(aka the grandparents’ post and homeschooling post)
let’s see, an update…
we are waiting for our small group to start at church. we like our group and are excited about this. we’ve also joined a homeschool group and are looking forward to that starting up. we’ve braved the library reading club this summer and it’s going well. we’ve made a couple of friends (the hartley’s and maury’s crew) and that’s encouraging.
my oldest
is reading. not avidly or excitedly, but sometimes actually tries it on his own. we are using a combination of teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons, more often hooked on phonics, and occasionally just a “will you read your book to me please?”
handwriting is not by any curriculum. i write out a Bible verse and he copies it or if he’s really excited about something, like snakes this week, then i’ll write out the name of his favorite snake and he’ll copy it or i’ll dictate it to him and get him to write it phonetically. or i’ll just see that he’s been writing on some of his superhero pictures and call it good.
math is still using singapore math. i love it. i love it. can i say again, i love it?! we’re 2 pages from being through with the current workbook, he’ll start the last workbook in the kindergarten series next week. then we’ll move on to the first grade primer when it is finished. it’s hands on. it’s colorful. it’s quick and painless. it’s easy for me to set up the hands on stuff. it moves at a pace that he can handle. i love it.
science is everywhere. anything that sparks his interest we will research. right now, as i mentioned, that’s snakes. we have a poster from the arkansas game and fish commission. we have a book from the library. we watched diego and learned about anacondas. we drew pictures of speckled king snakes. we learned vocabulary words: venomous, constrictor, habitat, predator, prey. we did art projects to make twirly snakes. i would like to get a curriculum for the new school year, though, to actually follow something and i’m sure we’ll continue to supplement with our newest interests. some of the prior interests have been planets, owls, ducks, how the stomach works, tornadoes, non-newtonian liquids, turtles, and rabbits.
still wanting to do spanish. i’m teaching them the few things that i already know.
geography is done through osmosis as my friend does!
i’m excited about starting history, but i’m forcing myself to wait a few years. i can’t wait to learn this one, myself!!
Bible is not a curriculum for us. it’s in everything. our church is reading ephesians weekly – one chapter a day monday through saturday and then rereading it each week this way for the rest of the summer. so i’ve been reading this out loud to the kiddos while they run around and play. are they getting it? i don’t know, but maybe. and we talk about what they’re learning at church because their classes are awesome!
my 4 year old boy
is learning his alphabet using teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons and everything i can find. magazines, preschool workbooks, library books, you know, preschool fun stuff.
his handwriting is learning to write the letters he’s learning and learning to write his name.
he’s doing singapore math also. he’s almost finished with the first wookbook of pre-k. i love it, have i mentioned this?
he joins in all the science and geography stuff the rest of the family is doing.
he is so funny. “oh, snap.” “that’s genius, my man.” “hey, dude.” are used frequently with a straight face. he keeps me rolling!
he’s really questioning all things of faith. i’ve been praying for him very much. he wants to know all about Jesus. a curiosity that’s amazing to me.
my 2 year old girl
oh. my. she is still the same as always.
she almost has those colors down.
and she says things like, “i read to you, mama.” and then uses this sing-song voice to tell me the stories page by page. too funny.
she is almost potty trained. she decided this. i’d have chosen to wait a while. but she decided it and we followed suit. she only wears a diaper at naptime and bedtime and when we go to town now. i’ll eventually get brave enough to venture out without one! we have used candy bribes in the past, but since she’s the third and her brothers think she hung the moon, we haven’t had to this time. she has a little musical potty that plays when she goes. so everybody, short of daisy and the baby, go running to see the “results” when they hear the music. and when she pees outside she stands up and holds her tt (the way her brothers do). oh. my.
the littlest
is 3 1/2 months.
sucks his thumb and holds a little blankie to put himself to sleep. it is so cute. i’m working on getting a picture of this.
he kind of likes his daddy a little more now. he will smile and laugh at him. but still doesn’t want matt to hold him. if matt holds him more than about 2-5 minutes he starts screaming.
he can bring toys to his mouth.
he’s teething something terrible.
he requires a quiet nursing time with me in the afternoon or he will scream for hours on end.
the ergo has saved my life.
he rolled over one day several times. and hasn’t again. he will when he gets ready, not too worried about it.
expanding the parker family
either not for a long time or never.
something occurred to me last night while i was putting everybody to bed and my girl and my littlest were screaming the loudest. i’ve always said that God gives us who He wants us to have in our family when He wants us to have them. we were set up to have more kiddos when our second boy was 2 and our girl was an infant because the second boy’s toddlerhood was calm and my girl’s infancy was a dream. seeing as how my girl’s toddlerhood is ridiculous and my littlest’s infancy is as insane as her toddlerhood. well, let’s just say, i’m done. and i’m loving homeschooling so much that i can’t wait to get everybody going at once. and i’m enjoying each moment now and not looking forward to the next one so much. and i like that i will be joining the rest of the family and not always sitting on the sidelines pregnant, nursing, or holding a baby. it feels good.
to sum up
the medicine is working. so everything looks better. and life is pretty good. it’s not all roses. and i’ll be sure to post on the thorns along the way. remember, it always sounds better than it really is when you highlight only the best parts of your life. if you’ve stayed with me this long you’re probably a grandparent and i wanted to tell you that i LOVE that you grandmas are commenting. i read them to the kiddos and i feel like you’re more connected with us. and if you’re not a grandparent and you made it this far, wow. you’re really devoted and i love you! let me know you’re here!
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