tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88017805184834975172024-03-12T21:15:29.190-07:00BRIDGET'S MOMPeggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-81857334795606756052013-09-12T12:28:00.000-07:002013-09-12T12:28:42.498-07:00World's Greatest Artists curriculumWeek two? Check! And oh how much better than last year. We even finished early this week and no homework for the 2nd grader, which is amazing because she almost never completes her math on time.<br />
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I think the two main reasons this year is better (so far) is that Bridget is almost seven years old and I have a clear plan of what we are doing. This year I wanted to include a curriculum on art and was delighted when I found Erica's unit study on the World's Greatest Artists. You can find it on her site: <a href="http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/arts-crafts">http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/arts-crafts</a>.<br />
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I did have to find the <em>World's Greatest Artist Series</em> by Mike Venezia though. Our library has some and others I managed to purchase from B&N or Amazon. My daughter loves them. Erica's suggestion of two lessons per week for 32 weeks worked well into our schedule.<br />
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We are currently on Lesson 4 of Pablo Picasso. The books along with Erica's discussion ideas really get us talking about the artist, his paintings, his use of color, and the styles he incorporated over the years. <br />
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Today was a painting day. Bridget was over the moon! Did I mention she loves to paint? She decided she wanted to paint a "blue period" picture, but not what Picasso painted. So using only blue paint and a bit of white, she created her <em>Blue Apple Tree In a Window</em>.<br />
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What I loved most about the lesson was the freedom to create. That art doesn't have to "look" like something, but that it is a form of expression. We can appreciate an artist's work even if it doesn't look real and find beauty in things that are different.<br />
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Erica's unit study includes lesson plans, printables for a lap book, flash cards, and art puzzles. I'll review it again later in the year once we've had a chance to study a few artists.Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-40485214076546502182013-09-05T13:35:00.000-07:002013-09-05T13:35:21.266-07:00Tea on TuesdaysSeveral homeschooling moms I know discussed having a tea day and reading poetry. I checked out some of the other homeschooling blogs and there was some cool stuff about serving "tea" and reading poetry out loud. In fact, I liked the idea so much that I ran with it. Okay, okay...I actually created a PowerPoint presentation with a total of 33 lessons, which means we will have enough lessons for our school year. (I can never seem to do anything off-the-cuff.) I also decided to include a little bit about proper etiquette during each lesson. After working on the curriculum for most of the summer, I'm happy to say that our first tea turned out quite well.<br />
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This is our menu from the 1st Tea. And yes, I made it all from scratch. The Vanilla Bean Scones are from a recipe I found from The Pioneer Woman. You can find her recipe on her website: <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/04/petite-vanilla-bean-scones/">http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/04/petite-vanilla-bean-scones/</a> They were soooooo good; however, it made more than we could eat. I sent the extra with my husband this morning for his co-workers; otherwise, I would eat most of them myself. And that would mean more exercise!</div>
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My daughter knew our afternoon tea was special since we used my Blue Willow teapot and drank from real teacups. <br />
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Once we were set, I poured tea, offered refreshments and started our lesson. We began with table manners during tea and then I introduced the types of poetry we would be discussing during the year. We ended with a few poems from <em>Where The Sidewalk Ends</em> by Shel Silverstein. Then we sat and talked and finished our tea.<br />
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Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-19712783128466893722013-09-02T11:11:00.000-07:002013-09-02T11:11:58.089-07:00First day of 2nd gradeThe day started out great. Coffee. A little time to myself. My husband managed to get our darling daughter ready. She was waiting for me in our school room just before 8:00am.<br />
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We began with an "All About Me" handout, took our pictures for the first day of school, and slipped right into spelling. This year we decided to go with "All About Spelling." Last year was like pulling teeth to do any spelling.<br />
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Reading was next. Always an easy subject for us. Second grade will include two different workbooks with short stories followed by a question/answer page to determine her comprehension. I am really looking forward to our new "Tea On Tuesdays" curriculum that I put together in a PowerPoint presentation. We will be studying poetry and manners on that day.<br />
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Today, we did a science experiment from "The Magic School Bus." Lots of fun seeing what would float and what would sink. Tomorrow we'll switch to Social Studies. I also put together lesson plans for this subject.<br />
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Then we were off to work on math. Once again, we are using Math Mammoth. She learned so much from it last year. Unfortunately, she doesn't want to do math. She can do it and once she fully understands the concept, she enjoys it. The problem is that so much comes to her easily that when she faces a challenge, she doesn't know what to do. We will be working on this issue throughout the school year.<br />
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I'm really looking forward to this school year. Less stress, more confidence.<br />
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Here are a few more pictures of our little schoolroom:<br />
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Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-18993886720343758612013-06-20T12:27:00.001-07:002013-06-20T12:27:46.950-07:00Our Farm Unit: CheeseAround the 3rd week of homeschooling we were studying a unit on Farming. We had been talking about what life was like on a farm a long time ago and that they would make their own bread and butter and cheese. So we decided to make our own. We invited another Mom and her daughter over to enjoy the experiment with us. We all had a great time and enjoyed some good food.<br />
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Here are the girls stirring the milk to make the cheese.<br />
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Watching the thermometer reach the correct temperature.<br />
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Once it's reached the right temp, strain it through cheesecloth.<br />
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And then...cheese!<br />
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We made mozzarella, goat cheese, butter, and whipped cream.<br />
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The girls had a great time and so did we. If you want to try it and I highly recommend it, then I suggest <a href="http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/07/making-fresh-mozzarella/">http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/07/making-fresh-mozzarella/</a> website. I found it to be very helpful. All photos by Amanda Ford.Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-64533738303247063972013-06-20T12:05:00.000-07:002013-06-20T12:05:40.840-07:00School's OutWell, we muddled our way through our first year of homeschooling. Lots of ups and downs and finding our way through what worked and what didn't work. I'm glad we are finished and I'm happy to say we have a second grader!<br />
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I certainly didn't write as much as I thought I would. (cough, cough) Let's try not at all! After my last entry, my mother passed away. She had a long illness of Lewy Bodies disease. After that we went on our Disney cruise, then we had holidays, and then...well you get the picture.<br />
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I plan on posting some of the highlights of our school year and then we will look forward to next year.Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-85577476220737768042012-09-22T21:24:00.000-07:002012-09-22T21:24:36.103-07:00Busy, Busy, Busy!Wow! We have had a great first 6 weeks. We finished our unit of study "The Community" and Bridget had her first real math test. She made a 100! She was so excited. It was on the 1st chapter in Math Mammoth and included sums to 10 and comparisons.<br />
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She has also learned to spell 60 words. She receives 10 new words on Mondays and takes a spelling test on Friday.<br />
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One of our topics included farming. We took a virtual tour of a dairy farm and egg farm. Quite interesing. We also made our own butter, whipped cream, and cheese. That was fun!! I'll post pictures soon. My dad is a crop farmer. One of his main crops is cotton. Last year, we took a field trip out to one of the farms and watched the tractors in action.<br />
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This is a picture of some of the cotton.</div>
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We will be interrupting our little school to go on a Disney Cruise. Bridget made a paper chain with numbers on it to help us count down. Every morning she removes one of the paper links. We will be participating in a Fish Extender Gift Exchange. This is where a group of people meet on the DISboards and create a list of cabins that want to exchange small gifts. It sounded like a cool idea. The FE is suppose to be 8" wide and should have a pocket for each family member. Here is a picture of ours:<br />
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Hopefully, I'll have more time when we return from our trip to give more details on some of the fun activities we have done.<br />
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Until then...Ahoy maties!<br />
Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-46816234605137595152012-08-14T13:21:00.001-07:002012-08-14T13:21:26.380-07:001st Day of SchoolWell, we did it! Bridget started 1st grade yesterday. We both did great! She loves our little "school" area that I set up in the family room. She is using an old school desk that my grandfather gave to me when I was her age.<br />
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<em><span style="color: #20124d;">Our Little School</span></em></div>
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After spending the summer talking to other homeschooling moms, I realized that sometimes less is more. I spent more time browsing free curriculum sites than I did playing Bubble Safari on Facebook. However, it paid off because I believe I found some really good curriculum.<br />
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We are using Math Mammoth for math. It was fairly inexpensive and I like the author's approach. She not only tells you how to do it, but why you do it. I'll post more about it later once we have used it a bit, but Bridget likes it so far.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mathmammoth.com/">http://www.mathmammoth.com</a></div>
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I found a free phonics curriculum <a href="http://www.progressivephonics.com/~suzettew/">http://www.progressivephonics.com/~suzettew/</a> and although she is reading very well (I suspect she is at a 2nd grade level), I want her to have a better grasp of advanced phonics. She has difficulty with annunciation sometimes and I am thinking this will help. And it never hurts to read more...right?<br />
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<em><span style="color: #20124d;">1st day of 1st Grade. Spelling</span></em></div>
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All the other subjects she is learning such as reading comprehension, social studies, science, grammar, spelling, and fine arts...well, I'm pulling from different areas to suit our needs. We are following the Texas guidelines although we actually go beyond most of them because she is ready.<br />
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Time wise, we are spending about half an hour per subject with some topics only twice a week. No school on Friday! As per my homeschooling sister-in-law Aimee. She is my go-to person whenever I have a question.<br />
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I would love to hear about your first day of school so leave me a comment if you stop by.Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-89887378987122973862012-04-18T15:08:00.000-07:002012-04-18T15:08:59.714-07:00Being ImpulsiveYesterday was such a beautiful day! We skipped school and stopped off at Starbucks before meeting some friends at the park yesterday morning. It was chilly enough for a sweatshirt, which is unusual for mid-April in Corpus Christi. The girls played and played. We heard little girl laughter and saw sweet smiles on their faces. And I got some grownup conversation, always a bonus.<br />
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Taking advantage of some lovely weather is one of the reasons I want to homeschool. I like schedules. Lists satisfy me. I thrive on organization. However, there are times when I simply must step outside my routine and just do something impulsive, although I can't say that this play date was really impulsive since I planned it last week. What can I say? I am not an impulsive person. But it was different and it did require Bridget to miss school.<br />
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I am counting down the weeks until the end of her regular classroom school. Our homeschooling will officially start August 13, that will give us two months off. The decision to begin early was due to a discussion with my sister-in-law, Aimee who made a really good point about it being too hot to do anything else. We plan to have a relaxing summer with lots of playtime.<br />
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And maybe, just maybe I'll work on my impulsive side.<br />
<br />Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-65222897409122441792012-04-05T11:50:00.000-07:002012-04-05T11:50:01.287-07:00A Lesson In MannersYesterday began as any other day in our household. My husband left for work and I got my daughter ready for Pre-K. After I dropped her off, I came home and did some housework and at 10:30 I went back to the school to pick her up. All was good until we stopped at Starbucks. I was getting a tall brewed coffee and I asked Bridget if she wanted something. She responded with, "A vanilla bean scone." So I ordered one. Well, she decided that she wanted three of them and I told her that I thought one was plenty. She pulled the "Hmmp!" attitude, which I ignored.<br />
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By the time we got home, all was well again. We sat down to work on our handwriting lesson. It is our second one since she had swimming lessons on Tuesday and a play date. We reviewed the 'Jump Frog' capital letters and moved onto the next exercise. She had trouble with the U, M, and W. This was mostly due to trying to write them too quickly, which made them sloppy. I erased them and she did them again. It took about three tries, but she finally did it.<br />
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The lesson ended with an unhappy Bridget because she wanted to continue in the workbook and I told her no. I explained we would work on the next lesson tomorrow. I suggested she get a blank notebook and practice the letters we had already learned, but that wasn't what she wanted to do. I ignored her when she started pouting and I went into the kitchen to fix lunch.<br />
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About five minutes later, I said "Lunch is ready." and put her plate on the table.<br />
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She came over to the table and sat down with arms crossed and a frown still on her face. I decided that 'that' was that. It was time we reviewed good manners because rude manners are not tolerated. I proceeded to remind her of the proper way to respond when I bring her lunch is to say "Thank you Mommy." I picked up the plate and told her we would try it again. She didn't like that. She stood up and moved away from the table. So, I picked up her plate and cup and said, "Hmmm, let me know when you are ready for lunch."<br />
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Of course taking the plate away led to her crying and walking out of the room. I called after her, "I'll be in the family room if you need me and I'll leave you alone because I know that's what you prefer." I added that I understood that the mumbling to herself was her way of working through things.<br />
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Ha! That did it. She turned around and came back into the room and sat down at the table. I offered her a tissue and she grabbed it out of my hand. I said, "That is bad manners. Hand me the Kleenex please and let's try again." She refused and I made a quick decision that this was a battle I was going to win. I pulled the tissue until it shredded, but I got it all. Victory!! Next, she started coughing. Coughing is a tactic she has used to get sympathy and a drink. <br />
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I responded with, "Oh dear, you are coughing. Your drink is on the table."<br />
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"Thank you Mommy." she said softly as she reached for her drink and took a sip. "I'm sorry."<br />
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I smiled and simply asked, "Are you ready for lunch."<br />
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"Yes."<br />
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I placed the plate on the table. She sat down, looked up at me and said, "Thank you Mommy."<br />
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Kissing her forehead, I said, "You're welcome. I love you Bridget." We ate our lunch and the afternoon was better. <br />
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It won't be our last quarrel I'm sure and I really do try to carefully pick my battles, but this one had been brewing for some time. Don't get me wrong, she is a darling little girl who is well behaved most of the time; especially in public. I have noticed that when she is struggling for independence, she becomes a bit...well...rude. I suppose she thinks that is the way to voice her opinion. We usually give her options and encourage her to discuss the situation; however, this must be done politely. And when it's not and we have reminded her about being polite and she still insists on rude behavior then we have a lesson in manners.Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-76423839214090845782012-04-02T13:41:00.000-07:002012-04-02T13:41:43.584-07:00HandwritingToday was our first handwriting lesson. I decided to go with the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum for 1st grade. Bridget has been looking over the 'My Printing Book' ever since it came in the mail. I told her we would have to wait until April to start our lessons and that we will have handwriting everyday when she gets home and then lunch.<br />
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If you read my previous post, you will know that she is attending a public Pre-K class this year and I mistakenly thought they were teaching her handwriting. I soon discovered that she had no idea how to correctly write the letters. This is why we are starting the handwriting lessons early instead of waiting until we begin homeschooling in the Fall. I want her to feel comfortable and knowledgeable about her letters before we start.<br />
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I picked her up from Pre-K this morning and when we got home I told her we would start our lessons. "Yes, Teacher!" was her response. She loves to pretend and I go with it because I can accomplish most anything if we pretend; not sure what that will do to her future. I can just see her in a college class saying, "Excuse me Professor, could we pretend we are kittens today? I think it will maximise the lesson."<br />
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But seriously, our first lesson went rather well. I can see that she needs to slow down and concentrate on her work. Unfortunately at Pre-K, they get to go to centers as soon as they finish their work. All that does for Bridget is teach her to do it as fast as she can without regard to quality. I guess I'll actually be teaching two different lessons at the same time. Handwriting and quality of work.<br />
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She did slow down and really enjoyed the lesson. This is the first time we practiced writing without tears. I'm hoping this will be a common occurrence. We are both excited about homeschooling and after having a good time with it over Spring Break and today's lesson plan, I can see this will be an excellent choice for us.Peggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801780518483497517.post-70083649204380324692012-03-28T20:38:00.000-07:002012-03-28T20:38:35.826-07:00Deciding to HomeschoolWell, I'm new to this and decided to start a blog to document our decision to homeschool. My sister-in-law Aimee has been blogging and homeschooling for a long time and she has inspired me to start. You can find her blog at <a href="http://aimeesland.blogspot.com/">aimeesland.blogspot.com</a>. <br />
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My husband and I decided to homeschool our five-year-old daughter, Bridget because she doesn't really fit the regular school model. She reads at a second grade level, math at first grade, and writing at kindergarten. She loves to learn and is always asking questions. Sitting still is not her strong suit and she seems to learn best by doing.<br />
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I never thought I would homeschool and our decision was not made lightly. When we started thinking about this new venture, I began doing a lot of research and talking with Aimee. Bridget and I even spent a week last year with Aimee and her kids to observe how they homeschooled. I was quite impressed and somewhat relieved at how doable it appeared to be. So we decided to take the plunge and I began working on curriculum and lesson plans.<br />
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By the time August 2011 arrived, my mother was not doing well. She had been diagnosed with Parkinson's two years prior, but had been managing okay. This was one of the reasons we had moved back to Texas, but that's another story. Needless to say, I began to feel overwhelmed dealing with my mother's decline and trying to figure out how I was going to homeschool when I needed to be on call for my Mom. I began looking for a Mother's Day Out program to give me a little break when I discovered our public school was offering Pre-K in the mornings. A bit disappointed, I enrolled Bridget. She loved it and it gave me a chance to have a few hours to get some things accomplished such as grocery shopping, checking on Mom, and trying to figure out how to balance everything so my brothers wouldn't have to carry the burden alone.<br />
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It's been almost eight months since Bridget started attending Pre-K and we both feel like homeschooling is going to be the best choice for us next year. We decided to start off in first grade. I have almost finished the curriculum and we are very excited for the school year to begin. I used the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Grade 1) as a guideline and found quite a few websites and blogs that provided some good resources to help develop lesson plans. I was surprised at how much free stuff there is out there. Our local educational store, The Learning Zone has a lot of great products. I did buy a phonics book and some math workbooks that we will include in the curriculum.<br />
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Beginning in April, we will start the Handwriting Without Tears lessons. I had noticed that she wasn't writing her letters correctly and she would become frustrated and not want to write at all. I'm hoping this curriculum will provide a fun way to learn handwriting. I'll post about it once we get started.<br />
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In the meantime, I will finish our 2012/13 curriculum, continue with her dance and swimming lessons, and find the time to clean the house. That's what I really want to know. How do you find time to keep the house clean and cook meals? Please leave me a comment if you have any tips.<br />
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Thanks for visiting.<br />
PeggyPeggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11987983655607960525noreply@blogger.com0