Lesson Plans

As autumn and back-to-school approaches, my mind turns to school. Many of Kyrie's friends will start or increase their time in preschool this year. We don't take a lengthy break from lessons here, but continue with our thematic units throughout the summer.
These days it seems like I'm always lesson planning. The thematic units I do with Kyrie last approximately a week, so I start collecting materials and writing down plans for the next unit on "Wednesday." This is something that I really enjoy. It speaks to my organizational nature and the petite list-maker perched on my shoulder- I don't need an angel & devil, just a little list-maker to keep track of everything.
I've been doing some sort of 'lessons' with Kyrie since she was about a year old. In the beginning, we read stories, sang songs and did finger plays. Then I added art projects. Next was basic worksheets. Each year I have grown my lesson plans to include more & more activities and more & more weeks of units. I now have 30 thematic units, ranging from Mother Goose to weather & seasons. I spend about 3 hours every week in preparation for the (almost) daily lessons. Each day, we spend about 2 hours reading, playing games, working with flash cards, making crafts, and practicing with worksheets. Kyrie also has several educational games on her computer that she plays independently. It is great to see Degen sitting at the computer to play, too!

Kyrie painting a birdhouse to end our Birds & Bats unit.

This has been a very exciting year because I can really see the progress that Kyrie has made. Our main focus this year has been the alphabet (handwriting & phonics) and counting. Kyrie is doing a great job! We have finished learning almost all of the "down letters" (Ii, H, E, F, Ll) and now we are starting the curves. Counting is coming along a bit more slowly, but she understands the one-to-one ratio and I'm pleased with her effort (math was never my strength either).
I think that the most difficult thing with home education is keeping your expectations reasonable. There have been times when I've gotten frustrated with Kyrie's lack of interest and/or effort in a task. I am trying my best to set aside my sometimes over-passionate emotions as a parent so that I can focus on providing Kyrie with the educational support that she needs (ie. though I want her to be ready to do something, she may not be ready academically). Balancing expectations is not always easy, but I am grateful that I'm providing Kyrie with the one-on-one attention that allows us to work together at a pace that best fits her educational needs.

 The finished project, complete with little birds. 

(She was very disappointed that real birds couldn't live inside it because it was too small.)

Though I will proceed with academic objectives on par for kindergarten students through the next year, we have decided that we will not register Kyrie with our school district until age 6 (2012). When she begins school, she will be almost a year older than her peers, but we think that this decision will ultimately be advantageous for her.
This fall, we will continue swim lessons and dance lessons at the rec center and rejoin story times at the library. We are grateful that we'll still be able to see our friends for play dates once a week.

Degen's 'beginner' art project.

Wildlife

One afternoon, I looked out my front window and saw this doe & fawn in the yard across the street. I quietly made my way out the front door and got these great photos. I love that though we are in the middle of the city, our neighborhood often feels like we're in the middle of the country.

Feeling Groovy

End of Summer pictures! These are from our playgroup photo session and were too cute not to post. I made these tie-dye shirts for the kids at a tie-dye play date over the summer. I hope that the kids do this well at their Fall pictures in September!

Friends Forever

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful playgroup! Three years ago, our group of 5 moms and 5 daughters was created. We have had play dates, parties, Mom's Nights Out, picnics, classes, family activities, the addition of 3 little brothers and more fun than we could ever add up.
This Fall, three of our friends, Mia, Morgan & Rhaya,will head off for preschool, and our time together will lessen a little. We wanted to commemorate this special time in our girls' lives and the friendships that they share with group pictures.
Our beautiful, little girls had as much fun taking pictures as they would at any play date! Here are our darling daughters!

Mia, Isabelle, Rhaya, Kyrie & Morgan

 The Fab Five!

Our Princesses

Scoop, Splash, Smile!

Here are some summer-fun pictures of the kids:

Kyrie's homage to the Statue of Liberty! 

Cooling off at the Creekside fountains in Gahanna on a too hot day!

Finishing Touches

Now that the major jobs of "phase 1" are complete around the house. We're turning our eyes to the more cosmetic touches. Over the past month, we spent time scouting for window treatments to complete the looks of our bedrooms and the rec room. (I know that I haven't posted new photos of the rec room, but we are still working on putting up the trim.) Here are the three bedrooms with their completed look. I wish that I would have taken pictures of all the rooms as we made progress, but I only have one photo of Degen's room at its in-between stage. I'll post it below so that you can see the difference. The photo above is our room, and here's Kyrie's room:

Now, here's Degen's room before:

And, here's Degen's room after:

Remodeled Bathroom

The bathroom has been complete for a few months now, but we haven't had a camera to get pictures to share. I really like how the space has changed from the original. It seems so much bigger with a lot more light.
So, here is the before:

And here is the after:

The contractors tore the bathroom down to the studs, so absolutely everything in it is new. The tub/shower is standard length, but extra-deep. It is tiled with the same tile you see on the walls. We did not realize that the window guys were going to frame out this window, so our one disappointment is that the cabinets are not the same color as the window frame. Still, we are very pleased with the outcome!