Survival School

I was talking with a group of friends {over a video app} and my friend Tess said it best when she said we're 'Survival-Schooling'  She's absolutely right.  I'm not homeschooling my kids and can't even pretend I am.  I'm working full time and just trying to keep them busy enough that they aren't fighting with each other.  My goal during this time is to keep them from regressing too much and keep them happy and active.  That being said, several of you have reached out asking about our curriculum.  Since I have no curriculum, here is the 'schedule' we go by each day.  Again, I'm not 'teaching' them anything during this time.  Simply reviewing things they already know. 

The only 'new' content we're covering is how to
+ follow simple recipes {EasyMac, energy bites, hot dogs, etc. independently + help us w/ real recipes}
+ start the dishwasher & washing machine independently {they're almost 7 & 8}
+ address and mail and envelope
+ type correctly {thanks www.TypingClub.com}
+ play shuffleboard :)

Other than that, we're giving a lot of grace.

I will also add that my kids got a laptop for Christmas that they have always used for educational games/website {Prodigy, iReady, etc.} that they still play whenever -- we don't restrict use on that.  {the benefit of not having YouTube on it!!}

Also, we end up doing 'homeschool' page above about 3-4 days a week.  One or two days a week they end up working on a project with Adam, playing at their grandmas {we have been quarantining with them}, or just playing outside all day.  As long is they are playing nicely together, I'm perfectly happy with only doing 'school' 3 days a week.  Again, my goal isn't to advance them, but simply keep them from regressing.  

Science Center 2018

I swore I shared these already, but I can't find it, so maybe I'm just losing my mind! ;)  My sister and her husband bought the kids passes to the Science Center for the year, so we're trying to make use of it as much as we can.  I took my camera with the other day to get a few photos of the kids playing -- unfortunately the lighting in the rooms the kids prefer is pretty crappy. We ran out of time before they closed, but the kids can't wait to get back to the Lego exhibit soon.  On this day we started at the Dinosaur exhibit, went to the marble maze, then the grocery store, and ended at the bubble station. I know I'm a broken record, but I LOVE Christmas gifts like these -- best ever!!  {enjoyable all year, tons of fun for both kids, educational, great for during Iowa winters and summers!}

Educational Games for the Kids

I had awesome intentions of telling you guys about this over School Break, but Sickness, Christmas, Painting, Moving, Sickness again hit and before I knew it we were almost half way through January and I still haven't posted about it.  So, let's just call this very early Spring Break planning! ;)

Jordyn loves to learn and Cullyn loves to be doing whatever Jordyn is doing, so while I was on Etsy searching for some Christmas gifts, I came across a Felt Matching Game from AllTheTimeLearning.  It seemed like the perfect thing because it allowed Jordyn to work on identifying numbers {out of order} and matching them with the corresponding number of dots and also helped Cullyn learn to count quantity {how many dots are on this one?} versus counting continuously like he normally does {think 1 to 20 without stopping}

Shortly after the Matching Game arrived, Diane emailed me asking if I wanted to try her eLearning Series for Preschoolers.  I knew it was the perfect thing to work with the kids on over Christmas Break {almost 3 weeks}  Diane is a homeschooling mom for 25 years and gave all kinds of advise on teaching methods for different learning styles which is perfect because Jordyn loves to learn and likes a structured, quite learning environment but Cullyn is all boy and while he is very smart, he cannot sit still for very long at all.  I really liked her 'Rocking Chair Method' for Cullyn.  

She emailed me several sets of learning activities and we just did a few pages each day {we aren't done yet}.  I love how you an use the same sheets in different ways depending on the age/skill level.  I didn't do it at first, but after a week or so I decided to laminate the worksheets so Jordyn can keep doing them {I'm telling you, the kid loves to learn}  And judging by the way she acts around her brother during 'school time', she has a good chance of becoming a teacher. :)

Matching

Counting

Number Writing

Look at the beautiful, custom illustrations!

Thanks again, Diane, for sending us these!