Learning As We Go

I can’t believe it has been over a year since I posted anything!!! I was looking at my last post and realized just how much has changed since then!

Jackson will be 4 in a month, he wears glasses now and he has been diagnosed with questionable Asperger’s and ADD. We have him in therapy right now and will wait till he is around 6 for more formal testing. We are on summer break from school but will start back up after Labor Day. I am busy setting up a workbox system, getting lapbooks ready and making file folder games. I can’t wait to start blogging again about our schoolwork!!

Oh another big change is that out 17 year old niece is now living with us. We moved into a bigger apartment and when she moves out in a year or two I will finally have a homeschool room!!!

The last two weeks have been very busy, as will the next few weeks. These pictures were taken 2 weeks ago during another beautiful week outside learning and playing. My wonderful husband also bought me a netbook so I am learning how to use it and post pictures from it so some of the pictures may be a lot bigger then they usually are, sorry.

I am still taking Monday’s off to recoop from the weekend but Tuesday we got out the puzzles, chalk board and crayons. Jackson is now trying to make smiley faces, you can sometimes pick out where the eyes, mouth and nose are at.

Wednesday we went to the Aquarium for Toddler Time. I wasn’t sure if he would do the class or not since he really wanted to see the fish and not do a craft. After looking at fish for about an hour he decided he wanted to make a craft to show the sting rays. We made a star fish and then the volunteers read him a book about them. We then watched the divers swim with the fish and ended the visit with a picninc outside. After the aquarium we stopped at the beach and picked up seashells to count and then of course throw. We ended the day on the swing set.

Thursday we were at my sister’s house watching her three kids so we played outside almost all day. We talked about colors, rode bikes, counted leaves and practiced taking turns.

Friday we walked to the park and played for about an hour. He had a blast counting to 5 and then going down the slide.

Monday is dance day and we also went to Chickfila to play on the playground.

Jackson has been complaining a lot about his right eye hurting so on Tuesday we went to the eye doctor where we found out that he needs glasses. After that adventure we went to the Aquarium and then played on the beach.

In the car after getting his eyes dilated

Pictures from the aquarium and playing on the beach

Wednesday we went to the park and played with some other kids around his age and also on the teeter totter

Thursday we went and picked out his eyeglasses, they will here in 2-3 weeks, and then spent the night with his Aunt and cousins.

Friday was supposed to be a fun day with his cousins but he woke up sick so we went home and slept the rest of the day.

This coming week will be another fun week with a little more learning mixed in. We are easing back into school right now and since the weather is warming up will be doing a lot more learning at the park, beach and aquarium!

I thought we were back on track, boy was I wrong. Last Wednesday I had a planned, 2 week notice, that I was having a hysterectomy and possibly both my ovaries removed. I knew when I went to the appointment that I would be having one but didn’t think it would happen so fast. So school was put on hold so that I could rest, clean and pack.

Last week he stayed with my parents and did school on days he was in the mood to do it on with my sister and her kids.

This week he also stayed with them and will be coming home today!

Next week I will still be resting a lot so I think we will put off doing school another week or two and then start back up.

I miss him like crazy, and am so happy to finally see him more then an hour or two every few days.

I thought we would start back with preschool right after the first of the year but things just kept coming up so I kept pushing the date back. We still did a lot of educational play, I just didn’t do crafts or structured play with him like we do when we are in school.

This week we talked about the moon and how it can be full like a circle or look like a crescent. We also talked about the letter “K’ and added the letter to his alphabet book. I have decided not to continue with the number portion of LOTW since he seems so bored with numbers. Instead we will stick with learning 1-10 and then will add on when he is ready. I made him a matching number game for the number 1-4 and we played that a few times on Friday. He surprised me by matching them correctly all 4 times we played. Next week I will add two numbers to the game and see how he does. We also started to play his Spanish Leap Frog matching game he got for Christmas. It took a few minutes for him to understand how to play but once he figured it out he had a blast. I only used about 10 cards at a time so the game wouldn’t take as long and we played it for about 20 minutes. Another toy he got for Christmas that we are using for school is his portable art easel. This week we talked a lot about circles and I helped him draw tons of them on his easel . We also used his letter magnets that came with the easel to review letters. In addition to the magnet letters we got out his V-Tech laptop and played that together for awhile. I tried to do a number game with him on it but it confused him a little bit, I will wait a little longer to do that again.

Here are some pictures of our first official week back at school.

Monday-

Tuesday

what we made in the box by putting paint and shapes in it and shaking the box

First time playing memory and still trying to figure out what I want him to do. He finally got it and started matching them up and setting them to the side.

Wednesday

Thursday-Took the day off

Friday

Using his lacing cards, he is getting really good at them.

This always seems to be the busiest time of the year for us and because of that I have decided to take the rest of the month off from preschool. We are still doing some crafts and talking about Jesus’ birthday coming up but we have our LOTW lessons on hold.

I will be back in 2009!

 Monday we played all morning outside. We came in about 30 minutes before lunch and made 2 Christmas ornaments and then he played while I fixed lunch.

Tuesday we made a hand print Christmas tree which we are using for the family tree this year instead of hanging the macrame tree. After we hung the tree we got a phone call from Jessica, my sister, saying she didn’t need me to watch her kids the following Tuesday which would allow us to go to FL with my parents. It was 3pm and my parents were leaving at 7pm, so we threw clothes in a suitcase, grabbed some food for the road and were off to FL for a week.

We spent the next week on and off the road traveling and at my aunts and grandparents house. On the road I took advantage of the different color cars and trucks and pointed out the colors to Jackson. We also did a lot of counting to 10 since  he would do it over and over again entertaining him for longer periods of time.

While in FL we went to the park, went shopping where he road a small train and also went to the Jr. Museum. In the mornings and some nights we also got on the computer and played on Starfall.com and also did some of the Fisher-Price online games.

We got back to my parents house the following Tuesday and spent Thanksgiving with them and came home Friday morning. Jackson has been sick since Friday so we are taking a few days off again from school and letting him rest.

Playing at a huge balloon pit at the mall

Whispering to Nana

Outside with Pa

Loving on Sweetie

With his Papa, Granny and Papa Joe

At the Jr. Museum

On the train at Pier Park

Tired after a long day of shopping with Nana and Mammy.

Last week we decided to skip school and just play and lounge around the house. Jackson accidentally was given some Teddy Grahams Sunday afternoon at church and it made him constipated and irritable for the rest of the week. Not wanting to push him I just let him lay around and rest.

This week was all about cookies!

Monday we started off the day by making a batch of gluten free peanut butter cookies. I found a simple recipe at Gluten-free Girl and decided to give a try. They turned out to be wonderful and delicious!!

We made a small plate to share with Daddy when he got home.

After we made cookies we got dressed for the day. I have started to let Jackson pick out his clothes and also start to try and dress himself. Over the week he got very good at putting a shirt on, still with a little help, and is improving on pulling up his pants.

What he wanted to wear Monday, excuse the water spot he had just brushed his teeth.

We then colored pictures of cookies and a cookie jar and read several books that were based around the theme of the week, cookies.

He is also allowed now to pick out his pjs for the night, which has resulted in some unusual looks this week.

Tuesday we talked about circles. We colored a picture of a circle, played with play dough, made a caterpillar and played with a shape puzzle. We also read more books about cookies.

Wednesday we reviewed the letters A-H and then painted an “I” coloring sheet and added it to his alphabet book .He then pasted an ice creams cone together and after his nap he painted the picture. Mammy also surprised us with a visit and we spent the late morning and afternoon shopping with her.

Thursday was another rainy day and Jackson didn’t want to do any “school work”. Instead he helped me cook breakfast and we counted how many eggs we were cooking and then counted the steps from the stove to the table. We spent the rest of the day reading books and playing. He also had dance class that evening and did fantastic!

Friday we did Thursday’s lesson and I introduced the number 9. He added the number nine to his sticker book and then put a sticker on each smiley face. After counting the stickers several times we moved on to the craft for the day. He glued the number 9 and 9 gingerbread babies onto a piece of construction paper. He then colored the gingerbread babies with markers. We also played with several puzzles and read more books about cookies.

Sunday I bought a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch before leaving church. Monday we cleaned the pumpkin out, cooked it, pureed it and then put 1 1/2 cup servings of pumpkin into several freezer bags to use later in the week. While the pumpkin was cooking Jackson colored a picture of a sun and then we sang the sun song that is on Barney. We spent the rest of the morning playing on his Comfy Keyboard followed by a bento lunch to go along with today’s lesson on pumpkins and the sun.

Tuesday I brought out the yellow finger paint so he could make a yellow booklet. When he was done he asked for the blue paint and used the yellow and blue to finger paint with. He was so excited to see that the colors made the color green. I also introduced zoophonics signs but he wasn’t really into. I think I will keep singing and playing since he is slowly picking up on letters and phonics.

We then went into the kitchen and used the pumpkin puree we made Monday to make gluten free pumpkin muffins.

Wednesday Jackson did not wake up in a good mood and I didn’t think it was in his best interest to do any table work. Instead we played on the computer on both  starfall and fisher-Price. Fisher-Price has several games that Jackson likes including ones the teach counting, the alphabet, shapes and colors. After playing on the computer we bundled up and went for a walk around the block. During the walk I pointed out the stop signs and we talked about how they are octagons. On the short stop signs we counted the sides. Half way through the walk he was pointing out stop signs that were ahead of us and asking what shape other signs were. We also talked about the colors of the cars that passed us.

As I suspected he would do, as soon as he woke up from his nap he asked to sit at the table and do some school work. I kept it short since he was still a little grumpy. We went through his alphabet book and looked at the letters and pictures and then colored an H and pictures of things that start with the letter H. We then colored a picture of a horse and called table work over. We will add the letters to his book tomorrow. We then played with his puzzles and in his play hut until he asked to watch The Letter Factory. Once that was off we sang some of his songs that are online. For a day that didn’t start off looking promising for school we ended up doing a lot.

Thursday started off as another grumpy morning. Jackson fell out of the bed around midnight and then was up again at 5 and up for good at 630. Not wanting to push him and make him even more cranky we skipped table work in the morning. I figured we could always do the work tomorrow or not at all. Instead we bundled up again and took another walk. Today he remembered the STOP signs and proudly pointed out the “O” on the sign. We also counted planes in the sky and talked about the colors of cars and trucks as they passed us. We came home and watched Mickey’s Color Adventure.

After lunch Jackson got a bath and during that time we played with his foam letters. He had fun finding the letter I called out.

Another day spent just playing and having fun, but another great learning day. One thing I also did was have him count to 10 with me before I gave him something he wanted. If he wanted to brush his teeth, wanted more juice, wanted a toy, etc. he would count to 10 and then get what he asked for. A few numbers he says are recognizable but for the most part it sounds like a foreign language still.

Friday my mom surprised us by stopping by. We skipped playing and school and went shopping. That evening my Jackson and his daddy played while I went to vote. I did however figure out what was causing the grumps though…..all 4 molars are coming in at the same time. Because of his grumpiness he wasn’t in the mood for the camera to be out,hence the lack of pictures.

Monday Jackson stayed at my parents house while I went to UNC- Chapel Hill for a doctor’s appointment so he didn’t have school. He played with his cousins all day though and had a lot of fun.

Tuesday we combined what I had planned for Monday and Tuesday and spent the day talking about stars. He painted stars that I had cut out and then glued them onto a black piece of construction paper. Then we took silver glitter glue  and traced another star to make a star twinkle. We sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star a lot for the rest of the week. We also started on  his sticker book by gluing numbers 1-6 into the book.

Jackson also tried to use scissors for the first time. After about 10 minutes of practicing he started to figure it out using both hands instead of one.

Wednesday we continued to work on the sticker book by placing the appropriate number of stickers on to each page. We also added the letter G to his alphabet book and made a puppet giraffe.

Thursday we add the number 7 to his sticker book and then played outside. Jackson noticed the moon while playing and every few minutes would stop to find it again. He was fascinated with being able to see the moon during the day.

Friday we took the day off from school and just played. Of course he learns a lot through play to so it was still a fun day of learning. My camera died Thursday and I forgot to charge the battery so I wasn’t able to take pictures of anything we did Friday.

Saturday Jackson decided that he wants to be a BMX rider! He thinks riding his bike on the bed is so much fun!! Now his bike seems to have found a home in our bedroom and for the most part is on our bed.

Tuesday we also put up a chore chart to help me motivate myself and Jackson. He did really good with it and was able to do everything on the list all 5 days. We are doing the chart Mon-Sat. He has 5 chores and then he also gets a magnet if he poops on the potty. His chores are to clean his room, make his bed, pick up his toys, get ready for bed and brush his teeth.