AIW ² Home School Club ~ Lesson 1.6

Tags

2 Year Old, AIW² Home School Club, cartoon videos, coloring page, coloring pages, DIY, Easy, Guide, Home, Mother, Motherhood, nursery rhyme, Parent, Parenthood, Positive, Reinforcement, Responibility, Rewards, School, Tip, video playlist, YouTube

Here is Lesson 1.6.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.6 Video Playlist ~This is the whole week’s playlist. If you click on the YouTube icon at the bottom of the playing screen, you will be taken to the playlist on YouTube.com.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.6 Coloring Pages

Just a note: These are the coloring pages I used. I either found them by following the links that Shelly had on her lesson plan or I Googled the subject and “coloring page”. You can do the same and find other pages for free if you don’t like the ones I’m including in this post.

• Theme -Rainbow from MakingLearningFun.com
• Shape – Prism from JumboColoringPages.info
• Letter – F from JumboColoring.info
• Number – 6 from EducationalColoringPages.com
• Nursery Rhyme – Humpty Dumpty from MotherGooseClub.com (hit the print button to download the coloring page)

Click this image to be taken to my board on Pinterest that contains all the cute crafts, activities, and printables to support this lesson (I add more as I find them so they are not all depicted in this image).

Below is the recommended reading list, provided by the creator of this lesson plan, as well as any resources that might be helpful to the lesson. You don’t need to order any of these items to have a successful lesson, but if you’d like to add to your child’s library … well, here they are. Click on the images to order directly from one of the most trusted online shopping websites, Amazon.com:

I hope these things help you. And I hope you will check back often to follow our journey.

PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

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AIW ² Home School Club ~ Lesson 1.5

Tags

2 Year Old, AIW² Home School Club, cartoon videos, coloring page, coloring pages, DIY, Easy, Guide, Home, Mother, Motherhood, nursery rhyme, Parent, Parenthood, Positive, Reinforcement, Responibility, Rewards, School, Tip, video playlist, YouTube

Here is Lesson 1.5.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.5 Video Playlist ~This is the whole week’s playlist. If you click on the YouTube icon at the bottom of the playing screen, you will be taken to the playlist on YouTube.com.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.5 Coloring Pages

Just a note: These are the coloring pages I used. I either found them by following the links that Shelly had on her lesson plan or I Googled the subject and “coloring page”. You can do the same and find other pages for free if you don’t like the ones I’m including in this post.

• Theme – Lighthouses from MakingLearningFun.com
• Shape – Octagon from JumboColoringPages.info
• Letter – E from JumboColoring.info
• Number – 5 from EducationalColoringPages.com
• Nursery Rhyme – Bobby Shaftoe from A Real Housewife In Houston

Click this image to be taken to my board on Pinterest that contains all the cute crafts, activities, and printables to support this lesson (I add more as I find them so they are not all depicted in this image).

Below is the recommended reading list, provided by the creator of this lesson plan, as well as any resources that might be helpful to the lesson. You don’t need to order any of these items to have a successful lesson, but if you’d like to add to your child’s library … well, here they are. Click on the images to order directly from one of the most trusted online shopping websites, Amazon.com:

I hope these things help you. And I hope you will check back often to follow our journey.

PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

AIW ² Home School Club ~ Lesson 1.4

Tags

2 Year Old, AIW² Home School Club, cartoon videos, coloring page, coloring pages, DIY, Easy, Guide, Home, Mother, Motherhood, nursery rhyme, Parent, Parenthood, Positive, Reinforcement, Responibility, Rewards, School, Tip, video playlist, YouTube

Here is Lesson 1.4.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.4 Video Playlist ~This is the whole week’s playlist. If you click on the YouTube icon at the bottom of the playing screen, you will be taken to the playlist on YouTube.com.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.4 Coloring Pages

Just a note: These are the coloring pages I used. I either found them by following the links that Shelly had on her lesson plan or I Googled the subject and “coloring page”. You can do the same and find other pages for free if you don’t like the ones I’m including in this post.

• Theme – Eyes from A Real Housewife In Houston (I couldn’t find a coloring page I liked so I made one)
• Color – Blue from Baby-SmartyPants.com
  
• Letter – D from JumboColoring.info
  
• Number – 4 from EducationalColoringPages.com
  
• Nursery Rhyme – Lavender’s Blue from MotherGooseClub.com (hit the print button to download the coloring page)
  

Click this image to be taken to my board on Pinterest that contains all the cute crafts, activities, and printables to support this lesson (I add more as I find them so they are not all depicted in this image).

Below is the recommended reading list, provided by the creator of this lesson plan, as well as any resources that might be helpful to the lesson. You don’t need to order any of these items to have a successful lesson, but if you’d like to add to your child’s library … well, here they are. Click on the images to order directly from one of the most trusted online shopping websites, Amazon.com:

I hope these things help you. And I hope you will check back often to follow our journey.

PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

AIW ² Home School Club ~ Lesson 1.3

Tags

2 Year Old, AIW² Home School Club, cartoon videos, coloring page, coloring pages, DIY, Easy, Guide, Home, kittens, letter c, little nut tree, Mother, Motherhood, nursery rhyme, Parent, Parenthood, Positive, pussy cat pussy cat, Reinforcement, Responibility, Rewards, School, Tip, video playlist, YouTube

We’ve completed our 3rd week (Lesson 1.3).

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.3 Video Playlist ~This is the whole week’s playlist. If you click on the YouTube icon at the bottom of the playing screen, you will be taken to the playlist on YouTube.com.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.3 Coloring Pages

Just a note: These are the coloring pages I used. I either found them by following the links that Shelly had on her lesson plan or I Googled the subject and “coloring page”. You can do the same and find other pages for free if you don’t like the ones I’m including in this post.

• Theme – Kittens from RaisingOurKids.com
• Shape – Diamond from JumboColoring.info
• Letter – C from JumboColoring.info
• Number – 3 from ColoringPagesSpot.com
  
• Nursery Rhyme – Pussy Cat Pussy Cat from BlueBonkers.com
  

Click this image to be taken to my board on Pinterest that contains all the cute crafts, activities, and printables to support this lesson (I add more as I find them so they are not all depicted in this image).

Below is the recommended reading list, provided by the creator of this lesson plan, as well as any resources that might be helpful to the lesson. You don’t need to order any of these items to have a successful lesson, but if you’d like to add to your child’s library … well, here they are. Click on the images to order directly from one of the most trusted online shopping websites, Amazon.com:

I hope these things help you. And I hope you will check back often to follow our journey.

PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

AIW ² Home School Club ~ Lesson 1.2

Tags

2 Year Old, AIW² Home School Club, cartoon videos, coloring page, coloring pages, DIY, Easy, Guide, Home, little nut tree, Mother, Motherhood, Parent, Parenthood, Positive, Reinforcement, Responibility, Rewards, School, Tip, video playlist, YouTube

We’ve completed our 2nd week (Lesson 1.2).

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.2 Video Playlist ~This is the whole week’s playlist. If you click on the YouTube icon at the bottom of the playing screen, you will be taken to the playlist on YouTube.com.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.2 Coloring Pages

Just a note: These are the coloring pages I used. I either found them by following the links that Shelly had on her lesson plan or I Googled the subject and “coloring page”. You can do the same and find other pages for free if you don’t like the ones I’m including in this post.

• Theme – Jungle from Super Coloring.com
• Color – Green from Baby-SmartyPants.com
• Letter – B from JumboColoring.info
• Number – 2 from ColoringPageSpot.com
• Nursery Rhyme – I Had A Little Nut Tree from PreKinders.com

Click this image to be taken to my board on Pinterest that contains all the cute crafts, activities, and printables to support this lesson (I add more as I find them so they are not all depicted in this image).

Below is the recommended reading list, provided by the creator of this lesson plan, as well as any resources that might be helpful to the lesson. You don’t need to order any of these items to have a successful lesson, but if you’d like to add to your child’s library … well, here they are. Click on the images to order directly from one of the most trusted online shopping websites, Amazon.com:

I hope these things help you. And I hope you will check back often to follow our journey.

PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

AIW ² Home School Club ~ Lesson 1.1

Tags

2 Year Old, AIW² Home School Club, cartoon videos, chalk board, coloring page, DIY, Easy, Guide, Home, Mother, Motherhood, Parent, Parenthood, Positive, Reinforcement, Responibility, Rewards, School, Tip, video playlist, YouTube

Ava & I made it through our first full week of AIW² Home School Club with flying colors. I feel like she really enjoyed herself in her new classroom. She colored coloring pages everyday, which she is getting much better at with all the practice she is getting. I do have to admit that with each daily lesson, I did go on YouTube and found a short video or two that corresponded with that day’s lesson. For Instance, Monday requires that the weekly theme be introduced … last week was a  cow … I found a couple of cartoon videos that I showed her on Monday about cows. I don’t want to start putting her in front of the TV again, but she responds really well to videos with songs. That’s why I kept it to one or two short videos. I show them to her twice (once at the beginning of class, and once at the end of class) for the specific day they are required. Then I let the whole playlist loop and play in the background on the laptop so that she can hear the songs and music but  be working on something else (like a coloring page or practicing writing on the chalk board). That way during the day while we are doing things around the house (not in class), I can sing the songs to her and she kind of remembers some of the words.

Also, I don’t have any of the books that are in the book list that support the weekly themes. I did a search on YouTube and found a video of someone who narrated the book, so I included that in the playlist as well. I will probably do that every week.

You may choose not to use the videos as the original creator of this lesson plan did not. I just added them because I know Ava (being only 2 years old) responds well to them.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.1 Video Playlist ~This is the whole week’s playlist. If you click on the YouTube icon at the bottom of the playing screen, you will be taken to the playlist on YouTube.com.

AIW² Home School Club Lesson 1.1 Coloring Pages

Just a note: These are the coloring pages I used. I either found them by following the links that Shelly had on her lesson plan or I Googled the subject and “coloring page”. You can do the same and find other pages for free if you don’t like the ones I’m including in this post.

• Theme & Vocabulary Word – Cow &  Calf from ColoringPages101.com
• Shape – Square from LucyLearns.com
• Letter – A from ActivityColoringPages.com
• Number – 1 from KindergartenTeachersResource.com
• Nursery Rhyme – Hey Diddle Diddle from ReadingWithKids.com

Click this image to be taken to my board on Pinterest that contains all the cute crafts, activities, and printables to support this lesson (I add more as I find them so they are not all depicted in this image).

Below is a recommended reading list, provided by the creator of this lesson plan, as well as any resources that might be helpful to the lesson. You don’t need to order any of these items to have a successful lesson, but if you’d like to add to your child’s library … well, here they are. Click on the images to order directly from one of the most trusted online shopping websites, Amazon.com:

I hope these things help you. And I hope you will check back often to follow our journey.

PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

AIW ² Home School Club ~ Getting Started

Tags

2 Year Old, AIW² Home School Club, DIY, Easy, Guide, Home, Mother, Motherhood, Parent, Parenthood, Positive, Reinforcement, Responibility, Rewards, School, Tip

Last month, my oldest daughter turned 2 years old. Ava is in the “repeating stage” as in she has every Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, and Doc McStuffins episode she’s ever seen memorized … true story (hey at least they are educational cartoons). She can act out episodes without the television even being on. She’s learned a lot of words this way, but it’s obvious I’m putting her in front of the television a little too much (bad Mommy). I considered video taping it and loading it up on YouTube (which I still might do) because it’s so damned funny, but I haven’t for fear that I’ll get “hate-comments” about what a horrible mother I am for letting my child watch so much television. She’s very expressive and even does the facial expressions and hand gestures. I find it hilarious that she has all of this memorized like a little actress in the making. That kid is gonna go places!

I digress … I started feeling guilty about it and decided that since I’m a stay-at-home-mom, I should be doing more with her in regard to her language and education. I think it’s time to start teaching her the basics … the alphabet, numbers (she can already count to 10 without help thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), colors, nursery rhymes (she loves to sing Patty-Cake for anyone who will listen … I taught her that one), animals (she knows a good handful as well as the noises they make), etc.

So, I got on the inter-web and started doing some research. My first stop is always Pinterest (here’s my Homeschooling Idea board). This is the sort of thing I’m guilty of being cheap about … if I can make it or print it out myself at home, I refuse to go buy it … point being, you will find a lot of FREE resources here. I found a lady who has a 26 week lesson plan already put together (her link will be below, and I’ll follow it very closely as it’s the only one I found that I liked so far). Obviously, I’ll start looking for another one as we work through it and I’ll keep linking things.

My next step was finding a space to build this learning space for her. It just so happens that we have a loft/attic space in this house that we use for storage. Our landlord used to live in this house and was using the space as a play area for his nieces & nephews. It’s got an underwater mural painted all over the walls that I hate that I have been instructed not to paint over. But I decided to make due with what we have. This is the mostly finished product (I say mostly because I am going to be adding some items to the shelves … books, bins, learning toys, etc.).

Just a note: I am not a teacher and I don’t have a teaching education. I’m just a mom who is guilty of putting her child in front of the television for lack of a better idea. If you see a resource (flashcards or printables) that were created by me, it’s just because I was looking for something specific on the internet, probably found several things that had certain elements that I was looking for, but not all in the same resource, so I was inspired to create it myself.

I hope these things help you. And I hope you will check back often to follow our journey. Welcome to AIW² Home School Club!

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Getting Started

• How I Created Our Home School Space
• How To Make Your Own Chalk Board (Video & Blog Post Coming Soon)
• How To Make A Calendar Board (Video & Blog Post Coming Soon)
• The Lesson Plan I am using created by Shelly with Free Homeschooling 101 (Free)
• As instructed by Shelly in the lesson plan, I made a binder for myself and one for Ava to keep hard copies of everything in so we can go back and review easily. These are the printable binder covers I’m using by Lyndsey with A Year Of Many First. I was able to edit them to include our theme. (Free)
• Decor ~ ABC Flash Cards by Mr. Printables (Free)
• Decor ~ 123 Number Flash Cards by AIW² Home School Club (Free)
• Instead of getting a whole desk for her, I found one of these cute lap trays at Wal-Mart for $5. I tried to find it on their website, but I couldn’t.

I just added a new tab where I will post everything so it will be easy for you to find if you want to use anything we are doing, AIW ² Home School Club. I will be adding more resources almost daily as we work through the lesson plan (which I plan to start tomorrow), so please check back. I’m just getting started 🙂

 

PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

Ava’s Chore Chart ~ Part 1

Tags

2 Year Old, Chart, Chores, DIY, Easy, Guide, Mother, Motherhood, Parent, Parenthood, Positive, Potty, Reinforcement, Responibility, Rewards, School, Tip, Training

Now that Ava is 2 years old, there are several significant milestones we are trying to work on and I feel like a chore chart is the best way to help with that.

1. I’m trying to get her potty trained.
2. I’m trying to teach her dental hygiene … she hasn’t quite mastered brushing her teeth and she has a mouthful of them.
3. She’s getting to be a picky eater and dinner time is usually a battle.
4. I’d like to teach her to help with picking up her toys.
5. I’m in the process (I hope to have it completed by the end of this weekend) of building a learning area upstairs where I am going to start teaching her basic things (ABC’s, counting, animals & sounds, colors, etc.) to go along with her once-a-week-Mother’s-Day-Out class that we pay for just for socialization purposes.
6. I’d like to get her to enjoy cooking with me (easy things like cookies).

I’m hoping it will also be a starting point in teaching her some responsibility as well. So I’ve been searching for inspiration on Pinterest. I think for her age and until we can get her used to this routine of doing things for herself, this method (by Sarah with Hefner Happenings) will work for us. I created mine in Microsoft on the computer so I could add some simple clipart pictures with each task since Ava can’t read yet. This is so she will start to associate the image with the task. I think we are going to start with stickers that way she can get excited about adding them to her chart every time she completes a chore. Also, I think we are going to start off with getting a reward at the end of each week. When she understands the whole thing, we can move her rewards to the end of each day.

Of course, as she masters some of these simpler tasks (potty training, brushing her teeth, eating dinner without a fight), I’ll swap them out for new chores. The same goes with her rewards. For now, this is the list of rewards I’ve printed out for her to choose from each week …

• Read A Book
• Have A Tea Party
• Go For A Wagon Ride
• Swing & Slide Outside
• Help Mommy Bake Something
• Play A Game
• Color
• Have A Picnic In The Backyard
• Make A Card For Someone
• Paint Your Toes
• Blow Bubbles
• Draw On The Driveway With Sidewalk Chalk
• Learn A New Song
• Go Out For Ice Cream
• Swim In The Backyard (Kiddie pools start at around $10 at Wal-Mart)
• Pick Flowers
• Build A Fort In The Living Room
• Draw On The Bathtub Walls With Bath Crayons At Bath Time
• Take A Bubble Bath (you can add, “In Mommy & Daddy’s {garden} tub if you have one for extra excitement ~ makes them feel like they are in a special swimming pool in the house)
• Stay Up An Extra 30 Minutes (or 1 hour, my 2 year old doesn’t understand the concept of time yet so 30 minutes is plenty for her)
• $1 For My Piggie Bank (she has to put this in her piggie bank to save … until she’s old enough for me to teach her about money, I’m not letting her have any of this money).
• Get A New Toy (set a price limit of $5 or $10 … at the resale shop, that way it’s easy to find something under your limit)

I just created a simple 2 column table in Microsoft Word to make these, printed them on card stock paper, cut them, put them in a mason jar I already had, and printed out a cute label to go on the jar using address labels we had in the office. Once she starts to understand the concept of chores & rewards, we will probably try a new method (and of course I’ll keep you posted when we do).

PLEASE TAKE ONE SECOND TO VOTE FOR ME!!! All you need to do is click on the banner in the sidebar to the right to register a vote for me! You can vote one time every 24 hours from every computer and cell phone! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! I really appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

Is This The Answer To Defending Our Children?

Tags

Adam Lanza, Amish, Charles Carl Roberts, Cho Seung Hui, Colorado, Columbine, Columbine High School, Connecticut, current-events, Dylan Klebold, Eric Harris, Guard, Gun, Gun Control, Lancaster, Militia, Newton, Parenthood, Pennsylvania, politics, Sandy Hook Elementary School, School, Shooting, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Volunteer, Weapon

I’ve posed an interesting suggestion/solution on my Facebook page for discussion and would like to bring it up here as well. Before I start I must say this first, I don’t want this to turn into a debate about gun control. I whole-heartedly support the sanctity of every American’s Civil Rights, including the Second Amendment. With that said, there’s no question in my mind that some weapons have no business being in the hands of the general public. However, if some psycho wants to walk into a school and start shooting the place up, he’ll find a way (legal or not) to get his hands on the weapons he wants. All that aside …

Last weekend over breakfast with family, the subject of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy came up. My father-in-law posed what I thought was a very interesting suggestion/solution … maybe we should allow organized groups to be formed (made up of parents of students of the schools) to voluntarily undergo proper tactical security training and stand guard at the schools … sort of like a PTA, but for security. Of course, they’d have to go through background and psych evaluations … maybe the local police forces could voluntarily help oversee this. This would also take the pressure off some already thinly spread police forces. The group members would be allowed to carry holstered weapons, but again, they’d have to go through the proper training. Maybe the local police officers could also volunteer to help with training.

What are your thoughts?

Would you volunteer?

I’ve recently heard on the news that there have been an estimated 70 school shootings in the United States since the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1995 … don’t you think that’s too many?

Just a few of the most notorious school shooters since 1995.

I am scared shitless of what the future holds for my baby girls. These are our schools … a safe place where we leave the safety of our children in someone else’s hands so that their minds and personalities can be molded and they can thrive into the adults we hope they will live to become. Don’t our children deserve a better solution?

Don’t forget to find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.

Reflecting On The Past

Tags

Ainsley, ava, Blessings, Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Mommy, Parenthood, Reflection, Reinvention, Singlehood, SweetReagan

I found my really old blog from my single days by accident this morning. It only took reading a few entries for me to realize how much my life has changed … for the better for sure. I was so lost and just not on a good place in life. I probably should have been on medication, but I think I was trying to avoid that by getting that mess out of my head.

I’m not saying my life is perfect now. I honestly completely forgot that this blog even existed. I toyed with the idea of deleting the whole account. But I think it’s good sometimes to look back on old letters (journals, or blogs) and things like this to remind myself of all the things that I’ve been through that got me to this place right now. No, I don’t have the perfect marriage, a big fancy house, or even some fantastically exciting career … but I don’t have to go far to realize how blessed I am right now. My daughters are my world and it’s hard to remember what my life was like before I decided to become a Mommy. There is actually meaning in my life now … a reason to get up in the morning, something to be proud of at the end of every day and I feel more love in my heart for my girls than I ever have about anything or anyone in my whole life. CRAP, I just made myself cry. I shouldn’t write entries like this. GEEZ.

Until next time, this has been a real housewife in Houston moment.