A Little Bitty Baby and A Little Bit of Bibliotherapy!

As an Army family, it seems that we are often in a season of transition.  This time, however, the transition will not be Army-related but, rather, family-related.  In about four more weeks, we will welcome Baby Schmidt #4 to the world, and as ecstatic as we all are to meet Baby, from experience, I know that the amazing process will also be a season of transition for the entire family.  Brynn is definitely privy to Babe's arrival.  Clare understands a little bit, and Elle just likes to point to my belly and attempt to lift up my maternity shirt and say "BABEEEEE!"  Regardless of each girl's level of understanding, Baby's arrival will mean change for all of them, and, so, preparation has begun.

You might inquire why this has anything to do with homeschooling, but having been in the classroom as a teacher, I can attest to just how much life events can impact a child's ability and desire to learn.  Our children our passionate about books, and reading together gives us an opportunity to bond each and every day.  Therefore, it is through books that I am helping the girls to prepare for this exciting transition.  It's a fabulous little tool coined as "bibliotherapy."  Little by little, I have been integrating books about a baby's arrival into our daily reading.  Here are some fun ones that the girls have enjoyed:

Together we read through the books...together we talk about the exciting changes ahead...together we will welcome this precious new life into our home.  And, through it all, Scott and I want EACH of our children to know that we "can't imagine life before YOU came along...[we] there singing senseless, no MEANING to [our] song.  Call it MEANT TO BE or simply blessed fate, you fill [our] heart[s] WITH LOVE...and for THAT [we] celebrate.  [We] love you.  How much?  SO much. How much is 'so?' WAY, WAY MORE than you know..." (I Love You SO by Marianne Richmond).

What Happens During Our Morning Routine?

Once the kiddos are fed and dressed and three hairstyles have been negotiated, Momma is usually already worn out, and the kiddos are rearing to go!  Let another school day begin!

Children are creatures of routine.  Well, let's be honest....adults are creatures of routine, too, right?  So, with this being said, the girls and I begin each morning of school with the routine of Math calendar and Bible time.

I really enjoy integrating literature into each content area. Everyday Mathematics (the curriculum we are using) also promotes the integration of literature and gives some fabulous suggestions on what books to utilize during each lesson. As we progressed throughout the school year from day one to day ten, we read a Math fable each day during our Math calendar time that correlated with that particular numbered day of school.  The girls really enjoyed listening to these fables from the book Math Fables by Greg Tang.

The girls came running to me one day at the library, ecstatic to have discovered that there is a Math Fables Too book, so we continued our morning tradition of reading a fable a day!

Reading literature isn't the only thing that we do during our morning calendar time though.  Here are some other activities that happen each and every morning to get our school day rolling.

We change our date card on the calendar and discuss what today's date is, what day it was yesterday, and what day tomorrow will be.  We also discuss the pattern that is unfolding with the colored cards as we change the date.  Then, the girls get to build their own pattern with pattern cards or pattern pieces.  We also spend some time reviewing the vowels and the long and short sounds that each vowel makes.  Here is Brynn building a pattern while Clare watches.  Clare's doll, Baby 'Sippi, even gets to join in on the calendar learning sometimes.  

We keep track of the number of days that we are in school and work on our understanding of place value.  Elle tries diligently each morning to run away with some of the place value sticks, but we manage to recapture them and place them in the correct pockets each day.  We are really excited for the 100th day of school!  There will be some really fun activities planned for that very special day!  There is usually some problem solving involved each morning, too.  Here, Brynn reads the "problem of the day."

Each week, there is a new letter of the alphabet with a coordinating memory bible verse.  This week is "F," and the bible verse is "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith..." (Ephesians 2:8).  Brynn also has a Sunday school bible verse to memorize each week, and, so, we work out of two flip books.  This girl has a knack for memorization and retention!  Her memory astounds me!

Here is the link for the FREE printable bible verse ABC book:

http://www.homeschoolcreations.com/files/ABC_Bible_Verses.pdf

After we have completed the calendar activities in our Math calendar pocket chart, we transition to some other activities.  In this photograph, Brynn is writing the number for the day of school that we are in.

Brynn records the calendar day, too.  You may notice that some of her numbers are still getting inverted, and I know that this is OK for now.  It is just a stage of development.

So, what do Clare and Elle do during this time?  Well, they are master mess-makers, but their messes are made with learning materials such as shapes, letters, puzzles, etc.  On this particular day, they were sorting through magnetic letters and sponge letters.

Brynn continues her written work by graphing the weather for the day.  Brynn, whom has resided in the desert for quite some time, is really eager for the day when she gets to log SNOW on her graph!  I assure her that the day of snow will come!  Notice my coffee cup?  I'm doing my best to stay awake!

Here is the link where I got the FREE printables for the calendar recording book that we keep in a three-ring binder:

http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/2012/08/calendar-notebook-binder-printables/

Our next activity is saying the "Pledge of Allegiance."  We are a military family with a great love for GOD and country.  We want to teach each of our children that "I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free.  And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me.  And I gladly stand up, next to you, and defend her still today. 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land.  God bless the USA!" (Lee Greenwood).

To culminate our morning routine, we do a bible lesson that either correlates with the FIAR (Five in a Row) book that we are reading for the week and comes from the "FIAR Christian Character and Bible Study Supplement," or we do some reading from The Family Time Bible:

Then, we pray!

We're Going on a Bear Hunt: Making Literature Come Alive!!

"We're going on a bear hunt.  We're going to catch a big one.  What a beautiful day! We're not scared!"

That's right.  You read that correctly.  We're going on a BEAR hunt!  Hehehehe!  Daddy is preparing for a BIG hunting trip this Fall to Montana, but little does Daddy know, Mommy Schmidt has his "Schmidt-girl-trio" in hunting preparation, too!  And, we're hunting for BEARS!   Daddy will surely be in camouflage on his hunting excursion (and believe me...with his being in the Army, we have PLENTY of camouflage around the house), but here is what the girls decided they needed for their hunting trip today!

When hunting for bears, Elle thinks you must look like bear!  Is she not the cutest little bear ever?  Completely harmless and completely adorable.

Clare and Brynn were sure that you must need safari hats and possibly a jump rope to stick together.

Clare was, of course, quick to remind me that we don't live anywhere near a forest and so this mission was likely to be unsuccessful.  To which, I reminded her that she had to use her IMAGINATION!

And, we were off!

"Oh-oh!  Grass!  Long, wavy grass (ours is new mushy sod, but, remember, we are using our IMAGINATIONS).  We can't go over it.  We can't go under it.  Oh, no!  We've got to go through it!"

"Oh-oh! A river!  A deep, cold river.  We can't go over it.  We can't go under it.  Oh, no!  We've got to go through it!"  (Do you see that patch of sod that never took?  That's our river.  It looks just like a river, right?  It's brown!  It looks like river water.  Remember....IMAGINATION!)

Clare has cleared the river.  Brynn is quick to follow in her river boots!  And, Elle...Elle is coming as quickly as her little legs will take her!

"Oh-oh!  A forest!  A big, dark forest.  We can't go over it.  We can't go under it.  Oh, no!  We've got to go through it!"

(Do you see that HUGE forest behind the girls?  You might -think- it is just a patch of overgrown weeds, but...NO...that is a forest, and bears just might be in that forest!)

"Tiptoe!  Tiptoe!  Tiptoe!  WHAT'S THAT?  One shiny wet nose!  Two big furry ears!  Two big googly eyes!  IT'S A BEAR!"

The two oldest girls are off!  AGGGHHH! (I am sure, at this point, that if the neighbors were watching, they literally thought we were crazy.  One very pregnant woman, reading a children's book with camera in tow hobbling up the hill, two girls screaming and running away in strange outfits...

and one little baby girl doing her best to scream and keep up with us all, too...

But, we were having FUN and making literature come ALIVE!  We were on a bear hunt!)

"Get to our front door....Shut the door!"

Quick....downstairs and into our fort (this was a complete addition to the story that the girls came up with all on their own).

Come on, Elle!!!!  HURRY!  Close the door!

Phew!  We made it!  "We're not going on a bear hunt again."

Today's Math lesson was centered around the theme, "Which Way Do I Go?" and it was FULL of literature!  We're Going on a Bear Hunt, retold by Michael Rosen, has been one of my favorite children's books for a long time.  It is an excellent book to help children utilize their God-given imaginations and truly see how literature can come alive!  

To correlate with the the Math lesson, we also read Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins,

and The Three Billy Goats Gruff retold by Carol Ottolenghi.

And, from all of these books, we created a list together of different ways that we can go...

Unbeknownst to the girls, we were not only working on "spatial vocabulary in everyday situations," but we were also working a little bit on verbs and prepositions.  That, however, is a lesson for an entirely different day.

To culminate our learning and to celebrate, we just HAD to do the "Hokey Pokey," and when you teach the "Hokey Pokey," reading this page in Diary of a Worm is a HUGE hit...

I absolutely LOVE hearing little people giggle, and when they start to giggle at literature, you know that they are comprehending!  Giggles abounded when we read this, and we were still giggling doing the "Hokey Pokey" (mostly because the girls are still learning their right from their left).  

We might not have shot a bear today, or outsmarted a fox quite as well as Rosie the hen did, or helped the bully-of-a-troll change his mind as well as the three Billy Goats Gruff did, but we did learn about spatial vocabulary, and we did have a lot of fun.  We also showed Daddy that even his girly-girls can prepare for a big hunt!

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

It all started with the first MOPS meeting of the year when it was announced that there would be a MOPS' excursion to Wilson's Apple Orchard.  MOPS you ask?  What is this MOPS?  Is it another one of those Army acronyms that a military spouse gets a perplexed look about when her husband brings it up in conversation?  Nope.  Not this time.  MOPS is for the mommas...the Mothers of Preschoolers to be exact.  And, it has been a phenomenal group for me at this stage of mothering as we transition around the world.  In Mesa, Arizona, the group allowed me to utilize my love of teaching and leading as I developed the MOPPETS' curriculum (or the bible lessons for the little people), but, mostly, it has allowed me to connect with some amazing moms and mentor moms who just get this exhausting and exhilarating phase of life when little people with endless energy and ever-changing emotions challenge us, as mommas, in so many ways.

To learn more about MOPS, just check out the link below:

, 

                                                          http://www.mops.org/about

But, back to apples and apple orchards.  The Schmidt family loves all things Fall....the sound of football games on the TV, harvest time, cooler weather, the smell of pumpkin bars and apple pies baking in the oven, the changing colors, and, of course, trips to apple orchards and pumpkin patches.  It was a part of Arizona living that drove me a wee bit crazy.  After having grown up in the Midwest, there just seemed to be something incredibly odd about Fall days in the 100s, pumpkin patches that consisted of pre-picked pumpkins lying in piles of sand, and apple orchard visits that resulted in dust-covered toes and sweaty clothes.  The whole desert Fall was a foreign experience to me, so I have found much relief in being back in the Midwest for my favorite time of the year!  When I heard about a planned outing to a local apple orchard, I was SO excited.....not only for myself, but, also, for our girls!

Let the apple lesson planning commence!  One of the components of the FIAR (Five in a Row) curriculum that I have really enjoyed is that it does not have to be done sequentially.  Having perused through the curriculum, I knew that there was a story all about apples that would make a PERFECT connection to an apple-themed week.  How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, by Marjorie Priceman, was reserved immediately at the library for Family Schmidt, and apple-related activities were in the works.

To activate schema for this themed week, we listened to a story about Johnny Appleseed on YouTube:

                                     http://www.pinterest.com/pin/143622675589635225/

We also read Johnny Appleseed...A Tall Tale Retold and Illustrated by Steven Kellogg:

Then, we got to read the story for our week!  If you are not familiar with the book How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, here's the story on YouTube:

                                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w03XWpdfKRE

Of course, on Monday, after reading the story the first time, we had to track this amazing world adventure on a map.  Here, Elle "helps" Brynn record the route.  

We incorporated the apple theme into Math, too, by organizing apples from largest to smallest and making apple skip counters.  In the following pictures, the girls are working on their fine motor skills by cutting out the apples and arranging them in the correct order.  Clare needed help with the scissors, and since scissors were involved, we saved this activity for Elle's snack time.

Working so diligently and trying to figure out those scissors with those tiny hands.

GLUE STICKS?!?!  We get to use GLUE STICKS?!?!  (The things that make three-year-olds beam!)

Here is Brynn's final product.  Notice Elle in the background isn't too happy about missing out on this scissor opportunity.

Clare worked so hard, too, and was so proud of what she was able to do!

On another day, we incorporated the apple theme into Math again.  This time, we waited until Elle was napping and constructed our apple skip counters.  The activity was modified for Clare, as she is still learning to recognize the numbers one through ten.  So, she only had to create one counting strip.  Since Brynn is learning to write numbers AND skip count, she practiced tracing the numbers and completed a variety of skip counting strips to run through her apple skip counter.

One passage in the story for the week read, "You won't have to go far to find an apple orchard.  Pick eight rosy apples from the top of the tree.  Give one to the chicken, one to the cow, and eat one yourself.  That leaves five for the pie.  Then hurry home."  

In her journal, Brynn illustrated this Math problem:

The highlight of the week was our visit to Wilson's Apple Orchard, picking apples, and baking an apple pie with the apples that we picked.  Here are some pictures of our fun Fall outing:

It was a rainy, cool day...a fabulous day to pull out the rain boots and rain coats!  Clare was quick to remind me that her shirt should NOT say, "It's a cupcake day," but, rather, "It's an apple day!"

Ready for the tractor ride!

The girls were enthralled with the tractor ride...especially when we got to go right through the creek water.

All smiles out in nature!

Not even the rain could deter us from picking apples.

Trying a fabulously fresh apple turnover!  YUM!

Elle refused to be the face of the deer in the picture.  I can't blame her!  It's Fall, and there are deer hunters out and about.

Brynn did some acrostic poetry and reflective writing about our apple orchard experience.  It was a guided writing experience where she told me what to record on paper.  Then, she got to add her own creative illustrations.

Making apple pie! (These pictures will be utilized next week when we write our very own "How to Make an Apple Pie in Iowa" story).

We had a little apple pie crust disaster.  Sometimes when baking, things just don't turn out...

In which case, you call Daddy Extraordinaire on his cell phone and ask him if he would be willing to pick up some pre-made pie crusts.

Notice the outfit changes on both of the girls.  The power just happened to go out at our home when a BIG midwestern storm blew through unexpectedly, and this, of course, happened right as we were putting our pie in the oven. We were without power for the rest of the evening, so the apple pie didn't get baked until the following day.  No power was a very disappointing thing for some little people in the house.  Well, let's be honest....the two older people were bummed about the lack of apple pie for dessert, too, but somehow traveling around the world to find an oven (as the book for the week may have suggested) just seemed a little bit far-fetched.  We were lucky enough to travel through the house in the dark and find some candles, a lighter, and a camping lantern.  The girls thought dinner by candlelight was fun.  I told Scott it was kind of romantic.  At which point, I am just sure that Scott thought to himself that he was surrounded by far too many girls!

After the girls were tucked into bed that night, I definitely came to the realization (once again) that I was born in the correct era....a pioneer woman I am not.  Electricity is a good thing, and we were happy that the oven worked again the next day so that we could bake our apple pie!

Some proud apple pie bakers!

Add some ice cream and voila....we had a fabulous Schmidt Family Fall dessert!

And, finally, to conclude our apple learning, Brynn got to use an application called "Disney Story" to write her very own book on the I-Pad.  This experience had her engaged immediately, and I was astounded at how quickly she grasped how to type her ideas and integrate pictures into the program.  Sharing her work with Daddy that night before dinner was SUCH a highlight for her, and that night, we even had power!  Here is a link to the application:

                                                                      http://story.us/

And, here are snapshots off of the I-Pad of Brynn's book entitled "A-Peeling Brynn:"

Clare got to do some guided writing with this, too.  Her book read:

"I'm an 'A-Peeling' kiddo!  My favorite color is BLUE!  My favorite thing to do is PLAY WITH MY TOYS!  My favorite food is MASHED POTATOES!  I am really good at PLAYING WITH MY DOCTOR KIT!  When I grow up, I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR!"  

It was another great week of learning at Household Schmidt, and for this we rejoice:

"Oh, the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord

For giving me the things I need:

The sun, the rain, and the APPLE SEED;

The Lord is good to me.

For every seed I sow,

An APPLE TREE will grow,

And there will be APPLES there,

Enough for the whole wide world to share,

The Lord is good to me!"