Letter C week

I had more ideas than I had time to implement for this week!  

We studied Christopher Columbus (history), contentment (Bible), the calendar (math).  

In Science, we studied crabs, and did an experiment with celery.  You know the one where you put the celery in a glass of water with food coloring?  Then you get to see the food coloring moving up the stalk as the celery absorbs water.  Never gets old! 

 

We made cookies, chicken pot pie, and ate chocolate!  I altered the pot pie recipe a bit, and made my crust from scratch, but I’ll type that out later.

 

We had our dear friend “Aunt Chelle” over for dinner.  Not just because it was “C” week, but it worked out nicely! 

 

Bug clipped her fingernails for the first time all by herself! (No blood! Yay!)

 

She made a cat craft where the legs and tail were all made out of letter Cs.  I turned her loose with the glue on this one, and let’s just say that it’s a good thing that stuff comes cheap! Ha Ha!

 

 

She also decorated a letter C with cereal.  I was so proud when she said “Look Mommy! I made patterns!”. 

 

For sensory development, we played with clothespins, played catch with a ball, and made sensory balloons (I guess I should have done those on B week!)). 

I made 2 sets of sensory balloons filled with popcorn kernels, salt, birdseed, oatmeal, pinto beans, and lentils.   The idea was for Bug to simply feel the balloons and match one from the pink group to the same one from the orange group.  She amazed me by completing this in record time!  I don’t know why I was surprised.  This is the girl that notices every little detail, and can tell if there is a single stitch out of place inside her shoe.  Later, she used the balloons and an empty laundry basket to make a tossing game in the hall.  That was a little trickier, as motor skills were involved.  Great practice though!

 

 

Other snacks included crackers, cheese, oranges (citrus), & more chocolate!  Also pictured is the sewing card I made for the week.

 

 

I also bought a new set of cookie cutters!  101 of them, to be exact! They were at Walmart for only $10, and I’ve been eyeing them for a while.  If you follow that link, those are the same cutters, but my box did not have a see-through window, and I paid $10, not $14.99!

I have to say, I was super impressed with this set! I fully expected them to be teeny tiny cutters for the price, but I was surprised to see how large they were.  I wanted a set of alphabet cutters, so I was willing to deal with them being on the small side, but they are actually a good size.  Some of the cutters, like the gingerbread people and the pumpkin, are 4-5 inches.  There are several sizes of hearts and circles, and a great variety of other items.  I LOVE it!! Bug had a great time spreading them all out on the floor and playing too.

Letter B week

Letter B week was so much fun!  We learned about the Tower of Babel for our Bible story.  We sang songs about a black sheep and a dog named Bingo, and played with our sand blocks while listening to music.  We snacked on bread & butter, blueberries, and peanut butter balls.

 

Here are some of the pictures from the week!

 

We made a bird feeder!  We spread peanut butter all over a pinecone, and then covered it with birdseed and hung it in the tree.  The birds (and some squirrels!) loved it!

 

We made a school bus craft with Mommy’s Cricut paper cutter!

 

Practicing my handwriting!  Big line, little curve, little curve!

 

Then we baked bread in the form of pretzels! Yummy!

 

Emily spent time building blocks, and balancing them!

 

Decorated the letter B with buttons!

 

Then we ended the week with a special trip to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, courtesy of Bug’s grandparents, to see some Bull Riding and Barrel Racing!

Letter A week

We’ve changed curriculum a bit in homeschooling.  The one we were using was only frustrating both Emily and myself, so I made some changes for this second semester.  We are now working through the alphabet with a Letter of the Week program I’ve put together.  It’s a compilation of ideas and tools from different sources.  We absolutely LOVE it!  Emily loves coming up with new ways to incorporate our weekly letter, and I love having a “theme” to work around.

 

I didn’t get many pictures during “A” week, but I hope to for future weeks.  We learned about Abraham, being attentive, airplanes, angels and alligators.  We ate apples, applesauce, & “ants on a log”.

 

We had a paper airplane making contest!

Having fun, fun, fun with school!

We’ve had so much fun this past month with school! I am truly blessed to be able to homeschool Bug.  I adore seeing her excited about learning new things, and I have a blast learning along with her.
Here are some of the highlights!

Science projects


Making crafts and trying them on the cat
 

Making a city out of recyclables




We started a new program using a “Letter of the Week”, and I am LOVING it!! I’m pulling from a few different sources, but basically I am putting together a curriculum centered around one letter each week.  Bible stories, Handwriting, Read Alouds, Science, History/Geography, Math, Snacks/Cooking, Crafts, & Physical Activities – are all so fun to plan around a letter!

I’ll post about the letter weeks in separate posts.

Kindergarten – Month 1

What have we been doing for the last month? 
Having a great time!  

We officially started school on Sept. 8, right after Labor Day weekend.  The previous 2 weekends were huge “field trips” as we spent a weekend with my parents in Oklahoma, and then spent the next weekend at the Galveston beach with R’s mom!  Both weekends were filled with fun and learning about nature!

Each week we cover the following subjects:  Reading, Writing, History, Geography, Math, Bible, Science, Spelling, Home Economics, Arts & Crafts, & Physical Education.   The core of that is done in 2-3 hours a day!
We are having a great time!

Here are some of the highlights from the past month:

* Learning about Egypt and the fact that they used to shave off HALF of one eyebrow when their cat died to show they were mourning.
* Learning that the country of Italy looks like a boot on the map.
* Reading (Mommy read, she listened) to the first book in the Boxcar Children series.
* Checking the weather every day for our Weather Chart.
* Changing the days on our “Today is…” chart.
* Making fossils
* Making a weather vane
* Having a paper race to learn about wind
* Hearing my daughter ask if we can PLEASE “do more school!”
* Learning how to operate the “self-check” machine at the grocery store.
* Going to a local Greek festival after learning about Greece.
* Taking soil samples
* Building a rocket out of a cardboard box

Making a coracle and testing to see if it would float.
It did!


Fun at the Greek Festival:
 



Making Fossils



Soil Samples


Weathervane


Fun with Spelling


Egyptian Collar


Learning the difference between sedimentary & igneous rocks


Physical Education (aka: Getting the extra energy out!)


Whew! I can’t wait to see how October goes!

Kindergarten – Homeschool style!

I can’t believe it’s been an entire month already!  I am absolutely loving teaching Bug Kindergarten!  I admit, it took me a couple weeks to get in the groove with the new things to do each day, but we’ve got it now!  

I get so many questions about what we do and how we do it, that I really want to document it here to share.  This is one of the greatest things that we have ever decided to do and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!  Please, please ask any questions that you may have.  I know that a couple years ago, this was not even on our radar and we had NO clue how to go about it.  We have learned so much and love to share that with others that are interested.

Currently, we only have one child.  However, when I was teaching her preschool, we had anywhere from 1-4 children ages 5 and under in our home because we were foster parents.  Then I was dealing with school, plus therapy appointments, entertaining little ones while teaching Bug, etc.  I can answer questions about that too!

Let’s start with WHY we are doing this.

Our Reasons for Choosing to Homeschool
1) We want our children to learn about the world from a Christian perspective, with a Biblical view, and to make that the foundation of everything they learn. 



2) We want to be able to teach our children in the way that they learn best, and with our daughter, the school system just would not cater to those needs appropriately.   We had no idea when we decided to homeschool that our daughter would be diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and ADHD, but now that she is, we are even more thankful to be able to work with that, not against it, and to treat it like it’s “who she is”, not a “problem she has”.   I’ll go into more detail later on how homeschooling has helped us meet her needs.



3) We want our children to learn hands-on about things like volunteering, serving others, grocery shopping, the post office, even doing laundry.



4) We don’t want to be penalized if we want to take our children on a vacation, or worry about missing too many days of school.   Going to see a memorial on Veteran’s Day, going to Washington D.C. for Memorial Day, going camping to learn about science in the woods, taking a road trip to the ocean to collect seashells or to the Grand Canyon, or Niagra Falls --- are all things we want to be able to do, WHEN we want to do them, and would provide incredible opportunities for education.



5) We love that with homeschooling, we complete all our work  (including ‘homework’) in less than half the time that public school kids are in school.  That provides us so much extra time to go do fun things as a family.



6) The flexibility in the schedule is priceless!  I use the term “schedule” loosely anyway, since we don’t have to follow one to the letter.  I have the lesson plans of what to read/teach on each day, and go from there.   We have so many options!! Do it all in the morning,  some in the morning/some in the evening,  double up on one day to get an extra day off,  save one of the days for the weekend with Daddy, etc.   If we need to visit a sick friend, babysit for someone, get some extra rest to ward off a cold – we have time!
 Typically, we have a 4-day school week.  That gives us one day for a field trip, and then 2 weekend days in case we need an “off day” for whatever reason.  

7) I love to spend time with my daughter!!  I absolutely adore getting to see her learn and get excited about it.  I would be so sad to miss that.   I love doing the projects with her, taking her fun places to reinforce what she’s learned, and seeing her grow in so many ways.

8) We don’t want our children exposed to many of the things that are in public (and even private) schools.  We do not keep her in a bubble, but the truth is that kids are growing up way too fast, and if I can slow that down just a little for my children, it will be worth it.

9) We get to go to the zoo, museums, and other fun places when it’s less crowded because all the other kids are in school!

10) Voddie Baucham is very convicting :) 

It’s official! We’re starting Kindergarten!

The Decision

Our only child, Bug, just turned 5!   Over the past year, R and I have been discussing whether or not to start homeschooling Emily in Kindergarten this fall, or wait until next.  We weighed several pros and cons, prayed about this decision, thought we had decided to wait…in fact, wanted to wait, but ultimately we ended up deciding to move forward with school.  God has a way of shaking us up like that, but that’s a whole other post another time!

So, this fall, we will be the parents of a Kindergartner!  WOW!

Changes at home
On one hand, not much will change.  Since we homeschool, I will still see her every day.  I don’t have to go drop her off anywhere.  I don’t have to get her up early, or pack a lunch the night before.  We will still read, do crafts, go on field trips…all very much like the last year.  I am so incredibly thankful that He has provided us with the opportunity for us to homeschool Bug and to ensure that God and His creation are the focus of all that she will be learning!  I am also thankful that I get to spend each and every day with her.  To watch her learn, to see her excitement, and to share in that with her….priceless!

On the other hand, things are changing!  This year, we will be focusing on a curriculum (My Father’s World), and will be supplementing with some extra things, like Rosetta Stone’s Spanish program.   We are setting goals and making lists of things we want to teach her this year.   I am a big fan of Charlotte Mason, and the fact that her methods are less structured than most.  However, we have come to terms with the fact that both Bug and Mommy need some structure, so we are doing the best of both worlds!  We will follow the curriculum as a guideline of what to do each day/week, but will also implement CM methods in order to keep us from getting too bogged down in the structure. 

Changes at church
Another big change for her will be at church.  This fall, she will move upstairs to the KDOG (Kids depending on God) program that is for K-6 grades.   On Sundays, she will attend her Sunday School class during the first hour, and then will join us in worship service during the second hour.   I am so excited about this!  We’ve been bringing Bug into worship with us from time to time for some time now and we all really enjoy being together during that precious time.   Bug is also excited!! The new Kindergartners get a special green tote bag to carry to church, and she has already seen so many of her older friends with these over the past year.  She is so excited to get her green bag!

I’m very much looking forward to the next year.  It will be amazing to see how God works in our family and how we grow together, and in Him.  Not only is my little girl growing up, but God is using her each and every day to help me grow up in Him!  It’s going to be a great, ever-changing, year in our family!

A, B, C, D, E, F, G….

Bug was so excited to show me what she had written in her “fort”!  She was halfway done when she asked for help spelling “next”, “time”, “won’t”, “sing” & “with”, but she did all the writing herself!
What a fun “schoolhouse”!

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U


V, W, X, Y, Z – NOW I KNOW MY ABC’S


NEXT TIME WON’T YOU


SING WITH ME