Our Homeschool, Week 4: "Halloween"

We had a LOT of fun this week with our homeschool theme! There's no shortage of inspiration when it comes to fun Halloween activities.

We started the week with a field trip to the pumpkin patch! We picked up all sorts of different pumpkins and noted their attributes: shape, size, color (there were some crazy variations!) and weight.

 

I had my little box of materials (along with my handy folder of the month) on the kitchen counter all week so that we could always jump right into our tasks as soon as we'd get home every day from therapy. I do this so we can get things done before the opportunity to get distracted by the ipad or tv takes hold!

 

His favorite activity was the magnets on the ABC pumpkin. We got that printout HERE.  

 

As you can see, we did a lot of sensory activities this week (painting. crumpling paper for the "stuffed pumpkin" shown below, decorating the windows with gel clings). We also worked on a lot of fine motor activities like dot-a-dots and lacing cards. Our cognitive activities included our puzzles, counting pumpkins and letter recognition/sorting.

In the next month, our weekly themes will be Autumn, Bugs, Thanksgiving and Dinosaurs. I have attached links to each of the corresponding Pinterest boards for anyone interested in following along with us. We plan on taking the week of the Thanksgiving holiday "off", though we will likely still do certain simple tasks in order to keep the routine at the front of Bu's mind.

That's it for our first month of Pre-K-4! How's everyone else doing? We're having a lot of fun with this and as I hoped, it's been very easy to stick to with this level of pre-planning and organizing.

#TBT...The HAES edition

#TBT...when homegirl started her HAES lifestyle with a fashion blog...forcing myself to see how CUTE I was at my size broke my effed up relationship with my own body. I always thought fat = impossible to be pretty, but how could I deny how cute I was in these outfits? LOL

It's definitely a shallow way to start the self love process, I'll admit it HAHA but I'm glad I took this step, so I could eventually fully embrace my HEALTH regardless of my weight! If I hadn't taken this silly (to me) step, I wouldn't have fully embraced how INCREDIBLE my body was during pregnancy, and how AMAZING it was for carrying, birthing and feeding my baby!

Share your TBT posts! And tell me, what started YOUR self love journey?

Currently...

Writing: an article in the New York Times ticked me off, so I wrote a blog post about my thoughts on it...

Working on: Bu's halloween costume. I was inspired by the therapists at his center, they've had a different dress-up theme every day this week and I couldn't resist a particular one!

Watching: PBS: Inside the Court of King Henry VIII. I finished the Tudors over the weekend. I also watched "Angels Take Manhattan" this morning (Doctor Who). SO MANY TEARS. 

Learning: about the PLSA grant. We just got approved for it and I have no idea how it works.

Loving: Bu is suddenly interested in waving hello and goodbye to people. He also will pet the cat independently if we ask him to.

Anticipating: HALLOWEEN. But especially tomorrow when Bu shows up in costume for therapy. I can't wait to see the therapists reactions. 

Our Homeschool, Week 3: "Trains"

Last week, we got right back to the homeschool grind!

These are some of the materials we used...The collage set was a birthday gift and it is meant for one-time use (it's sticky so you can actually make a COLLAGE, but I used it to sort). The accordion folders were a dollar each at Target (we LOVE Target) so I organized a month's worth of lessons into each one. Many of the items are even reusable in case I want to use this same system next year (with a boost in difficulty, of course). And lastly, my handy laminator! It cost me $30 a year ago and it has more than paid for itself.

 

This week, the theme was Trains. You can find the corresponding Pinterest board HERE. We pulled out an ikea train set that we'd had for a while to work on appropriate play and also play with magnets. We did lots of puzzles, lacing cards, and fine motor activities this week, too. He was very interested  in all the activities, and even asked to do extra puzzles!

 

This week, our theme is Halloween, of course! We have a field trip planned and everything! Follow along on the Halloween Pinterest board to do the activities yourself, and I'll be back with a recap this weekend!

Currently...

I haven't done a post like this in a long while...certainly not on this site. I used to do a "Currently" post once a week when I was blogging during my pregnancy and throughout my son's first year, and those are some of my favorite posts to look back on. It's such a fun way to get a snapshot into a typical day at any given point of our lives.

Each one is a little different, to reflect the goings-on of the moment, but I look forward to making these a typical part of this blog. 


Working on: the living room. ABA was cancelled today and we got through our homeschool lessons early as a result. I'm trying to catch up and even maybe get a head start on some household things with the few "extra" hours we had today.

Watching: The Tudors. I had watched the first two seasons religiously when they originally aired, but abandoned it for some reason. I've always been fascinated with Henry VIII, so I started watching it again a few weeks ago. I'm just 6 episodes from finishing the series.

Thinking about: IT'S BACK TO THE FUTURE DAY. There must be a movie marathon playing SOMEWHERE....

Eating: Alas, nothing right now. Wishing I had some Vaca Frita, though.

Loving: my son and his renewed interest in the Superhero episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. I'm also very happy that the first thing he did when he got home today was to start independently working on a puzzle. Also, my Back to the Future planner sticker LOL

Anticipating: my dad decided yesterday to treat the whole family to a trip to Disney in December to see the last year of Osborne Family Lights before our annual passes expire. So looking forward to the trip!!!

Our Homeschool, Week 2: "My Body"

This week SHOULD have been themed on our bodies, identifying arms and legs, etc.

But ALAS, ironically, my son is super sick. His body has rebelled ;) so we took it easy this week.

I am still including the link to the "My Body" Pinterest board for anyone that wants to complete it. The great thing about these themed lessons is that you don't have to go in any particular order, since you can tailor the difficulty to your child's skill level. We'll probably go back and do this lesson at the end of our "year".

Next week, we should (hopefully) be back on track with Trains. Here is the link to the board for anyone following along! I hope mommas and poppas are finding these posts helpful.

Thirty.

My twenties were full of some ecstatically high highs and some crushingly low lows...but...

I'm happy, I'm healthy, I'm content, I've embraced my shortcomings and decided to make them my attributes, I've let go of all the losses that I let define so much of my twenties and let them become just a part of my story.

I know I'll never stop growing, but I also know EXACTLY who I am.

I'm thirty, and I feel beyond lucky to have the privilege to be able to say so.

LOVE to each and every one of you that reached out to me. I'm happy to call you all friends.

Our Homeschool Week 1: Bears

I decided I wanted to chronicle our "Pre-K-4" (used very loosely) on this blog so that if others are interested in at-home unit/themed studies and activities, they could maybe get ideas from ours and see the sources of our materials.

I have a pretty well stocked area that I use for Bu's at home therapies (practicing things he learns at his daily OT/PT/ABA/Speech, things I find on Pinterest to work on applicable skills, etc) so for these units, I used the materials I already have and applied them to the tasks, while supplementing with worksheets I found from various sources online. It would take ages to link the source of every task, so instead each week, I will include a link to my Pinterest board that pertains to that week's lessons, so that everything is accessible in one place. I will not always complete every task on the board each week, and I will also tailor the activities to fit my son's skill level, and I encourage you to do the same. I will also continue to add to the boards even after I complete that week's tasks.


Some of the things we did this week included puzzles, lacing cards (that we printed and laminated for future use), and we made a bear out of paint, using a plastic fork as a painting tool. I aim for 2-4 activities a day, as my son already receives 3-4 hours daily of structured learning time with his therapists, but adjust this as you wish to fit your goals and schedule.

This link will take you to the Preschool - Bears Unit board. I look forward to seeing comments from all the mommas and daddies that find this useful, and if you find any other activities that fit the theme, please let me know of those as well so the resource can continue to grow! :)




**EDIT** I wanted to add that next week, our theme will be "My Body". If you which to follow along in our activities, you can find the Preschool - My Body Pinterest board HERE so you can do the activities with us!

Our Disney Experience with the Updated DAS

Some information on the changes to the DAS at Disney World since the last DAS video we posted. This is accurate as of September 27, 2015.