Can you believe we went apple picking, and I forgot my camera at home?! That is so frustrating. :o(
I missed lots of great pictures, but we had a great time! We did remember to bring our sketch books along, and got some sketching done.
I had two of my teens, dd18 and ds17, so that meant we each had a little one to watch...which really meant mom wasn't watching 3 little ones all alone! It was so much more relaxing to feel like there were enough eyes there that no one would wander off (yes, it has happened before.)
School is going well. We are in week 4 of Little Hearts for His Glory. The scripture memorization is actually something the little ones look forward to...this surprises me, actually. I guess I thought it wouldn't be much "fun" but actually this program incorporates music into it...and we do one day of copy work which dd5 loves...so they are really quite proud to recite their verses! They are also enjoying the storytime part of our day. We missed it today, so tomorrow we'll read two chapters, and that is kind of nice because the chapters are short and go very quick...even without pictures...speaking of - ds4 doesn't even ask to see them anymore.
We are still working through MUS Primer...we're now more than half way, lesson 19 of 30...counting by 10s to 100. This has gotten too easy...dd5 did her entire lesson without me this morning. We usually do two pages right after our calendar/circle time, but because we were going apple picking, she wanted to "do school" before we left...she started an hour earlier than we normally do, and worked independently!
I just wanted to do a quick blog before I missed another week. Our house is still for sale, and we therefore covet your prayers regarding that...also, my hubby had applied for a supervisor position at work, and we are hopeful that God wouldn't move in that respect also. Thanks for your prayers.
Blessings,
*Ü*
merchi
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
LH4HG Week 2
We're making progress, and it is so fun to see!
Last week we missed the art project, and I really didn't like this weeks, so we did last weeks instead! I love the flexibility of Little Hearts!
Here are the kiddos doing their art work:
This week our science discovery revolved around floating and sinking with regards to Noah's story. Well, we had covered that concept a while ago...so I decided to add onto it by having the kids guess or estimate how many counters their "boat" could hold before it would sink...we brought our white board into the bathroom (convenient low sink for this kind of project...and counters to sit on, too!) Here's a shot of the silly kids:
and one more serious...note the guesses or estimations on the white board:
Now, here are the photos I know you have been waiting for...drumroll please...the sinking ship:
And you really can't see it very well...but this is their reaction to the sinking...lots of giggles!
Of course that is not all we've done. The kids have all learned thier bible verse, and can recognize the tune when it comes on the tape in the car - lol. They enjoyed writing a letter to Reddy Fox to warn him of the danger to come. We are learning about coins this year too, so the penny and nickel have been introduced, and the girls are quite adept at counting on from 5 which is a BIG learned skill that they could not do last year. We learned a new rhyme in motion, that they really enjoyed, and I'm curious what next weeks rhyme is.
On Monday as we did calendar, I gave the kids each a piece of yellow paper to put their names on, and I wrote underneath is "thinks Isabella will come today." Then we each put our card into a pocket of our pocket chart calendar. We had to change a couple as two of the kids guessed the next day and the day after...finally we each had a decent guess...Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and her original due date...Isabella surprised us all by coming in between our guesses on Sunday...that's right, the little bundle arrived today! Yipee! We are all so exc ited, and my dgd6 is the most excited:
We get to add baby Isabella's name to our birthday calendar for this month.
I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!
God bless,
merchi
Last week we missed the art project, and I really didn't like this weeks, so we did last weeks instead! I love the flexibility of Little Hearts!
Here are the kiddos doing their art work:
This week our science discovery revolved around floating and sinking with regards to Noah's story. Well, we had covered that concept a while ago...so I decided to add onto it by having the kids guess or estimate how many counters their "boat" could hold before it would sink...we brought our white board into the bathroom (convenient low sink for this kind of project...and counters to sit on, too!) Here's a shot of the silly kids:
and one more serious...note the guesses or estimations on the white board:
Now, here are the photos I know you have been waiting for...drumroll please...the sinking ship:
And you really can't see it very well...but this is their reaction to the sinking...lots of giggles!
Of course that is not all we've done. The kids have all learned thier bible verse, and can recognize the tune when it comes on the tape in the car - lol. They enjoyed writing a letter to Reddy Fox to warn him of the danger to come. We are learning about coins this year too, so the penny and nickel have been introduced, and the girls are quite adept at counting on from 5 which is a BIG learned skill that they could not do last year. We learned a new rhyme in motion, that they really enjoyed, and I'm curious what next weeks rhyme is.
On Monday as we did calendar, I gave the kids each a piece of yellow paper to put their names on, and I wrote underneath is "thinks Isabella will come today." Then we each put our card into a pocket of our pocket chart calendar. We had to change a couple as two of the kids guessed the next day and the day after...finally we each had a decent guess...Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and her original due date...Isabella surprised us all by coming in between our guesses on Sunday...that's right, the little bundle arrived today! Yipee! We are all so exc ited, and my dgd6 is the most excited:
We get to add baby Isabella's name to our birthday calendar for this month.
I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!
God bless,
merchi
Friday, September 5, 2008
We Finished Week 1
Well, week 1 has come to an end...we did alot! I can't believe how little it looks like on paper, but we really did do quite a bit. I love Little Hearts for His Glory so far, and don't think I'll be dissappointed in the long run...it will save me so much time and energy! Plus it is so neat how it all centers on God...I love that.
Earlier in the week, we did a little activity, acted out the earth's orbit around the sun, then singing "happy birthday, dear Earth" after one rotation...later when I asked the kids how long it took for the earth to go around the sun, they didn't have a clue! Hmmm...I thought, what did I do wrong?? So today, we redid that activity - but this time, with each step we took around the sun, we said a month (well, we actually sang the months) then when we got back around to where we started, the "sun" told us happy birthday.
At first I was the sun, and the kiddos were each an "earth"...but for this activity, someone else was the sun, so I could show them how to move taking one step for each month...I took a video so you could hear the tune of the song, and see how we did it...just in case you wanted to do the same...though perhaps your kiddos got the whole earth goes around the sun in one year thing right off the bat? lol (Okay...perhaps I should explain the blanket and pillows...we picked up our reading area pillows because even though they are square, they are blue and have waves of water and people on them like the earth! - and the sun? no, it's not yellow...but an orangy-yellow...and it does have little suns on it...and the fringe of the blanket is kind of like rays of the sun, right? right? well, I thought it was a good idea, and it worked for us.)
We also started a creation book...it's not really a lapbook...but it is on a video around somewhere...the quarter circle one that opens to a full circle...one quarter circle for each day. The girls are enjoying that, and I wanted them to understand the creation story most fully.
My ds4 has been learning to read using Reading Reflex...we're only on day 2, but we had done bits and pieces of this earlier, so he does have some knowledge...but he is beginning to put 3 sounds together without my help! It's so exciting to watch this happen!
I trust your week was just a productive, and I'll leave you with our "earths" orbiting the "sun" photo:
Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen
Earlier in the week, we did a little activity, acted out the earth's orbit around the sun, then singing "happy birthday, dear Earth" after one rotation...later when I asked the kids how long it took for the earth to go around the sun, they didn't have a clue! Hmmm...I thought, what did I do wrong?? So today, we redid that activity - but this time, with each step we took around the sun, we said a month (well, we actually sang the months) then when we got back around to where we started, the "sun" told us happy birthday.
At first I was the sun, and the kiddos were each an "earth"...but for this activity, someone else was the sun, so I could show them how to move taking one step for each month...I took a video so you could hear the tune of the song, and see how we did it...just in case you wanted to do the same...though perhaps your kiddos got the whole earth goes around the sun in one year thing right off the bat? lol (Okay...perhaps I should explain the blanket and pillows...we picked up our reading area pillows because even though they are square, they are blue and have waves of water and people on them like the earth! - and the sun? no, it's not yellow...but an orangy-yellow...and it does have little suns on it...and the fringe of the blanket is kind of like rays of the sun, right? right? well, I thought it was a good idea, and it worked for us.)
We also started a creation book...it's not really a lapbook...but it is on a video around somewhere...the quarter circle one that opens to a full circle...one quarter circle for each day. The girls are enjoying that, and I wanted them to understand the creation story most fully.
My ds4 has been learning to read using Reading Reflex...we're only on day 2, but we had done bits and pieces of this earlier, so he does have some knowledge...but he is beginning to put 3 sounds together without my help! It's so exciting to watch this happen!
I trust your week was just a productive, and I'll leave you with our "earths" orbiting the "sun" photo:
Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Little Hearts for His Glory - Day 3
I so wanted to greet my munchkins with a surprise for the first day of school...and since that didn't work out, I did it on day 3.
Another homeschooling mom had made these really neat little "welcome to 1st grade/preschool" cards placed on top of a pile of school supplies for her little ones, and I was so touched by that it made me want to do the same for mine...so I did:
They were very excited...I asked them to hold up their favorite item, and they smiled so nicely for the photo op:
Today we enjoyed our calendar wall again, and then went outside for the "Rhymes in Motion" portion of our day...which if you are reading my posts remember from day 1 as being a favorite of dd5. At first she did not want to go out doors, but rather wanted to stay in for school...but when I reminded her what we were doing, she was very excited. Again I drew the continents on the driveway:
The girls loved leaping, stomping, hopping, crawling, waddling etc. to the different continents...then I added waves for water, and we went over the names of the oceans that we had learned in our Noah's Ark Lapbook. LHFHG has the kids jump from brown paper to blue paper as the parent calls out a land or sea animal...but my plan was for them to jump onto a continent or into the ocean...instead they began to draw the animals onto the driveway in the appropriate places...and called upon me for some help. It was quite cute!
My dd21 decided to bake today, and since she really enjoys doing this I thought it would be a good way for her to take part in the homeschooling. I had planned to bake with the kiddos every Monday...so now dd21 will do this instead! One less thing for me to remember to do...and a little break for me too. Today she made bread with the kiddos, and we had a "European" lunch (think Heidi) of fresh bread with butter and jam, cheese, apples and milk...yum! yum!
Well, that pretty much sums up our day!
Another homeschooling mom had made these really neat little "welcome to 1st grade/preschool" cards placed on top of a pile of school supplies for her little ones, and I was so touched by that it made me want to do the same for mine...so I did:
They were very excited...I asked them to hold up their favorite item, and they smiled so nicely for the photo op:
Today we enjoyed our calendar wall again, and then went outside for the "Rhymes in Motion" portion of our day...which if you are reading my posts remember from day 1 as being a favorite of dd5. At first she did not want to go out doors, but rather wanted to stay in for school...but when I reminded her what we were doing, she was very excited. Again I drew the continents on the driveway:
The girls loved leaping, stomping, hopping, crawling, waddling etc. to the different continents...then I added waves for water, and we went over the names of the oceans that we had learned in our Noah's Ark Lapbook. LHFHG has the kids jump from brown paper to blue paper as the parent calls out a land or sea animal...but my plan was for them to jump onto a continent or into the ocean...instead they began to draw the animals onto the driveway in the appropriate places...and called upon me for some help. It was quite cute!
My dd21 decided to bake today, and since she really enjoys doing this I thought it would be a good way for her to take part in the homeschooling. I had planned to bake with the kiddos every Monday...so now dd21 will do this instead! One less thing for me to remember to do...and a little break for me too. Today she made bread with the kiddos, and we had a "European" lunch (think Heidi) of fresh bread with butter and jam, cheese, apples and milk...yum! yum!
Well, that pretty much sums up our day!
We Will Survive! - Awesome Video
Hi Friends,
I came across this on another homeschooler's site, and I just loved it...the song itself was one of my favorites as a teenage girl, so it's even better twisted to the homeschool mom.
Enjoy!
Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen
I came across this on another homeschooler's site, and I just loved it...the song itself was one of my favorites as a teenage girl, so it's even better twisted to the homeschool mom.
Enjoy!
Blessings,
*Ü*
Karen
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
We Started School Today!
Today was our first day of school...well, really our second as we did do one day last week...but really tomorrow is officially our first day...today and last week I'm calling "dry-runs" can I do that?
Somewhere online I found a wonderful mom who had made these cute "welcome to 1st grade"/"welcome to preschool" cards to sit on her children's table to welcome them to school that very first day...I thought it was so sweet, and wanted to do the same, but then deciding to sell the house, decluttering and not setting up a school room threw me off track! (It's NOT fair - stomping foot!)
This is why I want tomorrow to be the "official" first day...cuz I want to have those cute little signs done for my kiddos!
You know I've been struggling with not being able to set up my room after having spent so much time deciding on what I wanted it to look like...but I decided upon a "temporary" circle time wall! Yipee! It's actually in two parts...
Part 1 is the calendar, place value straw thingy, odd/even days, weather station:
Part 2 is my old white board which I would have hung above the chair rail...it now sits on the easel, which makes it very portable. On this we have the days of the week, yesterday/today/tomorrow, tally marks & how to write the date (the blue board) and a cute little piggy bank - we put coins on it to correspond to the day...today is Sept. 2, so we put 2 cents on it...great for coin counting reinforcement as well as coin exchanging.
Here is a picture my hubby took of us doing school today...the girls are finding the right page in their calendar notebook,
Blessings to you my friends,
I hope your days are just as grand!
merchi
Somewhere online I found a wonderful mom who had made these cute "welcome to 1st grade"/"welcome to preschool" cards to sit on her children's table to welcome them to school that very first day...I thought it was so sweet, and wanted to do the same, but then deciding to sell the house, decluttering and not setting up a school room threw me off track! (It's NOT fair - stomping foot!)
This is why I want tomorrow to be the "official" first day...cuz I want to have those cute little signs done for my kiddos!
You know I've been struggling with not being able to set up my room after having spent so much time deciding on what I wanted it to look like...but I decided upon a "temporary" circle time wall! Yipee! It's actually in two parts...
Part 1 is the calendar, place value straw thingy, odd/even days, weather station:
Part 2 is my old white board which I would have hung above the chair rail...it now sits on the easel, which makes it very portable. On this we have the days of the week, yesterday/today/tomorrow, tally marks & how to write the date (the blue board) and a cute little piggy bank - we put coins on it to correspond to the day...today is Sept. 2, so we put 2 cents on it...great for coin counting reinforcement as well as coin exchanging.
Here is a picture my hubby took of us doing school today...the girls are finding the right page in their calendar notebook,
Blessings to you my friends,
I hope your days are just as grand!
merchi
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