School and Chores
Well, I think we're starting to get the hang of school.
I fell asleep with Baby E by 11 last night and then she and I both slept until she woke up at 6. I've been dreaming about textbooks and lesson planning--last night I woke DH up begging him to help me find a non-existent red teacher's book that I desperately needed in my dream.
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AJ has gotten over the first hump, I think, and is really enjoying school now that I've cut down on the amount of writing she has to do. I'm having her do more of the work orally, and with both girls I'm doing a better job of interspersing other activities with the reading/writing/desk work type of stuff, and finding more hands-on things for them to do.
AJ has been asking a lot of questions about blind people and how they do things like read and find their way around, so I'm adding in some reading and activities about that. Yesterday I showed her what Braille looks like and had her read a short description of the Braille alphabet and its development. Today we'll probably watch at least part of a video about Helen Keller. I'm going to see if I can find some library books about blind people, seeing eye dogs, etc. too.
M&M and I skimmed through the rest of the first K5 Beginnings unit yesterday, doing the most relevant activities. She's really enjoying school and her enthusiasm is contagious.
Today M&M and I are starting with the real reading in lesson 30. It will be a little below her level, but it takes a systematic approach to grammar and phonetics that I think we'll want to cover, even if quickly. Besides, she'll love the story in lesson 30--about a baby duck who wants to make the sounds of the other farm animals. It includes lots of fun sound effects like "m-ack" when the duckling is trying to moo, and "rr-rr-rr-rr-ack" when he's trying to crow.
She's reading fairly proficiently now. When I made new chore charts for the girls this week, with a few added tasks, I didn't even use pictures. She only has to ask for help reading a few of the chores.
In case anyone is wondering what kinds of chores a 5-year-old and a 4-year-old do around here, I'll post the list. For now, I have them both doing the same chores. Their daily chore charts look like this:
Morning Chores: Potty, Get Dressed, Put Away Pajamas, Make Bed, Pick Up Bedroom, Eat Breakfast, Clear Table, Brush Teeth, Wash Face, Brush Hair, Wipe Bathroom Sink & Counter, Feed Puff
Evening Chores: Tidy Desk, Pick Up Family Room, Pick Up Playroom, Put On Pajamas, Put Away Clothes, Pick Out Clothes for Tomorrow, Pick Up Bedroom, Brush Teeth, Wash Face, Brush Hair, Potty
Giving the girls haircuts last week really helped to streamline our mornings. They're able to brush their own hair now, and it looks presentable with nothing more than a quick brush. They like their haircuts, even though I'm not very proficient at cutting hair. I did AJ's first, and ended up getting it shorter than I'd intended trying to even it out. M&Ms turned out better, with a nice soft shoulder-length bob. But she kept insisting she wanted hers shorter, so I kept going until I finally said, "No more! That's as short as I'm going to cut it." She loves it. AJ reminds me a lot of their beloved cousin EM with this haircut.
The girls also do other chores to help out and earn pennies, such as setting the table and helping clear it off, sorting and putting away laundry (they don't get paid for those), vacuuming, loading/unloading the dishwasher (I do the sharp/heavy/high things), tidying up, dusting, keeping an eye on Baby E and entertaining her while I fix dinner nearby or put in a load of laundry, and washing things like the floor (they really love being given a wet rag and allowed to scrub things, and being able to squirt lemon oil on a rag and rub it on the wood cupboards is even better!). They don't do all of those every day, of course, but they enjoy helping with whatever I'm working on that day, and sometimes choose helping with housework over playing.
Well, it's 7 a.m. and time to get up, so I'd better go and pop some muffins or a coffee cake into the oven that's been preheating while I write this.
I fell asleep with Baby E by 11 last night and then she and I both slept until she woke up at 6. I've been dreaming about textbooks and lesson planning--last night I woke DH up begging him to help me find a non-existent red teacher's book that I desperately needed in my dream.
#################
AJ has gotten over the first hump, I think, and is really enjoying school now that I've cut down on the amount of writing she has to do. I'm having her do more of the work orally, and with both girls I'm doing a better job of interspersing other activities with the reading/writing/desk work type of stuff, and finding more hands-on things for them to do.
AJ has been asking a lot of questions about blind people and how they do things like read and find their way around, so I'm adding in some reading and activities about that. Yesterday I showed her what Braille looks like and had her read a short description of the Braille alphabet and its development. Today we'll probably watch at least part of a video about Helen Keller. I'm going to see if I can find some library books about blind people, seeing eye dogs, etc. too.
M&M and I skimmed through the rest of the first K5 Beginnings unit yesterday, doing the most relevant activities. She's really enjoying school and her enthusiasm is contagious.
Today M&M and I are starting with the real reading in lesson 30. It will be a little below her level, but it takes a systematic approach to grammar and phonetics that I think we'll want to cover, even if quickly. Besides, she'll love the story in lesson 30--about a baby duck who wants to make the sounds of the other farm animals. It includes lots of fun sound effects like "m-ack" when the duckling is trying to moo, and "rr-rr-rr-rr-ack" when he's trying to crow.
She's reading fairly proficiently now. When I made new chore charts for the girls this week, with a few added tasks, I didn't even use pictures. She only has to ask for help reading a few of the chores.
In case anyone is wondering what kinds of chores a 5-year-old and a 4-year-old do around here, I'll post the list. For now, I have them both doing the same chores. Their daily chore charts look like this:
Morning Chores: Potty, Get Dressed, Put Away Pajamas, Make Bed, Pick Up Bedroom, Eat Breakfast, Clear Table, Brush Teeth, Wash Face, Brush Hair, Wipe Bathroom Sink & Counter, Feed Puff
Evening Chores: Tidy Desk, Pick Up Family Room, Pick Up Playroom, Put On Pajamas, Put Away Clothes, Pick Out Clothes for Tomorrow, Pick Up Bedroom, Brush Teeth, Wash Face, Brush Hair, Potty
Giving the girls haircuts last week really helped to streamline our mornings. They're able to brush their own hair now, and it looks presentable with nothing more than a quick brush. They like their haircuts, even though I'm not very proficient at cutting hair. I did AJ's first, and ended up getting it shorter than I'd intended trying to even it out. M&Ms turned out better, with a nice soft shoulder-length bob. But she kept insisting she wanted hers shorter, so I kept going until I finally said, "No more! That's as short as I'm going to cut it." She loves it. AJ reminds me a lot of their beloved cousin EM with this haircut.
The girls also do other chores to help out and earn pennies, such as setting the table and helping clear it off, sorting and putting away laundry (they don't get paid for those), vacuuming, loading/unloading the dishwasher (I do the sharp/heavy/high things), tidying up, dusting, keeping an eye on Baby E and entertaining her while I fix dinner nearby or put in a load of laundry, and washing things like the floor (they really love being given a wet rag and allowed to scrub things, and being able to squirt lemon oil on a rag and rub it on the wood cupboards is even better!). They don't do all of those every day, of course, but they enjoy helping with whatever I'm working on that day, and sometimes choose helping with housework over playing.
Well, it's 7 a.m. and time to get up, so I'd better go and pop some muffins or a coffee cake into the oven that's been preheating while I write this.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 6:45 AM[Permanent link]
5 Comments:
That sounds like a great school day and a fantastic chore list. I think I'll start one with MM.
I loved learning about Helen Keller as a child! According to a book I have about her, one of the first things that she and Anne Sullivan did was to learn to do a crochet chain stitch. Helen made one that stretched across the room. That impressed me quite a bit, as I was learning to crochet myself at the time. --Kathy
love the haircuts!! I would have done the same thing - a friend has her girls in some cute, shorter styles, too. you're an *amazing* mom - my body shuts down around 8:30 unless I've had a nap!
SO glad you didn't turn up with food allergies... was just at another La Leche League meeting for toddlers (a little girl there reminded me of baby E - signing and using the potty!) and thought of you when a leader mentioned how magnesium increases appetite... thought I'd pass that along as you can obtain it taking epson salt baths. (I notice the sulfates working when I give the tub 3 big handfulls of epson salt (you can't overdose), but I think I already have enough magnesium on board.)
Have an AWESOME day!!!
Colleen ;-)
Great haircuts!
Liz, I'll be curious to hear what chores you have MM do.
Kathy, I loved learning about Helen Keller, too. The movie The Miracle Worker, which we watched on Friday, shows her crocheting.
Thanks, Colleen. I still want to find some epson salts . . . I always forget to look for them when I'm at the store.
Thanks, miraclebaby!
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