The first few weeks

Lucie is just under a month old, so in the hopes of completing this post, I'll aim for brevity.

Background: She's my fourth Cesarean delivery, and I had forgotten how debilitating the reviver process is. Just yesterday, nearly four weeks post partum, I was able to bend down. I'm grateful for all the mundane, again, that's for certain! Two weeks ago it took me more than 30 minutes to walk from the toilet to the shower, and that was finally accomplished with help.  Needless to say, I've not been 100% myself these weeks, but I'm slowly easing back into a routine. That said, yes, the kids' schedules are a mess, as is the house, and life lol, but I'm alive and everyday is a new chance to make it better.

Product recommendation: I'm absolutely mindless while on drugs at the hospital, and depending on my stress levels, even at home for a bit, so I need apps to help take the guess work out of certain activities while I adapt to new norms after each child. If you're looking for an app to keep track of feedings, etc, I found baby manager (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=innmov.babymanager) to be fantastic. One of my favorite features is that I could share it with my mother who helps me with my kids. In this way, we can update, say, medications, and not stress about who gave what at what time because it's already there. My primary use, though, was while in the hospital to help track nursings and diapers. After that, I don't use it so much, but until I'm in the habit and confident, is priceless. That said, I use the free version, still, and I have no other affiliation with the company.

I'm back, again, and this time with Four kids!

My life is far from perfect, so because I've struggled with imposter's syndrome for so many years, I've kept from updating this blog. I'm back, again, clearly. And in the time that's passed, our family's been blessed by two more children. Mikey is two years old now, and Lucie is 4 weeks old. Joey and Kaelie are 8 and 6, respectively.  My family feels complete, now, so I want to be sure to chronicle my journey. Though difficult for me to embrace, I believe that in sharing my missteps, even, I can do good, so here I am, trying again :) Thanks for following along.

Forward Progress, Drip by (Oil) Drip (Pan)

WooHoo.  We picked up our oil drip pans from wally world (walmart) today.  We also picked up some circular and rectangular baking sheets from the dollar store.  The goal was to use it for piano lessons, but with so many ideas at http://pinterest.com/joni_spencer/oil-pan-fun/ (thanks Tonya for sharing!), who knows what we can do.  I'm sure there will be future posts with pics of them in use.  For now, this post is all I can muster.

Also, I ordered dry erase rolls to put on the walls and on the oil drip pan.  I'm really hoping it turns out like I envision (or better!).  Here's a link to that: http://www.amazon.com/Gowrite-Erase-Rolls-White-AR2420/dp/B00377TWSE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360300294&sr=8-2&keywords=dry+erase+roll.  Who knows if it works by the time you read this, but hopefully you get the idea.  Just type "dry erase roll" into amazon or google.  Yes, I hope to update once that actually comes in.  Oddly enough, I am pretty excited by this, especially since it means that I can finally turn one of our walls into a massive, colorful, constantly-changing learning center. Yay!

As for our progress today, the best that I could do was add a bit to our routine guide, and complete the morning activities, plus jam the music lessons in after we returned from an indoor playgroup and errands (drip pans and baking sheets).

I've set a goal for the next thirty days to really focus on reading, math, and music.  That's not to say that motor skills, memory building activities, geography, art, history, etc, are going by the wayside.  It just means that I'm feeling guilty about the time I've taken from my kids to return to school, and that I'm hoping to focus on my kids a bit more now (hopefully not to the detriment of my classes!).   Wish me luck.  :-)

PS - I'll post an update of our schedule some other time when it's a bit more finalized.  I got no sleep last night and need to go to bed NOW.

Day's Progress - Great; Plus K Turns 21 mo!

Super exhausted ... if I go to sleep now, I'll have just under two hrs before the kids wake me, but it was such a good day that I wanted to post something - anything - to remember (and try to keep the momentum going).

Music: Here's the update to our SM Progress Post: http://www.softmozart.com/forum/33-progress-diaries/8228-and-were-back--again-j-41-mo-k-20-mo.html#8267, which includes links to pics and a vid.

Everything Else - Here's a general outline I put together.  I didn't get to review it in the whole day, but after the kids fell asleep, I was able to make some minor adjustments.

DailyMorningsGratitude (prayer) & Greetings (hugs, kisses, love)

AfternoonsEveningsNight
WeekdaysMondaysTuesdaysWednesdaysThursdaysFridays
WeekendsSaturdaysSundays
Monthly
Memoryhttp://www.figur8.net/apps-right-brain-training-mandala-memory-trainer/http://figur8.net/baby/2011/10/04/more-right-brain-education-apps-for-the-iphone/

MusicSM Credit: Note Alphabet Chant
     - Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do; Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do     - Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re; Re Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re     - Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re Mi; Mi Re Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi     - Fa Sol La Ti Do Re Mi Fa; Fa Mi Re Do Ti La Sol Fa     - Sol La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol; Sol Fa Mi Re Do Ti La Sol     - La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol La; La Sol Fa Mi Re Do Ti La     - Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti; Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do TiLearn Solfege Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nygpLfc4BA&list=UURpmn_vvvdGZLGUieIATlJA
SM Credit: Note Alphabet Game (5-10 min); Make as many notes as possible
SM Credit: Fruit Line Game (1 - 3 minutes); Improved Note Scores w/in Same Time Pd
SM Credit: Hanon Exercises
5 Songs Memorized in Solfege w/Magnets
     - Hot Cross Buns
     - Ode to Joy
     - Twinkle, Twinkle
     - Itsy, Bitsy Spider
     - Row, Row, Row Your Boat
SM Credit: Nursery Prime Songs - Level 2; R; L; P (Goal: 5 min, then 4, then 3; add two hands after mistakes are less than timing)
MathAddition/Subtraction 0 to 10, then doubles to 20
Skip counting forward and backwards 1 to 12
Mathematicus Fantastikos
Building & Problem Solving Times
ReadingPhonics Fluency & Confidence
Mommy reads through abridged classics & biographies (Current: Peter Pan; Potentials:; Completed: Oliver Twist)
WritingTyping Fluency & 26 letters, 10 numbers, etc
Spelling List (start with Dolch site words?)
GeographyIdentify all 50 states, 50 capitols, major cities, and UN recognized nations and countries
HistoryListen to one CD of SOTW each week (averages to 5 to 10 minutes/day)
ScienceSimple Science & Biology CDs, plus experiments
Chemistry: Work on periodic table song (make cards to place on empty table), use flash cards
Physics: Continue building and explaining key concepts (friction, motion, etc)
Astronomy: Use telescope during Spring & Fall, practice seeing constellations
Anatomy: Learn bones, muscles, parts, and systems of the body
Biology: Setup fish tank and watch eggs hatch; learn about lifecycle of plant, frog, chick, and human; plant things in see-through planter
ASLDaily Signing Usage - Signing Time, Learn to Play Signed Songs, Deaf Storytime Videos
FrenchConversations at least twice each week
Play videos at least twice each week
Watch one french movie each week, or at least equal time in french videos
JapaneseFind Japanese playgroup; play Japanese videos once/week
SwimmingMust go at least once each week, preferably twice!!!!!!
BikePractice Daily for a few minutes (Kaelie)
GymnasticsGo once/week for lessons, practice at home

Summary: Tomorrow I'll try to post another update, hopefully with progress!  Wish me luck (low to no sleep days aren't very productive, typically :-/).

Tickling the (Not Real) Ivories Again

We're back at it - yay!  Here's the progress report I just posted: http://www.softmozart.com/forum/33-progress-diaries/8228-and-were-back--again.html.

Schedule Review, Goals, & Update

I can't believe it, but a year has truly passed since I wrote our first schedule here: http://giftedpath.blogspot.com/2012/02/programs-we-incorporate.html?m=1. Reluctantly, I can't say that much has changed. For those who aren't aware, last May (2012) I made the decision to pursue my PhD. I really want to contribute in a major way towards the educational makeover of our country (and the world, really), but I feel strongly that my message will be more powerful if I can get letters behind my name. Unfortunately, although I'm grateful for my twenties, they went by in the blink of an eye, and without so much as a college credit successfully completed. So, long story short, I started from scratch. Fortunately, if all goes well, by this May 2013 I will have my associate's degree, and hopefully two years later (ideally less!), I will finally have completed my undergraduate degree in Psychology. If all goes really well, I'll also have my degree in Elementary Education and certified to teach with endorsements for both elementary and ESL. Hopefully, it won't stop there, though. Before Kaelie's ten, I'd like to have my PhD in Psychology with a concentration in Applied Developmental Psychology (focuses on pregnancy through adolescence), as well as in Gifted Education - or at the very least a Masters. So, wish me luck.

It's exciting to set these goals for myself, but in truth, the most difficult aspect has been making this decision while my children are at their 'prime' for learning. Clearly, I have been on a bit of hiatus for the past ten months or so, but with some luck, I'll be able to get into a nice routine now. Part of returning to school has meant that we have been in between homes for almost a year now, but it seems like we are getting a feel for it now. On that note, in brief, we'll review the goals for the kids for this year.

Joey is 3 (42 months). He has been potty trained since once, reading whole words since one, and counting past twenty since one, as well as speaking multiple languages. Now he also rides a two wheeler and reads phonetically, counts forwards and backwards from 0 to 100, and knows some basic math facts (addition & skip counting by 5, 9, 2, etc). He had learned to swim and was picking up piano, but both were cut off last year just as he was getting it. Without repetition ... well, you use it or lose it. The brain is a beautifully efficient machine, especially at this age. It's part of our biological "Survival of the fittest, baby!". Ah well. Added to our daily routine, we've now started geography, history, and anatomy. By this time next year, I'd like to see him familiar with the geography of all the countries, confident with all of his basic math operations (addition, subtraction , multiplication, division), swimming, playing basic piano pieces & reading notes fairly fluently, as well as continue with gymnastics. Since our fluctuating location, we've had to drop karate, Japanese, art, soccer, and everything else. Gymnastics has been our sole survivor, and barely at that. Also, I desperately need to organize a playgroup for him, since he really has had minimal consistent interaction with children his age. His best friend is seven, but I fear that soon his friend may be outgrowing Joey. Until then, though, I will continue to help foster the friendship; Joey really loves his buddy.

Kaelie is 1 (21 months). Thankfully, she is finally potty trained, it seems, although (not her fault), she took longer to get there. I believe that it was because of the constant talking she heard between her brother and me while she was in the belly and during her first year, but for the first year of her life, she was amazingly more advanced. It truly has been astonishing to see how my (sigh) lack of consistent play learning with her (as Joey received) has made so much difference. To her credit, I must say, that she is amazingly quick, considering the littel she has received over the last ten months. I hope that I can offer her more and more as time progresses, despite my own personal educational endeavors. As for my goals for her this year: I'd like to see her reading phonetically by this time next year, as well as confident with the basic math operations, the countries on the map and the states of our country, plus swimming, and music, of course. If she can master a bike, all the better. She also takes gymnastics, and I'd like to see that remain a constant as well. I forgot to mention, but if she shows interest, as Joey did, writing could also be added to the list.

To make all this possible, I will attempt to post progress summaries here, as often as possible. The categories will be simply listed, as follows, since time and energy are so limited for me. Wish us luck! I can't wait to finally have our centers up and running so that the burden is placed so heavily solely on parents! Ah well, until then ;)

Daily/Weekly/Monthly Categories
Reading
Writing
Math
Strategy/Memory
Character
Geography
History
Science
Music
Swimming
Gymnastics


Something like that. Off to bed. Much to do tomorrow!

About 2E Giftedness

NCN Conference is scheduled for March 21-22, 2013 @ W&M


inspiration  - http://education.wm.edu/centers/cfge/about/director/index.php, http://www.wku.edu/gifted/berta_seminar.php, http://education.wm.edu/announcements/inthenews/gifteded.php, an interview - http://www.sengifted.org/archives/articles/an-interview-with-dr-tracy-cross-the-social-and-emotional-needs-of-gifted-children


http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/pdfs/presentations/DrTracyCrosspresentationonSocialandEmotionalDevelopment.pdf

http://www.amazon.com/Notable-Association-Gifted-Joseph-Renzulli/dp/B0036GPRO4

http://education.wm.edu/announcements/inthenews/ge_nagc.php

http://nagc.org/index.aspx?id=316

Why?

I just have to mention really quickly that I am ecstatic that joey started asking why last month! I thought they were fluke why's but nope, he is still going strong with wondering - yay!

Bible Verses for Babies - Yes!

Just what I was hoping to find - Thank you, God! :-)

http://www.abcjesuslovesme.com/2-year-old-curriculum/weekly-lesson-plans

and this led me to this site: http://www.abcjesuslovesme.com/2-year-old-curriculum/weekly-lesson-plans, which i'm still browsing through.

Calendars, Routines, Assessments - Oh My!

I finally have pocket charts - woohoo!  Whodathunkit?  Anyway, I'm a busy bee now trying to put it all together to my liking, but I wanted to share some great links for free printables, skill assessment sheets and more!

Here's the one for skill assessments (of course, I'm altering it and will eventually post that too) - http://www.daycareresource.com/skillsheets34678.html (i like this one because i can edit it)
http://www.nationalschoolforms.com/index.php?option=com_ixxocart&Itemid=11&p=catalog&parent=25&pg=1 (i like this one bc it seems like an 'official' guide that i can help gauge our progress vs what the masses are up to). But still, assessment rubrics are so great when homeschooling.  Here's another great source for a math one: http://www.jmeacham.com/docs/math.centers/math.docs/Math%20%20Assessments%20%20Rubric.pdf.

And here are a few for calendars and other pocket chart goodies - http://www.daycareresource.com/preschoolprintables.html (i love the assessment pages and a few other items)
http://kellyskindergarten.com/Calendar/calendarmaterials.htm (i love the chart idea and the template for the calendar pockets)

And what good would printouts be without a good ol' laminating (we've already have had a few casualties that weren't protected). I haven't yet tried it out, but I heard from the grapevine that this works well enough and is so much cheaper - http://www.walmart.com/ip/Duck-Laminate-Peel-and-Stick-Shelf-Liner-Clear/16224481.  We'll find out soon enough! I plan on picking it up tomorrow.

Although it's not completely ready, Joey and Kaelie have both expressed interest, and Joey has even helped in putting the numbers in place (a few at least).  This will be so great for them when we start using more frequently! Can't wait :-)

Here are more links for counting and weather: http://www.mathwire.com./routines/weather.pdf from http://www.mathwire.com./routines/morning.html.

Hands-On Chemistry

I've been scouring the web looking for a great way to present the periodic table to the kids, and although I'm still searching and will eventually update with my eventual find, for now, I wanted to make a quick post about a great place to eventually visit if you're in Minnesota (aside from the Mall of America) :-)

Here is the link: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/admit/blogs/2010/09/i-studied-biochemistry-as-an.html

Looking forward to eventually checking it out with the kiddos some day.


Also, here is a neat version of the table found here: http://elements.wlonk.com/Elements_Pics+Words_11x17.pdf

As well as other wonderful pdfs that we will be using (http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/).

Another great site for more links: http://farmschoolathome.blogspot.com/2007/11/cybils-review-periodic-table-elements.html

Oliver Twist's Chapter Books into Joey's World

Thanks to several posts by DadDude, Larry Sanger, about reading 'advanced' books to his son, I was inspired to start reading chapter books to Joey before bed.  Prior to that, I felt like the majority of our reading time was spent with him having to 'work' at it, and didn't want him to lose the joy for reading.  I want(ed) to be sure he was inspired to want to advance his reading abilities.  So, I gave him the choice between Alice in Wonderland (that's not the title, but you know what I mean), and Oliver Twist.  Both books I had previously picked up in the dollar bin from Target, knowing that I eventually wanted the kids to know what these classics were.  I was pleasantly surprised by my son's interest!!  Each chapter is only a few (4 to 7 or so pages), so it doesn't take me long to get through it.  I was planning on stopping after the first chapter, until Joey begged me to continue. :-) It was late, so we only did a few chapters, but I was so surprised that he was genuinely interested and paying attention!  That was Saturday night.

Sunday night was hectic, so we didn't read from the chapter book.

Monday night was another wonderful surprise.  Again it was much later than expected, but Joey requested Oliver Twist before bedtime prayers, which is the last thing we do before he falls asleep.  So, I agreed, and since we skipped the night before, did a quick review of what we had read.  Each set of pages has one picture, so we just used those as guides to get us through to where we would start reading. One of the pages he stopped me on to say "help, help!"  I wasn't sure if this was because he read it on the page or if he recalled it, but I thought it was neat that he did it, still.  When I finished the first chapter of the night, he pleaded with me to do more, so I did.  And although he pleaded for more when that was done, I told him he had to wait until the next day.

This morning I shouldn't have been surprised, then, when Joey asked me for Oliver Twist!  I've noticed that if we tell him things at night, he ALWAYS seems to remember it the next day.  That's probably why I try to use story time to add or reinforce information that I'd like for him to retain.

FYI: Story time for us usually starts with "Once there was a boy name ... JOEY! ... " And is used to relay something of importance.  That's how he learned my telephone number, and how he's learning/reinforcing the continents/countries/states, etc, in addition to other tidbits.  I also use it to recap the day's events to help reinforce his memory of the day or the week or the month.  I love seeing where his imagination take it.  I learned this from another parent and am so grateful because prior to that it was just reading little books.  If you don't do it with your child, I definitely recommend it. :-)

PS: One of the reasons I liked chapter books in theory and now in practice is because it aids in memory while adding to Joey's vocabulary and ability to self-express.  I'm contemplating adding French and Spanish reading into our book time too.  We'll see.

We FINALLY start SoftMozart, Along with Synthesia & Kinderbach

SO!! We've FINALLY STARTED!!

Joey is 31 mo and Kaelie's enthusiastically pounding away at the keyboard at 9 months.  I won't consider here officially starting until she's trying to match notes or obviously trying to peck out a song.

The whole family is taking a stab at the piano - yay.  Dad joining in has been an unexpected, interesting, and welcomed addition.  I hope we all progress nicely!

So, our music BACKGROUND & interest:

KAELIE: randomly & joyfully banging away at the keyboard since christmas/new year's, which has just recently (this past month) been placed at a reachable distance, dramatically increasing her 'playing' time.

JOEY: when Joey was less than a year old, i knew that i wanted him to learn piano (and drums and violin and guitar - and/or any other instrument(s) so long as he shows interest, of course), but i had no clue that programs existed for young children. instead, while at the store with my mother, i came across this b.meowsic cat piano (https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKv2RbCM23gaEJJiKZi1scCE-Y1eciI4d_QiGD82hf98xl1v2HYg).  It was the best thing that i could find for a baby at the time, so we got it :-)  Of course, i didn't actually spend time 'teaching' him anything on it.  i just hoped that by playing with and around it, he'd establish a familiarity and natural joy for it.  and while he did initially love banging away on it, he QUICKLY learned to just push the buttons which even more quickly turned the 'joy' i had for it into 'painstaking' meow'ing of the most popular songs. lol.  it wasn't so bad, but if it were up to me, it would have NO buttons for beats, melodies, preprogrammed songs, or anything - just the volume and power buttons to allow him to truly build curiosity and interest along with an appreciation for 'making' his own music.  i was really hoping that he would figure things out on his own with this, but there was NO way for that with those wonderful buttons that so easily made music for him.  anyway, he did take great joy in 'singing' into the accompanying mic and has developed quite a joy for singing, grabbing anything and everything in sight to be used as a mic when the right song presents itself.  i'm sure it also helped that he spent some time with my mother watching a series that intro'd musicians singing on mics.  so that's that.  in addition to this, i also picked up a flexible keyboard (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3153156) for joey when he was 18 months old with the same goal in mind, and again, the same result lol yes, it too has an annoying song and joey happens to have made it his FAVORITE and loves to play it and dance around. is it even necessary to mention that YES, he's figured out how to get the demo songs up on the keyboard, as well as change the sounds away from grand piano? lol thankfully, he still enjoys playing these keys, too! more to come in the 'update' portion below.  oh, and we also have kinderbach (http://www.kinderbach.com/), which we ordered and received four/five weeks ago and have been diligently playing on avg one lesson/weekday, often more by request.  we started out playing during meal times, but i've found it best to play in the car when we're on our way somewhere, especially because now i don't chase him around to get his shoes on to leave.  instead, he comes to me and asks if he can go to the car and watch dodi lol! more about this too in our updates.

DADDY: daddy has no music background, but has interest in being able to play pieces and show off to his friends.  he is VERY competitive and announced his interest a couple weeks ago after returning from a friend's cook-out party where his friend played some 'impressive' piece that he had learned on his recently purchased 'impressive' piano.  whatever the inspiration, i'm rolling with it.  so, we've sat down a few times and i've shown him a few exercises and we started with a basic right hand only twinkle, twinkle that i plucked away by ear.  at the time, we had no programs, no books, no nothing, aside from the keyboard and our fingers. in the past week, while struggling with trying to get softmozart to work, [color=#ff0000]we downloaded synthesia (http://www.synthesiagame.com/) and LOVE IT!!!! it is a MUST for anyone over, 8 or so!  It is free, and the full version, which you can demo with the free version, is only $25 FOREVER, including ALL future upgrades.  it is soooo good for us.[/color]  Daddy LOVES competing against Mommy.  it takes but a few minutes to download, i highly recommend :-)  (of course, i've only tried softmozart for a day, so *shrug* who knows).  i did ask Daddy to try softmozart today too, and his conclusion was the same as mine.  going off of initial observation alone, SM seems great for the kids, but we prefer synthesia's setup for us.

MOMMY: grew up with a daddy who played piano, guitar, harmonica and sang frequently, since he was often the life of the party. he couldn't read music, but could pick up just about any instrument, including human bagpipes, as was often the case when i was growing up ;-), and pluck out just about any song after a few tries, if not on the first go.  he wanted to be sure that i learned to read music, so when i was 6, they started me on lessons, where i DID learn the basics of playing and reading. times were a bit tough, though, and i wasn't encouraged enough to maintain a disciplined practice schedule, so, inevitably, lessons stopped, especially after my mother tried convincing me to play more by telling me how impressed my instructor was at my 'natural talent', especially because she knew (i would tell her) that i didn't practice except during my lesson. yes, i am one of those 'poor', 'gifted' 'children' who has all those issues that 'gifted' people have.  i am just now coming to this conclusion after finally researching it, thanks to the desire to teach my own children AND ensure that they don't fall into the same set of problems.  in college i tried to pick up lessons again, but didn't have the personal drive/discipline necessary to see it through. despite the 'desire' to incorporate routine practice back into my life for the past 10+ years, it hasn't happened until now, thanks to my kids. my hope is that through the perceived obligation of continuous postings here and the self-appointed responsibility of teach my kids until a professional will take them on, i'll be forced into keeping up my own practice. wish me luck!!

UPDATES:
KAELIE: since placing the piano within reach, kaelie has been plucking away at the keyboard several times each day to her (and my!) heart's content :-) she loves it and doesn't hold back her bopping, bouncing, and singing.  she gets excited to join her brother (who doesn't share in her excitement and asks me to 'move kaelie, please, mommy! move kaelie!' as he pries her fingers away from the keys and shoves her to the side).  she is ever persistent, though, and i know will carry music deep and near to her heart.

JOEY: joey is on week 5 of kinderbach and can't get enough - yay!  there are a total of 6 discs and we've been playing one lesson each day on average, completing a disc each week, sometimes playing lessons more than once, at his request. we typically do this in the car, so today i put one of our mini keyboards in there to see if that would encourage him to play along with the disc.  i did this after playing it at home this weekend, only to have him jump out of his seat on several occasions to run to the keyboard and shriek where dodi lives.  i love that this program seems to be working so well for him and that he's really connecting with it!  i really feel that the free online trial does it little to no justice and was more than pleasantly surprised by the quality of material covered in the discs, all the more because they really appeal to him.  joey was FINALLY able to try softmozart  yesterday for the first time.  there was so much build up for it that i was a bit disheartened when we tried it and while he seemed interested, was thrown off within the first couple minutes by the spiders.  yes, my fault because i told him 'oh no! we don't want the spiders!' and it seemed to startle him lol making him jump back from the keyboard each time stating something like, 'oh! the spiders are gonna get you/me!'.  this turned into me then having to convince him to continue to try by letting him use my fingers, or me put his fingers, etc.  the point is, it was a brief session and i felt a bit let down.  good news: my hope was rekindled today when he asked to play the spiders!!  "what? he WANTS to play with the spiders now?? whatever, let's do it!" i thought, and so we did!  YAY!  first we did ode to joy, and although he maxed the time out at 999 seconds+, since he kept getting up to give me hugs, high fives, grab some juice, chat a bit, etc, he DID get 16 flowers before his father finished the final two notes despite my protest because he wanted to play synthesia lol.  i did regain use of the keyboard again, though, at joey's request later on and this time remembered mandablus3's suggestion to try hot cross buns first. (i think i read a post by her to do this!).  i've only been doing right hand with joey, but was quite happy that he started and FINISHED hot cross buns in 164 seconds, in spite of his wanderings and pit stops lol, and had 11 flowers! i think i will try to update a google doc with this play stats info.  i'm debating about the practicality and functionality of such a doc. what say ye? is this already built into the program?? i am quite relieved that there are at least the 6 songs to choose from in the 'free trial' version, since that's all i have access to now that we've lost our usb key dangle :-(  i wound up cutting the solfegio key guides in half and only pasting the top halves of them to the keys - i didn't want the numbers throwing him off, nor did i want them to interfere with the lights, since i like to use them.  it was SO cute today listening to joey tell me things like, "carla goes through the door!" (carla the caterpillar is a kinderbach character), or "dodi's in the rain" (again, a kb character), or "felicity is at the farm, mommy!" (you guessed it - kb again).  i love how his mind just put this together on its own!  as i was putting the stickers on yesterday, i attempted to print out the kb characters, thinking that this would help him, but due to a printing glitch followed by a distraction, it never happened. it seems that i don't need to now, so that's great! i'm looking forward to this journey, even if it turns out that *sigh* we have to buy the program again!  as of now, we'll enjoy working our way through the six free songs :-)

DADDY: Daddy has quite a competitive streak coupled by a very persistent personality!  he likes to be the best! lol so synthesia (link above) is WONDERFUL for us.  even without the competitive nature, this is a fabulous program and i'm so glad we came across it! i can't think of another way to get j to sit and play for 30 minutes on the same piece! lol  granted, he hasn't yet committed a piece to memory, and considering that his schedule has only allowed him to sit in front of the piano a few times, for each time he's sat down, he's 'perfected' his playing and reached top scores for at least one song.  if he quits now, he's several songs ahead of where he was, so i'm happy with his interest thus far.

MOMMY: for the month of march i've set a goal for 2 new pieces each weekday, using weekends as catch-up.  being that thu was the 1st and i didn't have the goal done until this weekend, i'm guessing i'll be using my weekends! lol but i'm quite content with the progress i've made with synthesia so far.  we paid for the upgrade because it allows us to label all the keys on the screen, and we have ours set up to include the score, so that we get used to reading music while we play.  it comes with over 150 popular midis in a variety of levels and you can sort through them easily, as well as import any midi out there to learn to play.  today, i started incorporating softmozart into what i do too, and i love it for practicing singing, both with letters and solfegio.  i'm glad that i have both, and would not like to have to pick one over the other, especially considering that each of my favorite guys has their own favorite (okay, joey has no choice, but still lol).

so there you have it.  our first 'real' update.  sorry for it being so long.  i'm guessing from here on out they'll be more condensed, since they won't have the background info ;-)

thanks for reading!

Peter & the Wolf: Instrument & Music Appreciation

I just wanted to write a quick post about one of the things we did this morning: watch Peter and the Wolf.

It was right after Joey asked AGAIN for MORE of a musical instruments presentation on little reader (http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?sa=view;id=6836).  It was such a great way to expand on his musical appreciation, as well as teach him about various emotions, cause and effect, etc.  i love (re)learning with my little ones ... it seems that learning for the 2nd, 3rd, etc time is truly more enjoyable each go!

Programs We Incorporate

Our Routine Goal:
* MORNING BATH w/bath instruments and colorful letter/numbers (with joey we put together words and work on math, with kaelie right now we are working on colors)
* BRAINY BREAKFAST w/LM & LR, followed by YBCR, which we call "Reading Time", thanks to his love for Signing Time
* MORNING ACTIVITY
- Mondays: Playgroup @ Healthy Families (consists of 1 hour of free play, followed by art craft, then cleanup time, snack time and then circle time, which is usually some sort of music & movement activity, ending with storytime and a goodbye song with a sticker or stamp)
- Tuesdays: Stroller Strides
- Wednesdays: Playgroup @ Healthy Families (same as Monday)
- Thursdays: Playgroup @ Healthy Families (same as Monday)
- Fridays: Stroller Strides & Gymnastics
- Saturdays: Soccer (although this is a trek for us - 1 hour for his age group, so lately we've just been doing outside play at a park or in the backyard)
- Sundays: ASL Church
* LUNCH & LEARN: Learn typically consists of a few phrases or minutes of review of whatever we're working on, whether addition, reading, sight words, music appreciation or chords.  if we're home, this may be time for a video too, such as signing time, mandarin mickey, your child can discover ... when we get tweedle wink and kinderbach, this will be incorporated here.  if the day is beautiful, we go outside before, during, or after lunch too.  even if the weather isn't so great, i try to get at minimum 20 minutes outside with the kids each day.  typically, it's considerably more, though.
* AFTERNOON ACTIVITY: extension of learning time with solo play time worked in, depending on the kids.  solo play, sometimes turns into play with one another or with me too.  this time could be reading books (with or without an audio pen), legos, blocks, wood train set, piano play, tablet time (educational/fun activities that encourage thinking, reading, writing, etc).  Lately, I would like to see this time more organized/focused (as in, we'll still do a bit of everything, but try to gear it more towards a specific activity), so I'll put the ideal in writing here:
- Mondays: Piano Time/Music Appreciation
- Tuesdays: Coop School (3 hours with kids of similar age in various activities, including play-dough & sticker crafts)
- Wednesdays: Piano Time/Music Appreciation
- Thursdays: Pool play
- Fridays: Piano Time/Music Appreciation
- Saturdays: Soccer/Social Sports
- Sundays: Pool play

Truth be told, life at this age is about learning, and it all gets meshed together a bit.  For example, while we're making muffins in the morning, we talk about the cup being 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, etc full of milk.  Or if we're eating grapes we will mention things like, '2 grapes in this hand, plus three grapes in that hand ... all in your mouth, now - that makes 5 grapes! 2 + 3 = 5! yay!' i just read that another mom uses multiplication with legos, such as 'pass me the 2x3 lego'. i like that idea.  I love art, but paints are so messy! I leave them for bath time, which is when they get a bit of writing on the wall time too.  We do a lot of singing & dancing, around the house, in the tub, in the car, as well as listening to a variety of music, including classical, new age, opera, country, hiphop, salsa, reggaeton, adult alternative, christian, etc.  Everything with our schedule as of late has been a bit chaotic, so I'm hoping to create more structure to ensure that we tap on a bit of everything and don't get overcome by the lazy bug.

Side note: laughter is so key.  yes, there are times where discipline has to be enforced - i believe that it's important for them to learn cause and effect, but each day i try hard to get both kids to laugh.  when you think about how it's their nature to be happy, it's not too hard.  i find that the hardest part is in dealing with my own moods. it's easy to get overwhelmed with obligations and lack of energy.  this month i will be buying a calendar for them to put in their room so that we can do a better job of keeping track of everything. can't wait!

Brief Update

I can't believe that it's been so long since I've last posted.  Ok, since I've been working so much with the GiftedVillage CARES non-profit, putting together this year's Memphis Convention on Early Learning, every little bit of time seems to be going to that. But, I'm visiting family this weekend, so here I am :-)

OK.  Things that come to mind to mention....

Kaelie will be 9 months next week - yay!  She's already attempting short steps and as managing to stay standing longer and longer.  The doctor says she's 3 months advanced, but I think she's just right.  Joey was at the same point at this age, which is exciting and a relief for me, since I worry that she doesn't get as much positive stimulation because I split my time between the two.

Last week, I believe it was, Joey did something interesting: I accidentally asked him in Spanish to read.  As in, instead of speaking English and asking him to read his words, which are in English, I was talking to him in Spanish and asked him to read his words (which are in English).  And he read them to me ... in Spanish!  I didn't even realize it until he happened to stumble onto a word that he didn't know in Spanish and said it in English, at which point it occurred to me what he was doing.  I think this is really neat and further enforces that learning is learning, regardless of the language.  The language is just the expression of the subject.

Along those lines, he's been devouring Mickey in Mandarin, thanks to YouTube! It's funny how people fret so much over screen time and that it will affect their attention spans and whatnot, but on the contrary, there are so many benefits if you're exposing them to great things.  I often wonder what the result of the next 20 years will be.  The possibilities are exciting and I'm really looking forward to getting to know who they are and watch them develop into who they choose to be.

This past week Joey seems to be having separation anxiety.  I started him at a coop school on Tuesdays and  for whatever reason, he isn't doing well unless I'm around.  The good news is that it is a new place with new people, except for his buddy Harper, and so I think this is only natural for this age.  His first visit I stayed in his room the whole time, but his second visit, which occurred 3 weeks later, into the third hour he was starting to stay in his toddler room with the other kids without my being there.  I'm so grateful that I found this place!  Social development is so important too.

We are on a good routine these days, having successfully incorporated Little Reader and Little Math.  He adores his books and writing.  I need to expose him more to arts and music.  Fortunately, I've set up his keyboard at Nani's and will be doing the same this week, so yay! Finally on track there.  Now I just have to order the usb-midi interface and I'll be set.

They really can read & do math before they're 1!!

Wow, I can't believe it has been two weeks.  In my mind, it's only been a few hours, as I compose several new posts each day, yet don't actually get to the computer to share - doh!

Anyway, here I am, and here's what I'll share before calling it a night.

http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-math/is-he-just-good-at-guessing-or-could-he-really-do-math/msg79768/?topicseen#new

Sadly, we don't work that much on teaching math at the moment.  We have been focusing more on reading, but yes, we'll do a few minutes of math every couple days.  And while I realize that our (as in all children!) are brilliantly amazing, I am still wonderfully surprised when I hear Joey reading, especially new words!

Today, my mother randomly asked him a series of addition problems.  Very simple addition.  Things like, "Joey, what's 1+1?" Of course, he gave her the answers!  I didn't know he knew that.  After watching the video, I know that I need to start doing more with both, Joey & Kaelie!  The possibilities are exciting!

I'll keep you better posted ;-)

Joining a Homeschool Group - SEEDS of Grace

We've been receiving information from HEAV (Home Educator's Association of VA) since I added us to their mailing list after picking up a magazine from them April 2010 at the International Children's Festival.  Today, I received an email that we are able to join our first session at http://www.homeschool-life.com/va/seedsofgrace/. 

Here's hoping it goes well :-)  They're only $30/year and I'm hoping it will be a good social outlet for the kids.  They said that they teach letters, colors, etc for his age group, so it'll be great for Kaelie and I'll take some additional materials for Joey. I'll update later.

Learning Piano with SoftMozart

I called and spoke with Hellene Hiner yesterday, creator of SoftMozart because I was looking for a trial of her program.  Turns out, she has one you can link to from the main page by clicking on the yellow "TRY NOW' in the middle of the page lol I don't know why I missed it before!  I told her that it doesn't look like a link, just graphic text.

Anyway, we've officially started the journey.  Prior to now it has just been playing, dancing and singing to a variety of music; some youtube videos added to our playlist that mention theory; and the trial lessons from KinderBach, which he did enjoy.

So, the journey begins.  All we did, since we're out of town, was practice the notes duration game last night.  He liked it, but didn't quite get it.  We don't have a routine that we keep while we're out of town, sadly enough, but we'll definitely add it to our schedule when we return home.

Looking forward to chronicle his progress - and Kaelie's too :-)

2012 Learning Goals for J & K

Here's a paste of an email I sent out to the Gifted Village a few days ago.  Maybe it will be of some inspiration to you :-)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am so ecstatic that you have decided to join our Gifted Village!! 

It is truly a passion of mine to learn and share everything that I know with you all about how amazing our kids are.  There's something about sharing the experience with others who are like-minded that really gets me energized - I feel blessed and honored that together we can encourage one another to joyfully, lovingly encourage and watch our children's talents emerge! I look forward to all the wonders that we will witness this year, especially when it comes to our little ones.  On that note, I'll share my list for 2012 in hopes that it will get your dream machines to turn with all the possibilities that can manifest this year and that you will return the favor by sharing!  So, here goes:

FYI: I have two kids - Joey (29mo) and Kaelie (8 mo)
HEALTH & HAPPINESS are a given on the wishlist for my kids. Aside from that, by this time next year, I would like us to grow in the following areas:

READING: I'd like for Joey to be reading at 2nd grade level and Kaelie to have several sight words under her belt and ready for phonics. (Joey has already started writing and reading - phonetically and sight words)
WRITING: I would love for Joey to be able to write all of his numbers and letters clearly & for Kaelie to know how to spell her name. I think we will start a journal with him - aww!
MATH: I would love for Joey to have his basic math operations (PEMDAS) understood well and for Kaelie to know her numbers 1-100, forward and backwards.
GEOGRAPHY: I'd like for Kaelie to be able to point out the various continents, countries and states, and for Joey to know the capitols too, as well as learn about great US places to visit.
LANGUAGES: I'd like Joey to keep up his ASL, Spanish & French, and to add to his Japanese. I'd like Kaelie to be fluent in all four.
ART: I'd like for Joey's drawings to become more realistic, and for his appreciation for different artists and styles to continue to grow. For Kaelie, I'd love her to have her colors understood and for her to start EK (encyclopedic knowledge, doman inspired) along with her brother.
BODY: I'd like both of them to know how to swim, and for Joey to continue with gymnastics and soccer and Kaelie to start by year end. I'd love to get them started in some sort of martial arts by this time next year, as well as learning yoga and breathing techniques.
MUSIC: I'd love for Joey to learn to read music and play basic piano this year and for Kaelie to have a growing interest and be ready to start. Depending on how the year goes, maybe violin too.
INTERPERSONAL: I hope Joey starts asking 'Why' by then :-) Also, I'm hoping Kaelie is using her potties regularly by Dec 2012. And for Kaelie to be able to point to her various body parts and for Joey to finish learning the parts of the body - skelaton, muscles, organs.
INTRAPERSONAL: I'd like for Joey to keep learning about emotions and for Kaelie to develop confidence.

PATRIOTISM: It'd be cute to see them signing the pledge. And to know the bill of rights, star spangled banner, and a few other songs that we currently have on our playlist that Joey's picking up.

SPIRITUALLY: For both - 10 Commandments, Lords' Prayer, We're getting through the Bible stories - kids version now ... keep on, keep on. FYI: Eventually, yes, I'd like them to learn about different faiths, as well as energies, chakras, etc.  I believe in God, but I went full circle in my understanding of God, which meant learning about other faiths too to better understand my own.

Phew, what an attainable list - only because they're so little and capable, though! lol It seems like I have quite a busy year ahead of me, especially considering that this is only a list for the kids. And I'm sure that I've left some things off!

Well, I hope my goals prompt you to reply and get the conversation going!  Tell us what your kids are up to and how you hope to see them grow this year.

Looking forward to meeting you all soon!
Marlita/bka Joey & Kaelie's Mom :-)