Letter G

 Olly did not find the "G" in my drawing yesturday. He did notice a lot of things though.

After I pointed out the "G" we drew our "Gs" together in our good books. He did his like we do with form drawing. Going over it and over it again and again until it was dark enough to see.

We also had a verse that went with the story. The verse has a lot of "G" sounds, so he is getting the phonics in that way.

Letter Story G

 Olly and I have started our first Language Arts block for first grade.

We used the Enki Education story "The Little Falcon". One day I read Olly the story. The next day we recalled the story and we colored our pictures.








Olly's picture did start out with a Golden Gate. He also drew the boy and some trees, with tree roots.

Then the dreadful thunderstorm arrived soaking the boy in rain dark black clouds in the dark black sky. He did give the boy his crystal so that he could control the storm and his fear of it.

Tomorrow we "find the letter" in the picture.

Walking in the Middle of the Road

This is a picture of Rolly's weaving. As Rolly has gotten older (he is ten now) I have realized that I am holding the goal of perfection too closely. We have not done enough crafts. One of the reasons is because I can hold to unrealistic goals of perfection.

In this case it is perfection of materials. The inner circle of mixed purple, blues and pinks was made by dying wool yarn in food coloring. We used a method shared from the Living Crafts magazine. Here is a link:  http://www.livingcrafts.com/blog/category/dyeing

That was a really great experience. However, the wool was thin and while I can do that once or twice. I can't do that with every ball of yarn.

The second layer was made with an inexpensive acrylic yarn I bought at Joann's Fabrics. I bought this yarn for a class of a bunch of kids. I don't buy this for myself and it was really difficult to buy it for others. But since it was for a class, I could not afford to purchase wool yarn for all of the children. This was fine. And the kids in the class did love it.

And for me, the experience was freeing. Because I ended up with a bunch of inexpensive acrylic yarn sitting around the house. Grandma doesn't personally care what we use in her gift, so this yarn works out fine.

It was super easy to finger crochet and it looks pretty. The light color was needed to balance out the darks in the center.

What's A Girl To Do With All Of This Finger Crocheting?

Grandma's birthday is coming up in only one week. She really appreciates it when the boys give her something personal for her birthday. And although Brother is ten now, he is just really becoming comfortable with finger crocheting.

We use two different types of finger crochet methods.

This is the type my older son uses, except that he keeps one loop on his finger after the sheep jumps off his finger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMQr_nLn4FM

My other son holds the loop on his lap and grabs it with his fingers to pull it through. This is much faster and easier for him to control.

My understanding is that usually kids will learn and take off in the skill of finger crocheting in Kindergarten (4-6 years old) in a Waldorf type school. My oldest son has some sensory challenges that we are evaluating. He did not enjoy the rhythmic movement of finger crocheting until he was ten years old.

Ten years old is truly late for a child to develop this skill, so if your younger child is not finding finger crocheting easy (or joyful) by age seven, I would just make a note of it for later.

Now my ten year old loves to finger crochet and he did over half of the pink portion during today's Seahawk's game. which meant that he wasn't "living in his work" but we were on a timeline, so this is where "heaven meets earth" and we just had to do the best we could.

Anyway - we used the information from this blog: http://www.flaxandtwine.com/2012/02/woven-finger-knitting-hula-hoop-rug-diy.html to make our "place mat."

I did use my husband's shirt for this project. You can see that the color of the shirt matters for the center of the weaving. I did not quite realize this when I followed the directions. I think it would have been nicer if I had chosen a shirt to match the yarn. And I would have cut the shirt slices a little thinner.

Anyway, here is the result before I finish cleaning it up and weaving in the ends.

Vision Challenges

This year Big Brother turned eight years old. It feels like he is bright in a lot of ways, but I was very concerned that we hadn't seen any indication that he would be reading in the near future. In addition, he had a lot of trouble copying words from the board onto his paper. Brother would lose his place in the word and in the sentence. These indications led me to set up an appointment with an Optometric Physician. As expected, Brother's eyes would not converge or track correctly. This made me feel a lot better because it explained why he wasn't showing any signs of being an emergent reader. He was unable to focus on the words to be able to read.

Brother's treatment plan included a daily computer program that exercised his eyes as well as some non-computer home exercises. In addition some reflexes, which were important when he was a baby, did not integrate properly as he has grown. So we have exercises to integrate these reflexes.

On the bright side, I am seeing progress with reading. We are reading the Sally, Dick and Jane pre-primers from 1965 and doing the associated workbook. He loves it and the print is big and clear enough that he can read it. And he loves the pictures. On the negative side, his brain is rewiring and weird side effects are occurring. For example, when he is focusing hard, his body starts to itch all over. Obviously that is pretty darn distracting! Fortunately, our therapist provided me with a pressure activity I can do along his spine to reduce the itching. If it doesn't work, then I also have a pressure activity I can do to his face. So far this is really helping out.

Meanwhile, I feel like we have really been floundering. I wasn't getting the feedback that would keep us moving forward with the curriculum. My fellow homeschooling friend, who is really organized - said that we were in a state of emergency. That made me feel a lot better. The most important thing was the visual therapy and the physical therapy. So other things would slide a little to make space for the triage work. However, things have improved and we are no longer in an emergency situation. This weekend we participated in a special needs call with the Enki curriculum writer and she got me moving in the right direction.

So, as of this week, we are moving on with our official second grade curriculum!

R's copywork

We participated in an Enki support phone call and it was brought to my attention that some of our "issues" were most likely due to eye tracking difficulties. Brother's eye tracking in not mature enough to allow him to look at the chalk board and then copy it down onto his paper. He can do it, but loses his place constantly. So he has to re-find his place on the board every time he looks away to write a letter. This takes a lot of effort, tiring him quickly so that he can't write much. A way to support him in his copy work is to put the copywork on a piece of paper beside him so that he doesn't have to look so far away. This is normal, and should resolve on it's own. If it hasn't by the time he is 8, then we can start looking into eye exercises. I put the copywork up on the chalk board as well knowing that someday he will use the board exclusively.

Little Falcon work

Yes! It's the letter "G".



Brother's



And his practice letters.




And his copy work. I can't believe he did this! Just imagine a kid who can't read yet copying all of this off of the "blackboard." Especially the one we are using!

First Grade!

We started First grade on Monday. I love homeschooling - if Brother is ready to start first in the middle of the year instead of September, we can!

We started off with the Enki coming of age story Little Falcon. It really spoke to Brother. Although, Brother really feels like he still needs to hear the stories for three days and then recall on the fourth. This really slows down our curriculum. Which is fine, I am planning on doing first grade for one and a half years anyway.



Here is Brother's drawing of the Little Falcon. He felt really playful with his writing.



Here is my picture. Can you tell which letter we are working with?



Here is Baby's picture. ;)

Monday!

I can't believe it is Monday already! Today is Grandma's 70th birthday. We have been making lanterns for the party for the last 4 days. The kids are really excited. Daddy has the day off work, but he wants to keep his regular schedule. That works fine for us.

So, we had our regular morning "lessons." I switched Baby's reading list around. The new poem is:

When against earth a wooden heel,
Clicks as loud as stone on steel,
When stone turns flour instead of flakes,
And frost bakes clay as fire bakes,
When the hard bitten fields at last,
Crack like iron flawed in the cast,
When the world is wicked and cross and old,
I long to be quit of the cruel cold.

Little birds like bubbles of glass,
Fly to other Americas,
Birds as bright as sparkles of wine,
Fly in the night to the Argentine,
Birds of azure and flame birds go,
To the tropical Gulf of Mexico,
They chase the sun, they follow the heat,
It is sweet in their bones, Oh Sweet, sweet, sweet,
It's not with them that I'd love to be,
But under the roots of the balsam tree.

Just as the spiniest chestnut burr,
Is lined within with the finest fur,
So the stoney walled, snow-roofed house,
Of every squirrel, mole and mouse,
Is lined with thistle-down, seagulls feather,
Velvet mullein-leaf, heaped together,
With balsam and juniper, dry and curled,
Sweeter then anything else in this world.

Oh, what a warm and dark nest,
Where the wildest things are hidden to rest,
It's there that I'd love to lie and sleep,
Soft, soft, soft and deep, deep, deep!

By Elenor Wylis

Followed up with the picture books:
Gingerbread Baby (for the 3rd week!)
Twas the Night before Christmas (Baby's request)
Fairy Goes a Marketing
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (Baby's request)

I've been leaving Baby with the books and with Winter by Gerda Muller, while Brother and I go to the special Fairy Tale reading spot with our candle. This week we are reading "Star Frog" a fairy tale for younger Kindergartens from our Enki Folk and Fairy Tales book. Brother is really fed by repetition, so I have changed our weekly rhythm to include three days with the same story, and then recall on the fourth.

I have also added the verse "Gnomes" to our circle to strengthen his midline crossing skills per the Enki Movement book.

Here are the gifts votive sized lanterns that we made for Grandma's birthday!



Daddy's has the smiley face on it. ;)




We also made a tiara for Grandma with glitter, feathers, googly eyes and sequins! Kids and Daddy had fun making a mess and Grandma enjoyed the tiara!

Tuesday

Today we started off with our walk, form walk and circle. Brother is trying to be the leader and decided to add some Sally Goes Round The Sun. When his leadership turn was over, we continued on as planned.

For Baby's stories this week we read the January page from "Around the Year" by Elsa Beskow, "Winter" by Gerda Muller, "In the Land of Faries" by Daniela Drescher,"The Tomten" and "The Tomten and the Fox" by Astrid Lindgren, and "Gingerbread Baby" by Jan Brett. Brother always sits and listens. Then Brother and I went off for me to read for him "Masha and The Bear." This story is listed as a younger Kindergartener story in my Enki books. It seems as though Brother is still hearing the stories with his "literal ears" so I am still on the fence about offering first grade activities. Last year when I read this story for him the first time, Brother was very upset. This year he found it humorous when the bear was afraid of Masha. It's interesting the difference a year makes.



This afternoon Brother and I made pinecone bird feeders while Baby took a nap he insisted he didn't need. ;)





Here is the bird feeder in it's place.

Older Kindergarten Week #5 Monday

Well, we are back in the saddle! A weekend ago we went to Leavenworth Washington to enjoy the fall leaves turning. It was really wonderful. We hiked on the Iron Goat trail on the way over. We walked along the Wenatchee River and watched the salmon spawning. This year Oma took us on a horse and carriage ride. With the excitement and the noise of sharing a hotel room, no one gets much sleep, so we took last week off from homeschooling.

Meanwhile, this week we are still increasing on our Michaelmas circle. Baby is almost 2.5 years old and really wants to be down for our morning walk, and since he is slower, Brother and I are going to march in place to keep our heart rate up when we are waiting for Baby. I'm trying to continue to find ways to strengthen Brothers core.

For Story we are reading the Enki Folk tale "The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin." Brother likes it because it has a pumpkin and is a little scary in honor of halloween.

This weekend when walking under the Oak Trees we found many, many acorns. The West Wind has been ripping through our yard for about the last week. So, we are also reading Enki story "The Gift Of The Might Oak" for our nature study. Brother was a little afraid of the West Wind, but over all he enjoyed the story.

Craft today was baking, so we made muffins. Today's challenge is that Baby skipped his nap, so we laid down together for 20 minutes and then we came downstairs and Baby played alone in the rec room for the rest of the hour or so. Brother stayed up in his room. This unfortunately means I missed my meditation.

Another big change is that we put a bed for Baby in the kid's bedroom. Until now we have all essentially all been sleeping in the adults bedroom. Sure, we put Brother in his own bed at night, but he moves back in with us around 2pm when he wakes up the first time. We need more sleep! So, I am trying to teach the kids to sleep in the kid's room. We have a double bed on the lower bunk, so I am hoping that eventually Brother and Baby will just snuggle together instead of coming in with us. Meanwhile, I am sleeping in the kid's room for now so that Daddy can get a full night's uninterrupted sleep. He is working almost all the time and needs quality sleep to maintain focus. Wish us luck!

Tuesday

Phew it rained last night! We have a metal roof and it was so loud it seemed like we were sleeping - or not sleeping- in a tent. Since we didn't get much sleep last night, everyone slept in really late this morning, pushing our entire day back. We still walked in the rain. Brother wore rain boots and splashed in all of the puddles. Since there are 2 long hills on the walk, we spend a lot of time with "running river" flowing down the hill besides us. He splashed down running river looking for worms for me to save. We pulled a lot of worms out of the river today!
Brother joined in circe today. I think this is one of the benefits of being in a co-op. I used the same circle as the co-op circle, which is actually designed for younger kids. But he enjoys it, and since he has seen all of the other kids participating in circle at co-op, it is carrying him at home. For story, I am reading "The Queen Bee" from the Enki Folk an Fairy Tales. He really sat quietly for the entire story, afterwards commenting that "he saw pictures of the story in his brain." Then he holed himself up in his room building with blocks for the next hour. He has a really big plan and has asked me not to clean up his room tonight.
This is the first time Brother has gone in his room and shut the door leaving Baby on the outside since Baby has become old enough to realize what is going on. Baby was sad, but brother needed his alone time. While Brother was holed up his room, Baby and I made granola. I gave him whole almonds, covered them with a dish towel and then gave him a wooden mallet. He had a lot of fun pounding on the nuts. He also helped stir the whole sticky mess together. We both have our hands on the spoon and I sing a rhythmic little verse (that I make up on the spot) so that he can feel the movement he needs for the stirring. It was very sweet, and we hardly ever get time alone together.
Before Baby went to nap, I read him a couple board books. I am trying to start giving him the same as I do for Brother, but on the appropriate level. I figure I might as well start now, I want him to be willing to give Brother and I alone time as Brother's work becomes more intensive in the next few years. I am laying the groundwork for it now.
This afternoon we worked with bee wax for a bit. Brother is creating a bird and would like to save it for him to work on next time. After it is done, he would like me to incorporate it in some stories.
Tuesday afternoons we babysit Brother's friend and her newly adopted brother.
Tonight I read the first chapter in The Burgess Bird Book for children. I used to read Brother a chapter book every night, and I want to get back in that habit. Since Baby is under 3.5, I am not concerned about his absorbing inappropriate stories yet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!

Tuesday - Craft Day

Circle was really rough today. I carried it, but barely. After that, we all went outside to play. It was pretty sunny and warm. We spent quite a bit of time in the garden clearing the black berries. 

For story we read the story from our Enki book - The Singing Snake. Brother laughed the whole time through! It was neat to hear him think something was funny and really laugh about it. I don't think he laughs a lot other than during wrestling time and night. It's not that he is not a happy kid, but in some ways, he is really quiet and deep.

Brother's butterfly is the one closest to the window.

Today's craft came from our Enki craft book. It uses the wet on wet paintings from 2 weeks ago as wings and a stick as the body. Brother loved making it and is very proud of his. It was really interesting watching him trace around the wing template. I could see where it became more difficult as he crossed his midlines. The paper was really thick for cutting, and his hands lacked some strength. Although, he is much more accurate with scissors than last year. He was able to punch 3 of the hole punches, which was a hand strength issue again. But, he had no problem with the sewing. A couple times when he was cutting, I gave him a little push to not give up. I am trying to strike a balance, to teach him that when things are tough, he shouldn't just give up. But again, remembering "Process Not Product".

Tuesday - We did Circle!

We did Circle! 

On Saturday, Brother informed me that he wasn't going to do circle for a while. I just said "Oh". Our spring circle is fun, full of energy and joy. He did balk at first, but the baby ran into the middle of the room when I started singing "Come Follow" and Brother just couldn't resist. Ha! Tomorrow is another day though.

Here is our circle - taken from the Enki book:

Windy Weather

King Winter

Mother Earth's Secrets

Winds

Spring is Coming 

Little Nest

I want to add something about a snake, he was slithering around at his friend's house today. I think he might like it and it might be grounding after Winds.

For story we are reading Princess Spring. And for craft we are working on a catapult. We are trying it out tomorrow!  We also had social time today. So far we are meeting our goals. 

Weekly Rhythm - Goals

This blog is mainly to notify family and friends of our homeschooling endeavors. I was an Accountant in my previous life and will try not to be too dry. 

But it is time for some housekeeping - 

We are in our first real year of kindergarten, so our goals mainly revolve around our home life.

Sunday - menu planning, grocery shopping and baking

Monday - Kindergarten co-op and baking if we didn't get to it Sunday

Tuesday - circle, story, clean one floor, craft, and social event

Wednesday - circle, story, and social event

Thursday -  park with friend, story,  and social event

Friday - circle, story and errands

Saturday - family day, yard work

We are using Enki curriculum, which I really love. I've been doing a lot of research for first grade, and it is leaving me feeling really good about what we are already doing. Here is a link for Enki.   http://www.enkieducation.org/  We also have a strong support group of other Enki homeschooling families and Waldorf inspired homeschoolers in our area. It is very exciting!