Yep, You read the title right! We are changing blogs for our homeschool blog. Since we will no longer have just cowboys in the family (Alyssa will be coming in a few short weeks) we needed to change the name of our homeschool. Even though Alyssa will not be ready for homeschooling for several years, since Seth is formally starting Pre-K I thought it would be best to go ahead and change our blog now! Plus I can now make my Blurb book of our Bristol Cowboy Academy experiences!
So please hop on over to our new blog - Training Up A Child. Make sure you bookmark this new blog. There should be posts coming up on there shortly!! (but don't be surprised if they are not coming quickly...it is really hard for me to get anything accomplished now days...the end of pregnancy fatigue has hit pretty hard!)
Let me know what you think of the new blog!!
Kellie
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Learning Through Life
Hey guys!! We are rocking and rolling along here. It is funny how many things that I have seen Seth learn just through living!! He is showing more and more of an eagerness to learn and I am loving every second of it. He is really noticing words and letters. Now it seems like every time we are out he is finding a word and saying all the letters and then asking me what it spells. He then wants to know the sound that each letter makes in that word.
My hubby said maybe I should go ahead and start the Hooked on Phonics but I really don't want to get into it and then have to pause when the baby comes. I don't think that will be fair on Seth...I think we are good with our goal of starting in September.
I have read, though, from several homeschool moms that recommend the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD before you start the phonics program. So I thought I would try this out. We bought it on Tuesday from Target and Seth LOVES this DVD. He wants to watch it over and over. Yesterday he watched it 5 times. And I have drilled him several times to see if he is learning anything...he can tell me the sounds that each letter makes in the alphabet already (and remember we have only had this dvd since Tuesday). On Wednesday he asked me where we got this and and I told him Target and he said "Momma I love Target and I love Letter Factory. Thank you!" Of course that made my day!!
I talked to my hubby this morning and there are several other dvd's that Leap Frog has that we are thinking about getting for his birthday (which is next Sunday by the way...hard to believe he is going to be 4).
Also we have taken our time riding in the car as an opportunity to start learning our left and right. Everytime I make a turn I ask Seth if I am turning left or right. He is starting to get it...still working on it. When we were coming home from church on Wednesday night he told me "Momma I love learning my left and right". He is such a little sponge right now!! And with just little effort and mainly just living life he is learning so much!
Note on preparing for September: Hooked on Phonics of course is going to be our main focus but I have decided that I can easily pull in spelling from that, and I went ahead and ordered the Hooked on Phonics Numbers and handwriting workbooks so we can also start working on early math skills and handwriting. (side note: I found that the Hooked on Phonics workbooks really aren't much different than the other workbooks we have been getting from Target...and you don't have the shipping costs...so we will stick with Target from now on) I also want to work in some art lessons...concreting in his knowledge of colors and shapes.
I have decided that instead of trying to create a daily schedule of what we will do which day and everything I have decided to just prepare lessons...and then have each day flexible...especially with a little baby in the house I figured this was probably the best way to go. There may be one day that we only do one lesson of one subject...but the next day we do a lesson from each subject. I have decided that if I put my self on this line of thinking it will be less stress for all.
As I figure out how to plan my lessons I will post about them in case anyone else is interested.
Also - before September I will be moving to my new blog (since we won't have just cowboys anymore)...even though Alyssa won't be starting "school" for quite sometime....I am already going to be changing my personal blog, I might as well go ahead and change this one at the same time! I will probably be doing that in August and that way I can take our year of Bristol Cowboy Academy and go to blurb.com to make our first school annual - our only year at Bristol Cowboy Academy :-)
But don't worry - there will be plenty of warning before we change and then there will be a static post here for quite sometime with a link to the new blog.
Exciting things are to come!!! :-) (I am just ready for this baby to get here!)
Until next time,
Kellie
My hubby said maybe I should go ahead and start the Hooked on Phonics but I really don't want to get into it and then have to pause when the baby comes. I don't think that will be fair on Seth...I think we are good with our goal of starting in September.
I have read, though, from several homeschool moms that recommend the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD before you start the phonics program. So I thought I would try this out. We bought it on Tuesday from Target and Seth LOVES this DVD. He wants to watch it over and over. Yesterday he watched it 5 times. And I have drilled him several times to see if he is learning anything...he can tell me the sounds that each letter makes in the alphabet already (and remember we have only had this dvd since Tuesday). On Wednesday he asked me where we got this and and I told him Target and he said "Momma I love Target and I love Letter Factory. Thank you!" Of course that made my day!!
I talked to my hubby this morning and there are several other dvd's that Leap Frog has that we are thinking about getting for his birthday (which is next Sunday by the way...hard to believe he is going to be 4).
Also we have taken our time riding in the car as an opportunity to start learning our left and right. Everytime I make a turn I ask Seth if I am turning left or right. He is starting to get it...still working on it. When we were coming home from church on Wednesday night he told me "Momma I love learning my left and right". He is such a little sponge right now!! And with just little effort and mainly just living life he is learning so much!
Note on preparing for September: Hooked on Phonics of course is going to be our main focus but I have decided that I can easily pull in spelling from that, and I went ahead and ordered the Hooked on Phonics Numbers and handwriting workbooks so we can also start working on early math skills and handwriting. (side note: I found that the Hooked on Phonics workbooks really aren't much different than the other workbooks we have been getting from Target...and you don't have the shipping costs...so we will stick with Target from now on) I also want to work in some art lessons...concreting in his knowledge of colors and shapes.
I have decided that instead of trying to create a daily schedule of what we will do which day and everything I have decided to just prepare lessons...and then have each day flexible...especially with a little baby in the house I figured this was probably the best way to go. There may be one day that we only do one lesson of one subject...but the next day we do a lesson from each subject. I have decided that if I put my self on this line of thinking it will be less stress for all.
As I figure out how to plan my lessons I will post about them in case anyone else is interested.
Also - before September I will be moving to my new blog (since we won't have just cowboys anymore)...even though Alyssa won't be starting "school" for quite sometime....I am already going to be changing my personal blog, I might as well go ahead and change this one at the same time! I will probably be doing that in August and that way I can take our year of Bristol Cowboy Academy and go to blurb.com to make our first school annual - our only year at Bristol Cowboy Academy :-)
But don't worry - there will be plenty of warning before we change and then there will be a static post here for quite sometime with a link to the new blog.
Exciting things are to come!!! :-) (I am just ready for this baby to get here!)
Until next time,
Kellie
Friday, February 13, 2009
Hooked on Phonics
Ok!! So I am super excited now!!! A few weeks ago I saw a post on the Homeschool Lounge about a mom selling the 5 steps of Hooked on Phonics Learning to Read for $25.00 (plus shipping). Only the first step had been opened...but everything was still there...just about 3 stickers for the progress poster were missing. I thought this was a good deal and have been told by quite a few moms that this is the best thing to start with, especially with boys!! So I went ahead and bought them.
I didn't realize how good of a deal I got until yesterday. A good friend of mine was trying to figure out exactly what I got so I decided to go on the website yesterday so I could let her know. At first I got kind of nervous because it was looking like I got an older set and was thinking that is why I got such a good deal - because it was outdated. But the more research I did on the site I discovered that the only thing that had changed was the packaging and the fact that I had cassette tapes and they now come with cd's. All of the books, workbooks, progress charts, everthing is still the same!!!
OMG - if you buy the set that I got online it is $149.95. (here is the link if you are interested http://www.hookedonphonics.com/Learn-to-Read-Kindergarten-2nd-grade?C1=4&C1=19)
and I paid $32 (including shipping) for the exact same thing in a virtually brand new condition!!
The only thing is I did not have a cassette player!! But I thought buying a cassette player would be cheaper than ordering the cds (which I could have done)...I was wanting a portable cd player anyways so I found a cd/tape combo portable player today at Wal-Mart!
Plus I discovered that when it comes time to do this with Aaron and Alyssa all I have to do is order another poster set for each (and it is $9.95 a set and that includes all the poster needed for the entire program)
So I am super excited about starting this with Seth...a big part of me wants to start today but the smart, pratical side of me is saying...follow all the advice you have been given and wait until the Fall. So that is what I will do...but I guarantee you...I will have everything very well planned out by then!
Until next time,
Kellie
I didn't realize how good of a deal I got until yesterday. A good friend of mine was trying to figure out exactly what I got so I decided to go on the website yesterday so I could let her know. At first I got kind of nervous because it was looking like I got an older set and was thinking that is why I got such a good deal - because it was outdated. But the more research I did on the site I discovered that the only thing that had changed was the packaging and the fact that I had cassette tapes and they now come with cd's. All of the books, workbooks, progress charts, everthing is still the same!!!
OMG - if you buy the set that I got online it is $149.95. (here is the link if you are interested http://www.hookedonphonics.com/Learn-to-Read-Kindergarten-2nd-grade?C1=4&C1=19)
and I paid $32 (including shipping) for the exact same thing in a virtually brand new condition!!
The only thing is I did not have a cassette player!! But I thought buying a cassette player would be cheaper than ordering the cds (which I could have done)...I was wanting a portable cd player anyways so I found a cd/tape combo portable player today at Wal-Mart!
Plus I discovered that when it comes time to do this with Aaron and Alyssa all I have to do is order another poster set for each (and it is $9.95 a set and that includes all the poster needed for the entire program)
So I am super excited about starting this with Seth...a big part of me wants to start today but the smart, pratical side of me is saying...follow all the advice you have been given and wait until the Fall. So that is what I will do...but I guarantee you...I will have everything very well planned out by then!
Until next time,
Kellie
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Seth LOVES his computer cool school
Hey guys!! Seth is still rocking along with his computer cool school! In fact I have had to find another solution for him to be able to play on it when I am needing the computer. I have hooked him up with my laptop. We have a shelf in the living room that we have had to keep bare because the boys keep taking stuff off of it. It has a wooden chest in front of it. There happens to be an outlet right there by it so I decided to hook the computer cool school up to my laptop and put it on that shelf. He sits on the chest and it puts him at perfect height. It is like his own built in desk.
Seth is also really starting to learn the sounds of his letters and we are starting to spell small words! He has really shown an interest in the Step Into Reading books (we have found them at Target. Here is their website http://www.stepintoreading.com if you are interested in checking it out. The level one books are for kids where I feel he is at right now. I think we might start doing a little bit more focusing on these books. Plus the book titles are ones that the kids are interested in such as Disney Cars, Thomas the Tank Engine, Disney Wall-E, and Sesame Street. I am excited at what this could lead too!! He has really been impressing me lately! And the funny thing is...we have backed off on "school" and he is still blossoming!
Also - I just made a post on our personal blog about our sonogram we had Monday and some crocheted goodies I have made for Alyssa. Please feel free to head on over there and check it out. http://mylittlecowboys.blogspot.com
Until next time,
Kellie
Seth is also really starting to learn the sounds of his letters and we are starting to spell small words! He has really shown an interest in the Step Into Reading books (we have found them at Target. Here is their website http://www.stepintoreading.com if you are interested in checking it out. The level one books are for kids where I feel he is at right now. I think we might start doing a little bit more focusing on these books. Plus the book titles are ones that the kids are interested in such as Disney Cars, Thomas the Tank Engine, Disney Wall-E, and Sesame Street. I am excited at what this could lead too!! He has really been impressing me lately! And the funny thing is...we have backed off on "school" and he is still blossoming!
Also - I just made a post on our personal blog about our sonogram we had Monday and some crocheted goodies I have made for Alyssa. Please feel free to head on over there and check it out. http://mylittlecowboys.blogspot.com
Until next time,
Kellie
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Computer Cool School!
Man!! 2009 is proving to be one thing after another!! At the beginning of last week we were taking Aaron to the dr with a cold virus and eye infections in both eyes. Then Daddy started getting sick and then Mommy came down with a stomach virus this weekend and is still trying to get energy back from that! I am hoping that things will start slowing down so we can get back to normal!
I have decided through all this that we are going to be laying low on "schooling" until this fall...there is just too much going on with the baby coming and everything. This is why I am so so glad that we got Seth the Computer Cool School for Christmas!! He is having a lot of fun with it.
We got it out this afternoon...he wants to be at the computer by himself...in fact he wanted me in the other room so I worked on the nursery while he was playing on it. It was so cute to keep hearing "I did it" over and over again...there were times when he would run in the room saying "Mommy I can't do it" and I would tell him to keep trying and eventually I would hear "I did it".
I did manage to get a few pics!
I will still be making periodic posts though as I come across cute photo opportunities. Plus I am going to try to get some early planning done on schooling for the fall and will hopefully be able to post those plans as well.
Until next time,
Kellie
I have decided through all this that we are going to be laying low on "schooling" until this fall...there is just too much going on with the baby coming and everything. This is why I am so so glad that we got Seth the Computer Cool School for Christmas!! He is having a lot of fun with it.
We got it out this afternoon...he wants to be at the computer by himself...in fact he wanted me in the other room so I worked on the nursery while he was playing on it. It was so cute to keep hearing "I did it" over and over again...there were times when he would run in the room saying "Mommy I can't do it" and I would tell him to keep trying and eventually I would hear "I did it".
I did manage to get a few pics!
I will still be making periodic posts though as I come across cute photo opportunities. Plus I am going to try to get some early planning done on schooling for the fall and will hopefully be able to post those plans as well.
Until next time,
Kellie
Thursday, January 22, 2009
We are still here
Wow - when I looked at my blog this morning I could not believe that December 2oth was the last time that I made a post!!
Yes we are still here. We had a a good Christmas but life has been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks. My grandmother went home to be with the Lord on January 11, 2009. She is going to be greatly missed!! I headed down to my parents as soon as I heard to be with my mom and we did not return home until yesterday. Now we are just concentrating on getting things back to normal.
Right now we are busy with trying to get the nursery ready for baby girl and get Aaron transitioned into a big boy bed in his new room with his brother. We are going to have the opportunity to fix up both rooms really nice and are really looking forward to this.
As far as school - Seth got a Computer Cool School for Christmas that is a really neat little tool!! I have a feeling in the next few months there will be many days where I will set that up for him and let him go through those activities as I am trying to get other things done.
I am excited because I just came across another opportunity of being able to purchase the first five levels of Hooked on Phonics at a VERY CHEAP price (and only the first level had been opened)!! Granny also got us Hooked on Bible Stories for Christmas. We are looking at starting these in the fall and really just focusing on phonics at this time. I have talked to quite a few mons on the Homeschool Lounge (http://thehomeschoollounge.com) and have had quite a few moms tell me that at this age phonics is really the most important curriculum to teach and really the only that needs to be taught...especially with little boys. So we are going to do that, along with our worksheets and computer school and will gradually be preparing Seth for kindergarten in Fall 2010!
Of course I will still try to make regular posts with lots of pictures (after all the blog is the way that I am scrapbooking our journey) so stick with me!! I, as always, welcome ideas from any of you, and will still lean on other blogs out there for support as well.
I have just also made a post on my other blog of some pics from January...instead of doing a repost I will just give you the link to that post...feel free to check out that blog if you would like. It will be the blog where I will be posting all pregnancy updates, pics, etc... The link is http://mylittlecowboys.blogspot.com (it will be changing after May because Alyssa is not a cowboy...but there will be plenty of notice of it changing when that time comes)
Until next time,
Kellie
Yes we are still here. We had a a good Christmas but life has been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks. My grandmother went home to be with the Lord on January 11, 2009. She is going to be greatly missed!! I headed down to my parents as soon as I heard to be with my mom and we did not return home until yesterday. Now we are just concentrating on getting things back to normal.
Right now we are busy with trying to get the nursery ready for baby girl and get Aaron transitioned into a big boy bed in his new room with his brother. We are going to have the opportunity to fix up both rooms really nice and are really looking forward to this.
As far as school - Seth got a Computer Cool School for Christmas that is a really neat little tool!! I have a feeling in the next few months there will be many days where I will set that up for him and let him go through those activities as I am trying to get other things done.
I am excited because I just came across another opportunity of being able to purchase the first five levels of Hooked on Phonics at a VERY CHEAP price (and only the first level had been opened)!! Granny also got us Hooked on Bible Stories for Christmas. We are looking at starting these in the fall and really just focusing on phonics at this time. I have talked to quite a few mons on the Homeschool Lounge (http://thehomeschoollounge.com) and have had quite a few moms tell me that at this age phonics is really the most important curriculum to teach and really the only that needs to be taught...especially with little boys. So we are going to do that, along with our worksheets and computer school and will gradually be preparing Seth for kindergarten in Fall 2010!
Of course I will still try to make regular posts with lots of pictures (after all the blog is the way that I am scrapbooking our journey) so stick with me!! I, as always, welcome ideas from any of you, and will still lean on other blogs out there for support as well.
I have just also made a post on my other blog of some pics from January...instead of doing a repost I will just give you the link to that post...feel free to check out that blog if you would like. It will be the blog where I will be posting all pregnancy updates, pics, etc... The link is http://mylittlecowboys.blogspot.com (it will be changing after May because Alyssa is not a cowboy...but there will be plenty of notice of it changing when that time comes)
Until next time,
Kellie
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Polar Express
Hey guys!! Sorry I have not done a good job of posting this week...things just get a bit crazy around the holidays :-) We started off the week with taking Seth to the dr...he was diagnosed with pneumonia but we caught it quick enough that the antibiotics kicked in and he bounced back pretty quick :-)
This was our polar express week. We read the book this week, which Seth really enjoyed. I asked him one night if he wanted to ride the polar express to the North Pole and he told me he did not want to go to the North Pole. I asked him why and he said "I slip and fall down". (don't know where he got that...that wasn't in the book and we had not watched the movie yet)
On Thursday night we watched the movie and had hot chocolate and cookies (of course it was a warm evening...it wasn't cold like it was the first part of the week when Seth was sick)
Then yesterday we took our trip to the Texas State Railroad to ride the Polar Express. They encouraged the kids to wear their pajamas. It was so cute to see all the kids in their pajamas (there were also some adults in pajamas as well)
Here are some pics of our journey. Enjoy!
Here's Aaron after eating his candy and drinking his hot chocolate (which he LOVED!)
And here he is upset that there is no more chocolate candy or hot chocolate.
Here's the North Pole (for some reason I always thought there would be more snow :-) _
The conductor punching their tickets...
Aaron dancing with one of the waitresses (and not liking it)
Santa giving Seth his first gift of Christmas - the sleigh bell (isn't that a cool pic?!?!)
Aaron loved his bell!!!
Here is a pic of the engine all decked out in Christmas lights.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!
Until next time,
Kellie
This was our polar express week. We read the book this week, which Seth really enjoyed. I asked him one night if he wanted to ride the polar express to the North Pole and he told me he did not want to go to the North Pole. I asked him why and he said "I slip and fall down". (don't know where he got that...that wasn't in the book and we had not watched the movie yet)
On Thursday night we watched the movie and had hot chocolate and cookies (of course it was a warm evening...it wasn't cold like it was the first part of the week when Seth was sick)
Then yesterday we took our trip to the Texas State Railroad to ride the Polar Express. They encouraged the kids to wear their pajamas. It was so cute to see all the kids in their pajamas (there were also some adults in pajamas as well)
Here are some pics of our journey. Enjoy!
Here's Aaron after eating his candy and drinking his hot chocolate (which he LOVED!)
And here he is upset that there is no more chocolate candy or hot chocolate.
Here's the North Pole (for some reason I always thought there would be more snow :-) _
The conductor punching their tickets...
Aaron dancing with one of the waitresses (and not liking it)
Santa giving Seth his first gift of Christmas - the sleigh bell (isn't that a cool pic?!?!)
Aaron loved his bell!!!
Here is a pic of the engine all decked out in Christmas lights.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!
Until next time,
Kellie
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