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craftyerin

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Posts posted by craftyerin

  1. Just started browsing crafts. I think we'll make torches (easy peasy craft) before the opening ceremonies, and then when we get back from vacation (we're gone the whole first week of the olympics, but will be able to watch some games from our beach condo), make some medals (these look fun!) and paint some rings (another easy peasy craft). Ideally one of our library books would be about the Greeks and Olympic history, but a quick browse doesn't show much that would be age appropriate. That might have to wait 2 years for the next games. LOL

  2. when are the olympics? july? august?

    Opening Ceremonies are Friday, July 27, and they run for 2ish weeks?

     

    I'm planning to check out some library books and read them in the week preceding the opening ceremonies. Then, we'll just watch lots of different sports while they're on. My kids are quite young, so it won't be super involved. I'm sure we'll do a craft to make medals at some point, though.:D

     

    Some books I thought had potential for my age group (4-5):

    http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Medal-Olympics-Alphabet-Sleeping/dp/1585364622/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337089682&sr=8-1

     

    http://www.amazon.com/How-Train-Rex-Gold-Medals/dp/1416986693/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337089492&sr=1-1

     

    and still browsing...

  3. I have not started yet, but have OPG and PP checked out from the library right now to preview my phonics options. The "two review and one new" that was suggested in OPG was brilliant, IMO, and I plan to use it, but probably with PP, which I preferred overall, but doesn't have any suggested review method.

  4. I had a 12 month old when my twins were born. Packing everyone up to get an older child to school and home from school every day would have been a nightmare! I don't know that we would have gotten much school work done, either, though. Infant twins and young toddlers, in combination, are um, challenging. You'll need a plan that is very flexible with reasonable expectations. Congratulations! Be ready for a wild ride!

  5. Well, we're just getting started, so take my plans with a grain of salt, but here's what I'm thinking:

     

    next couple of years: whatever mish-mash of history we get with FIAR

     

    when we get tired of FIAR (maybe 1st grade? maybe 2nd?): a one year overview of early American history (I want them to know pilgrims, founding fathers, pioneers, etc)

     

    after that, start a 4 year cycle with the ancients.

  6. We are almost 1/3 of the way through, and we have used the cards very little so far. There were a few games right at the beginning that used them, but they were more like memory or matching and didn't require too much handling, IMO. I did not go to the trouble of laminating them, and don't regret it.

  7. We plan to start FIAR in the fall with my kids who will be K/PK and plan to use it for 2 years. I bought volumes 1-3, and my understanding is that they're all the same "level" and can be mixed and matched as you please. I checked out all of the books that my library system has and have been reading through them and making notes about which books we want to do in which year. Within each volume, there are titles that seem younger, titles that seem more mature, titles that I know will appeal to us now, and ones that I'd prefer to save for later. I've more or less decided on the ones I want to do next year. I plan to add phonics, handwriting, and math. I don't expect us to do much lapbooking along with it (my kids are not happy with those types of activities), but I understand that there are copious free lapbooking activities to go with all the FIAR books available online. You can find examples of what others have done with specific books by googling "title of the book FIAR blog".

     

    I'm really looking forward to it!

  8. I have not tried either. I've never seen Saxon phonics, but I leafed through MUS primer at a convention last weekend and decided my fresh 4yos aren't ready for it. Probably wont' be long before they are, though. It appears to be the sort of thing you could take slow and enjoy at their pace, though.

     

    I just checked out Phonics Pathways and Ordinary Parent's Guide from my library to leaf though. We're currently doing AAR pre-level, but my daughter is asking for more, and I may accelerate through the end of AAR and start reading instruction sooner than I had planned.

  9. for mathy things, we are currently doing calendar, patterning, and sorting activities, counting, number recognition, etc, all in a very relaxed sort of way. I did just buy some c-rods and I plan to start letting them play with those (with an eye toward using miquon in the future?). We aren't doing much with science currently, which is one reason I'm excited about starting FIAR in the fall. We'll have a built in science day!

  10. Tanikit, you asked for more play-based ideas. Here's what we do in a given week:

     

    Calendar and weather, then

     

    Day 1: AAR lesson, usually including the coloring page (my kids LOVE Ziggy!)

    Day 2: use our HWT manipulatives to practice the AAR letter of the week, and review other capital letters

    Day 3: skills practice (cutting, glueing, coloring, folding) using Kumon workbooks

    Day 4: some math manipulative play or an art project

     

    After we do what I have planned (above) I turn them loose to pick an activity off the long shelf in our school room. I set out a variety of fine motor activities, puzzles, manipulatives, games, etc and I rotate them weekly. They play with those things for a while. When they start to lose interest, we clean up, vacate the school room, and visit again the next day!

     

    We like it because it gives us a lot of variety, it's all very play based (very little writing at all), and they're learning a ton!

  11. I'm coming over from the current thread about starting a preschool subforum as well. I am preschooling all three of my children, with plans to homeschool as long as we live here in New Orleans. I have three children, a son followed not quite 12 months later by boy/girl twins. All have June birthdays, so they are almost 5 and 4. We are using AAR pre-level, HWT PK, and are finishing up the SL P3/4 read aloud list. Starting in the fall we plan to use FIAR and continue with AAR and HWT.

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