Week 12

Glimpse of our week1/3 of the way through the year. Going fast! 

Munchkin's 2nd grade US history, bible, science, math, grammar and spelling. 

 

 
Doodlebug's unit studies in Kinder through the alphabet and creation: 

 

 Lionheart's intro to the world of learning in 2's with ABC Jesus Loves Me: 

 

 
 

 

US History

 

 

 So many fun games, songs, books, activities, maps, apps, flash cards and stickers. Bring on the Fifty Nifty US 😉
 
 

week 11

Music lessons for M are coming from The Nutcracker . There's a coloring page , music, info to read and we found a ballet version on YouTube from 1993 that stars Macauley Culkin, it cracks me up. 

D is on O week for Octopus and obedience 

 L is picking up on so much his big brother are doing . He's enjoying the creation animals as we continue the ABC Jesus Loves Me 2yo curriculum 

 
 

Day in the Life

Dinosaurs for the win today on Ds curriculum! The boys listened to 5 books, did activities, pretend play, worksheets and videos. 

M is covering the Revolutionary War and Declaration of Independence. 

Good listening and applying afternoon: 

 

 

Supplies and Materials

TimeHop showed October's order two years ago: 

 

 I thought I would share this year's, most of which are set to arrive today thanks to Amazon Prime. 

I found humor in that I'm still slowly collecting the Christian Heroes Then and Now series. There are over 40 currently, I am half way there 😉. I do most of my ordering from Amazon and MFW directly . From time to time, I'll find used online or half price books. 
 

Day in the Life

Morning with co-op included picture day for the yearbook. After quiet time, we finished up our curriculum. Daddy worked super late and the boys rode bikes up and down the street with neighbors . Winning all around. 

Weekly Art and worksheets

Weeksheet organization for this year included everyone getting a clipboard. I fill them up at the beginning of the week and they go through them. It's also where we put the art we are working on for that week. 

M 2nd grade- social studies not booking page. 

D kinder- phonics worksheet

L 2s- Day 5 creation craft

Week in the life

Prep for the week is minimal due to lesson plans built in to the curricula. I hang visuals and set out worksheets . 

For 2nd grade, I research videos and pull out the perspective read along and do a quick Pinterest search on the corresponding science or history material. M enjoys daily math

Science topic this week is constellations so we played a couple of educational YouTube videos, downloaded flash cards from Pinterest,  pulled out our constellation globe and he made constellations out of stars and white crayon on black paper. 

For kinder, I gather books and file folders for the letter of the week. I'm so thankful for the advice to buy several different supplements for M, knowing what didn't work for older brother may work for his two younger siblings.  I have ideas and additional crafts/ projects as Ds interest and our time allows. 

D enjoys the worksheets and the outdoor exploring that's encouraged. We don't do quite as much book reading for him at this point in the year due to lack of interest on his part. 

For our 2 year old, the older brothers help gather toys with the weekly color, also used for counting, shapes, textures, pattern and sorting .  L piggy backs identifying the letter that D is learning for handwriting and phonics.  We sing, do nursery rhymes, bible story, play and color. 

Enrichment Classes

In the Fall of 2014, I began researching and visiting Homeschool coops. We belong to a causal field trip group and craft/ book group, but I was looking for a large group with more options for each kid and on their individual ages.  Down the road they off credit/ dual credit, athletics, drama, prom, etc. They put organize a yearbook, field trips etc. This coop has over 100 local families with plenty of opportunities  for our kids to know they are not alone in this home school journey.  We chose one closest to our home that neighbors recommended. 

We went on the wait list over Spring Break in 2015. Our first class session was today. 

M offered to talk about his morning, which is rare, at lunch in the gym. He was excited and ready to go to his last class after he was done eating.  I caught sight of him while I was teaching a different class during first hour and he was engaged. 

D loved his Jack project and talked of beans and seeds . I was so glad I made the choice for PreK classes so he'd have the stability of staying in the same classroom and teacher . I spotted him during third hour and he was going along with his class. 

L charmed his teachers and I spotted him on the playground during second hour having fun. I'm also across the hall from him fourth hour. 

I listed my teaching history, interests, talents and abilities on the questionnaire during registration . I was assigned American Girl history for two hours. First hour was a tween group of 9-11 year old girls  , second hour  a 2nd/ 3rd grade range. Third hour I grade for a Christian world view class and the 4th hour I'm in the nursery with one year olds. 

We talked with so many people, co teachers, parents and kids. Our  precious neighbor Ann checked on us and ate lunch with our friend Elisabeth and her kiddos. I laughed with other 'red dot' new families on how many times we got turned around or lost in the building. 

Materials and Supplies

Built in to our monthly budget is a homeschool line. This month's order included: 

Good quality pencil sharpener and clips boards for all the boys. 

A table top pocket chart . I already had two, so now all the boys have one for reviews of their weekly school material through out the week. 

Third cork board too for checklists and larger visuals. 

They are visual learners, so I really think this set up is going to keep us motivated and on track with all three this year: 

I consulted with a dear friend who has a post graduate music degree for aquality beginning piano books and upon her suggestion, bought this:

Last item on its way are the consumable student sheets for the kinder curriculum since this is my second child going through those lessons. 

How We End Our Week

One of the things I'm doing these first few weeks to promote motivation and progress in completing work on time is to ask the boys what they would like to do at the end of the week. This week they had the choice of the mall, a football game or a video. Their choice based on the fact that there is a dragon in the video: 

Our end of the week fun bible craft for Ms bible focus covering the names of Jesus this year was window art. We spelled out Jesus' name and the boys decorated how they chose with paper punches I have from my scrapbooking days. 

Munchkin's work

Doodlebug's efforts:

I made one for Lionheart: 

Note when we cover this with D and L, The suggested activity in the curriculum involved ironing wax paper between paper towels and we laminated instead. 

Moments in the Life

This week it really hit me, we are in this homeschooling journey. Yes, I'm aware we've been doing this in one form or another for 5 years this fall. Maybe it's doing big kid subjects like covering the pioneers in history, talking about what makes a sentence in grammar and weekly spelling word lists. I love watching them learn and work. I keep taking pictures because I don't want to forget this experience and these moments. 

Munchkin reading about the sun for D and L's science lesson, then summarizing the story of Jamestown for History. 

Doodlebug gluing, cutting and coloring. 

Lionheart's attempt at one to one correspondence while he counts and watching a little Brainy Baby

All the boys getting old enough to play a game together feels like such a milestone. 

We finished our school work in plenty of time today to accept a lunch invitation with two sweet friends and their kiddos. They love playing at CFA.