Homeschool Planning 2012-2013

I have begun to plan our first "official" homeschool year: kindergarten. I am super excited and may possibly be going a little overboard.  ;) There is an incredible amount of information, resources and free printables out there! We also have an insane amount of awesome iPad apps that are educational and fun (and most are free)! 

I keep going back and forth between using an all-inclusive bought curriculum and just collecting various resources to cover the subjects and skills required. I am pretty sure I will be doing the latter.  I just cannot justify paying for curriculum for kindergarten when so much is available for free and the core standards are easily met by these mostly free resources. I am gathering several extensive lists of standards/what a kindergartner should know. I will use the core standards to make sure we cover everything expected. 

I do have some purchased items that I've gathered in the past. A couple of years ago I bought Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten because I had an awesome coupon code and couldn't pass it up. We have used it a little and Nehemiah enjoys it. I also have a used copy of Teach your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  Nehemiah has not enjoyed the 10-15 lessons we have done so far in that book (because of the redundancy and it being stuff he already knew). He has the basics of reading down already just by us reading a lot and practicing words together. He can sound out CVC words and knows many sight words. I am not sure which program I am going to use for reading yet. I know I need to decide and stick to it! We will also continue to "play" www.starfall.com. 

For organizing and gathering worksheets, I am starting by making a manilla folder for each week of the school year (36 weeks, 36 folders). I will be doing all of my printing and laminating at once and file it according to which week we will use it. Today I made a board on Pinterest titled Kindergarten and repinned some things out of my general Homeschool board. I also bought a new ink cartridge for the printer because I'm going to need it!  :) 

I'll update every so often to share how I am coming along in my plans, in case anyone is interested. If you are a teacher or homeschooler and have tips, advice or resources please pass them along to me! Thanks in advance!

Homeschool week in review

We had a fun and productive week homeschooling, even though Nehemiah got sick towards the end of the week.  I am so thankful to have a child that already loves learning!  Below are a few pictures showing the highlights of what we did.

Skills we worked on were: cutting, gluing, sorting, sight words, beginning sounds, simple addition and subtraction, money (coins and their values), handwriting, drawing, making Valentine's cards, number lines (which number comes "before", "after" and "in between"?), fine motor skills with tongs and pom poms, etc.

Blessed beyond measure,

Stephanie

HIV: it's not the end of the world...

In September 2011 I got a call that would shake up my entire world; a call that I thought at the time was the second worst thing that could happen to my family...my sister had contracted HIV while in Africa with the Peace Corps. You can read about how I handled this shocking news here.  

My sister Jessica was very sick and it took the doctors a couple of weeks to figure out what was wrong with her.  She was then flown back to the States and cared for in Washington D.C. Once released she moved to New York to rest and recover.  I'm happy to report that she is doing very well and is extremely strong!  

It has been a wild ride already with my family, especially since Christmas Eve.  That morning my sister decided to share her medical status with the "world" by sharing her blog and detailed story with Facebook. She couldn't have had a better idea! All of us who knew the secret felt such freedom, as did she. We were now able to speak up as advocates and educators to try and spread the word about transmission, protection, basic information and the fight against stigma. 

Despite all of the research I did (remember, I carry the dork gene), which brought such relief and comfort that this wasn't an immediate death sentence for Jessica, the whole situation was still just plain ol' scary! A day or two ago though I realized all of a sudden that the idea of my sister having HIV felt completely normal and not scary at all to me. When did that happen?!?!?? I am not really sure but I am glad it did because it has brought even more peace. Of course I still get sad thinking about the rejection she will face from others in certain situations, but I know she is strong and will work though those times.

The truth is that my sister is an amazing woman. The truth is she made some mistakes in her life.  The truth is so have I. The truth is that HIV is a disease that has no cure at the moment but with good treatment and taking care of oneself, she can probably outlive me!  

I will continue to do my part to educate others about HIV and battle the stigma.  Check out her awesome blog here.  It has already been read in 79 countries around the world! How amazing is that!?!?!?

Blessed beyond measure,

Stephanie