Update

This year Emma has really taken off with learning. I try to have some sort of routine in our day.

We almost always start off with a lesson from the Behold My Little Ones nursery manual. This is for TS as well. They get to learn things like how to share, how to love one another, how to obey their parents. Everything is very loving and kind and gentle. They also learn about Jesus and about how much He loves us and things along those lines.

Emma LOVES this. If we don't do it first off in the morning, she will beg and beg through out the day. We rarely miss this. TS enjoys it too, but he doesn't care so much still;-) So, we have a five minute lesson or so, then there is always some sort of little craft/coloring activity. While they are coloring, we listen to this year's primary music. TS is starting to sing to all the songs. So, we get about 40 minutes of music. (This has actually also made Emma LOVE scripture time at the end of the time.)

It's funny because Emma will color so carefully and takes a long time. TS colors in blobs and it's cute. Here's a photo to show you the difference. TS is almost finished and Emma looks like she has hardly started:



We are using Explode the Code, which teaches letters, sounds, and writing. Emma is in the Primer book 2, and is sailing through it quickly. She is almost done and will be in book 3 soon. She'll probably be finished with that after a month or two and we'll be in the official book 1.

We've always suspected, but we are being able to narrow down some of her hearing issues. She has a hard time differentiating between "p" and "b" as well as "m" and "n". I"m sure as we go along, we'll find more things. But she is able to think it through and try to remember which words start with what sound.

We are also working on speech as we go through all of this. Her speech love tank seems pretty full too (hehe...the love tank thing applies so well to things!), as she is always eager to participate. When she was younger, she was not interested. She has been doing really great with it.

Here is one of her pages of writing. This is the first time she wrote "j". I think she's going to end up with pretty nice handwriting!

As you can see, I must check mark each thing she does. She loves the check marks. She does not like to get an "x" when she does something wrong. I'm teaching her that it's okay to make mistakes. It helps us learn. I don't want her to be like I was and be afraid of trying things for fear of making a mistake. Now I don't care if I make mistakes:-) She seems to be fine with making mistakes. She'll say, "Sometimes little kids make mistakes." hehe...

For math we are using Math-U-See. It comes with a student manual, as well as a teachers manual. It also comes with a DVD with an instructor who teaches the lessons. When it comes to math, I tread carefully. I LOVE math, and I want my kids to love it too. I know one of the most important things is to make sure it makes sense to them. I can teach it, but I think it helps to for sure have someone who knows what they are doing (and is known for being a good math teacher) to help teach it. I'm still doing a lot of the teaching of myself, but the instructor helps;-) Anyway, here's a page she did yesterday. She enjoys drawing smiley faces sometimes! I think they are so cute:-)







Emma seems to have an interest in cooking lately. So, she's exploring that more. I'm letting her help as she wishes. Here she is making some mac and cheese. She was so excited to wear an apron like I wear. One of her sweet little friends gave this to her for her bday. So, she really uses it while cooking now. She did really well helping me cook!




Below: Here is her audience..
BELOW: Ahhh...aren't they so cute. It's like they like each other.

Last night we had some yummy homemade pizza with sausage and olives. Emma cut the olives up for me. It was really cute. She did such a good job. She sliced a whole can worth!

We also have computer games that teach letters, typing, and math (as well as many other things). TS really enjoys playing the "First 1000 Words" by Usborne. He's really good at it! Not like he could really do it wrong. It's pages and pages of pictures. He clicks on a picture and it'll say what it is and will also do some sort of animated thing. They are usually pretty funny. Emma really loves it too.

Oh, and one more thing, I don't make Emma do her school work. I know that might sound bad, but just wait... I tell her that she can do her school work at any point in the day. If she doesn't want to that's fine too. I also tell her that she can watch her movie (which she asks to watch usually first in the morning) once she finishes her school work. She loves to get to watch a movie, so that's all I have to say when she asks to watch one. "Yes, you may, as soon as your school work is done." Now she hardly even asks. She just grabs her school work and does it. She knows how much she has to do, etc. It works really well and teaches her to motivate herself.