A New Homeschooling Year Begins 2011-2012

Wow, I cannot believe it is that time already. The summer just seemed to fly by. Our new school year started this past Monday August 1st. The kids could not be more pleased. They kept pushing me to start the schooling again. They have all these ideas of what they want to learn this new school year. Little Man wants to learn to type, Little mama cannot wait to start learning cursive and Baby Girl was starting to miss doing math with me at the computer. My kids are something else. I had to give them a "start date" so that they would back off a little. So this was it. They love being back on a routine, but, I really needed the break.

Life with 4 kiddos and a dog is very busy and it's about to get a lot  busier real soon. We have a lot of things plan for this school year. I can't wait to share all of it with you guys. But until then here are some pick from our 1st week of school.

A Look Back 2010 - 2011 (Part 3)

This is a summery of what we did this past school year for reading, spelling and handwriting.

Little Man (4th grade)
Cursive Success (Handwriting Without Tears)
Spelling Connection 3rd grade Unit 1-36 and 4th grade Unit 1-16

Little Mama (3rd grade)
Progressive Phonics Intermediate Phonics Books 1-14
Printing Power (Handwriting Without Tears)
Spelling Connection 2nd grade Unit 1-36 and 3rd grade Unit 1-18

Baby Girl (kindergarten)
School Zone K-1 Reading Readiness (from Walmart)
Sight Words Lapbook
My Printing Book (Handwriting Without Tears)
Progressive Phonics beginner Phonics books 1-5

So far I've used Progressive Phonics (http://www.progressivephonics.com/) with all the kids.. I love this program and it works very well. We never did any of the worksheets. All we do is read the stories. I read my parts and the kids read theirs. It's that easy. The stories are short and very funny. The older kids enjoy them so much that they beg to sit and listen while Baby girl now reads the same stories that they read when they were younger and just beginners. Not only is this program fun and easy it's also free.

This year we tried something new for spelling. Spelling Connection (http://www.zaner-bloser.com/spellingconnections/practice-pages.html) is a free spelling program complete with printable worksheets. All I did was download and print the workbooks and the kids did the rest. They thought that the worksheet were fun because it was full of crossword puzzles games and codes. They loved working on it and didn't complain at all about how much work it was. At the end of each week I would inter some of their spelling words in to the spelling city website and they would just play games and quiz themselves. I love using websites like spelling city (http://www.spellingcity.com/) to help the kids memorize spelling words the fast, fun and easy way.
We plan on continuing to us all the same free resources for next school year.

For handwriting we have always used Handwriting Without Tears and it is still working for us. The workbooks are fun and very easy for the kids to work on independently. Even Baby Girl is excelling with this handwriting curriculum. The workbooks are reasonably priced and they last the whole school year. ( http://www.hwtears.com/)

We love books. We love all kinds of books from mystery to cookbooks we love them all. There is never a shortage of things to read at our home. This year we used the Sonlight book list as a guide to what books we checked out from the library. I love doing this because we discovered some awesome books that we really would not have discovered if it wasn't for Sonlight. The whole family can't hardly wait to see what amazing treasures there is for us to read next school year.

What about you? What all did you get done this past school year?

A Look Back At 2010-2011 (Part 2)

This is a summary of what we accomplished this past year for Math.


Little Man (4th grade)
Time Tales Multiplication and Division
Math U See Gamma lessons 21 - 30
Math U See Delta lessons 1 - 18
Division Lapbook

Little Mama (3rd grade)
Time Tales Multiplication
Math U See Beta lessons 11 - 30
Math U See Gamma lessons 1 - 23
Multiplication Lapbook

Baby Girl (kindergarten)
Math U See Alpha lessons 1 - 13
Addition Lapbook
School Zone K-1 Transition Math (from Walmart)

Math U See is still our math curriculum of choice. This year was a real challenging year for math. I've always supplemented the kids math work with real life math, games and lapbooks but this year we had to go even further than that. When it came down to multiplication and division facts my 2 older ones were having a real tough time committing them to memory. We tried all the tricks I could think of, but nothing was working. Little Man was starting to say things like "I don't like math". I was at my wits end when I found what looked like the perfect thing while on You Tube one night. (again I love you tube) It was a program called "Times Tales" I went to their website and ordered it that same night. I was so excited to see what the kids thought about it. Well guess what, It worked. Little Man was able to memorize his multiplication and division facts in just under a week. He only worked on it for about 30 minutes a day. That was all it took. I am so grateful for Times Tales and I highly recommend it to any one whose child needs extra help learning their multiplication and division facts.
Once the kids were able to recall their facts the rest of the math went very smoothly. Math U See is great for explaining math concepts and teaching the kids how to do math and giving a strong math base. However Math U See really sucked for us when it came to fact memorization.
We will continue with Math U See for now, but we are already searching for another Math program for the upper years. ( I'm looking into Teaching Textbooks)



I'll be back later to share about reading, spelling and handwriting.

A Look Back At 2010-2011 Homeschool Year

Wow It's finally here. We have made it through yet another school year.

Little Man finished up the 4Th grade, Little Mama Completed 3rd grade and Baby Girl successfully wrapped up a very easy year of kindergarten. I am one happy Mama right about now.
Well This is a summery of what we got accomplished this past school year.

BIBLE
As a family, we set out to study the book of Genesis and boy did we love doing that. We started of the school year learning more about the Bible itself ( who were the authors, how many books did it have, and other such facts).
Each child completed a Bible lapbook containing all the things they learned about the Bible.
The kids learned the names of all the books of the Bible (both old and new Testaments) using a rap we found on You Tube (I love You Tube)
They finished their Armor Of God lapbook that they started last summer.
We did an in depth study of the book of Genesis.
We took a closer look at the story of creation and really paid attention to God's example of resting on the seventh day.
We followed Adam and Eve's Family tree all the way through the book of Genesis.
We learned about the languages being split up and God's Promises to Abraham.
We followed Joseph's life and learned a lot about forgiveness.
We started an Old Testament timeline as well as a Bible notebook.
We enjoyed our study so much that we couldn't just stop at Genesis, we are now working our way through the book Exodus and beyond.

SCIENCE AND HISTORY
We learned so much about history and science from the Bible. Our Bible timeline helped us to keep track of the many events and people that we were reading about. So many questions were answered and we all learned a lot.
The older kids completed a study on the solar System along with a lapbook.
We learned about plant reproduction and Gods constant provision.
We did a mini study on grains and the important role they played in Bible Times.
We learned about keeping the Sabbath and have added a lot of new celebrations to our days and months. ( Biblical feast and celebrations)
We got a lot of insights on how people in the old testament lived their everyday lives.
We learned about what roles science and engineering ( simple machines) played in the Old Testament.

We have grown so much this year. The best part is that we did it together as a Family. We used our family Bible, the Answers in Genesis Website, and The Answers Book for Kids volume 1-4. The kids had a blast and we can't wait to see what the next school year will bring.


I'll be back later to share more about what we did all year.

Fourth Grade

Our little Man is in the fourth grade now. Wow, how time has fly. Last school year was very challenging and busy for him so I know this year will be an equally busy year.

This is what fourth grade will look like for Little Man:

MATH - We have been using Math U See from the beginning and it works for us. I love the way this program teaches math. Last year Little Man learned all his multiplication facts and started doing multiple digit multiplication in the "Gamma" workbook. This year our goal is for him to finish up Gamma and begin learning about division and working through the "Delta" workbook. He is well on his way towards finishing up with the "Gamma" workbook with only 6 more lessons to go. http://www.mathusee.com/ We supplement his math worksheets with lot of hands on math experiences as well as fun multiplication games from http://www.fun4thebrain.com/

SPELLING - This is a very new subject for us. We are taking things very slowly and using http://www.spellingcity.com/ . Little Man loves playing the games. He has been cruising through the AVKO list of words.

HANDWRITING - Learning Cursive has been such a wonderful experience for Little Man. He has great penmanship. This school year he will be working his way through the "Cursive Success" book from http://www.hwtears.com/ He also has been working on keeping a journal/notebook. He loves to write and draw. Lately he has been creating what he says will be a short story. I love watching him as he works quietly on his short story. I just know that it will be great and I can't wait to read it.

MUSIC - Little Man has been playing the piano for almost 2 years now. In that time he has managed to work his way through 6 instruction books. His Piano teacher is very impressed with him and so are we. This summer he composed his first 2 pieces of music. We are working on posting them up real soon. Not only is he very talented and wonderful at playing the piano, he really loves it and wants to continue playing. What more can I ask for?

Third Grade

Our Little Mama has started the 3rd grade. I can't believe how much she has grown up this past year. This school year will be a very busy time for her. She is at that middle ground between lower elementary and upper elementary.

This is what 3rd grade will look like for Little Mama :

Reading - Last year was a really big year for Little mama when it comes to reading. Her confidence level shot up and so did her ability to decode words. She is now reading so well, she shocked us all with how fast she progressed. This school year she will be working her way through progressive phonics "intermediate" books 8-15. She wants to start on the "advanced" books before the end of the school year, but, we'll have to wait and see how things go first. http://www.progressivephonics.com/
She is constantly reading. Her new favorite book to read is her brother's "Adventure Bible".

Handwriting - Little Mama loves to write. This year she has been writing a story that she made up about a young girl named Sarah and all the adventures that she experiences. I love watching her creativity come alive through writing. She will be working on "Printing Power" from Handwriting Without Tears. http://www.hwtears.com/ . She will also be doing copy work from the Bible.

Spelling - This is a new subject for us this year. Little mama will be working on Dolce Sight words on spelling City. http://www.spellingcity.com/

Math - Math U See is still our Math program of choice. Little Mama is doing great with it. This year she will be working towards finishing up "beta" and hopefully start "Gamma". http://www.mathusee.com/ Math is a little bit of a struggle for her. She is not very confident when it comes to doing her math work. That is quickly starting to change thanks to http://www.fun4thebrain.com/ . There she can work on her math facts while playing fun and challenging games. It is so much fun for her. Playing the math games has helped her learn her math facts without her even realizing it. We could not be happier.

Our Little girl is growing up. I love her willingness to try new things and her ability to laugh at herself. She is so much like me. We have so much fun together. She is such a hard worker, she makes us all really proud.

Kindergarten

Our Baby Girl has started Kindergarten this year. It is such an exciting time for her. She has been waiting to officially start homeschooling for so long. This is a big step for her.


She is barely 4 1/2 years old but there is nothing that can stop her from schooling like the"big kids" this school year. She wants it all, and I am doing my best to comply to her demands but seriously, she's 4.

Baby Girl will join the "big kids" for subjects such as Bible, History and Science. I will be doing my best to include age appropriate materials for her to work on when things get a little too complicated. Other than that she will do what ever it is that she feels like being a part of (after all she's only 4).

As for the other subjects, this is what "kindergarten" will look like for Baby Girl this homeschool year:

Reading - Since Baby girl already knows her Letters, their sounds and how to blend letters and sounds together, we will just continue on this path. She will be working towards completing books 1-5 in the progressive phonics reading program. http://www.progressivephonics.com/ She will also work her way through a K-1 workbook from Walmart.

Handwriting - Last year Baby Girl completed the kindergarten handwriting book from Handwriting without tears and she did a great job on it too. She has excellent hand control and it shows in her penmanship. This year she will be working her way through their 1st grade "My Printing" book. http://www.hwtears.com/

Math - Despite the fact that Baby Girl can count to 100 and knows all her colors, shapes and can even add simple numbers, I am NOT ready to start her on "Math U See" yet. Much to her disappointment I've decided to have her work her way through several math workbooks from Walmart instead. She is not very happy with my choice, but it will keep her busy til after the holidays, when I will reevaluate the situation and consider weather to start her on Math U See "alpha". http://www.mathusee.com/

We also are going to be starting up again with our Music classes next month and Baby girl will be joining the "big kids" for Dance classes which are also starting up again this September. As you can see she will be very busy this school year. We are very proud of her strong work ethics and determination. I just wish she would slow down a little. She is growing up way too fast for me. She is still my Baby girl, even though she is in kindergarten now.

A New Homeschool Year 2010-2011

A new school year has begun and we have been pretty busy around here. This school year will be our 5th year of homeschooling. We now have a 4th and 3rd grader and a kindergartner.

Over the next couple of days I will be sharing with you some of the things that we have planned for this school year as well as what each kid will be doing. For now let's start with what we always start with and that is the Bible.

BIBLE
As a family we will be working our way through the bible starting at Genesis. We will be paying close attention to the time line as well as as the important people that we meet along the way. By the end of the school year we should have a pretty detailed timeline of the old testament and a list of "who's who in the bible". We plan on keeping track of everything in our "Bible notebook". Along the way we hope to pick up a little of the Hebrew language starting with the Hebrew aleph bet and some old testament names and phrases. The bible will also serve as our jumping board for both history and science.

Another School Year Completed

Our homeschool year ended in May and we have been on "break " ever since. To celebrated the end of another school year we had a "Promotion Ceremony". Each Family presented their kids with certificates. Here are some pictures of our kids with there Certificates of Completion.

A Look Ahead (February 2009)

Can you believe it? February is here already. I love the month of February.
January has come and gone and we have been really busy. Our school year is moving right on schedule and we are more than half way done. We've been working really hard on our character studies. Last month we did "Contentment" and we learned all about being happy with what we have. Our memory verse for last month was "1Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain". We also are almost done with our shepherd study (Psalm 23). That study is one that we have been struggling to continue, But it now looks like we are making some progress.
This is what we have planned for school this month.

Our Character trait for the month is Tenderhearted
Tenderhearted means being strong enough to feel the joys and hurt of others.
Our memory verse is Ephesians 4:32 "and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you".

Reading- Progressive Phonics and Easy Readers
• Little Man – Book 11, Read out loud daily
• Little Mama – Book 6 as well as reviews of short vowel sounds, read out loud daily
• Baby Girl - review letters and start on blending 2 letters together
We will be reading and acting out Luke 7:11-17

Math - Math U See
• Little Man - Beta Lessons 21-24
• Little Mama - Alpha Work on reviewing addition facts 2 and 9
• Baby Girl – Number Review, color Review, shape Review

Handwriting and Copy work
• Little Man - Copy memory verse as well as daily dictations
• Little Mama - Review Upper and Lower Case Letter
• Create written notes and cards for friends and family as a way to show our love for them.
We will try to wrap up our Shepherd Study notebook

Science And Other Hands-on Activities
• In the kitchen with Mama
• Create cards for this month
• Finish off our Psalm 23 shepherd study
• Enjoy coming up with different ways to show each other some love.

We are starting to feel "the end of the year drag" already. I need to come up with a game plan and fast. The kids are all working very hard and I am so impressed. I've promised them something different this month and I have to deliver. So for now my question to you is How do you make learning fun without dragging around until June?

A Look Ahead (December 2008)

Can you believe it? December is here already. This is my all time most favorite month of the year. We have a lot planned for this month so here it goes...
We are going to take a break on our character studies this month and instead wrap up our study on "The Good Shepherd, Psalm 23". Other than that we will celebrating Little Mama's Birthday, Christmas and a very special visit from my Mom.
This is what we have planned for school this month.

Reading- Progressive Phonics and Easy Readers
• Little Man – Book 11, Read out loud daily
• Little Mama – Book 6 as well as reviews of short vowel sounds, read out loud daily
• Baby Girl - review letters T,U,V (upper case)
Daily readings from the bible as we prepare our hearts for the celebration of the Lord's Birth


Math - Math U See
• Little Man - Beta Lessons 15-17
• Little Mama - Alpha Lessons 12 and 13 , continue working on Addition lapbook from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/
• Baby Girl – Number Review, color Review, shape Review

Handwriting and Copy work
• Little Man - Copy memory verse as well as daily dictations
• Little Mama - Review Upper and Lower Case Letter
• Finish creating greeting cards for friends and family
We will wrap up our Shepherd Study notebook

Science And Other Hands-on Activities
• In the kitchen with Mama
• Create cards for this month
• Finish off our Psalm 23 shepherd study
• Enjoy having Grandma Meme home and getting to know her.

Well that's what we have planned for this month.
What are you doing and how is the school year going so far? Until next time bye...

A Look Ahead (November 2008)

Wow its November already. Soon the holidays will be upon us and I am so excited. We are currently still on track with schooling this year and that is rare for us.
This month is going to be a busy one. Lucky for us this is the time of year when we start to slow down and spend even more time doing activities as a family. Papa is spending much of this month off from work and we couldn't be happier. We all need a vacation. Lately we have been seeing less and less of Papa but that is going to change. He will only be working 8 days this month. Can you feel the excitement?
Much of our time will be spent enjoying each other and having fun.
We will still be schooling this month. Here is how the month of November will look like for us.

Character Trait Study for this month is Thankfulness
Thankfulness means being grateful and saying so

Memory Verse – 1Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”
We will re-read the story of Mary washing Jesus’ feet and memorize Psalm 100:4

Reading- Progressive Phonics and Easy Readers
• Little Man – Book 11, Read out loud daily
• Little Mama – Book 6 as well as reviews of short vowel sounds, read out loud daily
• Baby Girl - review letters T,U,V (upper case)

Math - Math U See
• Little Man - Beta Lessons 13-16
• Little Mama - Alpha Lessons 8 and 9 , continue working on Addition lapbook from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/
• Baby Girl – Number7,8,9, color orange and yellow, shape rectangle and heart

Handwriting and Copy work
• Little Man - Copy memory verse as well as daily dictations
• Little Mama - Review Upper and Lower Case Letter
• work on making greeting cards for next month
We will continue working on our Character Study notebook

Science And Other Hands-on Activities
• In the kitchen with Mama
• Create cards for next month
• Finish off our Psalm 23 shepherd study
• Enjoy having Papa home all month

Well that's what we have planned for this month.
What are you doing and how is the school year going so far? Until next time bye...

A Look Ahead (October 2008)

I've been very busy lately and I have not had the time to blog as often as I would like too. I've miss blogging so much. In the coming months I know it will only get busier but I will try to continue to blog as often as I can.
I have so much planned for this blog. My life has been changing so fast lately but it all for the better. God is molding me and I am loving the person that I am becoming. Keep me and my family in you prayers I just know that there are a lot of good things about to happen for us.
Well can you believe it is is October already. We are currently still on track with schooling this year and that is rare for us.
Here is how the month of October will look for us.

Character Trait Study for this month is Diligence
Diligence - working hard to accomplish a task

Memory Verse - Proverbs 22:29 "Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings..."
We will re-read the story of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane
Read about the ant in Proverbs 6:6-8, and about Jacob in Genesis 29 and Romans 12:12

Reading- Progressive Phonics and Easy Readers

• Little Man - continue working in book 10 (intermediate vowels), Read out loud daily
• Little Mama - continue reading reviews of short vowel sounds, read out loud daily
• Baby Girl - review letters Q, N, R, S (upper case)

Math - Math U See

• Little Man - Beta Lessons 10-13, Finish his Money lapbook
• Little Mama - Alpha Lessons 8 and 9 , continue working on Addition lapbook from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/
• Baby Girl - Number 6, color orange and yellow, shape rectangle and heart

Handwriting and Copy work

• Little Man - Copy memory verse as well as daily dictations
• Little Mama - Review Upper and Lower Case Letter
• work on an Ant Study

We will continue working on our Character Study notebook

Science And Other Hands-on Activities

• In the kitchen with Mama
• Create a piggy bank to go along with money lessons
• Create lots of new things
• Work diligently completing projects and getting gifts ready for the holidays
• Possibly start on an Ant lapbook

Well that's what we have planned for this month.

What are you doing and how is the school year going so far? Until next time bye...

Homeschool Freebies

There are some great freebies out there this week.
check out http://www.currclick.com/ for a free HOC lapbook on slavery in North America.
Also check out www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/ for a free downloadable gift every day this week.
and don't forget to visit www.handsofachild.com for this quarterly freebie which is a lapbook on Thomas Alva Edison.

Until next time by...

A Look At September 2008 Plans

After being under the weather for about 2 weeks and not feeling like doing much it feels good to be out of bed and back to living.
Here is how the month of September will look for us.

Character Trait Study for this month is Creativeness
Creative - Doing something in a new way

Memory Verse - Genesis 1:31 "And God saw everything that he made, and behold, it was very good..."

We will re-read the story of creation and creating a mini book of all that God created. Study Genesis 1:1, 27, 31, 2:7
Emphasize I am Ephesians 2:8-10

Reading- Progressive Phonics and Easy Readers

• Little Man - continue working in book 10 (intermediate vowels), Read out loud daily
• Little Mama - continue reading reviews of short vowel sounds, read out loud daily
• Baby Girl - review letters N,O,P (upper case)

Math - Math U See

• Little Man - Beta Lessons 8-10, start on a Money lapbook from http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/
• Little Mama - Alpha Lessons 7 and 8, continue working on Addition lapbook from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/
• Baby Girl - Number 5, color green and yellow, shape rectangle

Handwriting and Copy work

• Little Man - Copy memory verse as well as daily dictations
• Little Mama - Review Upper and Lower Case Letter

We will continue working on our Character Study notebook

Science And Other Hands-on Activities

• In the kitchen with Mama
• Create a piggy bank to go along with money lessons
• Create lots of new things

Well that's what we have planned for this month.

What are you doing and how is the school year going so far? Until next time bye...

In The Works

Our house has been buzzing with activity lately. We have so much going on. So far everything is going well. The kids are doing great and keeping me busy. Here are some of what we are working on.

• We are 2 verses into our Psalm 23 study. We've talked about the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. We've discuss how a shepherd cares and provides for his sheep. How he knows everyone of his sheep by name and how his sheep know his voice. we have also begun to talk about Jesus being our "good" shepherd. Everything is moving so well with this study. God is so good and once again our family is just being so blessed by His word.
• We are continuing with our character study and this month the character trait is "Faith". We are in the beginning stages of putting together our lapbook.
• Little Mama has begun to do some work on her addition facts lapbook. So far we have learned the +0, and +1 facts.
• We have been starting seeds and making plans for our fall garden. The kids are really excited and so am I. This weekend the guys will be building a new raised bed as well as filling it with soil. We've got big plans for the garden this fall.

Other than that we have my birthday coming up in a couple of weeks and Papa has been working some pretty long hours lately. Like I said we are very busy around here.

What about you? What are you and your crew up to?

until later bye...

A Look Ahead (August 2008)

I know that I am a little late posting our school goals and plans for the month of August, but, here it is.
Here is how the month of August will look for us:

Character Trait Study for this month is :
Faith - Believing God will do what He says

Memory Verse is Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen".

We will be keeping a prayer list as well as doing a quick review on salvation.

Reading (Progressive Phonics - Reading Reviews);
Little Man- Begin book 10 (intermediate vowels), Read out loud daily
Little Mama- Continue reading reviews of short vowel sounds, read out loud daily
Baby Girl- Letters I, J, K (upper case)
We will be reading Matthew 14:28, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, John 3:16, John 6:47, John 1:12, and Luke 12:6

Math- (Math U See)
Little Man- Review Addition Facts 0-9, Beta book lessons 4-7
Little Mama- Alpha lessons 4-6, Start an addition facts lapbook
Baby Girl- Numbers 4, colors (red, blue, green), shapes (circles, triangle, and stars, square)

Writing and Copywork

Little Man- Copy memory verse as well as daily dictations
Little Mama- Review upper and lower case letters
We will start creating the cover for our Haitian Creole and continue working on our Character Notebooks.

Science and Other Hands on Activities
In the kitchen with mama

Garbage bag and Faith experiment

This is just an overview of what we hope to accomplish this month. We might or might not get a chance to do it all.

The addition lapbook can be found at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/addition_facts_lapbook.php

There are some great lapbook stuff on character traits over at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/character_lapbook.php

Check out this site for great copywork sheets and great worksheets http://www.worksheetworks.com/

We will continue to work on our memory verse as a family and to take part in different activities that will help us to better understand what it truly means to be Faithful.

Have you started schooling yet? If so, what are some of your plans for the month of August?

bye

Busy, Busy, Busy

We are only 2 weeks into this school year and already things are getting heavy. So far we are on schedule and very busy.
I have been working really hard putting together the group study for our co-op. We are going to be studying Psalm 23. During this study we will be focusing on the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep, the needs of a sheep and the provisions provided by the shepherd. We will learn about the ultimate Good Shepherd and why it is that we are so glad to be His sheep.
We have gotten a lot of work done so far. Everyone has been giving it their all.

• Little Man is doing great. I can't believe how well he reads. He has completed a review of addition facts 0-9 and has also completed lessons 1 and 2 in his Math U See Beta. He will be starting lesson 3 on Tuesday. As expected he is really enjoying his copy work assignments. Other than that he is reading everything he can get his hands and constantly telling about all the cool things he has discovered in his many, many books
• Little Mama is also doing magnificently well. She is writing so much better than last year. She has completed lessons 1 and 2 in her Math U See Alpha book. So far she has completed the reviews for the Short Vowel "a,e, i and o" words Next week she will start reviewing the Short vowel "u" words. Her confidence level is growing with each assignment that she completes. I just love watching her discover her love for learning.
• Baby Girl has been doing her own thing lately. She is determined to learn to read just like her siblings. She is doing well with her letters and is almost ready to move forward. Right now she is a little stuck on the short vowel sound of "i".(she confuses i and y all the time)

Other than the 3 "Rs" we are also having a good time with our character study. All this month we are learning about being "Attentive". So far we've covered the definition of "attentive" (which is to listen with our eyes, ears and heart). We've gone into the Bible and looked at some examples of people being attentive and what the results were (Mark 10:46-52 and 1Samuel 3:1-14). We are really learning a lot about how paying attention when someone is speaking to us is a way of showing respect and honor. We have also been working really hard at memorizing our verse for the month which is Proverbs 4:20, 21.

Next week we will be using our Character trait of attentiveness to create some interesting concoctions.

As you can see we have been really busy around here lately. I will try to keep you all updated on all the fun happenings . Until next time, bye.

Let The Games Begin

Today marks our 1st official day of school for the 2008-2009 school year. I was so excited to get everything rolling that hardly got any sleep last night.
Here is how the month of July will look for us:
Character Trait Study for this month is

• Attentive- listening with the ears, eyes, and heart

Memory Verse is Proverbs 4:20, 21 - "My son, give attention to my words, incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes, keep them in the midst of your heart".

Reading (Progressive Phonics - Reading Reviews);

• Little Man- Review books 6-9, Read out loud daily
• Little Mama- Review books 1-5, read out loud daily
• Baby Girl- Review 1st 10 letters and sounds (upper case)

Math- (Math U See)

• Little Man- Review Addition Facts 0-9, start Beta book lessons 1-3
• Little Mama- Review math u see blocks, start Alpha lessons 1-3
• Baby Girl- Review numbers (1-3), colors (red, blue), shapes (circles, triangle, and stars)

Writing and Copywork

• Little Man- Copy memory verse as well as daily dictations
• Little Mama- Review upper and lower case letters
• We will also start creating the covers for our Haitian Creole and Character Notebooks.

Science and Other Hands on Activities

• M&M experiment
• In the kitchen with mama making Popcorn, butter, and lots of other goodies.

This is just an overview of what we hope to accomplish this month. We might or might not get a chance to do it all.

We will continue to work on our memory verse as a family and to take part in different activities that will help us to better understand what it truly means to be attentive.

Have you started schooling yet? If so, what are some of your plans for the month of July?

bye

Homeschooling On A Very Tight Budget

Homeschooling can be very expensive. There are curriculums, workbooks, textbooks, extra-curricular activities, field trips, zoo and museum memberships, notebooks, lapbooks, papers, printer inks, art supplies and so much more. One can literally spend thousands of dollars a year just on materials alone. (Well you can, but why would you?)
Believe it or not it is possible to homeschool on a tight budget. I'm talking like $50 per kid, per year tight. That is a total of $150 a school year.
Here are some of the ways that we keep from over spending when it comes to homeschooling.

• First of all we do not purchase any pre-packaged curriculums. A pre-package curriculum is one that is already put together for you. Most come with outlined lesson plans and basically tells you what to teach, when and how. I don't think that pre-packaged curriculums are bad or anything it's just that I have really not needed them yet.
• I do put together my own curriculum using a combination of my goals for the kids and their own interests. I like having the freedom of following my kids abilities and interests. I do not at this time want nor need the time-line or objectives of any particular company telling me what we should be learning and how to teach it.
• We do not pay to participate in any formal extra curricular activities such as soccer, dance, karate or gym. It's not that we are against doing those things it is just not necessary for us to do theses thing at this time in our home school life. I do think that learning to do fun things like playing soccer or learning dance are important things for kids to do if they are interested in doing so. If they want to play soccer than they can pick up a soccer ball and go outside to the back yard and kick the ball around., If they want to dance then they can put together a dance routine and perform it for papa and I or the grandparents. There is no need for me to drive up and down from one activity to the next. I am not a taxi driver nor am I rich.
• We do not purchase memberships to the zoo, museums and such. The reason for this is that we usually are able to go to theses places for free or at reduce prices during certain special promotion days.
• We do try to take advantage of free admission days to the the zoo and other special places. Our local zoo has a free admissions day at least once per year and our local children's museum has free admissions for 3 hours during the 1st Friday of each month. Our local Seaquarium has many discount days when you could get in for half off. We try to take advantage of all the free admissions promotions we can get.
• We do save money is by using the library system. We do go to the library at least once a week. We read a lot around here, but books are not the only things that we borrow from the library. We borrow movies, magazines, computer games, and music. We also have access to a local resource library that carries board games, hands on teaching kits, themed kits and just about anything you could possibly need to teach the early elementary subjects.
• We do use our home computer and printer. A couple of years ago my husband's uncle gifted us his old laser printer. Laser printers cost less to operate because a laser cartridge last longer than ink and therefore cost less to use. We've had our printer for 2 1/2 years now and we are still running on the same laser cartridge. Because of this printer it is cheaper for us to print out worksheets, and lapbook stuff when needed instead of buying workbooks, ebooks and such...

These are just some examples of the many things that we do to help keep the cost of homeschooling down. We use the Internet a lot and I am always searching for good free materials.

Homeschooling on a very tight budget is not always easy but it is possible to do. We have been schooling for 3 years now and we have always been able to keep the cost to $50 or under per kid.

Until next time, bye