First day for SY 2016-2017

It's our first day of school for SY 2016-2017.  It has been a long day for the boys because they were used to having just 3-4 subjects/day during the past few months, and today, we have to cover additional subjects, 7-8 core, in all.  But fear not, lest I kill their interest in learning, we'll have to fine tune our sails this week so both mommy and kids will have an over all happy journey this year.

We're using the following materials:

For M1:

Reading: Bigger Stories for Little Folks, Devotional Stories, Devitional Stories Too
Grammar: Language of God (Level A)
Handwriting: CHC Handwriting 2
Mathematics: Math-U-See Beta

For M2:
Reading: Little Stories for Little Folks, What Do You Like to Do?, What Can You Do? (Easy Readers)
Spelling: My Very First Catholic Speller
Handwriting: CHC Handwriting 1
Mathematics: Math-U-See Alpha

For both M1 & M2:

Religion: Faith & Life 2 (Student Text), Book of Saints
Science: Behold & See 2, Science 2 for Little Folks, Onions in my Boots
Social Studies: Explore the Continents
Character/Values: Laying Down the Rails, Building Good Character
Art: A Childs' Book of Prayer in Art, ArtAchieve.com
Music: Making Music Praying Twice, Classicforkids.com
P.E.: Swimming, golf
Literature & Poetry:  various age-appropriate living books
Filipino: various Filipino children's books

For the teacher:
Lesson Plans: CHC Lesson Plans for First Grade, CHC Lesson Plans for Second Grade, CHC Lesson Planner
Language Arts: Creative Communications
Mathematics: Math-U-See Alpha, & Beta Teacher's Manuals
Misc.: MaterAmabilis.org


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Our Lady, Star of the Sea. Pray for us.

Fun & Science

The 2 boys got very excited while looking at the Thames & Kosmos catalog.  Almost every page got a WOW!!!  Of course they especially wanted kits that had transport models.  They're little engineers and physicists!   (The Little Lab line is most appropriate for their ages).

 

delivery!

I'm so pleased that "What your Preschooler needs to know:  Read-alouds to get ready for Kindergarten" from The Core Knowledge Series, has finally arrived at our doorstep.  The contents are divided into the following:  poems, songs, stories, history, science, and art, with some resources for parents included.  History we couldn't relate to very much since it's all American, but I suppose there are values there to be learned.  There are a couple of stories that the kids are already familiar with, but there are still more stuff to be explored.  The illustrations are eye candies and will definitely catch their attention.  A lot of the things here we can learn from somewhere but this book just makes it all coherent, and is reassuring that minimal, if not none, will be missed in homeschooling during the preschool years.  Definitely the stuff that will engage my boys.

Our other new materials:
Audio:  Susan Hammond and the Classical Kids
            Wee Sing Children's Songs and Fingerplays

It's here!

Our materials from Catholic Heritage Curriculum has arrived! Needless to say, I am very excited! I can't say the same for my little boy, but I definitely have to infuse an ethusiasm for learning into his sytem. I'm giving myself a month to go through (and study) the materials. And we'll be officially starting on September.

Lifting my prayers to Mother Mary to guide me in my actuatations so I may raise my kids through good examples, gently, and lovingly.

Programs for Preschool (then maybe Kindergarten)

Since I've abandoned much of our 'daily lesson guide', and since I'm not an 'unschooler', I have a little compulsion to make a semblance of a structure. If not for this school year, then the next-- for Marek's preschool. These things need a lot of consideration... hence, I'm planning a year ahead! I'll be putting them under the Mater Amabilis program (a Catholic Charlotte Mason approach) intertwined with Catholic Heritage Curricula. I just found out about the latter, and reading through their catalog, I felt like I had just found a treasure!

In the meanwhile, we'll make use of the books we already have, that means lots of read-alouds, nursery rhymes, Bible stories, and their accompanying music, and Brain Quest ("my first brain quest" and "for threes", for Markus and Marek, respectively). As for the Kumon First Steps Workbooks, I don't think Marek is ready for that yet. It will have to wait for a little while).

April Treasures

The cheapest way to find lessons nowadays is thru the internet. There are a lot of good stuff out there. But sometimes, it's exactly THAT, that's the problem. It's like I've been tossed into the ocean! You have things in your mind, you have goals, but when you go surfing for stuff, one can easily get so distracted. But recently, I found really good sites that I can use for Marek and Markus. Now, I'm getting more organized.

For April, I wanted the boys to have swimming lessons... so fitting for summer! However, in this side of the planet, the recommended swimming teacher we know is out on vacation, and we haven't found another swim class. And then, I found a book-- Learn to Swim: Step by step water confidence and safety skills for babies and young children by Rob and Kathy McKay. Looks like our inflatable pool will be put to really good use afterall. And Mark can learn to swim with the kids, too!

As for academics, I've decided for early education. Free ebooks at BrillKids.com promoting early reading and math literacy convinced me. And the window for Marek is fast approaching.

The list is long for teaching values, but an article, sited the following are crucial and relevant to toddlers:

• obedience
• submission to authority
• control of temper tantrums
• sharing of toys, love and forgivenes
• resolving conflicts
• developing sensitivity to others

For these, I will be needing Bible stories, and Veggietales, playmates (neighbor friends), and of course, actual situations as they come along.

And last, but not the least, for M1, potty training! Mark bought The Everything Potty Training Book by Linda Sonna a long time ago. We thought M1 was making progress but he later somehow became averse to using the potty and so I decided to give it a long break. But I think now he's showing signs of readiness.

I almost forgot, Easter is just around the corner, I hope this time we finally get to hunt easter eggs! Watching out for ads.

Beginning homeschool

It used to be that most kids start school at 4 years old. I skipped Nursery but I think I was already the exception. Now, babies go to school (and they do so in their diapers, of course)-- playschool, even before they turn one! And so Mark and I were pretty excited about the prospect of him learning so many things already. He's one brilliant kid. Before he even turned 2, he already knows the primary and secondary colors, and black and white and brown, shapes, and can recite numbers 1-5 (now he can count to 10), can name most parts of his body, uses adjectives and pronouns well. He does not baby talk and is very conversant already. He loves to read and loves to listen to stories. Now that he's 2, he mainly goes for Grolier's 'I Wonder Why...' book set. Needless to say, he goes into a barrage of WHYs everyday, every moment. And he does listen to our answers. We can already tell that he is, in the 'multiple intelligence' school of thought, a "word smart". We were convinced of homeschooling him, soon--now! So as to maximize the sponge-like property of his developing brain. (Oh yeah, did we say homeschool?! Yes, and we know what you're thinking... NO, socialization shouldn't be a problem. As a matter of fact, the "socialization" that kids gets exposed to at school now a days is among the primary reasons why we will try to homeschool our kids). I was, (and still am), excited (sometimes overwhelmed). And so, here begins our journey on the less chosen way of educating our children.

I've already bought Marek his first Kumon workbooks on coloring, cutting, pasting and stickering, and folding which he already has started to use. Out of excitement, I also bought the 1st three sets of Brain Quest flashcards on early childhood, and their pre-K workbook; Gymboree's Play and Learn; Ultimate Book of Homeschool Ideas by Linda Dobson; 100 Bible Stories; Little Hands Playtime! Book, to encourage cooperation and sharing; and, what I really found useful, The Complete Daily Curriculum for Early Childhood (focuses on multiple intelligences) by Pam Schiller. The kids are not exposed to the television (we refuse to own one) but we got Marek (and Markus) videos on numbers, letters, and reading: LeapFrog: Learning Set (his favorite... and, it does work!), the Preschool Prep & Sight Words series, and Your Baby Can Read Set as teaching aids. (Marek always watch with us or Tita Judy who teaches effectively). As for curricula, we've taken quite a good look at International Bacculaureate Organization's Primary Years Program. I'm still looking up and reading on different school of thoughts and approaches regarding homeschooling for they all have wonderful points, that's why we decided to be eclectic (the mishmash of different principles). Right now I'm familiarizing myself with Charlotte Mason's teachings. I love her concept of 'living books'.

At the end of the day, toddlers learn by playing. Also, they're intrisically curious beings, very good at exploring and unraveling many things themselves. So, I don't pressure Marek into going into 'school mode' and force feed him with 'lessons for the day'. And of course, I and Mark give him and Markus time, and space, we let them play, we walk outside, we talk, we read books, and of course, we give our little boys lots of hugs and kisses and cheers.