Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Paper airplanes

Who would have thought that paper airplanes would make a writing lesson so fun.  I sure didn't!  But after making and then playing with our paper airplanes in the cul de sac yesterday, we came inside and wrote about them.  Our planes buzzed like bees, soared like eagles and shot out like bullets (ok so that is a little exaggeration, but I figure we're using our imagination so I let it slide).



April
Bienvenido a Mi vida loca

Sunday, August 28, 2011

and week 2 comes to a close...

Wow!!  I can't believe we have put week 2 of our homeschool adventure behind us.  It was a busy week with lots of learning for the kids and me. 

The kiddos spent the week learning about India and Afghanistan.  They also learned about adjectives, adverb and got to practice making alliterate phrases.  Fletcher's friend Fanny fries fat flagellum!  Yep, that is a science vocab word from our study of cells.  Funny kids!!!

I spent the week learning even more about my sweet kids.  I have already had to make some changes in the way we do things to accomodate different learning styles and personalities.  There is such a learning curve in the homeschooling thing!  It's okay though, because it has been a blessing to see even more closely what makes these little people tick.  I am excited about the upcoming week.

We made it to the park for school on Monday.  It was a gorgeous day!  A gentle breeze blew as we sat on a blanket next to the creek labeling the parts of a cell.  What a great way to have school!  That was my kind of day!!  We will definitely be doing that more often. 

April
Bienvenido a Mi vida loca

Saturday, August 20, 2011

The First Week has come and gone....

Well...we made it!!  Our first week of school is under our belt.  I think that it went really good.   We practiced some math facts on #1 son's favorite math fact website :  http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/  and then found a new website that the #1 daughter really likes: http://www.fun4thebrain.com/ .  If you need vocabulary then we have some for you.  Howitzer, amiable, taxonomy just to name a few. 

Speaking of taxonomy WOW the science that we did this week!  Science is not my best subject, I will be honest about that upfront.  However, I even learned a lot of info this week.  "King Phillip Charles on firm ground stood!"  I am sure that I probably heard that before, but it was not something that stuck with me. (Sorry Mr. Butler! I would probably be a much better student now.)

The History has been so interesting.  I have learned some fascinating things about Africa:  King Leopold of Belgium, The Scramble and the Berlin Conference, just to name a few!  We also read a book about a village in Africa where the men live in square houses and the women live in round ones.  I think that I am really going to like this History and I sure hope the kids do too!!!  I really like how a lot of what we have done so far has been written into "story" form.  It seems to make it so much more interesting than just trying to memorizing facts.

All in all, I am very pleased with how the first week has gone.  I think we are off to a good start, hopefully we will be able to keep the enthusiasm up as we get farther into the year. 

Our library has a pretty wooded park with a walking trail right beside it. So on Monday, just to be different, I think I am going to have the kids pack up their books and head to the library/park to work.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate...

April
Bienvenido a Mi vida loca

Monday, August 15, 2011

The First Day of School!

It was a roaring success!  The kids and I had a good time.  They were excited to start.  They both came downstairs at 6:40 am dressed and ready.  I had set their alarms to 6:35 am!  We did some English and Science and Reading and Math today.  We also did some organization stuff like labeling notebooks and filling out a "to do" list for each kid.  All in all it was a good first day on our home school adventure.  In celebration, we went out to get Asian food and went to the movies. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go and read up on Taxonomy so I will be ready for the second half of our Science chapter...

April
Bienvenido a Mi vida loca

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Brown truck...

delivered boxes today!  Boxes of books and workbooks fit for a great homeschooling year!  Well, that is my hope and prayer.  The kids didn't do cartwheels or anything but I did get a "YEAH" out of the #1 son.  I will take that any day!  Now it is time to get some type of lesson plans done so we can start next week.  I am very excited. 

I had a friend tell me the other day:  "How lucky to be with your kids everyday!"  Truthfully, I had not thought of it that way at all.  I have become more and more excited about curriculum and such as the school year has approached, but I never even thought how lucky I am to be able to be with my kids (especially while they want me around!).  It will be soon enough that they will be grown and gone so I am hoping to keep that thought buried in my mental filing cabinet during this year!  I am so blessed!!!

April
Bienvenido a Mi vida loca

Friday, August 5, 2011

Your order has been placed...

I did it!  I clicked the "send" button and now should have most of our curriculum on the way in the next couple of days.  WOW!!!  That is a huge burden off my shoulders.  Now, the actual hard labor of rearranging the "playroom" to be the "schoolroom" begins.   I think it is going to make for a busy weekend. 

A
Bienvenido a Mi vida loca

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Officially a Homeschooling Family

We registered with our umbrella school, so we are now officially homeschooling.  YAY!!!  The next step is getting curriculum ordered so that we can begin our school year.  Who would have thought that ordering curriculum would be such a big deal?  In my head, I was thinking I need an English book, a Math book, a Science book, and a History book.  Pretty simple right?  WRONG!!!!!!! 

Instead, it is: 
Do you know your child's learning style?  Sociable Sue? Perfect Paula? Wiggle Willy?
Do you know your teaching style? 
What "type" of homeschooling will you do? Traditional? Classical? Charlotte Mason? Unschooling?
Do you want curriculum that teaches from a Religious worldview?
Do you want textbooks? Unit Studies? Workbooks?
Do you want to spend a lot of time working with your child or do you want them to work independently?
Do you...BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH 

It has all turned into a garbled mush inside of my head!  So I apologize if you call me and all I can is :  whashowpeenohownowbrowncowloomoocrabeabekadopingbjushmoosombrepactoonolowlooneybin (well you get the picture)

Truthfully, I have decided just to pick some things and see if they work.  If they don't that is ok because we will just find something else that will suit us better.

April
Bienvenido a Mi vida loca