ToT SCHooL Review

We've schoolin' for two months now! I used this time to get Rylan used to "doing school" at a set time & to review him.

He began an "All About Me" theme with his big brother Brady. He did fun activities from a My Discovery Book by Learning Adventures & looked at pictures of other kids doing their favorite things. I asked Rylan what his favorite thing to do was & though he gave me a long list, one was to bake with Mommy. So that's what we did! :) But as you can tell from the picture he'd much rather lick the spoon!

Rylan learned that his food goes to his tummy when he eats it, reviewed his body parts parts & what they help him do. I printed off some activities from 2 Teaching Mommies Body Pack for him to do. He colored different shapes to paste a body together & made it his self-portrait.

He also used his counting skills to put together a puzzle of a little boy. Apparently he was working hard cause his tongue was sticking out! :)

We read the book& practiced buttoning & unbuttoning shirts & zipping & unzipping pants.

I found some dry-erase puzzle pieces that I wrote his name on & he practiced spelling it by putting it together. He still can't recognize his letters, but he's getting MUCH better!

Rylan found a fun puzzle at the Resource Center on shapes & practiced lacing shapes too.


He did his 1st sensory bin. I put various colors of buttons & beads in a large bowl full of beans, rice, & Cherios. He had to dig through the bowl & then sort the colors on their matching pieces of construction paper.

Rylan loved reading Chicka Chicka 123 & Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to review his numbers & letters. He did a counting numbers puzzle that was textured & he practiced tracing the numbers & matching up the puzzle pieces to the correct number.

Rylan adores this letter foam puzzle I bought from the Dollar Tree!!! This has been one my greatest finds!!

He also read many books on the alphabet, but his favorite was a glitter ABC book that he would read to his baby brother Keller.

Now that he has been well reviewed & is used to sitting still long enough to do school, we OFFICIALLY enter Preschool next week!!! I can't wait to blog about all the fun stuff we'll be doing!! I just posted the picture below, because Rylan said this was his favorite toy he's checked out from the Resource Center so far. He thought I should add it to "HIS" blog! lol

Tot School/Preschool Curriculum & Co-Op

My wild & funny, yet sweet & cuddly Rylan turned 3 the end of May. This year we are OFFICIALLY beginning Preschool!!! You might be asking, "Well what in the world is Tot School?" Carissa from 1+1+1=1 explains it perfectly! Be sure to click on the quote below to read more about Tot School.

"Tot School is the time each day I spend with my tot,
exposing early learning skills through FUN
play. Tot School is not forced,
is always fun, sometimes doesn't
happen the way I plan, and is always focused on
my tot."

Here is another great link for Tot School ideas at Totally Tots.

Now my sweet Rylan LOVES to do school! He gets so mad if he wakes up from nap & realizes Brady & I did school without him. I've done some Tot School stuff with him & like the quote says above, I DO NOT FORCE HIM. I let him explore & when he's done, he can be done. Some days are awesome, & some days are not.

So what's Preschool? Well to be honest, not much different than Tot School, except that this will be the stuff where Rylan will need to participate in. He's a young 3 so I don't want to push him too hard to where he doesn't like school anymore, but he does have to learn to follow directions & do his work as well. To make it easier for anyone reading along, I will probably refer to Rylan's stuff as Preschool :)

For his curriculum I will be using Erica's Letter of the Week & various themed preschool packs from some of my favorites sites listed on the right hand side of my blog. They will be intermixed depending on the season & on what big brother is doing. I hope you tag along to see what all Rylan will be learning!

Co-Op

Rylan is doing a preschool co-op through our homeschool group this year. It will be use VeggieTales DVDs along with the VeggieTales: Values to Grow By curriculum. The classes will include DVD lessons, activity & coloring sheets, games, snacks, music, & crafts.

It meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 9am-11am & I must add that I wont have to stay with him! This is going to be so good for him for so many reasons!

I am beyond excited to see how this year plays out with Ry! I know God has amazing things for him & I'm thankful I get to be his teacher & guide!

Blessings to you all!!!

In the Beginning

Well Here it is...my blog completely dedicated to Schoolin' The Boys :) I've been wanting to have a blog completely dedicated to our home school adventures separate from my other blog. That blog will be dedicated to my personal journeys with the Lord and this one will simply focus on what my boys are learning whether in our home school or in just regular life lessons along the way.

Many of the fun and amazing things we do I get from the various blogs I've listed on the right side of the screen. Even if you aren't a homeschooling mommy I HIGHLY recommend you checking them out! They have the funnest packs and ideas ALL kids will like and they'll be learning in the process without even knowing it!

So who are my boys?


Brady is 6 with such a sweet & sensitive spirit!
He doesn't like to hurt people's feelings & gets sad if he knows someone is mad at him. He's a BRAINIAC! Shortly after he turned 2 he learned all his colors in 1 day. So the I went on to shapes & he got those quick to. By 2 1/2 he knew all his letters & he taught himself the letters by playing with his Leap Frog refrigerator magnet!!! He LOVES to learn. He has spoiled me greatly ;P Brady is also an EXCELLENT big brother! He loves to make the little ones smile & hold & feed the baby too! Though sometimes his patience runs out with Rylan.

This is my bundle of strong willed, rough & tumble, all boy, but loves his momma, almost 3 year old! Rylan is hilarious! He enjoys being tough, but he still wants to be a baby too! Not that I mind! He LOVES to snuggle with me & in his mind there's nothing my kisses can't fix! He's very sweet to his baby brother, but holds nothing back with Brady. Rylan thinks he's as big as Brady and gets very frustrated when he can't do the same things his big brother does.

This sweet face belongs to our newest family member, Keller. He's 6 months old & like Rylan, thinks he's bigger than he is. His little legs are always moving trying to go & get after whatever he wants. He is spoiled! His brothers spoil him, I spoil him, his daddy spoils him, & everyone else too. He has a goofy big smile that melts my heart! He loves to touch my face and kiss me, but he often pinches my faces, rips the hair out of my head, & gnaws on my chin so much it hurts!

Why do we home school? No big, long reason here. I taught school the 1st 3 years of Brady's life & was able to stay home when Rylan was born. I had enrolled Brady at our church's K3 program & on the way there one morning Brady saw a big, yellow school bus. He was so excited! I went to tell him that one day he would get to ride one & before I could get a word out God stopped me! I heard Him speak so clearly, "You are going to home school." The thought had never occurred to me before! So I began researching, asking questions to other home school moms I knew and prayed, prayed, prayed!!!

A few months into K4 I was struggling with sending Brady & couldn't figure out why. So when I prayed about it the Lord told me it was time to bring him home. The next year I enrolled Rylan in a Mom's Morning Out program thinking I could get so much done those days, but the truth was, I missed him! He always threw a fit & didn't want to go, but I knew he had fun once I left. Nonetheless, I still struggled taking him each time. After confessing to my husband about how I felt he told me to bring him home too.

Every year I pray about homeschooling them, struggle with sending them to school, and God always reminds me that He has called us home. It's a journey that humbles me & scares me sometimes, but I know that this is the plan God has for us! So a day at a time & completely relying on God!

I'm so excited to share our schoolin' stories with yall! Stay tuned to see what's next!