Two things that Christian figured out today...
1. How to unbuckle the straps in his stroller. Reminder: This is how I keep him contained in MANY situations. This may be trouble!
2. How to take off his sandals. Another problem, who wants to put shoes back on every time you get out of the car (He took them off in the car today).
I can't tell if this kid is getting easier or harder as time goes on! I'm thinking harder at the moment!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Very Busy Week
This week is very busy, I might not blog very much. :)
Beside things going on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, I am taking off Friday morning for Lincoln to attend the annual homeschooling conference. This also goes on Saturday too.
I don't quite know what to expect, but I have heard it's one of the best conferences in the area.
Speakers, sessions, curriculum fair, other homeschool moms, I think I will love it!
This means though that I really have to get school done in 4 days. Things have been going well lately (we are usually done by noon), so I don't think that will be a problem, plus we don't have our class at the homeschool learning center OR Awana anymore.
Beside things going on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, I am taking off Friday morning for Lincoln to attend the annual homeschooling conference. This also goes on Saturday too.
I don't quite know what to expect, but I have heard it's one of the best conferences in the area.
Speakers, sessions, curriculum fair, other homeschool moms, I think I will love it!
This means though that I really have to get school done in 4 days. Things have been going well lately (we are usually done by noon), so I don't think that will be a problem, plus we don't have our class at the homeschool learning center OR Awana anymore.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Mr. Speedy
Our little Christian is too fast for us on the stairs anymore. One moment he's downstairs, the next moment he's up in the playroom with his sisters and I didn't even see him go up!
Maybe I should stop worrying about him falling down the stairs onto the hard tile at the bottom...
Maybe I should stop worrying about him falling down the stairs onto the hard tile at the bottom...
Courtney and School
1. We got a letter from Aldrich Elementary yesterday inviting Courtney to kindergarten roundup.She even got assigned a teacher for roundup and it is Megan's old teacher! I have never registered her for kindergarten because we plan on homeschooling. Are they expecting her for kindergarten?
Anyway, do we let her attend kindergarten roundup because it is sort of a rite of passage for kindergarteners (plus it is fun)? Or do we completely skip it because she won't be going to school there anyway? I really think she would enjoy going to school next year, but Matt and I think homeschooling is the best choice for our children right now.
I talked to her about it yesterday because I want her opinion when it comes to kindergarten roundup. She knows she is homeschooling, but she did have one concern- friends! I told her that we would definitely take some classes and get involved in more groups next year. That seemed to help.
2. Courtney's language arts program came in the mail the other day, I ordered it off of ebay. And of course, I got, "Can we start tomorrow??"
3. Last night, dinner turned into math 101. Along with working on reading with Courtney, we have also been working on simple addition and subtraction. Megan thinks it is great that she can help Courtney with school. It became "Who can come up with a story problem?" and then solve it too. Courtney would come up with one, then Megan, and then myself. We had great fun thinking of things and then solving them!
I told her that if she was going to public school, then I certainly wouldn't be encouraging math so much. Megan did just a little bit in kindergarten, but really hit math hard in 1st grade. The math curriculum I am going to order for the two girls next year is Horizons Math. They seem to bump things up a bit (even though Megan was going into 2nd grade math, she didn't know some of the things Horizons expected her to know at the beginning of the year), so I think by doing this now, it will only help her for next year, not the following year.
4. Her reading is coming along. I am going to start her with a new set of words on Monday! It is amazing how she is just exposed to a word once and she has it memorized. She came home from preschool the other day and said, "Mom, I know how to spell zoo" and she spelled it z-o-o. I asked her who taught her that and she said her friend Zoey. Great! So then we talked about "boo" and "moo" and now she knows all three!
She is still struggling with some words (N-O-T) even though we have been over and over them. My goal is to expose her to words and start to recognize them. She will also sometimes see a word that we have been over and say, "I don't know what it says!" I always respond with, "Yes you do, sound it out!" and then she sounds it out and she remembers that she knows it. She needs a little confidence that she really does know these words!
Anyway, do we let her attend kindergarten roundup because it is sort of a rite of passage for kindergarteners (plus it is fun)? Or do we completely skip it because she won't be going to school there anyway? I really think she would enjoy going to school next year, but Matt and I think homeschooling is the best choice for our children right now.
I talked to her about it yesterday because I want her opinion when it comes to kindergarten roundup. She knows she is homeschooling, but she did have one concern- friends! I told her that we would definitely take some classes and get involved in more groups next year. That seemed to help.
2. Courtney's language arts program came in the mail the other day, I ordered it off of ebay. And of course, I got, "Can we start tomorrow??"
3. Last night, dinner turned into math 101. Along with working on reading with Courtney, we have also been working on simple addition and subtraction. Megan thinks it is great that she can help Courtney with school. It became "Who can come up with a story problem?" and then solve it too. Courtney would come up with one, then Megan, and then myself. We had great fun thinking of things and then solving them!
I told her that if she was going to public school, then I certainly wouldn't be encouraging math so much. Megan did just a little bit in kindergarten, but really hit math hard in 1st grade. The math curriculum I am going to order for the two girls next year is Horizons Math. They seem to bump things up a bit (even though Megan was going into 2nd grade math, she didn't know some of the things Horizons expected her to know at the beginning of the year), so I think by doing this now, it will only help her for next year, not the following year.
4. Her reading is coming along. I am going to start her with a new set of words on Monday! It is amazing how she is just exposed to a word once and she has it memorized. She came home from preschool the other day and said, "Mom, I know how to spell zoo" and she spelled it z-o-o. I asked her who taught her that and she said her friend Zoey. Great! So then we talked about "boo" and "moo" and now she knows all three!
She is still struggling with some words (N-O-T) even though we have been over and over them. My goal is to expose her to words and start to recognize them. She will also sometimes see a word that we have been over and say, "I don't know what it says!" I always respond with, "Yes you do, sound it out!" and then she sounds it out and she remembers that she knows it. She needs a little confidence that she really does know these words!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Groceries
For the last 8 years or so, I was on a good grocery schedule. I went and got groceries when we were out of milk.
Now I go and get groceries when we are out of fruit and bread.
I don't have to get groceries as often and I kind of like it. :)
Now I go and get groceries when we are out of fruit and bread.
I don't have to get groceries as often and I kind of like it. :)
Where is Megan?
Today as we were getting out the door to get preschool, I couldn't quite find Megan.
We were upstairs and I asked Courtney where she was. She said, "She's in her room reading a book," so without even looking in her room, I said, "Come on Megan, it's time to go." I got no response. Sometimes she doesn't answer me because she is too busy reading, so I said it again, "Megan, make sure you turn your lights off when you come downstairs." Again, no answer. Now I was kind of getting mad.
As I was going downstairs, I said, "Megan, I am leaving, I hope you will be joining us!"
I got shoes and jackets and headed out the door, still no Megan and not hearing from her at all.
I opened the door to the garage and the garage light was on. Guess who was sitting in the car reading a magazine? Megan!!! She wasn't in her room at all!! Maybe next time I should actually look in her room instead of just assuming she is in there!
We were upstairs and I asked Courtney where she was. She said, "She's in her room reading a book," so without even looking in her room, I said, "Come on Megan, it's time to go." I got no response. Sometimes she doesn't answer me because she is too busy reading, so I said it again, "Megan, make sure you turn your lights off when you come downstairs." Again, no answer. Now I was kind of getting mad.
As I was going downstairs, I said, "Megan, I am leaving, I hope you will be joining us!"
I got shoes and jackets and headed out the door, still no Megan and not hearing from her at all.
I opened the door to the garage and the garage light was on. Guess who was sitting in the car reading a magazine? Megan!!! She wasn't in her room at all!! Maybe next time I should actually look in her room instead of just assuming she is in there!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Thursday
1. How come it is sooo quiet here when I turn a movie on? Courtney has a little stomach ache, so I let her watch a movie. All three children are watching it and it so quiet. I'm used to talking with them all the time and having them around me. This is kind of wierd- plus we don't usually have the TV on during the let day.
2. It just doesn't seem right that we have school for Megan done by noon. It's right, but so wierd. We finished her read-aloud this morning called "The Little Riders." It takes place in WWII Holland, so I got to use some of my history knowledge. There was a movie made about the story, so I am hoping to get ahold of that to watch it sometime soon.
3. Usually in the afternoons, we do Bible with the two girls and then I work with Courtney for awhile. If she's sick and on the couch, that won't be happening. I was going to combine Thursday's and Friday's lesson and do it on one day anyway, so why can't I move it from today to tomorrow?? We are going to read the last 3 chapters of Esther.
4. I have talked to a couple of moms lately that do not want to send their kids to public school, but also think that they can't homeschool. When I run into these moms, I just want to say, "Yes you can! Anybody can homeschool!" Our culture just says we need to send our kids off to school somewhere, but no, you don't have to. You can continue to school them and raise them right in your own home! I have become very pro-homeschooling this last year (but I totally support you if you send your children to public/ private school.)
I talked to a mom yesterday who told me about a private school they are thinking about sending thier daughter to in the fall for kindergarten. She told me there are about 10 kids in K-6 and about 10 kids in 7-12. She said it was like these teachers are homeschooling the students. My thought is ,"Why not do it yourself?"
5. Where is the sun today??
6. We had our last class at the homeschool learning center yesterday and we had our pizza party for AWANA last night. I can't believe both of these programs are coming to an end. What will I do on Wednesdays now?? We have AWANA awards on Sunday and a picnic for participants in the homeschool learning center next Wednesday, then we will be officially done.
2. It just doesn't seem right that we have school for Megan done by noon. It's right, but so wierd. We finished her read-aloud this morning called "The Little Riders." It takes place in WWII Holland, so I got to use some of my history knowledge. There was a movie made about the story, so I am hoping to get ahold of that to watch it sometime soon.
3. Usually in the afternoons, we do Bible with the two girls and then I work with Courtney for awhile. If she's sick and on the couch, that won't be happening. I was going to combine Thursday's and Friday's lesson and do it on one day anyway, so why can't I move it from today to tomorrow?? We are going to read the last 3 chapters of Esther.
4. I have talked to a couple of moms lately that do not want to send their kids to public school, but also think that they can't homeschool. When I run into these moms, I just want to say, "Yes you can! Anybody can homeschool!" Our culture just says we need to send our kids off to school somewhere, but no, you don't have to. You can continue to school them and raise them right in your own home! I have become very pro-homeschooling this last year (but I totally support you if you send your children to public/ private school.)
I talked to a mom yesterday who told me about a private school they are thinking about sending thier daughter to in the fall for kindergarten. She told me there are about 10 kids in K-6 and about 10 kids in 7-12. She said it was like these teachers are homeschooling the students. My thought is ,"Why not do it yourself?"
5. Where is the sun today??
6. We had our last class at the homeschool learning center yesterday and we had our pizza party for AWANA last night. I can't believe both of these programs are coming to an end. What will I do on Wednesdays now?? We have AWANA awards on Sunday and a picnic for participants in the homeschool learning center next Wednesday, then we will be officially done.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Ten on Tuesday
1. We are having great fun watching butterflies come out of their chrysallises. We ordered cateripillars about 3 weeks ago and they are finally adult butterflies. My sister-in-law gave Megan a butterfly "home", so they are in their right now. How fun AND educational! (BTW-How do they do that??)
2. Megan finally finished her essay last night that we struggled with the other night for 2 hours!! Today I read through it and made some minor changes and she is going to write her final draft for tomorrow. When I was done, she said, "Mom, that doesn't look so bad." Last week, her essay was way out of order, so I had to really fix it. This week, it was good. There were no arrows at all. :) I told her that it was good because she put everything on an outline to start and then it was already in order. She just grinned. She admitted that it really helped.
3. I can't believe we only have 5 weeks of school left. Of the 30 books or so we started with at the beginning of the year, we have 4 left! We have read-aloud for the last 4 weeks of school. I'm sure we will finish it before then. Megan has 3 readers left and I'm sure she will read ahead in all of those.
4. I have Courtney's language arts ordered for next year and I'm going to keep checking on ebay for the other sets I want. They have already told me that they want to start them as soon as they come! HA!
5. Courtney is starting to read books! We are so proud of her. I think she has learned enough words that she is able to get to the point where she can read out of books. She may not know every word, but she has the skills to be able to sound the words out. yay Courtney!
6. This week we are working on "ee" words with her, like bee, tree, three, free, fee, etc. She caught on pretty quickly yesterday. I have a subscription to enchantedlearning.com and I pull many things off of there. She absolutely does not like her reading book, she cried the last time I got it out. I think she likes hands-on activities and that book is not hands-on. I have also had to pull a few creative activities out of my head, so she can practice her words. She is also picking words up from everywhere! The world is coming alive!
6. The girls had to remind me today again that it was time to do laundry. They think it is funny whenever they cannot get their clothes hamper shut because there are so many dirty clothes in it.
7. I'm so glad I give piano lessons on Tuesday. It is a great excuse to clean this house! It has become a routine for us, so the kids don't even complain much. The whole first floor gets cleaned and I even vaccuum. How can the house get so messy in one week?
8. We are going through the book of "Esther" in Bible class and the girls are having a blast. We were only supposed to read one chapter yesterday, but I got "read some more!", so I read three. Now today, we don't have Bible to do! It's nice to work ahead one day and have some down time.
9. We are going to make Megan start doing her homework right after school is over. This is usually while I am working with Courtney. It worked much better yesterday, we didn't have a fit like we usually have, let's see if it works for the last 5 weeks.
10. I have given the girls 20 minutes more of playtime than I have said, time to get Megan to her homework and to work with Courtney on her reading!
2. Megan finally finished her essay last night that we struggled with the other night for 2 hours!! Today I read through it and made some minor changes and she is going to write her final draft for tomorrow. When I was done, she said, "Mom, that doesn't look so bad." Last week, her essay was way out of order, so I had to really fix it. This week, it was good. There were no arrows at all. :) I told her that it was good because she put everything on an outline to start and then it was already in order. She just grinned. She admitted that it really helped.
3. I can't believe we only have 5 weeks of school left. Of the 30 books or so we started with at the beginning of the year, we have 4 left! We have read-aloud for the last 4 weeks of school. I'm sure we will finish it before then. Megan has 3 readers left and I'm sure she will read ahead in all of those.
4. I have Courtney's language arts ordered for next year and I'm going to keep checking on ebay for the other sets I want. They have already told me that they want to start them as soon as they come! HA!
5. Courtney is starting to read books! We are so proud of her. I think she has learned enough words that she is able to get to the point where she can read out of books. She may not know every word, but she has the skills to be able to sound the words out. yay Courtney!
6. This week we are working on "ee" words with her, like bee, tree, three, free, fee, etc. She caught on pretty quickly yesterday. I have a subscription to enchantedlearning.com and I pull many things off of there. She absolutely does not like her reading book, she cried the last time I got it out. I think she likes hands-on activities and that book is not hands-on. I have also had to pull a few creative activities out of my head, so she can practice her words. She is also picking words up from everywhere! The world is coming alive!
6. The girls had to remind me today again that it was time to do laundry. They think it is funny whenever they cannot get their clothes hamper shut because there are so many dirty clothes in it.
7. I'm so glad I give piano lessons on Tuesday. It is a great excuse to clean this house! It has become a routine for us, so the kids don't even complain much. The whole first floor gets cleaned and I even vaccuum. How can the house get so messy in one week?
8. We are going through the book of "Esther" in Bible class and the girls are having a blast. We were only supposed to read one chapter yesterday, but I got "read some more!", so I read three. Now today, we don't have Bible to do! It's nice to work ahead one day and have some down time.
9. We are going to make Megan start doing her homework right after school is over. This is usually while I am working with Courtney. It worked much better yesterday, we didn't have a fit like we usually have, let's see if it works for the last 5 weeks.
10. I have given the girls 20 minutes more of playtime than I have said, time to get Megan to her homework and to work with Courtney on her reading!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Venting about homework
Really, like I said in my last post, do I get paid for this job?
Every night is a struggle with homework. Every. single. night. Matt and I have told Megan that she should just have her fit and then go do her homework. If she starts by 5 or so, the homework will probably be done by bedtime.
So here is how tonight went:
7:10 PM done with supper and we ask Megan to go do her language arts. She had already done her math and handwriting on her own (Amazing!!), so we thought we wouldn't have a battle.
We were wrong.
From 7:10 until 7:40, she stomped, yelled at dad, spent time in time-out, got frustrated some more and then finally started to write her outline for her essay due tomorrow.
In the meantime, I have been waiting all weekend to watch "The Amazing Race," my ultimate favorite show, and I did not want to be interruped. One hour is all I wanted.
But the last 20 minutes, all I got was interrupted because somebody needed help with the outline.
7:40-8:00 pretty much nothing done except when I would I would let her ask me questions during commercials
8:00-8:30. I try to give Christian a bath and to bed, get Courtney to clean her playroom and take a shower, and CONTINUE to help Megan with her homework.
(at 8:15, I shut Christian's door so I could put him to bed without interruptions)
8:30 Christian is in bed, Courtney is showered and ready for bed. I now have time to help Megan. Yes, I am kind of frustrated at this point.
8:30- 9:20 I help Megan with her homework. She had half a page done by the time we started.
9:20 Megan is no longer cooperating because she has been dealing with this for about 2 hours. I declare her done, I am done and out of patience, and I send her to bed. We tell her that she cannot read any books before she goes to sleep. Lights out, good night! (While we were working together, she did get quite a lot done.)
Here are my thoughts since I am venting.
1. Why is homework not done before 8:30 on a Sunday night? She has the entire weekend! It would be much easier if I would just make her to do it on Friday after school. But by that time, I am done school and I just want to let her go play.
2. Why does she need my help right when I am trying to get the other two ready for bed? Really, I can only deal with one at a time!
3. Is it so hard that she needs my help? Her assignment was to fill out an outline on a piece of paper and then write an essay from the outline. We had a brainstorming session on Friday, so she had all her notes in her notebook. They were just completely out of order. I thought she could take her outline and put them in order, then it would be a whole lot easier to write her essay. This was a more challenging assignment, but I thought she could handle it. She acted like she knew what to do on Friday, so I let her do it as homework. If she didn't understand, I would've done it in class with her. I would've rather have done that than staying up on a Sunday night to do it.
4. How am I going to continue with school tomorrow when homework isn't done? It's just very frustrating because this happens every single weekend. You would think that after 30 weeks of school we would have this figured out! (Actually this assignment wouldn't be hard to make her do it for Tuesday but that's not the point!)
5. Hopefully someday she will thank me for making her write these essays every single week!
Actually I think they are great assignments. She gets to be creative and write about a myriad of topics, but sometimes I think that since she is only in 2nd grade, maybe she shouldn't be expected to do things like this yet, but yet I see her write a 13 page story at home without a problem! So I know she can do it, so I continue to challenge her. I know she's just learning and maybe the inner teacher is coming out in me and I expect too much of her, but Matt and I both think she is capable.
Every night is a struggle with homework. Every. single. night. Matt and I have told Megan that she should just have her fit and then go do her homework. If she starts by 5 or so, the homework will probably be done by bedtime.
So here is how tonight went:
7:10 PM done with supper and we ask Megan to go do her language arts. She had already done her math and handwriting on her own (Amazing!!), so we thought we wouldn't have a battle.
We were wrong.
From 7:10 until 7:40, she stomped, yelled at dad, spent time in time-out, got frustrated some more and then finally started to write her outline for her essay due tomorrow.
In the meantime, I have been waiting all weekend to watch "The Amazing Race," my ultimate favorite show, and I did not want to be interruped. One hour is all I wanted.
But the last 20 minutes, all I got was interrupted because somebody needed help with the outline.
7:40-8:00 pretty much nothing done except when I would I would let her ask me questions during commercials
8:00-8:30. I try to give Christian a bath and to bed, get Courtney to clean her playroom and take a shower, and CONTINUE to help Megan with her homework.
(at 8:15, I shut Christian's door so I could put him to bed without interruptions)
8:30 Christian is in bed, Courtney is showered and ready for bed. I now have time to help Megan. Yes, I am kind of frustrated at this point.
8:30- 9:20 I help Megan with her homework. She had half a page done by the time we started.
9:20 Megan is no longer cooperating because she has been dealing with this for about 2 hours. I declare her done, I am done and out of patience, and I send her to bed. We tell her that she cannot read any books before she goes to sleep. Lights out, good night! (While we were working together, she did get quite a lot done.)
Here are my thoughts since I am venting.
1. Why is homework not done before 8:30 on a Sunday night? She has the entire weekend! It would be much easier if I would just make her to do it on Friday after school. But by that time, I am done school and I just want to let her go play.
2. Why does she need my help right when I am trying to get the other two ready for bed? Really, I can only deal with one at a time!
3. Is it so hard that she needs my help? Her assignment was to fill out an outline on a piece of paper and then write an essay from the outline. We had a brainstorming session on Friday, so she had all her notes in her notebook. They were just completely out of order. I thought she could take her outline and put them in order, then it would be a whole lot easier to write her essay. This was a more challenging assignment, but I thought she could handle it. She acted like she knew what to do on Friday, so I let her do it as homework. If she didn't understand, I would've done it in class with her. I would've rather have done that than staying up on a Sunday night to do it.
4. How am I going to continue with school tomorrow when homework isn't done? It's just very frustrating because this happens every single weekend. You would think that after 30 weeks of school we would have this figured out! (Actually this assignment wouldn't be hard to make her do it for Tuesday but that's not the point!)
5. Hopefully someday she will thank me for making her write these essays every single week!
Actually I think they are great assignments. She gets to be creative and write about a myriad of topics, but sometimes I think that since she is only in 2nd grade, maybe she shouldn't be expected to do things like this yet, but yet I see her write a 13 page story at home without a problem! So I know she can do it, so I continue to challenge her. I know she's just learning and maybe the inner teacher is coming out in me and I expect too much of her, but Matt and I both think she is capable.
Summer plans
The girls are still insisting that I have "school" with them this summer.
Today though, their big idea was for me to teach them German instead of doing all the other subjects!
Do I get paid for this job??
Today though, their big idea was for me to teach them German instead of doing all the other subjects!
Do I get paid for this job??
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Next Year
I have already begun to think about what I want to use as curriculum for school next year. I am sold on Sonlight curriculum! Megan and I have had so much fun this year and she has learned so much that I want to do it again next year. I also have not found anything else that I really liked or is comparable to Sonlight.
Here is my plan:
Courtney- Sonlight Language Arts/ Readers for Grade 1
Horizons math for kindergarten
Maybe Sonlight core Pre-k/ K (intro to people around the world and the way things work)
Megan- Sonlight Core D and Language Arts with Advanced Readers (roughly 3rd grade, beginning of American history until 1850, she would finish the 2nd half in 4th grade)
Horizons math for 3rd grade
(If you were wondering, "core" includes bible, history, geography, and read-alouds)
I also want to do Sonlight science. I am thinking about getting a set that is for kindergraten through 2nd grade. It is biology, botony, and physics. This is their first science set in their series and even though Megan would be in 3rd grade and know some of this, I think it would be ok to do it over again with Courtney. I want her to get a solid foundation of science in biology before moving onto other sciences. Megan has also gotten bits and pieces of science over the last three years, so this would actually be something structured for us to go through.
I will probably have Courtney join Megan for Bible time again out of her lesson plans. We will have to see if I decide to do a Core for Courtney or not.
Courtney would definitely need a handwriting book, but maybe not Megan. We have been learning our cursive letters this semester, so she may just continue that next year.
We are also required to do health by the State of Nebraska. Abeka Health worked fine for that. Again, Courtney could join us and we could use the 3rd grade book.
With this all figured out, the next step is to start collecting it! If I buy all my curriculum from Sonlight.com, it is very expensive. I bought Megan's set last year off ebay for half the price. I am already on the lookout on ebay for material for next year.
Today I bought my first item- Language arts plus readers for grade one. It lists for $157 on Sonlight.com and I got it for $56! (Plus $4 shipping and handling) It is a brand new set and I don't think it has even been used. Awesome! I am going to have to hide it when it gets here so I won't be tempted to get started with it! Courtney was begging me again today to have school! On a Saturday!!
I am sure much more will be up for auction now that we are getting close to the end of the school year. Hopefully I can find everything I want for a decent price!
Here is my plan:
Courtney- Sonlight Language Arts/ Readers for Grade 1
Horizons math for kindergarten
Maybe Sonlight core Pre-k/ K (intro to people around the world and the way things work)
Megan- Sonlight Core D and Language Arts with Advanced Readers (roughly 3rd grade, beginning of American history until 1850, she would finish the 2nd half in 4th grade)
Horizons math for 3rd grade
(If you were wondering, "core" includes bible, history, geography, and read-alouds)
I also want to do Sonlight science. I am thinking about getting a set that is for kindergraten through 2nd grade. It is biology, botony, and physics. This is their first science set in their series and even though Megan would be in 3rd grade and know some of this, I think it would be ok to do it over again with Courtney. I want her to get a solid foundation of science in biology before moving onto other sciences. Megan has also gotten bits and pieces of science over the last three years, so this would actually be something structured for us to go through.
I will probably have Courtney join Megan for Bible time again out of her lesson plans. We will have to see if I decide to do a Core for Courtney or not.
Courtney would definitely need a handwriting book, but maybe not Megan. We have been learning our cursive letters this semester, so she may just continue that next year.
We are also required to do health by the State of Nebraska. Abeka Health worked fine for that. Again, Courtney could join us and we could use the 3rd grade book.
With this all figured out, the next step is to start collecting it! If I buy all my curriculum from Sonlight.com, it is very expensive. I bought Megan's set last year off ebay for half the price. I am already on the lookout on ebay for material for next year.
Today I bought my first item- Language arts plus readers for grade one. It lists for $157 on Sonlight.com and I got it for $56! (Plus $4 shipping and handling) It is a brand new set and I don't think it has even been used. Awesome! I am going to have to hide it when it gets here so I won't be tempted to get started with it! Courtney was begging me again today to have school! On a Saturday!!
I am sure much more will be up for auction now that we are getting close to the end of the school year. Hopefully I can find everything I want for a decent price!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Side Note
1. I did not come up with the candy on the cookie ideas by myself- I saw it in a cookbook.
2. When we were about halfway done with the cookies last night, I said to Courtney, "It would've been so much easier to go and buy a box of crackers and take those for snacks!" From the living room, I heard Matt say, "But decorating cookies is so much more fun!" Yes it is and I love doing things with my girls! I loved it when she would make a crazy face with the candy and just giggle at her creation!!
2. When we were about halfway done with the cookies last night, I said to Courtney, "It would've been so much easier to go and buy a box of crackers and take those for snacks!" From the living room, I heard Matt say, "But decorating cookies is so much more fun!" Yes it is and I love doing things with my girls! I loved it when she would make a crazy face with the candy and just giggle at her creation!!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Easter Candy
I had a whole bunch of candy leftover from making those fun butterflies and frogs last weekend, but I didn't quite know what to do with it. Then I got a great idea! Courtney has to take snacks to preschool tomorrow, so why not make sugar cookies (or buy them from the store), put frosting on them, and let Courtney use all the leftover candy to decorate them?
Sound like a plan to you? It sure did to me!
We spent an hour or so tonight decorating cookies, Courtney sure made some crazy ones! I would love to be at preschool tomorrow when she hands these out to her classmates. I would love to see their reactions!
Sound like a plan to you? It sure did to me!
We spent an hour or so tonight decorating cookies, Courtney sure made some crazy ones! I would love to be at preschool tomorrow when she hands these out to her classmates. I would love to see their reactions!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The zoo
Here are the two things we went to see at the zoo last week.
The penguins:
the Japanese Spider crab:
I'm sure we will see these many more times!
The penguins:
the Japanese Spider crab:
I'm sure we will see these many more times!Monday, April 9, 2012
Summer School/ Readers/ Math/ Butterflies
Megan informed me today that she wants to keep going to school over the summer.
What?? I thought we would take about a 3 month break!
I guess if she really wants to...she said she really enjoys school and wants to keep learning. She did inform me that she wants to keep learning everything except for math, handwriting, and language arts. That leaves Bible, read-alouds, readers, science, and history.
That made me feel good. :)
Readers: Today we started a new chapter book for our readers. She is supposed to read this to me for the next two weeks. She read me the first chapter today and I put it away. Next thing I know, she has the book out of the cupboard and is reading it to herself! I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "Mom, I just have to know what happens!" Then she proceeds to finish the book. Two weeks ago, she did the same thing (read the book to herself before we could read it ouloud), so I had told her specifically that we were going to read this one outloud. That plan failed! Are we ever going to read books outloud again? I am definitely getting her the advanced readers for next year!
Math: Megan also informed me today that she wants to finish math earlier than planned. We have 27 lessons left and six weeks of school. This almost works out perfectly. (5 lessons every week and we're done in a little over 5 weeks). But her plan is to do 2 lessons each day so she can be done in about 3 weeks! Obviously, math isn't very challenging to her and I think she could easily manage two lessons a day. This might be an option!
Butterflies: Has anybody ever had caterpillars that have turned into chrysallises and then turned into butterflies? Megan's aunt gave her a butterfly kit last year for her birthday and we ordered the caterpillars last week to watch them grow. The caterpillars are already hanging upside down in their cup and are inside chrysallises. This has been so fun to watch! Pretty soon we are going to have butterflies! Then it may be onto lady bug land!
What?? I thought we would take about a 3 month break!
I guess if she really wants to...she said she really enjoys school and wants to keep learning. She did inform me that she wants to keep learning everything except for math, handwriting, and language arts. That leaves Bible, read-alouds, readers, science, and history.
That made me feel good. :)
Readers: Today we started a new chapter book for our readers. She is supposed to read this to me for the next two weeks. She read me the first chapter today and I put it away. Next thing I know, she has the book out of the cupboard and is reading it to herself! I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "Mom, I just have to know what happens!" Then she proceeds to finish the book. Two weeks ago, she did the same thing (read the book to herself before we could read it ouloud), so I had told her specifically that we were going to read this one outloud. That plan failed! Are we ever going to read books outloud again? I am definitely getting her the advanced readers for next year!
Math: Megan also informed me today that she wants to finish math earlier than planned. We have 27 lessons left and six weeks of school. This almost works out perfectly. (5 lessons every week and we're done in a little over 5 weeks). But her plan is to do 2 lessons each day so she can be done in about 3 weeks! Obviously, math isn't very challenging to her and I think she could easily manage two lessons a day. This might be an option!
Butterflies: Has anybody ever had caterpillars that have turned into chrysallises and then turned into butterflies? Megan's aunt gave her a butterfly kit last year for her birthday and we ordered the caterpillars last week to watch them grow. The caterpillars are already hanging upside down in their cup and are inside chrysallises. This has been so fun to watch! Pretty soon we are going to have butterflies! Then it may be onto lady bug land!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Easter Weekend
Easter weekend has come and gone. We celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. As Courtney's Cubbie verses says, "He is not here, he has risen!" And we are so thankful!!!
This year I decided to be a bit crafty for Easter. Not because I have a huge desire to be crafty, because honestly, I don't. I don't like art, I don't like crafts. I don't mind doing crafts though when I am given the instructions and they are simple enough. My kids really enjoying doing crafts, so I thought we could find something to do.
Earlier in the week, I started going through my craft books and found a couple of ideas. I found a way to make an African basket by weaving construction paper (Megan would enjoy) and I found a craft on how to make chicks out of egg cartons (Courtney would enjoy), so I gathered up everything I would need and we made Saturday our craft day. I also had had to make a salad and a dessert for our Easter gathering, so I wanted to do something different for those too.
Saturday came and we got busy with our crafts. Megan helped with the weaving on the baskets and we were so proud of the baskets when they were done! I know it would've been a whole lot easier to just go the store and buy them for $1, but it was totally worth it when Megan said, "Mom, I am having so much fun doing this!" I almost didn't want to give them away today! Once we got the hang of it, we made three in about an hour. Megan was "Snippy", "Gluey", and "Weavy." Such big helpers! Courtney ended up helping me on the last one. We made these for our cousins that were going to be at the family party on Sunday.
Next we made the chicks out of egg cartons. These turned out, but I didn't think they were as cute as the baskets. We had to paint them yellow after the glue dried. I don't have a final shot of them completed, but while Megan was painting them, she kept saying that she was drowing them in mustard. They are on the paper plate, if you want to see what they looked like.
We then put grass in the baskets and made them into Easter baskets. We put jelly beans in the back parts of the chicks and then put those in the Easter baskets too. I thought it all turned out very cute!
The butterfly cupcakes:
And of course, there was sneaky Christian who I caught reaching up over the counter and taking a licorice antenna off a butterfly. I looked over and my butterfly had one antenna and Christian has red licorice in his mouth. Pretty funny little man!
So our craft day was over. We never did get to dying Easter eggs, but we sure had fun weaving, painting, and making our cupcakes into animals!
This year I decided to be a bit crafty for Easter. Not because I have a huge desire to be crafty, because honestly, I don't. I don't like art, I don't like crafts. I don't mind doing crafts though when I am given the instructions and they are simple enough. My kids really enjoying doing crafts, so I thought we could find something to do.
Earlier in the week, I started going through my craft books and found a couple of ideas. I found a way to make an African basket by weaving construction paper (Megan would enjoy) and I found a craft on how to make chicks out of egg cartons (Courtney would enjoy), so I gathered up everything I would need and we made Saturday our craft day. I also had had to make a salad and a dessert for our Easter gathering, so I wanted to do something different for those too.
Saturday came and we got busy with our crafts. Megan helped with the weaving on the baskets and we were so proud of the baskets when they were done! I know it would've been a whole lot easier to just go the store and buy them for $1, but it was totally worth it when Megan said, "Mom, I am having so much fun doing this!" I almost didn't want to give them away today! Once we got the hang of it, we made three in about an hour. Megan was "Snippy", "Gluey", and "Weavy." Such big helpers! Courtney ended up helping me on the last one. We made these for our cousins that were going to be at the family party on Sunday.
Next we made the chicks out of egg cartons. These turned out, but I didn't think they were as cute as the baskets. We had to paint them yellow after the glue dried. I don't have a final shot of them completed, but while Megan was painting them, she kept saying that she was drowing them in mustard. They are on the paper plate, if you want to see what they looked like.
We then put grass in the baskets and made them into Easter baskets. We put jelly beans in the back parts of the chicks and then put those in the Easter baskets too. I thought it all turned out very cute!
My last project was to make cupcakes. I had found two different kinds. One set of cupcakes was going to have butterflies on them, the other set was going to have frogs (or "raw, raw" as Christian says." I kind of had to improvise for the frogs because I couldn't find the right candy, but it worked.
The frog cupcakes:
The butterfly cupcakes:
And of course, there was sneaky Christian who I caught reaching up over the counter and taking a licorice antenna off a butterfly. I looked over and my butterfly had one antenna and Christian has red licorice in his mouth. Pretty funny little man!
So our craft day was over. We never did get to dying Easter eggs, but we sure had fun weaving, painting, and making our cupcakes into animals!Thursday, April 5, 2012
Excited!
Is anybody else as excited to go to the zoo today as I am?? Really, I am excited!
They remodeled the aquarium and it is opening today.
Courtney CAN'T wait to see the penguins and Megan has been taking a class on the underwater animals for the last two months and we finally get to see these things we have been studying about. We are anxious to see the Japanese spider crab, the anemenos, crustacaens, jelly fish, and anything else we can find. It's going to be sooo interesting!!!
Now this is learning made fun!
Anybody have an exhibit on Louis XIV anywhere? Or the Reformation? Or even the Renaissance? (These are our history topics as of late.)
PS Who is having way too much fun homeschooling her children? Oh yah, that would be me!!
They remodeled the aquarium and it is opening today.
Courtney CAN'T wait to see the penguins and Megan has been taking a class on the underwater animals for the last two months and we finally get to see these things we have been studying about. We are anxious to see the Japanese spider crab, the anemenos, crustacaens, jelly fish, and anything else we can find. It's going to be sooo interesting!!!
Now this is learning made fun!
Anybody have an exhibit on Louis XIV anywhere? Or the Reformation? Or even the Renaissance? (These are our history topics as of late.)
PS Who is having way too much fun homeschooling her children? Oh yah, that would be me!!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Bye-Bye!
I love it when I put Christian to bed. I have read him books, said prayers, sang songs and he is finally in his bed. I usually say, "Good night Christian, I love you" as I turn to walk away. Do you know what he says back? "Bye, bye" like he's kicking me out or something.
I think it's cute every single time he does it! But someday he'll get it right!
I think it's cute every single time he does it! But someday he'll get it right!
Monday, April 2, 2012
New Appreciation for Bugs
Learning about bugs lately has given me a new appreciation for them.
After digging in the dirt last week and learning about grubs and Japanese beetles, I don't think they're so bad now and since their life cycle is so neat, I should let them live! Courtney's preschool teacher must have said one day, "Bugs have a life to live too!" so she wants to let them live too.
Well, I had the same thought go through my mind today as I saw a black spider crawl down my kitchen wall during breakfast. My first thought was to kill it! Get a fly-swatter and smack it right there! My second thought was that that would probably make Matt mad. We just had our kitchen walls painted last year and this spider had a pretty thick body. It would probably leave ooze and guts all over our walls (right Matt?).
My third thought was to kill it on the floor. I went and got the fly swatter and batted it off the wall. Unfortunately, it curled up into a ball and went into the heating vent on the floor. I pulled the cover off and started poking around trying to find it. I determined that it was dead and decided to let it be.
After 5-10 minutes, I had second thoughts about the poor spider. I thought we should get a container and get him out of the heating vent. Then we could study him! So I went and found a bucket and a sand scoop and was going to scoop him out. I took the cover back off the heating vent and found him. When I touched him, the spider unwound himself and took off down the vent! I really wanted him now, but he was gone! Apparently he wasn't dead!
I got another good look at him (black with a red spot on his back, short little legs) so Courtney- my new little biologist- and I could find out what kind he was on the computer. We searched and searched and we never found a picture that looked like him. I kept coming up with a black widow, but the legs were different. So I don't know what it was- I am so disappointed.
So now I've got a little arachnophobia. Since he went into the vent, I think he's going to come out of a vent in another room and scare me! I have been on my guard all morning for this little spider.
After digging in the dirt last week and learning about grubs and Japanese beetles, I don't think they're so bad now and since their life cycle is so neat, I should let them live! Courtney's preschool teacher must have said one day, "Bugs have a life to live too!" so she wants to let them live too.
Well, I had the same thought go through my mind today as I saw a black spider crawl down my kitchen wall during breakfast. My first thought was to kill it! Get a fly-swatter and smack it right there! My second thought was that that would probably make Matt mad. We just had our kitchen walls painted last year and this spider had a pretty thick body. It would probably leave ooze and guts all over our walls (right Matt?).
My third thought was to kill it on the floor. I went and got the fly swatter and batted it off the wall. Unfortunately, it curled up into a ball and went into the heating vent on the floor. I pulled the cover off and started poking around trying to find it. I determined that it was dead and decided to let it be.
After 5-10 minutes, I had second thoughts about the poor spider. I thought we should get a container and get him out of the heating vent. Then we could study him! So I went and found a bucket and a sand scoop and was going to scoop him out. I took the cover back off the heating vent and found him. When I touched him, the spider unwound himself and took off down the vent! I really wanted him now, but he was gone! Apparently he wasn't dead!
I got another good look at him (black with a red spot on his back, short little legs) so Courtney- my new little biologist- and I could find out what kind he was on the computer. We searched and searched and we never found a picture that looked like him. I kept coming up with a black widow, but the legs were different. So I don't know what it was- I am so disappointed.
So now I've got a little arachnophobia. Since he went into the vent, I think he's going to come out of a vent in another room and scare me! I have been on my guard all morning for this little spider.
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