Make Learning POP!

I always strive to keep learning fresh and fun!  So, this week we mixed up our spelling review time with a POP! However, this fun activity could also be used for other basic test review (Bible, Science, Social Studies, etc..).  

Supply List: 

• small latex balloons  (Suggestion: Use different colors for different kids or different lists (if you plan to use this in the classroom)

• small pieces of paper (one for each spelling word or review question)

• sharp object to POP the balloons (Suggestion:  sharp pencil, safety pin, needle, etc...) 

• black Sharpie marker to number the balloons

• master list (of the words or questions that will correspond with the clue inside the balloon)

• Optional:  some small candies like Smarties, Skittles, or M & M s (if you want to reward your kiddos for getting the word or question right-- popping the balloon was good enough for Josiah!)

Prep:  

I wrote each of Josiah's spelling words on a small slip of scrap paper, folded it, and squeezed them into a balloon.  Then we both blew up the balloons, since we both had a lot of hot air to waste!!! 

Remember to number your balloons to correspond with your "master list" so that you know which words are inside. The video reveals the comedic mistake we made doing this!

We hope our idea and video inspires you to creatively mix up your homeschooling or classroom learning during what might be some long, cold, and "boring" days in January.   It only takes a bit of pre-planning, but very little, if you recruit your kiddos to help blow up the balloons.  

Extending Ideas: 

• Chore List 

• Brain Breaks

• Play Date Activities

• Blizzard Blowout Activities

• Bible Verse Review 

• throw darts at the balloons (Josiah's idea-- not mine, ha, ha)

Thank you, Veterans!

Veterans Day is one of the most important holidays we celebrate in our home!

Both of our dads, many uncles and a host of cousins and friends are beloved US veterans. Words cannot even begin to express how grateful we are to those that lay down their lives for our freedom. Thank you!

Josiah and I have been studying the grim topics of WWII and the Holocaust recently, so this Veterans Day he has a deeper understanding of the enormity of the sacrifices that were made throughout history and those that still are being made everyday.

Veterans Day video

Please watch the video with a message from Josiah about some reflections he shared about Veterans Day today.  (Note:  He makes a special request to share some information and he is excited to hear from you!)

Saying "thank you" seems too simple and trivial for all that Veterans have done and still do, but we truly mean it and honor you today!  Please take time to remember, thank and pray for our Veterans and current servicemen and women serving in all the Armed Forces throughout the world.

Editable Home School Checklist

Both Josiah and I like using a checklist to keep track of his tasks and assignments throughout our homeschooling day.  I found it helps keeps us more organized, focused and minimizes "nagging" (me) & "attitude" (Josiah).  :)

I created the checklists in PowerPoint with editable text boxes so you can format them to fit your family's and/or each child's individual needs. All the checklists are essentially the same except for the cute clip art in the corner.  

Home School Checklist

I'd love to hear if you found them helpful or have suggestions to make them better.  Enjoy! 

Becoming Becky...

I've gotten several questions inquiring why I decided to leave classroom teaching when I seemed to love it so much. Here's my vulnerable answer...

For three years, the focus of our family's life was my teaching career.  Although I taught at wonderful, private, Christian school, I confess I didn't balance home and work, at all, not even slightly!!!  I LOVE teaching (and feel it's my God-given talent) so it was easy for me to pour my heart and soul into my "classroom".  I taught 1st grade my "first" year back and 2nd grade for two consecutive years.

During my teaching tenure, Rob and Josiah were EXTREMELY supportive.  They both (and many others) went above and beyond to show their support for me and my lofty classroom endeavors.  I can't even begin to relate how patient Rob & Josiah were!

Josiah would go to school early and stay late.  Because of my drive and focus, he didn't have the opportunity to join in extra curricular activities or enjoy friendships and play dates outside of the walls of school.   Rob took over most of the parenting duties and all of the cooking duties, as well.  After working 10-12 hours at his full time job everyday (4am-??), he would immediately come to school and be my "helper" the rest of my school day.  Both Rob and Josiah stayed to help me clean up, correct some papers and help prepare for the following day.  We'd arrive home around 5pm and I would nap until Rob waked me up for supper. Then, I would be with Rob and Josiah until they would go to bed and I would continue correcting papers, preparing lessons, etc... until quite often, 2-3 am. On the weekends, they helped me drag everything home and I would work nearly non-stop until Monday morning.

I literally became a workaholic and because I was doing the Lord's work, I convinced myself, everything was a-okay. I thrived on my students enjoying school so much that they were sad when the school day ended.  I was motivated when parents spoke words of affirmation.  I loved helping other teachers find joy in teaching.

Unfortunately, Josiah and Rob were often left begging for my attention and affection.  They grew weary when I'd half haphazardly spend time with them or break yet another promise of "not working" as hard this weekend. There was always another activity, unit, email or classroom Facebook post that "required" my attention. Gradually our family's happiness seeped into a quiet puddle. Not only that, but I completely abandoned friendships, as well.

You are probably expecting I had a nervous breakdown or that some huge turning point or catastrophic event caused me to reevaluate my priorities.  Thank goodness God spared me, our marriage, and my family from such a life-altering event.  Rather, I slowly realized my selfishness and became emotionally and physically tired of the insane pace I was keeping.

Although I knew God and my family wanted AND needed me to resign from my teaching position, doing so was agonizing for me.  As I worked through the decision to quit, I was forced to slow down and examine the current state of my life.  I became uncomfortable in my own skin because I found the real Becky was hiding behind teaching triumphs and trials.  I had lost sight of who I was and was created to be outside of being "Mrs. Thompson".

It may sound strange, but I was apprehensive to quit because I only knew how to be "Mrs. Thompson".  I had forgotten how to be "Becky".  I was overwhelmed by the facades I needed to crumble and baggage I needed unpack to find who I really was.  But, at the same time, I was also sad that I worked so hard to become a wife and mom, yet I wasn't taking time to actually enjoy being one.

As our family considered me quitting, we quickly realized our family was meant to home school for this season of Josiah's life.  Home schooling is allowing us to reconnect as a FAMILY.  We can spend oodles of QUALITY time together and Rob and I finally feel like we are raising our son, TOGETHER!  Of course, I am not only able to enjoy being a mom, but also I can still be a teacher.  I love investing my time and talent into Josiah and ONLY Josiah (instead of putting him and his needs & wants on the back burner)!  Rob and Josiah are overjoyed that the kitchen is once again my domain. We are thriving on having a slower more meaningful pace of life.

Best of all, I am slowly becoming Becky...

Day 1 & "Classroom" Tour

Josiah's official 1st day of 5th grade was on September 2, 2015.  

In typical Josiah and Becky fashion, we started our school day "late" in the day vs. early.  We started at 11:45 am.  Now for you naysayers and Type A personalities, no worries, we will be starting a normal school schedule after Labor Day.  But for this week, I followed the advice of other home schooling moms and we've enjoyed half days to get us back into the groove of learning.

We had a super, first day together!  We both set academic and personal goals, enjoyed devotional time outside under our big maple tree, saw a hummingbird at our bird feeder, created a prayer bucket, took Max for a walk (PE), played a math game together and I taught Josiah the ins and outs of interactive notebooks (or also sometimes called lap booking or note booking).   Overall, we spent 4.5 hours learning, which included math, vocabulary, grammar and writing.  

Queue the highlight reel-- Josiah will share a bit more about our home school room and his first day highlights.  If the PLAY button doesn't work, just click here:  Josiah's Home School Room Tour. 

Thanks for following us! 

Pushing "RESET"

After a three year hiatus of not buzzin' on my blog, I'm back!  

In fact, our family is pushing the RESET button. We've decided HOME is where MY heart is!  ALL of us missed me being home, so we are in the midst of refocusing our lives and I am lovin' being a stay at home mom, once again. 

However, I'm not spending my days alone anymore...Josiah is with me and as of yesterday, we departed on our HOMESCHOOL adventure!  

So, stay tuned and follow our blog if you'd like to walk alongside us as we venture out into the great unknowns of homeschooling and "tween"hood! :) 

Currently... (Edition 3--Summer 2012)

Practically the whole summer has gone by without a bit of blogging....sorry followers!  Shame on me! I feel so bad, BUT I've been a little pre-occupied... 

Right after my surgery, I interviewed for a teaching position at Christian Center Elementary and was offered a full time 1st grade position!  So, I (er....WE-- the whole "fam") have been busy as bees getting ready for ME to go back to school.  I'm truly just "giddy" with excitement!

Our family fell in love with Christian Center Elementary when Josiah attended school there as a Kindergartner.  However, due to a variety of circumstances we weren't able to send him there last year (for first grade).  Although Josiah loved riding the bus to and from public school each day, it was a tough year for him & us...we truly missed the school, families, friends, teachers, and culture at Christian Center!  So, when God dropped the opportunity in my lap to apply for a job at CCE...I immediately jumped on it!  In fact, I literally finished filling out my application in a hospital gown during pre-op :) 

I'm so thrilled that God has given me this opportunity!  First grade is my "sweet spot" so I'm anxious to serve and honor Him by teaching my little first graders!  I give thanks that not only has God provided the resources for me to go back to teaching, but also that He has restored my health so I can return to the classroom! (Side note:  As of yesterday, all my "labs" show that all of my blood levels are within NORMAL range.  Yep, that's right friends & family--- I'M NORMAL!!)  ha ha

Since I was offered the job, I've hardly sat idle one moment! So here's just a bit of what I/we have been doing to prepare for back to school.  

• First up, I had to renew my teaching license so I took 3 classes to accomplish that!  If you want a peek of what teachers learn and do in their classes just click on this link to view one of the assignments I submitted for my online Differentiated Learning graduate level class, in which I had to create a "before and after" unit on place value, showing the difference in differentiating instruction to meet students' varying skills and learning styles..  (Note:  The link is large and cannot be scanned for viruses).  I also attended a phenomenal conference led by Jill Eggelton, in which I became better prepared to teaching oral language, reading, writing, spelling and phonics. During my third class, I learned about a variety of  websites that help teachers extend technological learning in their classrooms.  All of the classes were so beneficial in helping me get back into the groove!

• I've sat endless hours at my computer researching activities and organizational tips to renew my mind and fill my files with FREE ideas to make me organized and learning more engaging for my students. 

• After making myself completely overwhelmed, I finally had to break out the post-it notes to brainstorm and organize my wandering thoughts.  I use this brainstorming method often (usually on a smaller scale) because it really helps me focus.  The day I "went to town" with my brainstorming...Rob commented, "I wondered how long it was going to take you to pull out the post-its!".  I brainstorm these types of list when going on vacation, house cleaning, make ahead/freezer cooking, Christmas, etc...  When I have a lot of little tasks that need done, this is the best way I find to do it.  Using post it notes makes it easy to "move" tasks into categories and then I write or type up a master list from that.  

• Trips to the teaching store to buy 50% off bulletin board supplies equalled lots of punching out for Josiah :) 

• And all my math, literacy and Bible preparations and printing equalled MEGA amounts of cutting for Rob!  Here is a look at his "office".  I'm really thankful the Olympics are on right now because that makes him more willing to sit and do all my "cutting" :)  He refers to this task as his "2nd job!" :)

• As of Monday, I was given the "green light" to move into my classroom :)  Here's what it looks like....needs a lot of TLC, organizing, and color huh?   :)  But, I thought it would be fun for you to see before and after pics, so I'll post "after" pics later in August.  I'm centering everything around an ocean/beach theme so it will be a SUNNY and BRIGHT classroom. 

BEFORE

So that's a peak into what is currently going on in our lives.....SCHOOL, SCHOOL, SCHOOL!!  I report to school on Friday, August 17th and Josiah goes back to school on Wednesday, August 22nd.  So little time, so much to do!! But I'm not doing it alone....I'm so extremely grateful for so many of my family members that have helped me with this journey--- punching out, cutting, providing ideas, building, gift certificates, and babysitting!