knowledge

Book club, Book review, foster, learning

My picks

September 8, 2016by Sheridan Johnson8 Comments

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Every Thursday, since the kids have been in school, I drop off them off in the morning at Happy Hearts (Mother’s Day Out) and I head to the library with baby girl. I have loved doing this, because it gives me time to actually go through the books and select which books would be best (rather than letting a 1 year old little boy and a 3 yr old little girl choose their own).

The library is the best idea to getting out of a rut and watching the your children choose the same books, night after night, and not switching up their choices.

I love our little local library, because the people there know me (and my husband) and my kids by name and always asking how everything is going with us, and the kiddos. Story time at the library is especially fun with all the fun crafts, and activities they plan for the kids. They get to use their imagination, and also learn how to learn patience when listening to direction. I love it, and I wish they had it weekly (they only do story time about once a month, here)! You should definitely go check out your local library, and find some good reads!

This week, I wanted to incorporate some of Brielle’s favorite things (pink and cupcakes), and also little mans favorite things (eating, and animals) into the book choices, and I think I made a pretty good selection! I always try to get one bilingual book as well, because I think knowledge is power, and number two.. I could always help learning spanish!

Here are my picks for the week:

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kahn and Elizabeth Kahn- This story depicts a little girl, who is obsessed with all things PINK. But she could not listen to her parents with they were telling her that she could not eat any more pink cupcakes. Well, turns out she ended up pink. It’s an adorable read for young girls and shows the importance of listening to your parents.
The Gobble Gobble MOOO Tractor Book by Jez Alborough- This story is cute, because it incorporates a lot of animal sounds, plus a cute little story on how all the animals hop on a tractor and want to take it for a ride, but then the farmer finds out and they get caught.. cute story, very good pictures and colors!
Fancy Nancy by Jane O’ Connor- This story is about a little girl, who loves to pretend to be glamorous, and doesn’t understand why everyone else in her family is so plain. It wasn’t until her family decided to be dressed up and fancy with her, that she got to appreciate the effort they put in, but that they were more happy just the way they are.
Just Me and My Babysitter by Mercer Mayer- This story is cute, because it details all the things that you can do with a babysitter around, that your mom and dad wouldn’t particularly like you doing. He loves to just have a mess, and play with his sister, and it’s fun to let the kids read about.
10 little Fish (Pececitos) by Harriet Ziefert- This book is so cute and teaching the kids to count in english/spanish and the differences between the colors, and shapes of all the fish. Very Cute and love this read!
Bedtime for Button by Stewart and Layn Marlow- This is such a cute story about a little bear who was having trouble sleeping and his Dad told him a cute story about how when the little bear was born he would song a sweet lullaby to him every night and it would put him straight to sleep, with no worries in the world. It was so sweet and is definitely good for Brielle when she has nightmares at night.

Faith, grief, loss, Rochelle

A room without books

September 24, 2015September 24, 2015by Sheridan Johnson1 Comment

A room without books is like a body without a soul-Marcus Tullius Ciciero

If I have ever had a life changing experience in a book, it would be the one book by Author Angie Smith called I Will Carry You. This book is written from a mom, who finds out that she is pregnant with her fourth child and the baby is “incompatible with life”. Not only does this woman exemplify faith throughout the whole process from finding out her results, to the birth of the her baby girl, all the way to when her baby girl passed and beyond.

She describes the grief she feels and how she will always be coping with the grief, just in different stages. She provides prayers for us moms who have gone through what she has gone through, or are currently in the situation right now. She provides scriptures in the starting of each chapter from the Bible and one of my favorite ones from the book is “Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering in this:Your promise preserves my life.” Psalm 119:49-50

I wish I could say my life without reading would be the same, but honestly I feel so good when I truly take the time out of my busy life to sit down and read every night. There is something amazing that washes over me when I finish a good book that I can’t wait to tell everyone about! I think reading is knowledge, reading is learning, reading is powerful.

Books are amazing and I know today in this world everything is read through the kindle or through the phone, but take a step back and really savor holding that book, flipping the pages, and having to use a bookmark so that you don’t lose your page.

I LOVE good book recommendations about all walks of life and if you have a great one in mind, feel free to leave comments/suggestions!

Brielle, Family, School

Which is best? Public Vs. Home Schooling

September 3, 2015September 4, 2015by Sheridan Johnson12 Comments

Now that Brielle is two, and school is definitely around the corner, I definitely wanted to write myself a little comparison of home schooling vs. public schooling. I have friends/family on both sides of the spectrum, and as of right now, Shane and I haven’t quite decided what is best for Brielle yet.

I like to research both sides of things when we are considering what is really best for a certain situation, and what we know is best in our heart. I reached out to a couple of my friends who are currently living in the situation (one is a stay at home mom to her three kids– Courtney, and one is a teacher at a public school–Christy). I asked each of them to give me 5 benefits to their style of teaching.

For homeschooling and getting to learn a lot of the facts, I spent a good amount of time on the Texas Home School Coalition Association. One of the things that struck me the most, was that Academic testing was not a requirement to testing your knowledge when you are taught at home, like it is every year in public schools. “Home schoolers do have the option of using different types of testing to determine grade placement and to assess their child’s academic progress throughout the years”, which could be a simple review over the material they have learned.

Courtney’s 5 benefits to home schooling are:

-One on one time (which allows you to give your child extra attention)

-Go at your own pace (instead of being pushed to go faster at a public school)

-The goal is complete mastery of the subject

-Tests are different (they aren’t required, you can just check your childs comprehension of the subject by asking questions and reviewing the topic.)

-Curriculum (You can choose your curriculum based on your childs learning needs visual, auditory, etc.) The core subjects are a must (spelling, writing, social studies, etc) but the additional languages (spanish, french, etc) are a personal preference.

I also asked for a Sample daily schedule and this was her response:

7:30A-8:30A Awake and breakfast time

08:30A-09:30A-Math

09:30A-10:15A-Spelling

10:15A-11:15A-P.E (30 mins of activity, 30 mins of free play)

11:15A-11:35A- Reading on own while mom makes lunch

11:35A-12:35P- Mom reads to them

12:35P-12:45P- they have to narrate back to mom what their understanding of the book was

12:45P-1:15P- Spanish

Public schools have been opened for a VERY long time. One of the first American schools opened in the 17th century. By 1870, all states offered free elementary schooling and encouraged parents to put them in school. By 1910, most states offered free education through high school. Public schools allow statistical data to be drawn and show the improvement, or decline, over a period of time. This website here, shows how much the graduation rate has increased over a 7 year period. This website shows the top public schools in Texas, based on the academic testing and funding provided.

Christy stated 5 benefits for public school are:

-Diversity

-Special Needs Requirements (The children are integrated with everyone else and always have an extra teacher or helper in the class to give the child extra attention)

-Accountability (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills tells the teachers what to teach, and allows the principal and others to come and assess them in their class to make sure the knowledge is being taught)

-Funding (Access to more technology and offer more resources to the children)

-Learn how to work with others (learn conflict resolution)

I also asked Christy to provide me with an example of a daily schedule:

8:00A-8:45A- ELAR(english/language arts) MWF GT(gifted and talented), M-F Special ED ELAR Pull Out

8:45A-9:00A- Character Education (Anti-Bully Lesson)

9:00A-10:00A- Small Group Work and Tier Pull Out (Reading, Math)

10:00A-11:00A-ELAR

11:00A-11:45A Lunch

11:45A-1:15P Math

1:45P-2:15P- MWF Specials TTH Science and Social Studies

2:15P-2:45P- TTH Specials MWF Science and Social Studies

2:45P-3:15P Study Hall

While Shane and I still have a couple of more years before we have to make a final decision, I am glad to have researched all of the information, and I hope this may help someone else out as well. Both are great, and I truly thank you Courtney and Christy for providing me with such great input! 🙂