learning notes - Friday 8/31

Letter "I" - reviewed sounds (JRIR) and practiced handwriting (Italics), our WP LA curriculum had a few worksheet pages that Ryan really enjoyed - we usually don't do the worksheets I prefer to review them verbally but these looked fun:); made more words using letter cards (kite, bite, bike, am, rib, me, I, a, ram, fib, mike); Bible Stories to Read - both kids listened to story about Jonah & did the activity that went with their coloring page - the coloring book that goes along with this book usually has just a coloring page for each story, but for Jonah we had a really cute activity to do and the kids both enjoyed it! Read alouds: part of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by R. Dahl.

learning notes - Thursday 8/30

Letter "R": reviewed sound in JRIR workbook, practiced h/w; used letter cards (b,a,r,f,t,m,k,e) to make words (bake, rake, fake, take, make, fat, mat, bat, rat, bet, met) - Ryan got so excited when he realized that he could read these words!; MUS page 5D; "Let's Draw" from Sing! Play! Create! - we drew a simple hen - these drawing lessons are pretty cool!; read-alouds: Milk From Cow to Carton by Aliki, Miss Hunnicutt's Hat by J. Brumbeau, Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett, Here a Chick, Where a Chick? by Suse MacDonald, What Am I? by N.N. Charles.

Silly Boy

I can't believe I was actually able to catch this silly moment on film!

learning notes - Wednesday 8/29

Ryan - letter "r" - reviewed sound using ETC workbook, practiced writing lowercase "r", wrote phone number from memory, worked on coloring train cut-out from Richard Scarry's Best Rainy Day Book Ever!, colored & cut-out puppets to use to sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", read-alouds: Mrs. Pigglewiggle's Farm - finished ch 2, Miss Hunnicutt's Hat by Jeff Brumbeau (kids loved it!), The King's Chorus by Linda Hayward, "God Made the Dinosaurs" & "How God Gives Us Popcorn" from the Happy Days Treasury.

learning notes - Tuesday 8/28

Ryan - morning walk, calendar, handwriting practice (letter t, phone number, date), played adjective-noun game (we came up with 10 adjective + noun phrases using letter "t": tough turkey, toothless tiger, etc.), practiced making a phone call - called Daddy at work, read-aloud - Mrs. Pigglewiggle's Farm - more of chapter 2, went to the library; drew a rooster following directions in Sing, Play, Create

learning notes - Monday 8/28

Ryan - letter T/t - reviewed sounds using ETC workbook & JRIR, practiced handwriting using Italics H/W; wrote our address & phone number; learned how to make a phone call, rules for using 911; MUS Primer Lesson #5 - page 5A; visited orchard - played at playground & bought some yummy peaches; read alouds: Berens Bears Week at Gmas, The New Baby Calf by E. Newlin Chase, The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons, Mrs. Pigglewiggle's Farm - part of Ch. 2; The Talking Bread by Richard Scarry

Worship Songs

I just posted two of my favorite worship songs...I love that I all I have to do to hear them now is check out my blog!

You Are God Alone

My Savior My God By Aaron Shust

Learning Notes - Week of 8/19

We began doing school "lightly" on 8/13...Ryan is quickly working through the WP LA program, he pretty much knows all of his letters and their sounds - I am just having him do one page of handwriting practice for each letter (capital and lowercase) per day, we are doing most of the other phonics stuff (ETC & Jump Right into Reading) verbally. MUS primer is also mostly review for him so far.

Language Arts:

• Letters E & K - did ETC pages & Jump Right Into Reading (JRIR) verbally, Italics H/W for both capital & lowercase of each letter
• Lang Arts for Little Ones 2 (Queen) - lesson 4
• practiced writing our phone number from memory, learning correct way to answer phone

Math:

• MUS Lesson 4 (rectangles), page 4A & 4D (review)
• Hop. Skip & Touch Nose game from Games for Learning

Other:

• Circle Time ~ calendar, Who Am I Riddles from Dr. DooRiddle book, madlibs, read-aloud poems, "Go In and Out the Barn Door" song from Sing, Play, Create book (kids loved this one), Bible Story Coloring Book (from Rod & Staff)
• Nature Walk ~ took a color walk
• Read-Alouds ~ Mrs. Pigglewiggle's Farm (Ch 1), "Milly-Molly-Mandy Gives a Party" from Treasury of Classic Stories (TCS), "Jesus Loves Me All the Time", "Jesus Loves Me", and other songs from Happy Days Treasury (HDT)

Starting our homeschool journey

This will be our first official year of homeschooling; I can't believe my little boy is already old enough to be going to kindergarten. Our plan is to homeschool for the duration (through highschool), unless, of course, God changes our plans. For Ryan's K year I am using Winterpromise's Accel K LA program, MUS Primer and Singapore Early Bird 2A & 2B, and History for Little Pilgrims & A Child's History of the World (history read-alouds). I am also adding in science & other fun stuff from WinterPromise's Ready to Learn program and read-alouds from WP's Journeys of Imagination Program. I chose the Ready to Learn & Journey's programs with the hopes of being able to include Abby (age 3) in some of our schooling...as painlessly as possible. I also have a variety of preschool workbooks that have been given to us and Rod & Staff's preschool workbook set that should keep her busy with her own "schoolwork".

And he's up

Caleb has recently gained a new skill - pulling himself up! And he's been practicing his new skill a lot: at the stairs, on his leapfrog music toy, at the fridge...It's so funny to look over and see him just standing, then his legs start to split and he starts to go down, of course he starts hollering 'cause he hasn't quite figured out how to get down from this position...

I am Blessed

I am blessed with a caring husband who supports our family so I can stay home with our children. I am blessed with three healthy children. I am blessed to be able to homeschool our children. I am blessed with so many things, and I must admit that it doesn't take much for me to forget about my many blessings...like when potty training is not working, or new teeth emerge and create a cranky baby, or the house is cluttered with a million toys, or everyone is loaded in the car and it won't start...and the list goes on. But the fact remains, I am blessed - and I need to remember that!