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Angie Mc
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| Posted: May 12 2005 at 2:00pm | IP Logged
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One of the criteria I use to judge if something is "working" for our family, is to see if the something works under many different circumstances. For example, does our homeschooling something work when we move, are ill, travel, have visitors, etc. Now we are judging, what works with a newborn in the home?
I'll have only newborn time to get to the comupter but hope to share what is working here and to have others share what has worked for them during this precious time.
MUSIC:
For some time, we have had two/three music themes going on in our home each month, one classical and one or two others. The month of May we are listening to Vivaldi as well as Latino music (with an emphasis on Mexican) and Marian music. Our CD player has three disc drives, each holding one CD per theme. This works well because we are in the habit of listening to music so even my youngest will take the initiative to turn on the music. We also have an assigned home for all the "CDs of the Month" so that the children can take care of this without me.
A side note: Vivaldi and the Baroque period are perfect for the post-natal mind. It is predictable and soothing...not taxing  .
Unit Tie-ins: Cinco de Mayo, Mary and the liturgical calendar, the Four Seasons (nature study,) Mexico and the monarch butterfly (nature study,) Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc...
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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MaryM
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A great tie-in with your Cinco de Mayo baby!
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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Angie Mc
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LIVING BOOKS
Books on tape are top activity choice here when mom is with baby. Each child has their own tape/CD player in their room plus there is one in our study and one for the family. Our library has a great selection which we borrowed from well. We also have a growing collection.
Reading aloud is a natural with baby nursing on my lap so often. Older children also read to younger ones. We are currently reading aloud more than ususal which is a great joy for all!
Our books often connect with our monthly themes, but not always. They often inspire projects, plays, recitations, etc. It is fun to visit with old friends (such as Anne of Green Gables and Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.)
Baby calls!
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: May 13 2005 at 1:57pm | IP Logged
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MaryM wrote:
| A great tie-in with your Cinco de Mayo baby! |
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Yep...and a great excuse to have Dave pick-up awesome Mexican food for the family on John Paul's birth-day! I've had a friend suggest that John Paul's nickname should be Cinco...naaaaa  .
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Angie Mc
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SIMPLE GROUP PROJECTS
We are very process oriented here and often forget to produce a product to enhance our learning or to have as a reminder of our work. We try to produce a "product" daily, usually something simple to be placed in one of our notebooks (nature study, BOC, narration.)
Since the children are used to working together, they have been doing self-directed projects with little guidance from me. For example, they each took four sheets of paper and cut pictures from magazines to represent the four seasons (nature study and Vivaldi tie-in.) Another example, they took coloring pages from Our Lady of Fatima coloring books and decorated them using a variety materials (crayons, markers, coloring pencils, chalk, and even paper glued to look like stained glass.) These projects have been exceptionally beautiful and the children feel so good about them. They have also re-enacted passages from our readings and I'm looking forward to recitations of excerpts from "Casey at the Bat."
I would appreciate hearing your ideas for simple group projects!
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: May 14 2005 at 8:52pm | IP Logged
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Check out this article on newborn childcare. Sound familiar?
Curriculum and Lesson Planning: A Responsive Approach
God bless,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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JSchaaf
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Angie-
Do you have your newborn's curriculum planned and ready to go?
Long, long ago my girls were in fulltime daycare. My 6 month old had lesson plans sent home every week so we could "prepare" for the next week and she received quarterly report cards. Thankfully, they were only pass/fail. 
Jennifer
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kingvozzo
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JSchaaf wrote:
My 6 month old had lesson plans sent home every week so we could "prepare" for the next week and she received quarterly report cards. Thankfully, they were only pass/fail.
Jennifer |
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I thought this was a joke till I checked out the link. 
ugh!
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Noreen
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Mom to 4 great kids and 10 sweet ones in Our Lady's arms
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: May 15 2005 at 7:59pm | IP Logged
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JSchaaf wrote:
Angie-
Do you have your newborn's curriculum planned and ready to go?
Long, long ago my girls were in fulltime daycare. My 6 month old had lesson plans sent home every week so we could "prepare" for the next week and she received quarterly report cards. Thankfully, they were only pass/fail.
Jennifer |
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Oh my and LOL, Jennifer! I found this article while googling infant care + lesson plans. (Whenever we go on a rabbit trail, I always google it with "lesson plan." It is amazing what is out there!) So, this article wasn't what I was looking for but I thought it was very interesting with the intent of the article to encourage those who must produce an infant curriculum to make one that reflects the needs of the infant by placing emphasis on the infant's environment, appropriate developmental issues, as well as moving away from adult focused activities. It is as if the author is trying to give permission for care providers to think outside of a formal curriculum box.
Plus...the emphasis on the environment reminds me of Miss Charlotte Mason:
Education is an atmosphere. Mason's educational article #6 states:
"By the saying, EDUCATION IS AN ATMOPSHERE, it is not meant that a child should be isolated in what may be called a 'child environment,' especially adapted and prepared; but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the 'child's' level" (Mason 1923: preface).
Makes me want to get back to the couch, nurse John Paul, and read Narnia to the children .
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Angie Mc
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OPPORNTUNITY KNOCKS
Newborn development: The children are keeping a group notebook of their observations of John Paul. They are, as we should be, amazed at his rapid growth. They have noticed that his alert times are getting longer and happening more often, that he has gained weight under his chin (like his mother, LOL) and that his dry skin patches came and went. We are talking about adding pictures to the notebook as well.
Baseball: We are following our Arizona Diamondbacks, talking stats, re-watching the Ken Burns Baseball series, reading baseball stories...(I'll brag here that Aiden will represent his team in All Stars this year  .)
Happy Pentecost!
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: 4RealLearning with a newborn
