Today we did our first Lapbook! PandaGirl is very much into HORSES and has been since she was three. She rides her stick horse EVERYday. Her 5 year old birthday party was an adorable horse theme by her choice. I thought it would be great to do our first lapbook of something that she was totally jazzed about! Here's what we did:
~We cuddled on the couch to read fiction and non-fiction books about horses. PG learned lots and already has some good vocabulary about horses, riding, farms, cowboys and such. Very pleased.
~I got the great idea to use the horseshoe cake pan which I got for her birthday party and make a CAKE! Yum! We only had strawberry cake mix and had to make do, but it was a fabulous touch to the horse theme.
~PG colored pictures of horses, cut out "grass", used the gluestick, stamped the letters for the front of the lapbook and really was hands-on in the whole process.
~We finished our first Lapbook and are very proud.
~After eating the yummy cake and finishing our project we watched Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron to end out a glorious learning experience.
Stop the bus. That's how I anticipated the "learning experience" to play out.
Nuh-uh. No-way. No-how.
Wanna hear how it REALLY went down?
Me: "Hey PG! I am so excited to do our first lapbook! Let's do it about horses!"
PG: "OK Mommy! What are we going to do?"
Me: "Let's read these great books about horses and see what we find out."
Cuddling on couch did happen.
Reading book.
Pointing out facts.
PG already knew some facts. Awesome.
Me: "Let's go get started on our lapbook!"
PG: "What are these cute horses?" as she is already coloring the pictures. OK, she's excited and ready to jump in.
Me: "Hey let's wait a minute. I have some stuff to show you before we start." hmph, can she not wait for me?
I show her all the items we have to make the book.
PG: "I have glue!" runs to get it. "Are we gonna have cake?"
Back at table.
PG: "I have scissors!" runs, again, to get them. "Are we gonna have some cake now? (cake is still in the oven)
Finishes coloring horses, cuts them out without direction (good, I guess?...what if they were not to be cut?) and starts on barn. Is coloring beautifully.
Me: thinking---Oh this is going so WELL! I love homeschooling!
PG: color, color..."Are we having the cake?" "UGH!!! I got out of the line!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone will laugh at me!!!" huff, huff. Hand on head, slouching, eyes rolling back in head. huff.
Me: "Oh honey, it's OK that you got out of the lines a bit. You can hardly even notice it. Just keep on doing a good job and finish the barn."
PG: meltdown #2
Me: "Look, who cares what someone else thinks about your work. It only matters what you think. Just keep coloring so we can keep making our wonderful lapbook...sweetie."
PG: meltdown #3
Me: "Your work does not have to be perfect. I mess up on my scrapbook pages all the time. It's OK. I am disappointed, but I move on. Your barn looks great. It doesn't have to be perfect."
PG: huff, huff, puff, growl, scribble, scribble, growl.
Me: hot face, clenched teeth..."WHY did you do that?! There is absolutely NO reason for you to act ugly and mess up your barn JUST because you got out of the lines a LITTLE BIT!!!! WHY did you DO that?! If you want me to teach you at home then you can't fight me! Get down from the table and go sit on your bed." HUFFFFFFF!
Me: Head in hands.
Me: Talk to PandaPop who is also a perfectionist when it comes to pen and paper. It MUST be perfect. Me? I don't care. I do what I do and if there's a mistake...so what? I fix it if I can and then MOVE ON. I don't really comprehend perfectionism. This is going to be a challenge. He told me that her outburst wasn't toward me personally, but her frustration in not coloring the barn to her own liking.
OK
I go into her room and lovingly tell her that she was not in trouble for not doing her barn "right", but for the ugly attitude.
PG: "Are we having cake now?"
Me: "Yes, darling as soon as it cools off. Let's put a couple of more finishing touches on the lapbook, eat some cake and then watch Spirit."
PG: "Yayyy!"
Done with book. PG licking her plate of cake frosting. I put in Spirit.
PG: "I don't wanna watch this. Can I watch something else?"
Good grief.
13 comments:
LMBO!!! Can I just say that whenever I homeschool...I anticipate that VERY thing to happen!!!! I will pray for you. It WILL get better as you 2 learn to do this together. Anyway, thanks for sharing!!!
Ahhhh ... now see, THAT is the heart of educating at home.
You two learned soooooo much today! Screw all the pre-planned stuff. You learned first hand what triggers your child's frustration. You both learned about your differences. You learned about reconciliation. And you had CAKE!
A perfect day.
I'm for real.
Now, end the day talking about a plan for tomorrow.
"Hmmmm ... where did we mess up? How can we do better? When you get frustrated, what can you do to help yourself next time?"
Sounds like you both learned from each other about what makes you tick and tock.
Maybe doing a whole lapbook in one day is a bit too much. Try doing a little each day and depending on the complexity of it stretching it out for several weeks.
Thank you for keepin' it real! That IS life, isn't it?
And I'd say, although your day wandered outside the lines of the picture in your mind, it was still QUITE good. Yes?
Keep up the good work! (all of you)
Ohhhh I see many days just like this in our future! Unfortunately, I'm the perfectionist. It doesn't bother DD to "get out of line." I sometimes wish it did. lol Kids are so unpredictable. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I feel certain our first day would go exactly like yours and PG's. Mal is such a perfectionist that it drives me crazy at times. I can totally relate to what you are going through.
I am proud of you. Press on, you are doing the right thing. Oh, and who can resist cake. Right? :)
What a wonderful idea, crafty AND learning all at the same time! Cake or no cake (although PG clearly disagrees) it sounds like it was a lot of fun, even if the second version was reality :)
Hey Panda Mom, I love that! I am going to check it out. Funny that I should come "visit" your blog and find all of these wonderful homeschool posts! We are once again going to be homeschooling, starting in July (they will have one month-June-off from school). We will start with our trip to Colorado. I am going to give them each a book (one of those books with a white outside and clean pages inside so they can decorate the hard cover and put things inside the book) and they are going to put things in there that they see and do or draw things. Whatever they want since it is their book. Since we will start homeschooling again my blog will become quite full of those things as well, or so is my hope. It will just be my youger two and I know we will have a wonderful time! They love learning.
I am excited for you. And don't get discouraged because it doesn't always play out the way we see it in our heads. Enjoy every little learning experience (as I know you do, always) and cherish that time with PG.
Love you bunches!
LOL...darling blog...and it really is KEEPIN IT REAL... stuff! ha ha
I agree & 2nd Christine's comment...you BOTH learned great things! Walla...wonderful! ha ha
We all LEARN and RETAIN the MOST out of those 'tuff' times; so keep on keeping on, it's really a very good start---and THAT'S the REAL stuff! ha ha (I can just hear and see those HUFFS,PUFFS, MOANS, GROANS & ROLLED EYES...ha ha) She's a hoot to just watch!
Girl....love that you are keeping it real. Yeah, not a perfectionist at all but I think I too am raising one. Uh oh...
I know you probably have already seen this but I saw it on Denise's blog today (Tucked inside my heart) and it looks great
http://www.thehomeschoollounge.com/
Good luck..hang in there!!!
Love the post, it's funny how we as moms vision how perfectly something is supposed to go and then our wonderful children knock us into the real world. PG is so precious and I can see the whole "huffing" and rolling of the eyes bit. She is more like you than you know LOL
Have a great weekend :)
I really agreed with your reasons to homeschool. Last year we tried it at home starting with preschool as our trial year. I was into it 100%. I was so excited. I felt it was my call as a person. Then my firstborn son entered the picture. He hated every min. of it. Every second was a struggle and everyday ended with both of us angry at each other. Then I decided maybe this was MY thing, but not his. If he was gonna hate school then I might as well let him go somewhere else and hate some other lady rather than me. I have to be the bad guy enough. So, we made the tough decision to do public school. It has been wonderful for all of us.I think homeschooling is harder than it looks for sure!
Okay... I am a teacher, too. I know how frustrating days can be. Little Miss P is learning how this whole thing works. I am sure Kindergarten teachers across the world have felt your pain as they try to patiently coach little ones through the beginning maze of school. I am sure that as things settle in you will have more successes and fewer days of frustration. YOU know what is best for your baby. Rough days will continue, but improve. You are in our thoughts.
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