Welcome to our Room, Part 2

(This is part 2 of the series. For part 1 click here.)

-The doorway / entrance area is also home to many learning posters. Right now it holds our monthly calendar, our  days of the week calendar, a variety of foreign language alphabet posters that I made, some "types of clouds" posters, and a picture of the American and Christian flag (for pledges).

-To the right of the door is a bulletin board, which I have attempted to use for a variety of purposes, including simply displaying Hunter's art work and projects, to posting daily schedules (in big letters so Hunter could easily read them), to even posting all the categories of bits and other subjects we would be using during the week. Right now it has a few random crafts as well as a daily schedule on the side.

-Below the bulletin board is Hunter's clock (which at the moment has no hands on it. Really useful, I know) and to the right is a bunch of empty wall where I have been intending to hang some amazing bookshelves for, er, I think it's in the years category now.

Here are some close-ups of the other components of this wall:

-Hunter's toy shelves, which I absolutely love. We have had these for years and they not only hold a lot of toys in not very much space, but they're also accessible, make clean-up easy, and are a very attractive display (although this picture doesn't exactly say much, considering all the dust visible on the floor and the half-filled bins). Right now they hold: -Wooden blocks, alphabet blocks, train set, tinker toys, misc. musical instruments, builders and benders, misc. cars, and some other stuff (like kids meal toys and nun chucks).

-This is a fairly new addition, and in the spirit of "Montessori" style accessible shelves. On the bottom shelves are a variety of board books and a great deal of wooden peg puzzles. On the middle shelf is a basket full of baby toys, alphabet stacking / nesting blocks, a pound and roll toy [link is newer version], and a pound-a-peg toy. In case you couldn't tell, these shelves were mostly intended for my nephews and the kids I babysit sometimes, although Hunter still plays with these toys every once in a while!

-The top shelf contains some lacing and tracing cards, lacing beads, (also for younger kids), a jar of telling time matching pawns that I got at a thrift store, a jar of magnetic numerals, a jar of magnetic alphabet letters (99 cents a pack at Wal-mart), a Rubik's cube, some brain teaser puzzles, and a balance / scale [link is newer version].

-On top of the shelf is a mini globe of the world, a table-top easel (found at a thrift store), a 100-bead abacus, a telling time clock [again, link is new version], and a (fake) little plant.

Next stop: piano. This little corner holds our keyboard, a First Act guitar, a National Geographic telescope, and a magazine holder full of music books. Above the piano are some headphones, a sticker chart for music lessons, a little light, a guitar tuner, and some music terms and musical notation flashcards.

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"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good..." 

Micah 6:8

Hunter is 4 years, 5 months old

Welcome to our Room, Part 1

I always liked it when other homeschool blogs showed pictures of their "school room" (or wherever else they do a lot of their activities in the house) as sort of a reference point and whatnot.

Realizing I never took a full, panoramic picture of this room until now (because there have always been things I wanted to "edit", like hanging bookshelves or adding picture frames) I figured it was finally time since we're moving and, well, saying goodbye to this much-loved little adventureland.

- The alphabet mat: We do a lot of playing, games, and physical exercises on here.

- The bookshelf: The top shelf holds a Playmobil pirate ship, a solar system model, and some picture frames. The shelves hold books (sorted by type - i.e. books he can read, science, poetry, foreign languages, etc.), some picture frames and wooden vehicle toys, and a skeleton model. The bottom shelf holds a some games and puzzles that we've been playing recently (Brain Quest, Chutes and Ladders, Spiderman Memory Game, I Spy Alphabet Bingo, and a couple homemade games, as well as a bunch of jigsaw puzzles including a Fire Truck Puzzle, USA puzzle, and a variety of puzzles from the dollar store).

- His dresser harbors all of his clothes, and the drawers are labeled (as is pretty much everything else in the room). His dresser also has some realistic train stickers on them that he has learned, some from the 1890's and some from the 1950's. On top is a TV for watching science and foreign language videos, a piggy bank, some picture frames, and to the side are his towels and a basket of hygiene items (stain remover, comb, thermometer, etc.) On the right side of his dresser (not visible) is a periodic table of the elements poster, and on the wall are three file holders for holding flash cards (very easy access).

The flashcard-holders fit nicely above our basket for library books, and behind our rocking chair [note: link is newer version], which I got at Hunter's baby shower. It's amazing all the memories this chair has been through, from the corner I breastfed Hunter in while reading new parenting books to the place where Hunter and I read our first story together. It has been through many a story and cuddle, we will really miss it!

-Also behind the rocker is the entrance / coat rack. We got this cool mirror / small shelf / coat rack at a garage sale, I love it! This is where we hang our jackets, Hunter's backpack, my purse, etc. It is hard to keep this area organized though! The little shelf has a candle and some little boxes for hair accessories. More coming up on part two!

Next (part 2)

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good..." 

Micah 6:8

Hunter is 4 years, 5 months old

Hunter Reading

As I've mentioned before, Hunter has known how to read for a while. He can read a lot of whole words by sight and figured out the basics of phonics pretty much effortlessly. The problem is, he just really doesn't (usually) care to read on his own, which I can't blame him for. He LOVES being read to and will ask for many, many books each day, but reading them on his own is just a little too, um, slow.

I haven't really worried about it but, I know how important reading is and have been thinking of ways to motivate him to practice reading so he can become more fluent. I know that once he gets started, there will be no stopping him.

So I've been having him read to me every day, preferably twice or more. At first he was a little reluctant but after less than a week, he has become very excited about reading aloud to me. I hung a sticker chart on his dresser and he gets to put a sticker on it for every book he reads.

The book he read in this video - the Bob Book series' "Muff and Ruff" - has been his book of choice for three days in a row. It was his fourth time reading it. It is wonderful to see how quickly he has progressed even in just a few days, and is reading words much more quickly and only sounding out occasionally.

"...and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them"

Deuteronomy 17:19

Hunter is 4 years, 4 months old