Not every bedtime, but often I read to the girls from a novel.

They snuggle up in their beds and I sit back against the wall, usually with a coffee in hand.

It took some practice for one little girl in particular to learn to stay still and listen.

But this has become a beloved pastime for me and my two oldest.

I enjoy the stories as much as they do!

Sometimes I choose books I've read before and enjoyed.

Other times I pick a known classic that I'm interested in reading for the first time too!

Together we enter in to these make believe tales that make us smile and giggle, sometimes sad or upset.

In many ways, I feel like this is more valuable than any of the school lessons we do together in the run of a day.

And yet it is not work, it is a pleasure.

I want them to know that - the joy of reading a great book, joining in on a great adventure, falling in love with timeless characters, feeling anticipation over what will happen in the next chapter...

Right now we are reading Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne.

And let me just say - it's a million times better than the Disney version!

Our reading time often ends with a deep, happy sigh from one girl child who whispers, "Mama, I just love Winnie the Pooh."

And an inquiring, "What's the next chapter called?" from another.

Other times, I find one or another sound asleep and I can't help but think that is a lovely way to nod off.

With one chapter left of Winnie the Pooh I've been thinking about what to read to them next.

I'm debating between The Tale of Despereaux and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

What is your favorite childhood novel?

Two other little voices joined me in song

All a buzz with excitement 

Movement never ending

While her big, beautiful blue eyes stare

Surprised 

And wondering

What is this?

I should know by now

How fleeting those tiny baby moments are

In a flash they are gone

But your sisters have taught me well, my darling

And I have drunk deep of your newborn scent

I have rocked you longer than necessary

I have found ridiculous joy in rising to nourish you at all hours of the night

I've been putting off completing this post because it's a long one and I have a lot to say!

Our first week back to school was a good one and we accomplished most of what we set out to do!

It felt so good to be back into the routine of things!

We 'rowed' Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton.

I wasn't so sure how much the girls would enjoy a book about a machine considering they have never showed much interest in such things.

To my surprise, they really enjoyed this book!

It was a really sweet story and provided us with many different topics to talk about!

Day 2:

We talked about personification.

As a visual representation of this literary device I gathered some toys - some with eyes and/or faces painted on them and some without.

I had Piper sort the objects that had been given human qualities from those that had not.

Next, she personified an object herself by giving a flower eyes and a smile.

This was a very basic understanding of the literary device but we eventually moved on to talk about how this also involved giving objects or animals feelings or making them talk.
Throughout the week, Piper began to point out different objects around our home and characters in stories we were reading that had been personified!
Her greatest challenge was pronouncing 'personification'! Haha!

We've also begun to fill out a story map for each of the books that we row.

Then both girls worked together to make squares with elastics on their geoboard.

This was a first and they were fascinated with this activity!

September to December, homeschooling went exceptionally well.

Our days went smoothly.

(Well...as smoothly as can be expected with 3 littles in the mix...)

But overall, I am happy with the routine we have established and the curriculum we are using.

However, I felt like Taitum was missing out.

Don't get me wrong - by choice, she is there for nearly every second of our school time.

The problem was that it was frustrating for her.

She often couldn't do the activities at the same level Piper was doing them.

So even though I was including her in everything she was getting discouraged by the fact that her coloring or drawings or whatever did not look like Piper's.

I attempted to provide her with more age appropriate activities that corresponded to what Piper was doing but the bottom line was she was not developmentally ready to sit and work on a worksheet or attempt to cut something out unaided.

I knew what she needed - more hands on, movement and sensory based learning activities.

So over Christmas break I prepared a mini curriculum for Taitum that is all her own.

Considering how well Piper's school work is going, I felt comfortable adding a little extra to my planning and to our day.

Additionally, this provides Piper with a new challenge that I wasn't sure she could handle yet - individual work.

Long story short - she has blown me out of the water with her ability to listen to my instructions and sit and work on something all by herself!

Anyhow, back to Tait.

She loves to sing and is really good at memorizing rhymes so I've planned a different nursery rhyme for each week that corresponds with the letter we are learning.

We only spend 20 - 30 minutes each day learning one on one together but it has proven to be the perfect amount of time and such a confidence builder for her.

Taitum is so thrilled every day to have this time together with me.

And I can't explain to you how happy it makes me to make special time just for her!

This past week we learned the Itsy Bitsy Spider to go along with learning the letter 'I'.

Here's what we did:

Day 1:

We made props to go along with the song.

We made the spider with construction paper and googly eyes.

The water spout was a leftover wrapping paper roll that we painted.

We used these props the rest of the week to re-enact the song.

Day 2:

We had some contact paper fun!

I taped it to the table, added some spider bodies and numbered them 1 -5.

Taitum then added the correct number of legs to each spider by sticking pipe cleaners onto the contact paper.

Linking up with 1+1+1=1's Tot School and Homeschool Creations' Preschool Corner!

Counting my blessings one by one.

The hard days and mundane moments suddenly become beautiful.

I am in awe of the gifts God gives me in the midst of the simplest things.

For Advent, we sang "O Come, O Come Emanuel" each night at supper while lighting the candles.

The kids were sad that this tradition was over and asked if we could continue it.

They chose "10,000 Reasons" as the song we would sing.

Piper was so excited - she asked if I could write some of the song on the whiteboard so she could make song sheets for everyone.

She wrote one for each person and drew a picture of who each sheet belonged to.

I keep finding stuffed animals propped up on books and buckets enjoying a candlit dinner.

This is something I know I will miss seeing someday....

We've been totally chilled out around these parts for the last couple of weeks.

It has been so wonderful!

Lots of laughter