Skip Counting

Homeschool Creations has some great skip counting charts that I plan on incorporating into our routine very soon.  They cover the numbers from 2-12 and begin with a cute little rhyme.

Free Passes to Bay Area Museums

If you have an Alameda County Library card you should soon be able to access free passes online to many museums and cultural institutions in the area.  The program is called "Discover and Go."

To learn more about this program go to www.aclibrary.org/discover.










Here is a list of participating destinations:

Aquarium of the Bay

Asian Art Museum

Bay Area Discovery Museum

Bedford Gallery

California Historical Society

Cartoon Art Museum

Charles M. Schultz Museum

Contemporary Jewish Museum

Exploratorium

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

Marine Mammal Center (discount only)

Museum of Children’s Art

Museum of Craft and Folk Art

Oakland Museum

Oakland Zoo

Pacific Pinball Museum

San Jose Museum of Art

Tech Museum of Innovation (discount only)

USS Hornet

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Totally Honest Monday

It is a little after 9:30am.  Katie did her dot to dot, colored it and enjoyed doing it. I gave her and JD (3 year old son) oatmeal.  Then I had Katie do a little work out of her math book.  She had to write 6 numbers in the 40's and that was definitely enough for her. (She'd already been through learning to write her numbers with KUMON math.) She then wrote the names of some characters in her math book to match them with the correct bag but this was like pulling teeth.  She gets angry, frustrated when I correct her in how to properly hold her pencil. So after this I asked her if she wanted some fruit.  She said yes, with yogurt.  So I was cutting up her fruit, JD was asking for help putting crayons away and the baby was crying.  I gave Katie her bowl of fruit and said I wasn't giving her yogurt right now. (I was going to go get the baby.)  She said, then I'm not eating.  I lost a little of my cool and raised my voice to her telling her I didn't like her talking to me like that.  Then she cried.  This is not quite how I hoped today would go and it is not quite 10am. 

Our day turned around after this (thankfully).  We went outside, planted some flowers, watered, played, had lunch, played starfall and then did the scavenger hunt.  The scavenger hunt was definitely a hit and I plan to do this again soon.  It is such a great way to get your young reader to read.  I'm thinking I'll incorporate some of her newer hooked on phonics words the next time.

Yep.  I lose my patience sometimes.  That's why I'm thankful I can rely on God. I need to think on these verses:  

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”   

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." 

James 1:20:22 "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." 

Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. " 

Learning about coins game

Penny, Nickel, Dime
Kindergarten-Grade 1

This game came from the US department of Education website. 

What You Need

• Die
• Pennies, nickels, dimes

What to Do
This is a good game to play with the family.

• Have each player roll the die and say the number. Then give the player that number of pennies. Explain that each penny is worth one cent.
• When a player gets five pennies, replace the pennies with a nickel. Explain that five pennies have the same value as one nickel—that is, five cents. When she gets five more pennies, replace the pennies and the nickel with a dime. Help her to see that the value of five pennies plus the value of a nickel (five cents) equals 10 cents, which is the value of a dime.
• The first player to reach a set amount—25 or 50 cents, for example—wins.

1st day of "official" Homeschooling

It is crazy but tomorrow is my "official" first day of homeschooling my almost 5 year old daughter.  I've been homeschooling her since she was born. She knows how to read and is in the 2nd grade level of hooked on phonics.  I've teamed up with a charter school to home school for kindergarten in order to get a little help with money for materials and curriculum.  I learned about doing this from a friend.  It is pretty cool.  Basically once you are accepted to the school an educational specialist comes to visit you about once every 20 school days.  They check on your progress and are there to offer support and answer questions.  Plus you get $800 to spend on curriculum and resources including activities such as gymnastics, art, dance, swimming and even horseback riding if you choose to spend your stipend this way.  Anyway tomorrow is my daughter's first "official" day of kindergarten and I am her teacher.  It is funny because I feel some of the same butterflies I felt before the first day of school each year that I taught high school Spanish. So far I have the following planned:

1) ABC Dot to Dot flower
2) Learning About Coins Game
3) Scavenger hunt for snacks.  My daughter will read each clue and at the end find her snack.  Here are the clues if you are interested:

- Go to the place where you take a bath.


- The next clue is in your room under the place you lay your head.


- Good job!  Now go the the room where you eat and find the wall with words.


- Open the door under the t.v. to find your next clue.


- Way to go!  Now go find your snack under the place that you eat.

A couple of the resources I'm considering taking advantage of through the charter school are the five in a row curriculum, (Here's a good resource to go along with FIAR) right start math and swim lessons.