First day of School Pictures!

August 1, 2011

This year we have 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders in the house!  My, how the time has flown by.
Gushed by, more like.
Surged.
Like an avalanche, but a happy one.  

  

I aim to appreciate every moment this year.

They seem to have grown up a LOT over the past year!   I was just looking at last year's photo...

And the year before that...

THE PLAN: What We're Doing for School This Year

History & Reading

Last year we finished up our walk through American History.  We had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories, but, oh my, am I happy to be switching gears!  Two years is a long time!  

After reading the suggestions on the Sonlight Forums and praying for wisdom, I decided to skip Core 5 (what is that now...Core E?)  and go straight to Core 6 (G). We already used Story of the World: Ancient Times when our oldest was younger, so I knew that it was going to be great for my 5, 7, and 9 year-olds.   I also bought a lot of the books from Cores 1 and 2 for my little guy.  

 Science

 This year I did something I never dreamed that I would do--I pieced together our OWN curriculum!  Ha!  Honestly, between Sonlight and our core subjects, well...I spent most of the curriculum budget.  BUT, necessity is the mother of, um, I guess not invention but creativity at least.  I made a list of things my kids always ask me about and in just an afternoon I had compiled a two-unit science curriculum. First we'll study flight and astronomy and then we'll learn all about bridges.  A few of the books had been given to me, one was found at a library sale last year, and a few others were purchased from Rainbow Resource.

Math, Language, Spelling

 I went with the old wisdom of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" for these subjects.  The kids have gotten such a wonderful foundation from A Beka and I think we'll stick with them, at least through 6th grade.  We are also using their Read & Think book for reading comprehension exercises.   

I added Wordly Wise workbooks for all three kids.  It's great for supplemental vocabulary work, and they enjoy them so much that it isn't work.

 Bible

  I purchased Remembering God's Awesome Acts for Bible, but quickly realized that it was way over my kids' grade levels.  We've modified it and are now just using it as a Bible reading guide.  We also have been using Jesus Freaks, Window on the World, as well as Then Sings My Soul as a hymn study guide.  I picked out one hymn to study for each month of the school year.  Above, Jackson is singing along to our first hymn of the year, "All Creatures of our God and King."

Foreign Language

 We're going to start over with Rosetta Stone Spanish because we never really got into the swing of using it every day and then our puppy ate the microphone.

Logic

 For logic, the kids are using Logic Links and the Mind Benders computer program.

Art

I've resigned myself to the reality that I am not an art teacher.  I don't enjoy being creative unless it's with words or food.  

So, just as we did last year with Vincent van Gogh, we are going to study the work of one artist all year long.  This year the kids and I picked Leonardo da Vinci, which ties in well because of his involvement in the study of flight (our 1st semester science topic.)  I'd like to say I meant to do that, but I didn't.

I stocked their craft closet with lots of goodies this summer and got a few great crafting books from the library.  Jordan has decided that she wants to learn to make cards, so she is working her way through a card making book for kids.  The girls are painting with watercolors even as I type this, so they are going to be just fine without a formal art program, I think.  :)

That's it!  It looks like fun to me, how about you?  :)

City Hall field trip

 

 

Artist Study: Pointillism

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat

We are just beginning our artist study of Vincent Van Gogh.  Today we learned about a technique called pointillism, which is when you use tiny dots to create a larger image.  Van Gogh learned this style of painting early in his career but quickly made it his own by using dashes instead of dots.   The girls thought that this was very neat!

  

After we read for a bit the girls made their own drawings using pointillism!  Have a look!

Jordan (6) wanted to recreate Van Gogh's painting, Self-Portrait with Gray Felt Hat

And this was what Megan (8) came up with.

 

I gave the girls huge sheets of paper and realized after they were done that I was going to have trouble scanning Megan's drawing!  Oops.

I'm still not so sure where this artist study is going or how involved it will become, but so far so good!  We're having fun anyway, and now we can all tell you what pointillism means!

Week in Review: A Photobiography

 

This was the second week of being back to school and it went great!  In addition to our core subjects, we've added Typing, Spanish, and Artist Study this year. For Typing, we're using Typing Instructor Platinum, for Spanish we're using Rosetta Stone, and for Artist Study you'll just have to wait and see because I'm picking things up from the library as we go!

 

Jackson is loving being a big kinderkid!  He made several crafts this week and read the first THREE books in the Abeka K5 reading program!  It'll be an interesting year for sure because I have to go lesson-by-lesson to teach him how to write each letter properly, but he's ready to move on with his reading to the two-vowel rule and special sounds.  I've never had to manipulate a curriculum this much before and I'm praying that I can keep it all straight!

He's also starting to show some serious signs of being his Mama's boy!  For the past few weeks he has been "decorating" everything and is always trying to "clean up the place!"  The other night he decorated the school room.  He came and got us and asked us to take a peek and when we walked in he spread his arms wide and said, 

"It's not much, but I cleaned the place up!"

We laughed so hard!  He had placed his toys all over the room.  In every little empty space was a Lego, a stuffed animal, or an action figure!  Here are a few pictures of his handiwork. What a great little guy!

 The girls began their Spanish lessons using Rosetta Stone.  I was so nervous about them being able to understand what the program wanted them to click and say.  I asked Jeff to sit with them for their first lessons and they did great!  After a few minutes, Megan turned to her Dad and said, 

"Um, Dad?  I think I can do this by myself." 

Poor Daddy.  His girl is growing up too, too fast.

 This year we added Logic Links to Megan's curriculum and she is really enjoying it!  I'm so glad that we went with this book.  There are easy puzzles that keep her feeling confident, but also some very challenging ones that she has to sit and think about for a minute.

We also spent the week learning about Honest Abe in history and marvelous mammals in science.  I really think they would sit and read through their science books all day if I would let them!

Yesterday we went to the river with the Powers fam after we were done with school.  The kids had fun, minus one meltdown after Jackson hurt himself going down the "rapids." 

We're all clinging to the last days of summer, already seeing little signs that fall is on it's way.  I must confess that I am yearning for the cool mornings with my coffee on the front porch and later, the pouring and thunderous rains of winter.  I say "yearning" because that is the newest word in our house.  Apparently the kids learned it from the PBS show "Martha Speaks."  Yesterday Jordan told me that she had been "yearning" for the chocolate milkshake that I bought her!  Then she informed me (as if I didn't know) that yearning means to want something really, really badly.  Who says that t.v. is worthless?  ;)

Next week we continue with Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.  Until then!

Our Homeschool: Vincent Van Gogh Artist Study

This is our first year to give a real artist study a try and we're starting with Vincent Van Gogh.  Please don't think me boring for picking an artist that everybody knows about.  It's just that you see his art everywhere, and that's why I wanted to start with it.  I can save the tougher stuff for when my kids are in high school.  For now I just want them to know the paintings that they are most likely to see in their daily life. 

Today I stopped by our local library and picked up "What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh?"  We'll be reading through it over the next few weeks as we learn and attempt to duplicate what we see.  I'm still not sure how far into this study we will go, but I did enjoy making a neat little display of Van Gogh's artwork...

This is a cheap digital photo frame that I loaded with copies of Vincent Van Gogh's work.  I picked all of his most popular paintings as well as a few less-known ones.  It stays on during school and as we learn I hope to familiarize the kids with at least the names of the paintings.

I also found a neat online jigsaw puzzle linked at Amy's homeschool site that I know my kids are going to love!  They have more of his works on their main page here.

Here are a few FREE online printables of a few paintings that I'm going to lay out for the kids to color while I read his biography aloud:

Starry Night

Starry Night 2

Sunflowers

Room at Arles

Irises

Self Portrait

And this woman has a great list compiled of online resources for Van Gogh study!  I found several things that I hope to use for our study.

I would love to hear from anyone who has had fun doing artist studies in the past, so please send me a link to your artist study posts!  If you're like me and just starting out with artist study, check out Amy in Peru's blog about what she does with her little ones here .  I think I need to go back and take a peek myself.  She inspires me so! 

THE PLAN: The Underground Railroad to Today

My little chicks on our first day of the new school year!

Hello there to anyone who is still checking our blog! 

I had intended on only taking a month off from blogging, but then my husband had an injury at work and we have been traveling weekly to his appointments.  After two surgeries we were told that he will probably always be legally blind in one eye.  We are thankful that he will still be able to work and know that the Lord allowed it for His glory.  However, traveling and trying to get our new house in order has taken up any time that I would have had to blog and now the summer has come and gone and I never properly documented it!  :)

Things are starting to settle down around here and I thought it a perfect time to start back up again because we just began our 5th year of HOMESCHOOLING!  Wahoo!!!!  I'm just a little excited about it!  Megan is beginning 4th grade, Jordan is in 2nd, and Jackson is K5.  For the grandparents (and a little for myself), I'm going to attempt to chronicle our school year, even if I only get a few pictures blogged. 

{American History 1850-Present}

Photo credit

This year we are studying American History 1850-Present and so we began this week learning about slavery and the Underground Railroad.  I prayed about how in-depth I should go with this study, not wanting to upset the kids.  Some of the photos in our resource books are hard for me to look at, and I ended up omitting those ones.

After reading the corresponding chapter in "The Story of the U.S.A, Book 2," we read mini-biographies about Soujourner Truth and Frederick Douglas, and then looked through a photobiography about the Underground Railraod.   Megan began reading "Freedom Train: The story of Harriet Tubman."

For activities we're using "The Underground Railroad for Kids."  After we journeyed through the Underground Railroad over at National Geographic, we made paper quilt blocks.  The girls each chose one pattern from the list of Railroad designs and then cut out the triangles and created their own!   We're also going to be making lanterns this weekend.

Next week we'll be studying Abraham Lincoln and then sliding into a big unit on the Civil War. Stay tuned...


 

Ladybug Release!

Today the kids released about a bazillion ladybugs into the Powers' garden.  Maddie, of course, took the project to another level by covering herself in the buggies!  My skin was crawling just looking at her! 

Here are a few pictures!

 

Kieryn was wearing ladybugs while releasing ladybugs.  Could this have been any cuter?!?

There isn't much that this girl won't do!

No bugs on me, please!  Jordan spent her time convincing me that these flowers were edible, and then Julie told me that she wasn't so sure about it...after I ate one.  Thanks!  ;)

Megan was content to play with one little ladybug.  And that's SO her style.  She just wants to watch and see how they move.

They probably could have been dispersed a little better, but oh well!

Homeschooling (In Pictures)

I took a break from blogging and most media this week.  Just needed a little quiet, and it was good for my spirit.

We're really moving along with our school work and are nearly finished for the year in some subjects.  Here are a few pictures from this week:

 

Science

James and John, our tomato hornworms, are huge!  We read up on the little critters and look forward to watching them become hawkmoths.  I'm told that they usually die before that happens, but we have hope!

Health

Last week we learned about our skin and after we were done studying I gave the girls their first facials!  They were pretty tickled about the whole thing.

Math
Megan, making her 8 multiplication flashcards. 

Reading
Jordan is finishing up the 2nd grade readers and is so excited because she gets to "move up" to the next level.  Megan is finishing up "Justin Morgan Had a Horse."

Art
We haven't done any real  crafts in a few weeks, but that doesn't stop the kids from making creations of their own!

These children are such a blessing to me!