Traditions and Senses

Woke up this morning with the fear that Christmas is almost here, inching its way closer.  My little super hero is counting down.  Thanks to a Micky Mouse count down ornament.  That never made it back in the Christmas box.

So I called on my trusty friend Flylady. She has been there for me when I begin to freak out about our home.  I can recall doing this for the few years.  Why have I never actually used one of these journals.  I think because I jump in with all these ideas and burn out.   This year baby steps, one thing at a time.  I will also involve my family and put what I have created in the Christmas Box so I can just call on it when needed.


So as I began to read through FlyLady’s Holiday Control Journal.  She wrote,

"Always remember that memories you create with your traditions are reflected in all
of your senses: Sight, sound, feel, taste and smell."

Wow what a great place to start.  This is what I am working on today with Prince Charming and the kids.


How do your traditions reflect on your senses?

Family Child Care: Learning Goals

I began to think of the curriculum I wanted for the kids.  There are so many things I want to teach them and I feel like I have had not a plan to go off of.  So I thought about the goals C brought home from preschool and   the Montessori activities I wanted them to know.  This is what I can up with.

Everyday Life Activities:

Pouring

Washing: self, dishing, clothes, toys, and chores 

Tying shoes

Dressing

Folding

Cooking

* There are so many more that we will be working on I will add as I think of them.  

Math:

Count, recognize, and math numbers 1-30

Classifying items by color, shape, and size

Terms: more, less, over, under, above, and below

Shapes: square, circle, triangle, rectangle, oval, diamond

Colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Black, Brown

Basic adding and subtracting 

Reading:

Picture sequence to tell a story

Prediction about stories from the title and pictures

Print and recognize thier name

Letter sound 

Calendar use

Writing:

Print name

invent spelling 

Science:

Textures 

Senses

Weight

Measurement

Water

Seasons

Weather

Physical: 

Body Parts, their function and caring for our bodies

Run, jump, hop, gallop, skip, and dance

I will try to link them from this page to the page in my blog.  I am just learning all this cool blog stuff so stay with me while I figure this out.  

Do you use a theme when when you teach or just mix it up?

Laundry Habit

I have been working on this habit since August.  I am determined to get a handle on it.  Laundry!!!!  I takes over in a matter of days.  I have been trying to do a load a day.  But then there are days I totally forget.  I don't like to do it on the weekends, as they are so busy and I want us to be able to hang out Daddy-O. Now in the past one load a day has just meant washed and dried.  I have been known to let clean clothes sit in a laundry basket.  It is no fun to have to be digging for something to wear and it doesn't help the children learn.  So here is what I have come up with.  I do a small load everyday.  By doing this it will only take minutes to fold and put away and the kids aren't to overwhelmed.  Since I don't want to do it on the weekends.  We do two load on Monday or Friday.

• Before coffee or while its brewing throw the load.  Side note: I really like to have this ready the night before as that has been an excuse to not it, it the room and everyone is sleeping in there.  I am not going to wake them up,  it can wait.  Oops now I didn't get it done and the whole day is thrown off.  
• Change the load as the kids breakfast is starting, also starting a timer is helpful. I have also had the kids help hang it out while we are waiting for breakfast to heat. ( remember this is a small load so it only takes a few minutes.
• After breakfast, kitchen clean up, and the kids have cleaned themselves up we grab the load and fold and put away.  I have picture labels on their drawers so they know where things go and all shirts get hung up. Even the others help out as they are part of our "Family". 

It has been hard for me to let them fold towels as they come out looking sideways and a little messy.  After taking with Daddy-O we are just going to let them look like that.  The kids will get better as time goes on.  This way I don't have to make them feel bad by doing it over and it saves me time too. 

I love it when I can tell C to get dressed and he doesn't have to say I can't because I don't have  any undies or socks.  Or he can wear his favorite shirt 3 times in a week. 

Now to tackle matching socks any suggestions?  

Master Bedroom: Flying

Teaching the kids care for their things has just began to weigh on my.  I don't know if it is because I am getting older, the kids, or that there are always people over.  I want out home to be a place we can always turn to to have a good time and to be there when we need a break.

The kids and I just cleared the floor in my room and you should have seem them.  It was like a new room!  They began to dance, snuggle, read.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in this room.  It is one of the brightest rooms in the house and it was a nice day out.  C was so proud of the work they had did.  He kept saying look how nice it looks. I hope by having our routines in place and sticking to them, we can have this feeling in every room and not to feel like we always need to clean.  Remember how I said my toilet is always clean because I clean it when I go in and now its something I don't even know I am doing.  Just another thing that gets done when using the bathroom.  I hope my other habits take over like this.

Pretending to Move- Flylady Style

As you know I have been decluttering and getting ride of the things we don't love or need. We are blessing other families by giving it away. I find myself thinking, "Oh if I would have kept that stuff I could have sold it and had the cash", but then I think of the families that are blessed to have it.

With that said Flylady suggested we pretend like we are moving. In an email she sent, she said "If we had to pay a dollar per pound to move, how much clutter could you get rid of?" I thought about it and I looked around and began thinking if we were to really have to move what are the things I would have to take? I am in the process of making a list of those things and getting rid of the other stuff.

Let me know if you have done this? Or How you got rid of things when moving?

I become overwhelmed with the kids stuff, mostly their toys that lay around. I don't want to just toss their belongings. So we have made a deal if they want to keep they have to show me they love it by taking care of it, that means putting it back in the designated place ( its home). I try to remind them to pick up which I sometimes forget. :( In which we all clean up quickly.

How do you get your kids pick up? Have you tossed their toys if left out?

Remove the clutter, see the smile

Flylady was right when she said you can not organize your clutter.  My home was full no one knew where to put things. So they would just get moved to another spot or end up in a box or bag stuffed some where.  Nothing had a home.  I have made a list of the areas I want to work on and I spend a little bit of time in that area a few times a week. Never spending longer than 30 minutes. So do not take out more than that!!! I set the timer.  Flylady says this is very important and I did not believe that till this time around.  I go much faster when the time is on.  I have three bags set up.  Those canvas reusable ones.  Flylady sells the some. But I use these as they are easier for me to walk around with and I have a smaller amount to put away.  The bags are for donation, trash, and put away.  The put away has been taking me a little longer.  I seem to have a lot of the kids  memory stuff to put away.  I will start to do that right away now, instead of let it pile up.

For a long time I was keeping stuff just because I may need it later.  I have had to let this go. If I need it later then I guess I will go get it.  I haven't needed it yet.  And if I don't care for it.  Then why have it crowding my family. I told you that I was bringing my stuff to a home for women and children.  If at one time I thought I needed it then another women may need it now.  This thought has really helped the kids and I clear out our home.  There is still a lot to be done.  But in small steps.

So that is how I am removing the clutter from my home.  There is a new found love for my home when I can see the clear table tops and the floor.  I am not saying the kids toys are always off the floor nor do I want them to be but they are loved toys and played with.  They have a home and the kids know where they go.

I'm Flying

Have you every heard of " The Flylady"? She is this wonderful women who at a hard time in her life turned it around and is now helping people all over the world do so. She has really helped me figure this whole wife/mom/homemaker thing out.

When I first started staying home I was looking for a guide on how to keep it all together. How to run a successful home. I came across the site and it was really helpful. I was still a little overwhelmed at home to put it all together. I would do some of the steps sometimes. I did not truly get how to do the Zones until I was done removing the clutter in one room.

Some of the zones I am able to, but others I am still decluttering. I feel as if this will never end, I know it will because that is how I felt a while ago when I gave up. Since then I have been making weekly trips to the local women shelter. They will take it all. So I do not have to sort it out. The kids are really getting in to it. A few times C has come up to me and said "I think another kid would like this, can we drop it off?" I know that what I am doing it making a difference in them.