The Homeschool Hut

Scholastic Phonics Reading Program

6:51 AM

Eat, sleep and breathe basketball

9:44 AM

Leijah was 6 in April. He's my oldest and because of this he's my little testing buddy. At least when in came to homeschooling. When he was 3 my husband and I searched around for the perfect preschool to enroll him in. Nowhere seemed like the "right" place for my little pride and joy. This is how we discovered homeschooling! We went out and bought pre-k workbooks, crayons, coloring books, etc. Go figure he didn't want anything to do with them. Same thing at 4, and then at 5. Sure he did the work, but it would be constant complaining (and sometimes tears!). He wouldn't get a lot of the material, and i'd compare him to other kids his age wondering why he wasn't reading at 4 or 5. Why blending words was so difficult for him and why he couldn't sit still and concentrate to do phonics, but could sit for hours watching youtube videos about trucks, and reptiles!
I had heard of Raymond and Dorothy Moore, and of the book "Better late than early". See, they believed that children shouldn't beging formal lessons until the age of 8! Charlotte mason also didn't advise lessons until 6 or 7! And I can see why! I know about unschooling.
At 6, Leijah is now becoming interested in reading. But, not in the form of "sit down while mommy teaches you all these facts". Oh no, he has got his own thing going on. We have quite a few Dr Seuss books that he has taken an interest in. He will get a book and read the words he knows, and if he doesn't know word he will ask me. A few pages in and he'll usually catch on to the words he doesn't know (or not). When we are out he'll point out words or ask me what they say. And I am so proud of him! Some may think It's a little late for him to be doing this since alot of kids his age are in grade 1 and reading. But,you know what? He is is ready now. He wasn't ready at 4 or 5, and I feel kind of bad for trying to push it.
I'm learning to follow his lead. We are taking a new path on this homeschool journey. Right now he is loving sharks...still! So i'm finding everything to do with sharks. 3 part cards on the parts of a shark, shark facts, shark books, shark lapbooks. He's also showing an interest in addition and money so i'm going to get him some fake money and play some games with him. Teach him how to add money, give change, count money, etc.
Lathan is 3 now. The same age I started homeschooling Leijah! I have not bought him 1 workbook. I have a couple file folder games i've printed out for him and we are having fun with those! I'm going to let him lead me in the direction we need to go. When he's ready i'll be waiting ready to go!

Cloth diapers

How I wash my cloth diapers.

8:30 AM

I've been cloth diapering since Lathan was a baby, and he is 3 now! I started with a few Bum Genius, a couple thirsties and quite a bit of the dappi pull on covers with prefolds. Luna uses a few of those same diapers and, of course, her girly ones i ordered on ebay.

My washing routine has changed throughout the years, but I have now settled on one that seems to be working really well. Cloth diapering does take more work than using disposables, but it's worth it. Not only is it a great money saver, they are super cute too.

So, what i do first is:

Rinse any poopy diapers ASAP. If Luna poops in a diaoer i will rinse it clean in the tub or the outside faucet before throwing it in my pail. Some people don't. I prefer to. I find it cuts down on odors and staining.

On wash day i throw all of the diapers into the washer. I usually wash every other day and have about 10-14 diapers. That includes the covers and the inserts (2/dipe). I do a rinse using cold water. This further removes some of the urine and any poop i didn't get fully get rinsed prior to washing.

After the rinse is done I remove the diapers. I fill the washer with HOT water and a scoop and a half of oxy clean. I use oxy clean because i find that it works well in a pinch. I live in the Bahamas and getting cloth diaper detergents is pretty hard. I could order online, but that will cost more money than i'd like to spend clearing it. So, I use oxy clean, I'm sure there are way better detergents...i'm thinking of switching to borax when I am done with this jar. So, okay, a scoop and a half dissovled in the hot water. I then add the diapers back and wash on heavy, which should be about 10-15 mins.

I do an extra rinse to make sure the water is clear and I am done. The oxy clean amount i use seems to be my perfect amount fory diapers. The water is always clear after rinsing and my diapers smell clean. Keep rinsing until the water is clear!

I dry my clothes on the clothes line. I don't have a dryer anyways! If it is raining out, or I wash them late at night I just dry inside and they are dried by the morning.