overwhelmed and not getting anywhere

ok. so i've been trying to get something done since i posted last about the Move over, rover project. but sadly, i've gone only as far as finally laminating (actually contact type paper i got from 99cent store) all the pics from the book and typing the words out.

now, i'm thinking i'll breakdown the stuff i need to do into each day's target and see if i get anywhere...babysteps.

my major goals as far as homeschooling goes are:
1. get my area defined & organized for Montessori space, and add other things (like encyclopedia bits, word cards, and arts materials) as i want to use them.
2. have a master plan for each month for the subjects i want to cover in general
3.

preschool activities websites

great coloring pages collection www.coloring.ws
www.dltk-kids.com
www.kidzone.ws
bird coloring pages
www.liketocolor.com
based on subscription but free downloadables available www.enchantedlearning.com
free printable coloring pages www.thecoloringspot.com
great source of poems www.surlalunefairytales.com
another source of printables www.first-school.ws

some other links

i just found another link i really like.. it was from a long time ago and it could've been from my surfing the net late at nite or from another mom's blog... but nevertheless, i like the suggestions given here..

Ideas from moms-Preschool activities
Homeschooling 3- & 4-yos

potty training adventures

Started potty training as soon as we purchased the tickets for pakistan... so far have had quite a few accidents. i thought this missy would get it faster than aapi but it seems to be going a bit slower.. could be 'cuz i put diaper on her almost everyday when we are going out. i haven't limited my outside time 'cuz it's summer and the days are lonnng and i have a tough time entertaining them after their nap (around 3-4pm) and before dh comes home (between 9:30 (on good days) - 10pm)...

anyhow, she has consistently done #2 in her underpants or diapers. she doesn't tell me until after she's done. at the beginning (last week) i questioned her as to why she doesn't tell me about #1 and her answer was, "it coming too fast mama!" bless her tiny heart! May Allah protect them from all that is evil, or remotely evil.

i found a link where this lady calls herself the "potty whisperer"...she trains 2-3 yos how to do potty. basic premise is that you tell the kids they are responsible for their own potty. when it comes, they run and do it. if accidents happen, they clean it up. Now, my question is how on earth do they clean the carpet? and how do you enforce it when they do not want to do it? and if they do #2 on the floor or in the underpants, especially on carpet? hmmm.. i'm sure if i ponder long enuf, i would be able to find some solution to this.. but the brain is on snooze and it's easier to just mechanically clean up myself than have patience to teach her to... how sad is that? if i just change my attitude to "wow, how exciting that my baby is learning this very mature phase and i'm honored by my Lord to be a part of the whole thing, all the ups and the not-so-ups"..

Move Over, Rover

So, we signed up finally for the summer reading program at our local library and among the "new" books they had for the preschoolers was Move Over, Rover by Karen Beaumont. The girls have fallen madly in love with this book. We read it at least 3 time the first day and thereafter, they have gone through the book together and individually several times. The storyline is great and the illustrations are beautiful. It's funny how much we missed when we first read the book. We didn't notice the details about other animals until after we discovered the skunk! and that is when we started noticing all the different details we completely overlooked. Sooo, i was thinking i'll plunk right in and do some fun stuff with the girls this week based on this book. Here are some ideas I was thinking about:

1. Make a feltboard story with pics of all animals and a doghouse cut out of paper and with sandpaper glued to the back.
2. Concept of size- line up animals from smallest to largest (where would the snake go??)
3. Story sequence cards (i need to figure out how to do this)
4. Words of the week (animals, action words (loved the vocab), weather (sunny, rainy)
5. Color the animals (find some pics from the several great preschool websites)
6. Collage- cut animal pictures from magazines, paste on construction paper, and put craft sticks around to resemble a doghouse- can be decorated with other materials or pictures
7. 3-part cards (i still haven't really made any yet..)
8. Play game- Red Rover, Red Rover... another twist i read to this game was each kid having a shape, or a color, etc. and calling that instead of the person.
9. Beeba loves the Brown Bear what do you see?... so we'll play that with each animal looking at the next animal coming inside the doghouse
   
10. Math concepts i can think of that'll be covered i think: -how many animals total, how many with each addition (addition), size, and sequence

that's all the things that came to mind so far... now i need to get moving on making and organizing the stuff!

Here is a link i found dealing with the book: Speech_sounds_v