crazy hair and jelly bean math

The kids had fun at co-op last week as it was declared crazy hair and hat day! All of my kids of course wanted to spray paint their hair...not simply wear a crazy hat! Graham actually said he'd really like to keep his hair this color! Uh...Aleena's hair was red, white and blue and you could see it better in person.Dru chose to just put black stripes in his hair but it was a little harder for everyone to see. Later in the week we did Jelly Bean Math. This is always a hit with the kids...

What ever gets the job done!

This is the way we do our school work, do our school work , do our school work...
You may be seriously wondering if Veda posed for this picture...NOPE! This is how she was doing her school work the other day! Don't all 7 year old girls do school this way???

What a gift time is.

Time. It is something that seems to be on our side. This year the gift of time to my children has been such a blessing to me. Let me explain. My oldest son Graham is a good student but it doesn't come easily for him. Reading, spelling and sometimes math have at one time or another caused him much stress. But I have given him time or rather Jesus has suggested it and I have ran with it. Time has let me not feel so stressed out with schooling Graham and has helped me let go of expectations that he just isn't capable of meeting...today. With time he will. Graham has had a great year and just this past week I gave him a book to read on his own (this is the first time I haven't sat with him and had him read it out loud to me) and then he'll answer some questions. He is reading the Magic Tree house series. Yeah, it's probably a book kids a few years younger than my son can read but today my son is reading it. Something he could not do last year. Math is another area, esp. memorizing his times facts that he just could not commit to his permanent memory. So this year I put off division and any other new math concepts and we have only worked on our multiplication and reviewing adding and subtracting hundreds and thousands. Some days he does a whole math sheet of adding the basics. It is easy for him and gives him a great attitude to finish the rest of his school day. Once I took the pressure off of myself (and SOLD Delta -MUS) and the pressure off of Graham he has excelled. Now this isn't to say that I put off things that Graham is capable of doing. For example we are moving through the I.E.W. curriculum which is a TON of work for Graham but he has the skills to complete the assignments and so he is required to do them. It has been a good year and I'm glad I feel the freedom to meet my children's where they are at.

Piano Recital

Graham and Veda were in their first piano recital a few weekends back and had a blast! Check them out... Veda was the very first performance of the afternoon and loved it!Graham said he was really nervous but said it was a lot of fun to play for everyone. This is their piano teacher Jon Anderson from Music-Cisum in Davison. The kids just love Jon and he is a homeschool grad!These boys are some of Graham's best friends. They are brothers that are also homeschooled and really great kids!

So proud of you Wednesday

So proud of Veda today. Last evening she came into the living room while I was on the couch....YES on the couch I was! I really wasn't feeling well and was fighting the voices in my head that said, "Get up! You need to be doing SOMETHING!" and I said, "Nope. It is OK to rest. I am going to rest." Anyway, Veda walked in and asked what side the soap went in the washer (there are about three options to dump the soap). I thought she must be doing laundry but didn't pay anymore attention to it until this morning. Veda folded the dry clothes, put the wet ones in the dryer and did a load of jeans! All by herself! How cool is that. You've got to feel good when your 7 year old volunteers to do the laundry and it's done right! Way to go Veda Rene!!

So proud of you two!!!

My littlest two made it through a whole dentist app't with no tears! I am so proud of them! First, Major Cutie has been to the dentist. This is her third visit and she does well except when they try to get x-rays of her teeth. Her jaw is just so small she gags on those bite wings. The first time they tried so much she started crying and I said again, that I think it's not going to work. Well today I told her we weren't doing it and that we would wait until our summer visit. Well they asked her if they could try and she bravely said yes, and it worked beautifully! They even printed off two pictures for MC to take home! She is very proud of herself and so am I! And my Boo, well this is his first visit after one year of preparing him and he was a bit squeamish but he did great! It was funny though because as he watched his sister get her teeth done he would turn away and say, "That is so gross!" He didn't like watching that!! LOL!

Yep, this pretty much sums up how Boo felt and acted at the dentist's office! LOL!

Once again...

...I am so proud of Graham! I don't have favorites among my kiddos,really! but wanted to share another "So proud of you" moment. Last Saturday we celebrated Christmas on my mom's side of the family. Every year we raise money for a family. We usually bring items to auction off but this year decided to bake goodies instead. We had prepared smaller plates for the children to "buy" from and big plates for us adults. I had reminded my kids to bring a quarter or two so that they could buy a plate of goodies and they did. Later that evening my sister gave me the money and said it was for a family that use to come to our church. Graham knew this family and asked, "Are you talking about Wes' family?" to which I causally replied yes and continued with my conversation with my cousin. Moments later Graham pulled out his wallet and reached inside so that he could offer more. Our church has always been big into relationship and what it means to be in relationship with not only Christ but with one another. Graham understood that message somewhere along the way and because of his relationship with this family wanted to, without hesitation, give all that he could. How cool is that? I am so very proud of him.

So proud of you.

I think I am going to start a blog series called, "So proud of you." I have felt like I have been missing the blessing of having children. So in an effort to be more aware of them I will notice something they do and blog about it.

Tonight my oldest son didn't want cereal for dinner. Imagine! LOL! Yes, we were having cereal cause we are out of groceries (I am heading out to Walmart late tonight). He didn't complain but found bread, tomato paste, a few pepperoni and some Parmesan cheese and made sandwiches, on his own for himself and his oldest sister in the electric sandwich maker. Later when I asked all four kids to come empty the dishwasher, Graham stayed after and rinsed and put all the dirty dishes from the sink into the dishwasher, without me ever asking. I am so proud of him!

What I am Thankful for...

Today I am home with some sick kids so there will be no family gatherings for us this year. This is of course NOT what I am thankful for. I am thankful though for the homeschooling freedoms I have in the Great Lakes State of Michigan. I know many are having to move away from this great state, that jobs are almost nonexistent, but I am rooting for Michigan! I am holding out hope that we will come back...I am hopeful that my husband will still have a job in 2009. For today though I am very thankful for my right to home school our children in anyway that I can to meet their individual needs. I am thankful that testing isn't mandated or turning in my curriculum or assignments. Not that I am opposed to doing these things, not that I don't do these things or do the things that will meet these requirements. I am just glad that today, in Michigan, I have many homeschooling freedoms. I am also thankful that the homeschooling voices that are heard on our state Capitol's door steps are one of the loudest and strongest in Michigan. Thank you God for these freedoms. I don't want to take for granted what they mean to me, my family and our children.
Happy Thanksgiving!

New File Folder Games Website!

Here is a great website for free File Folder Fun and Games! They are also having give-aways too! So click on over and find out more about them!

I've been trying to add their link and can't get it to work! So just click on their webaddress below. I'll keep trying to add the link.
www.folderfun.ning.com

Halloween Story Starters

I found great story starters for Halloween and thought I'd share a few. I did not do any with my oldest as he is deer hunting with Grandpa but I did with my neice who spent the last few nights here and my oldest daughter. They seemed to have fun and I would ask a question to get them thinking about their next sentence. I don't have them ready to share but here are some of the story starters....
*It was a dark and stormy night when...
*My friends and I were trick-or-treating and knocked on the door...
*Meow! The black cat was scared...
*The silliest Halloween ever started when...
*A yellow glow was coming from the jack-o-lantern, only...
*I was counting all my candy when all of a sudden...
*You won't believe this story, but it is true...
*The whirling winds of that October evening sent chills down my spine...

a bit of the mind of a four year old

My youngest son just turned 4 at the end of September. A few mornings ago he came downstairs...


Mom: "Gee Boo, you look all dressed and ready to go for the day!"


Boo: "Yea, I guess that is why I turned four."

The Homeschooling Song

You've got to see this homeschooling video song...it's great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCu5ojNlpi0

Another Flood?

Yesterday our four children put on their bathing suits and went out to experience all this rain and the puddles it was leaving in it's wake. They had a blast and came in really wet and really cold. It was a nite for those warm jammies! Hours later my four year old son came down the hall and stated with excitement and volume, "GOD IS GOING TO FLOOD THE EARTH AGAIN!!!"

How cute it that? I did remind him of God's promise and the rainbow!

P'jammy Time!

I know P'jammy Time seems like an odd title for this post but look at my kids in all of these pictures! In almost every picture they are doing school in their pajamas!! It just isn't that important to me to have them dressed when they come down stairs I guess. The truth is this. Right now my littlest Boo, my sweet red-head still sleeps in his toddler bed in our room. When I get up, the dog Finnegan gets up and shakes his head, which rattles his dog tags and ALWAYS wakes up Boo. Boo now is awake and isn't able to go back to sleep. So he and I get up. We sneak downstairs around 7:30 so as not to wake the other sleeping beau and beauties. Now my oldest daughter and son sleep in the same bed. My sweet daughter can't seem to sleep in her OWN bed...so when one gets up they sneak downstairs to not wake up the other. That leaves my Major Cutie...who sleeps the latest and then she comes downstairs. By this time I am ready to serve breakfast and get school started. If I sent them back upstairs to get dressed I'd never get them back. Hence the reason we do school in our pj's...I bought my youngest two their own school boxes the other day at Walmart. We have a least a half dozen of these but I wrote their names on them and gave one to Boo and one to Major Cutie. Well Boo hasn't put his down! He loves it. This box played out in the garage yesterday, ate dinner on the deck last nite and played legos with Boo this morning! The .98 cent box was a hit! And it only has one glue stix and a pair of scissors in it so far!This year we are covering more of early American history. My son seems to really like this time period...well it is the only one we've covered so far but that is besides the point...so we are reading about Sacagawea and that inspired my son to draw her picture. It turned out really good...I'll have to find where he put his finished drawing and show it to you all!Big sister loves to read and play school with her siblings! I like how she had them cuddle up with blankets while she reads! The youngest had fun covering the letter C with glue and corn meal!

We started Rosette Stone Spanish with our oldest son this year. He really, really likes it and seems to do well. We have the home school version and you can keep track of their progress and redo lessons if needed. We aim for the 90% and up. Overall he is earning a 95% right now!
We use Handwriting Without Tears and Mrs. V is finishing up last year's book. We use this book twice a week.
I read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to my preschoolers and played with a paper coconut tree and letter magnets on the fridge. This was a big hit!
The school year is underway! I am not sure I'm quite ready but here goes anyway! To tell you the truth I am living in a state of almost constant ciaos. I'm not saying that this is a bad place to be. It's just a place that I have to learn to manage, or live within. A place where I have to watch that I don't become short with the kiddos, or beat myself up on where I "think" I am falling short. It's a time to live in a sort of calm ciaos if that makes any sense. Well, for me it is perfect nonsense!

I posted this site on my adoption blog...you've got to see these photos! OK, of course I am biased!
http://authenticsoul.wordpress.com/

I wish I were sick or something...

You know you've had a long, fun-filled, busy summer when your almost 10 year son says, "I wish I were sick or something. I am tired of moving around and doing things. I just want to lay down on the couch and do nothing." My husband and I just looked at him and laughed! I gave him permission to lay in front of the T.V. until bedtime (it was already 6:30pm)!!! But nope, he couldn't just lay there. He threw off his shorts and grabbed a comfy blanket but lay down and relax he did not. I don't know if he's got it in him to just do nothing. Maybe that's why he wanted to get sick...then he'd be forced to stop his body!!! LOL!

One great thing we did this summer was join a local boy Scout troop and stay the night on this real ship used in WWII. It was a bit icky with all the spiders but it was really neat to learn about the history of the LST 393. We arrived around 6pm, ate dinner, played all over the ship, watched a movie and was up and out of there by 8am. This is still an active museum and so we needed to head out so busy as usual could go on!

Not socialized???

Oh come on! Is this the oldest "bash" on homeschooling that you have ever heard? I haven't run across this too much, maybe because my children are proof AGAINST the unsocialized theory? Either way I thought I'd show proof in a picture that our kids are hangin out with their "peers"...
Here are a bunch of homeschoolers (except two of the girls) at a friends house swimming. Even with all of these kids together for several hours, not one fight, not one put down, no one was left out and all bodies were covered!! But WAIT, look there, behind my son's head (bottom left kiddo)! Do I see some bunny ears? YES! I do! Socialized indeed!

And now on to my oldest daughter who will turn 7 on Jan. 1st. We consider her to have begun first grade work last winter but she will continue on as a "first" grader....

*Math U See-Alpha....she is just about half way through this as we start the new year

*Handwriting Without Tears-handwriting

*Saxon Phonics-still the K level, about a 1/3rd of the book to finish

*Skill Sharpeners Reading-First grade workbook

*Poetry Memorization

*Character Building

*Lapbooking with literature books from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

*Exploring Creation- Land Animals...with her brother

*Artist Pursuits...with her brother

*Nature Journal...we'll see!!!

*Writing Journal

*Rosetta Stone-Spanish

Again, these are just things I would love to be able to accomplish this year. I'll keep it real and honest on here and let you know how things pan out over the next several months!!

The school year is upon us!

I am cleaning out the homeschooling cabinets, drawers, cupboards, closets, corners...you get the idea and trying to make a list of what I MIGHT potentially use to school the kids this year. Today, I should still be cleaning, but thought I'd jump on here and list what I am using for my oldest. I'll include the list for the other kids in the following days.

My son is going to be 10 in November and that puts him at around the 4th grade level. We call him a "4th grader". His writing and reading are about a year behind, maybe more in the area of writing. Here is the grand list that I have come up with. It looks really overwhelming. We'll see what we end up with!

*Poetry Memorization-Andrew Pudewa...started this before let's see how far we can get this time!

*Character Building-Lee Ann Rubsam-boy is this needed for all of them!

*Spelling Notebook-using the little yellow book called, How to Teach Any Child to SPELL by Gayle Graham

*Grapevine Studies-teaching the Old Testament

*Primary Language Lessons-grammer

*Math U See-finishing Gamma and then starting Delta

*Exploring Creation Land Animals of the 6th Day-science

*Artist Pursuits-Intro. to the visual arts

*Nature Journal-starting these every year....never get farther than decorating the cover....hmmm

*Beautiful Feet study on early America

*Cursive Success using Handwriting Without Tears...mostly for review...not sure if it is necessary!

*Skills Sharpeners Reading Workbook by Evan-Moor

Updated to add: Rosetta Stone-Spanish -this will be our first year!

Phew. This is a big list!

Enjoying every last bit of summer!