Homeschooling

Our first official week of homeschooling was last week.

We had to snap a "first day of school" photo:

Or two :)

I admit, I was very nervous. Not about teaching, or juggling three kids on different levels, but nervous that I would find excuses to skip school for a day, and just play. And then that would turn into skipping school for two days... a week... you get the idea. I'm not so structured in our day... And school? well... that's a lot more structure than I'm use to. More than I like.

Monday was rough. How do you balance a toddler who wants to do everything? I tried. I failed. And I ended up with 3 miserable kids... Nathan was overly tired because I let him skip naps. Ruth was frustrated because she couldn't do everything. And Faith was stuck in the middle. But Tuesday was a new day.

We had plans Tuesday morning, so we didn't get to do "school" till after lunch. It was perfect! We did story time and a craft, then Ruth went down for naps. Faith & Nathan stayed up to work on reading, math & other things. Then they went down for naps late. And I let Nathan have just 45 minutes of quiet time and then get up early to play while his sisters finished their naps. It was a perfect schedule! So we've stuck to it since:

Morning - playtime, or MOPS/BSF/Playdate/etc
11:30 - Bible Story, music & craft or science project
12:00 - Lunch
12:30 - Playtime
1:45 - Clean Up
2:00 - Ruth naps, big kids work on reading, writing & math
2:30 - Faith goes down for naps & Nathan does what Faith doesn't have the attention span for
2:45 - Nathan & Mommy's quiet times
3:30 - Nathan plays quietly
4:30 - Girls wake up

This schedule is working great so far and gives us plenty of flexibility to do anything we want in the mornings! Which is good, because this Momma's brain doesn't turn on in the mornings very easily... ;)  And yes, I realize that's only 1 hour for actual "school". But it's Preschool & Kindergarten stuff, people! The curriculum recommends 30-90 minutes a day. And you have to know that things get repeated many times a day, during playtime, or a meal, or bedtime, too. So it's working out just fine!

Plus, the curriculum starts off really basic. Things will start to get added to it around week 6, when enough letters have been introduced to start learning words. So I keep reminding myself that soon it'll take more time. And patience. Lots of patience ;)

My biggest surprise so far? How easy this is. There's not much different about the curriculum than what we were already doing on our own. Except the structure, which is good. The kids need it, even if I don't like it. And they'll learn better that way, too.

My goal this year is to get Nathan to learn to count to 100 by 1's, 5's and 10's, and gain basic math skills of addition and subtraction. Get him to be able to write all the letters. And help him begin to read. We've been warned that with Apraxia of Speech (what he quite possibly has), learning to read & write will be his last two obstacles. Hence we plan to do Kindergarten for 2 years. Although My Father's World curriculum is pretty basic stuff... it assumes a child cannot recognize or sound out any letters of the alphabet. Nathan has that down pat. So he's already a bit ahead. And he's still ok with taking it slow, since we go over it with Faith, and he's using the time to start learning to write his letters - he's taken on a bit of a big brother/tutor role, too. It's sweet.

For Faith, my goal is to help her be able to recognize all the letters of the alphabet and sound them out. I also want her to be able to learn to count to 20. I've realized that these are things Nathan has known longer than a year and I just haven't spent any time teaching them to Faith! I've just assumed she had been catching on. But she hasn't... Mommy fail! I also hope that this year Faith starts to learn to observe and pay attention more, and comprehend what she sees & hears better. If she starts to learn to read, too, bonus! But it's not expected.

We're also learning some new songs, a weekly Scripture verse and doing some fun crafts & science experiments throughout the year. If things keep up like they have so far, it'll be a fun year. And I'll learn some things too :)

We've turned the loft into our school room. I'll post pictures when we finish organizing it. We even got a great little desk for Nathan (Thank you, neighboring yard-sale-hosting homeschool mom!). I'd love to get a second one for Faith, but right now, they're content to be sharing.

We also signed Nathan up to do some Art & PE classes at the YMCA with other homeschool kids ages 5-10. I'll let you know how that goes, he starts next Friday :)

So far, so good. I hope this keeps up!

Children's Museum

There's a pretty nice little children's museum near us that we went to twice this past summer (thank you, Groupon!) It's a bit of a drive, but the kids love it there! And you'll see why...

Ruth LOVES the fish tank. Ok, Ruth LOVES ANY fish tank!

There's cool turtles and baby crocodiles in this one! 

Outside is an awesome water table that is a magnet for any child.

There's all kinds of things to play with there, and its nice to play in on hot days!

Also outside is a new climbing area. 

Nathan was the only one interested in climbing to the top. 

Ruth was too interested in the musical drums and different xylophones outside.

And Faith found her inner engineer, and wanted to build things with the giant foam blocks. We needed Daddy there, because my brain couldn't think of a single thing to build. Daddy would have loved this exhibit.

Inside is a mini grocery store - always a kid favorite!

The kids were bakers, shoppers, cashiers, etc.

And Ruth stocked up on canned goods. I guess she was planning to stay there for a long time ;)

Recently the older kids are fascinated by space. 

So the rocket & outer space exhibit was a favorite! 

We took a couple trips to the moon on one visit. 

There's a whole medical exhibit with an ambulance, doctor's office and hospital nursery.

The girls loved playing doctor, while Nathan was usually off playing at the huge train table.

Maybe they're practicing in hopes for a baby sister/brother? 

Or cousins??? Yes! cousins!

There's a little house with toddler sized furniture, a big kitchen and a dress up closet. This was Faith's favorite exhibit when she was Ruth's age. And now, it's Ruth's favorite!

Ruth sat in all the chairs, to be sure they all worked well. 

And spent some time dancing to the music on the radio.

And, last, but certainly not least, Nathan's new favorite exhibit?

It's in the health exhibit and he calls it "Game Over"

It's a huge board that you walk, run & jump on to interact with the computer in learning activities & games. It doesn't audibly talk to you as you select a game to play (here they're playing Squash the Bugs - moving lights are "bugs"). But when the game is done, it says, "Game Over" out loud. So Nathan thinks that's what it's called - "Game Over". ha ha  He asked to go play Game Over multiple times on our last visit. hehe

We had a great time during our two summer visits. I wish it were closer to our house. But we'll be back again, surely there will be more Groupons to bribe us in the future ;)

Happy 18 Months, Ruthie!

Oops.... guess I procrastinated on finishing this post for way too long! She's already 20 months old.... oh well. I was going to find pics, but I'll just have to post those later.

What was Ruth like at 18 months?

She was:
32.5'' tall
29 lbs

That put her in the 75th percentile for height and the 95th percentile for weight.

She wears a size 3T/4T for tops and dresses. And a 2T/3T for shorts/skirts. And her little feet are still size 5!

During her 18th month doctor's appointment, the doctor confirmed that she's at or above normal in all stages of development... except speech. Not surprising. He suggested we seek ECI help for her speech development, claiming she may have a similar problem as Nathan (motor planning issues). But the doctor didn't really seem to listen to me - he just assumed. We're going to hold off on calling Easter Seals till she's 2. Because Ruth has no other signs of motor planning problems, like Nathan did/does.

Ruth has the most incredible balance of any baby I've ever seen! She's a pro on the stairs - going up and down. She loves to try to balance herself on anything - curbs, toys...and mommy's & daddy's belly are her favorites. And she's a pro at walking backwards (since she started walking, she does this thing where she walks up to us if we're on the floor, she turns her back to us, takes three steps backwards and plops herself right on our lap. Its pretty funny to watch.) She also loves to disobey and stand in the shopping cart at the store... or sit on the edge, just to show off her impeccable balance.

Ruth has awesome fine motor skills, too. She loves to find teeny tiny pieces of trash in the carpet and hand them to us. Some so small we don't think she actually handed us anything until we look closer. She loves to take part in pulling off a link of our never ending paper chains - we started one for Nathan's birthday and now we have one counting down till we leave to see grandparents.

And she has awesome fine motor skills around her mouth, too - She has been able to use a straw successfully since she was 10 months old. And she can say tons of different sounds, and mimic a lot of phrases we say. Nathan, even at 2 1/2, could only make the "Da" sound for 99% of things he said. So Ruth doesn't appear to have the same issues he had, at all. But all the doctor saw was that she only had 2 words at the time of her visit - Momma and Dadda - and big brother has a motor planning problem. I want to find a new pediatrician... but I'm hoping our current one just retires this year to make that easier ;)

We're not worried about Ruth's speech. She's the 3rd child - and has a stubborn streak in her that we see daily. Why does she need to talk - we all do it for her? ;) I've been convinced, for the last month or two, that when she starts talking, it'll be in complete sentences right from the start. Don't get me wrong, if she seems to need ECI help, I will certainly call for an evaluation. I'm just going to give her a few months.

You see, in the last two weeks (when she was 18 months old), she added to her vocabulary. "All done", "tickle tickle", "watch this" and "I want that" are new words/phrases she says all the time now. And this morning, she handed me her flip flops and said, "let's go" - not sure where she wanted to go, but it was clear she didn't want to stay home.... ha 

You have to listen closely and understand the context to catch most of her new words. And she mimics a lot of words - so I'm only counting words she says on her own, without prompting - I'm not counting words she likes to mimic, like "amen", "I love you" and I'm pretty sure I even heard a "gramma" once in there last week ;)  She'll get better, I have no doubt. She's learning FAST.

Ruth's favorite things....
* keeping up with her brother & sister
* playing with a baby doll, taking turns feeding it and sucking on the play bottle/sippy cups herself... hehe
* dancing
* wearing necklaces - she LOVES them and once she puts them on, she leaves them alone. Amazing!
* pretending to be the tickle monster, and/or getting tickled herself
* getting her toenails painted. As soon as she sees nail polish, she plops herself on my lap and sticks her feet in my face. ha! She's only had her toe nails painted 4 times, over the last 6 months. But she knows what it is, loves it, and holds still so I can paint her tiny little nails!
* she's finally just now getting into books. Until recent weeks, she would hand us a book, sit down to "read" it and lose interest half way through the first page... now she wants us to read her books all day, usually the same ones over and over. I currently have "The Icky Sticky Frog" memorized...

Ruth's favorite foods....
* ANYTHING. She eats it all! Even broccoli ;)  Her downfall is that if there's something yummier looking that's not on her plate, she tries to get out of eating what's on her plate in favor of the food she doesn't have. So we've learned, if we're having fruit or dessert during dinner time, no one gets it until Ruth is done her dinner first ;)  It's working well to bring those things out when everyone's done.
* She seems to be more of a meat, bean & fruit person than a bread, potato or cake person.

Ruth's favorite people....
*Mommy..... it seems like her attachment to me is only getting stronger. I try hard to not pick her up when she wants - but when there's a dozen other things demanding my attention, it's just easier to pick her up so I can get the other things done without her hanging on my leg, getting stepped on, and screaming bloody murder. I know... bad mommy, I need to get better at helping her break that habit. Especially when she's in a mood to only be held for 30 seconds, then again 2 minutes later for another 30 seconds, etc....
* Ruth also loves Mrs. Casey at church, and depending on Ruth's mood, Casey's teenage daughter, Grace. They're the only other people she'll reach out for, besides Mommy & Daddy. It's great to know she loves her nursery workers - but she only sees them a few times a month now because she's outgrowing some nursery rooms (depending on the event going on).


UPDATE AT 20 MONTHS:
Ruth is still in sizes 3T/4T. But her feet finally grew into size 6 shoes just last week! She still tries hard to keep up with her big brother and sister, and we try to let her attempt to do whatever they are doing - at least attempt it, if possible. She's still a great eater and is learning to pay attention at story time more and more. She has a contagious laugh, loves to be tickled and is fearless around water. She can point to her eyes, ears, nose, toes, hair and belly. And she's picking up new signs (baby sign language) with ease! She loves to dance and sing and attempt simple hand motions. Her other favorite things are feeding baby dolls, running, tickling, "helping" set the table, pretending to be a puppy, and "cooking" in the play kitchen. And she's very slowly losing her mommy-attachment. She feels the need to be picked up just a little less each day, which is good. She's starting to get more attached to Daddy again, like she was when she was younger. She'd turning back into a Daddy's girl - in a healthy way. New words that she'll say on occasion are: please, book, cup, and hi. But mostly just lots of mimicing. Oh, and shaking her head, "no" is her favorite response to any question you ask her. "No" could mean anything - yes, purple, doggie, milk, pick me up, etc. So it's always a guessing game lately. Mostly, Ruth is still a wonderful baby girl who is quickly turning into a big girl before our eyes. We are so blessed with a content, compliant, little girl that loves to keep us all laughing!

Flying L

A few weeks ago, Jacob was able to take a Monday off. So we headed out to a place our realtor told us about - Flying L Ranch. They have a small waterpark. And, lucky us, Monday's are half price!

The park was absolutely the perfect size for young families!!

Nathan was tall enough to do all the slides, and that's just about all he did, all day long! He had a blast!!!

Ruth & Faith loved the wading pool, it was huge and perfect for little kids. There were plenty of sprinklers and animals to climb on. But Ruth just preferred to hang out with Daddy, and be a bit of a fearless daredevil. 

Second to the water slides, in Nathan's opinion, was the giant bucket that dumped water every few minutes. 

And the only thing better than hanging out in the wading pool with Daddy, was going down the medium water slide with Daddy. Over and over and over again! Ruth is fearless!

 Then there was laid back Faith. ALL she wanted to do all day was hang out in the wading pool with whoever was around. She loved to play with the mat, and that was about all she needed to have a fabulous day at the pool!

Occasionally she would venture out to climb on one of the fountain animals to play, too.  

There was a lazy river that we went out on a few times. The kids really weren't all that impressed. Nathan & Ruth preferred the slides, and Faith was content being folded in half by a raft - but she was happier with her freedom in the wading pool.

Above is a view from the top of the big slide, over looking the wading pool area. Below is a view of the lazy river and the wave pool (which doesn't have waves at the moment). There was also a bigger kid area with lilly pads, a rope walk and a volleyball area. But all those were too big for our kiddos.

The biggest slide wasn't too big, though. Nathan must have gone down a dozen or more times. He loved it. But we couldn't convince Faith to do any of the slides. Until 10 minutes before it was time to go home, she finally agreed to go on the small slide with me. And then she was up for the big one. She went once and wanted to go again! But it was time to leave... maybe next time she won't take 3 hours to get a little courage. 

This was a great waterpark! I'd highly recommend it if you live in the area, just go on Monday when it's half price and not too crowded! We will be back next summer!!

Bungee Jumping

I am a bad blogger... I have half a dozen posts partially written... I will try to get better at making time for updates! In the mean time, here's a shorter post, with a longer video clip.
Monday, Labor Day, we had no plans. And it was nice. We headed to the mall to walk around, have lunch & do a few things. As we were leaving, we saw the bungee jumping set-up. And I was in the mood to spend some $$... ha  So we let the kids try it out. They each got 3 minutes, and Jacob & I were convinced they wouldn't last but 1 minute each. And I worried that Faith would scream for her whole minute... But boy were  we wrong!
Nathan told Faith she could go first. He was pretending to be nice... I really think he was using her a guinea pig, in case it sent her rocketing into space. But Faith surprised us all by stepping up to the challenge - with enthusiasm!
Faith squealed so loudly, her giggles echoed through the entire mall, and drew a small crowd of people to watch, smile and get in line behind us. The employees really should have paid Faith to play for all the attention she brought their way!  I wish the video did justice to her giggle echoes, but they're hard to hear.
Nathan had an equally fun time. He "flew" even higher (thanks to his 51lb self - he has 10 lbs on Faith!). 
The kids had a blast and are already asking to go again. We will go back, maybe next time Ruth will be old enough to have fun, too - she was so jealous of her big brother & sister! And technically, she could have done it (the only requirement is you weigh 30-150lbs). But she would have screamed while they put the harness on her.... So when she's old enough, we'll go back and let all the kids have a turn.