Eclectic Momma

Friday, October 7, 2011

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch last weekend.

Waiting for the hayride to start

Cows along the way

Finally, the pumpkin patch

All our pumpkins with our little "punkin"

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Last year, we started a new birthday tradition with the kids. They had to come up with a "goal list" (for lack of a better term) for the year. The number of goals matched how old they were/are. On Tera's birthday, we looked at last year's lists to see how they did. Some of the goals they met and some they decided to continue to this year.

Here are this year's lists:

Daniel:

Enter Lego creation in fair
Earn bow and arrow
Read all Redwall series books
Go to waterpark
Make a 300-500 piece 3-D origami
Learn how to use tools
Teach Michael to count to 20
Cook dinner for family
Go to the beach

Tera:

Write a letter in French
Go to a concert
Read all Redwall series books
Try 5 new foods
Go to the ocean
Sew and crochet a project
Do an advanced cooking recipe
Teach Michael his letters
Do a research report
Go to the waterpark
Take cookies to our Fire Department

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Tera's Birthday

Tera's birthday celebration

Blowing out the candles

Presents

The last gift- Her own CD player

Making sure Mommy and Daddy get in some of the pictures.

Their joint gift- a PVC indoor play fort. It needs some modifications to make it usable but it will be really neat when totally finished.

Some days

This is a processing post...so please excuse it's lack of coherency and please realize this may be exaggerated out of my heightened sense of frustration.

We are having issues. My son is very bright but some days he acts like he can't remember how to add. Some days he is pumping out work, doing great, getting done. And some days, it's 2:15 and he's been working almost all day just on his book work. Our joint work -not even gotten to yet. I give him so many chances, yell a little, help him a lot. It's frustrating and frankly depressing. He writes everything sloppy, because he's just trying to get done quickly. Today, he did the wrong set of math problems. He misses problems he knows how to do, just because he's not paying attention. I've tried changing math programs to accomodate but that didn't work either. So I just put him back into Saxon. I really don't think it's a math problem, because he can do challenging work if I'm there with him. He did his spelling wrong because he didn't read the instructions...and it goes on and on.

We need drastic change. I'm frustrated, losing my temper because I know he can do this. He has been having some sleep issues as well--waking up at like 4 AM or getting up before 6:30 AM. I know some of these bad days can be attributed to not enough sleep. He's grumpy, extra hungry, and crying easily. When he gets into serious trouble, like losing tons of stuff, he can snap to and get to work. Like right now, he's working and doing great---after 6 hours.

Tera is done way before him, and I try to get our together subjects done, but some days like today that doesn't happen. I feel so disorganized when I've been dealing with him like this for several days, I just can't think straight. I need to start doing things with Michael too, but I feel very overwelmed today. I'm tired and feel like it's cheating the other two as well. Yelling and threatening doesn't work. I give him too many chances, so I think he's taking advantage of my inconsistency. Starting tomorrow, we go to a new system.

JP and I sat down today and figured out a system for his work. Basically earning points for each subject done neatly (Math is earned on accuracy) and other points for getting done in a reasonable amount of time. We spelled out all the details and printed it out. For each point he loses, he receives a punishment in the form of early bedtime, no sweets, no videos- (which all in my opinion probably contribute to this problem anyway). He must earn a certain amount of points in order to keep upcoming privileges- (picking his own haircut on Friday, picking his Halloween costume, keeping all his Halloween candy). We tried to pick tangible things that reflected good choice/bad choice. If you make good choices, you get to make your own choices about some things. If you make bad choices, you lose those freedoms.

I hope this will get him back on track. I hope this will help me become more consistent. For a while, JP and I are going to discuss whether or not he meets the criteria. I need some accountability as well. I hate for him to lose things that are important to him, but this is not helping him in the long run.

Right now, he's still working, but his attitude is better than it's been all day. His work is better than it's been all day. Hopefully, we are already on the right track and this too shall pass.

Changes

This little boy is growing up so fast. He is no longer content just doing his own thing. He wants to be in on all the action. Alongside his brother and sister or at least doing something similar. It looks like I need to get the pre-school wheels turning really soon.

We set aside money for furniture and a bunkbed for Daniel's room. The problem was- it wasn't very much money for the quality of furniture we wanted. We decided to just wait.

I had decided long ago I wanted a wooden bunk bed and was holding out to find one used because they were too expensive new. Then, recently my husband and I decided our second hand (in this case, not so nice to sit on) futon really needed replaced. We just didn't have a nice place for people to sit, talk and feel comfortable, especially older people. I wanted to add some color so I started looking a color palettes that would go with our curtains and other things we'd be keeping. So I decided on robin egg blue, brown as a neutral and sage green. I found a new rug on sell a couple of weeks ago at Lowe's for $35.

I love it how the Lord works things out. A fellow homeschooler was moving because her family will be working in a ministry in Alaska. So they had to sell most of their things.

Guess what they were selling? A wooden bunk bed, a beige sofa and blue love seat! Exactly what we were hoping and praying for -at a price we could afford- from people we were familiar with and a quality we didn't think we'd ever have. It's so nice to sit on comfortable furniture, but I love it that our friends feel so comfortable, too!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Hink Pinks- Forte and Piano

Recently, I hosted co-op and did a lesson on Hink Pinks. I've always loved these one syllable silly rhyming pairs. There are two-syllable pairs- Hinky Pinky and three-syllable ones- Hinkety Pinkety

Example:

What is an unhappy father? Sad Dad

I found some great resources online:

Hink Pink worksheets

Hink Pink lesson ideas

Great squidoo on hink pinks

We did lots of riddles then broke up into groups. Each group had to come up with a rhyming word pair. Then a riddle question to go with the pair. You should encourage figuring out the rhyming word pairs first. It's much easier that way.

After playing with hink pinks for a while, we moved onto a music lesson. I did a lesson on forte-piano. We made forte-piano signs on an index card. As we listened to William Tell's overture by Rossini, we turned our cards to match if the music was forte or piano.

I taught (or refreshed their memory for some) John Jacob Jingle Heimerschimdt to illustrate this. Then, we made our own body percussion rainstorm. (variation of the lesson) Finally, we played a hot/cold musical game called Button, You Must Wander. (someone hides the button, the kids sing forte/piano to help the seeker find the button)

Our wild rainstorm

Monday, October 3, 2011

I will be free...

The mountains are steep
And the valleys low
Already I'm weary
But I have so far to go
Oh, and sorrow holds my hand
And suffering sings me songs
But when I close my eyes
I know to whom I belong
Who makes me strong

I will be free
I will be free to run the mountains
I will be free
Free to drink from the living fountain
Oh, I'll never turn back
'Cause He waits for me
Oh, I will be free

A wise man, a rich man
In pauper's clothes
A shepherd to lead us
Through the land of woes
Though many battles I have lost
So many rivers yet to cross
But when my eyes behold the Son
Who bore my loss, who paid the cost

I will be free
I will be free to run the mountains
I will be free
Free to drink from the living fountain
Oh, I'll never turn back
'Cause He waits for me
Oh, I will be free

Oh, and I'll dance on silver moonlight
And I'll walk through velvet fields
Oh, and I'll run into the arms
The arms that set me free

I will be free
I will be free to run the mountains
I will be free
Free to drink from the living fountain
Oh, I'll never turn back
'Cause He waits....
I'll never turn back
Don't you ever turn back
Because someday, someday we're gonna see
We will be free

Cindy Morgan