It's only week one into her kindergarten year and already I am doubting myself and whether or not I can really do this. I'm always tired, never have any energy, seem to have lost my ability to organize and plan, and I don't know why? I'm on new medication that has been taking me for a loop, I'm not eating right, I'm not exercising, I'm not getting out of the house, and I'm feeling very overwhelmed. How can I be a good teacher if I'm so tired to even do it? Plus it's not helping that I teach her something and literally 2 seconds later she has no idea what I'm talking about, doesn't matter how many times we go over it, she can't or won't concentrate nor remember what I teach. Maybe I'm just having a bad week and it will get better; plus everyone always says it takes around a year to get used to homeschooling. I am not a quitter by any means but I don't want to sacrifice her education for me not being able to get my shit together. I don't know what to do, mainly cause I don't know why I am feeling bad all the time? Guess I'll just press on and try and pull myself together.
BTW Aurora drew a VERY good picture of a peacock today! So proud of her!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The Day from Hell!
The hubby is at work, the kid is finally in bed, and the day is almost over........THANK YOU! A combination of me still adjusting to my new medication, my husband and I still adjusting to his new night shift schedule, my husband and daughter ticking me off every time I turn around, and numerous things going wrong today don't equal up to a very happy mommy. I wanted this day over from the moment I woke up.
We didn't even start school today until around 3pm and actually didn't finish till around 8pm (it was a little here and a little there). We did art, reading, and math today (I actually had a couple of others things planned but like I said, it was a bad day). She got a wooden stool for Christmas last year and has been dying to paint it ever since so today she finally got to start on it. For reading she and I sat down with the TAG system and read The Cat and the Hat. During the story I told her how important it was to pay attention and listen to the words because that tells the story. I kind of gave her a mini quiz on the book at the end of what it was about and what happened and she actually did really well with the answers (even making some rhyme like the book). Then at bedtime I read her another chapter in Charlotte's Web. We are at the part where Charlotte is getting ready to make her egg sack and Aurora asked what an egg sack is and how Charlotte makes it, so I explained what it looks like and that it is made out of a spider's "silk" used to make webs with; she thought that was pretty cool. And for math we reviewed numbers 0-20. She has 0-11 down but has trouble with the teens and especially number 12 for some reason. So we did some hard studying with some flash cards and countable's and I think I'll be assigning some homework tomorrow on it and over the weekend just to keep it fresh in her memory until she has it.
Well I'm off to take a nice long relaxing bubble bath and let the stress of the day melt away!
We didn't even start school today until around 3pm and actually didn't finish till around 8pm (it was a little here and a little there). We did art, reading, and math today (I actually had a couple of others things planned but like I said, it was a bad day). She got a wooden stool for Christmas last year and has been dying to paint it ever since so today she finally got to start on it. For reading she and I sat down with the TAG system and read The Cat and the Hat. During the story I told her how important it was to pay attention and listen to the words because that tells the story. I kind of gave her a mini quiz on the book at the end of what it was about and what happened and she actually did really well with the answers (even making some rhyme like the book). Then at bedtime I read her another chapter in Charlotte's Web. We are at the part where Charlotte is getting ready to make her egg sack and Aurora asked what an egg sack is and how Charlotte makes it, so I explained what it looks like and that it is made out of a spider's "silk" used to make webs with; she thought that was pretty cool. And for math we reviewed numbers 0-20. She has 0-11 down but has trouble with the teens and especially number 12 for some reason. So we did some hard studying with some flash cards and countable's and I think I'll be assigning some homework tomorrow on it and over the weekend just to keep it fresh in her memory until she has it.
Well I'm off to take a nice long relaxing bubble bath and let the stress of the day melt away!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
First Day of Kindergarten
Well we had our first day of kindergarten today, something I've been waiting to do for a very long time now. It feels really good knowing that I only have one thing to worry about in my life...and that is my daughters education.
Today we did history, science, reading, and writing. For history/social studies we looked at what it means to be a family and the different types of families and she worked on learning her address. For science we discussed the difference between living and non-living things; we watched a video and played a game all online on the subject. For reading I read another chapter in Charlotte's Web to her, she read one of her books using the TAG system and then we briefly reviewed letters A-E just to make sure she still remembered upper and lower case forms, sounds, and a word or two that started with the letter. And finally for writing I just had her write out the letters A-E in both upper and lower case form just to refresh her. We were going to make homemade donuts today for "National Donut Day" but we just didn't have time and we were both very tired. My husband Chad started night shift tonight so we wanted to spend a little time with him before he went to work.
Today we did history, science, reading, and writing. For history/social studies we looked at what it means to be a family and the different types of families and she worked on learning her address. For science we discussed the difference between living and non-living things; we watched a video and played a game all online on the subject. For reading I read another chapter in Charlotte's Web to her, she read one of her books using the TAG system and then we briefly reviewed letters A-E just to make sure she still remembered upper and lower case forms, sounds, and a word or two that started with the letter. And finally for writing I just had her write out the letters A-E in both upper and lower case form just to refresh her. We were going to make homemade donuts today for "National Donut Day" but we just didn't have time and we were both very tired. My husband Chad started night shift tonight so we wanted to spend a little time with him before he went to work.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
I am finally a college graduate!!
As of May 14th I became the proud owner of an associates degree in applied science in Emergency Preparedness Technology!! Yes I am officially done with school..... now its time to focus on my daughter in full!
Ever since school ended I have been in plan mode for all her lessons. We will begin on June 1st with kindergarten material. I actually thought that we would just take the summer and do pre-school review and start kindergarten in the Fall but when I researched all of what is usually taught and learned in pre-school I found that Aurora all ready knew all of it........so I graduated her too! I made up a really cute pre-school certificate and put my graduation cap and gown on her and took a picture of her holding her certificate.
I planned on using Saxon homeschool math K but I just received it today and I don't like it at all. It moves WAY to slow and Aurora already knows half of what is covered. So I will be making all of her lessons from scratch for every subject, which is fine cause I feel like I have more control over what she learns from where and how. And I'm almost done planning all lessons for the first 2 weeks.
She is so excited to start homeschooling; she practically begs me to do it everyday and it really hurts to say no (cause I'm not ready) but I usually give her something small to work on to satisfy her appetite. I'm so lucky to have a daughter that loves to learn......and learn from mommy at that!
Ever since school ended I have been in plan mode for all her lessons. We will begin on June 1st with kindergarten material. I actually thought that we would just take the summer and do pre-school review and start kindergarten in the Fall but when I researched all of what is usually taught and learned in pre-school I found that Aurora all ready knew all of it........so I graduated her too! I made up a really cute pre-school certificate and put my graduation cap and gown on her and took a picture of her holding her certificate.
I planned on using Saxon homeschool math K but I just received it today and I don't like it at all. It moves WAY to slow and Aurora already knows half of what is covered. So I will be making all of her lessons from scratch for every subject, which is fine cause I feel like I have more control over what she learns from where and how. And I'm almost done planning all lessons for the first 2 weeks.
She is so excited to start homeschooling; she practically begs me to do it everyday and it really hurts to say no (cause I'm not ready) but I usually give her something small to work on to satisfy her appetite. I'm so lucky to have a daughter that loves to learn......and learn from mommy at that!
Monday, November 16, 2009
But mom, I want to do art!
So I have heard that now for about 4 days straight and it is getting on my nerves. But yeah, I get it, she is really getting into coloring (and getting very good at it BTW), finger painting, and using her new talent......scissors!
Ever since we started the letter books she loves to cut paper, and she colors something at least once a day (fridge is FULL!). But I'm also trying to get her to understand that school is not always about art and that we have to learn about our letters and numbers and lots of other really great stuff.
So I have been trying to combine the two; we learn numbers and letters and add art to the mix. When she is learning her letters we do the books and color pictures that start with that particular letter. With numbers........well I'm still working on that one! And for right now that is all we are really concentrating on because due to my schooling she is a little behind on those things and I want to get her caught up before I go back in the Spring and she gets put on pause once more.
Today we learned the letter H and she came up with 4 words all on her own that started with that letter...(Horse, Helicopter, Heat, and Hug). She also did really well on the letter's F and G last week. She came up with 10 words for the letter F all by herself!
We also read two chapters of Charlotte's web again and a book on Thanksgiving. We went over numbers 11 through 20 (I'm trying to get her to recognize them). Tomorrow we are going to the library for story time!
Ever since we started the letter books she loves to cut paper, and she colors something at least once a day (fridge is FULL!). But I'm also trying to get her to understand that school is not always about art and that we have to learn about our letters and numbers and lots of other really great stuff.
So I have been trying to combine the two; we learn numbers and letters and add art to the mix. When she is learning her letters we do the books and color pictures that start with that particular letter. With numbers........well I'm still working on that one! And for right now that is all we are really concentrating on because due to my schooling she is a little behind on those things and I want to get her caught up before I go back in the Spring and she gets put on pause once more.
Today we learned the letter H and she came up with 4 words all on her own that started with that letter...(Horse, Helicopter, Heat, and Hug). She also did really well on the letter's F and G last week. She came up with 10 words for the letter F all by herself!
We also read two chapters of Charlotte's web again and a book on Thanksgiving. We went over numbers 11 through 20 (I'm trying to get her to recognize them). Tomorrow we are going to the library for story time!
Monday, November 9, 2009
My Fall Internship is Finally Over!
Oh and how so happy I am that I do not have to get up early in the morning anymore and go to work (at least till Spring). My internships are required for me to graduate and I have one more to do in the Spring and an online class; then I will be 100% done with school!!!
Which means...... no more interruptions in Aurora's schooling!!!
I started homeschooling Aurora again today and will keep going till January 6th when I will start my other internship and class, then unfortunately it will be put on hold once more till I graduate.
Now, for today's lessons with Aurora. She did really, really well today! She has been acting up a lot lately, coming into her own, and bringing along an attitude with her so I sat down with her and told her about the new "reward system" I was putting into play starting today. Basically I have plastic coins (got from Oriental Trading) and she gets 1 coin when she is caught being good (listening, helping around the house, sharing, being nice to the pets, etc) and get coins taken away for being "bad" (the opposite of everything above). It's working out great so far, she has already earned 3 coins today and had none taken away!
As far as actual schooling we had a very productive day reviewing the letters A-E and starting the letter F. She came up with at least 10 words that start with the letter F all by herself. Then she did a small project finding and cutting out upper and lowercase A's and B's out of old magazines (recycling) to put in a little book using part of a file folder that I had to cut up during my internship and brought the extra pieces home with me (also recycling). She learned how to spot the letters and how to use scissors and a glue stick.
Then after that we had lunch. She then practiced writing uppercase and lowercase F's. Then came the part she had been waiting for all day.... adding with candy corn (hence why I waited till after lunch for this). She did very well adding candy corn and learning the plus and equal signs.
After all this we were done but she said she wanted to play with some play-doh so she did. Then around 4pm she said she wanted to do more school!!! I so love that!!! So she sat down and started cutting out the letters C and D for another little book. Now she has ballet practice.
Tomorrow were going to Barnes and Noble for reading time!
Which means...... no more interruptions in Aurora's schooling!!!
I started homeschooling Aurora again today and will keep going till January 6th when I will start my other internship and class, then unfortunately it will be put on hold once more till I graduate.
Now, for today's lessons with Aurora. She did really, really well today! She has been acting up a lot lately, coming into her own, and bringing along an attitude with her so I sat down with her and told her about the new "reward system" I was putting into play starting today. Basically I have plastic coins (got from Oriental Trading) and she gets 1 coin when she is caught being good (listening, helping around the house, sharing, being nice to the pets, etc) and get coins taken away for being "bad" (the opposite of everything above). It's working out great so far, she has already earned 3 coins today and had none taken away!
As far as actual schooling we had a very productive day reviewing the letters A-E and starting the letter F. She came up with at least 10 words that start with the letter F all by herself. Then she did a small project finding and cutting out upper and lowercase A's and B's out of old magazines (recycling) to put in a little book using part of a file folder that I had to cut up during my internship and brought the extra pieces home with me (also recycling). She learned how to spot the letters and how to use scissors and a glue stick.
Then after that we had lunch. She then practiced writing uppercase and lowercase F's. Then came the part she had been waiting for all day.... adding with candy corn (hence why I waited till after lunch for this). She did very well adding candy corn and learning the plus and equal signs.
After all this we were done but she said she wanted to play with some play-doh so she did. Then around 4pm she said she wanted to do more school!!! I so love that!!! So she sat down and started cutting out the letters C and D for another little book. Now she has ballet practice.
Tomorrow were going to Barnes and Noble for reading time!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Sooo Tired
Just to make this real quick we did art and history today. With art we talked about painting, looked at some painting and talked about them and then we painted little wooden pieces. She did a wonderful job on her tiny bird house.
And for history I taught her what a globe and a map means. Also, I taught her that there are 7 continents and 4 oceans plus the names of all. We also pointed out what country we live in and the state. She was really antsy during this lesson so I'm not 100% of the amount learned but we'll be reviewing on Thursday too, so we will see.
I also read to her alittle and went over again the days of the week.
And for history I taught her what a globe and a map means. Also, I taught her that there are 7 continents and 4 oceans plus the names of all. We also pointed out what country we live in and the state. She was really antsy during this lesson so I'm not 100% of the amount learned but we'll be reviewing on Thursday too, so we will see.
I also read to her alittle and went over again the days of the week.
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