All About Me Lapbook

Better late than never, right? So today, I want to show you what we were working on all of last week. It was a lapbook that got all of Coqui's attention - he had so much fun in making a book ALL ABOUT HIM(self)!
It's the perfect timing with it being the beginning of the year. And of course, we as parents get a bunch of keepsakes with this book, like their hand prints and finger prints, pictures, and funny things they say at this age.

Enjoy the pictures.

The cover of the book. When I took the picture, it was not done - but you get the idea.

Open the cover and Coqui is greeting you with a picture of himself, his birthday cake, his hand outlines, and a puppet that he dressed in real fabric. The little flaps reveal things about him like hair and eye color, his age and birthday, his finger prints, and other personal things.

When you open the top part, it talks about where we live, how our house looks like, and such. And on the bottom, we outlined his profile and what he wants to be when he grows up. In case you can't read it, he wants to be a police officer.

When the last flap is opened, the middle reveals all about his family with a family portrait and a picture of his siblings. We worked on a time line as well, from birth all the way up to now, with all his birthdays, his siblings birth, when he first rode a bike, when he started school, and so on....
The bottom part has the following cute things on it, including an interview with him, done by me. It was very interesting to learn that Daddy has a very fascinating job, and that Mommy is doing only 'boring stuff like cleaning and cooking, doing laundry and school' - thanks Buddy!

So here, the kids were asked to say what they would buy for each dollar amount. I was impressed that Coqui really knows the value of money. He was pretty good with his suggestions. In case, it's hard to unscramble his spelling, he buys candy with $1, legos with $5, a new DS game with $20, and he'll go on a flight with $100. I thought, these were very good things to save up HIS money for....

Next, he was asked to name three things that he thought people should know about him..... when he was done, the right side says it all: Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars.... I guess he is a real fan!?! It's a phase and I am praying that it is over soon, because I do NOT want any more new lego star wars sets in my house...

And the last one is so typical for my buy: his heart belongs to GOD! Yeah.

This took us four days to complete, and then we went over to our friends house to present our books to each other. My best friend Beth is homeschooling this year, so we decided to do some themed weeks at the same time. This week was one of them. Presenting their books to us and each other practices public speaking at an early age, and also it makes it more fun.

Chickie presenting her science lesson about her human body.

Coqui presenting his book......

You wonder where Peanut was all this week? Well, she didn't want to participate..... I AM looking forward to making one with her next year, or the year after. The only thing she did was letting me trace her hands and feet....

Number Lapbook

I love lapbooks. When I found out about them, I didn't grasping how important they could be for homeschoolers. I mean, I am not Miss Crafty.... (well, I guess only for certain things). But definitely, I am a book learner. Definitions, I have to learn them by heart; and I am logic thinker. So my creative side is not very well developed. So that's how I would teach - with LOTS of books. Which can be boring to a six-year old little person..... I knew I had to change something.

Our themed weeks, combined with lapbooks were a huge hit last year. And I have to admit, not only for my son, but for me as well. I learned so much alongside him. It's interesting, creative, and they learn a few skills as well, like cutting along edges. Also I am convinced that this is the first step in learning HOW to gather information. I mean, today, we use the internet alot. But I want my kids to know about libraries and their resources. And that anything in a house can be used as well.


So I came up with an entire list of themed weeks, or simple a week with a lapbook, all the way up until Christmas. Last week, it was all about Numbers and how they are found in our daily life! Coqui is not bad in Math but he doesn't like big work sheets with a bunch of problems (even though he has no problem solving them!). So it was interesting for him to see that we use numbers everywhere.

It started with a presentation of my very own portfolio. I used to study photography, and one class that I took was a Portfolio Class. So mine was about 'Numbers in Everyday Life'. (I kind of figured that there would be too many portfolios with portraits and such, so I wanted to do something less along the norm.)

Then we discovered that numbers are found in his own age, and his height and his weight. That was fun.
We need numbers to measure things, to count, and to tell time. We need it to add and subtract, to multiply and divide. And of course, Money is a huge part of numbers in our life. He liked to count his money in his piggy bank. And after two years, he finally learned to distinguish all the coins.

We went over fractions as well, and it seemed, he understood the general idea of it (if not even more). We use apples to explain and visualize, but pizzas work just as well.

The hand-prints are a cute exercise - I mean which parent does not like its kid's hand outline at any age. We need our hands to help us learn how to count, they are great for adding and subtracting. They also work great for counting by 5s and 10s.

Geometry is just another part of Math, but we did not spend much time on it. Obviously, he knows all his shapes, and anything else at this point would overwhelm him.


To say the least - he enjoyed this lapbook very much and I think it changed his attitude towards numbers.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Back To Weirdness

Okay, I have a confession to make. Someone who just visits my blog today or tomorrow might get the idea that I am a 'hardcore' Vegan. And I was.... for a while.

But I have to confess that since the baby was born... not so much anymore.

And here is why: 

I became a Vegan about five years ago, after going through cancer. It was for health reasons only. Nothing more deep than that. Just for my body which had to fight one of the most terrible diseases here on earth. I wanted to treat this vessel of mine a little nicer than I had in the past. And I loved it.

So why change something that worked so well?

Over the time, I missed certain things. Things that I loved from my childhood or that I was simply craving. So when I was facing having a newborn again, I thought it would be a good time to make a few changes - for a short period of time. I felt I needed more energy, hence my intake of protein had to go waayyy up.

I became a Vegetarian again, something that I had been for a very looong time before cancer and Veganism entered my brain. So I enjoyed come cheese! On a cheese pizza, some cheese sandwiches, and grilled cheese. Yummy. I also dove into real ice cream. Yeah. It was so good. I enjoyed a nice Carvel ice cream cake for my birthday. And I am looking forward to eat some regular cupcakes for my birthday party. I ate raviolis and tortellinis. Okay, okay, before you get too hungry while reading, I'll stop - I am sure you get the idea....

And now that I have done so for the over three months, I am ready to go back to my more healthy eating habits again. I got an ice cream maker for my birthday, and a book for Vegan ice creams, so I am very much looking forward to make lots of those!!! This will be MUCH cheaper than buying Vegan ice cream in the store. And it's less limited. Around 200 delicious recipes for all kinds of ice creams. The peanut butter kind is chillin' while I am typing this - and I will share it tomorrow with friends.

Also before the holidays start, I would like to slim my waist line again (much needed!). I have not set a particular date, but I know I want to start with the Daniel's diet.
As a matter of fact, that is how I started five years ago. It felt so good. If you would like to know more about it, please click the following link: Daniel's Diet. It is so cleansing. And when I did this for the first time, I figured Veganism is not that bad.....

And yes, this also means that I will start running again. Baby is sleeping through the night and it will get cooler again in the morning. I am ready....

Cheers to a new start of being UN-normal once again!

A New School Year

Summer is over! And with that, most of Coqui's same-aged friends are going back to school. Not us. We are staying home because we are homeschooling. And I am so blessed to be able to do this for my children. (If you are interested in my/our reasons for homeschooling, go back to my post Why I want to homeschool.)

As you all know, we had a baby (and if you missed it, please go back and read here). So with a new baby, things are just a little different in our house these days. To say it shortly: our world resolved around one little Lady, and we love it.
I am also starting Peanut with 'real' school this year, so I am going to be very busy....

I was a little nervous all summer long, about what would happen in late August/September. How can I handle a newborn and two schooling children all at once, all by myself? About two weeks ago, God gave me a vision that brought me much needed peace. He told me how to do our school this year! Wow, what a blessing! My fears were gone, and I had the confidence I needed to get started.

Needless to say, we started school in the beginning of August. We started slowly. Two worksheets the first day, three the next, ....etc. After the first week, I knew that I could handle it! So we have been at it for the past three weeks, and it feels great. I used workbook from last year to repeat and repeat what we had learned last year.
I always wanted to try out one of those curriculum that are all laid out for you! All year, every subject. I decided on one and got it last spring. A Beka was my choice. I love it to be Christian. And I think they are reasonable about what a second grader should know (or not yet!). I am very happy with my choice.

When it arrived, I put the two boxes in a corner to forget about it until the school year was over. Eventually, I pulled it back out and unpacked it. Wow, Coqui has alot of work to do! Last week, I went through the entire thing myself. And it doesn't look that bad anymore....

I ordered Second Grade. Yes, he is only six, but with being home-schooled for the past three years, and doing First Grade last year, I feel he can do it. Once I looked through it, I know we can..... with one thing in mind: if things don't work as planned, with the baby and all, if we need more time, we can take the next two years to accomplish everything. I have that liberty and I feel really good about it.

So today was a special day: the kids were off from school. But tomorrow, tomorrow is another special day, because we are starting our new curriculum. I am very excited. It will be nice not to have to prep too much in advance. And I love that I have all the books already.

Besides loving those books, I am less happy with the what-so-called specials. There is only one tiny book for history, one for science, and one for health/manners. Where is Geography? Apparently, they plan on alternating them every four weeks. No no no.... I think Coqui needs to do this every week. We did it last year. And he loves to do experiments! I can not tell him to wait a month!

We will still be doing lapbooks. One of these days, I will do a tutorial, but in the meantime, you can just google it, and enjoy what all the other people have done. It's so much fun and Coqui really enjoys them (here and here and here). I have come up with an entire list all the way until Christmas. 

Back To HOME School tomorrow.....
....and yes, that is our stack of books for tomorrow. Don't worry, there are some reading books in there.... and my teachers\'s handbook.

Adventure of parenting part 2

Yesterday, I wrote in general, how I parent my children. Today, I want to share specific examples. 

And it is the perfect day to do so as I had to discipline both, but my middle child specifically, multiple times. As frustrating as it is as a parent, I know it is just as frustrating to them to figure out the world. So on a day like today where we just stay home, I like to be a little more consistent than on days where we have to run around. It tires me out - I can just imagine what it does to them.

So my dear darling daughter Peanut is..... how do I say that nicely? ..... testing, vivacious, and defiant. It's exhausting for me, especially as I got so spoiled with my obedient boy. She reminds me of my brother.... seriously. She can be naughty which can be cute - sometimes. She can be headstrong which is less desirable and so frustrating because one can not reason with her on certain things. She can be rebellious even, which is very challenging for me. And she can be disruptive and destructive, which usually means trying to get her brother into trouble with lying or teasing him. 

So in the past three years, I have tried many things with her,..... many, and none really worked, or for a short time only. Time-outs have never worked. FINALLY, I did discover what works for her. She loves to be a girly girl through and through, from pink being her favorite color to having a very strong opinion to what girl clothes are and what not. And that is where the working part comes in: with her clothes. She doesn't care about toys or 'stuff' being taken away from her. But she sure cares about her dresses. 

So that is what I do - I take away dresses and girly shirts. She even lost her princess bedding because of her nightly screaming sessions! It works and she cares as she constantly asks for them back..... and I have given them back on really good days. 

So today, she lost four dresses during the morning, and three more during quiet time. She peed on the floor and I stuck her into 'boy' clothes this morning.

I told her that we don't pee on floors, as she is completely potty trained, so she knows the difference. This one was on purpose... so there is her consequence.
By the time I was able to finish this post, my pretty girl had lost six more dresses. I don't know what was wrong today, but this screaming business needs to stop! I am not putting up with it anymore. 'consistency, consistency..... I am stronger than her!'

Coqui? Well, he works totally different as a rather obedient child. I just have to threaten him with loosing something, and many times, that is enough. With him, electronics work best. He loves TV, my phone, the computer, his DS and even still his Leapster. So loosing one of these is quite 'tragic' for him. And when he does lose them, it is usually not for a long time. 

He is far from perfect though. There are many things that we have to work on. One of them is that he is a sore loser. He can not lose in a good way, at all - and honestly, for a six year old, it's quite embarrassing (at least for me as his mother). (Unfortunately, I know where it is coming from - I am a sore loser as well.) But we are working on it, and he has gotten better, with lots of love and positive reinforcement. One way is to let him play on his DS and because it is fairly new to him, he still looses alot, so it teaches him to try it over and over to win more and more games. He also understands that he needs to practice his soccer twice a week in order to play one game on the weekend. So he gets the message, he just has a hard time sometimes to put it into action. Those actions get him time-outs (yes, that still works for him!), and loosing the electronic for a certain time.

But like every human being, my kids are a work in progress. We all thrive to be better people, and to be more Godlike. Nobody is perfect. And it takes alot of patience. And love. And prayer.