Let's go at 34

Yes, I had to google game quotes to get a title for this blog post because I have never played this game in my life.

We don't own it so the kids have never played it but they have watched gameplay videos from their favourite YouTubers.

How our days went for Fornite week

8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put their dirty laundry downstairs.

9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.

15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed.

930am Journals and a letter sheet. (These are great for H learning her letters and the other children to keep working on letter sounds.)

15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher, answer clients and make a snack.

10:30 am Snack

10:45 am Fortnite activity or video I fold and put away laundry if they are watching a video.

11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.)

In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch

12:00 pm LUNCH

12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word board. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)

1:00 pm "Online learning" They each get a turn using the learning app on my phone called Khan Kids. They each have a profile and play what I consider one round. One round is playing until they get a prize.

1:30 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.

2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.

15minutes outside.

Then they have until dinner to free play.

4:30 pm Dinner

5:30 pm walk dogs

6:30 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.

7:15 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.

At about 8:45 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.

Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.

Videos:

1 

2 

 

Activities 

I loved these as a kid and still do as an adult. Mystery pictures! 

 Colouring page  

 Now I printed this from google and you couldn't read the writing but it worked for what we needed it for and the kids had fun making their own video game and telling me about it.  

Magical Sea creatures

 A magical underwater sea creature that is not only beautiful but with the voice of an angel. Do you know what it is? If you guessed Manatee you would be right. I had no idea that the myth of these creatures all started with men at sea spotting manatees sunbathing on rocks.

I mean we all have our taste in partners but it was an oh boy moment for sure when I heard that on the video about the myth of mermaids that I watched with the children.

We did a few videos and activities including felt board songs for this week. Have I mentioned my love for making felt board activities for the kids? No that wasn't said in a sarcastic tone, I do!

How our days went with the mermaid unit.

8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put their dirty laundry downstairs.

9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.

15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed.

930am Journals and a letter book. (This is the last week for letter books and we will be moving onto letter sheets. These are good for H to learn her letters and the rest to practice the letter sounds)

15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher and answer clients.

10:30 am Snack

10:45 am Mermaid activity or video I fold and put away laundry while they are watching a video.

11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.)

In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch

12:00 pm LUNCH

12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word board. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)

1:00 pm "Online learning" They each get a turn using the learning app on my phone called Khan Kids. They each have a profile and play what I consider one round. One round is playing until they get a prize.

1:30 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.

2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.

15minutes outside.

Then they have until dinner to free play.

4:30 pm Dinner

5:30 pm walk dogs

This week we are slowly transiting them to a slightly later bedtime (about 30 minutes) to help when the time charge starts.

6:30 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.

7:15 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.

At about 8:45 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.

Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.

Build a mermaid

Mermaid colouring sheets

Mermaid felt board designs

Songs used for the Mermaid felt board:

Song 1

I changed the words to be Mermaid instead of Fish

Song 2

I changed the animals in the song to match the ones I cut out

 

Videos:

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Do you feed your child's curiosity? 

Speeding into Week 5

 I love when I learn something new like the world's smallest car fits one person is only about 8ft long and assembled by hand.

Week 5 was picked by H and she picked cars. This unit was one that I learned things from as well.

Most of the videos we watched were by How It's Made. I love their videos and the kids seem to enjoy them as well. Also, they are short so for littles, one short attention spans they are perfect.

We build cars from paper plates which were great for scissor skills.

How our days went with the car unit.

8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put the dirty laundry downstairs.

9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.

15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed.

930am Journals and a letter book. (We started the letter books to help H learn her letters)

15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher and answer clients.

10:30 am Snack

10:45 am Car activity or video I fold and put away laundry while they are watching a video.

11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.

In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch

12:00 pm LUNCH

12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word board. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)

1:00 pm "Online learning" They each get a turn in the learning app on my phone called Khan Kids. They each have a profile and play what I consider one round. One round is playing until they get a prize.

1:30 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.

2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.

15minutes outside.

Then they have until dinner to free play.

4:30 pm Dinner

5:30 pm walk dogs

6:00 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.

7:00 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.

At about 8:30 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.

Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.

Plate Car

We did ours slightly different as you will see in the photo below

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

How do you building learning around your children's interests?

A magical week 4

 

 

 

 

Pretty sure all children LOVE unicorns, yes both boys and girls. Even though most little boys in the mainstream school system won't admit it for fear of bullying.

L picked unicorns as her theme for week 4. This unit was harder than I had thought it would. Especially finding content that is educational about unicorns. So much so that I gave up and we watched 2 unicorn videos about loving who we are for the way we are and being kind.

We did watch one video about the mythology of unicorns but I do have to say that even I was bored with it.

We built unicorns and made unicorn masks. I even found a boy unicorn mask so that Blaine didn't have flowers and was different from the girls.

How our days went with the unicorn unit.

8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put the dirty laundry downstairs.

9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.

15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed.

930am Journals and a letter book. (We started the letter books to help H learn her letters)

15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher and answer clients.

10:30 am Snack

10:45 am unicorn activity or video I fold and put away laundry while they are watching a video.

11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.

In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch

12:00 pm LUNCH

12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word board. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)

1:15 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.

2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.

15minutes outside.

Then they have until dinner to free play.

4:30 pm Dinner

5:30 pm walk dogs

6:00 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.

7:00 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.

At about 8:30 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.

Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.

Video one

Video two

Video three

Girl unicorn mask

Boy unicorn mask

Build a unicorn

What interests have your children wanted to learn about?

I scream, you scream Jan 2021

 

 Week 3 is B's week to pick what he wanted to learn about. He decided on ice cream. I figured for this one it would be fun at the end of the week to get a few small containers of cool flavoured ice cream and do a taste testing!

I remembered as soon as he came up with the idea that there are a few "How it's made" videos about ice cream and ice cream treats! I don't even know if it is still on the air. Anyone else remembers that show?

Our schedule for the week:

The kids get up really freaking early EVERY day. B knows to snuggle or quietly do something. The girls, on the other hand, I swear start bickering the moment they step out of bed at 5:30 am. If I am lucky they sleep until 6:00 am.

I am the world's meanest mom and will not make breakfast until 8 am. Pretty much you want to be up that freaking early find something quiet to do. Growing up, I would dare not wake anyone else up that early.

Breakfast at 8. Get dressed. I clean up from breakfast.

School starts after that. With either worksheets or workbooks. I alternate each day so they do not get bored with doing the same thing every day.

15-minute break.

Now is journals, art, or science which are alternated days as well.

15 minute outside break while I make the snack.

10:00 am (could be a few minutes later depending on how long the last activity took) Snack

Learning video, game or activity based on that week's theme ICE CREAM!!!

15-minute break.

Reading. Each child gets to read with me individually. This may or make not take place after lunch depending on how long the morning activities have taken.

Lunch

After lunch is me spent working, starting supper or finishing up our morning activities. If they have finished everything from the morning then they are free to play or do whatever they would like.

2:00 pm snack

15 minutes outside break.

Work, finish dinner, clean up.

Dinner

Walk the dogs

Baths, snacks, stories, teeth and bed

Then I work on anything I need to prep for school the following day, work on client orders and tidy.

When the kids are on their breaks I am either making food, answering clients, working on things I can in a short period of time or tidying. If it is a day they watch a video for part of their learning I fold a basket of laundry in the living room while they watch it.

Even with all that, my house is still never clean enough and the kids still complain they are bored in their "free time".

Our schedule stays the same 7 days a week 365 days a year. It helps C to emotionally regulate if we stay on a known schedule.

These are the video's we watched:
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

These are some of the ice cream activities we did. 
Activity 1
Activity 2

On the last day, we did an ice cream tasting because who can have an ice cream week without that.


Goal: Make your dream ice cream snack

Jan 2021 Week 2 homeschool

 C was next up to pick what she wanted to learn about this month. It was cooking. She loves helping in the kitchen so, this didn't come as much of a surprise.

Our days this week will go as follows:

Breakfast, get dressed, hair

Workbooks or worksheets (I alternate daily to keep them from getting bored.)

15 min outside break

Snack

A kids cooking video (I fold a basket of laundry in the living room while they watch the video)

15-minute break

Reading (They each read a book at their level one on one with me)

Lunch

I use the period between lunch and snack to work or if things took longer in the morning, we finish up what we need to.

Snack

15 minutes outside

Each day 2 children will be helping me make dinner as we are learning about cooking this week!

Dinner

Walk dogs

Baths, snacks, stories, teeth and bed.

I clean up and work until I fall asleep.


I found the most amazing cooking videos for kids! We watch 1 episode each day, not the full compilation.

On the kid's breaks, I tidy, put laundry in, do dishes, blog and answer clients.

Not every day is perfect. Some days the kids are not feeling it so, we might skip an activity or two or even the whole day depending on how they are.

I have days as well where I am not up to teaching because I am burnt out.

Despite the amount of tidying I do, it would seem my house will NEVER be spotless again :)

Jan 2021 Week 1 homeschool

 Our homeschool schedule changes so much sometimes I wouldn't even call it that.

I try to keep it relatively the same day to day, 7 days a week for C. It helps her regulate.

This month each of the children picked something they want to learn about on top of our day to day learning.

H being the youngest got to pick what we did the first week. I let them each decide at the start of the month so it gives me time to plan activities and print off anything we need.

H picked "ABCD's" so our first week looked like this:
Workbooks or worksheets
15min break
journals or art or a science experiment
15 min break
a video on the letters, letter sounds etc, or a letter game.

Game one: We have the alphabet taped along the hallway wall and I wrote the capital and lower case letters on sticky notes in random order and they took turns matching the sticky notes to the letters on the wall.

Game two: Letter finishing. They each get a sheet with letters on it, they pull a foam letter out of the bin and match it to the letter on their sheet.

Game three: Letter BINGO. each child gets a BINGO card and I pull the foam letters out of the BIN and call out the letter and put a mark on their card. We do this 5 times so they each get a turn calling out the letters.

15 mins outside

Snack and reading

Normally we are done school before lunch depending on how long each activity takes.

Lunch

I work in the afternoons and they have free play unless things took longer in the morning and we are finishing up.

Snack and I start dinner, usually 1 or more help me with dinner.

After snack, it's another 15 minutes outside.

In the mornings on the 15 minutes between I start laundry, tidy the main floor, answer clients, blog, empty and reload the dishwasher.

Dinner

Walk

Baths, snacks, stories, teeth and bedtime snuggles.

I try to print everything I need at the start of the month, if not I do it at night after the kids are in bed.

I get a lot of printables right from google images. Such as searching ABC BINGO and just printing 4 different bingo cards so they don't get the same one each.


Even though I try to have everything together not every day goes according to the plan. Having children with special needs (or children in general) means following their cues for that day and some days are just tougher than others and that could mean very little seated school work or none at all. Sometimes I am just burnt out too (that happens to parents) and I need a break so we take the day and play.

Yes, I tidy A LOT but with 4 children, 3 adults and 2+ dogs (depending on fosters) you will never be able to eat off my floors.

Some of the videos we watched are: video 1

                                                            video 2 

                                                          
I printed the BINGO from here.  

EVERYONE: HOMESCHOOL

Kind of like everyone wang chung tonight? no? I'm likely the only one who actually gets that anyway lol

So the schools are closed, some are closed until the fall, some are closed for a few weeks or until they announce that they are actually closed until the fall. Don't want to freak parents out all at once.

With the schools closed there are many companies offering free services and things for the children. A lot of these are things I wouldn't have even tried before because of the cost but I am taking 100% advantage of them being free right now!

Get your printer and your ink all ready!!! 

https://fluencyandfitness.com

This site offers a wide range of learning combined with movement. It is free for 21 days just sign up towards the bottom of the page.

https://www.123homeschool4me.com/home-school-free-printables/

This site has a ton of free printables for grades K-12

https://www.amotherthing.com/100-free-unit-studies-for-all-ages/

List of FREE unit studies
 
https://homeschoolgiveaways.com/2019/09/free-butterfly-unit-study/ 

Butterfly unit study

https://www.homeschoolshare.com/space_lapbook.php

Space Unit Lapbooks

https://www.abcteach.com/directory/prek-early-childhood-2761-2-1

Free Printables

http://www.amazingeducationalresources.com/

This is a massive list of resources not all of them will apply

https://www.abcmouse.com/

As you already know, I am a huge fan of this sight!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

This is my main resource that I have always used. They have free and content that you have to pay for

https://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/learning-letters/books.htm

This is great for K through grade 5

https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com

Blaine isn't a fan of this one but the oldest girl likes it.

Don't forget its not a race and you don't need to plan every minute of everyday for child. Home school takes a lot less time than conventional school.

You can do this!!! And the most important thing is to HAVE FUN

Morning Routine: Homeschool

Snow Days! Today happens to be one of them. With the weather pattern changing we don't get to many snow days anymore.

This routine is the one I use for weekends, holidays, strike days, snows etc. Any day where the two older girls are not in school.

Our morning routine is rather simple and when a child is not at the table doing home school with me the rest are playing. 

If they are up before 7AM they are asked to go watch TV until 7Am

7:00Am: I get up and start breakfast for the children. While I make and serve breakfast, I empty the dishwasher, tidy the kitchen, wash dishes by hand and listen to CBC news on Alexa.

7:30Am: The children all get dressed and get their hair done, I tidy the dinning room prep homeschool for each child into their piles.

8:30Am: I get myself dressed and ready for the day, check emails, answer clients, blog and do other things that need to be done on the computer.

9:00Am: I start with the oldest girl we do her homeschool which includes her workbook, reading books and a fun activity.

9:30Am: The youngest comes and does her homeschool which includes, colouring, stickers and a reading book

9:45Am: I make everyone a snack

10:00Am: Blaine gets to do his home school, this takes a bit longer as we cover a little bit more than what I do with the girls as he is not in school.

10:45Am: The middle girl gets to do her home school which includes, reading books, work books and a fun activity.

11:15Am: We do group which includes reading a book together, learning our address, and other important information, the felt bored and learning about a life skill such as what is friendship.

11:45Am: I start Lunch

Our mornings when the girls don't go to school are all about learning and working together.

We work through each home school activity and the morning just flies by, its crazy how fast it goes when they are learning.

Homeschool Toddler: Week 1

The youngest is way behind so for week 1 and 2 we worked on colours.

We are moving into week 3 and she still doesn't have them all down pat but is doing so much better and so is she speech.

Day 1:
Reading book Paw Patrol colours, I can sing a rainbow song, Find the colour game, colour page together.

Group: Caring: Feeling concern for others. How can we be caring. First and Last name. Daddys First and Last name.

Outing: Play group

Day 2:
Reading book paw patrol colours, I can sing a rainbow song, find the colours game, colour page together.

Group: Recap caring.
  Common Sense: to think things through. Examples of common sense "Do we run into the road?" etc. First and Last name. Daddys first and last name.

Outing: Mcdonalds play place

Day 3:
Reading book Paw Patrol colours, I can sing a rainbow song, Find the colour game, colour page together.

Group: Recap caring, Recap common sense.
  Cooperation: to work together towards a common goal examples "building a tower, cleaning up toys". First name, last name, daddys first name and last name.

Outing: No outing

Day 4:
Reading book Paw Patrol colours, I can sing a rainbow song, Find the colour game, colour page together.

Group: Recap caring, Recap common sense, Recap cooperation.
  Courage: the ability to face challenges. Examples "standing up for others, work to complete difficult task"

Day 5:
Reading book Paw Patrol colours, I can sing a rainbow song, Find the colour game, colour page together.

Group: Recap caring, recap common sense, recap cooperation, recap courage
  First name, last name, dads first name and last name

 Outing: None

Homeschool: Week 1 Preschool

The middle little girl is in kindergarten but sadly can't recognize most of her letters let so we will at a preK level for her.

She is working out of the book Preschool Skills by Golden books and making leaps and bounds in her abilities and her willingness to learn and need to please helps with getting her to where she needs to be faster.

We are also using work sheets for the letters that I found in google.

The book I am reading each day with the older kids is called Grumpy Pug, yes it is one I have already done with Blaine but there is no hurt for a refresher. Also the middle little girl isn't expected to actually ready the words, just repeat after me and look at the pictures.

Each day we do group together to work on life skills and other things that are important to know. 

She was home sick with streph all week so she got to do week day homeschool which she looked forward to everyday!

Day 1:

Work sheet letter A, 2 pages in workbook, reading book.

Group: Caring: feel concern for others. How can we show that we care? Ie: watching what we say to each other etc.

Outing: None

Day 2:
Work sheet letter B, 2 pages in workbook, reading book

Group: Recap caring
  Common sense: to think things through. Ie we don't run into traffic
First name, last name, address, phone number, dads first name and last name

Outing: None

Day 3:
Work  sheet letter C, 2 pages in workbook, reading book

Group: Recap caring, common sense
  Cooperation: to work together towards a common goal Ie cleaning up
First name, last name, address, phone number, dads first and last name

Outing: None

Day 4:
Work sheet letter D, 2 pages in workbook, reading book

Group: recap caring, common sense, cooperation
  Courage: the abilty to face challenges with confidence.
First name, last name, address, phone number, dads first and last name

We did a short week for week 1

Then there were 4

Just over 3 weeks ago we had 3 little girls placed into our care by CAS due to abuse and neglect issues with mom.

That means there are now 4 children under the age of 6 in this house, 3 of whom are sadly behind because mom didn't/couldn't give them what they needed to help with learning.

2 are in school, which just gives me more reasons to be grateful that I homeschool my son.

One is in grade one and doesn't make letter sounds, yet the teachers are refusing to put her down a level in reading until she gets there.

One is in Senior kindergarten and can not recognize all her letters and the teachers say she is just fine.

The youngest is supposed to start school in Sept and just learned how to say most of the alphabet, knows no numbers, letters or colours.

So I am not only homeschooling Blaine I am working to get the other 3 to where they need to be. The problem is that they didn't have to do anything when they lived with their mom and feel they don't need to anywhere else.

The middle one is super eager to please and loves to do the work, the youngest is hit or miss, the oldest wont even read the books the school sends home because "I don't have to at my moms". For the children in school there is no home school work at home when they are done at school, unless its sent home from school as homework. On non-school days such as weekends, PD days and strike days the ones in school each have to read a book and do two page in a workbook that is at their actual level not where the school things they are.

The youngest gets to school with my son. He does his work and then we do songs and reading and playing with the youngest.

Each day that I watch them struggle and fight me on learning, I am grateful that I taught my son that learning can be fun and 99% of time he just gets up and works on what he needs to. I am thankful that I was blessed to be able to work with him from the day he was born so he didn't have to struggle to learn.

I hope with time and once the girls get used to the new normal around here that they will too love to learn and know that it is fun!

The way I have to homeschool has changed greatly. I spend 15 mins with each child on their own doing the work for their level and then we do activities as a group that are fun but still learning.
I want each child to have the one on one for each subject that they need without the others to distract them.

Having 4 children all at different levels but all around the same age make it a bit harder but how I keep things a little bit sane is each child gets a file folder with their reading book for that week, work sheets, etc in it and then there is a main folder with the stuff we do as a group.

No things are not perfect but we are learning what will work and wont work for getting everyone what they need.

Each of the 4 children have a different learning style which is fun for me because I get to come up with ways for them to each learn in the way they need to.

Watch for blog posts on each week for each child because they are all at different levels I will be posting a blog post for each one!

I am excited for what the future holds for learning for each of them and nervous of the height of some of those bridges we are going to have to cross.

Homeschool: Grateful

Each day is different, some days we rock it and some days we struggle but homeschooling is what is best for my son and I know that.

As I watch a children struggle in school because the school can't "handle" them, as I watch and am helpless to help, I cry. I cry because I know for that child school is too much, I know for that child that the school system is just going to fail them because they do not have the ability to work with them or to help them in the way they need it. I watch as one parent feels helpless to do anything and the other is only mad because they are called to the school everyday.

For some children school isn't right for them. Our school system is build to teach in one way, that children are to fall in line or just get pushed forward and labeled the "bad" kid.

From the time Blaine was very little I knew something wasn't right with him. Just before 2 everything changed for him it was weird. He had 100's of words by the time he was 18 months, the healthy babies nurse was shocked that he could use 2-3 word sentences at a year and a half. He had multi-syllable words before he was a year. He walked early, climbed early, did EVERYTHING early.

 I was so proud of him, but I also noticed things bothered him and he did odd things like he freaked out when you put him in different clothes, played in ways that were OCD like, he didn't like to be cuddled other than in the baby wearing snuggly. He loved all food, hated to be held by any one but me we just chalked it up to mommys boy and left it at that, he was also potty training at 1.5 years because he wanted to.

Then things changed. Everyone chalked it up to all his ear infections and that they caused his speech sounds to change, his eating etc. But I knew in my gut something wasn't right. I talked to his pediatric specialist he said he was fine and normal, but I knew. I knew the signs. I knew my little boy.

I tried to talk to his dad but he didn't want to hear it, didn't want to believe it. We had decided before  he was born that we were going to homeschool because we both knew our school system was horrible.

I knew the signs and signed him up for pathways and st.clair child and youth right away. I talked to the healthy babies nurse and staff at the play group we always attended. We had appointments and meetings and they all saw it but his doctor refused to see it. They all asked what I was going to do for school I said well we planned on homeschooling. They said good because our system is not equipped to handle children like him that is would regress. I surely didn't want that!

At 29 months I put him in preschool 2 days a week and I watched him fall apart, I watch the preschool tell him he just can't handle it. I watched him hide under his blanket in corner because he couldn't handle anymore. I also knew he said he loved it, that he loved his friends, but it wasn't good for him. I let him stay until just before his 4th birthday he was with my business partners daughter there.

I knew there was no way he was going to be able to handle a classroom of 30 other kids if he couldn't handle one that had 15.

We worked so hard each day and I didn't want him to regress, he was so smart. Before he turned 4 he could tell you his first and last name, my first and last name, his dads friend and last name, my phone number, our address, city, province, what planet we lived on, the biggest star in the sky, he could count to 20 and do simple math.

Today he is 5.5 he is smart, uses his words instead of reactions most of time and is learning that its okay to ask for his head phones when its too noisy, to hid under his blanket when things are too much and that its okay to take a break. He tried to be friends with everyone, although that includes children who are mean to him.

He is smart, loves math, doing great with learning how to read, loves video games and youtube videos. He loves to play and run and the dogs until they bark lol.

I grateful I followed my gut and my heart, I am grateful that my child has the chance to learn in safe place and catered to the way he learns. I am grateful for a little boy so full of life!

What are you grateful for? 

Homeschool: Term 2 Week 2 Sk

We are working in the workbook "educational workbook numbers K" I likely got this book from one of the dollarstores. We are reading a different book each day this time so it will be list under the daily activities.

We are also working on printing for this I took a highlighter and wrote out on each page the letters. I will add a photo of what I am talking about so it is easier to understand.

I could not for the life of me get Homer to work  so we are going to try to get it to work this week.


Each day this week we will be doing a game. Such as Jenga or Trouble.



Day 1:

Sight word "to" flash cards, The Penguin Chick guided science readers by scholastic, workbook, homer, walk, printing, Jenga

Day 2:

Sight word "to" work sheet, What is cold? guided science readers by scholastic, workbook, ABC mouse, walk, play group, printing, Trouble

Day 3:

Sight word matching game, Can you do this? by scholastic, workbook, Homer, walk, library, printing, Porcupine Pop


Day 4:


Sight word "to" flash cards, I am bigger by scholastic, workbook, ABC Mouse, walk, printing, Guess who


Day 5:


Sight word "to" worksheet, What am i? by scholastic, workbook, Home, walk, printing, Operation




Why add games?  Did you know along with learning how to take turns children also learn a multitude of other skills from playing board games?

Children learn through doing, so do most people, they also learn through play.

Things learnt from board games:

Critical thinking
Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills (depending on the game)
Sharing
Taking turns
Math (Counting)


And sooo much more depending on the games you are playing. Plus they are so much fun they don't even realize they are learning.

Homeschool SK: Week3

We are into our 3rd week and we have our routine pretty down pat. We can usually get everything finished within 30 mins depending on how much he dottles and what activities we are doing.

Our nature bored is going well, my drawings could use some work but I never claimed to be an artist.

This week we are using the workbook Reading Readiness Book 1, I got it from the one of the local dollar stores.

We are still down to one truck so our trips out are still limited to what is in walking distance unless I have the truck that day.

Money, Money, Money. We are learning all about money this week. Mainly the basics. I found an amazing sight for not just money but it has Canadian Money which is really hard to find educational resources and the sight is free at that!!!

Week 3 Day 1: Sight word "and" Flash cards. I make my own flash cards with card stock, workbook, What is a Loonie, nature bored, Cat and Kitten book, ABC Mouse

Week 3 Day 2: Sight word "and" worksheet,  workbook, What is a Toonie, Nature bored, Playful puppies book, ABC Mouse, playgroup

Week3 Day 3: Sight word "and" flash cards, workbook, What is a Quarter, Nature bored, This Pig can fly, ABC mouse, Dentist

Week 3 Day 4: Sight word "and" work sheets, workbook, What is a Nickle, Nature bored, Joey Jumps book, ABC Mouse, shopping

Week 3 Day 5: Sight word "and" flash cards, workbook, What is a Dime, Nature bored, We are animals book, ABC Mouse, Walk

Journey into home schooling

As I watch a million excited/sad posts on the mom groups on Facebook and from my friends who have children Blaine's age about them being registered for school, its a mix of emotions for them from excited to “have a break” to sad “their babies are growing up”. I decided when Blaine was born that I would home school him for a number of reasons including our school system is very messed up and has been for years, even since the beginning according to some. The amount of high school suicides due to bullying in schools is extremely high in our city, it seems the school and support systems has broken down.

Everyone is quick to blame just the teachers but it doesn't rest solely upon their shoulders, it is in the hand of everyone as a whole. The parents who believe their children can do no wrong, the teachers who have given up because the kids just wont listen, the changes in curriculum which makes no sense to anyone, even collage and university teachers wont teach it. It seems somewhere along the line that communication has broken down or maybe it was never there to begin with.

I was going to say we have taken the power from the schools, teachers and parents but we haven't. What has gone away is the support system. We have become so obsessed with how we appear on the outside, how strong we are to be able to do everything ourselves. We have lost our village, well not lost it so much as we have shut our village out because it has become how much better each of us is instead of being what the children need.

As school age approaches those who have opinions that I shouldn't home school have gotten louder. Those opinions usually start and end with they are concerned for the social aspect. I think the social thing is really funny for a couple of reasons. With sports, activities, field trips, co-ops and so many other things that the home schooling group does socialization should be the least of most peoples worries maybe focus on the social skills of the children who are bullies.

I had many doubts and after listening to those who criticized me and my decision to home school the doubts got worse. I started to question if I could really do it, if I was capable of teaching my son everything he needs to know for life and learning. Thankfully the home school group was hosting an information night pretty much in the same week that “everyone” was coming down very hard on my choices. That night with women and men who have been home schooling for years, some have teenagers and some have ones who have already entered collage and university, I listened to what they are teaching in schools (I already knew but hearing it from others helps reassure you), after being asked if I taught my son his colours, numbers, how to count, his ABC's, how to potty, walk, eat, talk, etc when I responded with “of course” she responded with then you already are his teacher.

There are some moment where I still doubt myself and my abilities but I know deep down we can do this and it is what is best for him. If I ever get stuck there are many services to help and always someone in the homeschooling world who has already been there and done that.

So here we go!!!

Do you home-school? Where you home-schooled?

Blaine update July 2017

Time flies when your having fun!! Blaine will be 3 years old Aug 5th. Its crazy how fast they grow and learn.

He is day time potty trained. Night time is a different story. He hates wearing diapers now and yes tells me when he has to pee and poop I don't even ask him unless its right before we head out. Blaine has a new obsession of peeing in the grass so hey it works for when we are outside or at a park with no bathroom the life of raising boys!

He is super smart, loves to make friends, plays and shares well with others (most of the time).

Last summer I created a list of everything that Blaine needed to know before he started kindergarten.
I went online and I searched for lists, every list was different. So I created a master list from each of those lists.

Blaine loves being outside, hiking, walking, the park, the beach and just exploring everything! He makes friends everywhere we go. Right now his favourite colour is Purple and he likes to play cat and mouse. We love going to the animal farm but he slightly scared of the animals this year, other than the bunnies. He loves food, not a fan of meat but that's okay. Loves his fruit and veggies. He speaks very well and NEVER stops talking, but I love it. We play cars most of the day and build with blocks. He is scared of pretty much every bug which is weird because I am not and have always exposed him to them.

Blaine is in preschool 2 days a week from Sept to June. He loves it and now that it is summer he asks about it at least once a day. His favourite people right now are Mommy and Grandpa. My child is stubborn and hard headed, has to learn everything the hard way and sometimes more then once lol.

I love to watch him just playing pretend with his cars and tools. Oh he has to fix everything :)




What to know before kindergarten list:

Write first name
Tell if 2 words rhyme
Identify patterns
Letter Sounds (He knows some but not all)
Practice Letters
Put Coat on
Count to 20 (He can count to 17 so far)
Do up Zippers (He can do them up and undo them as long as you start it)
Read a book ( We are working on this he can recognize words in some books as we read along)
Do up buttons
Practice Phone Number
Tie Shoes
Identify colours (He knows all colours including teal and beige)
Follow Directions (He can follow simple directions with under 5 steps)
Match Capital and Lower Case letters
Put on Backpack (He can do this no problem)
Rhyme Words
Practice Address
Wash Hands (yup hes got that)
Practice Scissors (He is very good with scissors including holding and cutting properly)
Put Pack on hook
Write 1-10
Wipe Nose (He has been able to wipe his nose on his shirt since about 15 months old lol)
Know Birthday
Cough into elbow
Shapes (He knows all of his shapes, we are working on the harder ones such as Hexagon)
Drink of fountain (He has been able to do this since he was a year old)
Count Objects (He can count objects, and knows just looking at ones that are under 5 pieces what they are without counting out loud)
Stand in line
Say ABC's (well he has most of these but not ALL just yet)
Open lunch pail
Know moms name (He just learned my "second name" about a week ago)
Know dads name (He has known and been able to say his dads "second name" since he was about 17 months)
Sight words
Hold a pencil
Identifies gender
Sort items
On, beside, under (he knows and can show you this)
Stop/go (He knows this and what lights mean go and what mean stop)
Hop on one foot (He can stand on one foot but it would appear he has my balance lol)
Take turns (He knows how to take turns and wait his turn)
Glue and paste (he is not a fan of arts and crafts but knows how to glue things onto paper and together)
Share (Yes he can do this, some days he is better at it than overs)
String Beads
Tidy up (yes he knows how to do this, if he will or not is another story)
Draw lines
Complete 9 piece puzzle (With help he can do the 10 piece ones but not into doing them alone)
Trace Lines
Put Pictures in Order
Cute paper with one hand (He can cut lots of things with one hand, not just paper)
Make a pancake, snake, ball from play doh
Big/Little (He knows how to tell objects are big or little, people, animals etc)
Throw a ball (He can throw way more than just a ball)
Sort by size
Sort by colour
Fast/Slow (Yes and he will tell you if he is going fast or slow. If a car is going faster or slower than us)
Tall/Short
Balance on 1 foot (for about 5 seconds)
less/more
Petal a bike
Ask for help (Yes and give help when needed)
Sort by shape
Taping
Hard/Soft
First/Last
Rain, Clouds, Snow (Knows all of these and hates that snow is cold)
Use manners (He has used manners in one way or another since he was just over a year, but now he knows them all and when to say each one)
Say Last name (He can say his first and last name)
Raise hand
Draw a person
Tells stories (He can tell you lots of stories)
Know age (as he has this one when asked and will even show you how many 2 is on his fingers)
Draw a circle
Know the genders
Draw a square
Act out a story


He hasn't gotten them all yet but I think its a pretty good start. One more year until he is off to Junior Kindergarten. I am still debating between home school and private school