I have been learning to knit recently, and my kids are fascinated by it. They want me to teach them how to do it, but I know that knitting is too difficult for very young children. Grammy suggested that she teach C5 how to crochet instead. I am trilled that she is going to teach her this great craft. Not only will she learn how to crochet, but she will also gain precious memories from the times she shares with her grandmother. If you and your children want to enbark on the adventure of learning to crochet this summer, I have included a video that demonstrates how to start a crochet chain.

I originally wrote this post for Because Babies Grow Up as part of a series on emergent literacy. Stop by Because Babies Grow Up to read  some great information about encouraging your child’s development.

Becoming a literate person is a big undertaking, and the early years are the time to lay a firm foundation. Throughout this series on emergent literacy you have read about some specific skills needed to read and write well and learned that it takes lots of practice to master those skills. In this post I’d like to sum it all up.

The most important thing that you can do to help your child learn to read and write is to simply reading good literature to your child from birth through the teen years. There is so much that you share with your child during those special times spent reading together. Your oral reading helps your child hear the rhythm of the language and the intonation used in reading. You also serve as a model for what expert readers do and how they solve problems when they read. Since your child naturally wants to mimic you in the early years, reading aloud is a great time to inadvertently (or even intentionally) teach your child about reading.

What behaviors are you modeling for your child as an expert reader? Just think of all that you do when you are reading aloud. If you misread a word in a sentence, you correct yourself when you realize that the word did not make sense, and you use the context to figure out the meaning of certain words. You make predictions as you read, too. You even reread excellent books because you get something new from those books each time you read them. The next time you read aloud, think about all that you actually do when you read.

As you model these skills, you can also explicitly share them with your child when you read aloud to him/her. When you and your little one snuggle together and read, talk about the book and ask questions.

“Those words rhyme.”

“I love this author (book).”

“I wonder what will happen next.”

“Have you ever felt like that?”

I cannot stress enough how important it is to read to your child . The time you invest in reading aloud to your child is time well spent. Enjoy it!

Photo courtesy of luiginter

Newsflash! Yes, it is true that homeschooled kids are weird. At least my kids are.

We have all been sick for a couple of weeks, so life has been a bit slower than usual. Now that the kidlets are feeling better, they have been begging me for school work! Do kids in regular classrooms do that?

This morning C5 demanded that she read a book to me before my morning coffee. She was not going to wait to read it to me either. In my blurry-eyed state I listened and coached her as she read. Even though I thought that the book was not the right match for her, she insisted on finishing the book. Alas, we got through it. I must say her persistence will get her far in life!

The begging continues throughout the day, too, but sometimes it just isn’t feasible to give them work. For example, they desperately wanted some work during that awful time of day right before dinner. I had to give in to the pleading tonight, though. They just wouldn’t back down despite the fact that we were running late on dinner, and they were starving. Amidst all the rushing around the kitchen while Daddy prepared dinner and I cleaned up, the kids worked on a puzzle together at the kitchen table. (It was the best thing I had on such short notice that didn’t required much supervision.) It was a sight to see. C5 was giving A2 a lesson on the letter names and sounds. She was instructing her little sister in the shapes of the letters, too. I heard a lot of, “Good job!” while they were working together. It was so cute!

I just shake my head in these moments. Thank you, God. My children love learning. My children are weird.

Photo courtesy of milena mihaylova

Summer is approaching and lots of families are planning vacations, and it is truly a wonderful idea to travel with your children. Go to Playground for Parents to read an excellent guest post by Renee from Mothers Raising Boys on why it is such a great idea to take your kids on trips. Even though travel with your kids can be difficult, you can be successful.  Here are some tips to improve your chances of having fun together while you travel.

Photo courtesy of twodolla

~Pack carefully for the traveling part of your vacation. Kids get bored easily in the car or on a plane. Here are a few things to take with you:

-A DVD player with a few movies your kids never get to see is a great thing to pack with you. It can provide much needed peace and quiet.

-Audio books and headphones can keep kids of all ages entertained for a while. You can also pick an audio book that the whole family will like.

-Lacing cards are a fun way to keep little ones’ hands busy. They don’t require a lot of supplies . Plus lacing cards help your children improve fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination.

-Take a trip to the local Dollar Store and fill a bag with cheap toys. The kids will like the fact that they are new. You won’t care if they get lost.

-A fun retro idea is to give your kids a Rubix cube. It’s compact and won’t make a mess. It will keep your kids’ attention and will keep those hands busy.

-Mad Libs are a fun and educational activity for the whole family. Everyone will have a few laughs!

-I give the kids gum. It keeps them happy!

-Little kids love lift-the-flap books. They keep small hands busy and little minds engaged.

-Create a scavenger hunt for your kids. You can use the printable lists found on MomsMinivan, too.

Photo courtesy of Andy and Tracy Sidesinger

~Be realistic about what you can do on your trip. PLAN!

-Young children get tired and cranky, so plan the things that you absolutely don’t want to miss for early in the day.

-Discuss lunch and dinner options before you head out for the day. You don’t want to have that discussion while the kids are melting down and you are famished.

*Remember to bring healthy snacks with you. You’ll save money, and the kids will have good food to fuel them throughout the day. Avoid the sugar crash!

*Don’t forget to bring water for the whole family – including you. Staying hydrated will make everyone happier and healthier.

-Bring a change of clothes for the little ones in case of an accident.

-Bring sunblock, hats, and sunglasses.

-Pack a map. It can save you!

-Let the kids help you decide on activities for the day.

-Plan for a place to meet up at a certain time if someone gets lost.

~Remember that your vacation is supposed to be FUN for everyone. If you aren’t having fun, then you need to change something!

Make some memories this summer!

Spring is a great time to homeschool at the beach. It isn’t too hot and there aren’t many folks around. The sound of the ocean and the texture of the sand are soothing. Recently I took C5, A2, and P4 (my nephew) to the beach, and we had a great experience. Here are a few things that we did that you might want to try out.

~Go for a walk along the beach. It is really great exercise. Read more about the benefits of walking on the beach at Discover Walking.

~Skip rocks on the water. You can find out how to skip rocks at wikiHow. If you want to know why stones skip on the water, you’ll find information about the physics behind it at The Library of Congress.

~Collect rocks and shells. In addition to what I have included here, you can find more information about geology and art with rocks at Suite 101.

-Categorize the rocks and shells by size, by color, by shape, etc.

-Examine the rocks to find different geometric shapes. We found rectangles and trapezoids.

-Use the rocks that you collected to build with. The kids built a really great tower together.

-We used those shells and rocks to “write” the kids’ initials.

~Build sand castles. You can research the physics behind why sand castles sand at BNET. This post also includes an experiment for you to try.

Have fun and make memories at the beach with your kids!

Photo courtesy of MyAngelG

Easter is fast approaching, and my kids are still re-enacting the Christmas story (and singing Christmas carols for that matter). Apparently I did a good job of teaching them about Christ’s birth! Now it is time to move on and talk about Jesus’s life, his ministry, and his resurrection in our homeschool.

Last year we made Resurrection Story Cookies. I think we will do the same thing this year. Although my children did not understand all of the story (being so young still), I think that it is important to start traditions like these early since each year the experience will mean something different to them. Besides, my children will look back on these moments as the memories that mean the most to them.

Photo courtesy of Dan Phiffer

After about a month of terrible behavior from the children, I decided that I had to do something. I was frustrated and angry all of the time. In fact, I was in tears not that long ago because I felt helpless. I simply had no idea what to do about the behavior problems.I prayed about it and thought about it for a while.

I remembered that C4 is a kinesthetic learner. She also needs visual reminders. After talking with a friend about her discipline plan, which was similar to the one I used to use in my classroom, I knew what I had to do. I got to work on my own plan. That was about two weeks ago.

I am happy to report that this week I have been enjoying the fruit of my labor. The kids have been wonderful with each other and so happy since I implemented my new discipline plan. After some initial testing, the kids’ behavior has turned around. I am enjoying my children now rather than feeling stressed and scattered. Since I am not cleaning up messes or disciplining someone as much anymore, we have reclaimed those precious times of snuggling on the couch to read books. I am not reprimanding them as much. Instead I am praising the good choices that kids make, and they are praising each other!

Now we are back to learning and making happy memories. This is why I homeschool!

Photo by baldur

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and our family is really excited! Our day will be FULL of baking, cooking, building a gingerbread house, and tracking Santa’s trip.  I’m hoping God will hold the time still so we can get it all done and savor the special moments.

The children are making zucchini bread for Christmas Day. It is one way that I hope to sneak a vegetable into their diet this week. The girls love baking breads, too. Measuring, pouring, following the directions, and watching the changes to the ingredients are all great math and science experiences. Baking together is also making memories together.

E’s cousin from Mexico is visiting us this Christmas. We plan to make empanadas with her. The kids will learn a little about their heritage through this cooking experience. They can practice their Spanish skills while we cook, and maybe they’ll hear some stories, too.

I am really excited to build a gingerbread house with the kids for the first time this year! We have seen kits in the stores, but buying one was not a priority. Today Daddy found one that was on clearance, though! The gingerbread pieces are already baked, so we just have to construct the house. We are going to have a great time getting messy and laughing together. This is definitely a photo opportunity!

A very special tradition for Christmas Eve is baking cookies for Santa. This year is no different.  He needs a snack so he has energy to deliver all of those toys!

Throughout the night we will track Santa’s trip through NORAD Tracks Santa. There are videos posted that tell where Santa is, and they give a little information about each country. It is a fun way to infuse some geography, culture, and history into your Christmas celebration!

On top of all of that we have a church service to attend. There will be a Chirstmas drama at this family friendly service. A few of our friends have children performing in it, so the kids should be excited about it!

Christmas Eve will be great!

In New England it is a tradition to go apple picking, and we definitely take the opportunity to enjoy this tradition. We think that it is really important that the kids see how apples grow and experience picking them on their own. We love the beauty of the foliage and the apple orchard, too. We wouldn’t miss the chance to make memories like these! If you can, try this out with your family.

Since I knew that we were going to the orchard, we started talking about apples and pumpkins a few weeks ago. In anticipation of our favorite season, we attempted to grow pumpkins in our garden this year. I’m not sure that we will ever get pumpkins, but the flowers on the plants did bloom. We have great plans to follow up on this trip, too.

Apples:

• We will bake an apple pie together. All of that measuring, pouring, peeling, and cutting is great for kinesthetic and tactile learners to learn about math and science.
• We’ll cut an apple in half along the equator. There is a star shape in the middle of the apple. We’ll use that as a stamp with paint.
• We will learn about what oxidization is by cutting an apple and watching the color change.
• We will also read the book, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, and make a lapbook to go along with it.

Pumpkins:

• Of course we will carve our pumpkins. This is a great kinesthetic and tactile learning experience. We will learn what the seeds are like inside the pumpkin, and see if one pumpkin has more seeds than another. After we’ve cleaned the seeds, we will group them by 10’s to count them. We’ll roast them, too.
• We have the book called Pumpkins by Ken Robbins. It has beautiful photographs of pumpkins. It tells how pumpkins are grown and gives some information about how they tie into the season.
• We will bake pumpkin pies with fresh pumpkins. (Pies made with roasted pumpkins are so tasty!) This is another opportunity to teach math and science.

If you have never gone to an orchard during the fall, I encourage you to look into it. It is worth the experience!

Fall is our favorite season, and every fall my family goes to Stowe, VT to see the foliage. My husband and I actually started this tradition when we got married as we went there for our honeymoon weekend. We just love visiting this quaint town and taking some time to enjoy God’s creation. The cooler weather is great for hiking and biking. We love the slower pace of the area, too. We also take our family apple and pumpkin picking in the fall. We have a particular farm we visit every year that has animals and great picking. It is also centrally located so that many other families can join us. I love how the kids see the reality of where their food comes from. I love watching them try to find the best fruit and how they love climbing high up with Daddy. My father and nephew also join us on the adventure. The kids eat apples in the wagon and we scurry to finish filling the bags. My dad loves the apple pie there, too! We spend time baking and freezing our apples, too.

Then there are Christmas traditions that we are trying to build. I must say that we have not perfected the Christmas season like we have the fall season! We do pick out our Christmas tree at the same place every year. I never had a live tree growing up, so I really want this for my own family. We also take our extended families to church with us for Christmas performances and on Christmas Eve. We have tried several scenarios for Christmas day, and when it works out perfectly, I’ll let you know! One tradition that I am trying to keep is to read the Christmas story together every year. I have the complete story printed out in a little booklet so no one has to leaf through the Bible to find the scriptures. I think that this act speaks volumes about what Christmas is actually about, the birth of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

That brings me to the birthday traditions that are so important to me and the whole reason for this particular post. Birthdays are a celebration of life, and I really want my family to feel like we are living life to its fullest. For every birthday I bake a cake related to the theme of the party. I am not a trained pastry chef. I have never taken a cake decorating class. I use a box mix for the cake, but the decorating is the part that I spend time on. I think that the cake is the most memorable part of the party for kids. I want my children to remember that Mommy made the cakes that they wanted. It is an expression of my love. I also want the children to be surrounded by their closest family and friends. A birthday only comes once a year, and I want each child to feel like a star on that day! We try to do everything possible to make that happen. The parties are carefully planned with the components that each child wants included. I try to get extended family involved in the party in some way, too. My dear husband also takes millions of photos to commenmorate the day. This particular party had a garden theme. My dad and I made homemade games to fit the theme: butterfly bowling, pin-the-petal on the flower, catch the bubble, paint a butterfly magnet, & garden hopscotch. Kids filled their own goody bags with bugs, flower rings, and/or ladybug stickers after playing each game. I made a flower shaped cake out of cupcakes, and the kids decorated their cupcakes. The day was fun for us and the kids. I know that we made some very special memories at that party and in preparation for the party.

Family traditions are special since they provide activities that involved the entire family. Everyone looks forward to (or dreads, I suppose!) those special traditions. Traditions also define your family, so when your children look back on their growing up years, they will remember those times the most – even if they don’t continue those same traditions. Make a few memories this year!