Monday, September 15, 2008

What we are doing this year

I am glad you posted (KS) what you ordered. It is nice to see what others find useful, as well as seeing how others go about teaching for the year.
So for this year for liliana this is what we are doing. She is 3 1/2 so it is still mostly 'free' time

Alright so I bought the following book:
"Honey for a child's heart"- It has loads of wonderful time tested suggestions for books/media for various age groups that are available in most libraries. I picked up a similar book (also wonderful), called, "Best of the Best for children", between both of these books, each week I go through them and pick out books/media that I would like to check out that week to use for both my girls. What has been amazing to me (we are on week 3 now) is liliana's response.
So without her knowing it I go around the library and pick a few of these 'treasures' as well as random books i see that look good. Most of the 'treasure' books are old, or classics.
Within 24 hrs of having her new stash she has picked out her favorites for the week and it is always the treasure books that i selected from both of the books i purchased.
Her favorites right now are the Beatrix Potter books. She just loves picking two new ones out each week and will hardly let them out of her sight. Mr. Jeremy Fisher even goes to bed with her (some nights when she is having a hard time sleeping, we give her a wind up flashlight and a few favorite books and she reads in her bed for a bit).
So if anyone knows where I can get the peter rabbit books (complete set) please let me know. Online it is like 80-100$!!!
If any of you ever go into Twice Told tales, if you see it and it is 50$ or cheaper I will pay you to get it for me. We would like to give the set to our girls for Christmas.
Anyway, I am getting off topic. KInd of. I mean. I love that she loves these books that I keep picking out and enjoy a resource like that.
There are a few things we may order from Rainbow and I have been narrowing down some selections. We are still working on a workbook set I bought a few mts ago and we do that 3 days a week, at her request. It includes a bible story/coloring. As well as 5 other skill workbooks. She is really into the whole cutting/pasting, beadmaking or necklace making. She has also started to want to spell everything, in sound and writing. So we do alot of either actual writing (whatever words she chooses) or we use magnet letters to spell words out.
She also started her very first dance class last week. We are fortunate to have a studio here that is cheap enough to afford. Only $15/month for a 30min class once a week. If I told them I could not afford even that she would still be allowed to dance for free. So she really enjoyed that first class.
We meet every friday (right now at a park) with a homeschooling group that we have become close with. We do little field trips with them, like we are going apple picking in a few weeks. We have been to the dairy farm, will be going to the fire station. So that is another resource.
She is still watching her signing time and now enjoys helping Mattie learn how to sign.
We also go by UNE's library once a week, they have some wonderful educational DVD/Video's to check out. LIke right now she watches, The Blue Planet and mostly likes that.
Before I know it the week is full. This is how things are going for us right now.

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