New Year more focus!

      For this new year I decided to step back and give Jared and Liam more of a lead when it comes to school and so far it seems to really work for them. Liam is all about his Letter Factory and Endless Letters. Jared is starting to read and is getting better at writing. Math is still his favorite subject and geography is a close second.

      I have found a few sites that have been a huge help. We have a nice list of sight words that he is working on mastering and when he does he gets a trip to Chicago to the place of his choice.

    Geography right now is coloring pictures of the continents, finding our state and the 5 great lakes, and we are going to start a project that I found on pintrest that looks like lots of fun. HERE.

    Reading! This is level one reading and we are now working on level 5.
I found the stories from clarkness.com the kindergarten ones are HERE.

    Writing is Jared's least favorite thing. He has poor fine motor skills but is getting better!
I have found handwritingworksheets.com to be one of the best places to make my own practice sheets. I have chosen to teach D'Nealian vs. manuscript as we will be teaching cursive down the road.
HERE is the link for the page I use to make my worksheets.
   
     Jared and Liam also received a chalkboard for Christmas and that has become a huge help! I have done a few different ways of writing to keep it not as boring and frustrating for Jared. Liam is very interested in writing as well even though his is mostly scribbling it's a start!

So far for 2015 we are having fun and succeeding!

One of the Hardest and Best parts of Homeschooling

Projects! We love doing them and I love having all the artwork on my walls. BUT I am very instruction oriented and want things to be just right. Now telling a almost 2 and almost 4 yo to follow exactly on a project just isn't going to happen. Instead of the past where I would get anxious about it and "help" so that they turned out right I have finally loosened the reigns. I still do some set up like in our last project I traced and cut out the hands and arms but the rest was all up to the boys with just the basic instructions and example picture.
We were aiming for this:


Since Jared still isn't a fan of paint on his hands we used Q-Tips instead of fingers.
This is the result:

Seeing the look of accomplishment in his eyes makes it worth it!

I think we will call this Blustery Fall Day

Totally Horrible at keeping up!

We have been hard at work on school work. Part way through the year Jared got bored of the preschool work so after a break and some research earlier than I planned we are now working on Kindergarten skills and Liam is starting to show some interest in school so he is starting some early pre school work!  Most of our work is posted on the FB page HERE
  And here are a few samples of our work for October. I don't take many pictures anymore as the boys need more hands on help but I do try to capture some!
    Jared has gotten so good at Addition and is starting to catch on real well with the Subtraction. He loves looking at the globe and finding places, and he gets to pick his interest for the month. This month he wants to learn about the clouds and Fall leaves.

As for the Goals for 2014

   School Goals 2014

              Sight words- he is starting to pick a few up but we need to put more emphasis on it.
              Handwriting- Now that he is showing interest in writing his words we are going to have to put more emphasis on it and by the end of the year I would like him to be writing his letters without the dotted lines.
              Hand and eye coordination- I would like to see him able to start lacing and manipulating smaller things and possibly put puzzles together.
              Social Skills- This is Jared's weakest spot. We will be getting him his evaluation and hopefully some answers. I would like to be able to start taking him to the local library story time without him panicing and melting down.
              Math and Science- I want to have a small garden and grow some seeds. There are also a few other science projects such as oobleck I would like to do this year. We will keep building on counting and working on getting up to 100 by the end of the year.
              Language- This year Jared, Liam, and I will start working on some Spanish (I have lots much of what I learned years ago). I would like to see them able to name basic things if not more by the end of the year.

 There has been some adjusting, some success, and some things I just don't see him accomplishing yet.

   Sight words- he's very resistant but I have caught him reading words here and there when he doesn't think I am paying attention.
   Handwriting- He has switched to primarily right handed writing and is starting to get some control.
   Hand eye- Lacing is a success as is some puzzles. He still has a hard time manipulating small items and we will keep working on that.
  Social Skills- We got the diagnosis of Autism as we expected and have been working hard. The playdates are going well with some adjustments for timing and he is starting to show some interest in playing with other children as long as its not more than one or two others.
   Math and science. Garden did NOT happen as we moved into a new place and this years weather was wonky. We have worked on some science things I planned and found some things to keep doing just for fun. Counting- Jared loves to count but has a hard time around 17 and just isn't understanding after 20. I've shown him and counted with him but it's taking time.
   Language- The boys have picked up a few words but working on getting Jared to speak in general was our big task. I am proud to say he is talking in full sentences again and is understood most of the time!

                 Goals for Kindergarten 2014/2015

This is the general guideline I am working with. 

We are working towards this.

Holiday Vacation and 2014 Goals

                As homeschoolers we have the choice and opportunity to decide when we will school. Since summers are hot and at times too hot to be out playing we/I decided to school through the summer. This gives us the time to take the fall/beginning of winter off. This year we took All of November and December off and were able to enjoy our time together. We spent lots of time with family and friends. Started a regular play date with some friends. Had an amazing Christmas season and best of all spent lots of time relaxing together. Liam had his first birthday and soon Jared will have his third birthday. Now that the holiday crush is over and things are settling down we are ready to start back with school on January 12th! Here is to an amazing 2014.

   School Goals 2014

              Sight words- he is starting to pick a few up but we need to put more emphasis on it.
              Handwriting- Now that he is showing interest in writing his words we are going to have to put more emphasis on it and by the end of the year I would like him to be writing his letters without the dotted lines.
              Hand and eye coordination- I would like to see him able to start lacing and manipulating smaller things and possibly put puzzles together.
              Social Skills- This is Jared's weakest spot. We will be getting him his evaluation and hopefully some answers. I would like to be able to start taking him to the local library story time without him panicing and melting down.
              Math and Science- I want to have a small garden and grow some seeds. There are also a few other science projects such as ooblong I would like to do this year. We will keep building on counting and working on getting up to 100 by the end of the year.
              Language- This year Jared, Liam, and I will start working on some Spanish (I have lots much of what I learned years ago). I would like to see them able to name basic things if not more by the end of the year.

Fall/Halloween Weeks 3 and 4

  This last two weeks were a blast! We painted, picked apples and pumpkins, enjoyed the last days of warm weather.

Leaf Prints! I let Jared hunt out all the leafs he wanted on one of our many walks.

I adore these footprint Ghosts. I have done one every year since Jared's first Halloween. So neat to see the change each year. This is the last two.

Leaf Rubbings. Jared thought it was cool but it wasn't easy for him. 

Hand print spiders. The both loved these.

Our first attempt at Caramel Apples. Jared didn't like touching so he just directed me on what to put each apple into.

Our big pumpkin

Liam was curious and yes he tried to eat it.

Jared wouldn't touch it but liked watching and Directing me how to make the face.

Recently got these from a co op and love them for moments like the pumpkin decorating.

Jared was very proud of his paint job.

All of our pumpkins on the porch ready for Halloween!

Liam picking his first apple!

Jared really had the hang of it this year!

Jared picked the perfect Pumpkin

Liam with his perfect Pumpkin.

The Perz Family! 

And just a plug for something coming up that is awesome for the littles. ReindeerCam! Every day starting Nov. 1st Santa will be out feeding the reindeer and you can watch it live! He made a surprise appearance a few nights ago and watching Jared light up about Santa was wonderful. 

We have more cute and fun crafts in the works. Please visit our Facebook and the Website.