snarking aside, we're psyched.  We feel extremely lucky that, after all these years of talk, we're able to take full advantage of the opportunity.   

Of course, we're only one day in, so I'll keep you posted...