Saturday, October 4, 2014

And On It Goes...

Life is flying by at roughly the speed of a commercial jet these days.  We are managing to get school done about four days a week.  This last week we started swimming lessons.  Those will continue every Tuesday and Thursday for the next four weeks.  With church on Wednesday nights, our week is plenty full.  

Monday, September 15, 2014

Brought to You by the Letter G

Our theme for Week 2 was the Garden of Eden.  Our letter of the week was "g."  We made a Creation Book with one page for each day of the week in which God created the earth.

It was a short school week - we only did 3 days.  So I'm not sure we covered "g" as thoroughly as we did "x" the week before, but that's ok.  We drew g's in colored rice and used pipe cleaners to form them.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

God's Little Explorers - Week 1

Week One is Done!  It was Fun!  We learned a Ton!  (This is Dumb.)

We had a great first week of preschool.  We spent four days doing in-home school and one day on a field trip.

I am learning things already, as a teacher.  This is my thought after one week:  I'm not going to worry about whether or not my children grasp the concepts or absorb the things we talk about.  Not Going To Worry.  Here is my list of goals:

Monday, September 1, 2014

Kyla's First Day of Preschool!

Day 1 of God's Little Explorers was lots of fun!  Kyla was rather sad when school was over for the day.  She wanted to keep doing school!

We started out with Circle Time.  We sang "The B-I-B-L-E," which Kyla sings as the "B-L-E-L-E."  Maybe by the end of the year, we'll get that figured out.  We talked about the Bible being the greatest treasure, and Kyla opened a Bible that I had wrapped in wrapping paper.  We went over the day of the week, the month of the year, and the weather.  We watched a YouTube on the months of the year.  We said the Pledge of Allegiance and prayed.  Then we sang our song of the week, "Wonderful Words of Life."

Friday, August 29, 2014

Schooling...In the Beginning


I drank some Coke yesterday afternoon.  Apparently, it affects the baby.  She was up at 12:30, 2:30, and 5:45.  Not awake and crying to eat.  No, she woke us up by lifting her legs straight up and slamming them back down.  Again and again.

Here's how I'd put it if I were a math teacher:  Coca-Cola + Almost-4-month-old = Not much sleep for Mommy (or Daddy, for that matter).  Daddy asked this morning, "Did she actually sleep at all last night?"

Monday, June 16, 2014

These Days

I want to remember these days.  These sticky, muddy, poopy days.  The giggles, the tears, the blankets and pillows on the floor, the puzzles dumped out, the blueberry pancakes smashed into the seat of my little girl's pants.

So today is going to be a Record-It-All day.  Unedited.  Unpolished.  As real as real gets.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Thankful, so thankful!

Things are finally settling down around here.  We've been home a little over a week, and we are getting a routine established, at least as much of a routine as I want.  I try not to be too strict on any type of routine so that no one gets too messed up when we deviate, as we often do.

I took all 3 kiddos (plus Kiahna's monitor!) to town by myself on Monday.  I was a bit worried about how it would go, but it went very well!  I love my new backpack diaper bag.  Can't believe I waited until child #3 to buy one of those! 

Sunday, May 11, 2014

A Letter to My Daughters

Kyla, Kamryn, and Kiahna,

It's Mother's Day, and I get to celebrate today because of you! 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

One Week Old!

It's hard to believe Kiahna is a week old today.  In some ways, it seems like it can't possibly have been a week.  In other ways, it's hard to believe that all that has happened has taken place in only one week.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Kiahna Hope

Our precious little girl finally arrived!  As I sit here in the hospital watching her fidget in her bassinet, I want to record the memories of the last few days.

On Friday night, May 2nd, we were sitting at the table eating supper about 7:00.  Bryan said, "You know what you should do this weekend?"  I asked, "What?"  His reply:  "Have a baby!"  I told him that he had no idea how much I would like to do that.  Then I told him that I wondered if I was going to miss the beginning stages of labor because I was so used to having all these contractions. 

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Day 281

One day overdue.  I had a dr appointment this morning at 7:30.  I told Bryan before I went that I was so nervous that I was going to get there and find out that nothing had changed in the 2 weeks since I was last checked.  I really didn't think that would be the case, but I was worried it would be.  And guess what.  It was.  Absolutely no progress in 2 long weeks.  In fact, I've been basically at this point for 4 weeks.  So at this rate...I'll be pregnant forever.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Finding Joy in the Waiting

Today is April 30.  The day to which I've been counting down for 9 long months.  THE day. 

Dressing in a too-tight maternity shirt that doesn't even quite cover my huge belly was not my plan for today.  I was really hoping to be holding a sweet lil babe by now...or at least dressing in a hospital gown to head that direction.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Early Morning Apple Fritters

4:55 a.m.  The last bit of sleep I would see today disappeared, and wakefulness settled in.  This is the third time in about a week that it's happened, so I knew I wasn't likely to go back to sleep.  Baby then decided it was a good time to practice some strange form of ninja yoga.

What's a girl to do with all this extra time?  Make apple fritters, of course.  Made 'em before?  No.  But I'm gonna make 'em today.  It's Palm Sunday, after all.  Palms...trees...apples on trees.  See the connection?

Saturday, March 1, 2014

What's the Big Deal with Common Core? (Part III)

In my 3rd and final blog post on the subject of Common Core, I want to go into the Math standards of the Common Core Standards (CCS). 
There was one mathematician on the Common Core Validation Committee, the committee whose job it was to review the curriculum after it left the work group who designed it.  Professor James Milgram, of Stanford University, refused to sign off on the math standards.  So the authors took the curriculum back and revised it, right?  Nope.  Those unapproved standards are part of what is currently being implemented in our schools right now.

What's the Big Deal with Common Core? (Part II)


Here I am going to take a look at the first of the two sets of the Common Core Standards (CCS):  English and Language Arts (ELA).

One of the most criticized aspects of the ELA standards is the amount of informational (nonfiction) reading required compared to the amount of fiction allowed.  This chart came off the CC website and shows the amount of literary reading compared to informational reading in 3 grades:

Grade
Literary
Information
4
50%
50%
8
45%
55%
12
30%
70%

What's the Big Deal with Common Core?


So we’ve all been hearing A LOT about the Common Core Standards (CCS) these days.  Up until now, my knowledge of it has been embarrassingly small.

When I envisioned doing some research and writing a blog post, I was just going to write one concise post on the subject.  Now that I’ve typed out all I want to say, I have decided to split it into several posts for ease of reading.  If you are still interested after you read this article, the following two posts will talk more specifically about the English Language Arts standards and the Math standards.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Pregnant Thinks

I'm not very good at this blogging thing.  I want to do it, but day after day goes by without me sitting down to do it.  My goal is to someday be better.

Here I sit, feeling Baby #3 play ping-pong or some other high intensity sport in there.  Maybe this is why I wake up tired every morning.  This baby is a wild one.  I don't feel old enough to be pregnant with my third child.  In a couple months, life is going to change big-time.  Not only another child, a newborn, and all that goes with it.  I'll be quitting my job to be a full-time Mom.  I am struggling with this a little bit, afraid I won't be able to handle being home all week, every week.  So I'm waiting to see what God has in store for me.

Heather Bork is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com