And we're off... kind of.

We have been waiting all summer for this week. Our astronomy class from last year was going on a field trip to JPL in Pasadena on Wednesday. Unfortunately by Sunday afternoon it was pretty apparent that all three of my kids and my hubby had come down with a bug. To make a long story short, the field trip was cancelled before I had to make the 'mommy decision' to not let my kids go because they were sick. Anyway, I had decided to put off starting school until the following week so we wouldn't have a field trip interrupting our first week. God had other plans. So Tuesday I decided to have a 'soft' start to school. Emma has been working on writing all summer and Zachary has kept up with math and they both have done a ton of reading. I decided that I would have Zachary start his new IEW writing program and have Emma start her new Singapore math program, while continuing what they've been working on through the summer. What a great day it was. We didn't feel rushed or overloaded. I had plenty of time to explain the new programs. Emma did great with Singapore. I'm doing the same thing I did in 2nd grade with Zach with her. Starting at the very beginning, which is super easy, mainly to build confidence in math. Zachary did awesome with the IEW program. He did a lot of brainstorming with me and is ready to write the rough draft of a poem tomorrow. He was also very diligent in his math lesson today which took him more time than he is used to. Emma did great with her summary and writing, even after writing all her thank you notes for her birthday. And I even got some one on one time with Lukey doing a sticker page, lacing cards, color matching, and reading. He loved it, and so did I.

I plan on 'officially' starting school next week. Going full bore with My Fathers World, Creation to the Greeks. I'm very excited about it, but I think this start to school was exactly what we needed this year.

Zachary's brainstorming activity for IEW.

Lukey hard at work lacing an airplane between snuggles.

Lately...

I love how my iPhone is so kind to send the photos I take on it directly to my computer. It's quite convenient. Here are some of my faves from the past several days.

Zachary is totally schooling his father in Backgammon. He serious rolled no less than 15 doubles. It was awesome, and at the same time scary. I'm thinking of checking the Google search on his iPod for "weighting dice"???

I got to "borrow" a baby for a couple hours one night. Awww, two weeks new and snugly as can be. This is good stuff for my soul.

We had a Disney day last weekend with the cousins again. While the dad's took the big kids on Soaring Over California, the moms went for a glass of wine. We found these guys on the way to the wine bar. Luke was so excited to meet "Ka-chow" and Mater. He got a little camera shy when we had our turn, but he really was amazed. I was amazed that we got a relaxing glass of wine while the men corralled the kids :).

On Monday we had Astronomy class at the park. The weather was perfect and the labs were so fun. There were rockets, Mento's and diet cola geysers, and marshmallow guns. A GREAT science day indeed.

This photo was taken by my mom of my dad on his new yacht. (Well, perhaps "yacht" is a bit of an exaggeration, but I'd hardly call it a kayak) I can't wait to see this in person, perhaps with a grandchild on board?

What have you been up to lately?

Ecosystems

My kids are absolutely loving their astronomy class this year, and so am I. Science is one of the subjects that seems to get left behind when our days are full. Sad, but true. I will get the reading done, but not always all the experiments that go along with the reading that makes science so fun (and memorable). So the class has been a lifesaver for this mama. Lectures, quizzes, fun labs, fun with friends, and an excellent teacher who loves to show the Lord in science. Win Win WIN!!

While the kids were learning about Mars they had to create an ecosystem for people to live on the planet. They could use whatever medium they wanted and they were to bring it to share with the class. We had a lot of fun (and learning going on too) talking about what would be needed to survive on another planet. This is what the kids came up with:

Emma decided to draw her ecosystem. It includes a large area of closets for clothes, a farm to raise animals for food, trees for oxygen, an apartment building to live in, a wash room for laundry, a huge water tank and a rocket that could go back to earth for more water. Oh, and two dance rooms; one for ballet and one for tap :).

Zachary decided to use Legos for his ecosystem.

He had a building to live in, lots of trees for oxygen, a recycling waterfall and stream for water and recreation, and a garden to grow food.

He let me help with the garden. I had fun.

We also recently wrapped up a study of France. Zachary was elated when I told him he was done with school for the day expect for one thing. I wanted him to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower to his room and create it out of Legos :).

Yes, when Legos are involved with school, it's a good day.

Week 4 Wrap Up

We are wrapping up our study of the United States and get to go to Mexico next week. We spent all last year studying the U.S., so I for one am looking forward to moving down the road a bit. We added a couple things in this week and fine tuned some other things. I am feeling a bit relieved that we seam to be fitting in most everything during the week. I think we are getting in a groove, but I am well aware that grooves change, constantly.

Exploring Countries and Cultures

Bible: We read about the Navajo people in Windows on the World and learned some of the ways we can pray for them. We also started our study of Matthew reading about the genealogy of Jesus and discussing our family tree. We read and discussed Jesus' birth and the wise men's visit to Jesus. Zachary's weekly Bible verse is Matthew 1:23, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - Which means, "God with us." We Israel, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Iran on the map. We also read about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in Hero Tales. Zachary has been writing the different character traits learned in Hero Tales in his notebook.

Language Arts: Zachary finished practicing his letters last week and started this week in language arts by copying his new Bible verse. On Tuesday he wrote his Bible verse by dictation. On Friday he will add two more words to his Vocabulary Notebook. Each Friday he gets two additional geography words that he illustrates and defines. Each week we go over the words from the previous weeks and add two more.

Spelling: We added in our new spelling curriculum this week. I have high hopes for it. We have chosen to use Spelling Power. I have been reading the teacher's manual and watching the DVD that comes with the program and had started to feel comfortable with the many steps involved. I kept hearing that it all sounds like a lot to absorb, but once you get started it is very simple. My Father's World suggests waiting until the third week of school to start up spelling. It gives you a chance to fold in everything more slowly, which I think is a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, the night before we were to start, I noticed something I had overlooked regarding doing this program differently if you are doing it with a student that is 8 years old or younger. It threw me in a bit of a tale spin (although it shouldn't have). I asked some questions about this on a couple homeschool boards I am on and got a few suggestions. After going over them I decided to proceed with the regular program knowing that I could always "tweak" it if something was not working out right. (Here in-lies one of the most beautiful things about educating you children at home!)

English: Continued in Primary Language Lessons. Zachary learned about ('s) which answers the question, "whose."

Math Drill: We have started a new way of drilling. I have purchased a great computer program for Zachary called Mad Dog Math. I had the pleasure of sitting in one of Julie Kotoff's workshops at the CHEA convention in July and her enthusiasm for math was contagious. She impressed on us how important math drilling is for mastering math facts. I had some trouble downloading her program and she kindly called me and helped me through the process. Zachary enjoys working on the computer, and doing math drills on the computer makes them fun. I think this program will be well worth it.

Geography: This week we worked hard on learning the states. Zachary surprised me by the end of the week with how many states he could name. We also did an exercise coloring in the states using only four colors and not having and bordering states the same color. We started at the four corners and worked out from there. It was fun and Zach got it with only one mistake that was easily corrected. We also studied our flag and the symbols behind the stars and stripes.

Science: We continued learning about forests and what kind of animals live in different areas of the forest. We worked on some tree identification using a tree guide from the library.

Read-Aloud: We have been reading Kingdom Tales. Our whole family has been enjoying it and the discussions it provokes after each chapter. The stories are fun, and they all point to our King.

I could go on and on... we have had a very full week indeed. I think I will share some photos of some additional activities this past week.

Zach and Emma working on labeling and coloring in North America on the world map.

Our World Cake!

Zach doing Rosetta Stone.

Emma working on some sorting in math for 1st grade.

Emma's completed scroll. She work several days on her printing and got to put all the pages together in a scroll.

Read other homeschoolers weekly wrap ups at Discover Their Gifts

Underway

We are starting our third week of school, and I feel we are well underway now. This week we add in Zachary's spelling curriculum as well as a few new read-alouds and we start our country study right here in the good old USA.

But first... here's a snap shot of what these two (three) have been doing the past two weeks.

Zachary, ECC - 3rd grade

Bible: Learning about why God made different languages, that the Good News of Jesus is for all mankind, we will worship with people from all parts of the world in heaven.

Language Arts: Handwriting review and geography vocabulary

English: We are continuing in Primary Language Lessons (from last year). It is a very Charlotte Mason type of lesson, which we all seem to enjoy. We are doing 3 lessons per week with some dictation sprinkled in there too.

Math: We are working on more drilling this year which I think will help with simple math facts and make math easier in the long run. We work addition math drills on Monday, subtraction on Tuesday, multiplication on Wednesday, and division on Thursday. These drills only last about 10 minutes and can be anything from flashcards to math games. We have just started a new math book with Singapore Math. We have used Singapore from the start and it seems to be working for us. Zach started level 2B last week.

Geography: The past two weeks have concentrated on learning how to read maps, what types of maps there are, and how maps differ from globes. We have learned about latitude and longitude, physical and political maps, northern and southern hemisphere, distance and scale... lets just say I've learned a lot too!!

Science: We are learning about environments and ecosystems. We've read about niches and biomes. We have also touched on the water and oxygen cycles. We started our Nature Notebooks for the year. Zach is also working in The Complete Book of Animals which has given him some simple research type worksheets so far. Zachary has also started his Astronomy class, which is out of the house on Monday afternoons. We decided this week to sign Emma up to, and we think she is going to love it (almost) as much as Zach. I will have to write more on this later. We are so blessed to be part of this group.

Music/Art: We have been listening to Wee Sing: Hello to All the Children of the World, which has introduced us to several countries. We also made paper dolls last week and decorated them from different countries.

Reading: Zachary is still in love with the Magic Tree House Books. He will read a while book in one sitting if I allow him to sit that long. I have tried to get him to branch out a bit, but have not been successful yet.

Spanish: Zachary is continuing to do Rosetta Stone. He does a very good job at it and enjoys working on the computer alone with his headset.

Read-Aloud: We started Kingdom Tales last week. At first I though it would be a bit deep for us, but we got through the first couple chapters and now I think our whole family is getting something out of the readings every night. It really is turning out to be a very good book and the discussion question at the end of each chapter gets us all talking about what we thought the chapter was about.

Zachary labeling a map for geography

Emma, 1st Grade

Bible: We have gone over how the Bible was first written in scrolls. We have started handwriting practice on sheets that we will put together as a scroll when we are done with them. Emma also made a small piece of pottery as an example of the pots they used to store scrolls in. We have been discussing the book of Proverbs and that it is a book full of wise verses written by King Solomon. We have started memorizing Proverbs 9:10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. One other thing we did last week was make a Jewish calender. It coincides with our calender so we will be able to follow both through the year.

Reading: We are reviewing three letters a day by writing them and review their sounds and what words start with their sounds. We are doing dictation where Emma will write the first letter of the words I say to her. She is also blending short vowels with the letters we are reviewing.

Math: Last week we worked on sequences and patterns. We read some books that we checked out from the library, which is something I love about our curriculum. There are so many children's books that have real life math in them and make learning math fun, and our curriculum lists the books that go along with what we are studying so we can check them out of the library when we need them. Emma also got to "play" with her pattern blocks, which she enjoys doing with Luke.

Emma has joined Zach and I for several of his geography lessons. She has also started her Nature Notebook and will be doing Astronomy for science along with some life science from 1st grade.

Emma working on patterns for math.

Luke, Pre-Pre-Pre-School ;-)

Luke is being kept very busy by his big sister who I think will have him reading way before I would. She practices his animal sounds with him and fort building. He pays more attention to her than he ever would to me, and I LOVE IT!! She is such a blessing taking care of him while I teach Zach. The two of them are fostering a relationship that is so precious and special, and I love to listen to it from our school table.

Emma including Luke in playing with her pattern blocks.

My "class", working on labeling the continents and oceans.

These first two weeks have been very full and exciting, and yet I know we are just barely getting started on this very busy year that is ahead of us. I am so excited for what is to come this year while studying our Father's World!

Day 2

We just finished another day of ECC and so far everything is going really well. Just a couple fun things to share today. We are studying John 3:16 to start the year off and today we were to make a poster with pictures of people from around the world and John 3:16 on it. I decided to change things up a bit and decorate a box with the pictures instead, turning it into a piggy bank for donations to a Bible translation ministry. Our curriculum donates to God's Word for the Nations and after learning a little more about the ministry, I think it is something the kids and I will enjoy giving to.

In geography today we talked about how hard it is to transfer what is on the globe onto a flat map. To demonstrate this we drew the world on a tangerine with a permanent marker. Then we pealed the tangerine and tried to put it together into a map. Did you know that map makers usually distort the top and bottom of the world so that it is much larger than it really is. For example, on a map Greenland can look as big as South America. If you look at it on a globe, you see that it is really far smaller. So mom is learning right along with the kiddos again today!

So here is Zachary showing our tangerine with the world drawn on it.

And here the kids are trying to piece together the peel into a flat map.

I love when things are hands on, which is just another reason I love this curriculum so much. Plus it's always nice when you get to eat school when your done learning :-).

One other thing I wanted to mention. We have made a change to the way we are doing the Bible portion of our day. We have been doing it the night before with daddy. It gives him a chance to be involved in a very important part of our school day and it also gives us a set time to study together every evening (which is something that doesn't happen enough). So far it has worked out beautifully.

1st Day of School

Our 1st day of school is now behind us. I think we made a good choice starting on Labor Day, when daddy was home to help with Luke. It made the day a lot less stressful for me. Zachary did great with the added workload of being a 3rd grader. There are a couple more subjects that will be added on as the weeks progress. Emma joined us for geography and science, and she was a real trooper.

The kids did a geography pre-test to see how many countries they knew. I let them know this test was going to be given again at the end of the year so we could see how many countries we have learned about. I told them that I didn't expect them to know many countries, and truthfully I figured they would get the United States and maybe Mexico. Zachary surprised me by getting 13 countries, including the United States, Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Russia, and Italy. I can not take any credit for this. He loves to read and loves maps, so I think he is really going to enjoy this year and learn so much.

We had a slow start to our day and enjoyed cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We also took back-to-school photos out in the front yard like we do every year.

Zachary - 3rd Grade - Exploring Countries and Cultures

BMXer and Big Brother Extraordinaire

Emma - 1st Grade

Fashionista and Pre-Pre-Pre-School Teacher (see below)

Luke - Pre-Pre-Pre-School

Lover of all things cars and in charge of keeping mommy on her toes

Class Photo :)

Filling out Passport Applications (and coloring)

The kids filled out their passport applications today and submitted them to the passport office (mom and dad). They are being processed and the kids are expecting their passports back in a few weeks so they can start to travel to different counties and learn all about them.

We are so excited to start this exploration together in our Father's World!!!

Twas the Night Before School Began

Tomorrow we start our 4th year of homeschooling.

Did I just say that?

I still have a hard time believing that we are a homeschooling family.... better yet, that I am a homeschooling mama. After 4 years you would have thought that would have sunk in by now.

Tomorrow Zachary starts 3rd grade. We finally get to do My Father's World - Exploring Countries and Cultures (ECC). This is a year I have been looking forward to since we started kindergarten with My Father's World. This year we will be taking "...a trip around the world and exploring diverse cultures while learning geography and being challenged by true stories of missionaries." (from the MFW teacher's manual)

On Thursday Emma will start MFW - 1st grade. "...a complete first grade curriculum with a phonics-based reading program. Focusing on Genesis to Revelation, key Bible stories are used to develop reading and writing skills." (again from the MFW teachers manual)

Emma will be joining Zachary for quite a bit of ECC, which I think will work quite well. I hope to blog more about our school days this year.

Tonight I start by praying. Praying for me. Praying for the patience it takes to teach two children in two different grades, all while a toddler is wanting my attention. Praying for wisdom to teach what should be taught and let go of the things that will not matter in the long run. Praying for grace to be a teacher, a mom, and a wife to my husband.

I look forward to praying over each of my little students tonight while they are sleeping snugly in their beds. Praying that they have patience with me and the interruptions that happen throughout the day. Praying that they put forth their best effort. Praying that they take to heart the information that the Lord has set in this curriculum for us.

Tonight I ask that you pray with me. Because we can use all the prayer we can get ;-).

Math Review

We have not started the official school year yet, but Zach has been doing math, english, and spelling through his few weeks off. I recently used a gift certificate I got a year ago to a teacher's resource store on some math manipulatives. We love Singapore math, and it is working great for both student and teacher, but as we start learning multiplication and division I am finding that 'fingers' are not all we need. I found these Unifix cubes (great fun for my Lego loving boy) and got them out today to explain dividing by twos. Talk about seeing the light bulb go on! He is having so much fun "showing" me each problem on his worksheet.

I also got a pair of dice which we used to make an addition worksheet. Throw the dice and add up the numbers. I think I will be getting a few more dice next time I am there.

The other game I got was a "war" card game with addition and subtraction problems on the cards. We had so much fun playing with those last week. I am going to have to keep an eye out for multiplication and division ones too.

Math was not a subject I enjoyed in school. I wonder if that is because I got in my head that I just wasn't good at it? Looking at it now, I love to solve things, and solving number problems shouldn't be that different.

So... here's to breaking that mold and trying the best I can to make even math fun for my kiddos. Did I just say 'math' and 'fun' in the same sentence? Yes... I think I did ;-)

It's Summertime

We are celebrating a bit of summer these days. Zachary just wrapped up his 2nd grade curriculum, and Emma is almost done. Zach asked to start ECC as soon as he closed the last book on Adventures, but I told him a couple weeks off is in order. It's really been too hot to play outside, and unfortunately we've had some sick days too. I really think we are all looking forward to getting back to school again. There is something about the rhythm of the school days that are just comfortable for us. I know I am more than a little nervous to start this year. 3rd grade seems like a huge jump in work from 2nd. Add to that a 1st grader that is learning to read, and a toddler that has a 20 second attention span. Yes, it is going to be an interesting year. As far as extra curricular activities this year... by the grace of God Emma's two dance classes ended up being back to back on the same day. We have Zach signed up for an astronomy class on Monday afternoons. I hope to take the younger two to the library while he is in class. Everything looks great on paper. I think it's about time to give it a go.

Well... maybe one more week off ;-). There is a bit more organizing I would like to do around the house and we have a very special family coming to visit later this week. A few more "summer memories" before we dive into another great year of learning together.

A Little Sand Time

This week we had a fun-filled fieldtrip to the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. The subject was on tide pools and the kids really loved it. I loved that my sister met us there and seemed to enjoy herself just as much as I did. I love it when she visits us. I have always loved her very much, but I find after every visit I enjoy our time together even more.

After the field trip we decided to head to the beach to see the tide pools, but it was high tide so we were out of luck. I did take out my trusty phone and took a couple shots that will help remind me of the time we spent together that day. Ahhh, the seashore. Is there anything better?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

Nature Study

I am so excited about our nature studies this year. I had started doing them randomly last year, but this year our curriculum has them scheduled in so I hope to be more regular at it. They are scheduled to be done at the end of the school day on Fridays so that you end your week enjoying our Father's World. This last week our Friday did not lend itself to nature study time, but on Sunday we more than made up for it. We drove up to Oak Glen to go apple picking, which is one of my favorite times of the year. While taking a break from our picking we laid a blanket under an apple tree and set the kids up with their nature notebooks and colored pencils. It was perfect! I just asked them to draw anything that they saw. Emma drew a beautiful apple tree. Zachary drew the view in the distance of the mountains and valley below. It really was an ideal moment in my week, and I hope to think of it often as things get trying this week. I think the Lord gives momma's times like these to get them through the rough days.

I was also excited to get to use my new book, Handbook of Nature Studies. There were several pages devoted to apple trees and I had the chance to read a bit to the kids on the way up the mountain. I see us using this book for reference for many years.

Maybe the best part of the day came when we arrived home. While driving into the driveway my wonderful husband commented on how glad he is that I am teaching our kids. He is my biggest support, and he has no idea how important it is for me to hear those word from him. Oh, I love him so :).

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.8

Science Science Science

I have to admit that last year science got put on the back (Bunsen) burner, sort of speak. I could give several excuses, but none of them are very good, so I will spare you. I plan to do better this year.

With 4/5ths of the first week of second grade under our belt (ah-hem) we have done pretty well, and even have an experiment under our belts.

Emma's learning about leaves this week, so on our walk at the park last night we collected leaves and today made a book of leaf rubbings. My favorite part was getting to use our new book, Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock to identify the leaves. I can tell we are going to get a lot of use out of this huge amazing book.

Zach is learning the basics of what science is and what scientists do. We did an experiment today to see what would happen if you drop an egg in regular water, or in salt water. I won't ruin it for you. Either try it yourself, or some take a look at his new science notebook where he will be recording his experiments this year :-). I will tell you though, that Aunt Dawny says she floats rather well at that island she is on ;-).

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.8

First Day of 2nd Grade

Today was the official start of 2nd grade in our home. Since it was Labor Day, Dan was home which gave me an extra set of hands to hold Luke so I could school with less interruptions. It went really well, and I know we are both going to enjoy this year (both Zach and I). We were able to do Emma's day of kindergarten too, which was incorporated easier than I thought. Now, as for tomorrow, I'm not sure if we will remain this lucky. Things run a lot easier without a babies "help", and Dan is back at work tomorrow. I know we are in for a challenging school year, but I am also confident that it will be full of God's blessings and very rewarding.

On another note, my grandpa fell early Sunday morning in his apartment at his assisted living facility. After the day in the ER we found out nothing was broken (praise the Lord), but his lungs were not clear and he had signs of infection. He is very battered and bruised from the fall, and at 84 years old, he just doesn't heal as quickly as he used to. Unfortunatley, we are finding that he has other very serious health complications that are now in the Lords hands. We are happy he is comfortable right now and he is in pretty good spirits (with the exception of wanting to go home). I am so blessed that my cousin, Christie, is such an amazing woman. Between her and I we are able to handle the coordination of his care and needs along with trying to keep him company. These are the times when you realize just how much family means.

I ask for prayer for my grandfather, that he remains comfortable and that he is able to heal quickly. I also ask for prayer for our families right now while taking this extra care for grandpa is something that is very close to our hearts, it also is a bit taxing on our families and on our normal schedules.

With the exception of my Papa Sam, who we lost just 2 short years ago, I am blessed to have all of my grandparents in my life. My life has been so enriched by these amazing Godly people. I have had nothing but love from them all my life. My husband, who never knew any of his grandparents, has adopted mine as his own. He really loves them all and is such a wonderful example to me of showing respect and love to those who have gone before us.

Yes, I am a very blessed woman indeed.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.8

2nd Grade? Really?

The end is in sight. The end of 1st grade that is. Zachary has one more day, and I plan on doing it tomorrow. We started 1st grade the begining of January, after having our third child the begining of December. We took a couple weeks off here and there, when we've needed it, but pretty much schooled right through summer. It has worked out very well. I was able to start Emma in kindergarten while still flowing through first with Zach. Now that Emma is starting to flow in kindergarten, I can concentrate on a new curriculum with Zach. The Lord has been so good to us. His timing is so perfect!

I am very excited to start 2nd grade with Zach. We are in love with our curriculum, My Father's World. This year we will be studying US History, the many names of Jesus, Singapore math, language arts, spelling by sound and structure, an art program called I Can Do All Things, music study, and a spanish class once a week with friends. I'm sure I am leaving something out. It is going to be a full year with all of this being new and teaching kindergarten too, all while keeping a baby happy. It really is amazing being able to stay home with my kids and be their teacher. Zachary has been a joy to watch grow and learn for over 7 years, and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to teach him at home.

Now, will someone just please tell me how these years are going by so quickly. How in the world can I be the mother of a boy in the 2nd grade?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.8

<3'n School

Today was a good school day. We have lots of fun with school, but if I'm being honest, some days are much better than others. Today was good.

Today began the first "real" unit of kindergarten for Emma. She did really well, just as I expected. I also managed to get Zach's whole school day in as well as his reading time and some extra math practice. In the middle of our day we managed a trip to the library. Usually a trip mid-day would throw the whole day off, but we managed to stay on track today. By no way was it a perfect day, but I am rejoicing in just getting done what needed to get done. God is good, and I believe He is using this time to teach me how to teach two grade levels, keep an 8 month old happy, keep house (whatever that means), keep commitments, try and work, etc... I am a work in progress, and I am learning how to let go of my fears and just trust that God will meet me where I am and get me through what NEEDS to be done. I have no control of anything, so I might as well just hand it all on over to the Lord.

Any how, the above photos are from today and yesterday. Zach has been working on fractions this week. Today I got out the measuring cups and let him play with water. "How many 1/4 cups will fit into a cup?" Oh yes, we had fun. That was followed up by cutting up and apple for snack into 1/2, then 1/4's, then 1/8ths. Yes, fractions can be fun and yummy.

The other photo was yesterday. We put together Emma's "Creation Book" that she had made the first 7 days of kindergarten. Zach decided to get his out and compare them. That was fun for all of us. It was really fun to hear Zach be able to read it to us and see the progress he has made the last couple years.

Yes, we have fun homeschooling. It is not all great, but I am so happy that this is what we have decided to do. And I am happy the Lord continues to meet me right where I need Him and continue to teach me too.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.3

Pocketful of Pinecones

I recently became brave enough to start reading a "real" book. Reading anything besides picture books and books from our curriculum these days is pure leisure, and leisure just does not happen often these days. If it does, it usually consists of sleep. Anyway, I thought since this books chapters are only two or three pages, at best, I would give it a go. I am so glad I did!

Pocketful of Pinecones, written by Karen Andreola, is a wonderful book that tell about nature study in a very fun way. She writes this book as a fictional diary of sorts that goes through a whole year, season by season. The diary is written by a mother in 1935 who decides to homeschool her two children. She writes about her days and her learning how to teach her children. From the back of the book, "Woven into the story are more than 100 examples of what to look for on a naturewalk, Latin names for the living things observed by the characters, study questions, nature poems and verses... , a supplement containing selected quotations by Miss Charlotte Mason, an annotated list of books with a nature theme - both fiction and non-fiction." It sounds like a lot to take in, but it has been such a wonderful encouraging read for me, not only as a teacher, but as a mother and a wife.

I am nearing the end of this book, which is a milestone with three kids underfoot. I have enjoyed it so much that I would be sad that I am nearing the end, except that when I ordered it from Christianbooks.com, it had such wonderful reviews that I also order the sequel, "Blackberry Inn". So I look forward to another wonderful book to come. And just imagine... two complete books under my belt! Amazing ;-).

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.1

School Days

We have been schooling through summer with Zachary taking a couple weeks off here and there. He started 1st grade in January and it looks like he will complete it early September.

Emma started kindergarten last week. She has been so excited to start, I couldn't hold her off another week. Our K curriculum starts off gently by teaching creation the first 10 days. It's perfect because I feel like I have training wheels on while I learn to teach two grades at once.

I had hoped to go to the CHEA conference again this year, mostly for encouragement as a mother and teacher. But the conference fell on Zachary's birthday weekend and we made other plans. Although I missed the conference I have been listening to many podcasts and reading a book called Pocket Full of Pinecones by Karen Andreola and this has been refueling my batteries for the upcoming year. We are excited to continue our journey of homeschooling this year, and so thankful that the Lord has led us to this path.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.1

We Love 1st Grade

Yes we do! We are sticking to our same curriculum that we used for kindergarten, My Fathers World. I'm still so happy we found it. It is perfect for our family and the planning being done for us is perfect for this mama.

We started 1st grade over Christmas break (well Dan's Christmas break). We had finished K about 3 weeks before Luke was born and I decided to just wait on 1st until after Christmas was over. It really worked out perfect, just as all things do when God is involved : ).

This year in first grade Zachary will be learning so many things, and Emma and I are excited to go on the journey with him.

The whole year in Bible is based in Proverbs. Zach learns a verse a week, and copies the verse on the second day. He is getting much better at using lower-case letters instead of just resorting to upper-case as he did so often before we started school. He is learning sentence structure through copying his verses (capitals, periods, commas, etc.). Later in the year, as he is reading more, he will be reading a Bible reader on his own (so exciting!!) and then keeping a Bible notebook by writing about what he read and illustrating it. I imagine this will make quite a keepsake.

Zach is also diving into phonics, which is opening up his world of reading. He learns a new phonic rule every day and practices marking the words and reading them. This will lead him to the Bible reader soon.

We learn a new science concept every week. This week is rain. We check out many books from the library every week on our subject and read them throughout the week to enforce learning while having fun (this is also a part of school which is easy to do while nursing an infant).

Math is done very gently, or so it seemed at first. It really is quite full. We do our calendar everyday and talk about the number of the day. We put the number of the day on a number line. We add coins to his coin jar and count them, trading for larger coins when he can. We add beans to a bean cup everyday and when he gets ten, they get glued to a stick to teach him his 10's and 1's. He writes equations using these concepts for the number of the day. Each week we also learn a new concept (counting, comparing, adding, geometry, time, money, etc...). We also check books out from the library that enforce these concepts in a fun and practical way. (By the way, all the books from the library are suggested in the curriculum. Another great thing for this mama!! I just go on-line and reserve them and swing by the library and pick them up. So sweet!)

We also are doing a drawing program. This is also gentle and fun, and great for me too. This will help when we get to the Bible notebook for his illustrations. Do you know any adults that say they are a good artist? This program helps you learn to "see" what you create as your own original - no negativity.

So we are schooling Monday through Friday, with Wednesday being our Exploration Day. This means we use this day to do hands on "stuff" on our science concept for the week. We get outside and explore God's world. We sketch in our notebooks in the yard. We don't do any structured math or reading that day, but we do usually "play" with our pattern animals which teaches reasoning and math (but, shhh don't tell him). We also are learning art appreciation that day in two awesome books that are teaching us to look deeper and differently at some awesome paintings of both portraits and landscapes. And lastly we are doing music appreciation by learning about a different instrument each week.

Sounds exhausting, doesn't it? But it's not. It's really quite do-able, even with a four year old wanting to tag along and a baby nursing alongside. We get it all done in an hour or so each day, and if we skip a day, we've made it up on the weekends.

I still can't believe that I am homeschooling my children. I had never even thought of or considered homeschooling before Zachary was 3 or 4. I never knew anyone that was homeschooled. I find it odd that this is what we feel called to do. I really want a God- centered Christian education for my kids and I would have to have a full-time job out of the house in order to be able to afford a Christian school for them. I want to be the one raising my kids, not strangers. We do have to sacrifice a great deal by having me home, but it is so worth it. I am startled by stories from friends about what goes on in their kids public classrooms, and I am so thankful for this option to be the educator of these children that God in-trusted us with. God is so good, and he has a reason for everything that He does. I wrote recently on Facebook that if He leads you to something, He will see you through it. Yes, God is good. [I didn't even notice that I stepped up on my soapbox, I'll get down now. Please know that I am completely aware that every family is different. What is right for our family, may not be right for another family, and that is great.]

We start every school day in prayer. Zachary leads it. He often prays for family or friends that his little (huge) heart leads him to. Can I ask you to pray for us too? Pray that we are persistent and have the endurance that it takes to learn and to teach. Pray that what we do is pleasing to the Lord, first and foremost.

I need to have my camera more handy during school, but below are some photos of the end of Zach's kindergarten years. (I can't wait to do it again with Emma and then Luke!!)


This was our penguin week.


Zach's 100th day of school. He got to count out and eat 100 pieces of trail-mix.


Yes, we often school in our jammies : ).


I guess we do have a 1st grade photo. Multi-tasking mama/teacher. Nothing is better than school on the couch. Don't you wish you were taught this way? I sure do!

It's Official...

We are now a State of California recognized Private School. Today we filed our first Private School Affidavit for the 2009 - 2010 school year. This is our second year homeschooling, but in the State of California it is not necessary to file unless you have students that are between the ages of six and eighteen years old. So today we became the Inspired Learning Academy with a student enrollment of one, although we have hopes of growing our enrollment to at least three in the years to come ; ). I can now add "Site Administrator", "Teacher", and "Custodian of Records" to my bag of tricks. Danny is our official "Principal". Pretty funny isn't it!!

I can't express how good it feels to have the freedom in our country to educate our own children in the ways we feel led by the Lord. My prayer is that this freedom is never compromised.