Week 12....everybody was sick.
Week 13.....not prepared to do anything because we were all sick.
Week 14....Trying to get back into the swing of things.
This is why we home school all year.
We have been keeping up with our math lessons this week and i am getting a Thanksgiving unit ready for them. Thank goodness for our online library system! They can watch videos and e books. They watched a Squanto e book yesterday and an adjective writing video.
Can't wait for the energy to come back in my life. I'm tired of yawning!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
week 10
Week 10! This week we did some things differently. First was a change in our diet. I made the kids a high protein breakfast to start the day. I'm trying to see if it helps on our focus problems that we have around here. Dawson even has a small amount of black coffee. I mean small as in a couple tablespoons, just enough to keep alert for the morning.
We did some changes in our daily routine too. I didn't do a bunch of subjects in a day. I brought it way down. In fact, one day all we did was math. We accomplished so much doing this that I'm planning some math workshops to do every couple weeks. We will do math right up to lunch, and then change subjects. They seemed to soak it all in better this way.
I was thinking about taking a fall break for a week. I know the kids would love it but I have a feeling that when December rolls around we will have enough unscheduled days off. It always happens, might as well accept it.
We did some creative writing this week that turned out pretty good. They still don't like to write, but it's getting a little easier and less painful to complete. :)
Today was a Park Day for us. Our home school group met and put together shoe boxes for Christmas. We gathered supplies and filled plastic shoe boxes with all kinds of neat toys and things for kids overseas. It's always fun to get together with the other moms.
Hope your week went great!
We did some changes in our daily routine too. I didn't do a bunch of subjects in a day. I brought it way down. In fact, one day all we did was math. We accomplished so much doing this that I'm planning some math workshops to do every couple weeks. We will do math right up to lunch, and then change subjects. They seemed to soak it all in better this way.
I was thinking about taking a fall break for a week. I know the kids would love it but I have a feeling that when December rolls around we will have enough unscheduled days off. It always happens, might as well accept it.
We did some creative writing this week that turned out pretty good. They still don't like to write, but it's getting a little easier and less painful to complete. :)
Today was a Park Day for us. Our home school group met and put together shoe boxes for Christmas. We gathered supplies and filled plastic shoe boxes with all kinds of neat toys and things for kids overseas. It's always fun to get together with the other moms.
Hope your week went great!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
In The Kitchen....
We have read many books this week about apples!
Ingredients
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2.Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3.Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.
We watched online videos about Johnny Appleseed.
We learned the State Flower of Michigan is the Apple Blossom.
So we had to make an Apple Pie in the kitchen!
Ingredients
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2.Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3.Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.
Best Apple Pie EVER!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Week 8
We started off Monday with a Columbus Day mini unit. I printed out word searches and coloring pages to keep little ones occupied. We have studied Columbus last year, it was pretty much review. The boys drew a map of the New World on a huge piece of paper. We might get to painting it this week. :)
We are still focusing on writing and math, both are coming along pretty good.
I find myself reviewing the past weeks and wondering what needs to be changed to be more efficient in our lessons.
#1. I need to learn to balance all 3 grades better. It's hard for me to go from fractions to crafts.
#2. I love unit studies, hate to prepare them. I'm never 100% ready, usually waiting for a couple books from the library or last minute printing out a copywork sheet.
#3. Organize! I think I've tried it every way possible. I've put the kids stuff together by grade, I've put it together by subject, I've put things on shelves, I've put them in baskets, I've labeled clear bins, I've used colored drawers! I spent way to much time the other day looking for our stapler in my "craft" section, when I finally found it in my desk drawer with the 3 ring punch and "office supplies". #gofigure
Some things are going great! It's the best year we've had in a long time. I love our History and Geography read aloud time, such great books out there to read to your kids. Of course, Five in a Row is Caitlin's favorite thing to do and the boys like to listen in as well. :)
Hope you are having some great school days too!
We are still focusing on writing and math, both are coming along pretty good.
I find myself reviewing the past weeks and wondering what needs to be changed to be more efficient in our lessons.
#1. I need to learn to balance all 3 grades better. It's hard for me to go from fractions to crafts.
#2. I love unit studies, hate to prepare them. I'm never 100% ready, usually waiting for a couple books from the library or last minute printing out a copywork sheet.
#3. Organize! I think I've tried it every way possible. I've put the kids stuff together by grade, I've put it together by subject, I've put things on shelves, I've put them in baskets, I've labeled clear bins, I've used colored drawers! I spent way to much time the other day looking for our stapler in my "craft" section, when I finally found it in my desk drawer with the 3 ring punch and "office supplies". #gofigure
Some things are going great! It's the best year we've had in a long time. I love our History and Geography read aloud time, such great books out there to read to your kids. Of course, Five in a Row is Caitlin's favorite thing to do and the boys like to listen in as well. :)
Hope you are having some great school days too!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
review week 7
We rowed The Rag Coat.....once. Caitlin cried with that book because the daddy dies. We talked about wants and needs and moved on to another book! :)
It was Word Problem Week! All math problems were in word form. We struggle with this concept and I thought we should focus more in this area. It's working out pretty good.
We are still reading Paddle To The Sea. Learning about the Great Lakes and the state of Michigan.
Writing, writing and writing some more! Practice makes perfect...right? Indent, margins, complete sentences.....we will get there! ;0)
This is a small review since we are in the middle of week 8 now and I'm a bit behind on my posts.
#gotta get caught up
It was Word Problem Week! All math problems were in word form. We struggle with this concept and I thought we should focus more in this area. It's working out pretty good.
We are still reading Paddle To The Sea. Learning about the Great Lakes and the state of Michigan.
Writing, writing and writing some more! Practice makes perfect...right? Indent, margins, complete sentences.....we will get there! ;0)
This is a small review since we are in the middle of week 8 now and I'm a bit behind on my posts.
#gotta get caught up
Thursday, October 6, 2011
In The Kitchen.....
Soft Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups quick cooking oats
Directions
1.In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3.Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups quick cooking oats
Directions
1.In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3.Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Caitlin's Cursive!
We were practicing our letters and.......
Ta Dah! She learned to write her name in cursive! Way to go pretty girl!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
In The Kitchen....
Every Thursday we do part of our school in the kitchen. I thought it would be fun to show you what they come up with.
This was a great brownie recipe we found on Allrecipe.com.
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2.In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
4.To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.
The kids do everything but the oven. I put things in and take them out. They do everything else.
change in plans....
O.k. this week is not going as planned, but not a total loss.
A tall tale about the pioneers.... more mapping :)
We went out early in the week to get our plants for the butterfly habitat. I couldn't find the host plants that were on the list to get. It was there in the store my boys were sharing they could care less about the whole butterfly thing. We had watched an online video from the library about the Monarch Butterflies and I'm guessing they thought it was for girls.
We ended up reading about Johnny Appleseed. (180 Creative Ideas book) I found some great e-books from the library and we are going to read these along with this mini unit...
A tall tale about the pioneers.... more mapping :)
A true story about fleeing from Vietnam....
We finished some pages from our math workbooks. I'm looking into Life Of Fred for the boys. I showed them a sample of it and they begged me to get it for them. Can you believe they actually want a math book!? funny......
We also learned about George Gershwin. We listened to Rhapsody in Blue on our Fantasia 2000 DVD and watched An American In Paris online. We got out our map and found Russia because his parents were Russian immigrants and we thought it was fun to find out he was born almost 100 years before my oldest son. This unit ties in with September being National Piano Month. Pretty fun :)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
180 Creative Ideas
I downloaded an e-book from the library called 180 Creative Ideas. It's meant to get students motivated and excited about learning.
It starts in the month of August and moves to every month after. Each month has activities and facts about that month. I started in the month of Sept. and we first learned about the Autumn Equinox(Sept. 22/23). We are keeping a log about the changes in the weather and watching for signs that Fall is approaching. (squirrels burying nuts, our pets coat getting thicker etc.) We went over Hemispheres and equators.
Then we read about Lewis and Clark (Sept. 23, 1806) I downloaded a video from the library called Lewis and Clark Go West. Very kid friendly. We are learning how to read maps right now and this video did a great job on tracking their journey. It was funny that my kids didn't realize that Lewis and Clark were their last names.
The next thing we are going to learn about are butterflies. I'm looking into building a butterfly habitat for outside. Should be fun to observe. :)
Anyway, there is a ton of info in the book and it even gives titles of other books to go with the small study they give. Check it out! :)
It starts in the month of August and moves to every month after. Each month has activities and facts about that month. I started in the month of Sept. and we first learned about the Autumn Equinox(Sept. 22/23). We are keeping a log about the changes in the weather and watching for signs that Fall is approaching. (squirrels burying nuts, our pets coat getting thicker etc.) We went over Hemispheres and equators.
Then we read about Lewis and Clark (Sept. 23, 1806) I downloaded a video from the library called Lewis and Clark Go West. Very kid friendly. We are learning how to read maps right now and this video did a great job on tracking their journey. It was funny that my kids didn't realize that Lewis and Clark were their last names.
The next thing we are going to learn about are butterflies. I'm looking into building a butterfly habitat for outside. Should be fun to observe. :)
Anyway, there is a ton of info in the book and it even gives titles of other books to go with the small study they give. Check it out! :)
Monday, September 26, 2011
Week 6!
The start of week 6 This week should be fun if all goes well.
I want to build our butterfly habitat. I didn't get my 5 in a row books from the library yet so we will dive into butterflies!
We will continue reading our Beautiful Feet geography books. Finishing Paddle to the Sea, moving on to Tree In The Trail.
Here's to a great week!!
I want to build our butterfly habitat. I didn't get my 5 in a row books from the library yet so we will dive into butterflies!
We will continue reading our Beautiful Feet geography books. Finishing Paddle to the Sea, moving on to Tree In The Trail.
Here's to a great week!!
Friday, September 23, 2011
{The First Field Trip}
Last week (or maybe 2 by now) we went bowling with the home school group.
Shoes..
Bowling balls....
friends....
Afterwards, they took us back to see the huge machines that stack the pins. It was so loud back there! Caitlin thought it was pretty cool. Fun times. :)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Week 5
We are finishing week 5!
It's been pretty smooth the past few weeks. Trying to keep up with the blog has been hard. :)
History:
This year we are using Abeka's World History textbook. I use it as a unit study with all three kids. Starting at creation, being made in his image, they have learned we have thoughts and a voice. We can discern right from wrong and have choices. We discussed humanism, the fall of man, sin. Some of our best school days are spent discussing these topics. I was surprised at how many questions they have about "the beginning". I'm thankful we can take all the time we need to answer them.
We are actually up to the call of Abraham. This week we are studying Ur, Mesopotamia, Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Geography:
Our geography is combined with 5 in a row. I've used 5 in a row with the boys and Caitlin is finding it just as fun. I make resource pages for the boys to do a more intense study. Web pages and online books and movies help them to grasp the cultures.
I ordered some books from the library that were on Beautiful Feet's Geography book list. We are reading Paddle To The Sea this week.
Science:
This week we did a unit on bee's. My library system has an online data base with ton's of videos and e books. It's my favorite way to get science in our day. We learned how the bee's dance to tell the other bee's where to find nectar and how they get honey from a hive. That turned into learning about beeswax and the supplement bee pollen from our health food store! ( I've really been into the kid directed thing lately) I printed out worksheets from Enchanted Learning on the bee's body parts and the website KidPests had some info for them to write down and put in their notebooks.
Literature:
We are listening to an audio book from the library called The Bronze Bow.
Math:
The boys do their workbooks. The beginning is always review but I like to have the break from a subject and just let them practice certain concepts. It's funny that my 7th grader has place value exercises in his workbook. Makes for some easy days! :)
Caitlin is writing her numbers and having fun with manipulative's. We are counting backwards a lot too. she loves school! :)
some other things I try to fit in:
Copywork pages. I print my own using scripture or bible stories.
Logic Puzzles. I use online games for this.
P.E.. We get outside for a while everyday, they ride their Ripsix, scooters, just some fun in the middle of the day.
Home Ec. Every Thursday we clean up a little extra around the house. I have taught them to do laundry and make grocery lists. We cook and freeze some of it for the week end. They are really good cooks too! We've had oatmeal cookies, pumpkin bread, granola bars, bread rolls, pizza dough! This week they want to make some salsa!
Wood Shop. We like to build stuff around here. It's in the genes I guess. another post on this later.
Creative Writing. A couple times a week we pull out old pictures and write about that day.
Caitlin has some special times during the day. We read together and do our 100 easy lessons book. ( How to Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons is the title of the book)She loves to draw! Watercolor paints make her very happy! She has learned to put a ponytail in her hair and paint her nails and mine. :) More about her later too
It's been pretty smooth the past few weeks. Trying to keep up with the blog has been hard. :)
History:
This year we are using Abeka's World History textbook. I use it as a unit study with all three kids. Starting at creation, being made in his image, they have learned we have thoughts and a voice. We can discern right from wrong and have choices. We discussed humanism, the fall of man, sin. Some of our best school days are spent discussing these topics. I was surprised at how many questions they have about "the beginning". I'm thankful we can take all the time we need to answer them.
We are actually up to the call of Abraham. This week we are studying Ur, Mesopotamia, Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Geography:
Our geography is combined with 5 in a row. I've used 5 in a row with the boys and Caitlin is finding it just as fun. I make resource pages for the boys to do a more intense study. Web pages and online books and movies help them to grasp the cultures.
I ordered some books from the library that were on Beautiful Feet's Geography book list. We are reading Paddle To The Sea this week.
Science:
This week we did a unit on bee's. My library system has an online data base with ton's of videos and e books. It's my favorite way to get science in our day. We learned how the bee's dance to tell the other bee's where to find nectar and how they get honey from a hive. That turned into learning about beeswax and the supplement bee pollen from our health food store! ( I've really been into the kid directed thing lately) I printed out worksheets from Enchanted Learning on the bee's body parts and the website KidPests had some info for them to write down and put in their notebooks.
Literature:
We are listening to an audio book from the library called The Bronze Bow.
Math:
The boys do their workbooks. The beginning is always review but I like to have the break from a subject and just let them practice certain concepts. It's funny that my 7th grader has place value exercises in his workbook. Makes for some easy days! :)
Caitlin is writing her numbers and having fun with manipulative's. We are counting backwards a lot too. she loves school! :)
some other things I try to fit in:
Copywork pages. I print my own using scripture or bible stories.
Logic Puzzles. I use online games for this.
P.E.. We get outside for a while everyday, they ride their Ripsix, scooters, just some fun in the middle of the day.
Home Ec. Every Thursday we clean up a little extra around the house. I have taught them to do laundry and make grocery lists. We cook and freeze some of it for the week end. They are really good cooks too! We've had oatmeal cookies, pumpkin bread, granola bars, bread rolls, pizza dough! This week they want to make some salsa!
Wood Shop. We like to build stuff around here. It's in the genes I guess. another post on this later.
Creative Writing. A couple times a week we pull out old pictures and write about that day.
Caitlin has some special times during the day. We read together and do our 100 easy lessons book. ( How to Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons is the title of the book)She loves to draw! Watercolor paints make her very happy! She has learned to put a ponytail in her hair and paint her nails and mine. :) More about her later too
Friday, August 26, 2011
Madeline online resources
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_6155711_instructions-made-toothpicks-popsicle-sticks.html
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/ei/Eiffel_Tower
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Monuments-Paris/Eiffel.shtml
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0213201/Eiffel%20tower.htm
http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/parisattractions.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/france/
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/france/
http://www.bonjour.com/index.php?lesson=1
http://www.easy-french-food.com/french-dessert-recipes.html
http://www.earthcam.com/france/paris/?cam=eiffeltower_hd
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/ei/Eiffel_Tower
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Monuments-Paris/Eiffel.shtml
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0213201/Eiffel%20tower.htm
http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/parisattractions.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/france/
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/france/
http://www.bonjour.com/index.php?lesson=1
http://www.easy-french-food.com/french-dessert-recipes.html
http://www.earthcam.com/france/paris/?cam=eiffeltower_hd
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Fortune cookies
We took our China lessons into the kitchen!
How cool is that!?
Our "fortunes"
ingredients:
sugar, flour, egg white, butter
spaced far apart.... 5 min. in the oven.
spaced far apart.... 5 min. in the oven.
Place the "fortune strip" in the middle of the cookie, fold in half and half again. Place in a muffin tin to cool and to help hold it's shape.
These were a bit over cooked, 5 min. is really all they need in the oven.
The kids loved cooking them! They tasted really good too!
The Story about Ping..online resources
This is a list of websites I put together for my kids to use for A Story About Ping.
http://www.nickjr.com/preschool/language-learning/chinese/learn-chinese-words/
http://www.slanguage.com/fun_chinese_mand.html
http://resources.echineselearning.com/kids/
http://china.mrdonn.org/greatwall.html
http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Farm/ducks.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/duck.shtml
http://www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/13-animals/438-ducks.html
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/china/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/china/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/china/
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/geography/yangtzeriver.htm
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/greatwall/yangtze.html
http://cgee.hamline.edu/rivers/Resources/river_profiles/Yangtze.html
http://www.nickjr.com/preschool/language-learning/chinese/learn-chinese-words/
http://www.slanguage.com/fun_chinese_mand.html
http://resources.echineselearning.com/kids/
http://china.mrdonn.org/greatwall.html
http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Farm/ducks.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/duck.shtml
http://www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/13-animals/438-ducks.html
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/china/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/china/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/china/
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/geography/yangtzeriver.htm
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/greatwall/yangtze.html
http://cgee.hamline.edu/rivers/Resources/river_profiles/Yangtze.html
Monday, August 22, 2011
Back To School Day!
Today started our school year!
I made each kid a goodie basket to start the day. It was filled with school supplies and some snacks. Caitlin got some Disney princess markers in her basket and she looked at me and said, "AWE, you didn't have to do that! "
Next up, breakfast....
Pumpkin muffins! It filled the whole house with the aroma of fall! That really got us in the mood to start the day. Even if it is 100 degrees outside :)
These were the biggest hit with Caitlin, they are called Nuudles. You press them into a damp sponge and then stick them to another one to build stuff.
She made people...
We are doing lapbooks and notebooks this year. Today was teaching them to search the web for info and how to keep notes. I found some great search engines for kids.
1. Kidrex
2. Askkids
3. kidsclick
4. Yahookids
From google search, I type in one of the above and and open up the browser, then they type in and search for their topics. Dylan had a ball going on Ask Kids. He spent a while looking up information on Atlantis. Dawson looked up prehistoric sharks and was impressed by all that he found out. We saved our info and pictures and will be putting together lapbooks.
We found learninggamesforkids.com on one of the kids browsers. It had fun logic puzzles to do.
We started 5 in a Row, The Story Of Ping. We will be doing geography, bible, art and science with this curriculum.
Here is Caitlin's art with watercolors. She picked a page from the book to copy.
We went through the whole day and I was never asked, "are we done yet?" or "what's next?" Today was totally kid directed, I just wanted to show them how to take notes and information for their notebooks. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Tomorrow will be a bit tougher, being no bells and whistles, just schoolwork. I hope it goes as smooth as today......
I made each kid a goodie basket to start the day. It was filled with school supplies and some snacks. Caitlin got some Disney princess markers in her basket and she looked at me and said, "AWE, you didn't have to do that! "
Next up, breakfast....
Pumpkin muffins! It filled the whole house with the aroma of fall! That really got us in the mood to start the day. Even if it is 100 degrees outside :)
These were the biggest hit with Caitlin, they are called Nuudles. You press them into a damp sponge and then stick them to another one to build stuff.
She made people...
We are doing lapbooks and notebooks this year. Today was teaching them to search the web for info and how to keep notes. I found some great search engines for kids.
1. Kidrex
2. Askkids
3. kidsclick
4. Yahookids
From google search, I type in one of the above and and open up the browser, then they type in and search for their topics. Dylan had a ball going on Ask Kids. He spent a while looking up information on Atlantis. Dawson looked up prehistoric sharks and was impressed by all that he found out. We saved our info and pictures and will be putting together lapbooks.
We found learninggamesforkids.com on one of the kids browsers. It had fun logic puzzles to do.
We started 5 in a Row, The Story Of Ping. We will be doing geography, bible, art and science with this curriculum.
Here is Caitlin's art with watercolors. She picked a page from the book to copy.
We went through the whole day and I was never asked, "are we done yet?" or "what's next?" Today was totally kid directed, I just wanted to show them how to take notes and information for their notebooks. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Tomorrow will be a bit tougher, being no bells and whistles, just schoolwork. I hope it goes as smooth as today......
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
{beachy}
We had a mini staycation!
We played and played at the beach for a few days, sand and sun and lots of water! Now it's time to put the finishing touches on a new school year! Monday is the day! :)
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
{excited}
10 bags of trash, a rearranged room, hours of scheduling and one very long school supply list......
We are getting ready for the school year!
Can you hear Vector from Despicable Me.....
OH YEAH!!
So excited to start this year. I closed my itty bitty home business to totally focus on the kids. What a challenge this year with a 7th grader a 4th grader and a cute little kindergartner! :)
It's going to be a great year!!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
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