Well - this day is certainly going better than anticipated!! The past couple of weeks have been very trying for me - for personal reasons that I won't go into here. But our reaction to life is our choice - and I'm choosing to see the positive and I'm choosing to be thankful for all that I have. A wonderful husband that works so hard and sacrifices much to provide for his family. Three GREAT kids that I adore. And even more importantly - a Father that loves and forgives, even tho' I DO NOT deserve it. It's such a blessing that God doesn't give us what we deservce...instead He offers mercy.
This week we are looking forward to Jeremy coming home. He'll be back on Friday around dinner time! The kids have missed him alot! We've enjoyed being able to see and chat with him over Skype - but it's so much better in person!
This week we're forging on in our lessons. In Science we're learning about Ponds...it's, of course, not the ideal season for going to a pond, but I'm hoping to revisit the subject by lapbooking a little later this year. We'll try to visit on then!!
We're finishing up familiarizing ourselves with the United States of America. This morning I had them name all the states that they knew - and I only had to help out on about 4 or 5. I've decided to not push for memorizing in alphabetical order (we will still try to learn the song, only now, just for fun!). We are going to work on some Massachusetts history before heading back to our book - hoping to put together a lapbook on MA.
We are reading our Egermeier's Bible Story Book and absolutely loving it. The kids never want to stop!! We talked about Jacob and Esau today - Tanner referred to "Seasaw". Too funny.
Math and Languagae are going really well for the kids. Hunter has some catching up to do, but he's doing great. Lizzie is flying right through it all...and learning alot!
We've got some field trips coming up that I'm excited about! Next Monday, we're going to go to the Museum of Science in Boston. This is not only exciting because we're 1) getting out of the house, 2) getting to go to Boston (we've not been at all yet!) 3) we get to ride the train in to Boston, but its also very exciting because Dad gets to go with us! The pass from the library that is saving us a substantial amount is also awesome! On the 23rd, we're going to a planetarium! I've never been to a planetarium, so this is exciting for me as well!
Well - I guess that's about it for now!!! Happy Monday!!
Monday, February 01, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
just another day of homeschool!
I'm happy to report that we've had an "ok" day today! Nothing SPECTACULAR happened, but we got all of our work done AND we went to the library for some game time!
I was pleasantly surprised at how well our game day went today. We reserved a room in the library and just brought out board games (from home) and the kids really enjoyed it. There were about 10 kids there and ALL were actually playing games together. It was so nice to see that they can have fun without having to run around like mad people (gym time!). Lets see, we played Monopoly Jr., Spy Alley, Sorry, Connect Four, Blockus, SCAT, Chutes & Ladders and Uno. I hope we can do it again soon!!
On a school note, Hunter and Lizzie both started on new handwriting material today. I was happy to find out that the Transition Book from A Reason for Handwriting has manuscript lessons that Hunter doesn't need, so I'm using them for Lizzie. They liked them alot. Hunter's doing some prep-practice and is getting ready to jump into cursive. We also really enjoyed our Egermeier's Bible Story Book. We read in the morning before we start our work - and they are bummed out when we have to stop reading.
Anyway - that was our Tuesday. Waiting for a phone call to go meet a friend to pick up Lizzie. So glad she's found a little friend to connect with!
Until next time...
I was pleasantly surprised at how well our game day went today. We reserved a room in the library and just brought out board games (from home) and the kids really enjoyed it. There were about 10 kids there and ALL were actually playing games together. It was so nice to see that they can have fun without having to run around like mad people (gym time!). Lets see, we played Monopoly Jr., Spy Alley, Sorry, Connect Four, Blockus, SCAT, Chutes & Ladders and Uno. I hope we can do it again soon!!
On a school note, Hunter and Lizzie both started on new handwriting material today. I was happy to find out that the Transition Book from A Reason for Handwriting has manuscript lessons that Hunter doesn't need, so I'm using them for Lizzie. They liked them alot. Hunter's doing some prep-practice and is getting ready to jump into cursive. We also really enjoyed our Egermeier's Bible Story Book. We read in the morning before we start our work - and they are bummed out when we have to stop reading.
Anyway - that was our Tuesday. Waiting for a phone call to go meet a friend to pick up Lizzie. So glad she's found a little friend to connect with!
Until next time...
Thursday, January 21, 2010
New Schedule
A few weeks ago, I tried to put our school time on a schedule. Every subject had a start time and end time. That DID NOT work. It was too much pressure on all of us and when we didn't get it right, it caused frustration which caused more stress. So, after one day, I threw it out the window. I'm not sure why I tried that, but it was a FAIL.
While a schedule for school work isn't what we need - a schedule for our day is in order!! So, we're going to give it a shot!
Our proposed daily schedule:
M-F
6:30 a.m. - Mom's wake up call
7:30 a.m. - Kids' wake up and breakfast call
8:30 a.m. - School starts - Our school time will continue as is: H & L have workboxes with their daily work...when their boxes are empty, their school day is done. Currently, we have 5-6 workboxes per day, but I'm actually hoping to up that to about 7-8, maybe more. It wouldn't necessarily be more work, but the work they have broken down into more boxes to make each box seem like less work!! I'm also hoping to add in more "elective" type work. We currently don't do much more than our core curriculum: math, language, reading, science, history, handwriting, spelling, Bible. I'd like to toss in Sign Language, music, art, etc. Not every day, but a few times per week. We'll see, that's a thought in progress.
12:00 - lunch - we may or may not be done at this point in the day. Whatever isn't done, will have to be finished up around our afternoon activities. The plan will be directly after lunch, but some of our home school group activities may push those times to later.
Currently, our activity schedule is:
Monday 2-3p.m. - Homeschool Open Gym at the YMCA
Tuesday 1:30(?)-? - Library Day (details still being worked out)
Wednesday 6:20-8p.m. - Awana
Thursday Homeschool Open Gymnastics at Beverly YMCA (we've not done this yet, but I plan to add it in - we need more physical activity) - checking on times
Friday No activity - our down time!
I'm excited to get underway on this schedule. When Jeremy is gone, which is often, our days just kind mumble jumble around - and we need a bit more structure.
Here's hoping that this helps us be more productive as students/teacher, which will in turn, help me be more productive as a housewife and MOM!
Until next time....
While a schedule for school work isn't what we need - a schedule for our day is in order!! So, we're going to give it a shot!
Our proposed daily schedule:
M-F
6:30 a.m. - Mom's wake up call
7:30 a.m. - Kids' wake up and breakfast call
8:30 a.m. - School starts - Our school time will continue as is: H & L have workboxes with their daily work...when their boxes are empty, their school day is done. Currently, we have 5-6 workboxes per day, but I'm actually hoping to up that to about 7-8, maybe more. It wouldn't necessarily be more work, but the work they have broken down into more boxes to make each box seem like less work!! I'm also hoping to add in more "elective" type work. We currently don't do much more than our core curriculum: math, language, reading, science, history, handwriting, spelling, Bible. I'd like to toss in Sign Language, music, art, etc. Not every day, but a few times per week. We'll see, that's a thought in progress.
12:00 - lunch - we may or may not be done at this point in the day. Whatever isn't done, will have to be finished up around our afternoon activities. The plan will be directly after lunch, but some of our home school group activities may push those times to later.
Currently, our activity schedule is:
Monday 2-3p.m. - Homeschool Open Gym at the YMCA
Tuesday 1:30(?)-? - Library Day (details still being worked out)
Wednesday 6:20-8p.m. - Awana
Thursday Homeschool Open Gymnastics at Beverly YMCA (we've not done this yet, but I plan to add it in - we need more physical activity) - checking on times
Friday No activity - our down time!
I'm excited to get underway on this schedule. When Jeremy is gone, which is often, our days just kind mumble jumble around - and we need a bit more structure.
Here's hoping that this helps us be more productive as students/teacher, which will in turn, help me be more productive as a housewife and MOM!
Until next time....
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Bible Time
I'm so excited that we've received our Egermeier Bible Story Book! We've only been half-way having Bible time in the mornings. We often sing a song and pray, but I'm ready to get a little more in depth. I'm also excited to try out BJU Bible curriculum next year.
Happy Wednesday!
Happy Wednesday!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Our 5 Senses Lapbooks...
Well, we made our first attempt at lapbooks and I guess I'm happy with them. Most importantly, the kids enjoyed them alot and they got a good review in science.
I hope in the future that I'm more creative with the materials that we used. The file folders were the recycled cheapies that my husband picked up at the start of school. I'm happy to be *green*, but I wouldn't mind some color!
So - here are the pictures. I hope to be able to keep them organized in my uploading!
I hope in the future that I'm more creative with the materials that we used. The file folders were the recycled cheapies that my husband picked up at the start of school. I'm happy to be *green*, but I wouldn't mind some color!
So - here are the pictures. I hope to be able to keep them organized in my uploading!
Workboxes...
Well - we're still using workboxes and I love the concept, but I'm really not using them to their full potential. Not sure I want to have 12 boxes for each kid, but I think we could add a couple and benefit from it! We currently use 5-6 every day - and only for our core curriculum! I find that I'm not organized enough to pull off much more...but I want to try!!
So - here's to a week of organizing, researching, etc. Hopefully I'll be all set to add some boxes in next Monday - Jan. 25.
UNTIL THEN - this week, in addition to our usual school work, we're still working on our 5 senses lapbook (will finish that up tomorrow). I found a great site that has some MLK stuff on it I think the kids will enjoy. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to do a lapbook for MLK or not. We'll also be continuing our US States memorization. We're learning this song The kids seem to be enjoying it!
We're also schooling this week sans Daddy. He's been in MI since last Wednesday and won't return until Friday. So far, so ok. He was working from office for 3 and 1/2 weeks, so we're having to adjust to his travels all over again! Ready for this traveling to be over, but it will be a while. Would appreciate your prayers for contentment and thankfulness.
Happy Monday!!!
So - here's to a week of organizing, researching, etc. Hopefully I'll be all set to add some boxes in next Monday - Jan. 25.
UNTIL THEN - this week, in addition to our usual school work, we're still working on our 5 senses lapbook (will finish that up tomorrow). I found a great site that has some MLK stuff on it I think the kids will enjoy. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to do a lapbook for MLK or not. We'll also be continuing our US States memorization. We're learning this song The kids seem to be enjoying it!
We're also schooling this week sans Daddy. He's been in MI since last Wednesday and won't return until Friday. So far, so ok. He was working from office for 3 and 1/2 weeks, so we're having to adjust to his travels all over again! Ready for this traveling to be over, but it will be a while. Would appreciate your prayers for contentment and thankfulness.
Happy Monday!!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Starting our week off right! ;)
Well, we started our week with a day off! I'm sure that's just the way the kids like it!
Dad took the day off work to run some errands (we had to visit the Registry of Motor Vehicles - 'nuff said), so we did some extra work last week and will do some extra work this week to make up for that time off. So, we headed out at 8:30a.m. and with a couple stops back home, we ended our day day around 6p.m.
The fun part of our day was swimming and homeschool gym at the Y! The kids had a great time and I'm hoping that means they'll sleep hard tonight (which hopefully means they won't be in my bed in the middle of the night).
This week we'll be starting Hunter's new spelling book. We've decided to go with *Book 3*. We'll also be working on our Sense Organs/Nervous System lapbook. I'm excited to get started on some lapbooks...just hope that they go over well with the kids!
Anyway, along with the rest of our regular work, it should be a full week!
Happy Monday!
Dad took the day off work to run some errands (we had to visit the Registry of Motor Vehicles - 'nuff said), so we did some extra work last week and will do some extra work this week to make up for that time off. So, we headed out at 8:30a.m. and with a couple stops back home, we ended our day day around 6p.m.
The fun part of our day was swimming and homeschool gym at the Y! The kids had a great time and I'm hoping that means they'll sleep hard tonight (which hopefully means they won't be in my bed in the middle of the night).
This week we'll be starting Hunter's new spelling book. We've decided to go with *Book 3*. We'll also be working on our Sense Organs/Nervous System lapbook. I'm excited to get started on some lapbooks...just hope that they go over well with the kids!
Anyway, along with the rest of our regular work, it should be a full week!
Happy Monday!
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