Preschoolers and Peace Break
By Kendra | July 1, 2009
“Without large blocks of silence and solitude we are in danger of losing the very best things that people desire to draw from us.”
~Gail Mac Donald, High Call, High Privilege
♥
See you in August. Get thee to a beach!
Topics: Musings and Miscellany | 6 Comments »
The Office is Finished!
By Kendra | June 29, 2009
Only took me four months. But see? It’s just this season of life we’re in. The tyranny of the urgent is how things are.
The countertops are concrete, custom built by the friend of a friend. They are smooth and easy to write on, but rats- they don’t keep themselves tidy automatically.
And this part is my favorite: starfish knobs that make me think “beach“…
Topics: Home Organization, Life with Preschoolers | 12 Comments »
Vision Forum Curriculum Sale
By Kendra | June 25, 2009
I received an ad in my inbox for a curriculum sale at Vision Forum, now through July 1st. Save up to 60% off resources like Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, and R.M. Ballantyne books.
Topics: Educating at Home, Resources | 4 Comments »
Did You Think Your Child’s Faith Depended on You?
By Kendra | June 24, 2009
We named our third daughter an unusual name, much beloved from a family friend. That sweet friend recently sent me a book that has been wonderful food for thought. The book is Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, and was written by Jodie Berndt.
I have been contemplating regeneration lately. You know, it isn’t our work, it’s squarely Christ’s. We were dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2) but He breathed life into our lifelessness and He will do the same for our children if they are His.
Jodie writes:
“The sooner we realize that it is not about what we do but about what God does, the sooner we will stop focusing on ourselves and our shortcomings, and begin focusing on God and His power. Likewise, the sooner we quit worrying about doing our part, the sooner we can start rejoicing in the fact that God is doing His part. And the sooner we can recognize that God is at work, the sooner we can jump in and join Him.”
Topics: Life with Preschoolers, Nurturing Moms, Resources | 10 Comments »
Marvelous Monday- PHONICS
By Kendra | June 22, 2009
Our Marvelous Monday series ends today, but you can view all the posts if you haven’t caught up. Click on “Cheryl” to read Cheryl’s posts, and click on “Kendra” to read mine. Brilliant, isn’t it???
Preschool and Kindergarten Cheryl Kendra
Foreign Languages Cheryl Kendra
Handwriting and Spelling Cheryl Kendra
English and Grammar Cheryl Kendra
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Phonics has been a fairly natural ebb and flow kind of subject in our home. I find it easy to point out sounds and letters just as we go about our daily life, saying something like, “Let’s put on your red shirt. R-r-r-e-e-d-d. Do you hear that ‘R’? It makes the Rrrrrrr sound.” I point to letters in print or play rhyming games fairly naturally as we go about life.
For formal phonics, however, we use TATRAS. I wrote a wee bit about this program in my post on preschool and kindergarten materials. TATRAS has been a thorough program for us, so much so that I gave the phonics chart a permanent place on our schoolroom wall.
I refer to the chart often in the elementary years because my budding spellers need reminders of what consonant blends make which sounds, etc. And it seems as if I’m teaching someone to read around here every other year or so :) In fact, although I don’t love teaching reading, I am looking forward to helping my daughters and daughters-in-law with their little ones as they begin to learn to read.
TATRAS begins with a little booklet called The Penny Primer, in which the first eight letters are learned and 43 words are decoded. It’s exciting to get through that first booklet and be able to tell the child that they are reading!
When the entire TATRAS program has been completed, the child is a strong reader, has learned all the necessary phonograms to decode and read anything in the English language, and has had ample writing practice as well. I personally don’t stress the writing aspect of TATRAS, and if I have a child who is particularly aprehensive about writing I ignore it altogether.
Check out Cheryl’s final Marvelous Monday post here, and don’t forget to visit her blog after this series. She is a wise woman and I count myself very blessed to have her in my life.
Topics: Educating at Home, Resources, Reviews | 6 Comments »
Frugality, the Grocery Bill, and the Large Family, Part Four
By Kendra | June 20, 2009
Recently we talked about grocery bills and couponing and other sites that help me be a better manager of our money. There are places all over the web where the topics of frugality and simple living are thoroughly covered, and they do a much better job than I have. Still, there are a few more goodies I wanted to share with you before closing out this little series.
First of all, if you are a mom with a little people underfoot, do not beat yourself up if you cannot coupon. Ask the Lord to show you other ways to trim your grocery budget and He will faithfully provide you with the wisdom you need. We have a liquidation grocery store in the next town over and if I am nearby I like to pop in for screaming deals on dented cans and almost-expired items. I also like bakery stores where I can grab loaves of bread and toss them in the freezer in case I just can’t get to baking a loaf. Doing those two things could trim your grocery budget enough that you would probably do just fine not couponing in this season of your life.
Secondly, consider where you live. Several of you mentioned the high price of everything in New Zealand. The same goes for Hawaii. The last time I was there I almost fell over when I saw zucchini in the grocery store for over $7 a pound! The pineapples and papayas, however, were cheap 
The internet is an amazing place. I pay about $6 per package of diapers on Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program, and that’s better than some of the coupon deals I can get locally. Plus, Amazon delivers them for free.
Learn from other frugal geniuses. One such smarty pants is my friend Caroline, who recently redecorated their new home on a shoestring. It’s beautiful!
The classic handbook of frugality, however, is Amy Dacyczyn’s series called The Tightwad Gazette. It will get you looking at your spending habits in a whole new light (a better light, at that!) Some of what she includes could be considered extreme frugality, but one never knows when extreme frugality might become the difference between surviving and going completely under.
Lastly, if you don’t have a good budgeting system, I can’t recommend Pear Budget highly enough. For $3 per month, Pear Budget is a steal. Easy to use, completely customizable, utterly helpful.
Topics: Home Organization, Resources | 2 Comments »
How to Choose Curriculum
By Kendra | June 17, 2009
I haven’t written about Elizabeth Foss in a long time, but she is one of those homeschooling moms who have encouraged and fed me from afar. We’ve sent friendly emails now and then, but we’ve not met this side of glory. Still, I am utterly thankful for the impact she and her excellent book, Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home have had on me.
Consider her blog post today, Been There, Done That: The Seasonal Post on Choosing Curriculum. It’s a gem.
Topics: Educating at Home, Resources | 3 Comments »
TCHEN Conference
By Kendra | June 16, 2009
TCHEN’s annual conference will be held next weekend, June 26th and 27th at Santa Rosa Bible Church. For more info, see the TCHEN conference site.
I’ll be there, speaking on Organization and giving a new workshop for me, Practical Classical: Preparing Preschoolers, High Schoolers, and Everyone In-Between.
Will you be there? If so, please let me know!
Topics: Educating at Home, Resources | 9 Comments »
Marvelous Monday- PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN
By Kendra | June 15, 2009
I really don’t know anything about preschool or kindergarten materials. 
What I do know is that over the course of the past 16 years, we’ve used a lot, seen a lot, ditched a lot, and loved a lot. Because this is a subject that could garner a ridiculously long post for me, I thought I’d offer here only the things that have really worked for us. If you don’t see something mentioned, it’s likely because we either haven’t used it, or we have used it without success.
In the earliest years, I like to offer learning tools that are hands-on. Preschool attention spans are notoriously short, so if I can get ten or fifteen minutes out of one of these items, I am happy.
♥ Lauri Alphabet Puzzles are my favorite way to purposefully review the alphabet with a preschooler. The puzzle’s bumpy texture and bright colors allow the child to feel the letter, trace the letter with a finger or two, and associate colors as well.
Lauri also makes lower case alphabet puzzles, number play puzzles, and many others: cars, flowers, people, and play packs such as this one. The price is right, they’re pretty durable (ours have lasted over ten years), and the company will replace missing pieces. Incidentally, I love to put these away as birthday and Christmas gifts; they don’t know I’m sneaking “school” in that way.
♥ Wedgits are building blocks that are suited for little hands because they are larger and easier to hold. The pieces drop right into each other and stack in interesting geometric ways (aha! math!). Bonus: they can be thrown in the dishwasher. Another bonus: older kids like them, too.
♥ Wikki Stix allow preschoolers to bend the little waxy sticks into any shape, including letters (my older kids have been known to write messages to dad on the front door). Wikki Stix are quiet, mess-free, and intriguing. Perfect for the car or church, too!
♥ Big, fat crayons. I’m sure you’re familiar.
Preschool in Grammy and Pop Pop’s motorhome
♥ Kumon workbooks are a lovely little thing for preschoolers. Books range in subject from math to rhyming, cutting to tracing. Workbooks can get a bad rap in some homeschooling circles, but to my way of thinking, they are a nifty way to keep a preschooler happy, productive, and learning.
Our preschooler loves games, too. And pretty much anything with Charlie and Lola (including pink milk)
Kindergarten is simple here. I haven’t changed my approach too much with each child, except with the last two I have waited to teach reading. While I was busy helping the older kids, our fifth child decided she didn’t need me to teach her and she taught herself to read. She’s an amazing reader, so I’m not expecting the same from the others younger than she. It was quite a bonus though!
♥ We use TATRAS in our home. TATRAS stands for “Teach America to Read and Spell”. I love this approach, adore the man who authored the book, see huge and wonderful results, but I do wish it was laid out a little better. Don’t let the book scare you off; it’s a bit busy (ie, too many things going on each page), but it works and it works well. TATRAS employs the vertical phonics method, which you can read about here.
The reason I adore the author is that when I first began using TATRAS nine years ago, I was flabergasted to receive a phone call from him after I had purchased the program. He wanted to make sure I understood it and knew I could call him at any time if I had any questions. Six weeks later, he called me again to follow up. Now that’s a man who stands behind his product and believes in what he is doing.
♥ We jump right into Rod and Staff preschool, which is equivalent to kindergarten. Motor skills, letters, numbers, comprehension, and following directions are all covered in the series. These books are long on preparation and short on fluff. The illustrations are engaging and the work leads to really solid skills needed for first grade. They are also very reasonably priced.
Don’t forget to go see Cheryl’s Marvelous Monday post. We’ve only one left; these have been fun, haven’t they?
Topics: Educating at Home, Resources, Reviews | 16 Comments »
Questions, Answers, and Life
By Kendra | June 11, 2009
If you’ve emailed me recently to ask a question and haven’t heard back, please accept my apology. I’m swamped right now and need to focus on an eventful weekend ahead.
Cheryl and I have two more Marvelous Monday posts coming up, then I’ll get to answering those questions. But just a heads up- I may need to take July off
Topics: Musings and Miscellany | 5 Comments »
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