Day 2

Day 2 went even better than day 1!!!! I was looking for a workbook for Sam and stumbled upon an animal workbook. The kids each read and answered the questions. Shane even asked to do a second page! It's funny, Jackson was doing handwriting and whining about 'it's hard' but when it was answering questions about animals, he wrote long sentences all on his own!

Explode the Code!

Learning about the walrus.

Counting oranges.

We're learning about cells this week, I love when they are interested in what they're learning. They had a great time coloring the parts of a cells and labeling. We learned the largest single cell is the yolk of an ostrich egg. Did you know that?

Watching a video of people cracking an ostrich egg!

Using a drill to open the egg

Sam's cell, turned into a person.

I did a lot of work on the school room over break, but somehow I forgot about this giant pile of papers that need filed. At least they are dated and graded.

This is my best clearance find this school year.

First Day Back.

 We had a very long school break for most of December. We enjoyed our time off, but getting back into our groove made the morning so much easier. The kids did much better than I expected. Leading up to our break we were focusing on science and history, but today we did all subjects. There were very few complaints.

Thank God this child isn't in school, he'd never sit still. This is how he learns.

Handwriting

Homemade Lunchables.

Just for utter cuteness. Box o' Fun.

And Sigh.....

Here's the before!

 Well I worked for hours on the school room. Johnny's new summer schedule has him getting home around 3:30 (oh it's so wonderful!!!!) So once he got home, I locked myself into the school room to finish. I just couldn't take anymore tiptoeing around piles of books. At one point I was nearly buried. I managed escaped with only a knot on my head from a large book. So here's the 90% finished product. I still have to donate all those piles and dump the trash, but it's pretty good now!

After! The pile there is my niece.

All these piles are for donation.

Supply Cubbies.

Kids Corner.

Yeah, there was that much trash.

Mama's shelf.

"In the middle of my little mess."

I love this song. "In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I'm blessed" Oh, I've been singing it for days as little things keep getting in my way of getting my to-do list done. But this song can make me stop and dance and have my kids look at me like I'm crazy! So here's what I'm in the middle of:

Would you believe there actually is order to this?

I haven't made it to this shelf yet.

So I'm in the middle of trying to turn this yard sale gone awry into a respectable place to learn. I've been collecting books for over 6 years and have things I know I'll never use. After 4 years of true homeschooling I have a realistic idea of what I'll use and won't use. BUT, it's so hard to get rid of stuff that I just might need. I'm trying! I'm having a hard time, I can't seem to get more than a half hour of time to get in there. I need hours. It's going to take days at this rate and anyone who knows me, knows I can't stand long term chaos. Well, it's a lesson in patience if nothing else!

Enjoying your kids through the Cabin Fever.

*disclaimer, this not aimed at anyone in particular, it's based of the complaints of facebook as of late.*

The weather has been insane! The schools have been closed or delayed for weeks, I think they only went to school two days last week and the week before. Now, I'm going a little stir crazy!

I have my kids all day long every day, the way I feel I'm supposed to do. I feel I'm supposed to have these little people here with me and that I'm supposed to be teaching them at home. Our lives work really well this way. Yes, it takes a lot, yes I give up a lot, but I think we're getting more in return. Yes, there are days I want to throw in the towel, I want to put them on a bus and leave it to someone else. But I take a deep breath, and go on with my day. (maybe having to issue an apology along the way)I'm happy that I can be (for the most part) happy to have them home. I'm happy that I don't feel the need to complain over and over again that my kids are home for a few extra days because of snow. As we get closer to having to hand "little man" over to his grandparents, I'm trying to take the time with all my children and enjoy them more. (even if I'm with a little less hair than normal)

Each day is new and we get a fresh start (even if our kids our quoting our words from yesterday). We all need a break, we all need a night out, a fresh start. But when you can't seem to enjoy you're kids on a Monday, because they're supposed to be in school, that's a sad day. When I asked the kids what they enjoyed the most about the snow, they replied, football, bingo, and daddy was home. So through all my babbling this morning, I guess the main point, is through the screaming, the fighting, and the endless episodes of Dinosaur Train and Calliou, they are growing and I don't want to miss it.

2010-2011 Curriculum Grades 1 and 3

I've just finished my list of curriculum for next year!!! For those who don't home school, this is a long process. I've been working on it for at least a month, comparing sites and prices is really the easy part. The hard part is sifting through literally hundreds of curriculum choices.

To date I've used workbooks with a few "real" books thrown in. I've always said come 3rd grade is when I would feel the need to have a whole curriculum. Until that point it's been easy to teach without it, just learning the basics and such. Shane will be in 3rd grade next year and on level!

Jackson will technically be in 1st grade next year. I will submit him as a first grader, but he will mostly be doing the same work as Shane. He is doing 1st grade penmanship and 1st to 2nd grade math. Sam would not be starting Kindergarten until the 2011-2012 school year, he will be in pre-K next year. He will be joining us for group projects, like science and history. As for his own work, he will still be in workbooks. I'm attaching a list of our curriculum this year, I'm pretty proud of the price list I worked out. :)

Grammar--First Language Lessons Level 3
--teacher book 13.00
--student workbook (2) 40.00


Math--Math U See
--gamma teacher book 25.00
--gamma student book 25.00
--beta student book 25.00


Spelling--Sequential Spelling
--Level 2 13.00


US History--Bob Jones University Heritage Studies
--Grade 3 Subject Kit 97.50
--Timeline Snap Shots 14.50


Bible Study--Alpha Omega Lifepac
--Boxed Set Grade 3 48.96


Memory Work--Classical Conversations
--Cycle 1 Audio CD 30.00


Science--Bob Jones University Grade 3
--Subject Kit 140.50
--Science Kit 37.50

Penmanship--Horizons Grade 3
--Grade 3 Kit 24.63
--Grade 1 Kit 24.64


Random Scholastic:
Tunes That Teach American History-13.59
180 Essential Vocabulary Words-10.39
Pizza Fraction Bulletin Board-9.59

*I've been contacted by a rep from Alpha Omega Publications, they are the main Pub. of the Lifepac and Horizons curriculum that I'm using, they asked that I add a link to their site, and I would be thrilled too, I think their stuff is going to be awesome!!! Alpha Omega Publications.