Writing

This week (let me just brag)

A couple of things that happened this week, which proves that my kids really ARE exceptional. (Of course, I am not biased, AT ALL.) :)

We went to apply for Ariana's passport at the post office (what do you know, you need an appointment after all). At the end of the 20-minute process (including getting her picture taken - which, by the way, turned out ADORABLE), the clerk says: "I have to commend you; you have great kids. Very well behaved. Usually when the kids come, it's a disaster for everyone." I don't know what he's experienced in the past (feel a little sorry for him), but as a parent, it felt good to hear that.

I went to Barnes and Noble with Caleb and we picked up a Kindergarten-1st Grade workbook for him, which he seemed to really enjoy when I went through the first few pages with him in the store. When checking out, the lady says, "Is he entering first grade?" Me: "Uhm, no... he's 3. But he's been doing Kindergarten level work with no problem, so I thought we'd give this a try." (Yes, I do forget at times that he is Preschool age. But that's what's so great about homeschooling. We do not progress at a pre-determined grade level based on age, but advance based on the child's individual rate of learning. Which far exceeds the public school guidelines, apparently.)

Guess the riddle... eat the food!

Before I even had a chance to think, my clever boy shouts out:

ICE CREAM!

So, guess what he got to eat early this Saturday morning?
(Black Cherry Sorbet, if you must know)

That's how we roll in this homeschool!

The weird thing is, he's had an ice cream cone, oh about three times

in his entire lifetime - all documented with photos, mind you -

so that makes his swift response all the more marvelous.

In other news, he now writes his name - I discovered this morning -

with a bit of a lopsided B

but considering that we didn't really drill this...

I was quite surprised.

As he writes his name, he names the letters: C-A-L-E-B

I think it's quite nice handwriting for a boy

who turned 3 years old just a few months ago!

Don't you think?

(By the way, we are working with a Comprehensive Kindergarten Curriculum right now - even though we're still calling it "preschool." :) Apparently, he is more than ready.)

Monday morning

Schoolwork in the sun.

While Ariana looks on.

Pajama school

So, I am grabbing the moments to record the lives of my little ones...

Grabbing the camera in the midst of my work to record their work

early in the morning...

And taking a moment out of my ever busy night to bring it to you...

Otherwise, my children's lives might never get recorded...

and you might never have the chance to see it.

Three-year-old writing numbers

Three-year-old writing numbers

Photo of the Week

2010 Week 2

This was the very first time he attempted to write numbers.

He wanted to do them, so we did.

We are learning to recognize and write numbers 1-10

and now we have started writing letters, too.

Do you notice his precision on this first try?

Hard to believe my just-turned 3 year old has such great fine motor control!

Creativity

The creativity of my three-year-old son is amazing. Here's a snippet - from his "schoolwork" - which is not really like school at all. He was asked to glue the fish anywhere on the paper (in the aquarium). He said that he wanted them in a circle, talking to each other. He was working on this particular one with his babysitter, who asked a few times, are you sure you don't want one swimming here, another swimming over there... No, he insisted on placing them in a circle, where they can talk to each other - and was concerned for the one on the bottom that got left out.

I can tell you, it's the most interesting aquarium scene I've ever seen!

"Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality."

Beatrix Potter

More learning

I thought you might like to see some of the things we've been doing lately in our

Homeschool Preschool -

we sure are having a lot of fun!

Caleb's depiction of a C (for Caleb) and M (for Mommy) -

on a hat that we can each wear on our heads, where else?

Amazingly, he has been doing mazes

designed for 4-6 year olds.

He understands the concept and executes the task well...

and is now starting to get a little bored of this exercise.

His wall is filling up with new projects...

Notice Rompy, the Dog? (We did that one at Romp n' Roll)

Cutting and folding project: KUKAC (worm)

Now, let's draw them!

Cutting project: RACETRACK and SIGNS

Now let's play and learn all the signs!

(He's been saying "Red means Stop" and "Green means Go" for a long time.)

MAKK (acorn) he found outdoors

We draw and color it in the nature sketchbook

Learning about the seasons

Let's go camping! (cutting & folding project)

Followed by LOTS of play!!

Today's nature study

In search of some colorful leaves for our nature study...

The finished page in our sketchbook

Caleb's very artful depiction of the red leaf

Learning All the Time

And now, you get to see a few glimpses from our homeschool preschool...

The curriculum in all its glory...

funny thing is, I've been doing similar things with him for the past few months,

things like cutting, tracing, folding... and he totally knows his numbers and a lot of his letters.

So when one already knows how to count, what's the next step?

Teaching the wee one...

Caleb does his schoolwork as Ariana looks on




This is only a small portion of his work from the first week



Caleb did this cutting job himself, didn't he do a great job for a 2 year old?



More paperwork: here he helps the bee find the flower.



These exercises strengthen his fine motor skills and prepare him for writing.



Help the bear find the honey...




Music and the arts...

Hungarian folk songs. An important part of his bilingual education at the preschool level.

Singing...

And dancing to it.

Painting out of doors

So much nicer than painting indoors

Nature study...


with a Charlotte Mason inspired nature notebook (more on this later)

Notice Caleb's depiction of the leaf, colored green, complete with veins?

The Masterpieces

Sculpture with Wedgits!

Inspecting his work


One of his first paintings. This totally looks like a dragon with eggs.

Don't you think so? I do!

So, this is some what we've been doing for the past few weeks.

Other than playing in the sandbox, his Gym and Art class, the park, the lake, the pool,

the train set, the Kipper videos, the bubble maker...

you get the idea.