Day In the Life of Homeschooling Penny: Part 2

Homeschooling Penny is not always such a structured event. I am always looking for little opportunities to build on her understanding of the world. One of my favorite forums to reinforce pre-math skills, provide sensory exploration, and conduct mini science lessons is to involve her in cooking. Whether it's helping me measure out flour and sugar for cookies, "chopping" salad for dinner, or pushing the button on the blender for fruit smoothies, Penny is usually at my side during food preparation times. The best childhood memories I have with my mom are when I was helping her in the kitchen, so I really looked forward to involving Penny with me in my kitchen exploits.



The pig-themed day was just too tempting, so we went all out and made pigs-in-a-blanket for lunch. Though some people would call me a health-food nut, I'm not above making classic kid food. I just tend to put a healthy twist on it. PBJ? Fine, but on whole-grain bread, 100% fruit jam, and natural peanut butter. Burgers, fries, and milkshakes? Ok, but let's do turkey/veggie burgers, baked potato wedges or roasted green bean "fries," and a yogurt fruit smoothie. We have pizza on a weekly basis...but it's homemade with lots of veggies. Ect...

So my healthy spin on pigs-in-a-blanket? Nitrate-free beef franks wrapped in homemade whole-wheat biscuits. I assure you these taste way better than the canned biscuit alternative. To her delight, Penny helped paint egg wash onto the piggies. Cooking is so much fun for kids!




The learning doesn't end with our main dish. While they bake away, we pass the time by making patterns out of cheese triangles, carrot coins, and square crackers. I make the beginning of the pattern, and Penny has to figure out what comes next.



Ramona isn't big enough to participate yet, but she grabs a snack and spectates from her throne (or high chair...whatever). Rest assured, as soon as she is big enough to stand at the counter and hold a big wooden spoon, she'll be in on the fun.



After lunch, we head outside for "recess." Funny how changing the name of a normal everyday activity can motivate Penny and make it more fun. We live in a rather dark basement apartment, but we have the blessing of having a monstrous backyard. We played the three little pigs (I was the wolf) and Ramona observed and squealed in delight from her favorite seat.




After about 20 minutes, however, we all realized we were grossly underdressed (it was a freezing cold day) and both girls began to have pre-nap meltdowns. So recess was cut short and we ran into the house to get ready for quiet time. Ramona was wrapped in her favorite blankie and tucked into her crib for a nap, and Penny and I climbed into my bed for snuggling and a story. Penny rarely sleeps anymore, but she has a quiet time where she listens to music, reads books, and plays with puzzles or other toys. In the meantime, I get a cup of tea and check my email, do some chores, or if I'm lucky, take a nap myself.

After quiet time, and six rousing versions of "This Little Piggy Went to Market," (one for each foot in the house) we pull out the main event: our library books about pigs. On this particular day, I found a fantastic book about swine: "Pig" by Jules Older. Penny loves learning about animals- it's definitely her favorite subject for school. She was particularly interested in the nipples on pigs- "Look at all the nipples! The pig is feeding all her babies with her nipples!" 3-year-olds are weird.

Next comes our final activity of the day: crafts. Penny can't wait for craft time and often wants to skip everything else to get to get at the scissors, glue, glitter, and create something fun to put on the fridge.




I usually keep it pretty simple; as long as we have construction paper, popsicle sticks, tp tubes, and googly eyes, the possibilities are limitless. However, I was feeling inspired on pig day, so we made a little handbag made out of felt. One of the best sites for simple crafts is familyfun.com This was an adorable craft- I think we will be be making the other animals in the future.




Homeschooling Penny doesn't just get her ready for kindergarden- it helps us bond together, creates memories, and gives me a creative outlet. I love the way having my own kids actually keeps me young. I have to remember how to play, explore, and wonder about the world around me- skills that I swore I would never let get rusty as I grew up. But as we grow, the world wears us down and I'll admit worry, stress, other icky grown-up stuff has dulled my delight in life at times. Thank God for my children. With their help, I'll never have to truly grow up.

Day In the Life of Homeschooling Penny

When I transitioned to being a stay at home mom, the months stretched before me like a vast plain. It was slightly overwhelming- the time before me was void of a lot of the stress I had so often abhored, but how would I keep myself busy? My friends and family were all in Oregon, I was in a new city, and Micah was busy with his new career. It was entirely my own responsibility to make the most of the time I had with Penny now. Of course, I knew we would be doing a lot of visits to the library, parks, the zoo (thanks to my Aunt Meg for the awesome membership!), and playdates, but I wanted to make the time at home a little more meaningful and intentional. Preschool is not really an option for us financially and so I thought I would see if I could replicate the experience without leaving the house.

So, after some quick internet searches, I discovered there was enough free material online for me to put together my own homeschool curriculum. The following is a pretty typical day for us at "school," which we will do about 2-3 days a week.

We start out pretty much the same way each day: First we talk about the day of the week, the month, and the date and write it on our chalkboard. I love this art easel from Ikea: the best $15 I have spent in a long time on Penny. We sing our "Days of the Week Song" to the tune of "If Your Happy and You Know It":

Every week has seven days, yes it does!
Every week has seven days, yes it does!
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
Every week has seven days, yes it does!

Today is Wednesday, Wednesday, yes it is....etc.



Next we talk about the theme/topic of the day and the letter it starts with. Penny helps me choose the subject or theme she would like to learn about. Due to frequent readings of Charlotte's Web, "Pigs" was the topic of choice this week. I will often pick a topic based off of what library books are available at our weekly trip to storytime. Sometimes I will plan ahead and place books on hold, but often I'll just go with what is available at the time. Being a teacher really brings out the procrastinator in me.

After a dizzying rendition of the ABC's (she spins in circles whenever we sing), we do our memory verse of the week (or month). Sometimes I will pick the same one she is learning at Sunday school or pick one that seems relevant. She was dealing with a lot of fears a few months ago, and I was amazed at how teaching her Isaiah 41:10 really helped calm her in moments of distress: "Do not be afraid, for I am with you." Being able to teach Penny truths about God has been the most rewarding part of being at home. Though I grateful for the place of Sunday school in her spiritual development, I want to help her discover the beauty of God on a daily basis.



We use the back part of the white board to practice phonics with the letter of the day. We will help each other come up with vocabulary with beginning with the letter and illustrate the words. This princess has really got it going on:



We will often be counting the days down until the next holiday or family visit. This month we made a paper chain to count down until Kiki (my mom) comes and St. Patrick's Day.




After our little introduction, I'll get her started on some worksheets, which I will find online for free. There really is an incredible abundance of free materials online. I will use our theme to find pre-writing, pre-math, concrete thinking skills, and coloring/art worksheets. Here are just a few of my favorite worksheet websites:

http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/
http://allkidsnetwork.com/






After she completes all of her worksheets, it's computer time. We usually start by doing an online puzzle Penny is getting so good at these- she made a record today of finishing it in 58 seconds! Then we read an online book of the Three Little Pigs- an obvious choice for a pig-themed day! Then she gets some free time to play at PBS kids- this is probably her favorite part of the day so I usually have to put a time limit on it or she would play right through lunch. Her favorite games are Curious George and Sesame Street.





Our day isn't over here, but this is getting a little bit long, so I'll be finishing the rest of our fabulous day of swine with a separate post.

Back to the Grindstone...Though I Never Really Left It

It’s been a while since I have had the inspiration/time/energy to write a blog entry so I’m feeling quite accomplished to finally have the gumption to do it. Maybe it’s the time of year- I always seem to lean into a bit of a funk in late winter, and I don’t think I’m alone. I was hoping that it was simply a result of feeling like a drowned rat in Portland by this time of year, but as it turns out winter is winter where ever you live…unless you live in paradise. February snow is decidedly gloomier, slushier, and dirtier than December snow. But the sun is gracious in Denver and at least I can feel it’s warmth on my face more than a few times each week, and for that we’re thankful.

As we near the end of the longest month of the year (even though it is technically the shortest, it always feels the longest), I am appreciating the past 8 months that I’ve been a stay-at-home mom. For the first 6 months it felt like such a luxury. It was a major change for me- I had transitioned abruptly from working part-time at MFH, managing Stepping Stone Apartments, and going to school almost full time to being home with the kids exclusively. I worried that I would be anxious and bored after being so busy, but it turns out it isn’t as scary to stay at home as I thought it might be. Between homeschooling Penny a few days each week, playdates, volunteering, storytime at the library, going to the park, managing the household, and caring for a new baby, the days and weeks tend to fly by in a flash.

But after the holidays came and went, our financial situation started fueling my drive to return to work. God has continually taken care of us over the past season in our lives even with unsteady work/unemployment for Micah, huge moving costs, and a new addition to the family. It’s almost unbelievable that we have been able to escape without debt (besides Micah’s student loans) to this point- truly we have been blessed. Yet, being one car repair or medical bill away from disaster has taken some of the joy away from my time at home. I also have dreams of moving out of our basement apartment into a home where I can actually see the snow fall and have huge floods of sunlight to bask in. A better part of town with less rowdy neighbors would be a major improvement as well.

Finding a job that would work with Micah’s schedule was a challenge though. Unlike when we lived in Portland, we don’t have a huge network of adoring Penny and Ramona fans that will babysit for free at the drop of a hat (we miss you all!!!). So after looking for several weeks, I had applied for one job, and one job alone, that would possibly work with my limited availability: an on-call position at a women’s transitional housing program called Warren Village First Step. As it turns out, it’s the only job I would need to apply for as they hired me last week. 

I have tried to think of the last 8 months as a career change and not a period of unemployment, because truly, being a stay-at-home mom is a challenging job and rich with rewards. But having worked with homeless families practically my entire adult life, advocating for those in need has become ingrained into the very heart of me and I’m eager to roll up my sleeves and get involved again. I am so relieved to be working in a small non-profit where they are flexible about my availability and welcome the involvement of my family and children in my work. The program manager was so understanding about my lack of childcare- she even encouraged me to bring Penny with me to work and for special events. As we always included Penny in all the activities at MFH, it’s a relief to be in such a flexible and warm work environment again. There are a lot of differences between MFH and Warren Village, but I view it as an opportunity to understand how another non-profit works and get my foot in the door to the social service field in Colorado. I’m only working one day a week to start, but I’m hoping they will find more hours for me as time goes on.

On another note, here are some pictures of our adventures over the past few weeks.

We had a huge snowstorm at the beginning of the month, giving us the opportunity to take the girls sledding for the first time.









On Valentine's Day, Penny and I had a little party with a friend from ballet class and then put on a fancy dinner for Daddy after he got home from work.




Enjoying chocolate fondue for dessert...Penny's new favorite thing.

I'll be posting more frequently hopefully now, so check back often for more updates!