Aidan's Milestone

Is there a right age to start giving your child some structured learning?  Are there any benefits if you start your child early?  How early is early?  Just like many moms out there, I also struggled with similar questions.  My first son was enrolled in a whole day pre-school program when he was 3.5yo.  My youngest one is almost four and he hasn't been in a "regular" school setting.  Did I regret sending my eldest one that early?  Part of me says yes, especially when I remembered him being so tired at the end of the day.  He used to start school at eight in the morning and by the time I picked him up from work, it's usually three or four in the afternoon.  On the other hand, was the education that he received then gave him an advantage now, in terms of gaining knowledge and developing life skills? 
The way Anthony (my eldest) and Aidan (my youngest) started their pre-school years are totally different.  My youngest son Aidan never attended day care or pre-school and this is his first year to have some sort of structured instruction.  He is currently enrolled in Seton Homeschooling Pre-K Program.  When I read his curriculum, I am encouraged to start it with him because it has a lot of suggestions and fun activities on how to approach teaching especially in such young age.

When we learned about God's Creation, we went around the neighborhood and took pictures of the different things that God made.  We later printed the pictures, cut, paste and label them. 

To review a letter that we've been learning, Aidan will go around the house with a post-it paper (written on it is the letter we are reviewing) and find items around the house with the beginning letter sound.  In these pictures, he labeled oven and onion for the beginning letter O.  If you have an older child, he or she can do this activity with your pre-schooler.

 I made lily pads (out of green construction paper) and wrote a word that starts with letter F on each lily pad and a couple of fillers.  Aidan pretends to be a Frog and hops only on lily pads that has the beginning F sound.

"Aidan feeding the Lion and the Tiger."  This is a fun way to teach beginning sound. The pattern for these adorable bag puppets are provided by Seton. If you want to make your own, you can print a picture of any animal that starts with the beginning letter you want and glue it in front of a paper bag (brown sandwich bag is a good alternative).  I cut a hole in front that serves as the mouth of the animal.  I make the puppets first and then I print various pictures that have the beginning sound of the letter we are learning.  You can add pictures that have different beginning sound to make it challenging. 

Aidan practicing his letters on a tray with flour.  You can also use oatmeal, sugar salt or sand to write on.  I love doing this exercise when I introduced a letter or number to Aidan.

One of the things that the Pre-K curriculum stressed upon is developing the fine motor skills of the child and we've been incorporating that in our daily lessons.  As we learn the alphabet, sounds, numbers, or Religion, Aidan do activities that also help him develop his fine motor skills. Manipulative such as blocks, LEGO, playdoh, puzzles are great tools for Aidan's fine motor skills development.  It is amazing to see the changes in how he grasp the crayons or markers when coloring or tracing lines; he is now more confident in the use of scissors and even showing less frustration when writing on papers.  I remember when we first started.  He would not color the pictures at all, or if he did, it will be the whole page without any consideration on staying with in the line.  What line? hahahahahahaha
He stills doesn't enjoy coloring or tracing broken lines but now I am running out of paper and tape because he loves to draw and make me pictures.  His imagination just flourished as he make up story about his pictures or as he pretend play with his stuff animal friends.  In addition, I have to constantly clean the floor for small pieces of paper that he loves cutting. 

Aidan with his friends, Bear, Eyeball and Bear

I realized that you can't expect them to write directly on papers that is why I love Seton's idea of introducing the letter strokes using "heavenly writing" first,  then having the child use his fingertips to write on sand or any sensory materials (finger painting, use of 3D blocks) before you can even proceed to have the child write on a board or paper.  These progression really eliminates the frustration in Aidan's part as he learns how to write. 

 

 

The curriculum has suggested lesson plan each day but it always emphasizes that the phasing will depends on the child's ability, interests and motivation.  We are now in ninth week but I am not embarrassed to say that we are still doing week 7 of his Math and Early Literacy units.  The Seton's curriculum gave me the confidence to tackle Pre-K curriculum because in each lesson, it explains where should I focus on and the importance of the "focus" to my child's development.



 

 

In the short time that we spent homeschooling, Aidan grew and developed so much.  Besides "school", he is enrolled in a swimming class. We are so proud of his progress in swimming.  Aidan can now swim a couple of feet without a floatie and he is not afraid anymore to put his face in the water.  We've been spending a lot of times outside as well, going on trails with our homeschooling group and oftentimes with the whole family during the weekends.  He loves to collect things as we go on these

walks. 

 

Aidan's nature art from the twigs, leaves and rocks he collected in one of our walks... ooops is that a whooly caterpillar? (Pratts Farm, Middleborough MA).  Below is the Cardinal trail within UMass Dartmouth's Living Classroom initiatives.

Below are some of the investigation lesson that we did- Math, Science and Literacy Pumpkin mini-lesson by Ms. Cara Carroll, http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Cara-Carroll, Making Sugar Crystals (http://chemistry.about.com/od/growingcrystals/ht/blsugarcrystal.htm), and Walking Water activity (http://royalbaloo.com/the-walking-water-experiment/); and the different places we visited for our field trips. 
As Aidan's mom and teacher, I am proud of his accomplishments and I can't wait to continue to explore, investigate and learn with my free spirited little guy!
BTW Aidan's name means "Little Fire"....  Fits him well!

Free Friday in Plimouth Plantation (Plymouth, MA)

Corn maze and other fun activities at Sauchuk Farm, Plympton MA

Our Big Backyard and Beyond The Fence Naturescape at Roger Williams Zoo

"Five Habits After Waking-up"

I was inspired by a friend and a fellow homeschooler, Martianne Stanger.  I read Martianne's blog where I got the inspiration for this. 

We called ours "Habits After Waking-up".

Who wants their kids to learn independence and at the same time reduce the chaos that comes in the morning? ME! Sooooooooo...The boys and I brainstormed things that they should do between the time they wake up and before our lesson starts. We had some sort of a system prior to this but I think making the hand and writing on it the five habits they picked made it more concrete and a very useful reminder that they can refer to each morning.

 

 As for my younger son, I drew pictures of his 5 HAW too since he doesn't know how to read yet.  After making their 5 HAW hands, the boys put them in their headboard so they can easily look at what they wrote everyday.  

 

 

 Our goal is for the boysto make these five things really a habit that eventually, they will be part of their morning routines without even thinking about them.  I'm looking forward tomorrow how will this go! YAY

Week six and seven: Let Kids Be Kids!

We spent most of these last two weeks, outdoors.  We took advantage of the nice cool Fall weather before the winter kicks in.   We joined an Art-N-Hike event where the kids had a chance not only to enjoy nature but really to be one with it.  They had a blast "playing" and building forms from things they found along the trail.  It was really a very good experience for exploration, creativity, imagination and discovery.  Friday was spent on a field trip with other homeschooler families where Anthony participated in a class about whales.  It ended to be another fun-filled and enriching experience not only for Anthony but as well for me.  I've met amazing moms and kids who are just simply inspiring and helpful.  We've been also spending a lot of times in the playground.  After Aidan's swimming lesson, we usually head to the library for their story time then the kids spend sometime playing at the playground and have picnics there.  I wish the weather will stay just like this past week, cool and dry,  all winter long.  I would love to bring my kids learning experience outdoors if not all but at least most of the time!
Aidan continues to improve in his swimming skills.  It's nice to watch him enjoying his class and having a fun time in it.  You can see how Aidan is slowly conquering his fears of water as he builds confidence in class.  Anthony on the other hand took his karate to the next level by joining a competition to show his forms.  He took home third place which he is happy and proud about. I feel I was more competitive than him and then I have to remind myself, being number 1 is not the ONLY thing.  Giving your best and enjoying what you do is more important.

Since there is no way of stopping Fall and the celebration of Halloween, we continue to use harvest/fall themes in our lessons.   We did a pumpkin investigation unit where the boys made some predictions and observations, developed their math skills in measuring and counting, and of course used their creativity in carving their pumpkins.  To cap it off, I roasted the pumpkin seeds and made pumpkin cheese cake pie that we later enjoyed during dinner.  We also celebrated Columbus Day which I tied with our history lesson.  We read his story, mapped his voyage, review cardinal directions and locate different places on the map and even made a Columbus hat as an art project.
As for Aidan,  we finished Unit 1 (yeheyyy) of his Early literacy book.  It is a big accomplishment for both of us.  There are still some days that it was a struggle making him sit and do his work.  My greatest fear actually is to turn him off to learning especially at this early age.  I am still trying to find a balance with teaching him in a way that he enjoys, and set boundaries and some sort of structure at the same time.  That is the reason I entitled this post "Let Kids Be Kids!" because I have to consciously remind myself that learning is and should be FUN, that kids learn in various forms and shapes, that kids can direct their own learning, and that they can learn not only in the four corners of the "classroom" but in any place and at any time.  I just have to provide that opportunity for my two boys whatever we are doing...wherever we are.

Week Four and Five... Challenging and Fun!

 

Fall is finally here!  This is my favorite season and I'm excited to tie in our lessons with the Fall theme.  The challenge for my self as we continue in this journey is how to make our lessons more fun and engaging.  Can you imagine, this is our fourth going to fifth week of homeschooling.  I understand that in order to keep the energy and motivation high among my boys, I have to learn to vary my lesson presentation and keep them challenging (but not frustrating).  The weather has been cooperative these past days.  We are fortunate to be able to go outside during our morning and afternoon breaks.  The boys just ran around, play in their play set, did some obstacle course one day, they love having picnics in our yard, and even did some lesson/game as well.  I am also excited that one of the mom in our homeschool group started a weekly hike and nature art event.  This Tuesday, we ended up hiking in a local trail where the boys explore with other children and even ended up bringing a pet home.  Currently we are taking care of a wooly bear caterpillar which hopefully will survive the winter in our care, and turn into a tiger month come spring time.  That will be exciting to see.  On Thursday, we had some fun in a farm, getting lost in a corn maze, enjoying the "dusty" hay ride, playing some fall games and picking our pumpkins from their patch (which by the way we are going to use in our mini-pumpkin lesson and carving next week).  Now you see why I love this time of the year!
To jumped start this season, we became crafty with our  "Fall tree".   We still have them showcased in our window sill  by the dining area. They are just nice to look at! Aidan showed his creativity when he made an apple face in the artsy-smartsy homeschool event, his own design and interpretation.  Anthony did an awesome job sharing his talent in his art class by making a "Pumpkin Patch" out of water color.  No matter what medium or materials are available to them, structured or "whatever goes" art it is, children will always surprise you with their unique creation and imagination.
Recently, I've also been prowling the web for more games, activities and ideas that I can utilize to support our curriculum.  I bumped into this amazing site TeachersPayTeachers which is just abundantly overflowing with resources that I can download (some are free, some you have to pay but the prices are reasonable).  Anthony's been working on with number ordering in Math and rhyming/synonyms/antonyms words in English and the unit "Let's Give Thanks" by Ms. Carroll is just full of hands-on, manipulative activities that Anthony enjoys doing with out realizing that he is actually learning.  The bonus side, the unit is full of Fall/Thanksgiving theme!  I also try to incorporate more manipulative activities to develop Aidan's fine motor skills in addressing his lessons.  We've been using play doh, flour, paints and other sensory materials to practice his letters and numbers (because he still doesn't like writing using a pencil).  I see a great improvement though in terms of his tri-pod grip when he colors or traces pictures.
Another thing that I wanted to focus on this week is how important it is to expose our kids to new ideas/practices and continuously challenge them so they don't complain about being "bored".  I've mentioned about the science fair that we are participating in November.  Initially, when I asked Anthony if he wanted to do it, his response was NO.  I really wanted him to try to do it so I explained to him what it is all about. We even went on a field trip to a zoo to exposed him about endangered species (which is the focus of the science fair).  Eventually he agreed to do the project for the science fair and he even decided on his own that he is going to work with the African Wild dogs as his endangered animal.  During this process, I really tried hard to keep a balance between inspiring him to join the science fair but at the same time not pushing him of doing something that he'll hate eventually.  He made the final decision to take on the task  and his science fair project is still a work in progress.  One thing I am assured of as I observe him works on it, I can see that he enjoys working with his project, and he even told me today that he can't wait to do the next task.
Lastly, our family decided to respond to the call to pray the rosary everyday for the rest of October. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from my children. We haven't done this before (just think about reciting five decades of the rosary with two kids every night) and I was worried that they will just complain the whole time.  Amazingly, with God's grace, everything is possible.  Anthony took the initiative to lead the rosary (he's been doing it for two nights) and both of them are excited about praying every night.  I even communicated with another homeschooler mom about doing an end of the month celebration with other families to celebrate this Month of the Rosary.  Who wants cupcake rosary? ME!
Lessons learned:  Learning can still be FUN!  and Challenging ourselves and our family to do something that is worth wile even though it can feel daunting is the only way to achieve growth spiritually, intellectually and even emotionally. Till next time!