Big News

You Guys! As of Friday, April 10, I now have a READER!

It was something that  took me by surprise as I didn't think Amita was ready. I've been going through letters and activities, as well as occasionally doing a lesson in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. On Friday I took the book out and was doing some lessons with her. I turned to Ashima for a second and when I looked back, Amita had moved on to the next lesson by herself and read the word "am"!! 

I was really surprised and we all celebrated. Later in the day, while she was napping, I got to thinking about how she knew all of her other letter sounds. If she could do "am", could she do "at"? And, if she could do "at", could she do cat, hat, mat, sat, etc.? I made some cards up, explained the process of sounding out words, and she proceeded to to read all of the cards!!! It took a bit of work to get her to say the words fast enough to make sense of what the word was, but it only took about 10 minutes, and she was reading!

We hung up all the words she can read. 

It was pretty unexpected but she really took to it. She keeps sounding out everything now and is really wanting to be able to read even more. I'm going to have to do some research on where to go from here. 

Ridhwi was able to come home early from work that day and we took her out for dinner and bought her a special necklace (she's been wanting one) to celebrate. 

She picked this necklace. She is so proud, and so are we!

Wow, just wow. She really amazed me. My baby is a reader!

What is my job?

A couple of days ago I was reading Clifford Gets a Job with the girls. Before we began reading, I asked Amita, "What does it mean to have a job?". 
Amita replied, "Ummm… Daddy has one" 
Aha! My bright girl, I thought, and said, "Yes, we all have jobs! What is Daddy's job?" 
Amita said, "Daddy goes to the hospital and makes people feel better." 
Me: "That's right! Very good. And what is Mommy's job?"
Amita: "Oh, I know!!!" Me: "Yes?" and my sweet angel said, "To do the dishes!!". 

Wah wah.

Our Homeschool Life

We've been homeschooling now for six weeks and I have to say, I think this is the best decision we ever made. The kids are LOVING it much more than I thought they would and our weekly schedule is a thing of beauty. The flexibility we have is something that is, after such a crazy year, something for which I am extremely thankful. 

Let me go into some more detail about each child and myself. 

Amita is thriving on the routine we have set. Our schedule is as follows:

Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays: 

Breakfast around 7:30/8

School: 9-11:30

Snack: 11:30-12

Nap: 12-2 for Ashima 12-1:00ish for Amita

Play/Errands/etc.: 2:30-5:30

Dinner: 5:30-6:30

Get ready for bed:6:30-7

Bedtime: 7

Tuesdays: Toddler Time from 10-10:30

Thursdays: Music class from 9:45-10:15

Tuesdays: 5-5:30 Dance

Sundays: Church 

Soon coming: swim lessons

As you can see, we have quite a few activities throughout the week  so the kids are getting quite a bit of socialization and interaction (you were worried, weren't you?!). For Amita, this is golden. She absolutely thrives on the schedule and knowing what comes next. At the beginning of each day we put our schedule on the fridge next to our homeschool room and talk about what we will be doing. 

This is just how her personality. She is a very type A person and our days goes MUCH better when I let me know what is happening. There is even schedule in our home school routine. I very much like the idea of coming together for tutoring, going apart to work on independent activities, coming together again, etc. It works well so I can have time with both kids, so that's what we do. 

The first thing we do is ring the school bell. It's a two dollar bell I ordered off the internet and took three weeks to come from China. The kids love to ring it, though, and I feel that it is a way to distinguish between play in the school room and learning time. 

We start instruction with circle time where I read 3-4 books. The last two have to do with the topic we are are learning about (I'm doing theme based learning) and the first two are books that the kids pick at the library that interest them - no matter what the subject. I think one of the most important things about learning at this age is to teach a love of reading. We sit in a corner of the room where they are facing only me (to limit distraction) and we talk about the cover of the book and make inferences as to what it might be about. Throughout the book I talk about what is happening and have the kids guess what will happen next and ask them how they feel about what is happening. I stop on almost every page and ask them something. This helps keep their attention and helps with higher order thinking questions. For Amita I might ask her what she thinks will happen next and why she thinks that, for Ashima I might ask her to point to the ball and tell me what color it is. Circle time is also the time that I introduce any new topics (while I have their attention) and we do our daily board. 

This is our daily board where we talk about the weather, days of the week, and days of the month

Our Circle Time corner

After that, I get the kids up and going on some projects and we are off and running! I come and go from kid to kid throughout the rest of the time. 

Ashima likes school too, but I think she likes it more because her sister likes it that anything. I've been working on shapes, color, and letter recognition with her. Because she's still young, I let her come and go as she wants. I don't want to push her and make homeschooling something that is not fun. Besides, she still needs lots of free play. The one thing she sits through, is story time. She loves to have books read to her and identify what she is seeing! It's a joy to see. 

I am also really liking this schedule. At this point, it is extremely flexible. If something happens, I just try to make it up one afternoon or we just skip it. The kids are still pretty young so I feel comfortable with the flexibility.  The kids are also getting plenty of rest and have bellies full of healthy food, something they were not getting on our busy school mornings before. Sometimes I wish I could get a bit of a break here and there (especially to run errands) but honestly, the schedule is so much more relaxed than it was previously that I mostly just find myself thankful to not be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Another thing we are really enjoying is the ability to schedule time around Ridhwi's schedule. If he is going to have a day off, we plan activities he can help with, and/or rearrange our schedule as necessary. There was also a day where the girls were not up for learning. They didn't get a good night's sleep and were cranky. No matter! That's what the movie Frozen is for, right? So instead we watched the movie, went down for an early nap, and did school after the nap. They were in a much better mood and much more receptive to what we were doing. 

It is amazing how much I have seen the girls blossom with homeschooling, in just a couple of months! They are happier, eating healthier (because we are not on the run so much), and are able to tell me so much about what we are learning. Amita asks for school daily. She loves to be challenged and loves the routine. Ashima likes to have the freedom to do some things and be able to play sometimes. It's really been the best decision for our family and we are reaping the benefits.

Amita will turn 4 in May and I have made a decision for her 4-K education. For at least one year, we will be homeschooling through the Central Wisconsin RVA (Rural Virtual Academy). They use a curriculum called Little Lincoln for Pre-K and Calvert for Kindergarten (but have 15 others to choose from if we don't like it). Because of our zip code and they way the RVA is set up, we will be paired with our local school for any and all activities they offer as well as any classes. Once Amita begins Kindergarten she will have the option of taking any classes through the school (art, PE, music, even math and science if I choose) and doing the rest of the sechooling at home. Calvert and the RVA is set up such that there is 160 or so lessons for an entire year - what would be a typical school year after you take out weekends, holidays, parent/teacher conferences, and summer break. As long as she completes the assignments within the year, the RVA does not care how and when I teach them. I have autonomy as to our schedule and she has the benefits of a traditional school. At this point it seems like the best of both worlds! I am excited and looking forward to it. This also works well for me because, as much as I like homeschooling, sometimes the burden of being the person completely in charge of their schooling terrifies me. This will give me the option of working with another teacher and giving Amita what she needs too. Amita will also have the option of working within different grades - for instance she could be in 6th grade science and 7th grade math. My two biggest reasons for choosing homeschooling was that I wanted the kids to be challenged academically no matter at what level they are (neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed) and because I wanted to have flexibility in their schedule for our family. Ideally, this would give us everything we are wanting. Hopefully it is as good in actuality as it is on paper. More updates when it happens. I was not expecting to do a a virtual school, but I am loving the way this one is set up, so this is what we are doing. 

All in all, we are happy. Our schedule is great, the kids are happy and learning, and things are even easier for me. After a year of wondering if this was the right decision or not, I am happy to definitively say that it was the best thing for us. Life has slowed down, in the best possible way. Each day my time is spend loving my children and showing them how to understand the world instead of driving them from one place to another. More than anything, I feel blessed to be able to raise them this way. 

The Big Plan

It's been a year now since I started the homeschool journey. I've gone through a mountain of research and strongly feel that this is the best decision for my family at this point in our lives. 

I've spent the last few weeks looking at all of the schooling options in our area and discovered an alternative academy that looks really awesome. If, at any point, the girls are feeling like they don't want to homeschool or we are feeling it is not working for our family, we are open to this option.

That being said, here is our preschool curriculum guide. I have a fairly loose plan (the kids are only 2 and 3) and plan to add and modify as needed until Kindergarten where I plan to purchase an all-in-one curriculum for at least the first year, and then evaluate after that. The beauty of homeschooling is that I can make sure that the kids are engaged and challenged at the same time and mix things up. Right now I have a loose monthly plan and as things come up I change if I need to. The kids are really excited - they love the learning activities we have done so far and are looking forward to doing more. I love seeing their quest for knowledge and the natural curiosity. It is such a fun way to learn!

Here is the plan.

I am following three books:

 Kitchen Table Play & Learn: Activities and Lessons for Building Your Preschooler's Vital Developmental Skills.

Preschooler's Busy Book: 365 Creative Games and Activities to Occupy 3-6 Year Olds

Mudpies to Magnets: A Preschool Science Curriculum

I've previously written a post about Mudpies to Magnets, but basically it has all sorts of different age appropriate science activities for preschoolers. 

The Kitchen Table Play and Learn book is the book I am going to follow most closely, while doing enrichment activities from the Busy Book. KTPL has 30 unit studies with 5-8 specific lessons contained within each unit. Unit Studies include All About Me, Dinosaurs, Rain Forest, Bugs, Winter Days, Garden, Summer, and much more.  Each lesson has a combination of language, math, physical abilities (fine and gross motor and hand-eye coordination), social skills, and a few other skills. 

I plan to pick a unit topic (e.g. fish, bugs, weather, flowers, etc.) and gather related books from the library and try to tie it in to any travel or activities in the area, and then do each lesson for as long as it takes us - guess a month or longer since I plan to only do lessons 2-3 times a week. I am going to supplement where possible and add activities from the Busy Book and Mudpies to Magnets. 

I also subscribed to the following: 

Koala Crate 

This is a box of craft activities that is mailed to your house each month. One of the things I struggle with most is thinking of crafts for the kids. I'm planning on doing a couple of months to see if I like it as much as I think I will, and am willing to do a year-long commitment if this is all it claims to be. 

Little Passports: Early Explorers

This is a box of activities, printables, and souvenirs mailed monthly that center around world themes like food, space, art, oceans, dinosaurs, and others. I again did a monthly trial to see if it is worth the money, but it sounds great in the description. I plan to try and tie unit studies from KTPL when I can. 

The Young Scientists Club

These are kits you can purchase for doing different science actives. I think that the activities will take several days to get out everything we can out of it. I chose the Clifford Magic Science Kit first. You can buy each kit individually, so I'll see if I like the first one and go from there. 

Academically, that is the plan. I think it is more than enough and I plan to do approximately one unit a month and go from there. I am going to try and have a lesson 2-3 times a week or so depending on how much we have going on.

In terms of learning environment, Ridhwi and I converted the formal dining room into a homeschool room. We are committed to seeing this for at least the next couple of years (possibly K-12 if we feel it will be good for the kids and family) and we felt the kids needed a place dedicated to learning and fun. 

I'm working on organizing it and putting up some pictures 

It is right off the kitchen, dining, and living rooms.

I've already unpacked these tubs and we are planning to make a window seat right here. I think I will spend a lot of time there myself too!

I also purchased a few wall pictures of colors and numbers for Ashima. I splurged and bought two of these educational easels for the kids. Quite a few activities in KTPL require a felt board and a white board. This is also a magnet board, perfect for letter magnets! I think that they will grow with the girls and they get older, too. 

Now to the question everyone (and I mean everyone) asks: what about socialization? I don't like this question. Never in my adult life have I been a room with 30 people of the same age. After high school, we are placed in situations with people of different ages and abilities and expected to learn and work with them, and this is how they will learn being home schooled.  Homeschooling is a much more authentic learning experience in several respects. I will not be locking my kids in a room and not letting them out. Even so, here are the different activities they will be participating in (with other kids so they can be "socialized"):

1. Toddler time/gym time at the YMCA. A 30 minute Physical Education class once a week with about 35 other kids.

2. Music and Movement at the YMCA. A music class with about 45 other kids.

3. Play dates. I have contacted several other homeschool parents with preschool children and we plan to get together and do actives/ let the kids play together. This is in addition to regular play dates with the children of our friends.

5. Dance class. Amita has been begging for a dance class. Our schedule was too busy when she was in school but now we have time for it.

6. Library activities. We are blessed to have tons of classes and activities for preschoolers at our local library. 
7. Swim Lessons. We live on the Wisconsin River so they need to learn to swim as soon as possible. They will be taking classes at the YMCA.

Once the kids are older there are homeschool co-ops with all sorts of actives, music lessons, sports, art classes, etc. for them to be involved it, hopefully not all at the same time. They will actually be able to do more social activities than if they were in school. Whew! So glad I dodged the socialization bullet. 

I have written about what I think I will struggle with already, but I think that getting the kids to understand that when we are doing school we are learning, engaged, listening, and following directions will be most difficult. I might be their teacher but I'm also their mom. Once we get into a routine, though, I think those things will work themselves out. I'm sure there will be frustrating days, but there will be awesome ones too. I'm excited about so much family time and have the ability to do such fun activities with the kids!

I am also going to read, read, and then read some more to the kids. I am going to allow them plenty of time to play, laugh, giggle, sleep, eat healthy meals, and be children. 

The MOST important thing I'm going to do, though, is instill a lifelong love of learning. This is really the root of what I want them to get out of homeschooling, and it begins now. I will not force them or make them do things they hate. There is no need. I will instead begin showing how fun and exciting learning can be. This is the most important I think they can learn. Once they love to learn, the world is their oyster.

This is it. My plan. I'm really excited to begin and I'll make sure to update as we go along regarding activities and things that work for us. 

Let's Do This

I have previously posted about how Amita was enrolled in a Montessori preschool. We really enjoyed the school and were happy with her being there while we were settling in our house. I am sorry to report that there was a teacher change in January and something that was positive became negative. 

Let me start off by saying that Ridhwi and I evaluated where we were regarding homeschooling over Christmas and decided that we were ready to take Amita out of school and begin seriously working on homeschooling after this academic year was over. We thought we would keep Amita in school until the end of the year so she could have some consistency. We had moved her around so much that we didn't want to change anything for her if we didn't have to. While we loved the school itself, there were things we didn't like but were willing to put up with them as long as Amita was happy and learning. 

Here were the things we did not like: 
1. The lack of sleep for both kids. I would have to get the kids up before they were ready in order to get them out the door on time. They were both sleepy and crabby throughout the day because of it. 
2. The lack of breakfast. Amita can easily take an hour to eat breakfast. As I mentioned in point number one, she was already getting up earlier than she was ready for so I couldn't get her up an hour earlier on top of that for breakfast. Because of this, she would eat her breakfast in the car during the 25 minute commute to school and she often went to school without eating anything because she was sleepy. They gave a snack within the first hour so I didn't worry too much about it, but I still was not happy about it.
3. The lack of freedom in our schedule. With Ridhwi's work schedule, it is imperative that we schedule family time when we can. It is especially important for the kids to get quality time with him since they don't see him at all on his working weeks. Amita's schooling limited our ability to do this quite a bit.
4. A crazy-insane schedule for a two and three year-old. We were running around driving Amita to school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We had Toddler Time at the YMCA on Tuesday mornings and Music and Movement class at the Y on Thursday mornings. On Saturdays we have been going to the library for the different learning activities they host. Every single morning we were out and running around. I hated that the kids did not have time for free play or adequate rest, and that I had to choose between school and some other learning experiences (especially for Ashima who was not in school).
5. Sickness. Amita was constantly sick this winter, much more than anyone else in the house. 

We were willing to work around these things so Amita could have some consistency, but then Amita's previous teacher (who was awesome) was moved to another classroom. The new teacher, "Ms. Smith", was not as effective of a teacher. The first day I took Amita in the classroom after Christmas Ms. Smith did not introduce herself to me. In fact, it was two days before I knew who she was (I thought she was a teacher helper) and a week before I knew her name (Amita told me). I feel it was a bad first impression - Ms. Smith should have introduced herself to the parents and maybe have written a letter about herself so we could get to know her a bit and begin a relationship - especially considering she came in the middle of the year. There were also some behavior problems and lack of proper supervision that began after Christmas. Ms. Smith was a first-year teacher. I myself have been a first year teacher and  I was willing to give her a couple of weeks to settle and get her classroom management figured out. There were eight 3 year-old kids in the class, after all, and I could understand that she needed to her to classroom flow down to a routine. Four times that Ridhwi or I went to get Amita from school she was in the hallway by herself. The classroom door was open, but still, this was unacceptable. A three year-old should not be unattended. Then the behavior problems started. There was a kid in the class, "James", who has been a behavior problem the whole year. Amita had told me several times about how James would get in trouble and be in time out, or about other things James had done that were just plain bad. She never did those things herself, she just told me about them. I wasn't too concerned because it was obvious the previous teacher had James under control. Then one day after the teacher change I was reading to Amita and asked if she could give me a kiss - and she spit on me. No joke. My sweet, loving, and kind daughter spit on me, and not in a silly way - it was deliberate and mean spirited. I immediately picked her up and was on en route to time out when Amita bit me. Hard. My kids have never bitten each other so I was surprised and incredibly upset.  After the drama was over, I sat her on my lap and we had a serious discussion about what was going on. I explained that what she did was very wrong and bad and how it hurt Mommy. I asked where she learned spitting and biting and she said point blank that she learned it from James at school. It became obvious to me that Ms. Smith did not have the class under control. When combined with the other things we did not like about the school situation in general and the fact that we were planning to discontinue school anyway, we decided that enough was enough.The next day I went to the front office and put in a two week notice for her last day. 

Let me also say this. If a daycare situation was our only option, I might have been willing to put up with these things and discuss the problems with the teacher and come up with a plan so they did not affect Amita or our home life. After all, she would have had a new teacher and class in August. I understand that teachers can only control so much in a classroom setting and that kids have to learn from difficult people throughout their lives but this is not our only option and Amita does not need to learn these lessons right now. We were already planning on pulling her from the school, this just helped us decide to move up the timeline. 

I've been planning my curricula for a while now and I am finally ready. I'm going to post the things I'm doing for both kids in detail in a further post. We are going to begin next week and I am really excited for this to happen. I've been planning and deciding for a year now, and we are ready to begin. 

Let's do this.

New Blog, New Year, and New Goals

I made a few changes to the blog! I hope you all like the new layout and title. I've been meaning to change it for a while and *gasp* the kids went to bed early tonight so I decided that tonight is the night! Believe it or not, when I began the blog I never intended for it to be published - it began an easy way for me to keep my research about homeschooling organized. Ridhwi was reading over my shoulder one day and thought I had some good stuff and suggested I publish it - so I did! I thought it would only be my family and possibly a few friends who were interested enough to read it so I have been amazed and humbled this year to have so many positive words of support and interest from over 3,000 people on 4 continents. I would like to take a minute to thank everyone who has mentioned how much they enjoy reading it. It is a huge source of encouragement and support to me.

I've been giving the future a lot of thought lately. For so long our family was in a holding pattern - waiting to see where we would go for residency, surviving residency, deciding where to move once we were finished, and moving. For the first time we are settled and I must say, it feels great. The kids are now two and three and can actually start to help with a few things and follow directions. The days when I feel overwhelmed are waning and my ability to do things with the kids is growing. Two nights ago, Ridhwi and I had a discussion about where we are on the homeschooling front and came up with a definitive plan - I will be writing about this soon. On the personal front, I have a few things I have been struggling with the last few years. Now that we are settled, I have decided there is no reason to put things off any further. This year I will turn 29 and, since it will be the last of my 20's, I have decided to make it count. This year, I will become who I've always wanted to be. I've written before about my struggles feeling "useful" as a stay-at-home mom and about missing my career. Deciding to homeschool the kids and writing this blog helps, but I still miss teaching. Keeping all of this in mind, I have made a few goals for the year. I don't want to use the word resolution because I understand that plans change and circumstances can change, but these are things that I want to work towards to feel good about myself. It might even take more than a year, and I'm okay with that.  

Here they are:

1. Follow my interests. When I began college I had an extremely difficult time deciding between music education and english education. In the end it was the fact I wanted a more traditional classroom that made the decision for me. Throughout high school and college I played clarinet in band. I really enjoy music but have not been able to do anything with it for years and it is something I deeply miss. I have decided that this year I will work on the goal of learning to play the piano. Since I already know how to read music, I think it shouldn't be too hard. The difficultly of accomplishing this goal is that we don't have a piano! I am hoping to at least get a keyboard. Maybe then I can teach the girls too - that would be something I would really enjoy.

2. Make friends. This is something I struggle with. I am not a naturally outgoing person and meeting new people is something that causes me anxiety (one of the reasons I love Ridhwi so much is because he is so outgoing he usually takes care of this for me).  However, he works a lot and I need friends and to do things outside of the home. This is it- this is where we are going to live and make our home and lives. It can be hard to meet people when you stay at home but I've already made several (and all on my own)! I'm hosting a girls' night in a few weeks and having my friends bring their friends so I'm hoping I can meet even more awesome people. I'm planning to attend a book club where I don't know anyone next week. I asked the librarian about it and she said that that mostly older women attend but that they would probably really appreciate me coming so I'm going to give it a try. Ridhwi's working so I booked a babysitter for a few hours and all I have to do is finish the book. It makes me anxious, but I'm hoping that since I'll be in a familiar discussion (I love talking about books) that this will help me break the ice a bit. 

3. Be healthier. Early last year I joined weight watchers and lost 25 pounds. With everything going on I have remained the same weight, but I am looking forward to getting back on the weight-loss boat. There have been times in my life where I have put on weight - times that were particularly stressful where I put on weight. My second pregnancy was also not very nice to my body. I do not have a specific goal weight in mind but I do have a specific pant size - the size I wore in high school. Part of feeling like I've lost myself over the last few years was feeling like I also lost my body - both from the weight gained and the changes from childbirth. I can't do anything about the damage from the pregnancies (hello stretch marks!) but I can do something about the weight, so I will. I am intending to do it realistically. I might still indulge a little bit if Ridhwi and I go out but overall I will count my points and watch my portion sizes. I don't care how long it takes me to lose the weight, I want to do it in a realistic and manageable way that will ensure I keep it off, which fad diets won't do. I know that this will make me feel good, and it will be great for the girls to see me making healthy choices and meals. 

4. Have healthy relationships. Since we don't live near family, I've learned the importance of relationships - good relationships. I've also learned who my true friends are (those that make as much of an effort as I do to continue a relationship). My goal this year is to foster healthy relationships with some friends and family. It's just not worth it when I find myself upset about something someone several states away is doing/saying. My life is here now, and I will make it a great one (see goal 2). This year I will be kind with everyone, but maybe not pursue certain relationships as I have in the past. It kind of makes me feel like a bad person, but I think it will make me happier in the end.

I'm hoping that I can begin my 30's not as a "new" me, but rather as my true self that shines on the inside and the outside. For the first time in years I am feeling confident in myself and where I am in my life. I am feeling I can manage more than just surviving the day with two small children, and I am excited about the future. 

Marvelous Montessori

I have previously posted about how we put the kids in a Montessori school during our home renovations.  I am just now getting my office set up and my teaching supplies organized, so we decided to keep Amita in the school three mornings a week until I am up and rolling. We are very happy with the changes we've seen in Amita and I cannot say enough good things about this school. Unlike the school Amita was in before we moved, this school excites her yearning for knowledge. Each day she comes home and teaches me new songs and tells me what she learns in school. It's great! 

Montessori, for those who are unfamiliar, is a type of schooling that encourages a personal education path and independence with respect for each child's stage of learning. The school provides a multitude of activities that Amita can play with at any time. The activities are an age appropriate mix of toys and manipulatives that encourage learning by discovery and repetition. The school also has group activities and story time, but what I like best, is that Amita has the ability to make decisions about what she wants to learn. For instance, one morning I took Amita to school and the other kids were coloring and talking the theme of the month (at the time it was fall). I told Amita she should sit with the children but she didn't want to. The teacher came over and said that according to the Montessori method she was not required to do what all of the kids were doing and instead got her a "mat" (upon which all the children do their activities) and let her pick a letter activity to complete. For Amita, who doesn't always like social activities and prefers to learn independently, a situation like this is golden. She still has group and partner activities, but has freedom and independence in the learning process. I sincerely wish Montessori went further than preschool, but alas, it doesn't. Right now, we love the school and the personal attention they give the kids so much that we have decided that this school is the best for her right now. 

We are nearing the one-year point of our homeschool "trial" (I plan to write a post about this soon) and I still feel unsure about where I stand. When we made the decision to homeschool, we had assumed we would be living in the town where Ridhwi works. We moved to a much larger city 40 minutes away and now there are possibilities I had not previously considered, including an alternative learning academy. We feel like we owe it to the kids to look at all of the possibilities open to them and pick the schooling method we feel is best for them. It might even be different for each kid, who knows. That being said, we are still thinking (at this point) that we'll homeschool K-12. I  feel really good about where we are because it gives me more time to look into all of this and not feel so overwhelmed when we begin. I have to admit that I feel a huge sense of relief that a large part of the preschool component has been taken  off my shoulders.  I still intend to do learning activities with the kids and am currently teaching Amita to read, but am very happy to have been relieved of the burden of the bulk of schooling. I hate that I feel like it's a burden, but I do. At this point, I just don't feel like I have done justice for Amita, so I'm glad to have in a place where she can excel. Perhaps I need more research or perhaps I should again look at The Learning Box. I just need more time to figure things out, so I'm glad Amita is in school while I work on this. 

Ashima was also in the Montessori school during our home renovations but we removed her when they were over because she's still young at this point. She is getting everything she needs by reading books with me and doing small activities throughout the day. Right now she is really wanting to learn her colors so we've been working on that quite a bit. Maybe we'll put her in it when she's a little over three, like Amita, if we feel it would be beneficial. Until then I'm enjoying my baby being home. 

I still have more work to do to feel comfortable with homeschooling the kids. I really like the idea of it, but I am still trying to figure out practically how it will fit into our lives. With so many changes over the last six months, I am glad that the kids have some stability and are receiving what they need - even if it's not from me.

A photo of part of Amita's classroom. As you can see, there are shelves with all sorts of games and manipulatives for the kids to choose. Each kid is independently working and learning with direction from a teacher. 

Why I don't like Elf of the Shelf

Amita is three and really starting to understand the concept of Christmas. I've been looking forward to putting up the tree, making cookies, going to Christmas mass, singing songs, and making our own family traditions - and most of all, seeing her reactions to everything. One thing that I've seen on Facebook and Pintrest that I thought would be fun for a new family tradition was Elf on the Shelf. I saw many cute pictures of Elves in all sorts of neat poses and I could imagine how magical that must be for children. Excited at the prospect of doing this for my kids, I started doing research. What I found was surprising. 

The Elf (every family names their own) comes with his own book that explains the story of Elf on the Shelf. The Elf is sent by Santa to watch over children and report their behavior back to Santa, presumably to help determine if they go on the naughty or nice list and whether or not they will get presents. The Elves are not to be touched by the children and get their "power" when named. Every night the Elf flies back to the North Pole to report on the children's behavior and then comes back and hides before the family wakes up (hence the funny poses).

Maybe because it's a pet peeve of mine, but I was a little surprised to read the meaning behind Elf of the Shelf. I hate it when people tell the girls that they need to be good because Santa is going to come. Do you want to know why? It's because I expect them to be good all the time (within reason) - simply because it is the right thing for them to do. The act of giving Christmas presents does not include a check list I tally to determine the number of presents to give my kids - and I never want them to every think that it might. 

I thought of the things I wanted to teach them about Christmas, and a few things came to mind. The first is love. Love for God, love for others, love for themselves, and love of the Christmas season. I wanted them to practice kindness, gratitude, generosity, and a spirit of giving. I wanted them to get along with each other, and to spend quality time as a family. 

So, I came up with my own idea. This year, we introduced the Kindness Elves. I bought two generic elves on the internet (cheaper than Elf of the Shelf!) and wrote a letter to the kids from the elves. The first day caught me by surprise because we had just gotten back from traveling, so I had the kids start off with the simple action of giving each other a hug (it took them a half an hour to both do it so I think it was a pretty good starting point). The Elves have had them do things to prepare their hearts for the true meaning of Christmas including: making banana bread for our friends and neighbors, hugging family members and helping caring for them when they are sick, making Christmas cards for friends, giving one of their toys to children in need, reading Christmas books as a family, and generally spreading Christmas cheer. It's been a lot of fun to watch the kids look for and find the kindness elves and see what act of kindness we are doing. 

It's been a great tradition for us - one I plan on keeping around even after they no longer believe in Santa. Christmas is about much more than presents and Santa, it's about the love of a family, the traditions that bring us together, and kindness towards others. The elves have helped all of us (myself included) keep that in mind during the holiday season. It's been wonderful to spend time doing meaningful things with the girls while still keeping the magic and whimsy of Elf of the Shelf. It brings my heart so much joy to see them starting to understand what is important in life - and enjoying the process. I'll mark this down in the "win" column!

Our Home - A Crazy Couple of Months

The last 8 weeks  have been both the busiest and most fulfilling weeks Ridhwi and I have ever had. Our house is now a home and while we are loving being homeowners, it hasn't been the easiest process.

We bought the house in early September and were very excited but also a bit overwhelmed. The renovations started with our floors - we detested the flooring on the main level. It was white "hospital" tile with dark grout that never looked clean and a mixture of carpeting that was placed strangely in the living room. The house felt cold and lonely, even in the summer. We decided we could wing doing the flooring but we wanted to get it done right away so our stuff would be out of the way and the girls wouldn't be exposed to a construction zone. At first we tried some contractors but as soon as they found out that Ridhwi was a doctor (which we tried unsuccessfully to hide), they got very expensive and they also couldn't do it on the timeline we were needing. After quite a bit of research we finally found an independent contractor that would gave us a very reasonable price on labor for only himself and we set the date to begin work. However, since we chose to not go with a team, it meant that we had to deal with ordering the flooring, underlayment, glue, etc. and pick it all up in Green Bay ourselves instead of having it taken care of for us. 

The house was unsafe for kids so, for a couple of weeks, we found a school to put them in full time from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm while we worked on the house. After some searching found a Montessori school we loved. The first day we drove an hour from Rapids to Wausau, dropped the kids off (I might have cried a little), and then rented a cargo van and drove an hour and a half to Green Bay to pick up our flooring. While we were driving, we realized it wasn't going to work to live in Rapids and commute to our new house so we made an executive decision and drove our van back to Rapids, shoved our mattress and the kid's mattresses in the van, packed some boxes and clothes, and officially "moved in" to our new home. Those  weeks were crazy because we could barely function in the house yet we were living there with nothing more than a few mattresses on the floor - no oven, no working washing machine, no internet, cable, nothing. We had a lot of microwavable food and picnics in our upstairs bedroom - where the kids mostly stayed when they were home. Over the weekend when they didn't have school I would take them on errands and to the library so Ridhwi and Mark (our contractor) could work on the floors without worrying about the kids.

We did a lot of the demo ourselves since we were on such a short timeline. Our contractor had a few previous commitments he had to take care of (understandably) but he was willing to work with us over the weekends, which we appreciated! The next two weeks were full of painting, doing the floors, and trying to give some sort of steady environment to the kids. I painted the entire main floor while Ridhwi scraped tile and grout, removing carpet, and taking tack strips out of the floor.  I think Ridhwi was glad to go back to the hospital after all the work on the house! After three weeks, the floors were completely finished and we could walk on them. We also had moved in and began to unpack. We had a few mishaps like losing all of the hardware for the cribs (which Ridhwi amazingly and painstakingly figured out how to put together). We got everything unpacked and cleaned the sawdust from the floors, counters, and bookshelves. We had some furniture delivered which, coming from a two bedroom apartment to a house, was very needed.  It's been busy and crazy but we are really happy with how it came together.

We've had to learn about random things too, from how to care for our new floors, how to care for granite countertops, how to properly operate our fireplace, and things about drywall, bathtub jets, electrical wiring, cable, furnaces, refrigerator filters, and various appliances that we never thought we would need to know.

It's been crazy moving twice and having home renovations in just 5 months, but we are happy to be here and are truly starting to feel settled. The kids are really liking the house - they have a big bedroom and plenty of room to run around. At first they wouldn't go to sleep without one of us in the room with them, but now they are back to their old schedule and are enjoying being here. Because we are so busy, we have decided to keep Amita in the Montessori school a few mornings a week, and she is loves it. In fact, I think it's the best thing we've done for her. I am planning on writing another blog post outlining all the reasons we love this school and how it is better than her previous school. Ridhwi and I are still talking about homeschooling versus alternative schooling and are still trying to figure out what we are comfortable with and research all of the options available in Wausau. 

So now I am enjoying being in our new home, watching the snow fall outside, and thanking God for my many blessings: a roof over our heads, a warm home, food on our table, my wonderful husband and children, and this life He's given me. 

Ridhwi spend many quality hours with that drill scraping tile grout off the floor. It was a painstaking and backbreaking process

The room behind the kitchen was turned into a homeschool room and the yellow room on the right is our dining room. Everything had to be scraped.

It really came together! (Yes, I already have up Christmas decorations)

The dining room is my favorite room in the house. It has windows on three sides and even with the snow outside it feels warm and cozy.

Wherein I Realize I Can Do This

Amita has now been in preschool for several months and to this day I still remain undecided how I feel about it. I put her in school in the summer so she was mixed with two year-olds for the first several weeks - until three year-old enrollment went up enough to warrant separating the classes and and moving the three year-olds to their own classroom. At first I was very disheartened because I didn't feel she was learning much - just playing all the time. I stay at home so I really don't feel it is necessary to pay for a daycare (which was essentially what I was doing at that point). However, once she went to the other classroom I started to feel better. She came home with weekly lesson plans and I would get updates from her teacher - a lovely woman with the patience of a Saint - about how she was improving: drinking from a big girl cup, eating her lunch, and, about a week ago, she played with someone in the classroom (a big deal for her)! She also really school and her teacher. 

HOWEVER.

She has been in school for almost three months and has only been able to tell me one new thing she learned (the recognition of a bongo drum). Everything else the kids are doing are things Amita already knows. Also, by the end of the week, Amita is D.O.N.E. with school and life in general. She goes from 8-12:30 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, so she has to get up earlier than she is used to in order to eat breakfast and get ready. Then, by the time she gets home and calms down enough to sleep she barely gets a nap. I find myself spending all afternoon on Thursday and all day Friday trying to get her back on a schedule. Then, by the time she is a nice and wonderful child again, I have to start all over. I also have to wake Ashima up early to take Amita to school and she can be cranky throughout the day as well. 

My struggle is knowing where to draw the line between learning good social skills and learning academic material? Which is more important? Eventually, if I didn't put her in school, she would have learned these skills anyway, so what is she really gaining by being there?

I knew going into preschool that we were sending her essentially for social skills but I have to admit that I am rather disappointed by the lack of academic learning she has gained. I'm not expecting too much - I am simply expecting her to tell me anything that she doesn't already know. 

One day I was browsing on amazon and happened to see a butterfly kit for sale, where they send you caterpillars and you can follow them through their entire life cycle to chrysalides and finally butterflies. It was only $30.00 and I knew the girls would love it! Once I did that, I started looking at the library website online and came up with a lot of books and movies related to the butterfly life cycle. Then, I searched the internet, and came up with even more ideas! After that, my teacher brain took over and I started thinking up other lessons for different topics, including multi-media, art, nutrition, reading, and science. It was awesome! You can find the unit here. 

For the first time since I started this homeschooling journey I really felt as though I had it under control. I felt as though I could do it, for both kids, and I did! I am immensely proud of myself. Because the kids are still young and Amita is in school, I didn't push anything but rather fit in extra learning when we had the time - at most 20 minutes a day. 

I think for now we are going to have to find a balance between homeschool and preschool. We bought our house and have scheduled our move for the 6th of October and are trying to get some work done on the house before we move. In other words, things are crazy and honestly, it works well for me to have Amita in school so I only have one kid to take on house errands with me. We are doing enough at home that I am happy she will be learning new things academically.  While we are moving in our new home and getting settled I will keep Amita in school but I will most likely begin full-time preschool for 4-K. 

Another new development in my homeschool journey is that I attended a local homeschool moms gathering. It was very, very enlightening and made me feel much more confident about homeschooling to speak with other moms and find out how each person plans their day and what type of homeschooling they do (umbrella schools, online public school, unschooling, unit studies, online curricula, etc.). I have given it a lot of thought and really think they type of homeschooling I feel most comfortable with will include elective classes like art and music at a local school and the core classes like reading, science, and math schooled at home. I need to look more into the state laws regarding this, but, thanks to a great friend (that's you, Linda!) I have found a school that combines all of this with Calvert homeschool education. I finally feel I have found the right mix of home and school activities. I am still speaking with the representative and finding out more information, but so far I am liking what I am finding out.


So, this is where I am. I am barely keeping my head above water regarding the upcoming move, but I am feeling very confident about our schooling options going forward. We are going to leave Amita in school for now but are looking forward to starting a new preschool/K-12 curricula when I feel I am up to starting it - well after we are moved in and I am organized enough to begin.

This year has been a year of changes and everyone in the family is taking time to adjust. Things might be hectic right now, but they are a good kind of hectic. The kids are healthy and happy, my husband and I are in love, and we have a beautiful house we will soon be moving to. It is an exciting time in our lives and I am looking forward to our next (and final) move and being settled in our new home.

Making Stained Glass Butterflies

One of the girls' favorite activities during the butterfly unit was making "stained glass butterflies", so I thought I would share the lesson. It is very easy, and lots of fun! We made them three times because the girls loved them so much. I am pretty sure all the window in the house have at least one butterfly on them. This lesson could also easily be changed to fit any subject - cars, trains, etc.

Supplies: contact paper, tissue paper, scissors, and construction paper. 

Skills: fine motor skills, color recognition, and counting

First we read the book Glasswings, A Butterfly's Story by Eliza Kleven. I rented it from our local library. It is about a glass winged butterfly who gets lost in a big city and helps the other animals to grow a garden. 

Next, I took contact paper and cut it to approximately 12 X12, and then cut the outline of a butterfly out of construction paper to fit inside the frame of the contact paper (which I totally eyeballed), making sure to leave the sticky side up - this is where you will attach the tissue paper. I took a few sheets of whatever tissue paper I had lying around and cut it into small squares. Next, I had the girls put the tissue paper on the sticky side of the contact paper until all the space was filled. We talked about the different colors and counted how many pieces of paper were going on the butterfly and whether our butterflies looked like the butterfly in the story.

Amita was very diligent and tried to keep in within the outline of the butterfly

Ashima, not so much, but that's okay. She loved the process!

Then, I put them up on the window. Voila! When the light shines through, it looks like stained glass! So easy and fun with both kids!

Preschool Butterfly Life Cycle Unit - Includes Reading, Science, Math/Counting, Nutrition, Art, and Mixed Media

Below is a unit I made for teaching the girls about butterflies. I think this may be my key to doing preschool! I started right before the caterpillars came in the mail reading about caterpillar eggs and getting the girls really excited for the arrival of the caterpillars. once they arrived, we followed them through their life cycle and did appropriate activities for each stage, which I have listed below and divided by subject. Because Amita is currently in part time preschool, we did this unit over about 6 weeks - just taking our time and doing something when we got a chance. It turned out to be about 20 minutes a day of time and then we talked about it quite a lot throughout the day. All in all, it was a great success and now I have to decide the next unit I want to teach!

Science:

I bought a butterfly kit on amazon where they mail you baby caterpillars and provide everything you need to witness the entire life cycle of the butterfly. This is the only thing I purchased out of the entire unit.

Reading (all of these books I rented from the library):

Life Cycle:

Eggs, Legs, Wings: A Butterfly Life Cycle (First Graphics: Nature Cycles) by Sharon Knudsen

First The Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger 

This book is about all life cycles that start with eggs but it included butterflies so I thought it would still be good.

From Caterpillar to Butterfly

I also rented a book called Butterfly Eggs, a non-fiction book just about eggs, but I can't seem to find a picture.

Caterpillars:

Caterpillars by Marilyn Sinter

Butterfly Eggs

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Butterflies:

Glasswings by Elisa Kleven

Butterfly by Mark Inkpen

Bird, Butterfly, Eel by James Prosek

Mixed Media:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tvl6wz7e9M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tvl6wz7e9M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFN4cuBiWns&list=PLF2371CE81ACC4017

I also rented these movies from the library:

Sorry it is sideways, I can't get it to rotate. I rented The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories and The Story of the Butterfly.

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBkOOgEFi2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tvl6wz7e9M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YVqHnw0W-Q

Nutrition:

For a nutrition aspect, I had the kids some of the foods mentioned in the Very Hungry Caterpillar. They LOVED it and still talk about the different kinds of food. Amita's favorite was the pickle and Ashima enjoyed the Salami.

Math/Counting: 

Art:

We made "stained glass" butterflies after reading Glasswings: A Butterfly's Story with contact paper, tissue paper, construction paper, and scissors.

We also made caterpillars out of circles and glued the circles together. With Ashima I worked on identifying colors when we did this. 

This link has a lot of butterfly coloring pages: http://www.coloring.ws/butterfly1.htm

I found this kit at Wal-Mart for $5.00 and we made these one day:

The girls really enjoy seeing them on the fridge every day!

Also: