Our Homeschooling Journey

Finished up the first quarter

2010-03-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

It took us a little longer than it probably should have...but we did it!! Between Thanksgiving, Christmas, the kids and me being sick, and me being incredibly exhausted....we did it. This week is spring break for the school district, so I can't return the stuff this week. Hopefully next week I can get the stuff returned and pick up the second quarter stuff.

The kids love doing the online work and they love the spelling. They also love reading the books. The English book is a huge struggle with them though. I hope the next quarter goes much better and much faster, but with the upcoming move, that might put a wrench in the works.

Spelling

2010-03-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

My oldest two kids LOVE doing spelling! It's a far cry from when I was a child. I HATED spelling (and still do). Right now we are using the spelling program that the school district gave us. It is "Trophies-Spelling Practice Book- Grade 2" I think if we homeschool next year, I will get this spelling workbook for them. They do so well!!

Today Will did an entire weeks worth of Spelling work!! I didn't even ask him to take the spelling pretest, he asked me. then he proceded to do the 3 work sheet pages and I will give him the post test soon. He got 100% on the PRETEST!!!

Next year's list

2010-02-03T21:00:00.001-08:00

So, apparently, I like to obsess about things. Once I have this all figured out, it won't be on my mind constantly. Here is the list of curriculum I need to get for next year. I am hoping to hit up any sales that these companies will have this spring. If not, I will get them hopefully at the homeschooling convention in July so that I don't have to pay for shipping.

Math-u-see Gamma for N & W
Math-u-see Primer for K & R
Switched on Schoolhouse 3rd grade (language arts, science, history)for N & W
McRuffy Handwriting for N, W, K & R

This is the tentative list that I am still working through and trying to decide what to get. I might have to look at them at the homeschooling convention.

Horizon or Lifepac reading for K & R..or maybe even McRuffy

After doing some research, I think I won't do McRuffy. The reveiws say it goes over things very slowly.

Mid year update and next year

2010-01-24T22:40:00.000-08:00

N and W are almost done with Math u see Alpha! They are going to take the lesson 26 test tomorrow. I anticipate they should be done with it by the end of January or the first week in February. Thankfully I already have Beta ready to go!

Their doing ok in the school districts 2nd grade program. They struggle with all of the writing but they love reading the books, doing the online work and they even love the spelling! Yes, you heard that right, they like doing spelling! They learned how to spell appreciate this past 2 weeks and they love spelling it!

I work with K on some reading, but we aren't to serious about school yet. R always wants to do school too :)

For next year, I plan to use Math-u-see again. N and W should be on Gamma by the fall. I am not sure if I am going to have K start primer or alpha, but I know R REALLY wants to start doing it.

I am leaning toward Switched on Schoolhouse (SOS) for N and W next year. They would use the language arts, history, and science. It is a computer based program that they could basically do themselves. This will help me focus on the other kids schooling. My husband is a little hesitant on using SOS because of the religious content. We are Christian, but we don't want someone else teaching our kids incorrect principles.

Personal narrative

2010-01-12T23:16:00.000-08:00

For the last week or so, N & W have been working on personal narrative stories. They did a lot of editing on their stories. It was a frustrating project for all of us. This is their first big writing assignment and they didn't understand what they were suppose to do. But, we got threw it and hopefully next time will be better. So, here they are....

N's (she loves dogs)

My family and I went on a walk to the Temple. On the way home we met a dog. His name was Luther. He was big and brown. He licked my hands. We then started walking home, but he started following us. His owner took him to the sidewalk across the street so that we could go home. I was excited to meet Luther.

W's (he loves anything that has to do with fighting)

We were playing in our room one morning and N. and I wanted different monsters. We pretended we had duel cards so we wouldn't get hurt because we wanted to fight. Nicole and I started fighting because we didn't have duel cards. We dueled with our fists and hit each other. We stopped because N. hurt me on the head.

Getting into a routine?

2009-11-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

Well I have figured out it take us at least three hours to do everything that is on one day's lesson plan for the school district thing (which is only language arts). The kids really like writing in their journals and free reading. Tonight N & W had a work sheet to do and they did it together. It was great to see them helping each other.

K & R keep begging to do school. K is working on Kindergarten Hooked on Phonics until I can get something else. She is doing really well! She still gets her b's and d's mixed up...but then again so to N & W! Tonight R. was REALLY begging to do HOP K...so I gave it a shot. I was flipping through the letters asking her what letter they were and she was actually just giving me the sound they make!! We tried to blend words, but she isn't ready for that...but I was quite surprised to know that she knows the letter sounds! Thanks Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD!

3 full days in

2009-11-19T18:29:00.000-08:00

This is our 3rd full day of doing the school district's program. It is going ok. N. and R. LOVE doing their journals. They do those first thing in the morning before breakfast. W. hasn't written much, so anything he writes is awesome. Especially since he has essential tremors, his writing may be a little sloppy. He will be getting plenty of writing done with this program. Yesterday we did everything on the list and it took a good 3 hours to do it all. The journal time takes longer than 20 min. and they read for more than 20 minutes usually. Plus, all of the writing they have to do takes them a LONG time and they don't even write in complete sentences most of the time (we are working on that). They have yet to read any of the books that we brought home, they really want to read them too.

Today K. even did some reading! She is reading some CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant)

R. LOVES doing school and begs to do it with the kids. I need to get her started on something. I am going to get K. and R. MUS primer next year because they really want to use the blocks that the other kids are using.

That brings me to Math-u-see for the older kids. N. & W. have been doing a whole chapter each day this week. Since we are reviewing 1st grade stuff, they already know this material. We are now officially 1/2 way through 1st grade math (Lesson 15/30 was finished today). The hardest chapter was #8. That was solving for the unknown word problems. W. still gets hung up on them. He understands how to do it when it is written out, but if he has to write the problem from reading the word problem he has problems.

N & W's placement

2009-11-16T15:24:00.001-08:00

They are placed into 2nd grade 1st quarter. Although their reading is at a higher level, their grammar stuff isn't. They don't know when to use punctuation correctly and when to use capital letters. Also some of the harder to read words like -ough. I got the stuff from the district on Friday. Since I got two of everything there was A LOT!

I looked at the lesson today. Only 25% of it is online (30 min. out of 2 hrs). We will see how it goes. I was really excited to start.

3rd grade assessment and K. & R

2009-11-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

N & W took the 3rd grade assessment yesterday. N. got 63% and W. got 42% (although he wasn't able to do one of the problems because he took a break and when we went back in to do it, it had disappeared). Their teacher emailed me back today and she doesn't want to put them in 3rd grade...even though they should technically be ok with starting at the beginning of 3rd grade. She wants to give them some more tests. She wants them to take the post chapter tests for 2nd grade (all of them) and see how they do with that to see where to put them. Although they did so well, I think they will just be put into the last chapter of 2nd grade, but we shall see.

On another note. K is turning 5 in about a week!! R turns 4 in the Spring. R begs to do school all of the time and K does sometimes. I have decided on what I am going to get K for Kindergarden. I am going to get her and R Math-u-see Primer for Math. I am going to get K Lifepac or Horizon from AlphaOmega. I am leaning toward Lifepac and using Hooked on Phonics with that if need be. Lifepac is a lot cheaper than Horizon, but I like the look of Horizon more. Horizon also has a preschool program too, so that would be perfect for R. We will see as time goes on. I am going to get them when AOP has their big sale on stuff in the Spring.

2nd grade assessment

2009-11-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

Today N. & W. took the 2nd grade assessment.
N. got a 97%! She only missed 1 question that was matching the short vowel sounds in two words.
W. got a 93%! He missed 2 questions that were matching the short vowel sounds in two words.
Their online teacher is going to have them take the 3rd grade assessment. She said that there is a big difference in 2nd and 3rd grade vocabulary though. She wants to see how they do on that test and we will go from there. I know their writing is no where near 3rd grade level though.

Online school

2009-11-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

I signed N. & W. up for the school district's online language art's program. I signed them up for 1st just to make sure they didn't miss anything. On Saturday they took the placement test and both of them score 100% on the 1st grade test! There was actually no reading that they had to do for it. Who knows, maybe they will test into 3rd grade if there wasn't even any reading on the 1st grade test!
I looked at the list of stuff we have to do (for 1st grade, but we aren't doing that anymore) and there was only like 20% of the stuff that they do online. This may not work out like I planned. We will give it a shot and see how it all plays out.

Hooked on Phonics

2009-11-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

This past week I have been giving N & W a test to see where they test into Lifepac language arts program. I realized several areas that we have miss because we have only used Hooked on phonics for language arts. I am glad I learned this now, before starting K. I will start K. on Horizons reading program next spring.

Solving for unknown word problems

2009-10-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

N and W were having a hard time with word problems that they have to solve for the unknown. Today I sat down with them and the blocks. We worked on word problems and they seem to understand the difference between #+# =? and # +?= #. I then let them give each other word problems to solve. They LOVE it! I think they really understand. We will see if they understand it tomorrow. If so, we will move on.

We are 1/3 of the way through 1st grade math. Most of it was going smoothly because we have already done most of 1st grade math with a different program. The reason I decided to do 1st grade with Math-u-see was so they would get a better foundation. I am so glad we are doing it this way. Math-u-see is a much better program. I have a Bachelor's degree in Elementary education and an emphasis is mathematics (that is just one class shy of a Minor in Math) so I feel very confident in choosing a good math program. The first year I chose the cheaper option even though I wanted Math-u-see. It didn't work and so we are doing Math-u-see and loving it!

Dealing with school and a newborn

2009-10-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

It's one of the hardest things! Baby #6, J. was born 2 months ago. He had some problems and we have been working hard to get him back to nursing. Breastmilk is so important to babies and I will do everything I can to provide that to my children.

Because it has been so much work and I have had so many sleepless nights, we just haven't been doing school. After some encouragement from my dad, we did school 4 days last week. I didn't go full out and do all 5 subjects curriculum(reading, math, social studies, grammar, science)..but we did math and reading...those are the most important in my eyes.

N. finished the first 1/2 of 2nd grade reading and N. and W. both read lots of books. While working on math I figured out we need to spend more time working on word problems where they solve for the unknown.

BUT all this was too much for my body (school, housework, making food, sleepless nights, pumping/feeding, etc). I was feeling physically ill on Friday and Saturday and starting to feel better on Sunday. This week I vowed to take it easier. We are watching some education DVDs (Leap Frog, Liberty's Kids, Planet Earth, and Magic School Bus) and playing games. Today the kids finally set up the October calender and then played with dominoes.

I really can't wait until we can do all of the curriculum that I have planned. We are in the process of getting a house and I hope that makes school easier. Having more space for school and being able to separate the babies and big kids.

W finished 2nd grade reading!!

2009-09-08T12:03:00.000-07:00

Since J. was born last month we haven't done a lot of school but we have done a little.

Last week I put together the weekly work binders. The kids were SOO excited! R. is doing preschool work and actually spent hours just sitting and coloring her workbook pages I put in her binder. My mother in law is here helping and she was able to do work with the kids last week. I think we won't get fully into school and maybe just focus on reading and math for the next few weeks. MIL is able to help with the reading and math worksheets (after I teach the lesson).

This past week, W. finished 2nd grade reading (Hooked on Phonics)!!! Now, he will focus on rereading 2nd grade books to build his fluidness and comprehension.

I found a picture from May of W. practicing writing on the whiteboard! He doesn't draw/write much for fun, so it was neat to see. In the past week or two, he has started to write and draw during non school time. I love seeing the stuff he does. This morning he drew a pac man maze!

A few weeks ago, I was at Sams Club looking for workbooks for K & R to do while N & W do school. We decided to go with Comprehensive Curriculum again. (We have used them for fun in the past). Plus, they were less than $9 each!!! We ended up also getting some for N &W and I will use the reading section for their reading program this year. N & W got 2nd grade K got Kindergarten and R got preschool.

Fall update

2009-08-02T00:57:00.000-07:00

I really can't wait to start school this fall. I am slowly stocking up on supplies when they go on sale. This past week I picked up 50 boxes of crayons (48 are in the picture). I have been trying to get spiral notebooks for 10 cents, but not having much luck. Stuart went and got 20 of them for 15 cents today. The kids really love to color in them. My girls especially love to write notes to each other. I have caught K. copying down the alphabet into the notebooks, all on her own. She looks up at the handwriting alphabet on the wall and does it on her own.

As for supplies, I still want to get 80 more spiral notebooks (yes, I really want 100, call me crazy), 100 pencils, and 4 pairs of kid scissors. Maybe some glue if it goes on sale.

I don't know when we will officially start this year. Baby number six is due August 31st. So, we may not actually start until October. We have been working on some of the new curriculum, but I want to get into a routine and do it consistently. I really hope that this next year is a better year than I have had in the past. I know the kids have learned a lot, but I have an idea of how I want everything to be and it isn't there yet. I know it might not be realistic to be up and running by October with a new baby, but I REALLY hope by the end of the year, we will have everything down pat. I also plan on schooling 6 days a week (M-S) to make up for all of the time we are taking off for this pregnancy and when the baby comes.

I still haven't been able to get the Explode the Code for N & W or figured out what exactly I want to use for K's kindergarten year.

Storing School Supplies

2009-07-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

With baby #6 on his way and due in a little over a month, I have a list of things to get done. One is organizing all of the school supplies and get ready for next year....and it is finally finished!!!

School counter....(that pencil sharpener does not stay attached and drives me crazy, we need to find another way to attach it.)

The drawers below the counter....

Here is under the school counter....

These are the 3 shelves on a cube bookshelf that is right next to the school counter.....

And here is a basket on top of the bookshelf that is full of more books and a few reference things.

Last but not least, some more supplies that are stored on top of the fridge.

Reading program?

2009-07-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

I am having a horrible time figuring out what to do for reading. The plan I had just isn't going to work. I was going to use the book list in Story of the World activity book, but there aren't many books in it that are the kids reading level.

I think I might try using Explode the Code and just start with book 4 for both N & W.
I am also thinking about getting Sonlight's Language Arts program, but I need to talk to DH about it. He doesn't know or care much about what programs I use and what would be good for the kids or even where they are at, but he is a good sounding board for the money part. I would start them with 2nd grade intermediate. THIS and THIS, I may also need THIS, but I am not sure. that all comes out to around $208.

When I started homeschooling, I didn't realize how much effort, thought, research, etc went into JUST the choosing what to use.

Homeschool spending

2009-07-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

My husband and I decided to keep track of all of the money we spend on homeschooling stuff. We are hoping there is some sort of tax break. If not, that's ok, we will just have a record of how much we have spent. As of right now, it is at $573 for this upcoming school year. I am still shopping back to school sales and still have more stuff to get though.

As for a breakdown

Curriculum- $334.39
$255- Math (Math-u-see)
$39.54- History (Story of the World)
$16.47- Grammar (First Language Lessons)
$23.38- Handwriting (A Reason for Handwriting)

Supplies- $41.28 ...(pencils, dry erase stuff, colored pencils, index cards, etc)

Other- $197.79 ...(books and swimming DVD)

I am still of course second guessing myself on what I have chosen...expect for math. We are liking Math-u-see. The $255 was the 1st and 2nd grade level for 2 students and 2 sets of blocks.

Online Spelling Lists

2009-06-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

I will start this coming school year off with making my own spelling lists. I will pull words from Hooked on Phonics. W is one chapter book away from being done with 2nd grade. N is about 1/2 done with 2nd grade.

Lists

All About Spelling

Everyday Spelling

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Other Spelling Resources

Spelling City

Thinking about next year already!

2009-06-06T11:17:00.001-07:00

Ya, I am strange. I watched the Dugger Family's episode on homeschooling (18 kids and counting). Apparently they use a computer based program for their 3rd-12th graders. What a GREAT idea! It is called Switched-on-Schoolhouse. For this very computer centered family, it would be a great option! Depending on how Math-u-see goes I will use that next year. Otherwise we will use the math that comes with the program. Oh and I wouldn't use their Bible program. Also, since the kids will be older, it might be a good idea to start them using Rosetta Stone Russian!!

This made me cry!!

2009-06-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

I have been part of a bulletin board that consists of a bunch of homeschoolers. They are such an awesome support for me. I feel like they are constantly uplifting me and giving me the strength to continue. I LOVE those ladies!

Today someone made a comment about how I have always been there for her. Today has been an emotional day for me and this just brought tears to my eyes. I then realized I have been a part of that group for almost 2 years!! I can't believe how time has flown by!

Weekly Binders

2009-06-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

I had an idea for this fall. I will get each child a 1/2 inch binder with 6 dividers. The dividers will be labeled Mon-Sat. Each week I will fill it with the work they will do that week. It won't be 100% effective because I still have to give instruction and a lot of stuff is not worksheet based, but maybe it will help them become more independent.

I will think about this for the upcoming months and have Stuart get the stuff when the back to school sales are going on....I will be 9 months preg. and don't think I want to go fight the crowds.

This is how it will work....

Math: Math worksheet each day
Handwriting: weekly page (move daily), practice paper in 4th day
Language Arts: Spelling words, move daily, practice paper each day AND weekly reading assignments (move daily)
Social Studies: Story of the World copies when needed.

Kinda of frustrated

2009-05-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

Today started our 2nd week of doing Math-u-see. The kids still really like it...especially the video. There are several issues I am running into though. N is a year older and just does the work and can finish 3-4 pages in the time W only does 2. W has a harder time focusing. All the stuff we are doing now is stuff they know....like today's lesson was the +0 facts. I am trying to fly through the lessons. However it seems more and more possible that N will end up being ahead of W. Which would totally be acceptable...but then I have to do 2x the lesson.

That comes to the next issue. Keeping the younger kids away from the older kids. They all want to do school at the same time, but we can't. The younger kids don't keep quiet...especially the 1 yr old. Hopefully it will get better over the next few weeks.

Math-u-see Alpha

2009-05-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last week I ordered Math-u-see Alpha. It came in the mail on Monday. I looked at everything and when Stuart came home, I had him take care of the younger three kids in their room and I watched the DVD and did some work with the blocks. They LOVED it!!! They were laughing at certain parts of it (like when Steve dropped a block....they watched it like 10 times!). They loved playing with the blocks too!!

I was so surprised when we worked on it yesterday and they remembered SOO much from the video!! Yesterday we worked on lesson one still. We did the workbook and used blocks. N and W did the first three pages of the student text and seem to understand it really well. N took the test and W will take it today. They kept wanting to do more!!

Today they are so excited to do math! YAY!!

Scholastic Sale....

2009-05-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Stuart and I got to go to the Scholastic Sale. We did well and found some great things for school. Here are some of the finds....

Some awesome miscellaneous stuff...

Some early readers for Katya later in the year...

Books for Nicole and Will. These will be used a little later in the year, except maybe the Dragon one.

My Magic tree house finds!!! SOOO excited about these.

Box week!!

2009-05-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

We have most of our stuff for next year!!! This week was box week...yayaya!!! Oh, we will most likely be starting this stuff in the next month or so.
Math- Math-u-see Beta
Grammar- First Language Lessons
History- Story of the World
Handwriting- A reason for handwriting
Other- Pencils and erasers

***I ordered Math-u-see Alpha for N and W to do this summer, Singapore just wasn't working for us (they needed more practice). So, it looks like I will still get one more box....plus a whole bunch of books from the scholastic sale. Hopefully that will complete almost everything (I will hit up back to school sales for crayons, paper, posters, etc this summer)***

Educational Movies

2009-05-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

Today we are watching Osmosis Jones (thanks netflix!). W is fascinated with anything that has to do with the body...it has crossed our minds that he will be a Dr. He keeps asking Stuart tons of questions. LOVE it!!

Also on our educational movies list (that are also very entertaining)...Night at the Museum and National Treasure.

Fall 09 stuff

2009-04-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

I just need to make a list and put prices so that I know.

Math- Math u see (mathusee.com) : $195 - Ordered $120 worth. If I like it, I will order the Primer and completer blocks

Beta: 1 instruction pack, 2 student text: $90 -Ordered
Primer: 1 instruction pack, 1 student text: $50
Starter Blocks: $30 (maybe completer block set: $35)- Ordered

Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting : $35.37 - Ordered 2 manuscript A's, If we like it, I will order K.

Manuscript A: x2 @ $11.69 each: 23.38
Kindergarden: x1 @ $11.99
Journal keeping: Already have Primary Composition books.

Reading/Grammar - $200

First Language Lessons. - $17
We will be going to a scholastic book fair sale and buying a bunch of books. I will use those books and ones we already have for N & W to build their reading skills.
For spelling I will make my own lists based off of what we are reading. I plan to make tiles with letters on them for the kids to use to spell stuff.
Language arts is still a work in progress, we will see what First Language Lessons has and then build on that.

Science- $16 (already purchased)

Hartcourt Science 1st grade- $8 at used bookstore
The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book- ordered from Amazon $8

Magic School Bus books and TV show

MAYBE Take apart human body- $60

Social Studies- $23.50

Story of the World- $16.50
Scott Foresman Social Studies "All Together"- $7 at used bookstore

Other-

Ticonderoga Pencils (Costco)- 36 for $4.92- Ordered
Drafting Erasers- 3 for $1.50- Ordered

5-7-09....This list has been changing for the past month. As of today, almost everything is figured out....yay!!! I was very VERY hesitant to buy stuff, but I just did it. I didn't get stuff for K yet. She will be 5 in Nov. and I plan to start doing the Kindergarten stuff with her, however I want to see how I like the new programs with N & W before buying them for K. Figuring out what curriculum to use is one of the hardest things when homeschooling. I have spent SOOO many hours researching stuff....at least 100 hours just this year. Last year was a ton harder and I spent even more time. Thankfully I had learned a lot last year and drew on that knowledge.

I just have to iron out the details for the language arts program and get a few little odds and ends...like posters, calenders, etc....but the HARD part is done...hope the choices I made work for us.

Animal art

2009-04-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

The other day the girls (N & K) snuck some pens from the school counter.
They drew these cute animals though!

N drew this cat. Isn't it great!?!?!? She will be 7 in a few weeks.

K (who is 4 1/2) drew this dog. Right on target for her age. :)

Back on track

2009-03-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

For the first time in ages, Stuart had Saturday off!!! YAY!! I don't know how it got started, but he started talking to the kids. N. went and got chairs for everyone and they sat down while daddy taught them. He was talking about lungs and moved on to how smoking is bad for you. Yesterday N. heard something on TV about smoking and said "Yuck, i will never smoke".
You know those commercials that say start talking to your kids early about smoking...well we have...haha.

Today I did school with W. & N.... Reading and Math. I am going to try to start back up since people are hopefully over all the sicknesses of winter.

Oh, I did some social studies will W. and hopefully N. before the night is over. I had him read "America the Beautiful" in the social studies text and read the pledge of alligence (which he knew most of anyways since it is on our wall), and saw pictures of the White House, Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial. I also had him listen to "America the Beautiful on Wiki.

I am looking into several programs to change/add for the fall.

N and W will be done with HOP by then and I need to figure out what to do about their language arts stuff...that is the biggest task.
I am thinking about switching to Math-u-see for math. We will see how Singapore keeps going this year.
I should probably add a handwriting program in. I am leaning toward A Reason for Handwriting.

Gardening...round 2

2009-03-22T23:47:00.000-07:00

So, this time is more serious! I spent some bday money and got some plants and soil and will get 2 five gallon containers this week.

We have....

Tomatoes: There are 4 tomatoes already growing on it. They are still green, but it is good to know it is producing.

Strawberries: The one red strawberry that was on it got smooched on the way home...as you can see.

Green Bell Peppers: I need to put a stake in this so the wind doesn't ruin it to much.

Zucchini: I got the last one...woot!

I wasn't intending this to be a school project, but it looks like it will be. The girls were so excited to help me get it all set up. We got a pallet from a neighbor so that they wouldn't sit right on the ground...this will give it better drainage and air flow. I am hoping that all the bees that are around the orange blossoms will help with these plants too. Oh, W. watered them today. We need to keep a super close eye on the water because of the heat.

It's been a while!!

2009-01-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

In November we started to grow two pea plants. The kids were soo excited and were so happy about watering them and seeing them grow. Unfortunately, that project is over. We think the birds ate the plants or a cat got into them. The dirt was all torn up and the plants were dug out. Around Christmas it rained A TON and the little things most likely wouldn't have made it though that anyways. Maybe we will try again some other time.

Last month I had the kids clean off the whiteboards. They were so happy to have them all clean that they started to play school! N was being the teacher and K and R were sitting in chairs being the students. When N left to do something, K and R took over and were "writing their letters"...hehe cute!

A few days before Christmas, W finished the first 1/2 of Hooked on Phonics 2nd grade!! He FLEW through that!! He finished a whole entire workbook in less than 2 weeks!!! 13 days to be exact, well we don't do any school on Sunday so it was even less than 13!! We didn't do any school stuff until this past Saturday, but he is super excited to keep going!

For Christmas W got 3 video games. He started reading the dialog in the games...woohoo! He also got 4 Magic Tree House books and N got 4 Junie B. Jones books for Christmas!

Puppets were also a big hit for Christmas. The kids were acting things out with them!

This past Saturday, N finished 1st grade HOP!!! WHOOHOO!! She keeps telling W that he can't do school because she wants to bet him! haha.

So, my goal of the kids being done with 1st grade by the end of 2008 was a success (even though N finished 3 days later)!!!

On the 5th we will try to start math again, after a 6 week break. I am going to try to use some manipulative's to get the concepts across.

I also hope to get the kids to start using their journals for handwriting.

These are my only goals..the 3 Rs... reading, writing, and arithmetic!

On Saturday I ordered 9 books from scholastic. They were having their $1 teacher resource sale. It wasn't children's books, but books that help the teacher. I am SUPER SUPER excited about one book in particular...It gives you activities to build off of the Magic Tree House books!!

W finished 1st grade!!

2008-12-09T19:01:00.000-08:00

W finished his 1st grade Hooked on Phonics program!!! Whoohoo!! I told him if he wants to play video games he has to do school. Reading is the easiest for me because he is a natural at it. I don't have much to instruct him in, he gets a book and reads it. For every lesson/chapter/book he gets to play video games for 10 min. He flies through this stuff!!! This past Sunday he got to say the scripture in primary. He read it all by himself and did such a great job!!! He loves to read and is just so naturally gifted with it. N does not like to read and even though she isn't far behind him, she is no where near his fluidness in reading.

GOOD JOB W!!!!!!

2008 School Pictures

2008-11-23T21:25:00.001-08:00

All 5 of my wonderful kiddies!!

Well we tried 2 times to get school pictures. I didn't get them the way I wanted, but these will have to do. We are about to take Christmas pictures so it is kind of late to try again.

N- 1st grade, 6 years old

W- Kindergarten, 5 years old

K- PreK, 3 years old (4 yrs old now)

R- 2 years old

S- 10 months old (12 months old now)

Turkey Hands

2008-11-23T21:18:00.000-08:00

I am not one that does crafts easily with the kids, even though I love doing them...it is just so hard when you have so many little ones. I pulled out some card stock and did turkey hands. My mom pointed out that I should have used brown construction paper, but oh well....haha.

Gardening

2008-11-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

So we had a gardening lesson today. I got some little pea plants and some soil at a Church thing today. I had a pot...although there are no holes on the bottom, so I think I will have to replant it. So we planted them and hopefully they will turn out well!! The kids had a lot of fun!

Since we are renting and there isn't really a good area to plant stuff, we will have to do container gardening. Hopefully we can get into the swing of things before the planting season passes us by.

I am excited to see how the pea plant grows. Oh, the pot is from DH and my wedding reception. Fun!!

Oh, we have a bunch of caterpillars around our yard...they are yellow and black. DH was pointing them out to the kids a while back and now they are obsessed. He said that some caterpillars are poisonous...I hope these ones aren't. The kids had fun playing with them while we were outside.

A little update

2008-11-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

First off..we tried 2 times to get school pictures. I may have gotten a few, but not all that I wanted. So I think I am going to put up a gray piece of fabric on a wall and take a picture of them sitting in front of it...hopefully I can get that in the next week or so.

Last week we did no school!! I was so obsessed with reading Twilight that I didn't have time for anything else. That is a good example to set for the kids right? If I show a love of reading, so will they..right?? So last week wasn't a total waste ;)

Yesterday we started up with reading and math. I realized that they aren't getting the math as well as I would like. I was talking to someone at Church on Sunday who use to homeschool. She really liked Math-U-See. That was actually my first choice, but it was a lot more expensive than Singapore math, so we decided to try SM (Singapore Math) first. We will see how the next few weeks go. The kids are almost done with SM 1A and we will move onto 1B soon. If they don't start to get it in the next few weeks we will look into getting Math-u-see. I hope we can afford it. I have some manipulatives that I can try to work out with SM and maybe they will understand it then. My goal is for them to be done with SM 1A by the end of November. We will do school as much as possible...hopefully 6 days a week.

I have sort of modified W.'s reading program. N and W have been using Hooked on Phonics (HOP). However, W. is way behind N....but he is a much more natural reading. He is better, but I think he is just naturally gifted in that area. He is a year younger than N. and a better reader, and he just loves to read, so i had him skip a lot of lessons in HOP and I just put him where N is. I don't think I will have him do the lessons, just read the books and the stories. They should be done with HOP 1st grade by the end of the month.

We were doing really well with piano lesson, up until a month ago. Our piano teacher went out of town for a few weeks and she didn't start them up again and now she moved out of her parent's house. Hopefully we can start something back up...if not, I may have to learn to play :o!!

On Sunday while I was talking to a lady about homeschooling, she gave me a great idea!! She said that she use to have her kids copy out of the Book of Mormon for their handwriting. I had never thought of this before. She said she truly believed that it helped them a lot with their handwriting. I have noticed that whenever anyone does anything with the scriptures, their efforts are magnified...they learn a language faster, memorize things better, their handwriting improved. I then had a realization. Last year I was doing my scripture on the computer. I would then type my feelings or what I learned from a certain passage. I really think that helped improve my typing. So, this is now my answer for how to do handwriting and how to incorporate Church stuff into our school program..whoohoo.

2007 School Pictures

2008-10-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

We are currently working on our 2008 school pictures. We had round 1 today and will hopefully have round 2 tomorrow because I didn't get many good ones today...look for new ones in the next few days.
In the meantime...enjoy our 2007 school pictures. You will be able to see how much they changed when the 2008 pictures are posted.

Will finished a HOP lesson book!!

2008-10-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Nicole and Will are working on Hooked on Phonics 1st grade. It is broken into two sections...an orange book and then a red book. Will finally finished the orange book on 10-3-08!! He had his first lesson in the red book yesterday and of course did wonderfully!!

Nicole is more than 1/2 way done with the red book!! She will be done by Christmas, if we can keep on track. That means her first grade reading program will be done!! But my goal was for both kids to finish 1st before the end of the year and start the Hooked on Phonics 2nd grade when the new year starts.

They are both doing well in math. They should be done with the first half of the math program by the end of the year...right on track!!

1st PE of the year '08-'09 school year.

2008-09-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it was mostly just running around and racing each other, but DH came along which made it wonderful for the kids. It was 104 degrees outside, but it wasn't to bad, but they ended up with red faces by the time we left...which was only 30 min. after we got there.

There was a slight little hill that S. started to crawl down. Of course he ended up crawling to fast and sort of fell over...he thought it was the funniest thing!! haha

R. had gotten hurt on Saturday on a rock water slide. While playing, the wound opened up. It looks a lot worse than it is. It is just a circle where the scab came off.

We brought blue Powerade to drink and K. drinks it in a way that it makes her top lip all blue....haha

I love this picture of W.!! N & W rode their scooters and W. kept his helmet on the whole time..silly boy! When we got home, his hair was VERY wet.

The kids were racing and of course N. is the fastest because she is the oldest. I just love this picture! ...here is the WINNER!

The weather is going to start cooling off, so we should get to go outside more..yay!!!

OH!!!! Yesterday, DH turned in the paper work to the county superintendent and N. is now officially homeschooling. We don't have to report or do anything. If we ever decide not to homeschool then we just have to fill out a paper and turn it in to them.

Lap Tray

2008-09-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

I got the 4 older kids lap trays from Micheals. They are having fun with them. I tried them out yesterday for school but it didn't work as well as planned. I guess I need to plan better. When 2 kids need instruction at the same time...that stinks :(

W LOVES the piano!

2008-09-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

W had his 3rd piano lesson this past week. He does SOO well!! I don't have to ask him (or even N) to practice. I just leave the books on the piano and they go up and start playing! W is so smart and just gets it!! N is awesome too!!
I am so happy we finally started to do piano lessons...are violin lessons in the future?? not sure about that one, but I will let them decide!

hummm

2008-09-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

Since DH started school AND work, both full time, life has been HARD! The first week I was still doing school and I was TOTALLY stressed. This week I did school on Monday and Tuesday, but not since then. N & W will occasionally pull out the BOB books and they love watching Magic School bus. Oh they played with Dominos yesterday too. But this past week went a lot better than the first week...but I didn't really do school. That presents an issue. I am hoping to slowly get back into a routine. I just need to get use to doing everything by myself...dinner, bed time, ALL the diaper changes, etc. I know a lot of woman do this, but the only reason I have kept my sanity with having 5 kids so close together is my DH is so supportive and gives me many breaks. I don't get those breaks anymore...and we are having a hard time find a good time for grocery shopping and other errands. Hopefully this next week will go a lot better!!!

Can we keep this up?

2008-09-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

This week DH started working full time and also started a new school semester. I am really wondering if I can keep up homeschooling ;( I have been able to get in Reading, Math, and Music each day this week...but can I keep it up? I am SOO tierd. And no, I am 99% sure I am not preg. I got 4 hrs of sleep last night. After S finally went to sleep I had to clean the living room, take a shower, and do my scripture study. Then W, R, & S were up at 5:45 this morning when DH was leaving and then coming back into the house (like 4 times!!!! grrr).
N still isn't potty trained, so I don't know if she could even go to school. I really want to keep homeschooling, but if i am not able to get a break, I will not have the energy to keep this up :( :(

Curriculum update

2008-09-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

The more we get into homeschooling, the more adjustments I make. ....here is what we are up to now...

These are the subjects required by the county...
Reading: N&W Hooked on Phonics 1st grade (will eventually do 2nd, probably at the beginning of 2009). K will eventually do Hooked on Phonics K when she knows her letters. I am not going to push it though. I also got some BOB books for N&W to strengthen their reading with.
Grammar: I found a VERY cool site that I will print stuff off of for N (W will use it next year). They will have a binder to keep their work in.
Math: N & W Singapore Math , I also have a 100s chart and clock to use. We will also use fun little things to reinforce learning...things like dominos, buttons, and little animals for patterning or even add/subtract. K will work on her numbers (counting higher and writing them) and R on counting
Social Studies: This has been a harder subject to get into. I think that we will get some easy readers about people in history; George Washington, Johnny Appleseed, etc.
Science: For now we are just using "The Magic School Bus"! TV show. I hope to incorperate more of the books and online resources as well.

Other subjects
Music: N & W are getting piano lessons! They will practice piano 6 days a week, for about 5-10 min each day.
Religion: Learning the Articles of Faith. I am also setting a goal for N & W to read a verse a day. We will take it from there and see how they do.

BOB books

2008-08-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today DH and I were at Costco together...which NEVER happens. We were lucky enough to go on a date and go to Costco and grocery shopping. I have heard MANY great things about the BOB books. I had looked at Costco before, but I couldn't find them...but we found them tonight. I asked DH if we had the money and I was fully expecting him to say no...but he said yes!! They were only $10 each. Costco has all 5 set packaged into 3 boxed sets. When I came home, I opened them for the kids. N. and W. were very excited and sat down and started reading collection 1. I think they are reading somewhere in collection 2 so they have no problems reading them...whoohoo!!

I plan on using these books as our lessons for the days that we don't have a formal HOP lesson. I think it is a good idea to just let them practice and grow and not go to fast. I want learning to be fun for them. I think I was going to fast and N was just not enjoying it. We have been taking a break for the last 2 weeks and it is wonderful to actually get to see what they have learned!!

A few neat things

2008-08-22T02:17:00.000-07:00

I have been a little worried about W's handwriting. I have just been encouraging it and working on it while he does math...that is it! Last night he wrote these two things!!! I was SOOO happy!! The first one says "Daddy Dad" and the next one says "Whole Family"...he is such a SWEET boy!!

This week N. had her first piano lesson! She did super well and knows all the keys and is learning Mary had a little lamb!! She isn't super excited about it, but is just happy to do it.

On August 6th, Nicole finished the first 1/2 of first grade reading! (The Orange Workbook)....GO Nicole!!!!

Getting it worked out

2008-08-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

This week went well. On Thursday I went through Nicole's Math and Reading and made out a plan for what we will do each day. I figured out that if we do school 6 days a week (which is my goal), then Nicole will be done with ALL of her 1st grade reading by mid September!! Then we can start 2nd grade...So my goal is to finish 2nd grade HOP by the end of the school year. In about 6 weeks (so also mid sept) she will be done with Math 1A. We then have 1B to work on. My tentative goal with that is to finish math 1B by the end of Jan...but hopefully sooner. I haven't looked to see how many lessons will be in 1B.

Monday July 28, 2008

Math: N Singapore text 33-35 wkbk ex 16, 18
Reading: N HOP p. 52-53, 54, 55
Grammar: N p. 34

Tuesday July 29, 2008

Reading: N. HOP 56-57, W. HOP 34-35, 36-37 (HOP book #17)
Math: W. Singapore text p. 24-29 wkbk ex 12, N. Singapore text p. 36-37 wkbk ex. 19

Thursday July 31, 2008

Math: W. Singapore ex. 13-14, and p. 30-31, N. Singapore p. 38-43 ex 20
Reading: W. HOP p. 39, flashcards, N. HOP 58-61, K&R letter "A", "B" coloring sheets
Science: N & W Human Organ worksheet (Brain, Stomach, Heart, Lungs)
Social Studies: N & W color USA flag & map
Grammar: N. p. 35
Art: lots of coloring NWKR

Friday August 1, 2008

Math: N. S.M. p. 21, 22
Reading: N HOP p. 62-67 & HOP book 18, K&R book "The King's Highway"
Grammar/Handwriting: N p. 36
P.E.: Play @ Peter Piper Pizza 3 hrs!!

Saturday August 2, 2008

Math- N. S.M. text p. 44-46 ex. 23&24
Reading- N. HOP chapter books
Grammar/Handwriting: N. p.37

Math and Reading!!

2008-07-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

Almost everyday we did reading and math! I am persistent that N. does her work, but I am much laxer with W. He is only 5 and is reading at a 1st grade level. There is no reason to push him more.
About two Sunday's ago N. gave a talk in church and she basically read the whole thing. We wrote it and she practiced it A LOT!! There were big words like 'testimony' and 'gospel' in it. She only learned those because we practiced them. SOOO many people were impressed by the talk she gave and they are still saying stuff. It just makes me happy to know that I am doing a good job. I of course worried (and still d0) about if I am doing a good job. But I am trying my hardest. I figure if we get the 3 R's in then she will be ok...right?
Yesterday I called the public school that N and W were registered at. I told them to take them off the list for Kindergarten! That was a huge step because that was like our fall back. The school might have a waiting list so it isn't like I can just put them in if I change my mind. So it was a huge commitment to homeschooling...it is kind of scary!

Monday July 21, 2008

Math: W Singapore Ch. 1 ex. 1-4, N Singapore 1/2 of ch. 2 ex. 5-9
Reading: W HOP p.32 and LOTS of review of previous pages, N HOP p. 40-43 (also review p. 36)
Grammar: N. p 31
Science Magic School Bus
Art/Music: Little Einsteins

Tuesday July 22, 2008

Math: W Singapore wkbk p. 10 ex 5-6 (p 16-20), N Singapore 1/2 ch. 2 ex 10-11
Reading: N HOP p. 44-45
Grammar: N p.32

Wednesday July 23, 2008

Math W. Singapore txbk p. 21 #7 and wkbk ex 7,8,9 , N Singapore txbk p. 24-29, wkbk ex 12-14
Reading: W HOP p. 33, N HOP p. 46-49 and HOP book #17
Art: Fold paper in 1/2 and cut shapes out

Thursday July 24, 2008

Math: W Singapore txbk p. 22, N Singapore txbk 30-31 wkbok ex 15
Handwriting: N & K drawing on lapboards
Grammar/Handwriting: N p. 33

Friday July 25, 2008

Math: W Singapore wkbk ex 10-11 txbk p. 23, N Singapore txbk 32 wkbk ex 17
Reading H HOP p. 50-51

Our first family campout and a good day!

2008-07-22T00:07:00.000-07:00

On Friday we went camping for the first time as a family!! 2 years ago I took the oldest 4 camping with some family, but not my husband. This time he went with us!! It didn't go as planned but there were lots of good times!! I hope we can go each year (only once a year, I don't think DH and I can last more than that) and create good family memories. I didn't use my camera as much as I should have, but here are two great pictures. The whole trip was educational for the kids because they learned so much and experienced so many things for the first time...it was like one long field trip!!

The kid's first parade!!! They had tons of fun and REALLY enjoyed running after the candy!! We went from the campsite into town for this and I am SOO happy we did!!!

DH took the kids out 2 by 2 and then he was brave and took all 4 out! They were out there for quite a while...Over an hour!! The kids even got turns using paddles in the canoe.

Today I was still VERY tired from our adventure, but I got the main school stuff in. I did school with W. and N. individually. I found that they like that one-on-one time. At some point that will have to stop because homeschooling 5 kids individually will leave me with no time for anything else! However, until they learn to read well, I will be with them every step.

We did Singapore Math and the kids really like it. I think it is neat the way they teach the math.
HOP is good as normal. Right now N. is ahead of W. for the first time. But that is totally fine since she IS a year older.
N is doing well with grammar, but tonight it took her a while to do...she gets distracted easily!!!!
Of course, Magic School Bus and Little Einsteins are great!!

I will give it a week or two to let us get into the whole math thing, and then we will think about adding another subject!

Getting back in the swing...at least N is.

2008-07-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well, this week W did really want to do reading, so I told him that was fine...I mean he is 'technically' not even in K yet and he is reading at a 1st grade level...so there really is no need to push him. He is VERY smart and observant and I will let learning be fun and not a chore, unless that is what it comes down to.

I have been trying to keep things simple. My goal each day is to doing reading and grammar with N. It is also a goal to do reading with W...but it isn't as important as it is with N. I timed it on the 15th and the Hooked on Phonics and Grammar took about 30 min. and then she read a book for 15 min. All this time she was sitting on my lap. If she was going to the school she started going to, she would have had to read for 30 min. each night...now we do school in about that time...it is much faster to homeschool!! In the time it would have taken us to get ready for school, walk to the bus stop and also the whole getting home thing and doing homework, we have actually spent far less time homeschooling. Granted, I don't do everything a public school does...we don't do art projects everyday...but then again we don't have to wait in line to use the drinking fountain. We don't play on the playground everyday (or even once a week) but there aren't kids that are being mean about my children's imperfections....there is good and bad, and right now, for us, the good out weighs the bad.

Monday July 14, 2008

Science: Magic School Bus x2
Reading: N&W nursery rhymes, N HOP p.28-32
Handwriting/Grammar: N p. 28

Tuesday July 15, 2008

Handwriting/Grammar: N p. 29
Reading: N HOP p. 33-37 & HOP book #16, NWKR trying to remember the poem "Purple Cow"
P.E.: Swimming for 2 1/2 hours

Wednesday July 16, 2008

Science: Magic School Bus
Art/Music: Little Einsteins
Grammar: N p. 30
Reading: N HOP p. 39 (flash card memorization), NWKR memorizing 'Purple Cow' poem
P.E.: Walk for 30-60 min (We went to take pictures and we had to walk to get there :p)

It was so cute with them all holding hands...i just had to take a picture!

All in a row...this was the first group shot I took.

I was alone taking the pictures (no other adult help) and R. didn't want to get in the pictures until everyone started laying down. They love looking at the clouds and seeing what they form.

They choose to sit in a pattern!!! N & K sat down and I stuck S between them. N says 'W, come sit next to K. and make a pattern'....so cute...does that count as math??? :)

This one seems to be the crowd favorite. I am need to take the glare of of R.'s glasses, if possible and then have them printed. I usually do 8x10, but I would like something larger this time.

Thursday July 17, 2008 (tentative, this is my plan)

Reading: N HOP lesson
Grammar: N next grammar page
Math: SINGAPORE!!! DH (dear husband) is picking up Singapore Math today (HOPEFULLY!) and we will do it! I got N & W 1A and 1B workbooks and textbooks...excited! Oh, and we plan to do the whole calender thing since I got that set up last night!

So last night DH bought poster tape. We were trying to use packing tape to put poster's on the wall, but they just wouldn't stick. So we tried poster tape...that seems to be doing ok, I have had to add some extra tape to some posters, but I think they will stick. Our next step was going to be double sided foam mounting tape!! That stuff would work, but it is a pain to get off stuff...I am VERY thankful that we found poster tape and that it is working!! Our living room looks like a classroom....I LOVE it!! One of the funnest parts of being a teacher is setting up the classroom! I LOVE it!! Oh, the alphabet border (didn't show the whole thing, just part) just makes it feel SOOOO much like a classroom!! WHOOHOO...I am VERY pleased with how it has turned out.

Slowing down?

2008-07-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

So, this week we didn't do as much as I would have liked...but I guess that is one of the joys of homeschooling! You can take some weeks lighter and other weeks heavier...and it all balances itself out!

Monday July 7, 2008 (today i got to go to lakeshore learning and get some stuff for school. It was mostly a bunch of posters, but also a few other things (like a little time telling clock))

Math- N telling time

Tuesday July 8, 2008

Misc.: N, W, K www.mynoggin.com
Art/Music: N & R Little Einsteins
Science: N,W,K,R Magic School Bus
Reading: W HOP p. 30-31 & HOP books 15, 16, 17, 18. N HOP p. 26-27
Math: N&W 100's chart introduction

Wednesday July 9, 2008

Reading: W HOP flashcards, N HOP book & "George, Tom..."
Math: hundreds chart
PE: N&W Wii Fit
Misc: N mynoggin

Thursday July 10, 2008

Science: Magic School Bus x2
Reading: N. wrote (with help) and read her primary talk & she read a book to S.

Friday July 11, 2008 & Saturday July 12, 2008

Reading: N. Practiced primary talk! It went VERY VERY well on Sunday!! YAYAYA!!! She did such a great job!!!

Still going strong!

2008-07-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

We are doing well! This week was our first week of doing grammar with N. I think it is time to implement Math, but that will have to wait a few weeks until we have the money. I am hopefully going to be getting some stuff from lakeshore on monday as I will be out with my mom and W. for his kindergarten shopping day (my mom and I take the child that is starting K. out to lunch and shopping for some new clothes). I asked DH this past week to go get some stuff from lakeshore and he said NO. He just is overwhelmed when he goes in and doesn't see the point of it all...just like when I go into his electronics stores...what was my point again?? OH, we are slowly getting into the rountine and I am doing a MUCH better job making sure it is getting done.

Monday June 30, 2008

Reading: W. HOP lesson p.15, N. HOP lesson p. 8-9
Grammar: N p.24

Tuesday July 1, 2008

Reading: W Hope lesson p. 16-25 and HOP book, N HOP lesson p. 10-13, Art: K coloring with crayons and markers, N coloring with markers
Grammar: N p.25
Handwriting: N. p.25 of grammar book, K coloring, W LOTS of workbook pages (I was soo happy to see him wanting to write! ...he is getting much better!)
Science: Magic School Bus
P.E. Swimming 1 hr
Social Studies: NWKR book "The Pledge of Alligance"

Wednesday July 2, 2008

Reading: N HOP lesson p. 15, W HOP lesson p. 26-27 and HOP book
Grammar/Handwriting: N. p. 26
Math: W. comprehensive curriculam workbook, K put up bear #'s 1-10
Social Studies: NWK pledge book

Thursday July 3, 2008

Reading: W. HOP book and lesson p. 28, N HOP lesson p. 16-25 and HOP book
Grammar/Handwriting: N. p. 27
Math: K & R bear #'s
Social Studies: NWKR Pledge book, book "John, Paul, George & Ben" (a cute story about our founding fathers), Singing songs about the US of A!
Science: Magic School Bus x2
Art/Music: Little Einsteins

Friday July 4, 2008 (we sort of took a break)

Social Studies: we read "John, Paul, George & Ben

What will we do...

2008-06-29T02:11:00.000-07:00

I really need to finalize what we will do for each subject. Since I decided our first OFFICIAL start date was June 16th, I have 30 days to turn an affidavit into the county stating that N will be homeschooled. It is only for kids that are 6 yrs +. They said we have to teach Reading, Grammar, Math, Social Studies, and Science...so this is what I am thinking at the moment...

Reading: N&W Hooked on Phonics 1st grade (will eventually do 2nd, probably at the beginning of 2009). K will eventually do Hooked on Phonics K when she knows her letters. I am not going to push it though.
Grammar: I found a VERY cool site that I will print stuff off of for N & W. They will have a binder to keep their work in.
Math: N & W Singapore Math with some extra manipulative's. It looks like a hundreds chart and a clock are going to be very useful (from what I have heard others say). K will work on her numbers (counting higher and writing them) and R on counting
Social Studies: This is a hard one. I was thinking about using "The Story of the World Vol. 1" but it doesn't look very young kid friendly. So I think we will get a few (2-3) books by Usborne. They are full of pictures and fun information. ONE TWO
Science: I was going to get Singapore's Science workbooks but I think we have decided to take a more experimental approach and will get a book of simple experiments to do with the kids. Also, we can't forget about "The Magic School Bus"!

Here is my list of other stuff that I need to get from Lakeshore:

Primary Composition Book x10
Double Sided learn to print write and wipe boards x4 (white boards for you lap)
Sound-spelling learning charts (AWESOME!)
Tub-O-letters (especially for W who has essential tremors and writing isn't that easy for him)
Plastic clock with adjustable hands
Hundreds Chart (not sure if lakeshore has this)
Teaching Calender (Lakeshore doesn't have one that I like)

I have spent sooo many hours researching this stuff!! Next year I would like to do Sonlight, but it is so expensive I don't know if we will. I guess we will see how this year goes and just take it from there. I mean if this year works out well I might just keep it up. If the programs I have work I would just have to adjust things because of the kids getting older. Anyways. I hope I don't change my mind to much!

Still going well!

2008-06-29T01:14:00.000-07:00

I thought that after a good week that we would not do as well...I was wrong!!

Monday June 23, 2008

Math: N&W 2+ facts on whiteboard, N 3+ facts on whiteboard, N writing the date
Handwriting: N,W,K,R writing/drawing on whiteboard, N 3+ math facts, N writing date
Reading: N finished HOP K!! N&W HOP lesson from HOP Grade 1!! Whoohoo
Science: Magic School Bus x3

Tuesday June 24, 2008

Math: W 3+ facts on whiteboard, N 3+, 4+ facts on whiteboard. We used links (those baby toys) to figure out the problems they didn't know
Handwriting: W wrote 3+ answers, N wrote 3+, 4+ fact answers and today's date, K&R wrote the letters Aa
Reading: N & W HOP lesson, K&R learned the letter A
Science Magic School Bus

Wednesday June 25, 2008

Math: W 4+ facts, N 5+, 6+ facts
Reading: N&W HOP lesson, K & R learned the letter B
Handwriting: W 4+ facts, N 5+, 6+ facts and date, K & R wrote the letters Bb
Science: Magic School Bus
Music/Art: Little Einsteins

Thursday June 26, 2008

Reading : W HOP lesson, K alphabet song
Science: MSB (Magic School Bus)
Music/Art: Little Einsteins
Math: K counting to 10

Friday June 27, 2008

Social Studies: What a bank is. W REALLY took an interest in this

Saturday June 28, 2008

Reading: W & N HOP lesson (they are in different places so it was 2 separate lessons), K & R I read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" to them separately
Math: N 7+ facts
Handwriting: N 7+ facts
Music/Art: Little Einsteins x2
P.E.: We got a blow up pool and the kids played in it for 2+ hrs!!! K got sooo mad when anyone would get her at all wet...haha

Our Official Start Date...June 16, 2008

2008-06-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Since we have been doing so well this week and last week, I decided that our official start date for school was June 16, 2008. For all of my children that are 6+ yrs old I need to fill out an affidavit to the county stating that we will be homeschooling. So I need to take N's birth cert. and another proof of age to the county before 30 days from the start. On the affidavit it also states that we need to provide instruction in Reading, Grammar, Math, Social Studies, and Science.

Here is what I have come up with for our plan so far...it could change, but I have put A LOT of time into research to figure this out.

Reading: Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read (N & W just finished up K and we will work on 1st and then 2nd)
Grammar: First Language Lessons... (it looks simple enough and I am HORRIBLE at grammar!!)
Math: Singapore Math (we will give this a shot since it is cheap and if it doesn't work we aren't out to much money)
Social Studies: "The Story of the World" (this looks easy and is cheap, I think we will skip the workbook and just read the stories, but we will see what DH says)
Science: Magic School Bus shows and books and MAYBE one or two lakeshore learning science activity buckets....they aren't cheap!

There are some other materials I would like to get from Lakeshore Learning that add up to less than $100. I just want to make sure I am spending my money wisely and that we will get the most use possible out of them.

Next year I would really like to try Sonlight. It isn't cheap (think around $1000) but I like the approach and that I don't have to go hunting for everything like I did this year. But then again, if this year goes well, we will just stick with it maybe. I am trying to be as cheap as possible but still try to give the kids as much as possible. The white boards have been AWESOME!! The kids LOVE using them!!

A successful week!!!

2008-06-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

Monday June 16, 2008

Science: Magic School Bus

Music: Making different sounds to make music

Reading: K &R letter flash cards, N&W HOP (hooked on phonics) books and HOP lesson

Tuesday June 17, 2008

Reading: K&R Letter flash cards, N&W HOP books and HOP lesson

Wednesday June 18, 2008 (This was a VERY productive day!)

Reading: K&R letter flash cards, N&W HOP books and HOP lesson

Math: N,W, K, & R Domino's!! Measuring things with a measuring tape

Music: Musical Chairs (the kids play this by themselves!!), Sing Yankee Doodle & America the Beautiful

Reading: DH got HOP 1st and 2nd grade the kids were sooo excited that they wanted to do school again so they could get to the 1st grade box sooo... N&W MORE HOP lessons (W did LOTS more!)

Handwriting: N&W used magna doodles to write the words they were reading

Thursday June 19, 2008

Reading: N&W HOP lesson and HOP books, K&R letter and sounds flash cards

Math: Diego Time Telling book (N, W, &K are great at it), Domino's

Science: Magic School Bus x2

Friday June 20, 2008

Reading: W HOP lesson and HOP books, K&R letter flash cards

Saturday June 21, 2008

Reading: N&W HOP books, N HOP lesson, W FINISHED HOP K!!!!!, K&R letter Aa on white board and what begins with A.

Math: N, W, K, & R 1 plus facts on white board, days of the week

Handwriting: K&R wrote Aa on white board, everyone used the white board to write on

Science: Magic School Bus (how cars works)

On Friday DH and I went to home depot. We finally got the whiteboard stuff for our school. I was able to use it to teach on Saturday!! It was so much fun!! The kids are loving it too!!!! Oh, the sheet it came it was huge, so we cut it into thirds. One DH put by N's bed and the other two are out in the living room so we can do school out there.

More good news...W finished Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten!!! N is close but she still has a few books to read. If she can finish tonight I will take pictures and post those too...I am really proud of W for doing such a great job with reading!!!

I also want to add that W got 20 stars this week!!! N, K, & R are all close too! W is just a good worker!!!

I know people like to inquire about what other's homeschooling spaces look like...here is where most of our material is stored

Curriculum

2008-06-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

I am going crazy just trying to figure out what curriculum to get for the kids. We are using Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten and we are almost done with it. The kids are doing well and I think we will try the 1st grade if it is only $20 and see how that works. I will also supplement it with worksheets. For handwriting I was thinking about doing a program but I might just stick with having the kids write letters and do journals. We do have hooked on handwriting that we will finish up, but I do need to get a border that has the correct formation of the letters so that the kids can see them. As for math, i am having a little harder time. I would like a program so that I don't have to plan anything out because that takes time I just don't have. I was thinking Math-U-See but I am nervous to spend so much money and then if it doesn't work I am out of luck. I might try Singapore Math because it is half the price. If we don't like it, it is only $70 wasted instead of $160..I just have to figure out what I want to do. Feel free to give me your thoughts.

Getting there

2008-06-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 8, 2008

Science: Magic School Bus...yes I know it was Sunday, but might as well make their TV watching educational!

Monday June 9, 2008

Math: N, W, & K Comprehensive curriculum Math Section
Reading: W read Hop on Pop ALL by himself!! With help on a few words.

Tuesday June 10, 2008

P.E.: 2 1/2 hrs walk/play outside

Wednesday June 11, 2008

Science: Magic School Bus x2
Art/Music: Little Einsteins
Handwriting: N& W 150 Games/Puzzles, K&R coloring books

Thursday June 12, 2008

Science: Magic School Bus x4!!! Yes...bad mommy!!
Music: Hannah Montana CD!!!

Friday June 13, 2008

Handwriting: N wrote out the "Wonder Pets" song. K wrote "Kitty" over my writing of it
Math: N, K, & R counted with coins. N is getting good and knowing the names and how much they are worth after just 2 times!!

Saturday June 14, 2008 (today W. ASKED to do school!!)

Handwriting: W. wrote all by himself!! I wrote "Video Games" at the top of the paper and he copied it. He then wrote "Pit" all by him self!!! He didn't ask for help or anything!! I am sooo proud of him!
Math/Reading: W. Diego Timetelling book
P.E: 2 1/2 hrs Swimming/walk!! It was a pool party that we walked to!! Whoohoo!

This week didn't go super well, but I think it was better than some in the past. I am starting to notice more of my kids strengths and weaknesses. However, I really shouldn't be comparing N & W., W. is just really ahead of the game when it comes to reading maybe. I am really amazed at my children and that I am the one that has been teaching them! This coming week I need to focus on teaching them to tie their shoes and telling time.

Oh, This past week I also met with a wonderful lady that gave me some resources for helping my children. I realized I have a lot of research to do, to teach them to read. I wasn't taught to read with phonics and maybe that is why I am a horrible speller. Oh yeah...I think we will start having spelling tests too!!

I need to be on the lookout for a good calender for those calender activities. N & W know the days of the week but not the months of the year.

I think it is wonderful that I am taking this slowly. It makes it so much easier than just JUMPING into it.

Busy week!

2008-06-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

For some reason we were so busy this week. We didn't do that much school but I just felt so busy all the time...maybe it was the 5-6 hrs of drs appts/errands/tests that we had to do yesterday!

6-2-08

Science: Magic School Bus

Music/Art: Little Einsteins

6-3-08

Science: Magic School Bus

English: "Word World and "SuperWhy" TV shows

P.E.: 1 hr walk/shopping

6-4-08

English: "Word World"

6-5-08

P.E.: 2 hrs playing at playgroup with water

Reading: K. did H.O.P and we read a few Grimm Brother's stories

Science: Magic School Bus

6-6-08

Science: Magic School Bus book

Reading: Each Child picked a book and I read it to them and N. & W. read some of the words. I ended up reading the same book 3 times!!!

6-7-08

Science: Magic School Bus

Music/Art: Little Einsteins

English: Word World and Super Why

Yesterday I got THIS bookshelf for all the kids books (it was on sale for $35!!!!)!! Their books have just been in a huge laundry basket but this will help them be more organized and hopefully more willing to read more books. Stuart set it up mostly...we just need to put on the backs. We are also going to get a bookshelf for Stuart's school books and some of my books. I love the cube bookshelves!!

Also, last night W., K., and R. got ice cream and got to watch a movie because they got 10 stars. N. went to bed and was asleep when the other's came to bed at about 10pm. Not much school work that is on the lists was done this week, but I am hoping that the incentives that I have provided for them will encourage them to do their work. I think I will tell them, if they do their school work...reading, writing, and math, then they can play video games for 30 min- 1 hr each day. do you think that will work?

Attitude!!

2008-06-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, N.'s behavior has been horrible. She has an attitude...where did it come from???

Monday 6-2-08

Science: "Magic School Bus"
Music/Art: "Little Einsteins"
Reading: I am hoping to just be able to get a story or two read to N. and W...that will be a feet in and of itself!
Math: They sure would love to count the coins...but with their behavior, I am not to sure about that idea!

Starting to teach about money

2008-05-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 5-28-08

P.E.: play outside for 1 hr...scooter, kick soccer ball around, etc

Science: "Magic School Bus" and then role playing it

Reading: The Brother's Grimm versions of "The Changeling", "The Frog Prince", and "Little Red Ridinghood"

Math: Coins, 25 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents, and 1 cent, what are they, what do they look like, and counting money

Misc: Brain Quest Kindergarten

Thursday 5-29-08

P.E. 1 1/2 hrs playing outside with water at playgroup, and another 1 hr playing with water outside at the W. house

Reading: Hooked on Phonics (N & W)

I also got to go to the Scholastic Warehouse sale for a second time this month!! Whoohoo. I now have a bunch of cool books for school and some books as prizes that the kids can earn

On Thursday we also started our chore charts...the kids were super excited to do them. We had a busy day so much didn't get done on the lists though

Friday 5-30-08 (haven't done these, just planning on doing it)

Handwriting: I made Journals for the kids last night and I plan for them to write at least a sentence a day

Reading: Hooked on Phonics, The Brother's Grimm "Sleeping Beauty"

Math: Practice with Coins again

P.E.: I am hoping to get outside today but Katya is running a fever today so we may not :(

Service: I would like to start teaching the kids about service. Since I didn't do my VT this month I am going to make cookies and take them to my sisters today or tomorrow

Enjoying time with Daddy

2008-05-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

Stuart had a long weekend. He had no school on Monday or Tuesday so we have been able to spend a lot of time with him!

Saturday 5-24-08

P.E.: the weather was SO nice. We went and played outside for 2 1/2 hrs. The W. girls came with us and TOTALLY wore the kids out!! It was GREAT!

Language Arts: we played 'I Spy', we read " Franklin and the Thunderstorm" and " Grimm Brothers version of "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs"

Monday 5-26-08

Math- Stuart made pancakes and he was teaching the kids about measuring stuff. He also mentioned something about the unit circle while cutting the pancakes, but I think it was above the kids heads.

P.E.- Gotta love Wii Fit...especially WILL! I don't even get to use it because the kids or other people take it over.

Science- Magic School Bus. Nicole says everyday that "we forgot to watch the new Magic School Bus"...hehe, they REALLY like that show!

Tuesday 5-27-08

Reading- N.,W., & K. read stories in the car

Misc- I bought N. & W. a BrainQuest question thing. The one for K. and they did the first 20 questions or so and they are all easy! There are a few they didn't know, like the money and what domino's. I guess that helps me know they I need to teach them still.

Tomorrow I think we will make some domino's out of card stock and I will let the kids count all the coins in my purse. I am also researching how to make your own whiteboard, those things can cost a ton! We plan on getting wet erase markers (instead of dry erase) because W. is left handed and he wipes away his own handwriting while he writes with the dry erase. Also, this will prevent the kids from just wiping whatever I write on the board..hehe.

NICE weather!!

2008-05-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

P.E.- Today we went and played outside for about 2 hrs!! It was a WONDERFUL day with 69 as the high!!!! It was overcast and it had rained the night and day before....I don't think I could ask for a more perfect day than today weather wise!! The kids ran around with the W. (last name omitted) girls and rode their scooters and rode around in a wagon...they had FUN!!

Science- as usually the watched "Magic School Bus".
Reading- N. and W. read some easy readers while waiting in the car at a drs appt
Math- N., W., & K. all did some of the math section in their comprehensive curriculum books. I was amazed that Katya was able to do it so well!

I found some more workbooks in the cabinet and will add those to the kids activities when they are appropriate.

Today I was reading a Church talk called "Daughters of God". As I was reading this talk I was thinking about homeschooling and it was just confirming my decision to homeschool. This children will get to spend so much time together and with us. I hope that this will lead to a strong relationships within the family. We will get to spend a lot of time together and we won't have all of the negative influences that school will provide. I know the kids won't be perfect, but I can hope and pray for them to be open and honest with me and their family. I have a dear friend that has a teenager and he is constantly lying to her. I know children lie but I am hoping that it won't be as bad as it could be. Anyways, that article just really helped affirm my decision.

First 3 days of keeping track...

2008-05-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

So I am actually writing down everything that the kids are doing for school. This way I can see what they are getting and what they need...and so I can remember what to post on here.

Tuesday 5-20-08

Science: "Magic School Bus", Gears (what they look like and what they are in)

History: Pictures of Stonehenge, sun dials, and where the name of the days of the week come from...all this on T.V. (History channel I think)

Art: Paper bag puppets

Theater: Puppet show

Reading: Princess and Cars book

Wednesday 5-21-08

Reading: N- Magic School Bus

Science: W- How milk is made (on the History Channel, I was amazed at how it held his attention!), Everyone "Magic School Bus" (Electricity, Animals, and Computers)

History: W- The history of milk (from the history channel show)

P.E: W, K- Wii Fit!!!!

Thursday 5-22-08

Reading: Dictionary introduction (I got the kids a 'my first dictionary' and we looked up a few words and I showed them how it works), Brother's Grimm stories (Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, an Rose Red & Rose White...we got a collection of their stories)

Writing: N- Max and Ruby (she wrote their names on a letter to them), Letter to Olivia (wrote to and from and told me what to write on the letter)

Art: N- Drawing Max and Ruby, drawing Olivia and N. as princesses on Halloween

P.E.: Wii fit...All the kids for a LONG time!!

Social Studies: N- addressing and sending a letter...we will put it in the mail tomorrow. It is the letter she made for Olivia.

Math- N- Comprehensive Curriculum Kindergarten...LOTS! This was way to easy for her. I think she needs to do first grade

After just these three days I noticed that my kids aren't getting much math in. What I think I will do is make a chart for each child. Not just for school but other things (chores, teeth, etc). On it will be each subject and before they can do fun stuff (play video games, play outside), they need to have done everything. That way W. will have to do his writing before he can play Wii. He has essential tremors and it makes writing difficult for him. I just see him wanting to slack on certain areas of school, so I think this will help...any idea for how to make it? Velcro? a white board type thing?

Surprise Saturday!

2008-05-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today we got P.E. in. We went and were playing on a big grass area and N. started to play freeze tag. So, I taught them the rules and they played freeze tag! It almost reached 100 degrees today and we went out at like 4pm, so the kids were VERY hot!! We went through about 5 bottles of water!!!

Earlier in the day gma and ggma came over and gave R., N., & W. their bday presents. They got a bunch of books and so a lot of reading was done today. gma got N. some really neat books and N. and W. kept reading out of them the rest of the day. They also look and read (or I read) the rest of the books a ton!! For bed, I read a few poetry stories that ggma gave N. for her bday...neat!!!

OH, the kids watched two 'Magic School Bus' epidodes and I found a book of one of the shows they they will get to read tomarrow!

What a surprise today turned into!!

What we have been doing the last few weeks....

2008-05-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Math~we haven't been doing anything in particular, just everyday things. Last night I was using mouthwash and N. asked how old she had to be to use it. I had it in my mouth so I was showing her 10 fingers, then the plus sign, then 2 fingers...hehe.

Reading~ about once a week we do hooked on phonics, but we do quite a few pages. The rest of the time, the kids are always ask me, "how do you spell '....'?" or "what does '....' say?"

Writing~N. is always writing things! W. rarely picks up a pencil or crayon to write, but I am not worried.

Science~ The kids LOVE watching 'The Magic School Bus'!!! For now, that is what we are doing for science. After they watch one we talk to them about it. Last night they watched one about gravity and after, we talked about gravity more. I also plan to get some magic school bus books at the scholastic warehouse sale in the next few weeks.

Music~ The kids have always loved the Disney show, 'Little Einsteins'... they watch that. It teaches them about classical music as well as other topics like art, and social studies (famous places in the world). We also sing songs like, 'I've been working on the railroad' and other classic childhood songs.

Social Studies~ As mentioned above, Little Einsteins teaching the kids about famous places in the world, like the Taj Mahal. Also, today Nicole wanted to mail something to a friend. So we drew a picture and wrote his name on it. We are going to look at stamps online and she will learn to address an envelope. She LOVES to write letters/draw pictures and now she will learn how to mail them to friends.

P.E.~ For N. and W.'s b-days they got scooters, so they are learning to ride those. Stuart has been teaching the kids throw a Frisbee which they totally love! W. also LOVES to kick a soccer ball around!

Art~ N. is ALWAYS drawing!! She draws on paper and using paint on the computer and also on her leapster L-max. K. is starting to show more interest in drawing as is R. W. isn't to interested unless it is on the computer...hehe, he is JUST like his dad!! Don't forget Little Einsteins, it teaches them about famous/classic art.

I am probably forgetting something, but hopefully I can update this at least once a week so you all can see what we are doing. Oh, a few nights ago I had two tall laundry baskets full of mostly kids clothing and the kids had to sort them into the correct child's clothing basket that I later hung up....so I guess that is life skills.

Scholastic Book Fair!

2008-05-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

I registered for the customer appreciation sale and got a coupon for $10 off $50 or more..whoohoo!! I get to go shopping later this month!

Planning out the future

2008-05-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last night DH and I had a good talk about how the homeschooling might work. He says he thinks I can do it!! yaya!! That means a lot because he knows what I struggle with each day. As I mentioned in a previous blog, N. was in a public school program for homeschoolers. It was online and book work, but they also have a program where the student go one or two days a week. We plan to enroll them in that. If I do, I believe I will be able to check out curriculum for free...and that means free workbooks and the whole shabang!
Another issue is the fact that we don't really have a place for the kids to do work. We don't have a dinning room table. The kids eat at a little kid table. But I think we got that figured out. We will use their computer table and just move the monitor and keyboard to the counter (where the tower is) and get two folding chairs (instead of one lawn chair) so both N. and W. have a place to work and then K. and R. can use the little table.
Right now, I am leaning toward Math-U-See as our math program. Hooked on Phonics is working for us for now so we might just keep up with that and buy lots of books for them to read. Plus HOP is only $20..whoohoo. I also plan to check out The Magic School Bus movies from Netflix...they are AWESOME!!!
Last night I was looking at the state laws for homeschooling. I have to file an affidavit if I plan to homeschool and send it/take it to the county education department. On the affidavit is says I will provide my children instruction in at least reading, grammar, math, social studies, and science. So, it looks like I have most of that covered!!...guess I just need to record some programs off of the history channel for their social studies lesson ;)
I do like the idea of unschooling and I think we will sort of do that a little. Like Janis mentioned...just use those teachable moments...like a leaking battery. If the kids are interested in something, I can also teach them how to research it themselves and as a family! I can't wait for the kids to be able to read, that will open so many doors!!!

Leaking battery lesson

2008-05-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today W. came to DH and asked him to fix a broken toy drill. DH opened up the battery compartment and one of the batteries was leaking. So the kids had a little lesson on how the alkaline in batteries is bad when it leaks. I then showed N. pictures online of some other types of leaking batteries. It was kind of cool :)

In the beginning

2008-05-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start keeping a record of what we do for our little homeschool adventure. This way everyone can see what we learn. I am still in the process of deciding if this is right for us. I can't believe how indecisive I am! I really would like to homeschool, i just don't know if I have it in me! It is so hard to take care of the children as it is. Starting homeschooling is just another thing to have to worry about. Maybe things will get easier when S. is older...I sure do hope so. Today I withdrew N. from the public school program. Maybe we will try again this fall.