Pre Dawn Babbler

Edward had a tough night sleeping. He finally ended up in our bed. He tossed and turned for a while then decided around 4:30 am that it was time to talk. We were awake for about an hour. He was just chattering away, including telling some stories that he made up. It was cute but tiring for us needless to say. Daddy wasn't feeling well so he went to sleep on the couch. Edward shortly there after asked to go back to sleep in his bed. I put him in his bed, stretched out in ours but guess what that didn't last that long. Edward was back and after about 15 more minutes of chattering, tossing and turning he finally went back to sleep. THANKFULLY!!! LOL!!!

Ouch, my poor baby!!!

Today Edward broke his right thumb at bowling league. Here's how it happened. He was doing so well, he was doing really well bowling without me being right by his side. I was sitting up at the table watching him. He took about 2 to 3 steps over the line about before I could anything, he raised his bowling ball to throw it and went sailing backwards, ball still in his hand. He was very upset needless to say. We (myself, his coach and the head of the youth bowling league) all checked out his hand the best that we could (he wasn't to keen on us looking at it), we couldn't see any swelling and he seemed to be able to move his hand easily. He just wanted to go home, so we forfeited the 2nd game and left. I went by Starbucks to grab a iced coffee for myself and a frap for Kirk. I stopped by Kirk's work to have him see if Edward would let him look at it and to see what Kirk thought. By the time we got to Kirk's work the fat palm part under his thumb was about 3 times as large as his left hands. We both agreed he needed to be taken to the ER. So I rushed Edward to the Newton ER. They took x-rays and found that he had a non displaced fracture of the thumb. He has to wear a splint for the next 6 to 7 days. He isn't allowed to go bowling for about 2 weeks. He has to go back to his pediatrician in 10 days and get follow up x-rays to ensure that it has healed correctly.

First Week Of Official Curriculum

Well this week has been exciting so far. Monday we started our Official Curriculum for Preschoolers by Horizons (published by Alpha Omega Publications). Edward is able to write the Letter A both upper and lower case on his own. He is able to pick a upper case A out of a word. He is reading a pre-reader book all by himself (called Polar Opposites..it has pictures with words below like Big and Little, Cold and Hot). He is so excited that he can do this. This week we are also doing the colors :Red, Blue and Green. Triangle is our shape of the week and 1 is our number. Our memory verse for the next two weeks is Genesis 1:1. Edward is learning that God is always listening and that He made the world and us. He really likes the globe of the world and he knows where Kansas is on the globe and can find it if you twirl the globe around away from the US. It is just amazing to watch him learning and catching on to things. Next week I will begin supplementing his curriculum with other activities. I needed to know basically how long the main curriculum will take daily, that seems to be about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. He is also learning self space and general space. Name recognition (he pretty can pick his name out of any list of words, he has been able to do this for over a year now since he has been "writing" his name for a while now). He has also been learning about Families, Fathers. Today we learned about Firefighters and Police Officers. Of course that included the use of 911. We took Edward to the Kansas State Fair this past weekend, of course it was used as a learning opportunity. We didn't get to see all what we wanted, so weather permitting we plan to go back this coming weekend to see the rest. Edward started Monart last Friday. He says he doesn't like it but it has only been 1 week so far, I asked him to give it a chance. If he still doesn't like it after this session, we will hold off on another session until next year. He started Kindermusik today. He seems to like his new teacher. They are doing the Kindermusik See What I saw curriculum this session. There are 4 other little boys and 1 little girl in his class, only 3 of the little boys beside Edward showed up today. The only thing that I am not to thrilled about is that they cut down the 15 week curriculum to 12 weeks because some parents felt inconvenienced by the length of the 15 week curriculum. I hope that next session they will offer a shorter curriculum for those who like that but also a original 15 week curriculum for those of us who want our children to get the most out of the experiences.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Giant Bubbles

Edward's co-op teacher gave us a wire coated hanger shaped in a circle, with rope. We were told to wrap the rope around the hanger and tie it to the top of the hanger. We had to make sure that the rope didn't hang down because it could pop the bubbles. With these the do it yourself wand, she sent us home with a recipe to make homemade bubble solution.
Here's that recipe (we doubled ours...this is the orginal recipe not doubled):
6 cups warmish water ( I found that it helps to disolve the soap and corn syrup)
1/2 cup Dish Soap (Dawn Orginal works best, we used orginal Dawn Ultra Concentrated....worked wonderfully)
1/8 cup light corn syrup
Mix very gently and pour slowly into a aluminum turkey roasting pan (or the lide of a large trash can). Avoid agitating soap mixture into foam, so bubbles form easily. This works best on a humid day with no wind.
We used this as a Science Project/Experiment. Edward was so excited about this as soon as his teacher gave us the items for the project. All the way home from Co-op Class I heard "We need to go to the store to get the items to make my bubbles". He enjoyed playing with the bubbles and seeing how big he could get the bubbles. We had a perfect day for doing this project.

Edwards Co-op Nature Box

This is the lid to Edwards Homeschool Co-op Class Nature Box. We were given these plastic shoes boxes to put our nature collection things in. We were asked to decorate the box lid. Edward helped me paint the background of the lid, then we applied the stickers and decoupaged it. It was a fun project to work on together.

Summer Bowling League Fun

Above are pictures of Edward and his favorite Bowling Coach, Karina. She has been his coach since we started bowling. Edward just loves her. However since this year we switched to the Homeschool Bowling League through the Bowling Alley, she isn't his coach because she herself is in public school at the time our league plays. He really misses her. The other picture is of Edward and his team mate (this is the first session that Edward has had a team mate since we begun bowling league with him), William. The bowling ball that they are holding, is Edwards own personal ball. Edward and William called their team the Speedy Rollers. LOL! They did awesome. Edwards game has improved so much. We are so proud of him.

Edward and Cake

I have to share this. Edward is so funny when it comes to cake or cupcakes.....he will eat all the frosting off of the cake or cupcake but refuses to eat the actual cake part of the dessert. Instead he gives it to the dogs. I can't get him to eat it for anything. What a silly kid.

First Day of Homeschool Bowling League

Today was the first day of Edwards Homeschool Bowling League. They said this is the biggest turn out for this league.....60 kids (this is their 11th year for this league). He did Awesome. He scored a 71 his first game and a 86 his second, plus he got a spare. He could have had 3 more spares but one of the pins kept giving him a hard time and not falling even when it encountered his ball. He has a little gal on his team this year. She is only 3 and so petite, the 6lb ball is as big as she is.
This week we have been working on the new Curriculum flashcards, we are working on Pre-Reader books. We are also doing paper work (not Curriculum....we will officially start the Curriculum work next week....wanted to ease Edward into the school year) and Brain Quest Cards. Today we also finger painted. Tomorrow is a BUSY day for us. We have school early in the morning, so that we can get to our Co-op class by 10:45am, then we have Monart for Homeschoolers at 4pm ( I think that is the time).

Why We Choose To Homeschool Edward

I have been having some difficulties with people not understanding why we are choosing to homeschool our son. There are so many reasons and I find it hard to verbalize the reasons to them correctly, so I thought that maybe if I wrote about it it would help me to be able to get the reasons across correctly. Of course there is the freedom of being able to worship and learn about God. Teaching Edward the TRUE reasons why this country was founded. School is in no way like it was when I was in the education system (not saying it was the greatest then either) and it defiantly is nothing like it was back when our parents and grandparents went to school. School has become an institutional setting. It is a proven fact that children who are homeschooled are more socialized than those who attend a public (and sometimes Private) school setting. Children are made to act like as the teacher thinks all children should act, there is no room for individualized personalities....you risk your child being slapped with a label if they don't conform to the way their teacher(s) feel that a child should be. Children in public school are required to sit still for hours on end at desks, they are not allowed to move, talk or do the things that come natural to a child. I know that schools have lots of great programs for advanced learns and if the teacher is really on top of things they might catch one or two who are struggling in reading or writing. But there are those students who might be so great at math but wonderfully smart at science. This student is usually overlooked, instead of working on the child's strengths and helping them with their struggles they are just shuffled into the mix. Yes there are some good school districts but you have to realize that ME ME ME is the structure of ALL public school systems. A child's individual interests are not used as a way to help make learning more interesting and fun for them because so many children are shoved together into one classroom that it is hard to individualize their learning behaviors let alone their interests. Homeschool tends to be more hands on, individualized to each child. Yes even if there is more than one or two children being taught by one person (even when they are of different ages. I wont even go into the fact that public school is dangerous to our children in so many ways. God didn't make children, let alone people, to all fit into one "cookie cutter mold". We are all different and unique, we all learn in different matters and to make school the best for our children their learning situations need to be individualized for each child. Homeschooling allows us to do that. My son does not lack for socialization, he is able to socialized daily with everyone from the elderly to babies. He is able to learn according to his unique learning behaviors (some people learn by sight, others by doing, others by repetition and so forth) that God has given to him, he is able to incorporate his interests into his learning situations so that it makes learning more interesting to him. He is able to go to locations and see things (daily if we choose) that teach him how things work, are made and so forth. He is able to learn history right were it happened, if we want to take him to those locations. We are able to educate him during the time of the day that is best for him, when he is alert and able to grasp concepts. We are able to go at his pace not a pace that is made to accommodate the average child in the room (therefore those ahead of the average learn are forced to lag behind in their learning experiences unless they are able to meet the requirements for advanced learning classes. Those who struggle and are unable to grasp a certain concept of the subject being taught them are forced to struggle and usually lag behind the rest of those in their class...which causes them to stand out to the other children and they are usually ridiculed by their peers for being slow or having less than average grades. Yes there are special education classes for the slowest of learners but once again you have to meet the requirements for those classes that have been set forth by the public school system. So those that don't quite meet these requirements for advanced classes or special ed classes are forced to learn at the pace of the average learner in their class(es).) I will force myself not to get on my soapbox about recesses being shortened in lots of public school and in some place done away with all together, no more music and art classes, PE being done away with in some schools, and my favorite of all right now.....free constructive play time being taken away from Kindergartners when it is one of the most important aspects of their education at that age. Kindergartners are now forced to sit for long periods at desks and learn like the older children. In case you were unaware Kindergarten is now being considered the new FIRST GRADE. SAD is all I will say about all these topics, sad for our children, sad for our society. I wouldn't doubt that if in a few years if Preschool was considered the new FIRST GRADE and 3 & 4 yrs olds were required to sit for hours on end doing paper work and being drilled with facts. Our government through our public school systems are slowly taking away our children's only chance at CHILDHOOD. So Preschoolers will be required to do hours of homework after they come home from a long day at school, cutting out all chances for playing. SAD SAD SAD!!!!! I hope that this has given some insight as to why we have chosen to educate our son at home and not through the public school system. Please note that I do realize that for some the public school system is the only option, but please be your child(ren)s advocate.....stand up for what you want your child(ren)s learning experience(s) to be. You know your child(ren) better than any teacher ever could, you know their learning behaviors, where they excel and where they struggle. Be their voice when educators choose not to listen. This is not to say that there aren't awesome educators out there but you have to remember sometimes their hands too are tied by the government and the public school system.
I have a personal quote that I think says it best: As Homeschoolers, we are not limited by where and what books might teach us, or what a building can provide for learning experiences and materials. The World is our teaching resource....our learning palette, we learn from it by seeing, hearing, touching, and hands on experiencing it personally.~Desiree Thompson 9/6/07

First Day of Homeschool Co-op

Well, today was Edwards first Day at Homeschool Co-Op. He is taking a Storytime, Music and Movement Class. The first 6 weeks is about creation. He has to make a Nature Box, keep a Nature Notebook, take Nature Walks and collect pieces of God's Creation all around us. He did exceptional in class. This is so good for him and for me. We get to be with others who also choose to Homeschool as we do. There is about 30 plus families in the Co-op. He will be able to join PE and other classes next year when he is in Kindergarten. We start official Homeschool next Tuesday. He will do a review week and then we will jump right into the Horizon's Preschool Curriculum. I have been busy getting lesson plans together, getting things copied and prepared for when we need them. Edward starts his Homeschool Bowling League next Thrusday and his Monart Class on Friday afternoon...plus he will have his co-op class on Fridays too. He will start Kindermusik on the following Tuesday. So that is it so far.

Edward's Terminology

I don't think I have shared this but I think it is cute. Edward loves to sleep in footie pj's. He absolutely loves them. He calls them Zip em up, foot holders. I am not sure as to where he came up with this but he has been calling them this since he was 3.

This Is The Day That The Lord Hath Made

Edward has a Veggie Tales Toddler CD that he loves to listen to on his portable DVD player, we recently bought him earphones so that we don't have to listen to his DVD movies while we are watching TV or listening to our CDs on the CD Player. Anyway, on the CD is the song "This is the Day that the Lord Hath Made" He will start belting this song out, not all the words come through clearly when he is singing it. This is especially funny to hear when he has his earphones on because you don't hear the song or the music, just Edward belting out the song. At the end of the song, he literally scream sings the end. To Funny. I need to get this on video some day.

Edwards Funny This Morning

LOL!!! Edward came up to me this morning and said to me: "Mommy, I still love you!" What a crack up. He is so funny sometimes. I don't know where this came from or even why he said it, but it was funny probably because it was so out of the blue.

Newflash from the Thompson Household

I am in the middle of cleaning the house so the maids can come in and do a deep clean, so we can start off the year in a spic and span environment. He and his daddy are going to have a boys weekend this weekend, so I can get the main parts of the house clean without Edwards "help". He tends to go behind me and re-mess up what I have already cleaned. I have our upstairs all done. Going to do the Entryway, Kitchen and downs stairs bath today.
Still working on catching up the laundry from when I was sick in July. Now my brand new washer is coding on me that its having issues with draining, so I will have to have a service repairman come out next week and fix it for me. It is frustrating. I can get a load or two done then it starts to act up on me. So that is making it even harder for me to catch up on the laundry.
Next week, on Monday, I have an exterminator coming in to do a spray, he'll come every 3 months and do it. Then on Wednesday, the Maids are coming in to do a deep clean. Plus I hope to get the repair man in to fix the washer next week. Kirk is going out of state next Friday for the 3 day weekend with his dad in Las Vegas. Then things get really exciting for me. Edward will start school either the Tuesday after Labor Day or the following Monday. However Friday the 31st, we will be attending our first Homeschooling Co-op class. He is going to be taking a Storytime & Music Movement Class for 4 to 7 yr olds. I have volunteered to do a P.E. class for Preschoolers and Pre-Kindergarteners.We will also be doing Kindermusik again this year, however the classes will be on Tuesday Mornings. We will be joining the Homeschooling Bowling League on Thursdays this year, instead of participating in the bowling league on Friday and Saturdays. This is the first year that he can join the HBL at the bowling alley. We will be joining the Homeschooling Monart class on Fridays too, a lot of the children from the Co-op participate in this class. Edward will learn to draw using all types of mediums. He will be learning about famous artist this session, like Van Gogh and Gloria O'Keefe. If you would like to learn more about Monart or what see what types of things Edward will be learning you can go to www.Monart.com . He will be learning actual drawing techniques. I am pretty excited about this class for him. I plan to do homeschooling Monday through Friday from 9:30 to about 12:30/1:30. But that is just a general time for now, because with the new Horizon's Preschool Curriculum that we bought through Alpha Omega, I am not sure how long each section will take, I used their time line but after a couple of weeks I should have a better idea of how school will take us. I want to allow Edward time to be a child too and have free time to enjoy too. So as you can imagine our lives are about to get extremely busy and exciting. I will scan Edwards first Monart Picture that he brings home, to share with you all.
Well that is us in a nutshell.

Wanted to Cry

Today, I went to buy Edward some new Underwear and Socks. I about broke down in the store, I had to go to the boys section, not the baby/toddler section to get my "baby" these new items. He now wheres a 6 in underwear and a medium in boys socks. He even can wear a XS shirt from that area now. He wears a 5T or a 5 now in shirts and a 4T (which he seems to be quickly growing out of) in pants. Granted he still needs the adjustable waist bands. Before I know it he will be in the BIG BOYS section.....boooooo hoooooooo. :0( Time just flies by way to fast.

1st official year of homeschooling

Well, we have received our first official Homeschool Curriculum. We will be starting our School Year on Tuesday, September 4th. We will be using the new Horizons Preschool Curriculum this year. School will be 36 weeks long. Our last week of school, barring any illness or unforeseen circumstances should be the last week of May. I am looking forward to the school year. I am excited to be able to watch Edward learning, growing, and becoming more self confident on a day to day basis, as he masters the basics in learning and beyond. I am so impressed with this curriculum, towards the end of the year Edward will be introduced to our skeletons, heart, brain & inner ears. He will be learning to tell time and beginning basic reading. He is already wanting to read, so I know this will be right up his alley. I plan to get the house cleaned at the end of August by having some maids come in and do the deep cleaning while I get our "classroom" in order, so we can start out in a nice clean, organized environment. I will be working on the first months lessons plans here shortly. This Curriculum comes with Teacher Guides and a basic lesson plan. I plan to add to it and supplement this curriculum with other learning materials and activities. Edward is now signed up for a Homeschooling Bowling League through the bowling alley. This new league (for us) will start in September and goes through April. We are hoping to be able to get into Kindermusik again this fall. Edward might take swimming lessons again this fall. We will be bumping him up possibly to the next level.

Down for the count

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this the past 2 weeks but I have been extremely sick. It started 2 Thursday's ago when I woke up with a sore throat. I thought it was just allergies so I didn't pay much attention to it. By night fall, I was running a temp of about 103 and had the chills bad. Saturday found me running over a 105 temp, so off to the ER we went. They said I was extremely dehydrated and needed to have an IV of fluids. I was told I had a Urinary Tract Infection and a Sinus Infection. I was sent home with antibiotics, thinking okay I will be great in a few days. Wrong, by Wednesday I was in to see my own Family Physician. They took chest x-rays. When she showed them to me I could see that my lungs were full of fluids and I am just a layman at this stuff. Diagnosis, Walking Pneumonia. Trust me I would never wish this or any form of Pneumonia on my worst enemy. It is awful. So I was prescribed a 2nd antibiotics, still had to take the first ones because they were for the UTI and the new ones wouldn't help with that. The timing for this sucked, I was suppose to go get Regan the first Friday that I was sick but of course not wanting to get her sick postponed that. So now I will get her this Friday but she will only be able to stay for 1 1/2 weeks and not 2 now. I feel so bad. At least I am starting to feel better. Praying for no relapses, trying to take it easy but get the house back in order before I go get her Friday.

Can You Spell Pitiful??

Well it is official, Edward has his very first ear infection. He has been so pitiful all day, bless his heart. We had to skip his swimming lessons this morning, I was so afraid that he had gotten Swimmers Ear and that is why he had woken up this morning crying that his ear hurt. I of course took him to his doctor as soon as they could get us in, which ended up being at the same time as his swimming lessons would have been this morning. She told me it wasn't do to Swimmers Ear, that it was an actual infection of the ear itself. Poor thing, I feel so bad for him. Hopefully this is the only one he will have to endure. She put him on Pain Ear Drops, Amoxicillin and Motrin. I bought some ear pillows for him to use next week during swimming lessons, too keep the water out of his ears....so as not to make the issue worse for him.

What was in the bag??

Today was the birthday party that Edward was invited too. We bought a couple of things to give as a present for the little boy. I put them in a gift bag with some tissues and included the card that Edward picked out for him. While I was putting together the bag and stuffing it with tissue paper, Edward was eating a lunchable. Zoom ahead about 2 hours, we are the part of the party where the little boy is opening his present. He gets to Edwards and is basically just pulling the things out (he was overwhelmed) and not paying much attention to all the contents of the bag. The mom picked it up to see what else was in it, she reached in and took out a small block of cheese and 3 crackers....she said "I especially liked this part of the present." Everyone laughed. I was so embarrassed at first and began apologizing profusely. She smailed and said that there was nothing to be sorry about, it could have just as easily been her and both the other moms said the same thing. Too funny. I would have never thought that Edwards snack ended up in the gift bag.

The Next Camp Snoopy Idol

We went to see a kids show at Camp Snoopy and Edward got up on the stage and sang Dry Bones with Snoopy, it was so cute. He was acting light he was meant to be up there, he did great until a few other families walked in (we had been the only ones in there for a while)....then suddenly he became very shy.
Once we get the pictures and video from Kirk's Cell Phone, I will upload them to this blog.

Heart Break on the Red Barron

We were in the Camp Snoopy part of the Worlds of Fun Park, Edward asked to ride the Red Barron Ride. Well just before the ride was going to be start a little girl about a year or two older than Edward wanted to ride. She got into Edward's plane (note there were a few empty planes and others with just one child in them). The whole time the ride was, Edward kept turning around talking to the little girl and grinning. When the ride was over he waited to walk out with her, he wanted to go again. He thought the little girl had followed him for another ride. He turned around saying "Follow me, let's ride again." and she was gone.

Watery Fun

We are in Salina KS overnight. We are staying in a hotel that has an indoor pool with a huge indoor curvy water slide. This is the first time Edward has ever been on a water slide of any type. HE LOVED IT!!! I rode down with him the 2 times, then I went first, then he came after I was in the water waiting to catch him. Then he went about 4 times by himself with me waiting to catch him at the bottom. Then we went 2 more times where I went first and then he came after I was in the water to catch him. Sorry didn't get pictures, camera not water friendly. Next time I will bring a water proof camera. He has so much fun. Tomorrow we will go to a train museum here in Salina, then we are head to Kansas City overnight so we can go to the Worlds of Fun Amusement Park there, then off to Topeka (maybe not a 100% sure on that one) overnight then home Monday morning in time for swimming lessons.

First Birthday Party Invite

Edward is so excited he got his first invite to a birthday party. He was invited to a party for another little boy here in town, that was on his blast ball team. It is this coming Monday. It is at 3pm, he has bowling league on Mondays too at 1pm so I set up for him to do a pre-bowl this Friday instead, so he can go to the party.

Thank Heaven's

Last night (kirk is out of town for the next few days on business), Edward ended up in my bed about 230 in the morning, saying he had a bad dream. About an hour later, I thought his side of the bed felt wet (mind you I can count on both my hands how many times he has had an accident since he was potty trained in Jan 06). He had an accident. He was rather upset about the whole situtation. I got up and changed the bedding hoping I had the mattress cover that had a water proof lining (I bought it so sippy cups that tend to leak wouldn't ruin our temprupetic mattress pad). Thankfully it was on our bed and the mattress and mattress pads were as dry as a bone. I gave him a hug and reminded him accidents happen to everyone. I wouldn't have been mad at him even if I had had the other mattress cover on. He's just a little boy and things like this will happen from time to time.

Update on Edward's Sleeping

I am proud to announce that Edward has been successfully sleeping in his bed 97% of the time from bedtime to sunrise, for the past 7 weeks. He is doing great and we have made even more changes to his bedtime routine. He now starts out in his bed, we read him 3 stories, kiss him and hug him goodnight, tuck him in, turn on his lullaby music and turn out the lights. He stays there and will sleep the whole night through unless he has a bad dream, then he comes to our bed. He must have been ready this time to sleep in his own bed because we didn't have the issues we had before with getting him to sleep in his bed.