2012 - 2013 Preschool

Morning Routine

Catholic Calendar

• Saint of the day

Morning Prayers

• Child's Treasury of Daily Prayers

Saint Stories

• Miniature Stories of the Saints

Composer Study

• Classical Kids: Collection
• Music Masters

Poetry

• A Child's Garden of Verses illustrated by Tasha Tudor
• A Child's Garden of Verses illustrated by Eloise Wilkin
• Poems to Read to the Very Young illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (I like the out-of-print 1980s hard cover book.)
• The Golden Book of Poems for the Very Young
• Holly Hobbie's Nursery Rhymes
• Mother Goose
• The Child on His Knees by Mary Dixon Thayer

Art

• Crayons
• Glue
• Paint and paintbushes
• Paper
• Play-Doh
• Scissors
• Other supplies as needed

Lakeshore Learning Curriculum - Washable Tempera

French

• Bonjour Les Amis!
• First Fun with French
• First Thousand Words in French
• Various French song CDs from my brother

History 

• D'Aulaire's biographies
• Other history picture books

Language Arts

• Montessori materials
• Ready Writer (found on Calculadders MasterPak 1)
• Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (maybe)
• Primary Phonics Storybooks (maybe)

Literature

• Aesop's Fables for Children: Includes a Read-and-Listen CD (Dover Read and Listen) illustrated by Milo Winter (We have an earlier hard cover edition of this book which did not include a CD.)
• A Treasury of Children's Literature
• Various picture books from our personal library and the public library

Math

• Montessori materials
• Lauri Shape and Color Sorter
  
• Number Flash Cards
• Lauri Number Play and Lauri Number Puzzle Boards and Pegs
  
• Counting with Numbers (We will also be using the other two preschool titles in this series.)
• Calculadders MasterPak 1 (the numbers practice sheet)
• Anno's Counting Book and other counting books
• 1-2-3 Coloring Book

Music

• Classical Music
• French CDs
• Raffi CDs
• Religious Music CDs
• Wee Sing CDs
• And more

Natural History

• Days on the Farm by Kim Lewis
• James Herriot's Treasury for Children (This title is also available as an audio book, but I suggest staying with the actual book. My children delight in looking at Ruth Brown's and Peter Barrett's illustrations.)
• My Little Book About God
• The Year At Maple Hill Farm and Our Animal Friends At Maple Hill Farm
• Other storybooks
• Butterfly Lifecycle (order caterpillars for Lent)
• Nature Notebook (maybe)
• Vegetable Gardening

Religion

• Bible Stories for Little Children
• Catholic Children's Treasure Box
• Chats with God's Little Ones
• Leading the Little Ones to Mary
• Fr. Lovasik books
• Tomie de Paola books
• The Angels' Alphabet by Hilda Van Stockum
• Saint Bernadette: A First Book for Little Catholics (and others in this out-of-print series)
• St. Catherine's Gazette

Field Trip Possibilities

• Beach
• County Fair
• Farm
• Flight Museum
• Mountains
• Science Center
• Zoo

Please note that these are simply some of the books and things that I hope to read to, use, or do with Elizabeth throughout the year. She is so excited to be learning like her brothers and sisters.

To An Altar Boy

As I was looking through some old files on my laptop, I came across this poem by St. John Berchmans (patron saint of altar boys). I will be sharing it with my sons and thought that other mothers might want to share it with their boys.

St. John Berchmans, pray for our sons.

To an Altar Boy

by St. John Berchmans

To be Christ's page at the altar,

To serve Him freely there.

Where even the Angels falter,

Bowed low in reverent prayer.

To touch the throne most holy,

To hand the gifts for the feast,

To see Him meekly, lowly,

Descend at the word of the priest.

To hear man's poor petition,

To sound the silver bell,

When He in sweet submission,

Comes down with us to dwell.

No grander mission surely

Could Saints or men enjoy;

No heart should love more purely,

Than yours my altar boy.

God bless you, lad, forever,

And keep you in His care,

And Guard you that you never

Belie the robes you wear.

For white bespeaks untainted

A heart both tried and true;

And red tolls love the sainted

The holy martyrs knew.

Throughout life, then, endeavor

God's graces to employ;

And be in heart forever

A holy altar boy.

Printable Poem

Whooping Cough

6 Weeks Old

This little boy has been sick, sicker than any of my other babies ever were. It all started with a simple cold and cough. At least, I thought it was a cold and cough, but the cough kept getting worse and I was getting worried. 

3 Months Old

Last Monday, Brendan broke his toe. As I walked into the pediatrician's office with Kieran in my arms and Brendan by my side, Kieran started one of his coughing episodes. The secretary heard him and stated, "That baby needs to be seen. He sounds like he has whooping cough." Anyway, to make a long story short, he was put on antibiotics and tested for pertussis. The culture came back positive which meant that the rest of my family was put on antibiotics too. 

Sleeping Upright on Mommy

We've had some sleepless nights, but we've all finished our antibiotics and are no longer contagious (even though most of the children and my husband are still coughing).

Making Faces

Kieran is smiling again and we are getting more sleep.

Thank you dear Mother Mary for helping me through the sleepless nights. Thank you God for answering my prayers.

Two Months Old

and we are appreciating every minute: the faces, the cooing, the movements, and even the rare moments when he cries.

Thunderstorm

We were planning on spending time outdoors at the beach or seeing animals today, but a summer thunderstorm has put an end to those plans. Instead of making lunch to bring with us, I have been sharing a few photos from our garden.

Gaillardia 'Goblin'

Have a wonderful weekend!

June Flowers

I joined Elisa for another Nature Walk in mid-June. I just haven't had time until this morning to share the photos.

Mary's Face (a.k.a. Gaillardia 'Goblin')

Geranium 'Rozanne'

Our Lady's Crown (a.k.a. Love in a Mist) 

Double Knock Out Roses (Rosa Radtko)
Update: Although these roses make a great hedge, I do not recommend them. They have no fragrance and the leaves always get blackspot that spreads to my 'Peace' rose bush.

Our Lady's Pincushion (a.k.a. Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue')

Good-bye Heidi

On Saturday, June 16, Heidi went to a new home.

We know that we made the right decision, but we still miss her.

Elizabeth's Viewpoint

A few weeks ago, Elizabeth came with me to pick up her father from the transit center. After waiting for him for about 10 minutes, Elizabeth said, "Mommy, Daddy's not coming. I think we're lost."

Last night, Elizabeth looked out of the window and commented, "It is yellow and pink outside. I think that God painted the sky. I think that God did it so that we wouldn't know that it was the sky. I think that He didn't want us to know what it was."

Smiling Baby

Kieran has been giving us voluntary smiles since he was five-weeks old; however, it was only last Monday that I finally succeeded in getting a photo of him doing so.

We are so enjoying having a baby in the house again.