Ambition transforming into Confidence

I'm in 100% planning mode, I have books ALL OVER our house, stacks in each room. There are children's French books, my French books, books that I pick up to read a paragraph or two before I'm called to assist in some way, books about our Medieval studies and other books we're using for 2nd grade. My dh, bless his heart, said our house looks like it's bursting from the seams in books and notebooks. "Isn't a beautiful thing, honey?"

I had all our Medieval books on our kitchen table, stacked and ready to reference as I put together a "teacher's manual" for myself and he asked me, "when is your test?" Lol. In about 2 months and honestly I can't wait. Everything feels much more cohesive and knowing that we'll be using books that reside with us is exciting! No more stress about when the library books are coming, when they are due, etc. Here's a sneak peak at the schedule that I'll post when I'm done.

The Glory That Was Rome - Chapter 1

c Peril and Peace: Chrysostom, Bible, Jerome
c Roman Myths by Geraldine McCaughrean
c Childcraft’s Places to Know: pg. 199, 126, 290, 216, 123
c Mythology of the World: Ancient Rome pg. 44-50
c How Children Lived- p.16-17 Growing Up in the Roman Empire
c The Ancient World (Kingfisher) p. 76-87
c Kingdoms and Empires p. 28-37 Rise-Fall of Rome
c Activity: Eat Like A Roman Soldier, Roman Empire from a Carpet View

Library: c Rome Antics by David MacCaulay
c United Streaming or DVD: Ancient Civilizations: Rome

Our history lessons will consist of reading a little more than what we've been doing this year but I hope it will make things click more for Camille. We're going to keep track of the people we study by doing biographies on the major players, we have many more books to "look" at than we did for Ancients and more Mom-friendly activities! I am very excited!

I am an ambitious person, I can't help it. Ideas are bouncing around in my head all the time and I have to figure out which ones are worth pursuing and which ones are best left as ideas. Studying French in my mind is a big undertaking, especially as a non-native beginning learner. I am diligently trying to find a tutor for myself and my children and determine whether going back to college in the fall is doable. The one thing I have decided is to sell The Easy French Jr. and Level 1. This is a hard decision for me, I haven't bought and sold curriculum yet but after I made the decision, everything seems easier!

I want learning French to be fun and I have more than enough resources right now. It's just organizing them all to be the most effective. So I'm creating a "game plan" or a sequence of concepts to cover with my children. Here's a sampling of what I'm doing:

1. Numbers 0-10
a. Ask How Many? How Much?
b. Play number/counting games
- Chutes & Ladders
- I'm thinking of a number between 0-10, what is it?
- Counting within books (Ten Little Ladybugs, etc.)

2. Numbers 11-20
a. Ask How Many? How Much?
b. Try simple math addition/subtraction problems with # 0-10
c. Flash cards 0-20 with french words
d. Thinking number game 0-20

3. Alphabet
a. ABC song
b. Use videos
c. Use books
d. Make an ABC book, list words alphabetically as we learn them

4. Colors
a. Ask- What color is that/this?
b. Candyland (with numbers in French)
c. I spy game
d. Books/Dvds/Songs

It's a basic outline, but I intend to pull all of our resources and fill in what to use and when. There's a lot more we will cover, including basic conversation and I am still talking to my children in French when I can. My ambition to teach my children French has finally met confidence. Confidence is such a nice quality, it makes those butterflies in the stomach go away, it helps to move the journey forward.

SpongeBob French phonic books bought from Ebay. Of course, I'd rather them NOT be Spongebob Squarepants but Camille was bonkers about these and if it'll help her and me, I don't mind trying them.

The books pictured at top are a set of toddler french books that will help with the outline I have above.

Being able to read french websites has opened another world to me filled with support and information. It's nice to be able to know how to shop Amazon.fr and have a better idea of exactly what I'm looking at. I haven't bought anything from Amazon.fr since ordering a book in English from there but I have accomplished a "wishlist" so that I can determine if there's a better price elsewhere or if I "really, really" want the item in the wishlist. Things I'm still looking for:

• French music to listen to for enjoyment
• Children's book of poems (I have found a few that I think I like)
• Children's music

I know that when and if I feel I need curriculum, that I want a reading/writing/speaking program for Camille. Until then we're going to build up our vocabulary and just have fun. I love it when my confidence catches up to my ambition, it makes things exciting!

Have a great day!