The Leprechauns have been here.....

We read a book recently on St Patrick's day and leprechauns. On Sunday we had 2 leprechaun's come to visit us. Those tricky little elf's didn't show their faces but left green paint foot prints and hand prints around our house, fun fun fun! Samantha and her friend Chloe spent Sunday afternoon looking for our little visitors. LOL Later that night Sam asked me if it was real and I couldn't lie to her so I told her no that it was me. She has been asking me questions like that for a while... is Santa real, is the Easter bunny is real. I think she knows the real answer but doesn't want to stop believing. She will admit that they are fake but doesn't' want to stop believing so tells me that they are real too.

Zoo fun with Daddy

I am lucky that Steve takes a roll in teaching Samantha and takes her to activities that will help her. This Wednesday he took her to the zoo. They were having a treasure hunt based on the cartoon Dora and Deigo. They both had so much fun helping the zoo keepers looking for the missing apple. She thought it was funny that the squirrel got it! I will post pictures later.

A week before this we had fun as a family visiting The Children's museum. There was so much to learn there and have fun with. We ended up taking home a kit of magnets from the gift shop to work into our school work.

Learning on the go.... just this week Samantha and I packed a picnic lunch. We went to the water front park and did school work, ate and just had fun.

So many possibilities to learn out there.

Hello,

Here is an interesting article I wanted to share. Some people wonder why a parent wouldn't want to send their child to the local public schools and here is one good reason...... http://www.heraldnews.com/topstories/x1526283779/Three-Fall-River-schools-identified-as-among-states-lowest-performing


I can't get the link to work. Sorry. You can copy and paste it and view the article.

Recently I met this mom at the playground. She was telling me how she hated the school her son was in and is sorry she moved to MA. She was telling me that in Maine she home schooled but when moving here was told by Fall Rivers school department it was against the law to do so. So she enrolled her child in school. She then asked where does Samantha go to school. So I told her that we do home school and it is legal. I told her to search out the laws of our state. I wonder if she will go back to home schooling.

Questions and answers..........

Samantha turned 5 recently. Its so hard to believe that she is a 5 year old now. I can't believe how much she has grown in one year. She grew about 2 inches. She loves to learn., her babies, her stuff animal's, her nieces, princess's and much more. I think she is into what most 5 year olds are into. Its been interesting to see how much she has learned this fall. She asked me to teach her to read so we have been doing some work on the computer. She can sound out some words. Her first word to read was VISA. She doesn't even know what it is. She sounded it out and asked me if she was right. Just the other day she sounded out bear and a few other words.

As for activities: she does ballet, tap, jazz, baton and ice skating. We go to our mom's group, where she is in a school like setting. She is in a classroom and the "teachers" do a lesson with her, a craft then playtime. From what I have been told she is a good student. She listens, does her work and behaves herself. We do story hour at different places. The zoo has a cute one. The library has a really good story teller. She also comes to work with me once a week, this will teacher her compassion, service to others, helping the aging disabled sick people. She will learn what its like to give of yourself. She has also learned some health related things from my client... what not to do. She has even learned from some of the doctors and nurses. She was in total amazement watching my clients doctor remove the fluid from a cyst on her hand. He then showed her what was in the cyst. The dentists and hygienist talk to her and tell her all they are doing for my client. The orthopedic doctor explained some of the bones in her hand and body. The nurse talked to her about germs. I see this as a wonderful resource of information for Samantha. Things that we can expand on in the future!

Recently some family members have expressed some concern with homeschooling again. Not sure if they understand really what homeschooling is. As it can be many things. Every family does it differently. Of course there are some standards you have to go by but so many options out there for the homeschooling family. I am going to the home school convention this year again and hopefully I will be able to decide on what curriculum to go with. I thought I was all set to go with Horizons but now I am not to sure and I want to explore what else is out there.

Some answers to the questions I was asked.....
Q What about when they get to the older grades and you don't know how to do the work?
A Well for one she is only entering Kindergarten do I really need a plan for something that is many years away? But really that is what the teachers guide is for. It helps you teach them, shows you how to do it and if you still don't understand good enough to teach it there is always someone that can help you like a home school group or a co-op.
Q What about Curriculum?
A There are many out there. So many to choose from that I am having a hard time picking one and yes we will be going with a Christian one and one that is secular A friend does one called 5 in a row and I really like what I see, its a secular one. I would use this as part of her work.
Q What about socialization?
A Did you read all she does? All the classes and activities she does I believe she is getting a lot of socialization. If that isn't enough going to work with me interacting with my client, my clients doctors and family members helps her interact with people of all ages. When she is at my mom's group which meets every other week she is with about 10-12 children around her age. Also this school year coming I am joining Fall Rivers home school group.
Q What if she asks to go to school?
A Well that depends. If we are living somewhere else then it will depend on the schools there. If we still live here well then we will have to be able to afford the private school of my choice. Sorry but if some of the school teachers I know tell me not to put my child in the schools here I take that serious. Also depends on WHY she wants to go to school. Recently my neighbors niece (who lives with her) has been begging Sam to go to school with her and Samantha did ask why did I want her to home school. After weighing the pros and cons Sam has decided she still wants to home school. I know she has never been in a school situation to be able to base her decision on but really I don't think at her age its her decision yet. But if its for a opportunity that she wouldn't have homeschooling we would look for a better option for her.

If anyone has questions I would love to hear from you. Any words of advice or encouragement I would also love to hear from you. But remember we are Samantha's parents and we do what we feel is in the best interest of our family. No one has any input on our decision. Who knows what the future will bring where we will be in say 10 years but my plan is to home school her from Kindergarten to twelfth grade.

With much love
Jen

p.s. Sorry if I offended anyone about public schools. I know there are many many awesome public school teachers. I have a few teacher friends that I would be honored to have them teach my child as I know my child would learn with them and they are awesome teachers! There are also many great public schools out there. Sadly where we live the schools aren't good. But again there are many great teachers that teach here but sadly they are working with not an ideal system. I consider myself very lucky that I am able to home school Samantha. That I have that option available to me. I have a loving and supportive husband who is on my side 100% with our home school journey. I have a wonderful resource in my sister Michelle who has home schooled for 5 years or more who will help me out if I am stuck. (Right Michelle?). I have a handful of friends who are homeschooling too who I can turn to for advice, help or support. I am also lucky to have older children who agree with me on this and Nick has even offered to help out when he is living back in New England and yes Nick I will hold you to it! She will benefit to get your perspective on things. Just think of the wealth of information my family members can share with my child! Learning doesn't just happen in a classroom it happens everyday just living life!

Ok so I haven't been the best blog writer. LOL Sorry. Samantha has done a lot of learning. She is learning to read. We are using a program on the internet called starfall.com. She really enjoys it. I was going to buy a curriculum but we decided to wait until I get her a kindergarten one. Its been interesting to see her try and sound things out. We also started learning sign language together. When she was a baby she knew about 15 signs and recently she got a book from scholastic books on sign language and wanted to learn to sign. Its fun.

wow its already fall.....

It was a long and crazy summer, I can't believe its already November! This summer we took a few vacations to visit the boys. First we were off to Georgia to see Mike graduate from basic training. We traveled with my parents, Kyrstie and Selena in my parents RV. Before we picked up Kyrstie and Selena in SC we stopped in PA. We went to Zoo America and the Hershey factory. Samantha had so much fun.

Then we were off to WA to see Mike and his family in their new place. This was Samantha's first time flying. She loved it! Mike is stationed in WA. They live in Tacoma. We had fun there. We went to Point Defiance Zoo, Seattle, shopping and the Seattle Aquarium. We went to see Mike before he was deployed to Iraq. It was a bittersweet visit. .... I can't find the pictures from this trip on my computer so once I do find them I will post them.

During this Summer my Memere passed away and Samantha learned more about death, dying and heaven. She learned about nursing homes and sick people and missing the ones you love. She still tells me often that she misses her Memere. Some pictures of my grandmother to honor her memory.

We also said good bye to Nick as he went off to the army. Sam misses her brother alot. We then went to KY to see Nick graduate from basic training. It was hot there! On the way there again traveling with my parents in their Rv we went to a zoo in Ohio and one in KY. One of the best things I ever purchased was my membership to Buttonwood Zoo I have used my pass to get into all the zoo's free during our travels this summer. Samantha enjoyed all this traveling.

So now we are settled in this fall with learning our abc's and maybe learning to read a little. She is doing math, science, history, art and much more. Its amazing how much learning you do each day without even realizing it. We are doing a mix of prek and kindergarten work. She has such a curious mind. She asks questions that sometimes I don't know the answer or how to answer. Thankfully we have the internet and I can look up anything that I am not sure on. Like recently she want to know what a turtle ate. Not a big question but an interesting answer... some eat meat and others eat plants. We have fun on this little side trips of knowledge. Its fun to explore what your interested in. She wanted to know what an anteater looks like and boy did we find so many funny stories and pictures of them on the internet. Don't think I want one in my home anytime soon they can reek havoc in your home very quickly looking for trouble. LOL

Math and more

In the car the other day Samantha told me she had many boo boo's. So I asked her how may boo boo's? She counted and told me she has 4 boo boo's. So I told her wow that's a lot and I have only 2 boo boo's. She then tells me well then we have 6 all together! Math at a preschool level.

Lately she has been really interested in writing words. But she wont copy them if I write the word down. I have to spell them out as she writes each number. Its exciting to see her learn how to write words even though she can't spell or read yet. She also is into trying to find words that rhyme.