No More Tonsils!

Last Friday Luke had his tonsils removed. Though the recovery has been rough, the actual surgery could not have gone better, and we are so grateful to God. Hopefully, Luke will be able to start swallowing his food better now, and we can get some meat on those little bones!

In the midst of ice cream, milkshakes, and popsicles, school went on in the Vaughan house!

We gathered items for our "B" bag and of course had to include boy baby David in his bumbo with the brothers!

Four part patterns with cracker shapes - rectangle, triangle, square, circle

 Positional words and some, some more, some went away stories with superheroes

 Luke working on matching upper and lowercase letters; Jonathan's four corner activity blanket is ready to go. He spends most his time in the book corner!

 This month our author study is Laura Numeroff. Luke was able to have pancakes drenched in syrup and super soft cookies dunked in milk. The yumminess slid right down!
If you Give a Pig a Pancake
If You Give a Moose a Muffin
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
The Best Mouse Cookie
Happy Birthday Mouse
If You Take a Mouse to School

Caleb does great recognizing his color words but spelling them is a whole new challenge.

"My tree!" 

Caleb picked a tree in our yard and is going to observe and record how the tree changes throughout the seasons this year. We think it's a Pin Oak :)

School Days and A New Adventure

Kennon and I made the decision that I would home school the boys this year. Caleb (5, almost 6) is in Kindergarten, Luke (4) is in PreK, Jonathan (2, almost 3) is in Preschool, and then there is baby David, the little observer who is content just to be watching it all. We discussed the pros and cons of our educational options and considered my passion and energy toward education and discipleship in the home. Then after taking all my expectations, hopes, and fears to the Lord and processing through what was in my heart with Kennon, we felt  home school was the best decision for our family right now.

It's been challenging figuring out how to school with four little ones at home. I can tell God is going to teach ME a lot this year! But even in the tough moments I still feel a deep sense of satisfaction and joy.  I'm thankful for a supportive husband who is an awesome dad and teamate and that I can trust his leadership as we seek God in what is best for our family and the discipleship of our kids... as we go along. 

 

A few books I read when I knew we were considering home school. They profoundly shaped my philosophy and vision for our children's education, and I also feel I gained a lot simply as a parent by deepening my understanding of how to help my kids reach their full potential whether I'm the primary educator or working alongside other teachers. 

 Our daily calendar. Thanks to www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com

Here are some pictures from our first week. 

Jonathan and Luke both go to Parent's Day Out once a week, and here they are with their new teachers!

Caleb attends Veritas Classical School once a week with a class of about 12 other Kindergarteners. I have two sweet friends who also have kids in his class and told me about VCS... "a unique complement to the home school family that provides valuable assistance in planning, grading, testing, motivation and accountability, partnering with parents to provide an academically rigorous home school program in a Christ-honoring atmosphere using the Christian Calssical Model of Education." Here is meeting his Veritas teacher at the park.

Some of Luke and Jonathan's Activities this week:

Jonathan on the activity blanket working on his color matching

Math time sorting by size and then color

Cindy Circle goes around and around!

I read The Child's Story Bible in the morning as the boys color their story picture to add to our Bible timeline. The boys take turns putting the stories in order and picking out one story each to narrate.

 Play dough shapes

Understanding sets of one, two, and three and left to right progression

Building hand strength and color recognition

Introducing David Kennon Vaughan

Holy Week, Passover, and Easter 2013

Preparing Golgatha

 

Maundy Thursday and our Passover Messianic Seder Meal

Good Friday and Jesus on the cross

Placing Jesus in the tomb

 

 The stone has sealed the tomb

Easter Sunday and the tomb is EMPTY!!!

 Lighting our Lenten Candles:

The light of the world is ALIVE and has overcome the darkness...

Easter Worship and celebrating with family

 

Honey For A Child's Heart & What's Made The Library So Much Fun!

"Children don't stumble onto good books by themselves; they must be introduced to the wonder of words put together in such a way that they spin out pure joy and magic. Every child ought to know the pleasure of words so well chosen that they awaken sensibility, great emotions, and understanding of truth." 

- Gladys Hunt, Honey For A Child's Heart

These two books have opened up a whole new world of wonder and knowledge into our home! I don't think our weekly library trips would be near as much fun or successful without the recommendations from these books that have helped develop our book list. 

We've been introduced to Calico the Wonder Horse and the Saga of Stewy Stinker, one of Caleb's favorites! Jonathan has memorized I Went Walking and made friends with Tom and Pippo, Miffy, and Spot, all great toddler books. I think I read The Giant Jam Sandwich to Luke four times the other day. 

We probably come away every week or so with 15-20 library books that include board books, poetry/ nursery rhymes, concepts, classics, chapter books, and wonderful picture books. Sometimes we do an author study; some of our favorites have been Marjorie Flack, Kevin Henkes, and Virginia Lee Burton to name a few. Or we'll check out several that have a letter theme the boys are learning such as Sheep in Jeep, The Giant Jam Sandwich, Bread and Jam for Frances. Of course the boys gravitate to some books more than others, and we find our favorites. But that is why we come home with many different selections. Some books we will check out over and over, and others we may only read once. 

I would have never thought to attempt a chapter book such as Charlotte's Web with the boys' current ages (5, 3, 2), but they have loved it. I'm not sure a night passes that they don't ask, "Can we read a little Charlotte's Web?" One of the huge advantages I've found to reading chapter books is they use detailed descriptive language in the place of pictures; therefore building a new depth of language and imagination in the child. I usually answer once or twice each sitting, "What does (new word) mean?" 

My goal is to read aloud 1-2 hours a day, and most of the time we land somewhere in the middle. The younger two get more time since they are home with me all day. When a friend challenged me with this goal, I thought how on earth with all the other things we want to do?! But she was right; it's not as hard as it sounds. You just have to be intentional. I've found I might read for 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes before nap or rest time, waiting in carpool line, while they're in the bathtub, family devotion, before bedtime, and sometimes I'll read a chapter book while the boys are building blocks or legos. Their hands are busy, but it's amazing what they still hear with their ears!

Both these books give the "why" and "how" of reading aloud and include suggested reading lists. Honey For A Child's Heart is written from a Christian viewpoint, but both have excellent lists and present very persuasive and convincing cases for the importance of reading aloud to children. I think even those who don't consider themselves or perhaps their children "readers" will be inspired with a new paradigm and excited to embark with fresh perspective into the world of great children's books while snuggled up with your little ones!

"I heard my first stories in my mother's voice. A satisfactory subtitute for that technique has yet to be devised, because most of who we are is decided in those first five fleeting years of life before we ever see a school." - Richard Peck, Newbery Medal winner 

"A good book is always an experience containing spiritual, emotional, and intellectual dimensions." - Gladys Hunt

"Quality is a high priority. Good stories have good writing." - Gladys Hunt

"This savoring of life is no small thing. The element of wonder is almost lost today with the onslaught of the media and gadgets of our noisy world." - Gladys Hunt

March Fun Scrapbook

Got a few pictures of some of our fun alphabet crafts and snacks this month! I don't keep many "crafts," so this is my attempt at quick scrapbooking in this season! The boys do enjoy looking at the pictures on the blog and seeing their handiwork and favorite snacks!

H is for Horse...

and honeybuns! YUM!

 I is for instruments...

J is for Jello...

 and juice pops!