Wow, the summer has really flown past, I cannot believe we are already half thru August, and I still have sooooo many things to do on my "summer to do" list!!!!!
One of the biggies on our list this summer though is coming along nicely, not that I have really been working at it in any determined fashion mind you, it is just coming along. This item is teaching Julianna to read, and we are getting close, YIPPEE!!!! She knows her letters, and most of the letter sounds, and is now making combinations, she rhymes endlessly and cleverly so she understands the whole sound/combo part of reading and phonics, but has yet to make that leap. But we have just received a wonderful gift that should make this leap possible, and even enjoyable!!! Thanks to Kathy ( a sort of aunt by marriage) and her two great kids Ashley and Nathan, we have been given the whole collection of Hooked on Phonics, and it is great!!! It starts you out in the same way Jon and I have started, and moves on from there, suggesting games and activities to make the learning more fun, and some of the ideas they suggest are things we already do!!!! Whew I am now reassured that our grocery store spelling lessons(see previous post from June?!) were not going to cause permanent harm to Julianna, just to the other shoppers who heard us rhyming about rats and cats in hats!!! So Julianna is just on the very edge of reading and I am thrilled, since she loves books and reading and really wants to be able to really read to us, the only down side to this that I can see is that our bedtime story routine is going to suddenly take a whole lot longer, Oh well!!!
We have also had the plan this summer of paring down our house and getting rid of tons of things we no longer need or want/use. For us this is very hard as we are attached to so many things, but we have been doing it slowly, very S-L-O-W-L-Y!! Jon has been putting things up for sale on Ebay, and I am getting books and other assorted items together to sell on Ebay , and Julianna, Bless her! has been going through her toys and books and choosing which to give away! This has begun in earnest for Julianna since we recently purchased the book Berenstein Bears help those in need, I love the Berenstein Bears books for helping to explain a concept and the whys, but allow you the parent to expand on it as you see fit. Well the book surely did its job, and this morning when I got up Julianna was already up and was sorting out books to donate to the Care Center, in ET, and the toys she no longer needs to play with and these can go to local kids who don't have other toys. She is so earnest and sweet about this, and I am glad that she is so generous!! So with Julianna's help in picking out things we no longer need we might be able to get this house together before the babies come home.
Now I have to go get some more coffee and sit my little darling down to play a letter game, in our jammies on the couch, God I love homeschooling!!!!
Have a Blessed Day, love to all Jamie
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