Well, I am very close to having everything we need for our school year. I have really had very little time to blog, so I figured I would do a post about what we're using this year and how things will be different from previous years.
First thing: I now have a 7th grader!! I can hardly believe it. I still remember our first day of kindergarten! It's amazing how quickly the time goes! Well, this year is going to be more challenging because instead of our science being for the whole group, Amber will be doing General Science...alone. Well, not completely alone, but without me reading it out loud and going over everything step by step with her like with the younger ones...yikes!
On top of this I am officially starting school with Nate. He has done plenty of pre-k stuff, but this year is kindergarten! Wow! Academically he could have started last year, but he wasn't ready in other ways. He couldn't sit still long enough to get anything out of school...at all! haha. Seriously though, he just couldn't handle it and our days would have been chaos and a battle that I wasn't willing to have. so I just decided to wait and I'm so incredible glad I did.
So here is my list of what we will use:
*Apologia who am I and what am I doing here? Bible study
Spelling Power for the 3 oldest
Mystery of History vol. 2
*Apologia Science Elementary Series-Astronomy
^Apologia General Science
^Language Lessons for the very young-Nate
^English for the Thoughtful Child 2-Noah
*Language Lessons for the Elementary Child 2-Claire
^Language Lessons for the High School Student- Amber
Mapping the World by Heart Ebay
+Latina Christiana II
+English From the Roots Up
Teaching Textbooks 7-Amber ebay
Teaching Textbooks 6-Claire ebay
math Mammoth 3-Noah
*Critical Thinking Co. Math A-Nate
Rosetta Stone Spanish, Latin America
*Explode the Code 1
Shakespeare with Children ebay (we are going to put on Romeo and Juliet this year!)
^Pictures in Cursive
^Printing with Pictures
*Callirobics (a writing program that helps with making smooth lines for neater printing and cursive readiness)
Reading Eggs-Nate (online reading program that we used last year and is one of the best reading programs I have ever used)
Most of this I purchased used either from our local homeschool bookstore that specializes in buying and selling used curriculum (I put a ^ next to everything purchased from there), or from ebay. In fact last night I purchased Amber's math for $85...which retails for $149 and Shakespeare with Children for about $10 cheaper than Amazon.
I really suggest looking around to find the best price. Unfortunately, now is not the time. Everyone (like me) is mad dash trying to find what they want for the upcoming school year. I suggest either spring or fall. It's really the best time to get the best deals...at least on ebay or amazon.
I start making preparations for the school year in May. That way I know what I want and start watching for it then. I picked up a few things at a used curriculum sale which is also a great place to find some cool things. (these are marked by a + )
Everything else was purchased at the homeschool conference in our state. I put an * next to everything purchased new (but never full price. I even bargain shop the conference. BTW Rainbow Resource is a very cheap place to get most homeschool goodies)
If you are ever looking for a good deal on homeschool resources look at Homeschool Buyers Coop too. You can sign up for their emails and they sell things at a percentage off. I am buying reading eggs 25% cheaper there and Math Mammoth will be 50% off starting August 1st. Rosetta Stone is regularly on there for 20% off their regular price as well.
Well, that's my list! If you'd like to ask any questions feel free to comment and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. I hope that you all have a great rest of your weekend!!
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Saturday, October 15, 2011
This and That
I still haven't taken any pics of our projects yet...I know, I know. But I did have a wonderful week. We didn't have a lot of activities this week. Noah didn't have speech Thursday either (teacher workshop or something) so that was an unexpected surprise too. He only has 2 more sessions and then we're done for the quarter. That usually gives us about 2-3 weeks off for testing and rescheduling.
It was a great school week this week. The girls FINALLY got caught up on their Latin. We have been reviewing since school started. And when I say we I mean WE. I totally forgot how to conjugate verbs and decline nouns. How many endings should a noun have?? Really. Feminine, masculine, Neuter...ahhh!
Also, the girls were featured on the Charity:Water blog http://www.charitywater.org/blog/category/updates/campaigns-to-watch/ if you'd like to check it out. The girls were very excited to do the interview. I hadn't checked the website until tonight to see if it was published though. They will like reading it. They took out everything we put in about Jesus though. I was pretty upset. We know why we did it.
I better get going. I will take pictures soon of the science and history stuff we have been doing and I know I still have our new poetry posting to do. I'll get to it as soon as I can.
It was a great school week this week. The girls FINALLY got caught up on their Latin. We have been reviewing since school started. And when I say we I mean WE. I totally forgot how to conjugate verbs and decline nouns. How many endings should a noun have?? Really. Feminine, masculine, Neuter...ahhh!
Also, the girls were featured on the Charity:Water blog http://www.charitywater.org/blog/category/updates/campaigns-to-watch/ if you'd like to check it out. The girls were very excited to do the interview. I hadn't checked the website until tonight to see if it was published though. They will like reading it. They took out everything we put in about Jesus though. I was pretty upset. We know why we did it.
Matthew 25:34-36
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Terrible......4's???
Why is it that people call them terrible twos? I never had a terrible two. Ever. Not that I even consider my kids "terrible" at all. At least not in their entirety. Maybe in a certain moment I could consider their actions Terrible.
Take today for instance. I could call today an instance of terrbility. Ya, it's a word...now. In my world it is. Why you ask??? (if you didn't too bad. I'm answering why anyway.) Well, maybe because I had to spend about 15 minutes sitting with (on) Nathanael while my kids recited their poems and sang our folk song at Poetry today while he cried to run around yelling with his friend. Ya. Bad Momma. I know. I took away playing on the playground while all the other kids played. And he is now taking a nap every.single.day. And I may have taken away his next 3 birthdays. It's all a blur.
I remember Noah's first temper tantrum was at 4 too. It was during a field trip to an old school house. He never had any attitude problems until that day. It was amazing.
Nate never gives me a hard time here. Almost never. But when we have poetry or small groups on Sunday night it seems like it's his time to go all out. Hmm. Let's see how livid I can make mommy. Well, if that is his goal he really succeeds. 10 fold. I think my blood pressure was 289/217. Really.
On a more positive note, my little man Noah turned 7 yesterday!! He is growing up so much. He had 2 milestones in one day...he passed his test for his gold belt yesterday too!! In two months he passed 2 martial arts tests and has his second belt. Well, I had a long day: Cleaned out the boys room and closet, school, speech, consigned clothes, poetry in the park, home dinner, laundry, dishes. BED. Goodnight :)
Take today for instance. I could call today an instance of terrbility. Ya, it's a word...now. In my world it is. Why you ask??? (if you didn't too bad. I'm answering why anyway.) Well, maybe because I had to spend about 15 minutes sitting with (on) Nathanael while my kids recited their poems and sang our folk song at Poetry today while he cried to run around yelling with his friend. Ya. Bad Momma. I know. I took away playing on the playground while all the other kids played. And he is now taking a nap every.single.day. And I may have taken away his next 3 birthdays. It's all a blur.
I remember Noah's first temper tantrum was at 4 too. It was during a field trip to an old school house. He never had any attitude problems until that day. It was amazing.
Nate never gives me a hard time here. Almost never. But when we have poetry or small groups on Sunday night it seems like it's his time to go all out. Hmm. Let's see how livid I can make mommy. Well, if that is his goal he really succeeds. 10 fold. I think my blood pressure was 289/217. Really.
On a more positive note, my little man Noah turned 7 yesterday!! He is growing up so much. He had 2 milestones in one day...he passed his test for his gold belt yesterday too!! In two months he passed 2 martial arts tests and has his second belt. Well, I had a long day: Cleaned out the boys room and closet, school, speech, consigned clothes, poetry in the park, home dinner, laundry, dishes. BED. Goodnight :)
Friday, August 19, 2011
First Day!!
Ok, so we were supposed to start school this coming Monday, but we were invited to go to the children's activities Monday for the US Open (I don't exactly know what that consists of, but I will certainly blog about it when I have time), so I wanted to get our work for Monday done to keep the rest of the week in order. So the only thing we didn't get to was music and typing. eh, no biggie.
Once we get the routine down and everyone (me) knows what we need to be doing, we will have the time for those too.
We did our math, language, writing, and some trampoline time. Just a few minutes helps with wiggles! ( I used to make them run laps around the yard). Then science and science activities. Today we made a body book. We read after. The girls do their independent reading while Noah does his on the computer and I do phonics with Nate, alternating with read aloud days for them. So Monday Noah works on the computer and Nate doing phonics and Tuesday I will read out loud to them.
Then we did our history and acted out the scene when Peter heals the beggar at the Beautiful Gate. We did art, carving styrofoam blocks and painting them for making prints. (studying Rembrandt). Tues and Thurs are poetry (robert louis stevenson). The girls reviewed their latin and Noah started English from the roots up. They all did some Explode the Code books. Anyway, it was a great first day. The best part is that Nate REALLY loves school this year. He is blowing me away. Today he memorized the brain, lungs, heart, stomach, liver, and intestines. The funniest thing though...he calls the intestines...antennas!! How cute is that??? awww.
Blessings :)
Once we get the routine down and everyone (me) knows what we need to be doing, we will have the time for those too.
We did our math, language, writing, and some trampoline time. Just a few minutes helps with wiggles! ( I used to make them run laps around the yard). Then science and science activities. Today we made a body book. We read after. The girls do their independent reading while Noah does his on the computer and I do phonics with Nate, alternating with read aloud days for them. So Monday Noah works on the computer and Nate doing phonics and Tuesday I will read out loud to them.
Then we did our history and acted out the scene when Peter heals the beggar at the Beautiful Gate. We did art, carving styrofoam blocks and painting them for making prints. (studying Rembrandt). Tues and Thurs are poetry (robert louis stevenson). The girls reviewed their latin and Noah started English from the roots up. They all did some Explode the Code books. Anyway, it was a great first day. The best part is that Nate REALLY loves school this year. He is blowing me away. Today he memorized the brain, lungs, heart, stomach, liver, and intestines. The funniest thing though...he calls the intestines...antennas!! How cute is that??? awww.
Blessings :)
Thursday, June 2, 2011
More on homeschooling
OOH! I got to go to the book fair at our conference this year. I really love the book fair. It's funny how I think about my first time walking into that book fair. My jaw dropped down and I might have peed a little. I remember walking around aimlessly grabbing information from just about every booth I walked past. That was 7 years ago. I can't believe that 7 years and 3 different curriculum's have gone by.
That was probably the biggest, scariest thing I dealt with after deciding to homeschool. There was just so many things to choose from and we didn't have the money to mess it up. How would we replace the curriculum if I hated it??? Whatever I bought was what we were going to use for the year. Minimum.
I went home with all of my brochures and laid them out for Tim and I to weed through. After we took out the ones that were obviously not for us (either too old or to $$) we prayed over what exactly God wanted for our family. He led us straight to Five In A Row. It was an amazing curriculum and fit our lives and what we wanted perfectly. For Amber. I bought Before FIAR for Claire to use as a preschool curriculum and it was totally not her thing. I used it here and there with her and she joined in with Amber with a lot, but I knew we would need a change for the next year. Mostly because I wanted a year of practice with it before Claire officially started her year of kindergarten.
I looked and prayed and looked some more. I knew Claire needed hands on and activity. I tried searching for homeschool curriculums that were geared towards ADD or raved about by parents of children with ADD. I found KONOS. It was a great Godly curriculum that was very hands on. We prayed and felt it was the right way to go. I used it for 3 years. We got nearly through volume 2. I felt trapped in it by the end of our 3rd year. I don't want anyone to be discouraged by this, it is just my personal opinion, mostly of volume 2. We loved volume 1. It was more than great. We learned about indians, cowboys, medieval times. We had so much fun. We had whole nights of fun as a family celebrating as Egyptians and many other things. When we got to volume 2 I'm not sure if I got burnt out on it, or if I just was frustrated with the second volume in general. But using that curriculum did do several things. It was kind of harder to understand. I spent an entire summer learning the curriculum and was actually able to help others to understand it and use it more effectively. I wouldn't trade that for anything. It also made me realize that I could be very competent at schooling the children differently (as did 5inarow). A friend invited me to the poetry in the park group that i have posted about not too long ago. This group was based on the teachings of Charlotte Mason. I had only heard about her name as a title at our homeschool convention called "Who or what is Charlotte Mason". It was done by Sonya Schafer (I think). I didn't attend that talk and that was the only time I had ever heard her name. The more I attended the group the more I liked the idea of using the methods of Charlotte Mason. I talked with Tim and prayed again. We decided to go for it! Method #3, CM. We have been using it for 3 years now and I have no intentions of changing...ever.
So, back to the convention this weekend. I will be ordering the mp3's to the talks I wanted since I didn't get to attend the whole conference. But I did get some things that I really wanted for a good price. Here's the rundown of what I got the other day... I still have things to get, but I didn't want to bust my budget. Most things were a % off since it was at the conference plus I didn't have to pay shipping. I bought the 2nd volume of Mystery of History for $38 instead of $48. Deal. I bought the 3 notebooks for the Apologia Anatomy elementary edition. $18 instead of 24. I got 2 regular journals and a jr. journal for Noah. These are really great. If you use the notebooks and can afford to get the notebooks, do it. They are amazing and give your children something to look back on for years. I looked at my friend's son's astronomy journal and I was totally sold on it. They are beautifully done and durable. Nice. I bought Nate the Get Ready, and Get Set for the Code. I was going to buy the Go for the Code, but I wasn't sure if he liked them before I spent more $$. They were like $6 each. That was a pretty good deal. I also saved some money on Mind Benders from The Critical Thinking Company. I got a few odds and ends at Miller Pads and Paper. If you've never checked this company out, do it. They have amazing prices and usually have deals on shipping too. If you can go in on an order with a friend and spend over $50 you can usually get free shipping. I get a lot of art supplies from them. I love that they have Prang water colors for $2.50!! They are over $5 or $6 in art stores.
That was probably the biggest, scariest thing I dealt with after deciding to homeschool. There was just so many things to choose from and we didn't have the money to mess it up. How would we replace the curriculum if I hated it??? Whatever I bought was what we were going to use for the year. Minimum.
I went home with all of my brochures and laid them out for Tim and I to weed through. After we took out the ones that were obviously not for us (either too old or to $$) we prayed over what exactly God wanted for our family. He led us straight to Five In A Row. It was an amazing curriculum and fit our lives and what we wanted perfectly. For Amber. I bought Before FIAR for Claire to use as a preschool curriculum and it was totally not her thing. I used it here and there with her and she joined in with Amber with a lot, but I knew we would need a change for the next year. Mostly because I wanted a year of practice with it before Claire officially started her year of kindergarten.
I looked and prayed and looked some more. I knew Claire needed hands on and activity. I tried searching for homeschool curriculums that were geared towards ADD or raved about by parents of children with ADD. I found KONOS. It was a great Godly curriculum that was very hands on. We prayed and felt it was the right way to go. I used it for 3 years. We got nearly through volume 2. I felt trapped in it by the end of our 3rd year. I don't want anyone to be discouraged by this, it is just my personal opinion, mostly of volume 2. We loved volume 1. It was more than great. We learned about indians, cowboys, medieval times. We had so much fun. We had whole nights of fun as a family celebrating as Egyptians and many other things. When we got to volume 2 I'm not sure if I got burnt out on it, or if I just was frustrated with the second volume in general. But using that curriculum did do several things. It was kind of harder to understand. I spent an entire summer learning the curriculum and was actually able to help others to understand it and use it more effectively. I wouldn't trade that for anything. It also made me realize that I could be very competent at schooling the children differently (as did 5inarow). A friend invited me to the poetry in the park group that i have posted about not too long ago. This group was based on the teachings of Charlotte Mason. I had only heard about her name as a title at our homeschool convention called "Who or what is Charlotte Mason". It was done by Sonya Schafer (I think). I didn't attend that talk and that was the only time I had ever heard her name. The more I attended the group the more I liked the idea of using the methods of Charlotte Mason. I talked with Tim and prayed again. We decided to go for it! Method #3, CM. We have been using it for 3 years now and I have no intentions of changing...ever.
So, back to the convention this weekend. I will be ordering the mp3's to the talks I wanted since I didn't get to attend the whole conference. But I did get some things that I really wanted for a good price. Here's the rundown of what I got the other day... I still have things to get, but I didn't want to bust my budget. Most things were a % off since it was at the conference plus I didn't have to pay shipping. I bought the 2nd volume of Mystery of History for $38 instead of $48. Deal. I bought the 3 notebooks for the Apologia Anatomy elementary edition. $18 instead of 24. I got 2 regular journals and a jr. journal for Noah. These are really great. If you use the notebooks and can afford to get the notebooks, do it. They are amazing and give your children something to look back on for years. I looked at my friend's son's astronomy journal and I was totally sold on it. They are beautifully done and durable. Nice. I bought Nate the Get Ready, and Get Set for the Code. I was going to buy the Go for the Code, but I wasn't sure if he liked them before I spent more $$. They were like $6 each. That was a pretty good deal. I also saved some money on Mind Benders from The Critical Thinking Company. I got a few odds and ends at Miller Pads and Paper. If you've never checked this company out, do it. They have amazing prices and usually have deals on shipping too. If you can go in on an order with a friend and spend over $50 you can usually get free shipping. I get a lot of art supplies from them. I love that they have Prang water colors for $2.50!! They are over $5 or $6 in art stores.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Last day of school
Last Monday we tilled our garden and planted. I already have stuff sprouting!! It's very exciting. I can't wait to have fresh veggies growing.
Last week we went to the Celtic festival. We had a great time. They dress the kids up and we walked around for a while. The kids got to hold a giant sword, watch a dog herd ducks, see a bag pipe parade, and some very cool artifacts. We did leave earlier than anticipated because of rain, but it was a fun day.
We've been busy getting the house ready for company this weekend. Getting all of our yard work and a few things around the house. I repainted our kitchen chairs and our kitchen. I repainted all of our white trim. It's crazy how banged up stuff can get in such a short period of time. I'm really wanting to paint our kitchen orange, but that will have to wait until fall or winter. Right now I'm done with painting.Ok, now about school. We have officially had our last day. Claire has a few more days left of math and Amber has a few more days of Jr. Analytical Grammar. We will work on our Latin and math over the summer, but I have no big plans as far as what we'll get done over our vacation. Every year I make these huge plans for our summer education, and then when it's time to start school I'm all like "Oh, we were supposed to get this done over summer. Man." I have some stuff that we might do or that we can do, but I'm not saying "WE ARE DOING THIS" at all. I guess I'm finally at a place where I'm being realistic about how things really go down around here! Honestly, summer is my vacation too. I'm tired after a school year. All the planning, teaching, planning, dealing with nonsense. I'm ready for some time off. I have lots of cool things planned for our summer time fun. It'll be great. I love summer.
Well, I'm tired from our day of errands. with 4 kids. Goodnight
blessings :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Great Post from Childlight USA
I just read a great post over at Childlight USA. It is a Charlotte Mason blog that I follow. This post is about becoming a Charlotte Mason teacher. The author tells us how to shift ourselves from how we were taught (which, at least for me, was pretty unsuccessful; for the most part), and to use Mason's methods (which have been proven time and again to really work) in our homeschools. I loved it and will probably be reading and re-reading it several more times over the summer!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Things a 3 year old might say...
So today Nate made the cutest craft in church. It was from Oriental Trading so you can order some if you want. It was a cup with a string and Jesus hanging from the string. When you pull the cloud up it Jesus ascends into heaven. It was the coolest craft ever. So on the way home Nate is in the back of the van using his big man voice saying things like " Come up here to heaven with me you guys". Tim asked Nate if he was pretending to be Jesus and Nathanael said "Dad, I can't fit into this cup!" Then he told Noah what was going on and he repeated Tim's question in his big man voice again. It was so funny.
He also got another sweat band wrist thing from the prize box at church, he's up to 3 now. He said that he needs to have that many because that's how old he is. Where on Earth do kids learn to say these things?!
I'm probably the only one who thinks it's funny, but I'm the mommy, so that's my job!
Anyway, prayers would be lovely for our testing this week. Tomorrow we start our week of testing. We are breaking it up to do over the week so they don't have to sit for hours and try to get it all done in two days. It could be done, but I prefer to only spend about 2 hours per day testing.
I hope you all have a super wonderful week and I will be back Friday or Saturday!!
Blessings!!!
He also got another sweat band wrist thing from the prize box at church, he's up to 3 now. He said that he needs to have that many because that's how old he is. Where on Earth do kids learn to say these things?!
I'm probably the only one who thinks it's funny, but I'm the mommy, so that's my job!
Anyway, prayers would be lovely for our testing this week. Tomorrow we start our week of testing. We are breaking it up to do over the week so they don't have to sit for hours and try to get it all done in two days. It could be done, but I prefer to only spend about 2 hours per day testing.
I hope you all have a super wonderful week and I will be back Friday or Saturday!!
Blessings!!!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The official book list for Grace and Truth Academy!!
Here is my list for school next year.
Science: All 4: Apologia Science Elementary Series Anatomy and Physiology and notebooks.
History: All 4: Mystery of History volume 2 The Middle Ages
Latin: Amber, Claire:Latina Christiana II, Noah: English from the Roots Up
Language: Amber: Junior Analytical Grammar Mechanics, Claire: Junior Analytical Grammar, Noah: English for the Thoughtful Child, Nathanael: Language Lessons for the Very Young
Math: Amber: Teaching Textbooks 6, Claire: Teaching Textbooks 5, Noah: Teaching Textbooks 3, Nathanael: Singapore Math K
Spelling: Amber: Building Spelling Skills, Claire: natural Speller, Noah: Spellwell or Explode the Code, Nate: Get Ready, Get Set, Go for the Code A,B,C
Art: All 4: Taken from the Home Educator's Tutor, plus our Poetry in the Park art studies.
Poetry: Amber:Robert Browning, Claire/Noah:Robert Louis Stevenson
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
Reading: Amber: Little Men; Jo’s Boys; Tom Sawyer; Huckleberry Finn; Call of the Wild Claire: Swiss Family Robinson; Rascal; Misty of Chincoteague; Stormy, Misty’s Foal; Sea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague; Pinocchio; Just So Stories Noah: Stuart Little; Trumpet of the Swan; Mr. Popper’s Penguins; Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh; Peter Pan
I can't think of anything else, but I'm sure I forgot something. We will continue with our Poetry in the Park group and go back to Homeschool PE. Amber and I may do a second year of band. Not sure yet. Well, that's it for tonight!
Blessings!
Science: All 4: Apologia Science Elementary Series Anatomy and Physiology and notebooks.
History: All 4: Mystery of History volume 2 The Middle Ages
Latin: Amber, Claire:Latina Christiana II, Noah: English from the Roots Up
Language: Amber: Junior Analytical Grammar Mechanics, Claire: Junior Analytical Grammar, Noah: English for the Thoughtful Child, Nathanael: Language Lessons for the Very Young
Math: Amber: Teaching Textbooks 6, Claire: Teaching Textbooks 5, Noah: Teaching Textbooks 3, Nathanael: Singapore Math K
Spelling: Amber: Building Spelling Skills, Claire: natural Speller, Noah: Spellwell or Explode the Code, Nate: Get Ready, Get Set, Go for the Code A,B,C
Art: All 4: Taken from the Home Educator's Tutor, plus our Poetry in the Park art studies.
Poetry: Amber:Robert Browning, Claire/Noah:Robert Louis Stevenson
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
Reading: Amber: Little Men; Jo’s Boys; Tom Sawyer; Huckleberry Finn; Call of the Wild Claire: Swiss Family Robinson; Rascal; Misty of Chincoteague; Stormy, Misty’s Foal; Sea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague; Pinocchio; Just So Stories Noah: Stuart Little; Trumpet of the Swan; Mr. Popper’s Penguins; Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh; Peter Pan
I can't think of anything else, but I'm sure I forgot something. We will continue with our Poetry in the Park group and go back to Homeschool PE. Amber and I may do a second year of band. Not sure yet. Well, that's it for tonight!
Blessings!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Just a little something
Hi! Thought I'd write a few more times this week to compensate for testing next week. I just have a few different random topics to put on here.
Blessings!
- We went to our environmental center Monday for our poetry in the park gathering. It was very cool. We are studying small mammals and we were going to investigate a beaver lodge. That was a nice change to our normal schedule.
- Ok, my girls are totally excited about this Royal wedding. I have never been into the whole royalty thing, but my girls are loving all the hype about it. I will have to record it. There is no way I'll be up at 6 to watch someone I don't know get married to someone else I don't know :) I'll watch it after I've had a Mt. Dew. or two.
- Noah totally loves speech therapy. Side note we wait in the library. I was always under the impression that the library was supposed to be a quiet place to get work done. We take some of our school work there and sit quietly in the "Oh, you homeschool" corner. But unfortunately it is very difficult to concentrate on our work. Mostly because our librarian spends the entire time screaming at the kids who are in her media center class. These kids aren't even being bad. She is screaming at them to be quiet. ok. And my kids spend the whole half-hour thanking me for homeschooling them.
- I am super excited about our used curriculum sales coming up. I've made my list for what exactly we need for school next year. I'll post a detailed list. I know I did a "what we might use" but I know for sure now.
Blessings!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Testin Time
Yes, I spelled it wrong on purpose. I just received our email that our testing materials will arrive tomorrow or Wednesday.
In the first few years we tested with the Woodcock-Johnson III. I really liked it for the first two years. The third year we tested later in the day and it made a big difference in results. We also had to use a different testing facility than we had previously. The tester let Amber give up a little too easily so she didn't try quite so hard when she realized that the tester let her move on. I started researching different testing options and wasn't really sure which route to take.
I found the CAT 5 test and researched it pretty thoroughly. We tried it out last year and Amber loved it. Well, I mean it's testing. Love may be a strong word, but she really liked it in comparison to the Woodcock-Johnson III. She tested very high in several areas. She was timed, but she had the option to read the questions, and re read them if necessary. The WJ was an oral test. Amber is a visual learner, which means that she does better when she can read the questions herself and think about it.
The test is fill in the bubble, which I was also kind of worried about. We had never taken a test like that before. We just talked about it before hand and after each smaller section we went over her answers to make sure they matched up. That she didn't skip any or mismatch them. That if there are 20 questions we make sure she answered 20 and that she doesn't have any missing ones.
The WJ test is great for auditory learners. Children who do better with having the questions read aloud will do wonderfully with this test. The math is a worksheet, but there are questions that are read aloud for math as well. The moderator writes each answer and scores the test right there. It is very nice to have instant results. The CAT 5 takes about a week or two to come in. They can email or send you a hard copy (usually) depending on your preference.
To administer the CAT 5 you do not have to have a degree of any kind which makes it parent/homeschool friendly. A lot of other tests require a degree in order to use them in your homeschools.
I, obviously, am not a testing consultant of any kind, this is just my opinion of the two tests. They both are very competent tests for your child, it just is dependent on your child's individual learning style. I hope that this was helpful to you if you are unsure about what to use to test.
Blessings!
In the first few years we tested with the Woodcock-Johnson III. I really liked it for the first two years. The third year we tested later in the day and it made a big difference in results. We also had to use a different testing facility than we had previously. The tester let Amber give up a little too easily so she didn't try quite so hard when she realized that the tester let her move on. I started researching different testing options and wasn't really sure which route to take.
I found the CAT 5 test and researched it pretty thoroughly. We tried it out last year and Amber loved it. Well, I mean it's testing. Love may be a strong word, but she really liked it in comparison to the Woodcock-Johnson III. She tested very high in several areas. She was timed, but she had the option to read the questions, and re read them if necessary. The WJ was an oral test. Amber is a visual learner, which means that she does better when she can read the questions herself and think about it.
The test is fill in the bubble, which I was also kind of worried about. We had never taken a test like that before. We just talked about it before hand and after each smaller section we went over her answers to make sure they matched up. That she didn't skip any or mismatch them. That if there are 20 questions we make sure she answered 20 and that she doesn't have any missing ones.
The WJ test is great for auditory learners. Children who do better with having the questions read aloud will do wonderfully with this test. The math is a worksheet, but there are questions that are read aloud for math as well. The moderator writes each answer and scores the test right there. It is very nice to have instant results. The CAT 5 takes about a week or two to come in. They can email or send you a hard copy (usually) depending on your preference.
To administer the CAT 5 you do not have to have a degree of any kind which makes it parent/homeschool friendly. A lot of other tests require a degree in order to use them in your homeschools.
I, obviously, am not a testing consultant of any kind, this is just my opinion of the two tests. They both are very competent tests for your child, it just is dependent on your child's individual learning style. I hope that this was helpful to you if you are unsure about what to use to test.
Blessings!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Sun, The Sun!!!
Today was a beautiful day. I love warmness. It was around 70 today. Tomorrow...80!! I'm so excited. Summer is close. While most hate the heat and humidity of a summer in our location, I LOVE it. You will never hear "I'm hot" out of my mouth. Unless I'm trying to get out of jumping on the scalding hot trampoline at 2 pm when it's about 100. Other than that though...nope.
Love Summer!!
Winter on the other hand is my nemesis. It's my kryptonite. (That may be spelled incorrectly, but it's not really real, so I never had it on any spelling tests :) I come as close to hibernation as a person can. Except I never get to sleep. Ok, it's more like hermitation. Where I stay in as much as possible, to the point where all of my crazy neighbors think I've taken the kids (because they hate the cold too) and run off somewhere. Then the sun comes back with all of it's wonderfulness and here we all come out of our house with our squinty eyes and pale skin. Only to become the tannest family ever because we stay outside from April till September/October. Yes, then it all comes to an end. Sure we get a day here and there, but it's only a tease until spring and then we celebrate.
Anyway, so we raced through school today so we could do our art. Outside. In the sun. We oil painted for the first time today. When I buy batteries for my camera and the canvas' actually dry, I will take pictures to post. Oil paint is not my favorite medium. I prefer acrylic. I may not be an artist by any means, obviously when you see my painting, but it's too pasty for me. I guess it would be good at certain times, for certain effects, but it was fun to try something new. Then we jumped on the trampoline, I planted some seeds in some pots, I started to sand down my cocktail table and I cooked some dinner on the grill. Pretty productive day. I will be scouring the internet for some ideas to revamp my giant, square, beat up cocktail table to look nice in front of my new sectional. We changed around the living room and I'll be painting that NEXT weekend. Once I get it painted I'll post pics of that too. Maybe, seems like I say that a lot and then forget. I have no idea why I do that....right.
Love Summer!!
Winter on the other hand is my nemesis. It's my kryptonite. (That may be spelled incorrectly, but it's not really real, so I never had it on any spelling tests :) I come as close to hibernation as a person can. Except I never get to sleep. Ok, it's more like hermitation. Where I stay in as much as possible, to the point where all of my crazy neighbors think I've taken the kids (because they hate the cold too) and run off somewhere. Then the sun comes back with all of it's wonderfulness and here we all come out of our house with our squinty eyes and pale skin. Only to become the tannest family ever because we stay outside from April till September/October. Yes, then it all comes to an end. Sure we get a day here and there, but it's only a tease until spring and then we celebrate.
Anyway, so we raced through school today so we could do our art. Outside. In the sun. We oil painted for the first time today. When I buy batteries for my camera and the canvas' actually dry, I will take pictures to post. Oil paint is not my favorite medium. I prefer acrylic. I may not be an artist by any means, obviously when you see my painting, but it's too pasty for me. I guess it would be good at certain times, for certain effects, but it was fun to try something new. Then we jumped on the trampoline, I planted some seeds in some pots, I started to sand down my cocktail table and I cooked some dinner on the grill. Pretty productive day. I will be scouring the internet for some ideas to revamp my giant, square, beat up cocktail table to look nice in front of my new sectional. We changed around the living room and I'll be painting that NEXT weekend. Once I get it painted I'll post pics of that too. Maybe, seems like I say that a lot and then forget. I have no idea why I do that....right.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
It's that time again, what to choose, what to choose
Sorry it's been a while since my last post. We have had more appointments to run to. Plus we had band last night. And I've been selling stuff on Ebay which can be time consuming with the shipping ect. So I hope you have all been well.
I have been trying to figure out what we will be using for the next school year as far as curriculum goes. I know I'm still going to use Apologia science, I'm just not sure if I'm going to try Amber in General Science a year early, or use the new Young Explorers Anatomy series with all 4 of them.
I also know that I'm going to use Mystery of History vol 2 with everyone. We finished vol. 1 a few weeks ago and instead of buying the next one I decided to try to learn the locations of as many countries as possible. We are working on Europe right now. It's amazing how much I don't remember the countries. I'm hoping the kids remember them much longer than I did! We will probably review them regularly. I also have a curriculum that we will use for each continent when we finish with the countries. It's called Geography Songs. They split it up differently than I am. I am doing all of Europe starting with Iceland, around Scandinavia and down Eastern Europe to Greece and back up. This way they can see where the countries are in regards to each other. I like the way Geography Songs works, but you can't see where each section meets each other.
I have not decided on a Spelling Curriculum yet. I have looked at Calvert Spelling for Amber, but haven't decided yet. For Claire I will probably use Spelling Wisdom. Noah just started his Eclectic Speller (which I have no idea how to really use I'm just picking out words for him), so he will probably use that for at least half of next year.
I am also undecided on whether to use Latina Christiana 2 or Getting started with Latin. I am still confused about the conjugations, so I am pretty certain they don't get it either. When they read the Latin they can translate, but when they have to translate English to Latin, they struggle. I may switch to GSWL.
Amber will for sure go into Analytical Grammar, and Claire will start Junior Analytical Grammar. I really enjoyed this program. It works on one area at a time and continues. She started with nouns, and as she continued adding new parts of speech like adjectives, prepositions, verbs, adverbs... she would continue to have to mark every noun and each other part of speech learned as she continued. It was very good at making things concrete. It has helped tremendously! I highly recommend it.
We will also be sticking with Teaching Textbooks for the girls and I have no clue what to put Noah in for next year. I'm thinking either Singapore Math again, or Math Mammoth. We use Singapore Math right now. Noah is very good with numbers and this math is kind of challenging. It doesn't really get into a lot of introduction though. It's like: Do this. I will have to look at the next books and see if we can manage with them.
I have been thinking of doing some Rod and Staff books with Nate. They have such a great selection of workbooks. My kids have all done them and love them. They don't have a website, but you can google them and call for a brochure. Great Godly materials. He really excels quickly so I hate to buy something and him not get a lot of use out of it. Just in the past few weeks he has learned to spell not only his name but most of ours in the house. Of course mom and dad, not our full names. He started phonics and surprises us by reading random words. I guess he is just around during school so much that he absorbs alot. He has been talking about bat thumbs for a while, and megabats. Guess who is learning about bats in school right now! But tomorrow we start flying reptiles...how cool is that?
Anyway, just thought I'd let you into my homeschool mind so you can see what buzzes around in there while I'm going crazy trying to get to a hundred appointments and keep my house clean, and fold mountains of laundry, and make sure everyone has clean underwear on, and keep the neighbors toddlers from climbing over our fence, and practicing instruments, and making sure the dog doesn't consume all of our toilet paper, and actually doing school (forgot that one), and running to UPS every other day, and doing the errands that people who work can't do and ask me to do because I don't work (apparently). Yikes. If you have any suggestions about any of the curriculum needs I have please feel free to comment. I'd love to know what you use and how it works for you :)
peace out!
I have been trying to figure out what we will be using for the next school year as far as curriculum goes. I know I'm still going to use Apologia science, I'm just not sure if I'm going to try Amber in General Science a year early, or use the new Young Explorers Anatomy series with all 4 of them.
I also know that I'm going to use Mystery of History vol 2 with everyone. We finished vol. 1 a few weeks ago and instead of buying the next one I decided to try to learn the locations of as many countries as possible. We are working on Europe right now. It's amazing how much I don't remember the countries. I'm hoping the kids remember them much longer than I did! We will probably review them regularly. I also have a curriculum that we will use for each continent when we finish with the countries. It's called Geography Songs. They split it up differently than I am. I am doing all of Europe starting with Iceland, around Scandinavia and down Eastern Europe to Greece and back up. This way they can see where the countries are in regards to each other. I like the way Geography Songs works, but you can't see where each section meets each other.
I have not decided on a Spelling Curriculum yet. I have looked at Calvert Spelling for Amber, but haven't decided yet. For Claire I will probably use Spelling Wisdom. Noah just started his Eclectic Speller (which I have no idea how to really use I'm just picking out words for him), so he will probably use that for at least half of next year.
I am also undecided on whether to use Latina Christiana 2 or Getting started with Latin. I am still confused about the conjugations, so I am pretty certain they don't get it either. When they read the Latin they can translate, but when they have to translate English to Latin, they struggle. I may switch to GSWL.
Amber will for sure go into Analytical Grammar, and Claire will start Junior Analytical Grammar. I really enjoyed this program. It works on one area at a time and continues. She started with nouns, and as she continued adding new parts of speech like adjectives, prepositions, verbs, adverbs... she would continue to have to mark every noun and each other part of speech learned as she continued. It was very good at making things concrete. It has helped tremendously! I highly recommend it.
We will also be sticking with Teaching Textbooks for the girls and I have no clue what to put Noah in for next year. I'm thinking either Singapore Math again, or Math Mammoth. We use Singapore Math right now. Noah is very good with numbers and this math is kind of challenging. It doesn't really get into a lot of introduction though. It's like: Do this. I will have to look at the next books and see if we can manage with them.
I have been thinking of doing some Rod and Staff books with Nate. They have such a great selection of workbooks. My kids have all done them and love them. They don't have a website, but you can google them and call for a brochure. Great Godly materials. He really excels quickly so I hate to buy something and him not get a lot of use out of it. Just in the past few weeks he has learned to spell not only his name but most of ours in the house. Of course mom and dad, not our full names. He started phonics and surprises us by reading random words. I guess he is just around during school so much that he absorbs alot. He has been talking about bat thumbs for a while, and megabats. Guess who is learning about bats in school right now! But tomorrow we start flying reptiles...how cool is that?
Anyway, just thought I'd let you into my homeschool mind so you can see what buzzes around in there while I'm going crazy trying to get to a hundred appointments and keep my house clean, and fold mountains of laundry, and make sure everyone has clean underwear on, and keep the neighbors toddlers from climbing over our fence, and practicing instruments, and making sure the dog doesn't consume all of our toilet paper, and actually doing school (forgot that one), and running to UPS every other day, and doing the errands that people who work can't do and ask me to do because I don't work (apparently). Yikes. If you have any suggestions about any of the curriculum needs I have please feel free to comment. I'd love to know what you use and how it works for you :)
peace out!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Update on the coming week
Just wanted to add a quick post before my week begins. It's kind of a little of everything. I'll probably post again this week, but probably not next. This week won't be too bad, but next week I am thinking of skipping town till Friday! We have more appointments than any mom should have, especially when, to all but one appointment, we will be rolling 5 deep. 4 kids in the orthopedic's office. 4 kids at the dentist's office (2 this week, 2 next week). Thankfully I have a sitter for Noah's speech screening.
I actually get to go on a date Friday night. With my husband. We have not been out since October. We made arrangements to switch off with my friend who also has 4 children. Works out great, every few weeks we will just trade off!
I actually get to go on a date Friday night. With my husband. We have not been out since October. We made arrangements to switch off with my friend who also has 4 children. Works out great, every few weeks we will just trade off!
In case some of you don't know this Friday is the first day of the Annual Great Backyard Bird Count. So fill up your bird feeders and check out the website for details.
We started identifying some new birds in our birdfeeders this week. The tufted titmouse and the lesser goldfinch female. We also always have cardinals; male and female, morning doves, purple finches; male and female, jays, and black-capped chickadees. We love birds. We are also enjoying watching the Eagle Camera from Norfolk Botannical Gardens. They have one set up at in a bald eagles nest. Well above it. They had two eggs, and Friday there was talk that there may be a third. There is also a great feature on the site to ask questions in a live chat while you're watching. We asked a few about the nest and about how to tell the male and female apart. An eagle will normally return to it's nest year after year. They can weigh up to a ton. This was a new nest to some young love eagles, so not quite as big. The female head is also rounder and her beak ends right below the edge of her eye. The males ends in the middle of his eye and his head looks flatter. Anyway, check out the website for that too if your interested. Great way to see a bald eagle up close.
Our Valentines plans: Tim has to work until dinner time so I am making some steaks I got on sale yesterday. NY Strip steak, topped with red potatoes, sauteed garlic and panko, and for dessert some chocolate cupcakes with truffles inside. So much for all that working out baby! Sorry :) Since we get to go out on Friday it's like having two Valentine's days!
We started identifying some new birds in our birdfeeders this week. The tufted titmouse and the lesser goldfinch female. We also always have cardinals; male and female, morning doves, purple finches; male and female, jays, and black-capped chickadees. We love birds. We are also enjoying watching the Eagle Camera from Norfolk Botannical Gardens. They have one set up at in a bald eagles nest. Well above it. They had two eggs, and Friday there was talk that there may be a third. There is also a great feature on the site to ask questions in a live chat while you're watching. We asked a few about the nest and about how to tell the male and female apart. An eagle will normally return to it's nest year after year. They can weigh up to a ton. This was a new nest to some young love eagles, so not quite as big. The female head is also rounder and her beak ends right below the edge of her eye. The males ends in the middle of his eye and his head looks flatter. Anyway, check out the website for that too if your interested. Great way to see a bald eagle up close.
Our Valentines plans: Tim has to work until dinner time so I am making some steaks I got on sale yesterday. NY Strip steak, topped with red potatoes, sauteed garlic and panko, and for dessert some chocolate cupcakes with truffles inside. So much for all that working out baby! Sorry :) Since we get to go out on Friday it's like having two Valentine's days!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
How we came to homeschool
I have had a busy day, but I wanted to post something. I now have more laundry to fold than one should be legally allowed. I don't think it will be in the Spring issue, but the Old Schoolhouse Magazine asked for stories of how God led us to homeschool. I did and this is our story:
When my husband and I were first saved we had a 9 month old. The more I got involved in our youth group the more I remembered about school. I was only 20 then, but it seemed like I had forgotten all about what school was like. I kept hearing stories from the teens and began recalling my own memories of school, all the way through. Just before my oldest daughter turned 2 we had our second daughter. I knew in my heart that God wanted me to homeschool. My husband thought I was crazy at first. They were so young he never really even thought about school. I researched quite a bit and found out that more people homeschooled than I thought. Our 3rd child, a son, was born 23 months after our 2nd. I had kind of put my ideas of homeschooling on the backburner since I was a little busy with 3 children -all 4 and under. In the spring I began to have anxiety about the whole thing. I called my husband and told him we should enroll our 1st child in school. There was no way I could homeschool now. Surprisingly, my husband told me "God is calling us to homeschool Angela. He is going to give you the strength to do it. He didn't change His mind. You did."
That was a huge thing to me. He was right, but also, he was behind homeschooling! I went to the state conference and walked around alot. I heard speakers, and even though they were great, in the book fair is where I regained faith. I randomly talked to moms at different curriculum booths. I would just start a conversation and ask questions. They were all so good to take time to answer my questions. By the end of the weekend I had a curriculum picked out, thanks to some overtime in the prayer department, and we have homeschooled ever since! Our curriculum has changed, we've moved twice, had another baby, but one thing has stayed the same. The vision God gave us for our family! We are in the second half of our 6th year now. We have a 5th grader, 3rd grader, 1st grader, and a preschooler. 2 girls 2 boys. It isn't always easy, but God has given me the strength and the courage to do this everyday. My kids love it and we wouldn't trade it for anything!
Proverbs 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
Blessings :)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Great Freebie
For all you mom's out there...The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has released their Digital Holiday Supplement. It's 176 pages this year. Great activities to print out for the kids, talks about Christmas around the world, has recipes, party planning tips, and lots of advice and encouragement from the homeschool expo this fall. Bunches of great stuff in there. Best of all it's free! Click below to head to the download page!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
It's Fair Time!
Well, it's fair time again! Here are our entries this year...Above is Amber's photo of a tiger swallowtail caterpillar (which has already made it's way onto here from our hike) with a 2nd place ribbon dangling from it.
Here is her pumpkin with a sixth place ribbon...the pumpkin theme is Looney Tunes.
Here is Noah's torn paper collage of an owl...nice.
Amber's 1st place woodburned horse. They put the ribbon right over it. Amber uncovered it when we went in for school day.
Here is Claire's Bugs Bunny pumpkin which won first in her age group.
Here is Nate's Marvin Martian, isn't it so cute???
And here is Noah's 3rd place Road Runner! There were a few other entries, but our family couldn't find them for pictures. Since our camera was mysteriously dropped into the ocean....Wednesday, September 22, 2010
One month update...
We started school August 23rd so tomorrow is our 1 month mark. Here's how things are going so far:
Once we are done our entries for the fair I will post those pictures.
- We have gotten our school day down from 8-2:30 to about 8-12/12:30.
- The kids are enjoying what we've added and aren't missing what we've dropped.
- The kids still love History and Science, they don't love language or spelling.
- I'm adjusting to the new schedule fairly well.
- We have started band this year (the girls and I) so we will have an extra clarinet player, a trumpet player, and a trombone player in our house.
Once we are done our entries for the fair I will post those pictures.
Monday, September 20, 2010
1 Corinthians 13 for Homeschooling Moms
I Corinthians 13 for Homeschoolers
Though I teach my children how to multiply, divide, and diagram a
sentence, but fail to show them love, I have taught them nothing.
And though I take them on numerous field trips, to swim practice and
...flute lessons; and though I involve them in every church activity,
but fail to give them love, I profit nothing. And though I scrub my
house relentlessly, run countless errands, and serve three nutritious
meals every day but fail to be an example of love, I have done
nothing.
Love is patient with misspelled words and is kind to young
interrupters. Love does not envy high SAT scores of other homeschool
families.Love does not claim to have better teaching methods than
anyone else,It is not rude to the fourth telephone caller during a
science lesson, does not seek perfectly behaved geniuses, does not
turn into a drill sergeant, thinks no evil about friends' educational
choices.
Love bears all my children's challenges, believes all my children are
God's precious gifts, hopes all my children establish permanent
relationships with Christ, and endures all things to demonstrate
God's love.
Love never fails.
Where there are college degrees, they will fail; where there is
knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we teach in
part. But when the trials of life come to our children, the history,
math, and science will be done away and faith, hope and love will
remain; but the greatest of these is love.
Author Unknown
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
First Week Back
So last week was our first week back into the swing of things. It was a hard few weeks before school with family and babysitting and vacation. We were so excited to get back into our school groove. We are by no means used to our new schedule...I can't remember what we do next! The kids are like what do I need to do now? And I get this blank look on my face like:"what is your name and what color are you supposed to be on my pretty chart??"
I divided my week into days (well, someone else really did that, apparently they named them too...genius!). I just drew them on my little (large!) chart. Then I proceeded to break the days into blocks, then divided those blocks in 4 more blocks, one for each child...I know.
I have already needed to make some changes. Claire couldn't read Famous Men of Rome alone. She needed help, and I am with the boys at that time so guess what Amber's job during that block...yep, read Famous Men of Rome to her sister! I just scratched it out of her block for Monday, slid it over to Tuesday and moved Claire's typing. How cool is that?
We've also changed Latin around twice. It is just so ridiculously amazing that we can do that. I mean nothing is in written that can't be undone with our schedule. If the whole thing were a complete flop, I could just write up another one! There is so much freedom in homeschooling my kids! Praise God for such an amazing opportunity!!!
I divided my week into days (well, someone else really did that, apparently they named them too...genius!). I just drew them on my little (large!) chart. Then I proceeded to break the days into blocks, then divided those blocks in 4 more blocks, one for each child...I know.
I have already needed to make some changes. Claire couldn't read Famous Men of Rome alone. She needed help, and I am with the boys at that time so guess what Amber's job during that block...yep, read Famous Men of Rome to her sister! I just scratched it out of her block for Monday, slid it over to Tuesday and moved Claire's typing. How cool is that?
We've also changed Latin around twice. It is just so ridiculously amazing that we can do that. I mean nothing is in written that can't be undone with our schedule. If the whole thing were a complete flop, I could just write up another one! There is so much freedom in homeschooling my kids! Praise God for such an amazing opportunity!!!
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