Hooked on LEARNING!

I found this little beauty on sale at one of my fav stores, Bealls Outlet. Oh how I love Thee Bealls!!



The boys LUV their Learning To Count program!! Me personally? I can count to 20 in every way imaginable with no help from anyone!?!! We're learning how to count up, count backwards, count by 2's, count by 10's and getting more musical every day! There are games, math worksheets, songs, stickers and posters included. It also includes a great little parent's guide for those of us who lack creativity of use! Big Boy has been really enjoying the CD and number recognition on the computer. I don't endorse a lot of products per se (maybe that is why no major company is clammoring at my door with free products....hmmm? time to 'ho myself out maybe?!) I would really recommend this product and honestly, we have the Hooked on Phonics as well and they love that too!! It will certainly be part of our homeschool curriculum starting in August.

Smartie pants...

Big Boy is getting smarter every day. Not that he was ever dumb. We've always found him pretty insigtful. Every once in a while he comes up with something that makes us laugh out loud. And realize that he is growing into a very funny little guy.

Little Guy was hitting the wall. I asked him to stop. As always, it fell upon deaf ears and Little Guy continued hitting the wall, making a loud thud noise every time. Then Big Boy decides he needs to get into the picture and tells his brother to hit it.
"Hit it, Little Guy" he says.
"No" I reply, "Don't hit it".
"Hit it" states Big Boy.
"NO!" is my reply, again.
"Hit it" Big Boy says again.
"Big Boy, quit telling him to hit the wall. I told him to stop." I say.
"No Mama, I want him to start the music. You know, Hit It!" he replies.

I'm not sure if he's a budding Ray Charles or just a total smartie pants. Jeez.

Train up a child...

So I'm REALLY late today with my KFF post! But I have reasons!!! A) We have been fighting a mean, nasty bout of strep and ear infections all week. Thought it was the flu. Nope--strep. Antibiotics and all that. Ick! and B) Had to go to the dentist this morning for the boys. I'm one of those moms....sorry....not one of those that follows too many rules or anything. This was their--GASP!--first visit to the dentist! Yes, my friends, I said their first. So we got out of there with a couple of cavities...but the nice dentist told me that it wasn't an issue that could've been avoided. Seems the little men inherited some really bad teeth from their good ole' Mama and have the same issue as I did. Evidently the enamel did not grow completely and left a gap. Who knew? So we have a little filling and sealant work to do. Dang. So anyhoo....I'm still playing catch up to everything this week and still have not caught up. But here is our KFF tidbit this week!

As you all know, we are going to homeschool. And right now, that homeschooling encompasses about everything we do. Nothing goes without a little lesson. So this week we planted flowers and herbs. We talked about plants, what makes them grow (soil, water, sunlight), talked about the best place to plant things (shade vs. sunny), what we will need to remember to do every day (water them) and what we can use the herbs for. I'm drinking a tasty tall glass of mint tea as I type! The boys absolutely love gardening and they love taking care of their plants. We give them ownership of their plants and we remind them daily of how they have to take responsibility (remember that post a few weeks ago?) for them. That's our tidbit for this week. Talk to your kids every opportunity you can about the world around them. Teach them how to plant, care, nurture and grow things. Give them something they can be responsible for. If we all do that, then we will have the much changed world that President Obama is asking us too (sorry--gotta throw in a shout out to our guy!). Those that learn to take responsibility today, grow things today, nurture things today will most certainly be prepared to continue to do so in the future. "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)





Have a wonderful weekend friends and visit Sarah over at I Blame Mom for more wonderful Kid Friendly Friday posts!

Raising Polite Kids

We received, what I believe, is one of the nicest compliments ever, just the other day. Friends of ours, rather 'new' friends, invited us over for dinner and a play date with Big Boy's BFF. These two boys get along famously and we, as parents, do as well. We've really grown fond of the whole family. And they paid us the nicest compliment the other day. We had not seen them for about 2 weeks, because of back-to-back vacations for them and us. When we saw them, both of our boys ran up to hug the mom and dad, before running to play with the boy. They were very excited to see everyone, parents as well as the boys. And that was the compliment. The mom, my friend, noticed how friendly our boys are to them, as parents. They were genuinely excited to see both the mom and dad. And she noticed that particular quality. "They are always so excited to see us as well as our son. That is wonderful!" she stated. And, though I had not really noticed, it didn't surprise me. Our children are expected to greet both adult and children, everyone who is in the room or in the family, when we visit other families. We see it as a sign of respect. And from the time they were capable of waving hi or blowing a kiss, we've encouraged them to greet our guests and say goodbye when they were leaving. It never occurred to us that it was a "novelty" but now we have noticed that not all kids are taught this. But we have always made it an expectation and it comes very naturally at this point. And it was so nice to have someone notice. Raising polite and respectful children is high on our list of priorities. We spend a great deal of time talking to them and demonstrating to them, how to be respectful to others. They watch us so closely and it is necessary to show them how to be respectful, as well as openly discussing respect. We identify how others are not kind or respectful, when we see it. Big Boy has gotten quite astute at picking these things up and talks about it often. That is What Works For Us---raising polite, respectful kids. And how wonderful that it is starting to show!

Hop on over this week to We Are That Family for more WFMW tips!

Works for Me Wednesday--Finger Paints for Kids!

This is how we do fingerpaints. I bought a super cheap ice cube tray. Different color paints go into each little cube. The big boy, Batman, uses one side and the little guy, Superman, uses the other. Eventually Superman takes over the entire event and paint is everywhere.....but it starts off handy and contained. That Works for Me!!

Head on over to We Are That Family for more wonderful little WFMW tips and tidbits

I'm a TEACHER?!?

So today I got to teach....a teacher....someone in charge of another person's formal education. Really? I mean, teaching is such a noble calling. And it was what I played as a little girl. I played teacher. I would sit in the old desk, you know the kind that had the seat and desk attached, with the wooden top that my big brother had carved his name in. I would organize my pencils, sharpened of course. I would stack my papers and search for the one red pen in the house so I could grade my work. I would make my brother call me Mrs. I loved playing teacher! And today I got to be a real teacher! Wow!

I've picked up some teaching at the hospital where I work, teaching nursing students about
mental health. Since I've been in the mental health field in some capacity for about 20 years now, it comes rather naturally. But I've never been an actual teacher. It is fun! And exciting and a bit daunting as well. I hope to be one of those teachers that someone talks about someday. I mean in a good way. Honestly, the whole reason I became a nurse was because my community college science teachers were women. And brilliant. And so inspiring! It was the first time in my life that I realized women could be smart and scientific and good teachers. Sadly, not a lot of smart inspiring female teachers in my tiny little high school that I remember. But these two women in my first college experience were fantastic. I hope I can be inspiring, at least mildly interesting and motivate students to want more. I think that it is the key in education. You may not learn it all but be inspired to learn as much as you can.

Oh the pressure.