Fire Safety Field Trip

Firefighter dressed completely, they turned on the air tanks and talked through their speakers. I'm so glad they did that because as a child, I would be scared of a giant figure walking towards me breathing and talking like an alien. Lol.

The kids holding hands, waiting to enter the smoke house to simulate how to safely get out in case of a fire. Danny is still pointing at our smoke detectors and teaching us to crawl out!

Camille is whizzing past me and Danny is crawling behind her. He has red eye from the camera.

Now here's the demonstration that we witnessed, sorry about the picture quality- it's from my digital camera.

Simplicity works, who knew?

In front of me, other than my computer screen is the bulletin board that has our human body lessons planned out, our year at a glance and our first quarter spreadsheet as well as our daily routine that I refer to. I love my spreadsheets that I can glance at and know what to do next without having to drag out a notebook or the actual books and do on the spot planning.

I reworked Camille's Nobility Record to have check boxes and listed out what she needed to do in a day, including chores and areas that needed focused on with her behavior/character. I've been revamping that 1 form every week for the last 4 weeks. I'm done.

Today, I put notebook paper in the front of her first quarter notebook and wrote: Monday, November 10 at the top. Then I wrote, Independent Work and listed out what she could do on her own. Under that I wrote out Together Work, Chores and Errands.

With just a pen and paper, I can write out as many details I want or just do the broad strokes. I can list the things that we need to do after lessons such as errands so that she understands that we have other stuff to do. It also provides me clarity. Who knew it could be so simple? (Rhetorical!) We crossed out what she/we did as the tasks were accomplished and each day I will write down what needs to be done the next day. No fancy form to print out, no spreadsheet finagling.

Oh, Times Tales was great today- Camille went through Part 1 and memorized all the little stories and best of all- had fun. She can't wait to do it again tomorrow. Also Danny is drawing faces! Not only that, he is speaking in longer and more complicated sentences, truly communicating. I wish I knew if it was maturity or the effect of preschool (or a combination) but I won't linger on that too long, I'm just happy to see him progressing!

A fabulous friend (everyone should have a friend like this) sent me her copy of Math-U-See's Beta TM, DVD and Student Text, Camille and I will work on a few lessons. The ones from Beta I want to try with her are:
Lesson 12- Adding Money; Mental Math
Lesson 13- Column Addition
Lesson 14- Measurement, 12 Inches = 1 Foot
Lesson 15- Perimeter; Fact Review

We're going to start tomorrow and then do Times Tales afterwards, I want to see how we like Math-U-See. It presents concepts in a different way than Camille has been taught, which I think will be good for her and me.

Nobility Record Revisited

Last year in 2nd grade, I created a Nobility Record for Camille but I also created a rewards system which made it difficult for me to keep up with it. I don't have time to keep track of points and what not. I've revamped it to fit what we're doing now and each day Camille will maintain her checklist. The reward will be a job well done as well as whatever we can comfortably do that week. It's the same stuff that Camille enjoys, painting her nails, playing a board game, etc. so the reward part won't be as difficult as I previously made it.

Here is her new Nobility Record which I created with a spreadsheet.

My plan is to meet with her each week and discuss areas that need improvement, to praise her for her hard work and show her my appreciation as well as reminding her that I am paying attention. I've included key areas that I feel she needs to work on as well as areas that she does well so each day will have it's ups and downs. This is one way I'm preparing her to work a little more independently.

Can Learning be FUN?

The top two yellow inflatable dice with black numbers are what I found in an education store before I saw Math for Kicks at ($4.99) Tuesday Morning. Math for Kicks includes the black dice, the red and yellow one with stars and the cards below, plus game instructions, and sidewalk chalk for playing outside.


I am so happy with Math for Kicks, we're having a lot of fun! What a lifesaver. We can use it for drill, play it just for fun- which both Danny (3) and Camille (7) are loving. Safetyville Child's Safety Game - I bought this from D.A.R.E. officers while visiting my parents. We also have the Safe Side DVD on Stranger Safety which has been a HUGE hit at our house. Camille and I played the Safetyville game and it is great, I can also play it with Danny with a preschool focus- added bonus!

There are three sets of questions Beginner (for ages 3-7), Intermediate (7-10) and Advanced (10-13). Preschoolers can also use the game to get familar with key places in their town such as the fire department, police department, etc.

Questions range from stranger safety, keeping secrets, safe practices in the home (chemicals, outdoor dangers, etc.)- it's very wide in it's range.

These are awesome! I just wanted to say...well-worth the $35.00. TeachersDiscovery.com

Rewarding Good Habits- A Plan

As you may know, I have created a housecleaning schedule and a daily nobility record for Camille I am ready for 2nd grade! Uh, so what do I do to motivate Camille to strive for excellence in these areas? Is praise and a job done well enough? Sticker charts haven’t worked in the past. Hmmm.

Do you ever just feel that God is continually guiding and blessing you? I’ve felt this way lately when it comes to our homeschool. I just finished reading Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire by Rafe Esquith, which a wonderful book if you’re interested in reading about teaching, he has wonderful ideas that he’s put into practice. I’m about to borrow one of his ideas and shape it for our use.

He created an economic system in his class room (forgive me if I explain this wrong, the book has already been returned to the library) where he gave his students so many points for completing their work and other things but they also had to use their points to pay rent for their desk and had the option of paying for little treats here and there or saving their points (money) until the end of the year to purchase a really great item. I’ve really mucked that up but I hope you get the gist of it.

Okay, the Daily Nobility Record has 25 items on it daily that can be awarded 1 point. The questions at the bottom, Were you kind?, Obey 1st Time? etc.will be answered everyday for a possible point a day. You may need to see the Nobility Record to understand, link is above at the beginning of this post.

In addition to the 25 points a day that are available, there are 3 chore points. Other than the daily everyday chores that Camille is to do like make her bed, put away her clothes, etc. she’ll have 3 chores that she chooses each week to complete from our list of weekly chores (our household is split into daily, weekly and monthly cleaning chores). With these 3 chores that she chooses to do, she has to:

1. The task is done the first time she’s asked, she only gets 1 reminder a day.
2. The task is completed without whining or complaining.
3. The task is done to the best of her ability the first time.

These are based on our House Rules, linked on the right hand column under Parenting & Organization. Our house rules are scripture based.

Only 3 chores a week came from Mrs.CleanJean’s Housekeeping for Kids where Tara Aronson said that a child’s age can be a determining factor for how many chores a week they can/should be responsible for. Just take the child’s age and divide by 2 and that is how many chores you can expect your child to accomplish without overload in a week’s time. Now Camille is my oldest and she helps a LOT with Danny (3) so I’ve been a little lenient on her when it comes to the 1.,2.,3. I have listed above. I realize this is a disservice to her so I’m changing that. Okay, back to the points system. Each day there is a total of 28 points to be earned.

We have roughly 42 weeks of school this coming year so 42 weeks x 5 days a week = 210 days, 210 days x 28 points available per day = 5880. Okay so 5880 points are available in the 42 weeks. Now to set up rewards based on this.

The points are able to be saved or spent, depending on Camille. If she saves them, she’ll have a better reward or she can choose to spend them as she gains them and have a smaller reward. It’s up to her. This will teach the importance of delayed gratification, long-term savings, perseverance and patience.

100 points: 1 hour later bedtime or other privilege at home
200 points: A new purchase of her choice with a $20 limit (within reason)
500 points: A selection of one public entertainment venue (movie theatre, play, Chuckee Cheese, etc.)
1000 points: A ‘Camille’ Day where she will be able to choose 3 things she’d like to do or places to go.
4500 points: A trip to a fairly local amusement park of choice or equivalent prize.

Yes, there are 5800 points available and yes I’m allowing for 1300 points to be wasted or spent otherwise during the 42 weeks. The grand prize has to be achievable, if it’s not - what’s the point? Now the above things I have listed are for Camille only, if she were to cash in her points for a selection of one public entertainment venue, this would be for her only not the entire family. Trips to Chuckee Cheese with Danny and the family do not count towards her points, these are family excursions. The awards for the points may need to be adjusted and will if necessary but for now it’s what I think she’ll respond to.

Camille will be ultimately responsible for keeping record of her points, they will be recorded on our calendar but the math portion of it is her responsibility. Each week she has the opportunity to earn 140 points which she may choose each week to spend or save. Her reward is up to her for her vigilance and duty. I will discuss the rewards with her to make sure they are to her liking but they will be progressively better with the amount of points saved.

In a small way I feel guilty that Camille is the guinea pig for such experiments but I credit God for the inspiration that has put this on my heart. There is very little precious time to instill good habits! Danny will have the benefit of the trial and error of Camille, he already does. He cleans up all his toys before bedtime without fuss, knowing that this is expected of him. We've done the sticker chart before but I think this will teach much more, I'll share how it goes each week in our Weekly Report that I will post each week here to document our 2nd grade journey.

Fire Safety and other Safety Lessons

I forgot to put in our manners and safety lessons (or discussions) into my little teacher's plan in a few posts below. These are important, especially safety issues. We have The Safe Side DVD and the kids love it! I highly recommend this DVD to EVERY household with children, there are forms to print on the DVD to use with your children.

Fire Safety

1. Check your local library for books like Stop Drop and Roll by Margery Cuyler to read to your children and discuss your own plan of action.

2. The U.S. Fire Administration website has print-outs to use and online games. Don't forget, if you're a homeschool you can request free materials like

Sesame Street Fire Station: this teachers' activity book and the accompanying cassette of songs and stories helps educators reach preschoolers with simple, memorable fire safety messages. The kit also includes one reproducible coloring book and one wall poster. The kit is only available to preschools, fire departments and individuals who home school young children. Home school requests may be made by calling (301) 447-1189. USFA reserves the right to limit order quantities.

3. Fire Safety for Teachers - Lesson plans, home strategies and even a science lesson!


Stranger Danger & Other Safety Resources

1. The Safe Side video linked above is hard to beat but don't forget to get a free Child Safety ID Kit either from your local police department or from this website.

2. The Polly Kaas Foundation also has Free Child ID Kits as well as other resources at their website. It would be wise to print out their tips for Home Safety, Water Safety, Roller Skating, Fire, Guns, Internet among others.

We keep our children home, let's keep them safe at home! If you have guns in your home, please be sure to teach gun safety and responsibility. Please consider taking CPR training.

You can find free resources by contacting your local police station, fire station and community health centers as well as googling the subject. You don't need a curriculum to keep your children safe.

Manners Made Easy

I can't help it, I received this in the mail today and I have to share. Especially because I know we can't always see what we're buying before we buy it. Somehow I've been very blessed in what I've purchased.
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Manners Made Easy by June Hines Moore
Link is to Timberdoodle which has it at $7.75 right now.

The workbook is designed to be everything you need in one for students aged 7-12. It could be used for younger students but would be best for students who can utilize fill-in-the-blanks worksheets well. There is a teacher section and student section. The student section is perforated and has plenty of margin to photocopy and three-hole punch for a notebook. The author grants permission for use in home or church school classrooms. This workbook was designed to be able to use for multiple children, perfect for homeschooling families. This can also be used in Christian or secular classrooms, the author provided a Bible Study lesson separate from the main lesson for those who wish to have a secular approach.

There are a total of six lessons which cover:

Who Needs Manners Anyway?

How to Introduce Myself
How to Introduce Others
Telephone Manners
Writing Thank-you notes
Table Manners

Additional Information

Mouth manners and other courtesies
Saying No without saying thank you

The Word from the Author offers some very sound advice on how to approach the subject of good manners with our children and what our objectives should be. Learning styles have been considered and a range of approaches are included: role-playing, working in teams, personalizing lessons, watching demonstrations, performing hands-on tasks, brain-storming and taking quizzes.
There is also a word of caution on how not to teach good manners.

A look inside Lesson One: Who Needs Manners Anyway?
Lesson Overview: the topics discussed for this lesson
Supplies Needed: for this lesson two or three styrofoam balls, toothpicks
About This Lesson: A note to the teacher/parent

What Manners Are All About- Discuss the first student page with students.
Included is a quote about manners. This area allows the students to share what they think about manners before being taught.

Object Lesson: What do you know about porcupines?

Then a German fable about porcupines illustrates the importance of manners.

Activity: Create porcupines and discuss the importance of manners further.
Q&A: Read a short passage to the students and ask short narration-type questions. These same questions will be on their quiz to come.

Etiquette: Our Ticket to Success

A little history about the word etiquette.

Activity: practice saying the word etiquette properly
Lesson: A wonderful narrative that offers an example of good manners.
Teaching Tip: In case you're having trouble.

Rules of Etiquette (Manners) Have Reasons:

Explaining a little more to the students.

Q&A: Question to use for brain-storming or in-teams. They will make a permanent chart, poster or list on the board of what they consider to be good manners.

Then the Lesson One Quiz is listed in the Teacher's area with answers.

The Lesson One Bible Study is also in the teacher's area. It is simply Key Scripture Reference, Bible Lesson, and Bible Quiz. The teacher/student sheet is the same so that they can work together.

This is something that I would cover one lesson a week, separating the regular lesson from the Bible lesson to do two days of the same week. It could easily be done all at once but I'd prefer to get as much exposure as possible.

For those who want something for their 3-6 year olds, check out this link to ClubMom