Thrift Store Thoughts

I recently happened upon a little link-in fun called Thrift Store Thursday.  Today is her last post and so I wanted to link in.  She features her Thrift Store finds and lets others share theirs too.  

I think thrift stores are great for a variety of reasons:

1-things cost less

2-they keep things out of the land fills

3-the treasure hunting aspect can be fun

4-there is more variety than the dollar store.

I have actually felt really fortunate to be able to find great educational tools at the thrift store every time I go.  Here are some books I found this week.  5 of them are Usborne, which are quite expensive to purchase.  But the four at the top were only 29 cents each and the hard back one at the bottom was $1.  The Artemis Fowl was 35 cents.

I recently found a couple of Scrabble games at the thrift store (one for $2 and one for $3) and we've had fun using the letters in our village.  I also made this personalized frame with them for my sister's wedding gift.

Holly said she is stopping her weekly link-in because she is spending too much money at the thrift store.  It's true.  While things are a lot less expensive there you really can nickel and dime yourself into debt if you aren't careful.  While the treasures are wonderful, I need to be more careful too :)  $1 can really add up when you spend a bunch of them!

Click on the Thrift Store Thursday photo above to see what others found.

Tot School #3

We've had fun learning lots of new things this week.  Both Jay and Kay have been having fun on these roller skates.

Kay loves to push EVERYTHING around. She is a pro at steering and getting this stroller on and off of the porch!

This drum set has been a lot of fun to play with and provides lots of sharing practice :)

Kay and Jay strung these noodle necklaces at the Library craft time.

This is a color puzzle.  Kay loves that she can move the colors from place to place.  Jay has been practicing reading the color labels and matching the colors to the right place.

Kay still loves to gather and collect things. That is the other thing she does with this puzzle.

We have been working on writing a new letter each day.  Here are Jay's "K's".  He figured out how to draw them himself and didn't want me to tell him differently :)

Geography has been more "enlightening" since we found this light up globe at the thrift store :)  We've been reviewing this week.

The Leap Frog" Talking Word Factory" video is a good one.

Kay finds just the right amount of challenge in her train shape puzzle, and is getting to be really good at it.

We had fun making edible sparklers and edible rocket fireworks and EATING THEM :)

Play dough without a bird involved would not exist at our house right now :)  We're feathered friends fans.
To see what others did, go HERE.

A Guide to a Classical Education

A friend of mine was homeschooling her children because the school they were living near was having issues and she didn't want her children there.  I asked her questions all the time (thanks Kendra!) about homeschooling.  When I asked her what her favorite homeschooling books were, A Well-Trained Mind was at the top of her list.

She let me borrow the book for a couple of weeks to check it out.  I read the first 7 chapters before she moved and I LOVED it.  Susan Wise Bauer is the author and she begins by telling her homeschool story.  She began homeschooling in the 1970's when it was unusual.  She started because her kids could already read when they started school and that was unusual.  She had never thought she would homeschool her children.  But she did and her children are successful and happy adults. 

 A Well-Trained Mind is the result of years of combing through available materials and trying them out. 

If you have ever been overwhelmed by all the options available for teaching your own children, this book is for you.  All her research is available in this book.  She narrows down the best teaching materials, gives descriptions according to age and ability and tells you where you can find them.

 Not only that, but there is also the practical information about how to schedule your day, what to do to approach each subject, book lists that are age/level appropriate, etc.

I love the idea she suggests of combining history with geography and the rotation of history she suggests: the idea of repetition and building by taking the children through the history of the world 4 times in the course of their schooling, building on what they knew, and reviewing what they knew before.  

In my humble opinion, this is a must-have even if you follow a different method of homeschooling.  For instance, I've also been reading about Charlotte Mason and her ideas.  It seems that The Well-Trained Mind has so many great resources that it would fit in with a variety of teaching/homeschooling styles and is an excellent resource for the homeschooling family.  Take a look with the link above.

Tot School 2

We have had a fun week around here.  Jay is getting really good at cutting (ie making confetti) and he has loved the pattern scissors that I got out for him this week.
We made teddy bear finger puppets and sandwiches for our teddy bear picnic.
Kay and Jay have had a great time with our Village People and play for hours with them.
Water coloring was fun to do on a rainy day. 
Kay fingerpainted with yogurt.
Writing with dry erase markers on the back door was also a fun indoor activity and a great way to practice writing letters.
Jay is getting good at telling time.  They love to get all the pieces out!
Jay loves to take pictures.  He goes around taking pictures of his favorite things.  Thank goodness for digital cameras!
Kay loves this puzzle book and is really good now at matching the animal shapes.
This book has been a fun reading tool for Jay.  It has stickers that go with the different suffixes for words so he writes the words out too.
We made an accordian book to display them all.
IKEA's building kit has been so much fun to build with!
Everything to do with flying is fun around here!

We also have had fun with riding bikes and playing soccer and baseball outside.  Swimming and bird/animal watching has also been so fun!

To see what other tots are up to, go HERE.

A Big DAY!!!

Jay has been reading for awhile.  He will read on his own, but mostly likes to have me there to help him along.  He's good at sounding things out, but sometimes that slows down his reading comprehension.  Today is a big day because he sat down with all the BOB books and read them on his own (though I was in the same room) because HE WANTED TO!  He was thrilled to finish each story and I could tell he was comprehending the stories because he would talk about and giggle in the right places :)

If you haven't seen or heard of the BOB books, they are great for first reader books.  There is a good amount of word repetition between stories so they build on each other.  Kids love that they can read them on their own!

They are a great resource to have and come in more than one level

About Glenn Doman Books:Teaching your Baby to Read, Math

I just finished reading How to Teach Your Baby Math and How to Teach your Baby to Read by Glenn Doman.  I think the thing I learned the most from reading them is that children have an amazing capacity to learn.  This book has helped me to not underestimate what my kids can learn.

The background of the book is that Glenn Doman worked with brain-injured kids in the 1940's.  They were looking for ways to help brain-injured children.  What they discovered (and is old news now) is that neuropathways can be re-built after they have been injured.  They also discovered that if they removed a portion of the brain that was injured, that the remaining part of the brain would take over and compensate for the loss.  They found that these children that were missing part of their brain were often able to operate at "normal" levels, and some even went on to function on "genius" levels.  They prepared a program that was successful in re-teaching the brain to function.  But after solving that problem, they started to wonder about well-children.  Why are children that are well not functioning at higher levels than they are if they have full-functioning brains?  After all, kids who are missing significant portions of their brains are doing the same things that they are, or more.

Over the course of time Glenn Doman founded the Institutes for Human Potential where they teach parents of brain injured children and now parents of well children what they can do to enhance their child's capabilities.  

What I read astounded me:

The research they did shows that a 1 year old child can learn math and to read FASTER than a 2 year old.

A 2 year old learns math and to read FASTER than a 3 year old.

A 3 year old learns math and to read FASTER than a 4 year old.

etc.

They also found that the ideal teacher is the child's Mother.  The home is the ideal learning ground.  Thank you.

So, regardless of how old your kids are, I would recommend reading both books.  Regardless of whether you want your 1 year old to learn to read or do math, this research and the books will change how you see your child's potential.

 There is some repeat in one after you have read the other because they build on the same foundation.  This also isn't a "quick fix" method.  You will invest time in doing it.  But that is how the results come for real too.  I'm not speaking from experience with teaching this method, just from my experience teaching in general :)

Jay started reading at 2.5 years old.  I didn't yet know about this method, but did some of the same things by chance.  I do believe that it is easy to teach your child.  I also believe that the younger they are, the easier it is.  When they are little all they want to do is be near you.  You may as well give them the gift of reading while you spend time loving them.  I am preparing some things to get Kay started now too.

I also picked up How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence by Glenn Doman so that is next on the list...I'll let you know how it goes...

Here is one quote from the book How to Teach your Baby to Read:

p. 110 "The cardinal rule is that both parent and child must joyously approach learning to read, as the superb game that it is.  The parent must never forget that learning is life's most exciting game-it is not work.  Learning is a reward, it is not a punishment.  Learning is a pleasure, it is not a chore.  Learning is a privilege, it is not a denial."

This quote made me ask the question, "Is the same true of teaching?"  It certainly is a privilege to teach your own child.  There is so much joy in discovering together and those moments of understanding are so precious.  There are so many little people out there just waiting to be taught.  This book will help you see.

Tot School 1

It's been a while since we did a Tot School post.  I decided to move them from This Little Project over to our Family Academy blog instead.  Jay is probably approaching too old to be included as a tot I guess, but I also use Tot School as our record of the week...so even though he is approaching 3.5 years he is still included :)  Kay is 20 months and has really been growing up this past week!  She is talking so much more!

We've been making a village Post Office (more HERE) and after reading Bunny Mail by Rosemary Wells we wrote letters to lots of friends to mail.

Jay is really into birds right now!  This is his favorite page in his bird book.  He loves looking at all the different species.
We picked up a US placemat at the dollar store and made a matching game with the state flash cards.  It was a fun way to review geography.  Jay doesn't read the states yet.  He can tell which state they are just by their shape!
Kay loves stacking and unstacking cups.  We are working on colors.
We have a dance party every day with this little toy keyboard-so fun!
Jay loves his little bird.
Kay really loves the farm puzzle and is really good at doing puzzles.  Her favorite animals are pigs and horses right now.
Both Jay and Kay have had a lot of fun with our village.  They play with it and help me make a new piece for it each day!  We made this swing for the park.
Here is Jay painting the roof of the Library.  We have been reading quite a bit lately and Jay is really improving.  He can sound out pretty much anything so we are working on sight words more.
For more ideas of what other tots have been up to, see where we link into Here.