Time to go public!

OK, I think I have enough posts to prove that I can do this blog thing.  It's time to tell my family and friends about my blog.  I'm already interested in what comments I may receive..and maybe some great advice and encouragement as well from mom's who have done this in the past.  Here goes nothing :)

Was today a complete flop?

So yesterday I woke at 10 am after getting home at 2am and falling asleep later than that.  Tired, I decided it would be a Library day.  The girls enjoy the library where they pick out books and videos for the next week.  After that, they play at the little park right outside the library. 

A comfortable spot to read.  She's never tried to read at the library...so this was a welcomed first!

Following her sister's lead at the Library

Today, I thought we'd have another smooth, successful 'school' day.  I was wrong.  This week, M is learning the letter B and some numbers, where K is learning her numbers. K has 1-10 mastered, but she's struggling with 11-20. 
This was day 2 reviewing the double digits with K.  She became quickly frustrated while working on a worksheet and so we pulled out the flashcards.  She wanted nothing do with these as well. 

M was also struggling with her numbers.  Instead of a 1-10 activity which I knew would be overwhelming, I started with 1-4. Fifteen minutes in, she still could not properly identify the number 1-4, though she could count different items 1-4.  I pulled out the flashcards for her as well.

5 minutes into the flashcards, they were uninterested and the morning was turning into a power struggle.  I completely lost them when it was time to feed the baby and so we moved on to the pattern block puzzles which took them 10 minutes.  I then read them a few library books and it was lunch time.  After lunch, I had them watch the Numbers Ahoy video which is by Leapfrog which they enjoyed.  I found the video at the Library yesterday.  God's providence knowing I would need some number assistance today.  It's neat to see that He even provides for our small needs- as well as the big ones...like my sanity.

So maybe it wasn't a complete flop.  I'm learning to go with the flow and tune in to their frustrations and learning styles.  I guess I'll try again with the numbers on our next "school" day....which will be next Monday.

Last weeks revelations

After working 3 different nights and long into the night, I found myself warn down and drained.  This brought out bad attitudes with me; which of course led to bad attitudes in my children. 
I contemplated that maybe I was becoming a slave to the thought of a "perfect schedule" and "perfect learning day"- the type I would never achieve. It was time to take a deep breath and let it go!  For the sanity of all of us.
The girls are still under 5 and I need to focus on their character and obedience...not only their ABC's and 123's.  So I pulled 3 days worth of great material from the weekly curriculum (instead of 5) and decided to give myself 2 weeks to cover these 3 days.  It may seem like barely any 'class' time, but we truly have a busy week of learning. On Tuesdays, we are at my church for my Bible study where the girls have their own classes and on Thursday mornings we always get together with a handful of women for a breakfast/playdate that my friend hosts. Then factor in 2 days of week that I work and Sunday church...and I'm left with 2 "free days" to do class.
So this last week, we went through 2 class days.  They were smooth, not stressed, and the girls were practically begging for more "school work". 

We learned the 'vowel' song. M decided they should be underlined a few times

Color and letter matching

She loves to color

A glueing craft with multi-colored tissue paper. From the curriculum I'm using found here

I love the curriculum I use, which makes learning time feel like play time.  I've posted some of the pictures of last weeks activities. 

I did it!  The first day of the new curriculum.  The morning went well with a few bumps and some learned lessons.  Such as
1. I have too many things in different places, I need to put them in the same place to decrease "search time".
2.  My 2 year old's attention span is longer than my 4 year olds.  (I knew this...I just forgot to schedule activities for it).
3. I can do this.
Once again, this is from borrowed ideas from bloggers found in my first post.
Here's a few pictures of the day....


Our monthly calander



Needs some work..but here's a rough draft of season, weather, etc



M- starting on her letter A



K- matching her lowercase and uppercase letters.  She lost interest halfway through.



M wanted to try too!  She actually matched quite a few!




K decieded she would thread M's apple since M didn't want to.




1st attempt of tracing a letter.  She did better than I thought



They loved the do-a-dots

And he loved his tummy time!

Early Saturday

I've been taking some random shifts at the hospital, which has meant that I've been coming home at midnight for 3 nights this week.  Factor in the baby waking up at around 1am for a feeding (and of course I want to be the one feeding him after being away for hours) and not getting much sleep, means a sleepy me in the morning waking up at 9am.  Not a very productive hour and definitely too late to begin a home school routine for my rambunctious little ones.  I know I'm going to have to figure something out for days like this.

I didn't work yesterday, so I said a little prayer that I would wake up early with the girls (0645) to begin this day with a pep in my step.  Sure enough, the time came and I was not feeling chipper...but I got up anyways.  Made my coffee...and an hour later I'm almost done with my calendar which was started yesterday.  God truly blessed me this morning!!  Getting up this early is actually very helpful.  And now I'll be using my new laminater to laminate away all day!  Have lots to do to be ready for Monday morning.

First Project

My first project will be the cornerstone of our learning day. The Calendar!  I have found many ideas and plan on combining some highlights from Counting Coconuts and 1+1+1=1.  I'll be using a foam board with velcro and laminated cards that I plan on printing from this great site. I'll post a pic when I'm done.  This will be used for morning circle time where we will sing, learn the pledge of alliegence and learn references of time. I think this will be an important starting point to every day to get into the swing of things.  Next, I plan on using the K4 and toddler curriculums found in Confession of a Homeschooler.  This will include a daily schedule (for weeks!) which should help cut my planning time down and lead me toward creative ideas that I never would come up with on my own! $10 is a steal of a deal! So this is what I will focus on this next week. 
I'll also be purchasing my first LAMINATOR! I hear that this is a homeschooler's staple!  I'm so excited to start laminating!! 

The Beginning

My first post......I've made it to the blogging world.  Here goes nothing.  I'll start with a short introduction.  I am currently living in California (born and raised) and have lived in Arizona in the past.  My kiddo's are 4 (girl-K), 2 1/2 (girl-M) and 4 months (boy-I).  Haven't decided yet if I'll be posting their names...so for now they will go by their initials (my name acronym...K.I.M). 
I work in a local Emergency Room as an RN and absolutely love it.  I am so blessed to have found a career that I enjoy immensely!  I have worked in health care management in the past, but after moving back to California and having my 3rd child -I truly enjoy patient care and being able to dedicate all my free hours to my family.  Something I couldn't do in management.
My husband and I have felt more and more led to home school our children.  When my husband mentioned this years ago, I blew it off and said "No way, not me".  God has softened my heart over the last 2 years and the fact that I'm now excited and embracing the thought means there has been some divine intervention!  
This year, I will be doing "trial" homeschooling with my Pre-K child and toddler.  Then it will be official.  Let's see if I can balance life, work and homeschooling.  I'm not all that creative and must learn how to manage my time well. Many ideas will be copied from other sites, blogs, and busy mom's who are out trying to accomplish the same dream.  I'll do my best to link the sites I use and the curriculum's I try.