Adventures in Mama-Land

  In an effort to raise my kids to be total morons, I long ago renamed the simple “bingo dabber” as a “dot-dot marker” and like most baby names for things, it seems to have stuck.  These ones are actual name-brand Do-a-Dot Markers , which look  more wholesome because they have the name of the colour written on them, but really (shh) – any brand, even the dollar-store ones, will do. I use these with Gavriel Zev when (we need) / (he wants) to work on something and he doesn’t feel like writing, which is almost NEVER.  He is starting to draw, and will trace a letter that I have drawn, but really would rather not if he doesn’t have to… so I don’t push. Because of how much Naomi and I have loved doing Explode the Code, I bought the three “pre” books – Get Ready (Book A), Get Set (Book B), and Go for the Code (Book C) – a while ago and was waiting for the right time to start… which arrived a while ago, like back in October, I just haven’t had a chance to mention it....

  Still not quite back to normal, but thanks to starting on Sunday last week, we actually fit in 4.5 schoolish kind of days… We’re “between” math books – finished JUMP Grade 1, but I thought it would be a fun change of pace to finish the Miquon Orange book before jumping into the Grade 2 books.  Naomi seems to be enjoying the freedom of choosing her own worksheets, though it jumps around a bit.  She enjoys the “make up your own problems” even if she sometimes doesn’t understand what sort of thing she’s supposed to make up.  Here’s one she did for me deliberately… she loves these little “circle equations!” I have also added in regular “math out loud” lessons from The (poorly-named) Verbal Math Lesson .  As with Miquon, Naomi Rivka is really enjoying the challenge of doing something quite different from what we’re used to!  The book offers a nice mix  of straight arithmetic and word problems.  Most of the word problems are easy for her, but every...

Once I saw how desperately Gavriel Zev wanted to read , I hauled out the BOB Books from where I had put them away, out of Naomi Rivka’s sight and mind.  Don’t get me wrong – they WORKED for her, but at 4 and 5 years old, they were NOT what she wanted to be reading.  She disliked the flimsy, staple-in-the-middle format of the books (“that’s not a REAL book!”), she disliked the handwritten look of the things, she disliked the weird illustrations. Which is why Gavriel Zev’s reaction has been such a surprise: he ADORES them.  He takes them out every chance he gets.  He waves them around!  He offers to read them to anybody and their uncle who happens to be passing by!  (another difference from Naomi Rivka, who still won’t read in anything above a whisper if she thinks somebody is listening)   One big difference:  he even adores the stupid adventures of the characters and the odd humour that comes from every character ending up sitting on a bag or w...

So we’re back at it with the BOB Books, this time for Gavriel Zev! It’s been a long time coming, but it’s kind of funny how their little minds work in fits and starts.  He was sounding out words and spelling them on the fridge months ago, like back in February, but then sort of plateaued and never got around to applying the ability to the printed page.  In the time since then, he’s been hard at work on fine-motor skills, like his “same / different” obsession , followed by his “ cut-n-paste” obsession . Then, all of a sudden this week… BOOM.  Reading!!!  Not just a little – a LOT.  Everything he can get his hands on. Of course, IF it’s possible to predict an early reader, he would have been picked from the start.  More than any of my children, including YM, who was reading fluently at 3.5, Gavriel Zev was obsessed with BOOKS from the moment he was born.  As objects, themselves, and as bearers of marvellous words and tales and pictures and rhymes....

After a year of planning and evaluating various options for Year 1, it’s finally done – our super-schmancy, fine-and-dandy Complete Jewish Homeschool Curriculum!  Sort of.  It’s an ambitious list, and I’m scared I won’t be able to do it. Points to keep in mind: I’m flexible.  If something doesn’t work, I drop it – period.  Maybe pick up something else, or maybe drop the subject if it’s not a crucial one.  I am very open to this, though I think everything I’ve chosen for the year is do-able. It LOOKS ambitious, but most of it is just extensions of what we are already doing.  Nothing here will be a big surprise if you’ve been reading this blog all along. Most lessons are VERY short!  Depending on the lesson itself and Naomi Rivka’s co-operation, an average lesson is about 10-20 minutes.  Some subjects in some weeks will really involve ZERO additional minutes; they’re just books included in our regular family reading schedule.  A ...

PLEASE JOIN US! If you teach your kids at home and blog about it, just add a comment below! Other “weekly challenges” I play: Six Word Saturday Menu Plan Monday WEEKLY PARSHA:  תְּצַוֶּה / Tetzaveh SCIENCE THEME:  Finished with the Five Senses – on to the DIGESTIVE SYSTEM!  Yummy - kishke ! (the only problem being, I was slow ordering the digestion books to go with Living Learning Science… still, we have some good ones here already, so I’m not worried) I’m thinking of lapbooking our body learning, now that the end is in sight.  Just including some simple things for the Five Senses, then adding each organ system as we study it over the next five weeks.  Five weeks and we’re done!  After that, it’s plant science, which is supposed to coincide with spring and seed-starting…  fat chance, around here! OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:  The new Jewish Homeschooling Blog Carnival is here !!! I love it when we can get a jump on the schoo...

PLEASE JOIN US! If you teach your kids at home and blog about it, just add a comment below! Other “weekly challenges” I play: Six Word Saturday Menu Plan Monday   WEEKLY PARSHA:  תְּרוּמָה / Teruma SCIENCE THEME:  Five Senses – SMELL! OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:  Tuesday - Toronto Symphony Orchestra Primary concert Friday – new edition of the monthly Jewish Homeschooling Blog Carnival – get your entries in!!! Still experimenting with various formats for the weekly schedule… this week, since I’m loving Google Calendar for meal planning and family scheduling, I thought I’d give it a try for schooling.  Except it turns out there is really no good way to export entries to any other form… drat!  Anyhow, it’s very bare-bones, but here it goes! Mon Jan 31             MATH            READING ALOUD: BOB / D&J / Winter Fu...

PLEASE JOIN US! If you teach your kids at home and blog about it, please add a comment below! Other “weekly challenges” I play: Six Word Saturday Menu Plan Monday Oy, what a week! WEEKLY PARSHA:  מִּשְׁפָּטִים / Mishpatim SCIENCE THEME:  Five Senses – TASTE! The Canadian Opera Company has a free noon concert series at its Four Seasons Centre that I have been wanting to try for a while, but the problem is that although the concerts are at noon, the doors open at 11, and it’s my understanding that there are a lot of people who arrive quite early to wait.  In other words, for a noon concert, we would probably have to arrive around 10 am and pack a lunch.  Blah.  I hate packing lunches.  On the other hand, they are professional dancers and musicians, performing in a lovely, intimate setting (NOT the full Four Seasons Centre).  So I really do want to try it.  This week, the concert actually features a dancer demonstrating th...

Let’s try to do this earlier in the week this week, shall we?  I am mostly copying and pasting from last week, but that’s because we are finally starting to develop some kind of rhythm, as we slooooowly transition into a Grade 1-type schedule.  Naomi is the exact age I was when I started Grade 1, and it’s exciting seeing her mastery and interest develop.  There are still some formal subjects that I plan to save for next fall, but I think we will start First Language Lessons as soon as she’s ready.  Fun!  I think she will really enjoy it. WEEKLY PARSHA:  יִתְרוֹ /Yitro/Yisro SCIENCE THEME:  Five Senses – TOUCH! Sunday (Ted @ work): CULTURAL (:-)))):  Field trip to Chinatown kitchenware store, unrelated to anything except my mother needed a new hot-water pot for Shabbos. PHYSICAL/RECREATIONAL:  My sisters took Naomi out tobogganing. BIG KIDS SCHOOLING:  Spent most of the day studying Grade 10 math with dd15. ...

As per usual…this week I have totally lost my grip on any semblance of control over our home and homeschool!  I’m DROWNING in paper… everywhere I look, papers, papers, papers.  Gaaaaah! So what have we done so far this week?  What’s still to come?  Let’s try to piece it all together! Sunday: GENERAL/SCIENCE/PARSHA:  Animation !  This took all morning and then some. PHYSICAL/RECREATIONAL:  We finally had snow, so Elisheva and her friends took Naomi out tobogganing. PRESCHOOL:  This was GZ’s week to go with Elisheva to the drop-in program where she volunteers every Sunday.  He had tons of fun! Monday:  DAVENING HEBREW:  continue reading/writing – Kriyah v’Od, Book 1 SCIENCE:  Five senses week 2!  HEARING:  short reading selections SCIENCE:  Hearing narration & illustration MATH:  Continuing with Judy Clock book MATH:  (self-selected) simple money math work...