Year Three: Week Three: OH! Here We Are!

"You can’t just walk out on the results of your own hankerings"

~Franny & Zooey by JD Salinger

So, it's the last day of November and this post should have been done by Halloween. However, life has happened. Apparently enough life has happened that I just have not been able to convince myself to sit at the computer and catch up on this! I'm so sorry! Here you go anyway! 

A few months ago, I signed Sidekick up for Little Passports. It's fantastic and we love it. He has already learned his countries, musical instruments from around the world, and more. Plus, he loves getting mail with his name on it every month. It's hard (for an adult) to wait a month to use these with our schooling but, we both love it. 

(Which we do more regularly than my blogging!) 

This was a fun one. After we received our new world map and with his Mimi coming for a visit we began talking about our relation to the world. I found this on Pinterest, although I believe it was for the layers of the Earth.

You can always search my Homeschool boards on my Pinterest if you need some ideas! 

 

We started with Sidekick drawing himself on the smallest circle. Then his neighborhood, his city, his (current) state, and then our country. He's getting really good at looking at a shape or picture and drawing his own version. I love it. 

We still love our workbooks for lazy homeschool days! They are great for cuddling and still working on his writing and math skills.

 Oh soccer. We had such a great soccer season! He made new friends and had a fantastic coach that worked with him and he learned so much! We can not wait to play again in the Spring. 

 Children's Museum shenanigans. We had a Mommy/Baby date and, obviously, we had a great day.

I used these umbrella and rain drops for something last year, don't ask me what. This year, we used them to work on less than/more than/equal to. This kid and his numbers! He loves math! He's got this down but I still work it in to our schooling days.  

 Sidekick wanted to make a spaceship. So here it is. His own design, his own creation, his own everything. I was happy to let him create as he wanted while I made dinner. 

So there you have it! I have much more to show you and I will this coming week! Promise, promise! Check back soon!

Year Three: Week Two: Bobby the Body and Other Fun Shapes

Oh the things you can find
If you don’t stay behind!

~ Dr. Seuss

Catching up is hard to do! Almost a month behind with more busy days ahead but, I'm here now! Feast your eyes on the fun that I have been waiting to show you!

 One rule I gave myself for this school year was, to step back. To let go. To see how he does when I'm not hovering and not holding his hand. It's a big task. I want to guide him and see him succeed but he also needs to succeed on his own terms so, the rule is a solid one.

We haven't practiced cutting in a long while. Honestly, it was a source of frustration for me. I don't know why such a small activity irked me but, it did. So, I set these shapes out, handed my sidekick some kid scissors and simple instructions. Then I left the room. Seriously, I left the room. He quietly did as I asked and came to retrieve me once he was done. He did fantastic! Do you see that circle? Such skill! Haha, but really, I was very proud. Of both of us! 

 More journaling. We are learning to love our journal and all that it can do for us! On the left, we have a picture of Mr. Sidekick and a show of his name writing skills. He's working on his lowercase letters so they get mixed in his writings now. So cute. :)

 So, a week after I ran 13.1 miles, Sidekick and I ran a 5k. His first and yes, he loved it. We held hands for 47 minutes as we ran through 3.1 miles of colors, sparkles, and fun. He was such a good sport and immediately asked when we could do it again upon receiving his medal. He astounds me and I am so lucky to be his mom.

 Let me introduce you to Bobby the Body. I found a similar constructed man on Esty and took it upon myself to create my own instead. He was a hit! We read through our Dr. Seuss book and put the pieces back on Bobby the Body as we went. Then we practiced (by playing) with the different parts and now my little sidekick has a new trick to amuse all our family and friends by naming most of the organs in the body. :)

 While looking at Bobby the Body, I had Sidekick draw in his own interpretation of our body parts. After convincing him they couldn't all be green (his favorite color) his rendition is pretty spot on and adorable. (I love the little line connecting the lungs.)

 One of the best things about homeschooling is the comfort level. Pajamas are completely acceptable and cuddling on the couch for lessons is totally normal. 

Sidekick wanted play dough. So here he is, making his own! This is another rule for myself. Let him in the kitchen and actually participate with some of the scary stuff. Under a lot of supervision on this one, of course! 

There you have it! Another week (a month in the past) of fun and learning. I will continue to try and catch up on these posts as we continue through our school year. 

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon!

Year Three: Week One: We Are Back At It Again!

I’m trying to do the best I can. I’m not concerned with tomorrow, but with what goes on today.

-Mark Spitz

Hello there! After a few months off, I have been able to prepare myself for another year of homeschooling my sidekick. I was going to take the year off, honestly. We had him in a part-day preschool, but for the cost vs. what they were teaching him, it was more like glorified daycare. While he loved going to school, I knew I could progress his learning more at home. So we joined a gym with a great kids program and signed him up for soccer. He still gets interactions and play time with kids his own age, I get to work out (yes, I'm still trying to be a runner), and we get to learn in the comfort of our home (and pj's), together. 

Take a peek into our new year!

We don't have a working printer at the moment. Which forces me to be a little creative with some of the activities I have planned. Case and point, drawing lines for him to work on his handwriting. He wrote the whole alphabet on his own. The hardest part was letting him do it all on his own but, I want a base reference for how he progresses throughout our school year. Now that he's written them all out, I can help him become more confident in his writing and lend a helping hand until the motions become comfortable.

He's just about to outgrow this table! Ugh! I love this table and chair set. It's perfect for him to eat, play, and have some good independent time. When we aren't using it for school, I keep colors, paper, color books and stickers so he can play whenever he wants or when we need some quiet time. :)

We are adding geography this year! I signed him up for Little Passports, where he will get a box every month and learn about a different country. We just received our first box and he's already reciting all the countries. He's also insistent on our return to Europe, which breaks my heart because I would LOVE to go back too.

Anyway! I found a great pack of cards with the 50 states and a state map for him to color as we learn about the country that we currently live in.

Week one's theme is always "All About Me" and reviewing what he knows. Again, no printer so I am without an adorable "All About Me" worksheet like those I have pinned on my Homeschooling Pinterest board. Sigh. Luckily, he doesn't really care and I am happy enough to use his journal. 

My four year-old sidekick loves numbers. Which has turned into a love for math. I do hope this love sticks around because his dad and I are not math lovers. He solved all these problems (using my fingers) on his own. Some of which, did not require finger counting... he's a little scary sometimes with the information he knows and retains.

 Traveling. While it makes our schooling hard, it is always worth it. We got time with our best friends so I repeat: always worth it. We spent one morning at a science museum where the boys got to pan for jewels and dig for fossils. They even got to keep their finds! It was a good day.

Our reason for this particular adventure was for my first half marathon! 2 hours and 21 minutes later, I sure felt like I earned this medal. I was lucky enough to have had a great friend to run with and her wonderful mother to care for my sidekick. 

Those three boys above can cause some trouble, especially stuck spending a morning in a hotel room, but Nana handled them lovingly and it was one less thing to worry about as we ran for what felt like forever. 

Traveling with him is so much fun! He is the BEST travel buddy. Seriously, I would take him anywhere. Planes, trains, automobiles, any adventure!

I found a Goldfish card pack (same day as the States card pack. It was a good shopping day.) and taught him to play during our flights. While it was hard to not cheat (as you can tell from the picture above!), learning a new game and playing together made the flight even more enjoyable. 

So, there's our first week! Well, technically our first two weeks but, c'est la vie. I still have much to share so check back soon! 

Year Two: Week Fourteen: I Love You S'more

Nobody had ever said that to Bertie before. How about some chocolate? It was not a complex, phrase, but its power, its sheer, overwhelming sense of gift and possibility filled Bertie with awe. Well might more of us say these words to others, and more frequently – how healing would that prove to be. “Look, we’ve had our differences, but how about some chocolate?” Or: “I’m so sorry, how about some chocolate?” Or simply: “Great to see you! How about some chocolate?”

~The Importance of Being Seven (2012)

We went CAMPING! Daddy had to work overnight and Sidekick always misses him so I wanted to come up with something super fun for us to do. I also just wanted to stay home. Ha! So, we went camping.. in the living room. But it was so fun! 

Check it out!

 Sidekick and I made these before school. We cut a banana in half, stuck a chopstick in one end, covered them in yogurt and sprinkles and set them in the freezer. They were so good!

We headed to the library after school and scouted some camping books to read that night. While he was at school, I packed his favorite backpack full of camping goodies. 

{Flashlight, binoculars, map, camera, snacks (nuts and 2 lollipops), shadow puppets, books}

 I even made shadow puppets!

 And a campfire!

 Then it was time to make the tent! Since this was an inside adventure, I took his reading tent and draped a sheet over it. It's quite colorful otherwise and it didn't go with our camping theme at all!

He was {obviously} excited to come over and see it all set up!

Sidekick got to make dinner! It was totally camping friendly. Biscuit Pizzas! We flattened some biscuits, a little bit of oil and some garlic salt sprinkles, then covered them in pizza sauce and cheese. Yum!

No camp-out is complete without s'mores! 

We even "roasted" our mallows!

Then we made messy s'mores and giggled into the night!

 Once our bellies were full, we watched a movie.

Binoculars were put to use, of course.

One more surprise before bed.

Shadow puppets! 

We laughed and made up stories and the little shadow boy fell off the moon... a lot. :)

Then it was time to cuddle in the tent, read our stories, and fall asleep. 

I had planned a nature walk and collage making project but the rain washed that plan away. I think we had a pretty good time! It helped us both miss Daddy a little less for the night although, it would have been much more fun to have him with us! 

See you soon!

Year Two: Week Thirteen: Argh! We's Be Getting Back To School, Matey!

Okay, Minion! You were right! I was…less right!

~Megamind

Well, well, well. It has been a little over a month...again. So sorry guys! I started my Masters, Sidekick's daddy started college as well, so between all that plus our normal craziness, homeschooling got left behind. This post has been ready and waiting for over two weeks! It's taken me this long to just sit at the computer (not doing my own schoolwork) and get it ready for you. 

Take a look:

Set this out for the sidekick. He was quite curious as to what we were making. 

 We practiced his cutting skills. He's getting pretty good!

We made a BOAT! The glue wouldn't hold as planned so, tape was the stand-in. Not as pretty but it worked! 

{I later found it in the toilet because "Someone" was to anxious to wait for bath time}

 Baking soda and water mixture frozen "treasure chests". I couldn't find many things to fit into the little amount of room that the trays has available, so I just made do with some sticking out. Sidekick didn't mind. 

{{Find the idea for this project HERE!}}

 We exploded our treasure chests with vinegar, practiced color mixing and found all the treasures!

 What an adventure!

 I glued some "doubloons" to a piece of paper and hid them under a page in his journal. We had Euro, English coins, even some from Jamaica! 

{{Better representation HERE }}

Then Sidekick (tried) to color over all of them but he was not so amused with this project so he found them and I colored. No big deal, we worked together!  

When in doubt of what to do with your kid, make some cookie dough and let them have some fun! He played with these while I prepped dinner and then was more than happy to sample them for dessert! 

Remember: These ideas and many more can be found on my Pinterest page. I have scoured the internet for more than enough hours collecting pins and ideas for our homeschooling and other random ideas.

Another post is coming right up! Make sure to check it out! See you soon!