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!!