Kids Reading Update

I made this video by way of a progress report to see where we are at right now.  My children are not the product of any one reading program, rather their abilities are the result of Glenn Doman's teachings in his book "How to Teach Your Baby to Read".

You can never have too many children's books.  Over the years we have collected reading materials from various companies as well.  You don't have to go all out like we have to be successful.  I'm just an early learning junkie.  :)  The following all contribute to their reading skills.  This is not a comprehensive list, nor do we faithfully follow any of these programs religiously.  They are just a good place to get your feet wet.  This list is not meant to intimidate or overwhelm, but rather to serve as a reference for those looking for reading materials ideal for babies/toddlers/preschoolers.  We also read a lot of books.

Little Reader
Your Baby Can Read
MonkiSee
TweedleWink
Preschool Prep (Meet the Sight Words. Great apps!)
Starfall (including physical copies of the beginning readers)
Reading Bear
Sparkabilities (not directly a reading program).
Word World (Edutainment, but a fun introduction to spelling and phonics)
Rusty and Rosy (great music!)
Peter Weatherall DVDs (mostly science)

We also have homemade materials we draw from, such as Flip-up Cards and Bits of Intelligence.
For my older kids, we are simply finding materials at their level and read with them.  Patrick and Helen still do their formal reading with me.  Helen's favorite book this year was "The White Sea Horse" by Helen Cresswell.  Peter reads on his own and I periodically check in with him, ask him about the story-line, who the characters are, and clarify anything that may be confusing.  His favorite book this year has been Charlotte's Web.
Early learning has really made regular school so much easier!

 By the way, I made the text portions of the video using VideoMakerFX

Top 5 reasons to visit the BrillKids website

Our family truly loves BrillKids.
I've mentioned before why I love Little Reader, the Deluxe materials, Little Musician, and Little Math.  But these products are only a part of my journey with the company as I have followed them through the years.  After the products, Here is my top 5 list for why you should check the website out.

1.  The Forum!

Graduating debt free

I stumbled across an article from the Deseret News this morning about how to graduate from college debt free.  This is one thing my husband and I have in common- we both graduated from college with absolutely no debt from college.  What a blessing this has been for us in our marriage!  Perhaps a post on how we both did it would be of use to others, so I share our stories not to boast but to offer a testimonial that it can indeed be done.

Going Small

Update:  We did move into the 640 sq ft home


My husband and I have gone through quite the journey together in our marriage.  Our first apartment was a small attic with two bedrooms with slanted slopes.  It was a smart choice for us as it was only $350 a month and it was close to the university where I had one more year of school.  The only problem was that for the first time in our lives, we came face to face with the need to deal with all of our stuff.  In addition to the generous wedding gifts we received necessary to starting a new home, we each had our own stash of collectables from our childhood.  By the end of that first year, neither of our parents had any of our possessions left in their homes.  Furthermore, we knew we would up-size soon so we started buying furniture when we found stuff we liked on thrift. It was starting to get very cramped.

We moved to California!

Part of why I haven't been blogging as much lately is because our family has been caught up in a whirlwind of moving.  I haven't done regular homeschooling for a few months.  My husband has new employment in the sales department for Solar City.  In December he came out early while we stayed to finish up choir concerts the kids were in and continue packing/thinning our things.  Then Michael came home for Christmas, we packed up, and on January 2nd we left.

View of our townhome complex and the winter wonderland we left behind.

How do you do it all?

People often look at my with my little brood of children and ask me how I do it all.
Simple. I don't. Ha!

My friend told me something interesting when I was telling her about how my kids don't have clothing in dressers anymore, just totes that I can quickly sort their laundry in by child. No folding, and it's easier than digging through laundry baskets of EVERYONE'S clothes because I used to put off sorting laundry. Now I get it done in a snap!

How we do Christmas

The Christmas season is here again!  It's my favorite time of the year.  Many families have their own little holiday traditions that make the season special, and my family is no exception.  Starting a new family with my husband has brought a new perspective on the holiday season, and it was important to celebrate in a way that fits our personal family culture, and we have come up with a method that is a little different.  As always, take what you want and leave the rest.  Here is how we do Christmas in our home.