Ready for Kindergarten

We finally decided on our curriculum for Alli's Kindergarten year of school. I've been working with her a good portion of the last 6 months on a computer based curriculum for Math and Reading called Funnix. Alli is already able to count to 50 and do simple addition and subtraction. Her reading was also coming along but this has been more of a struggle for her. We had considered going with a LDS based curriculum but they did not have a formal kindergarten curriculum. This had made us consider skipping kindergarten all together (since I had already been working with her for 1 1/2 years).In all honesty she had already learned at least half of the concepts usually covered in kindergarten and might have done well in a 1st grade level math and reading but I felt like it was unfair to rush her and make her first year anything but fun. I want learning to be a joy for her. So I researched some curriculum and here's what we are going to try for our first year

We chose Horizons for both Math and Phonics/Reading. The Phonics/Reading came with 4 workbooks and 4 readers. The math came with 2 workbooks. Comments on this program were mixed. The negative comments were due to concerns that the program moved too quickly but said if your child was advanced in this subject that they would do well. I felt like this was a good fit for Alli especially in math, since we were further ahead in this area. The other thing I like about these two programs is that the lesson plans are already completed for me. I didn't want to have to spend hours as a teacher every night planning a lesson for the next day. I want to be able to enjoy this process or it just isn't worth it.

We chose this workbook from Abeka to help supplement our discussions about community, community helpers, intro to our country and other countries and cultures around the world.

Also from Abeka, this is a book full of art projects that will help when we discuss holidays, seasons and cultures.

Again from Abeka, this book helps develop early skills through mazes, directed art pages, graphs, sequencing, and other activities for writing skills, eye-hand coordination, visual perception, listening and thinking skills, and good character.

This is my favorite part of the curriculum. Alli's Science was purchased through Sonlight. I WISH we had liked the whole program because I like how they set up their courses. One of the big things Sonlight likes to do is teach students through literature instead of just one big textbook. This was great for science but I didn't like how they applied it for the teaching of phonics, reading and history. They taught history through historical fiction reader books and books that followed missionaries through different countries. This just wasn't the route I wanted to go. So we decided to buy the science core separate I love it.

The manual has the lessons sectioned by week and the lesson plans are already laid out for me. The lesson is never overwhelming for parent or child and the lesson is supplemented by the books below. Alli already loves to sit and look through the books. There are also weekly experiments with supplies that were provided with the class.

We moved this bookcase out of Ethan's old room and turned it into our homeschool area. It holds all of our Magic Tree house, My Baby Can Read and LeapFrog reader books on the bottom. Alli's school books and supplies on the top shelf and a basket full of flash cards and learning games that I have collected over the years on top.

Could he have any more crap in his bed??

Water and Sand

Alli has been begging to go to the beach. Our schedule being what it is, that is impossible to accomplish. So we will settle for a little water and sand play. Welcome to summer.

For the love of mowers...

The kids have become obsessed with mowers and look for every opportunity to go along for a ride.

New Room Arrangement

Ever since January of 2013, we've been trying to figure out a way to get Alli sleeping back in her room. She had developed a fear of being alone and there was nothing we could say to convince her that her room was safe without us in it. We used to be able to read a few books, sing a few songs, say prayers, kiss her goodnight and leave the room. After her fear developed, we had to stay in her room with her until she fell asleep or she would panic. This could take up to an hour or more. Then Kara turned us on to the Magic Tree House book series that we used to help relax her into falling asleep sooner. This helped reduce our time getting her in bed to about 30 minutes. This has gone on for months.

Even with reading her to sleep, she continued to wake up in the middle of the night somewhere after midnight and there was no coaxing her back to bed without reading or sitting with her. So for some time she has been falling back to sleep in our room on an old crib mattress. No fun right?!? I had finally had enough of losing my entire free time at night to a bedtime routine. So against what I WANTED to do, we began letting her fall asleep in our room because at least in our room she felt safe enough to fall asleep without us having to be in there.

The problem got worse when Alli began waking early to make sure she didn't miss seeing Ben before he left for work. So even on Saturday's Alli has been waking us before 7.....Saturday I had finally had enough. We had discussed potentially moving the kids in the same room together so that she wouldn't be alone but she panicked over the idea of the door being shut, even though Ethan would be with her. But I said forget it and said we're doing this regardless.

We pumped it up all day. She got to pick where the beds went and have "control" over the situation. We have also previously promised her that if she gets back into her room that we will let her pick out a bed frame for her room (right now all she has are a mattress and box springs). So with the excitement of being with Ethan and getting to get a new bed if she makes this a new habit, she was pumped and ready to go... FINALLY!

 The bedroom makes me happy. Alli and Ethan both have their own side and everything is neat and clean.

 The playroom is Ethan's old room. It was the smaller of the two rooms but perfect for all their toys. I like the idea of all the mess staying in one room....or at least that's wishful thinking for my OCD.

The first night was too precious not to share. Last night once we had the kids ready to be tucked in, Alli began to show signs of panicking. She wanted the lamp to be left on. I was worried this would keep Ethan awake so I told her that we were going to turn the lamp off and just sit in the room until our eyes adjusted to the light and so she could see just how much light her two night lights were going to give her. So we sat on the floor with her in my lap and I tried to control her breathing. Ethan got jealous and wanted to sit with me. So he jumped on my lap behind Alli. I took the opportunity to use Ethan to help Alli. I told him to tell her it was ok. He put his arms around her like I was, leaned down beside her face and said, "It ok Alli." Shortly after that, Alli was ready to give it a try.

With everyone tucked in and told good night, we left and hoped for the best. I could hear Alli on the monitor telling herself, "I can do it, I can do it." She then began to speak with Ethan telling him that she was going to be with him tonight and that they were going to be ok.

We are so proud of her. It took them a while to fall asleep because Ethan had to adjust to having someone to "Talk to" in his room. He kept bothering Alli and telling her to wake up. Once asleep, Alli did wake once scared at 4 in the morning but Ben was able to calm her and get both her and Ethan to go back to sleep. Overall, the new arrangement is a success, for all involved!

Under Contract

After a lot of frustration, our house is officially under contract and we will be closing July 19th pending a good inspection and appraisal. We would have moved on at this point to start looking into building our home but with the interest rates on the rise we're not sure we want to wait to get our land surveyed, perked, appraised and then wait for 60-120 of the actual build process. Winchester also doesn't have much in the way of rental properties as there are no apartment complexes. So rental homes go very quickly. So instead we are going to try to go look for a home to buy. We needed this all to work out in this time frame because we have set a projected start date for the business on September 1st and we need to be in town to get everything ready at the office.

T-Ball Time

 Alli was so excited for her first T-Ball game. She kept asking us, "Is it time for my team?"

 

 A little silliness before the game.

 I think Alli enjoyed fielding. She stopped one of the balls that was hit to her but she had to fight for a few of the others. A lot of the other girls were more aggressive in running after the ball so Alli expressed some frustration in the girls "getting her balls". I'm sure we can work on that.

 She loved hitting

 but her first time up she ran towards first and never tagged it before she turned around for home! We had a lot of laughs.

 On her next at bat, she made it to 1st

  And then finally all the way around!

 

Alli loved seeing so much of the family there. Thanks for those who were able to make it. I was a little worried about how well she would do with us on the bleachers while she was left in the dugout. I tried to prep her before hand. She didn't sound excited about it but she's really been looking forward to us being able to cheer for us so I explained we couldn't be in the stands cheering for her if we were with her in the dugout or on the field. So she knew up front she needed to stay with her team. Ben stood behind her in the dugout early in the game to make sure she was ok. She then pushed Ben's hand off the fence and says "dad I'm ok. I'm not scared. You can leave." She's growing up. It's fun to watch! Love her.