I don’t know how I’ve missed this…but we have found the Breyer Stablemates books and Petra is in love with Penny. And I know I have seen the toys in the store, but it wasn’t until just now that I made the connection between the books and the toys.
These early readers are perfect for little girls. The story is always about a young girl and a horse. To make things even better, Penny is about a young princess and a Shetland pony. Petra fell in love the first time it was in her hands. She started reading and she refused to stop reading until she finished. The next day she read it all again. And the next.
To top things off when we were in the mountains about a week ago, we saw a beautiful Shetland pony at the first farm we visited. Oh, she was thrilled.
We returned it to the library. I felt so bad for her. I can easily say this is her first favorite book (one that she can read to herself). So of course we ordered it online, and many more to go with it from the series. I can’t wait for their arrival.
First let me say I’m not a fan of computer games, programs, or videos for young children. Honestly, I just think a good book is the best way to start a young child. I checked out a few handheld devices as possible Christmas gifts this past year; I was appalled. After watching a fairy apply lipstick – the item went quickly back on the shelf. Not really the sort of image I want instilled in my young daughter’s mind. Trust me she needs no encouragement with makeup.
However, I have been searching for apps to use on our phone – something that I find educational, and the children will enjoy. Over the last few months I’ve looked for science apps, geography apps, french apps, and honestly I’ve not been impressed with what I’ve seen.
But I have been very impressed with a little game called Teach Me: Kindergarten.
Teach Me: Kindergarten (also comes in preschool, 1st grade, and other levels) covers basic sight words, spelling (beginning sounds), addition, and subtraction. The program provides hints and helps them if they have trouble.
I really like the way it introduced my children to subtraction. Before playing this program we had never done any subtraction with the children. As each of the my children first started this app I explained subtraction in a very basic way. No further help was needed because the game provides help along the way. For subtraction the game provides a waste basket where the child can throw away the subtrahend and then count up the difference. If a child forgets to count the difference, the game reminds them to do so.
The spelling questions test a child’s ability to recognize beginning letter sounds and select the correct letter. And the Dolce Sight words simply asks the child to choose the correct word.
I was most impressed with the overall design of the program. Up to 4 children can play; each with a separate account. In addition, the program tracks each child’s progress and as they progress they receive a “star” and move up to the next level. You can see on the picture below that Jasper is on Level 3 in addition, Level 2 in subtraction, Level 2 in spelling, and Level 1 in sight words. And I love to hear the encouragement it gives the child. Jasper’s face lit up the first week every time he heard it say “Good Work” or “Nice job, keep it up.”
To keep things fun, the children earn one coin for every three correct answers. And then they can take those coins and buy stickers to put on a virtual screen, or even to buy fish and other supplies for a virtual fishtank. My kiddos had no trouble saving up 10 coins to buy the fancy fish. And feeding the fish is always fun.
After about 2 months of use, and at a low cost of just 99 cents on my iphone, I can say this app is the best I’ve seen yet. I would readily recommend to other parents.
I’d be interested if any of you had any app recommendations?
Our last day in the Smoky Mountains was Saturday and was spent: in the morning hiking to Laurel Falls and in the afternoon visiting a local family homestead.
My sister Lynn and her son Gabriel joined us for the day of adventure.
Although the head of Laurel Falls Trail was just about 12 miles down the road, the trip was quite lengthy because almost 7 of those miles was down a dirt road in the Natahala National Forest. It ended up taking about 40 minutes to drive there.
The trail hike was a little muddy for the small feet and legs in our group, but we all managed. And once we got to the falls it was tricky to get close, especially with young children. Jasper tired out on this hike. He was ready to be carried on the way back. And the baby loved the sights. She waited until after we saw everything before she passed out. It was enjoyable, but I definitely prefered Rufus Morgan Falls. If you only have time to see one of the falls in this area, go to Rufus Morgan.
After some lunch we headed to a local home to see the animals they raise for meat. There were turkeys, chickens, ducks, sheep, and cows. Just recently they had purchased two baby calves that they will raise until the fall for beef. We all had the opportunity to feed the calves some raw cow’s milk. It was really a treat and I was thankful it worked out that it was feeding time while we were there. Even our 1-year-old foster son loved it. He stood there for 5-10 mintues feeding that calf. We can’t say thank you enough to our friend that arranged the visit, and the family that opened their home to us that afternoon. Thank you!
We are back home now in Florida. I think my children will always connect in their minds the Smoky Mountains with farms, hikes, and waterfalls….but I know they had a good time. They told me last night how glad they were to go, and also how thankful they are to be home.
Oh, and two more quick comments about the photos you are about to see. My sister made that adorable baby hat – I love it! And Thomas didn’t really stack those rocks, they were there when we arrived. =) He was trying to be funny.
We had a blast hiking to Rufus Morgan Falls on Friday. Starting out was a little tricky–a search for the road name had no result on our iphone map–but using a map in a book I bought on NC waterfalls more than a decade ago in a used bookstore (North Carolina Waterfalls) we made it without a wrong turn. The Rufus Morgan Trail is located off of Forest Service Road 388 (2 miles down a gravel road) in the Natahala National Forest.
The hike to the falls is a total of .5 mile, and not that difficult. There are several rocky places that have to be crossed, mostly stones across a river, but even Jasper and Petra (who are 3 and 4 years old, respectively) made it up and down the trail without a hitch. We had to hold Jasper’s hand at a couple areas, but that had to do more with the length of his legs than anything. Admittedly, our children are a little bit more “active/hyper” than most children, but in general I would expect any child over the age of four could make it safely without complaint. And Thomas carried our 1 year old up the mountain, while our 3 month old stayed with grandma at the house.
The falls are absolutely beautiful. The first cascading falls looks much like a water slide flowing about 30 foot down a rock, but the main falls cascades over 70 feet down. The trail takes you right to the edge of the falls. We all loved it. Even our 1-year-old was whooping and hollering over the sights on the hike. It was well worth the trip and time. It was so well enjoyed by all, there was not even the slightest complaint from any of our three young children. And the next day there was a request by all for more hikes and waterfalls.
We traveled north to Robbinsville, NC to visit Yellow Branch Pottery and Cheese. This is a fabulous, small pottery store. The owner gave our family a pottery demonstration; the children had never seen anything like it. Then we traveled up the road a short way for a visit with the cows and calves. The 2 month old bull was adorable. Thomas and I were full of questions about homesteading and the owners were very kind and spent time answering our many, random questions. If you stop by be sure to try the basil cheese – I love it.
For lunch we were thrilled to find a Bojangles in Bryson City. Oh, how we miss Bojangles living in Florida. And then we hit a nice, large park for the kids in Franklin later that day.
We enjoyed our first full day in Franklin, NC by visiting a small local farm that had a herd of goats. We were especially excited about seeing a several kids, including one that was just 2 days old. It was so very nice of the owner to open her doors for a small personal tour just for us. The children also LOVED the shetland pony. And we saw a cute baby rabbit. But the best part was watching two baby kids call for their mama – and see their mama come running for them. It really hit home with the children just how important mama’s are to all animals.
We are just now at a point where I would say the children have a curriculum for homeschooling. I’m fortunate enough to have the mornings available over the next few months to really enjoy homeschooling Petra and Jasper. At nearly 4.5 and 3.5 years old, they are right around a late preschool-1st grade level. We start the day with prayer, the pledge of allegiance, and then move into our schoolwork. Free play and time outdoors is peppered in between some activities to give me time to pull the next lesson together if needed. Here is the curriculum we are using. And while this is a lenghtly list, with this age it doesn’t take long. We may spend just 10-15 minutes on each activity. We are easily done by lunch time. And some of these activities are accomplished at the table or in the evenings. I’ve marked them as such.
Story Activities – Story Stretchers, Five in a Row (daily)
Daily I read a children’s story and then we complete a corresponding activity. Activity suggestions are easy to find in Five in a Row, Story Stretchers, or similar books. I love the way these books meld together learning with a children’s book. It is perfect for this young age group. This week for instance we read Blueberries for Sal and then got our buckets and some “pretend” blueberries (which was really cereal squares) and worked on math skills. The children loved they were able to eat the food when they answered the question correctly.
Narration / Reading (3x weekly)
Petra is reading independently and completing a narration page. The page requires her to write the date, title of the book, and author. Then I write down her narration of the story. Afterwards there is a small space for her to draw a picture of the story. We just started these; I’ll post her first narration in the next week. I was very pleased with how well she did.
Reading Lessons (3-4x weekly)
I love the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and will continue using it over the next year with Petra. She is currently on lesson 133 – we have slowed down drastically over the last few months. At one point it was lost under a bed, so that had largely to do with it. But it seems that many lessons we come to now she already has learned some other place. Jasper is not quite ready for this book. He seems to be doing much better with hands-on activities. So while we are very slowly moving through the first few reading lessons with him, I’m doing it through some hands on activities that I create. In addition, Petra is picking up books all the time and getting a ton of reading practice. She stops to read many times through the day, takes books to read in the car, and reads to the babies some each day. She is currently on Level 3 readers.
Handwriting (daily)
Jasper is learning pencil control by tracing letters (often with dry erase markers) and completing Kumon mazes. He is getting much better. With Petra we are focusing on ensuring she knows the correct way to write each letter on lined paper. She is almost complete with her Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K book. And we are just going back through all the letters again.
Spelling (2-3x weekly)
We will be starting All About Spelling next week and I super excited about it. I know she is going to breeze through the first half of the book, but I’m excited about the basic understanding we will be able to ensure she demonstrates.
Vocabulary (daily)
Three words go up on the chalk board weekly that Thomas and I will used throughout the week. These are usually more complicated words and we will go out of our way to use in every possible way. This week expect to see: remorse, animated, and clamor. I’ll also review the definition of the words with the children, but the most important part of this lesson is just that they are used everyday in casual conversation. For a list of words to consider check out this online list.
Verse of the Week (daily)
We are using the Charlotte Mason guide for scripture memorization and love it. We daily review verses the children have already learned, and they are all stored in a handy box that sits on our table. This way we can do it at meal time and it doesn’t get missed. Most recently the children learned Psalm 100. We will be working on several other passages over the next year. Currently we plan on tackling: Matthew 6:5-15, Exodus 2:1-17, and I John 4:7-21.
Bible (daily)
We read Bible stories, with questions and answers after breakfast in the morning. This seems to be the best time. We are all in one place and it makes sure it gets done. I have a few favorite Bible story books, but we are also working through Leading Little Ones to God.
Physical Education (daily)
Exercise is clearly shown to help children perform better at school work. While there is plenty of play time each day, and then they each of them sports – during the school days we also add in some physical exercise. Mainly activities you would expect to see at Cross Fit Kids. If they start getting ansy in their seats, or if I know I’m going to need their thinking caps on, we jump up and work on squats, burpees, pushups, handstands, or some other little combos to get their hearts racing and blood pumping. And of course I do it with them…if I can…this is not one of those things I can do with them.
Here’s a short clip of them “skinning the cat” on the swings. They thought of this idea all by themselves – I usually just have them use the rings.
Math (2-3 a week)
Petra has been working through Singapore K math this past year. She finds some of it confusing. We have actually decided to hold back some on math until they are a little older. We do some basic: more than, less than, bigger than, ordinals, sets, matching, counting by tens and fives, basic fractions, basic addition, but we aren’t pursuing it heavily. Jasper understands it all, but his handwriting isn’t as advanced as Petra’s – so it makes it more difficult to do math. We work with manipulatives though about 2-3 times a week. And actually they have learned more about addition and subtraction with the app Teach Me:Kindergarten. We love this app!!
History / Geography (2-3x a week)
I don’t have a set curriculum for history and geography. Right now we are working on learning about maps and different continents. I’m using a Big Book of the World that I found at the Goodwill Bookstore a few years ago. And then we also have the Usborne Lift the Flap Picture Atlas that we look at – but I’m not real crazy about it. For history we are reading historical books – yesterday for instance we read a book on Davy Crockett.
Science (2-3x a week)
There are so many great science books for children. We use the Learn to Read Science Series, Mudpies to Magnets, and I recently found Raindrops and Rainbows that has been a lot of fun for us. This is one of my favorite activities with the children and they love it.
French (2-3x a week)
I would love a preschooler’s – elementary french curriculum for our children – for parents who don’t know french. But we are slowly learning together. We have found a few library books we like, and a few internet resources.
Art (once a week)
I’m attempting to do some “art” lessons with the children once a week. Honestly, this as not been something they have expressed interest it. They like cutting and pasting – and we have done this up to this point. Plus they have crafts at church twice a week. We aren’t working through any curriculum at this point. I would love an art book for young children – and just haven’t found one or bought it.
Music
The children have a music class once a week at church each week. They love it, and it has done wonders for them. We sing hymns together as a family as part of a bible/devotions. And I’m slowly teaching Petra piano using Music for Little Mozarts. She usually practices in the evening – with a goal of three times a week.
And that’s it. Its really not all that much since we work on learning through the day.
If you are looking for a Christian book to explain Easter to your toddler, The Story of Easter by Patricia Pingry and illustrated by Lorraine Wells may be a good starting point. The story presents a very basic presentation of Easter. The main points gathered from reading the book to my preschoolers were: 1) Easter occurs in the spring, 2) Jesus died on the cross, 3) we celebrate Easter because Jesus lives again, and 4) Jesus gave his life for us so that we can live too.
The illustrations are pretty and the text is simple enough for a toddler. However, if you are concerned about talking or introducing your child to death you may want to reconsider the book. The book clearly relates that some men did not like Jesus and that they put him on a cross to die.
I found the book too simplified for my three- and four-year-old. It introduces some very basic concepts but doesn’t explain any key points about salvation or how you live forever. Also, I would have preferred if there was another page that showed the tomb and the stone being placed in front of it. There seemed to be a gap in this place of the book.
Overall, its a suitable book to help young children learn about Easter. I would recommend for two- and three-year-old children.
The children performed their Easter program at church this weekend. Thomas quickly escorted Jasper off the stage for his antics. He was snatching Petra’s Easter hat …. and while it was all cute and funny, Petra takes her performances seriously and we didn’t want him to ruin it for her.
The children performed about six or seven songs, all with hand motions, and some even with foot motions. It was awesome to see our daughter perform. She shines in front of a crowd, and has no fear of audiences – in fact it is what she likes and thrives on. I’m not sure what to say about it. A couple at church did say afterwards she reminds them of a friend’s daughter that now performs on broadway; it will be interesting to see how she develops in this area.
This summer we will be enrolling her for week in young actors camp. I think she is going to love it.
But most importantly, I’m so thankful for the ladies that teach these songs and movements to my children each week. Music is not only enjoyable, but incredibly important in the lives of young children. I’m so thankful for the ladies in our church that take the time each week to offer this wonderful resource to our family.
Fostering My Family 