Week-in-Review #1

We are finally getting back into the swing of things. I am sooo excited to see some signs of a "normal" routine around here again! Highlights:
1. Lala is growing up fast. She will be turning 4 soon and she has officially began joining the rest of us at the big table for school time!
2. I have been playing around will some new blog headers.
3. We all ♥ Ellie and are working hard on getting her trained!
4. Kaylee and I have been working on some new artwork for the schoolroom that I hope to post about soon
5. 1st Day of School photo shoot!
6. My elephant ears continue to grow out of control! The leaves are bigger than then kids and the plants are twice as tall as they were last year.
7. This sky means autumn is on it's way.
8. Kaylee has been studying Jamestown and Pocahontas for history and she came up with this outfit herself.
9. These kids ♥ to dress up - this was pirate day!
10. Major grocery shopping was done to refurnish the fridge and pantry after being gone for a month.
11. Major yard work was also done to recover from weeds taking over for a month.
12. (no picture) We went to the movies - Disney's Planes!

2013-2014 Curriculum

Now that I have 3 children gathered at the table for school time, I have tried to simplify our schedule as much as possible. This is what I intend to use this year for each child.

Matthew (K) and Brynlee (Pre-K):
They will be learning the alphabet and letter sounds together using Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool's Getting Ready 1. The resources are free and online, and after week 1 the kids are enjoying spending this one-on-one computer time with me.

Additional Resources:

• Alphabet Letter Mats found at 123 Homeschool 4 Me. Mainly these will be used with play dough as intended but she lists a variety of other uses for these mats. 

• We will be making alphabet books using these coloring pages. 

• And we will be reading through our personal library of children's books, and they have the option of listening in to most of their big sisters readings.

In addition to this Matthew will also soon be using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and Saxon Math K.

Kaylee (2nd Grade):
This year we will be following Higher Up and Further In (HUFI) curriculum. I found this free Charlotte Mason based curriculum about a year ago and started implementing it into 1st grade. Since we picked up this curriculum a term into 1st grade, our schedule for this year will look something like this:

Term 1 - Fall 2013: Year 1 Term 3 HUFI Schedule
Term 2 - Winter 2013: Year 2 Term 1 HUFI Schedule
Term 3 - Spring 2014: Year 2 Term 2 HUFI Schedule

I have not decided on all the family read-alouds yet, so I will post on them as we choose them.

Additional Resources:

• Mathematics - RightStart Math Level B (Finishing) and Level C

• Explode the Code Workbooks 3, 4, 5

• Whatever else I am forgetting at the moment...

I am so excited to start pulling out the new books and beginning this journey with the little ones!

First Day of School 2013!

It is my favorite time of year, the beginning of a new school season, and I am motivated to begin anew with this blog and at the very least try to keep up with a week-in-review post as a record of what we are accomplishing this school year and just in our home life in general. After taking the month of July off to visit family in Arizona and Colorado, the kids and I were ready to jump in to a new school year. We are excited to see what the future holds for us, what our favorite subjects and books will be, how we will learn and grow together!

This will be the first year that all 3 children will truly be participating in school time - Kaylee as a 2nd grader, Dutch in Kindergarten, and Lala in Preschool. It is sure to be an adventure!

A new month on the horizon

While I was finishing up my orders of school supplies needed for the coming year, I picked myself up a little something I have had my eye on for awhile. Mrs. Sharp's Traditions - Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations of Comfort & Joy is full of ideas of celebrating the year through and making the everyday a reason to celebrate. I have not had time to sit down and take a good look at the book yet, but hoping to get some inspiration as we head into September, I flipped back to the first page of the chapter and this jumped out at me:

"As you take your walks this month, dear Reader, imagine each gold and brown leaf lying on the ground as a day from your children's lives that's already past. Can you really afford to wait even one more day to begin sowing the seeds of loving memories into their young lives?"

And of course the answer is No, I cannot afford waste anymore days waiting for the right time to come along, but instead I must learn how to take the time and resources that I have been given and use it to the best of my ability to be what my children need me to be. I have struggled much over the past year with selfishness, and really wanting to slack on my job as mother, but I see how much I will regret that looking back someday. This September, my prayer is that I will find my servant heart, that I will find renewed strength to make it through the hard days, and that I will not let the good days slip by without notice or celebration. I am so looking forward to digging into this book!

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

Our First Sketch Tuesday

I have followed Nadene @ Practical Pages for some time now, and I feel I have gained a wealth of knowledge from her blog. She was my introduction to Sketch Tuesday, hosted by Harmony Art Mom. While I have been admiring others sketches, I never thought it was for me, not something I personally had the time, ambition, or skill to accomplish. But now that I have a daughter who loves to sit and create all day, I have found myself looking for a way to gently direct all that artistic energy, and so we have decided to jump in and give drawing a try ourselves. I also thought perhaps my drawing alongside her would be a nice quiet bonding time for us. So here are our first efforts - the theme was Made in the USA.

USA Fireworks by Kaylee, age 5

Red Heart Skeins by Me

We had fun with this and Kaylee was happy to have me alongside her, so I hope we will find time to do this again!

2010-2011 Year in Review - October 2010 Part 2

During the end of the month we celebrated Kaylee's weeklong Birthday Celebration - The Big 5! Highlights were dinner out with Shama (Grandma) who flew in for the event, an afternoon with family at Hillridge Farm, and a pumpkin painting party with her friends!

And finally for October...

HALLOWEEN!

We decided to do something a little different this year with a family costume theme - Old MacDonald's Farm! And I was so thankful to have my mom here to help because I could not have pulled these off by myself!

2010-2011 Year in Review - October 2010 Part 1

OCTOBER

October started with a fun family day at Blue Jay Park. In the morning we played at the playground and sandbox, fished in the lake, hiked, saw lots of wildlife, had a picnic lunch, and then spent the afternoon playing soccer and throwing the frisbee around.

This was also the month that Kaylee learned to ride her two-wheeler with training wheels, she was very proud!

Around here the middle of October always means State Fair time! This year was alot of fun because the kids were big enough to go on the kiddie rides by themselves.

(Kaylee & I getting our picture taken with Barney Fife's patrol car)

(Yes...that little boy ate the whole GIANT corn dog!)

It was a wonderful day even if we did get chased away early by the rain!