Visits Vs. Vacations

Until now, our "vacations" have always been visits. We take time off of work (and school if necessary) and travel to visit with family. We have family spread across three different states and we take our visiting seriously. I think family ties are gifts and I want our children to love their extended family the way we do.

Family visits are wonderful, but exhausting. We prepare to travel. Then we spend entire days in the car with two preschoolers. Next we visit. The spending time with family part is wonderful. The non-stop parenting while at someone else's house is... effortful. We are usually ready to be back at home by the time we get there. Then we spend at least a week trying to return our home to it's usual slightly messy and cluttered state from the disastrous state caused by packing and unpacking. It is all 100% worth it, but the experience isn't exactly restful and rejuvenating.

We just came home from our first ten day family vacation. Two of those days were spent on the road and one day was spent visiting. The other seven days were spent cruising with our two children. The best part is that we were accompanied on our cruise by 9 extended family members. It was truly the best of both worlds.

It was a lovely bonding experience for our children. They got to spend time with parents, grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and godparents. A lovely time was had by all. They experienced their first ship, first beach, first magician, and first stage show. So much wonder found in one place.

Freed from all the mundane chores of daily life at home (laundry, meal preparation, school and work, etc.) the days floated along in a stress and schedule free manner. We spent more time with the children with almost no fussing. We snuggled, tickled, played games, and experienced new things together and there was no need or desire to watch a clock through any of it. The children stayed up late and I didn't care.

We took advantage of the free child-care on board to give us all a change of pace for a few hours most days. The children loved going to "ship school" and were rather disappointed to see us when we showed up to pick them up a few hours later. The cruise provided us with a cell phone so we could be reached if they needed us, but fortunately it wasn't necessary.

Our one extravagance was paying for an excursion to a private beach. It was going to be their first time at a beach and I didn't want to deal with huge crowds. I had this idyllic daydream of a gorgeous sunny day on a deserted beach and a happy, memorable family experience. Well, it was certainly memorable...

That particular morning was the only morning of the cruise that dawned significantly cloudy. I didn't let that worry me though. We dressed for sun and swimming and packed our preschoolers up for a day of fun at the beach. By the time we had followed the tour guide for a half mile (mile?) to where the boat would take us to the beach, it was raining. We were assured that rain never lasts more than 20 minutes in the Bahamas and our sun hats at least kept the rain out of our eyes.

The thunder, lightening, and rain gusts soaked everyone in the boat on the way to the island cove. Everyone huddled under their beach towels. We played up the "exciting adventure" to the children as we shivered under the towels. When we got to the island 20-30 minutes later the beach was closed due to weather and we huddled in the lunch area wringing things out and trying to dry off with wet towels waiting for things to blow over.

An hour or so later (the details of which are best left undiscussed) the rain had passed and the beach was open. It was still overcast, extremely windy, and freezing, but I was going to get my children in the water and they were ready to go. And you know what? We all managed to have fun anyway. The children loved their first experience at a beach. They loved the sand and the shells and the waves and the water. They didn't seem to notice how cold they were or the fact that their lips were blue. We squeezed as much fun as we could into the hour and a half we had left before catching the boat ride back from the island to our ship. We built sand castles, found shells, buried feet in the sand, and engaged in water horseplay. Ava even made "sand angels" on the shore. The children played so hard in that hour and a half that they were both tired enough to sleep through the rum punch/extremely loud music experience fellow shore excursion passengers were enjoying on the boat ride back.

It wasn't exactly the sunny, leisurly first beach experience I had been hoping for, but it was a memorable adventure that was ultimately enjoyed by all.

And so now we're back. I'm trying to hang on to a little of that vacation mentality. I want to focus more on snuggling my children than rushing through our bedtime routine.

I also need to focus on all the things that were postponed until after the trip (like holiday shopping - how many days are left?).

Usborne Very First Reading - More Printables and Teaching Tips

I have been continuing homeschool using the Usborne Very First Reading Set (and the extra UK only expansion) with Michael on his reading. I am still very pleased with the sets and the extras available online.

We finished the six books on my first progress chart so I needed to make another one. I just made the full set while I was at it. If you have any need for them, here they are.

I continue to fine tune the implementation of the reading program. This is what I'm doing right now.

Preparation

1. Print progress charts in this post.
2. Go to the Very First Reading Resource Page (US) and download and print the activity sheet for each book and the word bank for each book.
3. If you have the UK expansion set for levels 1-7, go to the Very First Reading Resource Page (UK) and download and print the activity sheet for the extra level 1-7 books. (If you're teaching UK English, just print everything from this page.)
4. Cut out the word bank cards.
5. (Optional: Pre-print child's name and answers to activity sheet questions on clear labels. Use a simple font in a light grey color. You can place these labels on the activity sheet for the child to trace if you're still working on handwriting/letter formation with the child.)

Teaching

Modify this to suit your needs. This is just what we do with the books and materials. We do this over three-four different days. Since we homeschool twice a week right now, it takes us 1-2 weeks to do each level.

Day 1 (and sometimes an extra day)

1. Read the book with the child. You read the words in the smaller font. The child reads the words in the larger font.
2. Do the first activity in the back of the book with the child.
3. Practice the word bank cards sorting into a "fast" and "slow" pile. Teach the words in the "slow" pile. Keep those pile separated for future use.
4. Do the activity sheet for the book with the child. I use my pre-printed labels and work on Michael's handwriting during this activity.
5. Put stickers in the appropriate spots on the progress chart.

Day 2

1. Review the word bank cards. I review both piles and move any cards Michael's learned from the slow pile to the fast pile.
2. Read the book a second time.
3. Do the second activity in the back of the book.
4. Put stickers in the appropriate spots on the progress chart.

Day 3

1. Review the word bank cards. I review both piles and move any cards Michael's learned from the slow pile to the fast pile. (Usually he's learned all the word bank cards at this point. If not, I sneak any leftover "slow" cards into the set for the next level.)
2. Read the book a third time.
3. Do the third activity in the back of the book.
4. Put stickers in the appropriate spots on the progress chart.

Notes

I am particularly pleased with the word bank cards. The "rule breaker" words (words that "break" the regular phonics rules) are outlined in red. High frequency words are outlined in green. The rest of the words are words chosen because they do follow the phonics rules introduced in that level's book(s).

Reading the books multiple times is essential for developing reading fluency and confidence. The multiple activities in the back of each book and additional materials online keep the child interested in multiple readings. Once they've learned the book, have them read it with an older sibling or a grandparent for additional practice and so they can proudly show off their reading.

Are you superstitious?

I do not consider myself to be a superstitious person. I do not immediately think of seven years of bad luck when I see a broken mirror. I am not concerned about... (hmm, what is it?) something negative when someone walks under a ladder. I am not worried about Friday the 13th, black cats, or opening an umbrella in the house.

I do, however, compulsively knock on wood. Whenever I make a statement aloud, or even in my own mind, that acknowledges good fortune I immediately follow it with "knock on wood" and I physically knock gently on some nearby object (although, oddly enough, that object does not literally need to be made of wood to satisfy my compulsion). It isn't, really, that I logically think I need to knock on something to avoid negative consequences. It -is- something more than simple habit though.

I think that, subconsciously, it is a way of acknowledging that I recognize my good fortune and that I am grateful for it and do not take it for granted - only in shorthand. I have to make a deliberate and not insignificant effort to refrain from the motion under circumstances in which it would be inappropriate.

I was thinking about all of this when I recently found myself knocking on the dashboard of the car when having a conversation with the children. To date, they've never asked me why I'm randomly knocking on things in the middle of a conversation but at some point they will ask. I'm not sure how I will answer. I'm not sure it is a habit I wish to pass on.

Do you consider yourself superstitious? What superstitions do you believe in? How do you explain them to your children?