Of Books, Blocks 'n Boys

Meet Jody and Turner - the Tadpoles

2011-08-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a friend of ours brought over these 2 little tadpoles for the boys. This morning, first thing, (seriously, I even had to remind them to have breakfast and get dressed!) they were begging me to let them go down to the pond to look for pond plants and such to make up a little habitat for them.

I wanted to get some pictures so I grabbed my camera, put the baby in the buggy and armed with bucket and net we went to see what we could see.

And, boy, did we see...

We caught minnows, leeches, snails and all sorts of tiny creatures!

It was all great until Marcus discovered a leech on his leg already bright red with his blood! I got a picture but couldn't bare to put in on here... it was so gross!

Back at home we looked up on the internet about leeches and minnows and discovered that leeches eat tadpoles! That just wouldn't do so the boys enjoyed flushing them down the toilet after watching them for a couple hours swimming around in their crazy inch-wormy sort of way.

Then, they had a great old time putting together their habitat and reading up on tadpoles and frogs in books I got from the library earlier this week.

And now they're spending a great deal of their time watching their new "pets".

When asked why they named them Jody and Turner, their response was, "Just 'cause it's silly".

...Alright then! :)

Allan doesn't quite believe me when I say they will turn into frogs.

I guess he'll just have to wait and see!

I love this... homeschooling at it's best.

*****

What discoveries have your children been enjoying this summer?

An Archaeological Dig

2011-06-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

The other day the boys watched a video called "I dig fossils". This is what happens when they start imagining that they are archaeologists (or paleontologists) too.

I don't mind, even if I did have this area under our back deck all cleaned up and raked smooth just a couple weeks ago. It's kept them outside in the fresh Spring air but out of the mud and rain... for the most part.

Setting up their Vermiculture

2011-03-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

The boys have wanted to do worm composting for a couple years now and I've never been too sure how to go about it. The thought of all those worms seemed a little intimidating to me. But this past week I finally gave in and ordered in what they needed.

1 vermicomposter
1000 worms

Yes, ONE THOUSAND, which should grow to 10 or 12 thousand if all goes well. It was quite interesting for the boys to see that many. Jayden had no problem touching them, Marcus thought they stank and didn't want to go near them and Allan would have touched them had Jayden let him.

I let them set it all up by following the instructions in the manual, as this is a "school" project, after all. And then we put the lid on, set it aside and watched some youtube videos on the whole process of compost (vegetable/fruit scraps, dryer lint, newspaper, etc.) to worm castings (dirt).

After that, they made a grand ol' mess by ripping up scraps of paper and newspaper for their pets (ie. worms) to "eat".

They're so excited and can't resist peeking under the lid at least once a day, even though the manual says to let them alone as much as possible.

... And I must say, they've caught me peeking a time or two as well. (grin) It's really quite fascinating but I still haven't dared to touch them yet!

Oobleck!

2011-01-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

Remember the story by Dr. Suess, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck."?

Well, today the boys and I decided to try to make some Oobleck. We mixed 2 parts cornstarch with 1 part water, added some food coloring and tah-dah!

"OOBLECK!"

It was really, really interesting and I must admit I got in there, as well, with my hands!

It kept Jayden busy for quite a while, but it took some coaxing to get Marcus to even touch it. "It smells awful!" he kept exclaiming, so him and Allan just had fun experimenting with the food coloring.

"Look, mom! Blue and red make purple!" he says with shining eyes and big grin.

I'm just loving these quiet/noisy, busy/slow, messy/cozy days of winter with my children around me.

Home.

Allan turns 5

2010-10-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Excitement is High

2010-08-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

The highly anticipated package came in the mail yesterday. The one that contained our school books. The excitement was at an all time high as Jayden wrestled open the box to discover the contents inside.

And they couldn't wait to start. Let's just hope this lasts well into the new school year.

I'll keep you posted.

A Quick Wave Hello.

2010-06-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

The boys begged me to get some video of them playing with their nice big train track set up so that they could show the family.

When I told them I wanted a picture as well they all wanted to wave hello... not really my idea of a great photo but... here it is!

Hope you enjoy!

(For those of you that don't know... just click on the 4 little arrows on the right hand side to see the video in LARGE.)

Just a couple of things...

2010-06-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

...things that brought joy to my day...

...reading to my boys the last 3 chapters in this book about the early days of the Salvation Army in London. Have you read it?

... and finding this card that Jayden wrote to me for my Birthday. I don't know why he forgot to give it to me on the day but I'm so glad I found it amongst the craft paper.

It's been raining and windy, cold and gray here all morning. A perfect opportunity to stay home and do cozy things, right?

"Run for your Life!"

2010-05-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

"The dinosaurs are alive at the Calgary Zoo!"

As you will see in this small video clip (which I unfortunately made the mistake of filming with my camera sideways) Allan had quite the scare when we came across the first dinosaur at the Zoo on Saturday.

He's the little guy in the blue coat running to his mama at the very beginning so watch close... it's so cute!

And that's Marcus that says, "Just like the REAL THING!"

I wish a could have gotten better footage but there were a lot of people around.

Hope you enjoyed it anyway! :)

For more photo's of us at the Zoo click onto my Scrapbooking Blog.

Happy Birthday to Oma!

2010-04-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

The boys and I had fun today creating party hats and shooting a small video for my mom's birthday. Hope you like it, Mom!
We love you and miss you and wish we could be there to help celebrate!

They Love the Bunny

2010-04-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

The boys each received a chocolate bunny from their Auntie Tracy late yesterday afternoon. This is so special for them as it is rare that they get to have anything like this. They were so excited so I grabbed a quick picture of them and then told them they could open them after we ate. "Thank you, Auntie Tracy!"

This video was shot of them waiting for dinner.

Can you imagine what they'll be like after they get into the chocolate?

Marble.ous!

2010-03-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

We gave this marble run to Marcus for his 6th Birthday back in January and it has been worth it's weight in gold as some may say. They've played and played with it. Building all sorts of different runs for the marbles and also making all sorts of things that have nothing to do with marbles!

Such a fun toy!

About Sequential Spelling

2010-03-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

Asked how I felt about the Spelling book we are using this year... here are some of my thoughts:

Normally I would not have thought to give Spelling yet to my son but was urged to by my facilitator to try this book and so far I am pleased with the outcome of it. I like the way it takes a base word like "all" and then builds on it by making "tall" and then "stall" and so on.

(Click on the photos below to get a better idea of what I am talking about.)

So this is the only book that came with the "curriculum" and it starts out nice and slow and explains exactly what the concept is behind sequential spelling.

There are 4 days worth per page with 25 spelling words given per day. Starting with simpler words to give at the beginning of the week and then building on those words for the next 3 days.

They expect that you give the word out loud, have your child try to write it, then, before going on to the next word, make sure that he/she has spelled it right. Basically working it through with them... making sure they know what the base word is and then teaching them how to build on it.

When I saw the book, I was a little intimidated. I thought the words would be way too difficult for a 7/8 year old but I have been amazed with how much he has progressed. I hardly have to prompt him at all anymore with how to spell each word.

One thing that I believe has helped a huge amount is the fact that the Phonics book he is working through is teaching many of the same things that he is learning how to do in his Spelling. Things like how to add endings (remember "change the y to an i and add es"...or... "when a single consonant is follow by a soft vowel, double the consonant and add ed"), how to make contractions, and so on.

*****

Well, I hope that answers some of your questions about this particular spelling program!

Sunshine in the Schoolroom

2010-02-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

...actually, our dining room, but this is where the boys do most of their book work. I am so pleased with the big closet you can see in the photo below where I keep all my homeschooling and crafting supplies! It's just so handy to have it all right there but to be able to close the doors on it all, as well, when we are done.

Here are the books we are using this year. I've kept it very simple and am so pleased with what I have chosen for them. Jayden is doing the Math-U-See Alpha, the Modern Curriculum Press Phonics Level B, and the Sequential Spelling 1. Marcus is doing the other 2. A Reason for Handwriting K is a VERY simple and straight forward way to learn to write upper and lowercase letters properly... he has needed no help with it at all. And Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons has been such a great book for me as well as for my boys. Before I found this book, I didn't have a clue how I would teach my child to read... and now both boys are reading just fine! I love it.

And then for History/Geography and Science? Well, just a whole lot of reading out loud to them from library books and a whole lot of play and exploring outdoors. I just think that they learn so much in just living that I prefer not to bog them down with too many text book facts but instead let them discover things on their own. I know eventually I will have to give them a more structured education in these subjects but I feel that it won't be for a while yet.

I've had such a good month of homeschooling this past month, I actually look forward to it each day! I never thought I could say that, but it's true and I feel that the biggest relief for me has been that they now have finally learned to do their schoolwork with a cheerful attitude. I still have to give them a gentle reminder once in a while but for the most part it is smooth going.

I am so grateful for this!

This week...

2010-02-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

Some of the things we've been doing in our book work...

Jayden's learning how to add on endings to base words in Phonics. .......... And I started reading "Little Pear" to the boys.

Jayden's also learning how to subtract 2 in Math. ..... And here's some of the books he has completed within the last 2 weeks.

That along with loads of other learning opportunities has provided for a really great week.
I am really enjoying homeschooling lately and am so pleased with the progress of the boys!

Ready, Set, Draw!

2010-02-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

This morning, between subjects, the boys were busy drawing from a book we got from the library yesterday called "Ready, Set, Draw! Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles you can draw". They wanted to get right at it this morning but I did manage to coax them to do a bit of math, phonics and reading in between pictures, as well.

I wasn't able to convince Marcus to try drawing on his own so I drew one for him (the motorcycle seen above) and he had a grand time coloring it up in bright, bold colors. Allan did his best and spent most of his time with great concentration coloring away to his hearts content. (See his little hands in the photo above? Love that picture)

And Jayden, got right down to business and made a whole book that he entitled, "Wild Trucks and fast cars".

Isn't the library and all it's wonderful resources just great?

The Fun of Active Imagination

2010-02-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

I am continually amazed at the active imagination of my oldest, Jayden. On Sunday, Valentine's Day, I guess he noticed that the cheerios box had a big heart on it and this is what he came up with all on his own. A Heart Robot.

He so often comes up with all sorts of interesting costumes that he tries to coax his brothers to wear. Sometimes they are not too "game" for it but on this day they were loving it and even wanted me to take pictures. Marcus is on the left with the whole scary eye thing goin' on. (He's great at making the most hilarious faces, that one.) And Jayden and Allan are on the right.

I just love it when the boys use their creativity to come up with their own things to play with...

even if it does make a huge mess.

It's more important to me that they remember the fun of their childhood than how neat mom always wanted everything to stay.

Hearts Full

2010-02-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, most of our morning consisted of tracing hearts, cutting hearts, stringing hearts, glueing hearts, coloring coloring hearts and just all around heart-full thoughts on Love.

Jayden loves to do crafts and Allan loves to copy Jayden.

Marcus is content as long as he's coloring with-in the lines... loves to be meticulous, that one.

And myself? Well, apart from loving mornings like this where we are all together, using our imaginations, and creating lovely things,

I just love to use up all my reds, pinks and any other girly scrapbook paper I happen to have hiding amongst my stash.

After all, with 3 boys in the house, it doesn't get used much at any other time!

Opening up the Schedule

2010-02-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

So considering what Carrie said in the comment box on my last post I have been thinking a lot about just opening up my schedule to include morning routine, homeschooling, afternoon routine and evening, rather than 1/2 hour or 1 hour increments.

This is what it looks like for me and is actually very much what our days have been like for the past 2 weeks since I've been trying to become more diligent in my home life.

7:30 Breakfast and family devotions followed by set chores.

8:30 Homeschooling (this will include computer time for the boys and Jayden's piano lesson).

12:00 Lunch followed by quiet time downstairs or outside. (I hope to catch up on housework or computer time while they play).

2:00 Go for a walk or spend time indoors playing with the boys, (crafts, coloring, puzzling, games) followed by more housework or free time for me and playtime (or 1 movie) for the boys.

5:15 Dinner followed by set chores and then the evenings plan (depending on what day it is) For example: Movie night, games night, bath night, etc.

7:00 Boys in Bed.

How does that look?

I like it.

And obviously the afternoons are very open to change, especially if we need to go to town, visit friends, have friends over, etc.

Flexibility is a good thing as well! :)

To Schedule or Not to Schedule...

2010-02-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned that I was gonna try to get back on my schedule that I started in September? Well, anyway, that was the plan. So I went back to it and did a bit of changing and tweaking so that it would fit, again, our ever changing lives. For one; Allan doesn't nap anymore, so I needed to fill in those spaces for him and I am attempting to teach Jayden some piano so I wanted to work in time for that. Well, I got it to where it all looked good and happily printed it off.

And so now for the big question... Has it been working??!

NO.

I just haven't seemed to be able to follow it. I think it's probably too rigid and so I must go back and tweak it again. I do like having a schedule because it keeps me on track and it feels good to look at it at the end of the day, at all we accomplished, and realize that it was productive. But when I've got it so full that we RARELY get through a day doing all that the schedule says... it can be a bit of a downer to look at it and realize that I've failed (in my standards) yet again.

So, looking at it from a different point of view, that of a busy mother, wife and housekeeper as well as "homeschooling teacher", I realize that it's not about just trying harder but that I just need to, yet again, change the schedule to better fit our life.

I don't feel that this is a cop-out to just do less. I've looked at what my days have been like this past week and and am pleased with what we are getting done. So far, I have stuck to the plan for the most part. I've done all except going over the scripture verses of Psalm 23 that we're trying to memorize... I hope to get into that next week... and reading at least one library book to the boys daily. I think I've missed 2 days but DH has read to them in the evening and so I think that is just as well. I have been reading daily to them, though, from the Read-Aloud that we're going through and so I am very pleased about that.

So, like I said, I am happy with what we are accomplishing and feel that, rather than be hard on myself about the schedule and possibly quitting it, I am just going to revise it to look more like the days we have been having lately.

My friend, Carrie, from "Our Journey" spoke of my very feelings so well in a recent post she wrote about her days. Here's what she said:

"Our days have found us enjoying a nice little rhythm. I treasure these days. They are simple yet full. School and chores. Training and encouraging. Relying on His wisdom, His grace, each and every minute. Life. Our beautiful, sweet life."

...and my response to her:

"I can SO totally relate to your last paragraph, Carrie!
The days are full here but not in a crazy sort of way... just a nice, simple, beauty-full.
Aren't these days precious and this season of little ones such a gift?
Thank you for this... you've put the feelings of my heart into words of praise to Him who gives so much grace."

To Schedule or Not to Schedule? Well, I think I prefer To Schedule. I just find it adds structure to my days and, so long as it's not too much, gives me a real sense of freedom.

It's good... for me... how 'bout you?

From this day forward... hopefully! :)

2010-02-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

So, I've been going through the school books and making up a bit of a time line for when I would like to have the boys complete their books for the end of this school year. And also for what I would like to accomplish with them, as well, by the end of May.

Why the end of May? Because that's when it finally feels like Spring has officially arrived around here. Most everyone who lives here knows that May 20th (my birthday, btw) is the day that you can finally set out your annuals in the garden without too much fear of frost. And so, to me, it signals the end of one season in my life (homeschooling) and the beginning of another (gardening and outdoor play) for myself as well as my boys. I don't want to have us stuck inside for a moment more than is completely necessary after such a long winter. As soon as the weather warms up... out we go!

It's pretty simple, what I've laid out for them.

First off... Jayden:

Finish Math-U-See Alpha. That's one lesson (one or two pages a day) per week.

Finish Plaid Phonics Level B. That's one or two pages a day.

2 spelling lessons a week will bring us to lesson 50 in Sequential Spelling 1 (a book of 180 lessons... it may take us 2 or 3 years to get through this if we can even stick to it, that is... but that's okay. We'll just take it a year at a time!)

And I would like him to continue to read out loud to me daily.

Second... Marcus:

Finish "A Reason for Handwriting". He'll have no problem with this... He's just learning to print all the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet. He enjoys it and is very meticulous about doing a perfect job.

Finish "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" That's just 2 or 3 lessons a week. He's already on lesson 62 after only just starting in November! This is amazing to me 'cause I had such a struggle with teaching Jayden to read that I wasn't even planning on starting Marcus until next year. But he wanted to try and asked if I would teach him... I wasn't too sure about it so I started out really casually and he just took off like a rocket with it! I am so thrilled!

And for myself:

I would like to be more diligent about reading to the boys daily. That means at least 1 chapter in a Read-Aloud and at least one picture book. I've been really slack about this which a feel terrible about because that was gonna be one of my main focuses for this year... read, read, read to them. And so far I've only completed one small Read-Aloud! Terrible. So my goal is to complete the two books I'm working on right now with them and then to complete at least 3 more, depending on the size of the ones i choose. And I'll keep a record of what we've read in the side bar.

And i would like to continue with our bible memorization of Psalm 23. We started out so strong at the beginning of the year and had committed the first 4 verses to memory and then I stopped! I wish I had just kept going... we only had 2 more verses to go! So, anyway, I would like to work on that with the boys and get it really firm in their memory and maybe, if i get a camera, I will record them and post it here like I did with this one last school year.

So, that's it! Not too difficult! Obviously we'll have lots more casual learning thrown into each day and I'll try to keep in mind to blog about it all, as well.

So how's your school year going and when do you plan to be finished for the summer?
Thanks for reading!

Photos: Adventures of last spring and summer.

February... already?!

2010-02-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe it's been almost a whole year since i was blogging almost daily in this space. We are now into February of my 3rd year of homeschooling! So what has been going on with me?

Well, i started out my school year fresh and excited around mid September with a schedule that i had made up using the guide shown in the book "Managers of their Homes". I went strong for about 3 or 4 weeks and then came crashing down when i went through another miscarriage at 5 weeks pregnant. I left off the homeschooling for about a month after that happened and it just took me that long to get up the ambition to really get back on track again.

So, that brought us to mid November and though i had never got back onto the schedule i had drawn up, we were schooling again 4 days a week. Though we are not accomplishing what i had exactly set out to do for this year, to some degree, i am okay with it. There are only just a few things that i would really like to do more of and so, in order to keep me more accountable, i am going to try to start keeping a bit of a record here again on what we've been doing and also in order for me to try to reach my new goals that i have laid out to complete by the end of this school year which will hopefully be the end of May!

And that's it for now. I will be working on my lists and such tonight and hopefully will have them ready to post for tomorrow.

It's not easy... but it sure is fun!...

2009-11-21T18:38:00.000-08:00

...trying to get a good shot of my three little rascals.
They got "the giggles" and I decided to make the most of it.

Melted in Autumn Beauty

2009-09-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the Autumn colors during craft time today.

Nature gathered in little hands...

placed on wax paper and sprinkled with crayon shavings...

then melted together by hot iron, to be hung in the window for the light to spill through.

:::

Who hasn't enjoyed this craft in their lives?
Even I, as a young girl, made fond memories of this.

today...

2009-09-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

Are your little ones interested in Bugs?

2009-04-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Today we spent about a half hour cuddled up on the couch flipping through this book; "Creepy Crawlies" by Ruth Thomson

We enjoyed it so much! If you've got little ones interested in bugs, this is a GREAT book to look at. A lot of the bugs in the book were common here and so it was really neat to read about them. And we (me, too!) found out how ladybugs change from the egg stage to the adult stage! Fascinating!

Click on the photo to read the words about the ladybugs (or ladybirds) whatever you wanna call them! :o)

Discoveries in Spring.

2009-04-03T07:04:00.001-07:00

The sun was shining brightly (hence the washed out appearance of the following) so we headed outdoors to make some discoveries.

Ladybugs were in abundance amongst the dead leaves in the garden.

Jayden (who took the following pictures) and Marcus found this bee and this centipede.

It was neat to see the antennae of the centipede up close... quite a lot of detail on them!
This may not be the proper name for these... I'm not sure... but it's what we call them, anyway.

Jayden also took pictures of an ant in a hole in the dirt (amazing what they will find if you coax them to look close enough) and a black beetle, both photos of which were too blurry to bother with.

It's so great to get outdoors again in the warm sunshine!

Learning Week Two

2009-03-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

Monday. March 30, 2009
This morning Jayden got started on his Math bright and early and finished up 3 pages. The temperature outside was 1C. and so we decided to go for a walk together to the library. We spent about 1 hour there and came away with an almost "bursting at the seams" book bag. This afternoon, Jayden and I read "Fred and Ted Like to Fly" by Peter Eastman. It's an "I can read it all by myself beginner book"... perfect for the stage that Jayden is at right now in his reading. So I would read one sentence and then he would read the next and so on. And that's about it. Not as much reading today as I would have liked, but the boys spent so much time listening to all the books on tape that they picked up today that I thought I would just leave them be. I hope to start "The Boxcar Children" books soon, though... probably tomorrow...

Tuesday. March 31, 2009

Today I read to the boys the first 5 chapters in "The Boxcar Children" Book 1. Jayden completed the last 3 assignments in lesson 8 of his Math.

And we spent about a half hour together pouring over the pictures in a book that I picked out of the library about extreme weather phenomena. (I've been interested in this after seeing another thing on T.V. about Hurricane Katrina.) It's from DK EYEWITNESS BOOKS called "Hurricane & Tornado" but it's got all sorts of different weather in it and the different ways of tracking it. Very interesting... lots of pictures with little captions beside them. Any picture that the boys asked me about, I would just read the caption. I love teaching this way.

Wednesday. April 1, 2009

Delightful day today. Grocery shopping together this morning... o.k. not that delightful, but it all went smoothly, anyway... and then this afternoon I read out loud 4 more chapters from "The Boxcar Children" after which Jayden and Marcus went outside and spent about an hour collecting rocks and playing with a toy gun that they found.

At around 3:00, we went for a walk across the road to the duck pond. The weather was absolutely bizarre today, sometimes snowing quite a bit, sometimes sunny and sometimes sunny with flurries... really, really magical... and about 0 degrees Celsius all day.

So anyway, I had an awesome time photographing the beauty around me... you can see more here... and getting my boys to search for things like insects, spiders (which I explained are arachnids), feathers or any little splashes of beauty that they would normally miss. I let Jayden have the camera for a bit and, with a bit of coaching about taking close up shots, he managed to capture this!

Isn't it beautiful? I am amazed myself at all the beauty I see by just taking the time to walk slow and peer close. We had so much fun and definitely want to make this almost a daily activity in the future.

Thursday. April 2, 2009
Today we read 3 more chapters in "The Boxcar Children" and Jayden read the entire book of "Fred and Ted like to fly" with only a couple prompts from me! I am SO thrilled! Yes, it helped that we had read it just a couple of days ago... but STILL! For the rest we just spent a lot of time outside peering amongst the leaves and under rocks for life of both the flora and fauna varieties.
I again gave Jayden the camera and he came away with these; centipede, ladybug, ant, black beetle, and sleeping (or dead?) bee. (I'll post the pictures in a separate post...here)

Friday. April 3, 2009
Today Jayden read the whole book of "Hop on Pop" from Dr. Seuss and I finished up the last chapter of "The Boxcar Children" for them. We spent about a half hour cuddled up on the couch flipping through this book; "Creepy Crawlies" by Ruth Thomson

We enjoyed it so much! If you've got little ones interested in bugs, this is a GREAT book to look at. A lot of the bugs in the book were common here and so it was really neat to read about them. And we (me, too!) found out how ladybugs change from the egg stage to the adult stage! Fascinating!

Jayden also spent a lot of time experimenting with tracing paper today. It's really neat to see what he comes up with and he's pretty good at it, too! Hopefully it's giving him lots of confidence in drawing.

Animal School

2009-03-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

My dear blogging friend Carrie @ Our Journey continues to bless me with her friendship, encouragement and loving ways... she sent me this email yesterday:

You have to watch this Katrina - Animal School

I don't know anything about the website that created it, but the clip is awesome. Hope you enjoy!

Love,

Carrie

So I hope you, my readers, will watch it too! I loved it... it was such a delight to watch and really confirmed a lot of what I have been feeling and the photography was beautiful!
Thank you, Carrie!

Learning Week One

2009-03-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

He (my facilitator) told me to keep a journal... a log book, if you will... of our journey through our days of home schooling. Something that I and he can show to the home school board for which Jayden is registered with... something to show them what we are learning amongst our every day lives.

I have done this a bit here... for this was the purpose, in a way, of this blog. But I am going to do it in a more printer friendly format so that I will be able to print it up in order to have something to hand to him if the need arises.

So here I begin:

Wednesday, March 25:
Today we read the first 12 chapters in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl. Now that I feel more free to read the books I choose, I am enjoying reading to my boys again. We had such fun with this... the boys kept begging for more and so I read on and on until my throat couldn't take it anymore. I have never read this book myself, nor watched any of the different movies out there about it, so I was just as fascinated with where the story was taking us. Thank you, my sister Tracy, for letting us borrow it! :o) When we were done. Jayden did a couple of pages from the Math-U-See test booklet on his own and got 100% on both of them! I am so pleased that he is enjoying this curriculum so far. After that, they played play-do and Jayden created this:

Thursday, March 26:
Today the boys experimented with watercolor for the first time. Here is one of the four pictures that Jayden did. I was so impressed!

I also read another 8 chapters from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and Jayden did another 2 pages in his Math booklet. He also drew a picture along with writing a short letter to his Oma (about 2 sentences) and we worked at correcting his spelling errors ... so that she would be able to actually read it! :o)

Friday, March 27:
Today we finished up the last 10 chapters of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and Jayden did 2 more pages of Math. He also read 2 chapters in his reading book "I Can Read It!" book 3. I am so impressed with his reading, lately. It seems that he is really gaining confidence and doesn't have to sound out each and every word anymore. He is beginning to recognize a lot of the words he's learned, by sight. It's been so encouraging to sit and listen to him now and I don't feel like I wanna pull my hair out! :o)

*****

So I think I will just put up a link in the side bar for the week we are working on and update that post as the week progresses.

With a Great Big Sigh of Relief...

2009-03-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

I'm having a hard time writing lately and so I am not gonna try to make this sound perfect... apparently I'm a perfectionist... I'm just gonna type and see where this takes me.

Today I had an appointment with my home school facilitator and when he arrived and sat down at the table, the first thing he asked was, "So how have you been doing so far this year?" I looked at him and immediately felt my throat close and the tears well up. What was I to say?

Should I tell him about the times I haven't even opened my schedule for weeks on end? Should I admit that I was frustrated with the (more often than not) bad attitude of my child? All I said was, "Well... it hasn't really been that great..." and then when asked why, went on to spill out all of the above along with everything else I had been feeling.

He was just so understanding. He just listened, and once I really started talking through a lot of my concerns and what I felt I needed to do about them, I realized that I do know what I am supposed to do when it comes to teaching my child it's just that I don't always do it.

The problem is with me, and if I give up and end up putting my children in school then it is like I have given up on myself. I am learning so much through this whole process of home schooling. I am learning self-sacrifice, patience, understanding, discipline and so many other things. I know these things can be learned outside of home schooling but I feel that this is something that God has laid upon my heart to do and I want to learn to do it with a gentle and quiet spirit.

My biggest problem, I feel, was that I wanted everything to be perfect. I felt that if I couldn't follow the schedule that the curriculum had laid out for me, then I was failing. I was balking at doing some of the things they wanted me to do, because I didn't feel that Jayden was ready for it and as a result I ended up hardly doing anything at all. Without thinking that I was free to change things as I saw fit, instead I felt tied down and began to regret my choices in curriculum.

So he told me to stop...

To put the books away.

If it's not working, don't do it... find something else... find different ways to teach. Find the things that Jayden does well and expand on them. Find the things that we love to do together and do them.

Really??? It sounded so easy, it was like a light bulb moment. I found myself taking deep breaths and sighing in relief.

(three bookworms in a row. Spring 2007)

Well, I know what we love to do together. READ. I must admit that since I started feeling bogged down with the curriculum (the Sonlight schedule had me reading a couple books that were such a bore to me and for which I felt were too advanced for Jayden) that I had stopped reading almost altogether to my boys. It was just no fun anymore.

But this is the one thing that is most important to me as a home school mom... TO TEACH MY CHILDREN THAT READING IS FUN, SHOWING THEM BY EXAMPLE, AND TO HAVE THEM LEARN TO LOVE TO READ.

So this is where I am going to begin.... again. Back to basic, you might say. I'm just gonna read to them, lots and lots of books.

Jayden has also begun to take a real interest in drawing... I want to expand on that... I have always loved to draw... maybe I can sit with him and we can draw together... I can get books that teach how to draw and use them myself... who knows, maybe by watching me, he will have an interest as well.

I find that teaching is the most fun when I am learning right along with them. Does that make sense? I am learning what I am teaching and teaching what I am learning.

He has also begun to do a lot of writing on his own and I am going to continue to encourage him in this by giving him little hints or suggestions... by helping him more with his spelling... teaching him to correct his mistakes and showing him the satisfaction of doing his very best. I have been tentative to do this so far because I was just so thrilled that he was trying that I didn't want to squash his creativity by pointing out things that were wrong. But I feel like I have more confidence now, after getting ideas from my facilitator, in knowing how to gently coax him in the right direction.

(At the computer. December 2008)

And I was told that it's okay to let Jayden learn on the computer, if that is something he enjoys. Well, he does enjoy it... very much. Probably because I only let him have a very limited time on it... one hour... every second day or so. He has only games that include learning such as math, phonics, science, spelling, etc. And so I am gonna see if I can find ones that are more for his level and start to think of his computer time as part of his schooling.

I am gonna continue with Math-U-See as we are both enjoying it and he seems to really be catching on.

Another thing I am going to work on is family virtues. I have ordered the book, "A Family Virtues Guide" by Linda Popov from our library and hope to begin using it... if it's any good...
I hope it is, for I have felt strongly that in order to have a successful and fulfilling family life, these things need to be addressed first and foremost.

(planting a vegetable garden spring 2007)

I am finally beginning to be excited about this journey of home schooling again and especially about the approach of Spring and warmer weather so that we can get out in the fresh air for the majority of our learning.

Well, that is sorta where I am at, right now. I must say that I feel huge relief about all of this. I am so thankful for a wonderful facilitator who understands and who is so supportive and encouraging.

I know this is a bit messy and all over the place, with sentences that barely make sense, but I am not gonna stress about it, I just wanted to get all my thoughts out and down before I forgot what it is I was thinking.

And nobody says I have to be perfect, right?

Simple Outdoor Play...

2009-03-18T11:35:00.001-07:00

... in the dirt that is our backyard right now.

It seems that it is slowly warming up... could this be the end of winter???

Now if that cold wind would just die down maybe I would dare to venture out as well instead of taking pictures through the windows from the warmth of inside!

The Joy of Classical Music...

2009-03-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is what my boys spent a bunch of time doing this morning...

Listening to this CD about Ludwig van Beethoven.

This is about the only thing we are doing for music this year. I try to have classical music going in our home as often as I think of it. I would like to put Jayden into piano lessons in the near future as he is showing a real interest and knack for it. But for now... they are just listening.

When I was a little girl we had this same CD in our home and I remember listening to it spellbound over and over again. There is something so hauntingly beautiful about it and I still tend to stop what I am doing to sit and listen in the same way as my childhood self. I absolutely love the music of Beethoven... he is among my very favorites of all time, and I hope to instill that same love for classical music in my own children.

Have you ever heard this CD? I know there are other "Classical kids"CD's but this one is by far my favorite?

Who's your favorite?

Simple indoor play...

2009-03-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

... amongst the land of felt dinosaurs.

Meeting the Mollusks

2009-03-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

Continuing with my theme from the last post (I am really loving this casual way of 'schooling') I read these two books to the boys this afternoon.

A couple of weeks ago, Jayden came to me and asked what family snails were a part of and I had to admit that I didn't have a clue but I said, "Why don't we try to find out!" So we went on our library's web site and I let him choose a couple of books to order in.

They were both so full of wonderful information about the different kinds and about how to keep them as pets. We learned that they are mollusks which are animals with no backbones.

I felt the boys' backs to show them where their backbones were and then they wanted to feel mine and having done so, Jayden reported that I was not a mollusk... for which I am thankful! *grin* I don't really like slugs. Snails, I don't mind, but you won't get me to touch either even though the boys are all excited for summer so they can get out and capture some of these slimy little creatures!

It's kinda neat to read to the children and be learning right along with them. I love how they have shown such interest and that it was so simple to get the information just from a trip to the library.

*photo: Marcus loves books*

No School?... I think not.

2009-03-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

We haven't been home schooling for 3 weeks now... not "officially" anyway... due to packing and moving, unpacking and having my parents visit. But, boy, have the boys been having fun with their imaginations!

Jayden put together this puppet show a couple weeks ago all on his own, making the puppets out of brown paper lunch bags, setting up the "stage" with his blankets, and the audience with a brother and stuffed animals.

I love it when they play like this... brings back wonderful childhood memories of when I played like this myself with my siblings.

Just a few other things that come to mind to remind me that "formal" schooling is not always necessary;

- they got to fully experience what it is like to pack and move and unpack. I let them help carry boxes and unpack things into the new house.

- they got to spend quality and quantity time with their grandparents. Mom took all three of them down to the pond this week and they discovered a stream from all the melting snow leading to the water with a bridge of frozen snow spanning a section of it. They got out little sticks and raced them under the bridge and had so much fun just being outdoors and playing. I was sorry to miss it but also thankful that I wasn't there for their sakes for I would have been all over them with my camera and probably fretting that they were getting so muddy. But mom is so good about it, she just let them play and she said that on their way back to the house, the boys thanked her (all on their own) for taking them on a walk! I was so pleased about that, that they had such good manners, it really surprised me.

- Jayden has been doing a lot of writing and drawing all on his own lately. I wonder if it is because I am not pressuring him during the day to do "workbooks". A couple of days ago he wrote a letter to his Oma and Opa to thank them for coming. He has been writing grocery lists for me, wish lists for himself and stories about what he has been up to lately. I am so amazed! And then just yesterday I gave him an old drawing pad that had about 10 pages left in it and he wrote a whole book about space crafts and other vehicles... with titles and pictures on each page. It took him a big part of the morning and he is so proud of it... so am I.

- and of course I can't forget to mention the building of the air crafts I blogged about a couple days ago!

Anyway, just wanted to encourage myself that, although we've had this long break, we've still really been learning lots.

On Monday, I do want to try to start in again on my schedule for this year... hopefully it's not too hard to get back into routine.

The Building of Aircrafts

2009-03-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my Mom and Dad came out from B. C. for a visit. They stayed in our home and we had such a special and relaxing time with them. The boys had so much fun spending time with their Oma and Opa.

My mom is so good with the boys, they had a couple of models that they had been wanting to make for quite some time and we just never got around to helping them with it so she sat down with them one afternoon while Allan was napping and guided them through the whole process!

I was so pleased to not have to be a part of it (I don't really enjoy doing that kind of thing) and they were so thrilled with what they made.

So we'll see how long they last... the important thing as that they now have a beautiful memory of special moments spent with their Oma.

Puzzling...

2009-02-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

Allan, my youngest child who just turned 3 in October, is addicted to puzzling. Just this one puzzle, though, no others. He will sit here and lay it over and over again. It's the first thing he wants to do in the morning and when he wakes up from his nap and when he's done, he breaks it up and starts over! He lays it at least 10 times a day! ... I wonder how long this will last... it sure keeps him occupied and I'm lovin' it!

I am amazed that he has caught on to this so fast. He didn't just start with 6 or 8 piece puzzles, no, he went straight to this and figured it out all by himself! Granted, he had watched Jayden and Marcus in the past with other puzzles but still!

Can you believe it? This is a 24 piece puzzle!

It is amazing what they will all pick up if they only have someone to watch and learn from. And maybe it is not that surprising to most...

maybe it's just 'cause he's my baby and I still think of him as such...

The Fun of New Words...

2009-02-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

We got these leap pads for the boys a year ago and after months of them being in storage, I took them out again and they are thrilled.

They are spending hours on them and are learning so many things. I just love how entertaining they are for the boys. Definitely a worthwhile gift!

I am noticing, as well, that their vocabulary is growing by leaps (no pun intended ;o) and bounds as a result of them using these wonderful toys. I have been getting such a laugh out of the interesting words they come up with...

Just today Marcus said as he came into the room, "Bust my buffers!" I'm sure he got that from the Thomas the Tank Engine book, and I guess it was a result of him being surprised about something.

Then, just this evening, he says to me as he's gazing into the bread maker, "Mom, look the bread is ready! See how nice and PLUMP it is?" Plump? Where'd he get that from?! So cute, hubby and I laughed so hard. And then a little while later he was in the kitchen by himself looking for something and he says, "I'm puzzled". PUZZLED!? That's quite the word for a 5 year old, I think!

Anyway, it gave us a good laugh and I wanted to record it here to remember what a joy they can be when they're trying out fun new words. *smile*

Book Love and Memories...

2009-02-11T10:08:00.000-08:00

We went to my sister, Tracy's, home yesterday to help her with some tidying up. Well, she got me to organize her childrens books ( how many do you have, Tracy? I estimated about 5 hundred... and that's just for young children). Anyway... what a treasure trove of books she has!!! I was thrilled to come across some that I have not seen since childhood. She let me take a few home for the boys and we spent a large part of the afternoon looking through them and reading them together.

Here is Marcus looking through the book, "The Adventures of Brer Rabbit". He is my child that will spend hours looking at pictures in books, the other two boys love to do this, too, but Marcus does it the most by far. I absolutely love books that have detailed pictures in them... the kind where a child will literally spend minutes looking at each page 'cause there's just so much to see.

This old, old book is called, "The Biggest Bear" and somewhere is the recesses of my memory, I recall reading this book or having it read to me as a child. (Do you know anymore about this, Tracy? ... Or mom?...) I read this to the boys and I was just as inthralled, I'm sure, as they were... it must have been something to do with my memories to have made me enjoy reading it to them so much...

And this book is called "Bruno the Bear" by W. G. Vandehulst. My mother read these books to us as children and it has given me such wonderful memories to have found this one again... one of my favorites. I am gonna read this one to the boys this afternoon and am excited about it, for my own sake! :o)

I am supposed to be reading "The Greek Myths" to my boys, right now, according to the Sonlight Curriculum schedule but I think I'm gonna do this instead. Somehow I just can't seem to get excited about those Greek Myths... maybe my boys would love them and I may eventually read them to them one at a time, but it just doesn't feel right for their ages, right now.

Do any of you do Sonlight? What did you think about that book?

Anyway, this is just a reminder to myself of how important it is to read to my boys... I have such a wealth of wonderful memories and love of books because my mother read to me and I really, really want to remember the importance of passing this down to my own boys.

What are some of your favorite childhood books and memories?

The Eyes Have It...

2009-02-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

Marcus at the age of one
with the comfort of his thumb and his "blankie".

Love, love, love his deep blue eyes!

Some of my favorites...

2009-01-25T18:26:00.000-08:00

Just a glimpse into our life...
Which one of the 14 do you like best?

fPhoto Friday

2009-01-23T06:46:00.000-08:00

We'll be taking a sick day today. After a week of Marcus and Allan coughing and such with bronchitis, Jayden has it now too. Not bronchitis, thankfully, just a really bad virus that causes coughing and sore throat. So he's pretty miserable.

This picture was taken 3 years ago (at age 4) and the caption that I wrote next to it in my memory manager was this:

"In this picture Jayden claimed that he felt like he was going to die (he had fever and ear ache) so he asked me to take a picture of him. Isn't that crazy!? He must have been feeling pretty awful!"

:::

One thing we did do at the doctor's office, though, while waiting in the waiting room was that I read to them from the "read-aloud" that we are working on with our Sonlight Curriculum. That's one thing I really like about Sonlight, that I can still read to them even when they are sick and they love it when we cuddle together like that.

:::

For more fPhoto Friday go see Natalie @ Married to the Preacher.

Marcus does "School" too...

2009-01-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

now that he just turned five.

:::

For more Wordless Wednesday go visit 5 minutes for mom.

A Trip to the Lab.

2009-01-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to the lab yesterday, the 3 boys and I, a blood test was needing to be done.
I tried to assure the boys that it would not hurt while explaining to them exactly what was going to happen.
Jayden was convinced that he did not want to watch and so I told him that was fine, he could wait in the waiting area just around the corner.

But when my number was called, they all trooped in after me and sat down in the chair on my left to watch what would happen. Jayden was looking a little white and I tried to tell him again that he didn't need to watch but instead of leaving the room, he just stepped back a few steps and looked on from a distance.

The "lab guy" was really nice and when I told him I home schooled he asked if the boys wanted to hold the viles of blood he was taking from me so as to feel how warm my blood was. He explained what he was doing and answered a few of their questions. He took 3 of those little tubes of blood out of my arm and then pronounced me good to go. However...

the next time I looked up at Jayden he was as white as a sheet and told me he felt like he had to throw up... seems to me he just couldn't stand feeling the warmth of my blood, much less the thought of all that blood coming out of me and he also really does not like needles after a freezing incident when he had to get his fingers stitched up last year. Thankfully he didn't throw up and all ended just fine. But, boy, did he have a story for Daddy when he got home!

I just thought it was kinda neat that they got to see what a lab was like and that the lab technician was so friendly and willing to talk to the boys.
A great home school experience, don't you think?

:::

Photos taken from google images of laboratories.

Memory Verse for this Week

2009-01-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

"For I know the plans I have for you"
declares the Lord, "
plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

:::

For more Word Filled Wednesday, check out the 160 acre woods.

Well, we did it...

2009-01-16T16:18:00.000-08:00

We took the plunge into the math-u-see and it went really well!

This is what Jayden did today.
Can you tell me which number this is below?

Right, 133...
that's how many days left until the summer break...

Math-U-See

2009-01-15T18:10:00.000-08:00

My DH made this chart for our Math-U-See curriculum last night. I'm not sure how he made it, I think he used laminate, but it's good and strong and the boys can crawl all over it without fear of breaking it or crumpling it, unlike when it was just the paper chart that came with the package.

I'm so happy with it and the boys have been having lots of fun this morning building everything BUT numbers.

I have been struggling with getting my head wrapped around the whole curriculum and so far this year we have only done one lesson. (Gasp! I know! Bad me!) But that's the truth.
After the first lesson I did back in October ( I was originally doing Horizon's Math but I thought the manipulatives with Math-U-See would be better for him), I was excited, but the next day when I took out the blocks to do it again, Jayden says in his whiny, grumpy voice, "I don't want to do blocks!" When I said, "why?" he says, "because it's math!"
I tell you, I was so discouraged that I haven't looked at it since... until now.

A couple nights ago when I admitted my qualms to my hubby it helped so much... just to just be able to talk it out... and I feel like maybe I can try again.

Now I just have to get down and actually do it without thinking about it so much! It know it really is not a difficult curriculum. I'm just this way with many things that I start... I don't want to do it wrong so I hesitate to do it at all.

So...tomorrow, yup, I'm gonna start tomorrow... really I will!

I'll let you know how it goes... maybe!

They notice these things...

2009-01-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

Out on the icy pond today, Marcus and Jayden were making big discoveries...

A boot print in the snow reveals the imprint of a butterfly.

This, Marcus said, is a sea anemone. And this? Well, this is...

A starfish of course!

I am always amazed at the wonder that children find in the little things. Things that I would normally pass by and not even notice.

I am so thankful that my children pointed out the beauty of the ice to me today...

we had such fun peering into its frozen depths.

Daddy and Dr. Suess

2009-01-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

Most evenings this is what I get to enjoy... Daddy reading a bed time story to the boys.

Then he pours them all a glass of milk, brushes their teeth and sends each of them to me for a hug and kiss goodnight.
Then he tucks them all in with a prayer and a song and hugs and kisses of his own.
I am so thankful that he gives this special time to the boys at the end of the day when I am just too tired to try to make it special myself.

Does it get any better than this?

At the Free Skate

2009-01-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

We've been taking Jayden and Marcus to the free skate here in our little town every chance we get in order to finally teach them to skate.

We have had much success with Jayden as he is such a go-getter. The first time we had told him that we were going to take him skating he figured that he would just run out onto the ice like the NHL players on T. V..
Boy, did he have a bit of a surprise when he fell flat on his back! But he got up immediately and promptly fell right back down again. Then he looked up at me in a sort of confused way and I felt so sorry for him but it was hardly no time at all before he got the hang of it and went stumbling off by himself.
He still does more stepping than gliding but he is getting better and faster... all he really want's is speed and I'm sure he'll get there in no time!

Now, Marcus, on the other hand, is a different story! He is not inclined to learn at all and we really need to coax him.
If he happens to be in a bad mood, he'll still skate, but with a supreme scowl on his face. As if to say, "I can't believe I'm actually learning this."
So we just get him to skate back and forth between the benches with a rest in between each length.

It is amazing how different each child is and I have to remember that although Marcus isn't much of a go-getter in sports, he still has his strong points... it will be interesting to see the path he takes with his life.

Reindeer Puppet

2008-12-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot of coloring, cutting and gluing
going on around here lately.
This is what we did this morning:

After coloring all the pieces, Jayden cut them all out and now he's gluing them onto a paper lunch bag.

And here's the finished product!

We also made these boxes together the other day.
Excellent practice in folding! : )

You can find both of these crafts online here and here.

Have fun!

Making Play dough

2008-12-19T13:00:00.001-08:00

And what does this have to do with school? Well, I'm sure most of you know but I'm gonna write it out anyway for my own sake. : )

We talked about measurements while Jayden was putting the ingredients together.

We talked about mixing colors when we were deciding which color to make the play dough.
Ex. What color does blue mixed with yellow make?

GREEN!

Then I put him to work mixing it all together and rolling it out. I don't know what he was all learning during that process (any suggestions?) but sometimes homeschooling is like that... they learn whether you are actually talking to them about something specific or not.... I hope... : )

Photos were taken on Jayden's birthday, Dec. 9.

Once Upon a Time...

2008-12-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

This morning Jayden wanted to go on the computer right after breakfast and so I said to him. "Well, why don't you get your phonics page done and then you'll be all set to have fun for the rest of the day." So he went and got his phonics page (without complaining... can you believe?) and when I read him the directions he got right down to work and this is what he came back with a half hour, or so, later!

Can you believe this? All on his own he formed these sentences and even got the periods all in the right places. (I didn't say anything about the spelling because I DO NOT want to discourage him in anyway at all).
Well, this is quite something... I am so proud of him and really feel like we're making some progress here... yeah!

So, yes....as you read in Jayden's story, this is what we did this past Saturday afternoon from 3:45 to 5:45. We got a snorkel thing-y for Jayden and the boys had so much fun. Marcus learned how to swim with a life jacket on, and Jayden became so brave that he was actually doing flips off the diving board (with a life jacket on, of course, but still!)

And Allan's favorite part was the kiddie pool... Of course!

When we were done swimming we went to McDonalds for dinner... Yuck... but the kids loved it, and that's what really counts during times like this anyway, right?

Jayden's "book"

2008-12-16T14:10:00.000-08:00

Back when I was cutting out pictures from magazines for my homemaking journal, Jayden decided he wanted to make a book, too, so he found these pictures, cut them out and glued them down. Then he came up with the words all on his own and tried his best to print them out.

The only word he asked for help on was the word "powerful" . Otherwise , I'm pretty impressed with the fact that he took the initiative to do this all on his own.

It sure helps when he doesn't think of a project as having anything to do with "school".

Are your children the same way?

So, what do you think is the title of this book? Can you make it out in the first picture? : )

I'm not so sure about right now, but....

2008-12-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

I know "I'm Gonna Miss This" when my children are grown and my house is silent.

Yesterday the children, (I was babysitting my niece), decided to get up a whole drum band. That's what they are doing with the butter knives... banging them on the chairs while a CD of "Barney" was being blasted in the back ground. (Maybe I should have taken video footage of this instead?)

Oh no, that's right, I didn't want to "drive you up the wall" like I was being at that moment... I guess that's why the picture is on a slant, eh?... 'cause I was half way up the wall when I took it! (grin)

You just gotta love those "Barney, the purple dinosaur" songs... NOT!

Anyway, like I said, I do know I'm gonna miss this someday and then I'll be longing for noise, any noise probably, to break the endless silence in my home.

Check out more of these moments over at Pam's blog!

Books we've enjoyed this week:

2008-12-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

It's been a good week for reading stories together: I'm not always the most diligent at this, though I know that it is extremely important. Anyway, here is a picture of the books we've read through this week, so far...The "Poky little puppy"... truly a classic. Need I say more? (Thanks for letting us borrow it, Tracy!)

"Alphabeasts"... this is the second time we've got this from the library and I enjoy looking through it just as much as the boys, I think so anyway! The pictures in here are very entertaining!

"Food for thought"... this has been a wonderful book for Allan and Marcus to learn about colors, numbers, shapes, opposites, and letters. Again the pictures are very entertaining and I admit I've looked through it by myself a time or two! (grin)

"Bone button borscht"... almost exactly like "Stone Soup".

"Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka"... a story about laziness.

"Miss Rumphius"... a story about making the world a more beautiful place. I really enjoyed this one, too.

"The Bravest Bear Ever"... I didn't really like this one. It was confusing to read and confusing for the boys, as well. The story just kinda jumped all over.

"Strega Nona"... I don't really recommend this one either. The story was fine but it was too advanced for my boys' ages. When I asked them what they thought of the story, they both said, "I don't know". Goes to show, they didn't fully understand it.

"Mystery Mansion"... Again, a beautiful book for looking at pictures. It's got lots of "look and find" things in it and is a great interactive book to look in with your children.

We also finished up the book, "Mr. Popper's Penguins". Wonderful book... very enjoyable to read and the boys loved it!

So, have you read any of these? Which was your favorite?

If you want to see the books up close just click on the picture.

2008-12-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

Jayden drew a picture of his thoughts about his birthday.
Pretty exciting!... He's 7 now, you know.

We made a cake together this afternoon and he picked out
the colors of icing that he wanted and
explained how he wanted me to decorate it.
We had a lot of fun ...

Not only making it but eating it as well! :o)

Happy Birthday, dear boy.

Tracks in the Snow

2008-12-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

I sent Jayden out this afternoon with the camera to see if he could find any animal tracks in the newly fallen snow. This is what he came back inside with about 15 minutes later...We figure these are rabbit tracks of a rabbit coming towards us. See the back two prints side by side?

Then I came across this picture and he calmly said, "that's a moose track". I looked at him and exclaimed, "Jayden where did you find these?!" "Outside over there", he says, pointing towards the front yard. I was a little confused thinking they might be the tracks of a deer but I could hardly believe it would have been so near the road.

As I am exclaiming and peering at the picture I happen to glance up and see a slow grin beginning on his face and then realize that he has fooled me and fooled me good! Turns out he made that track with his hand and then took a picture of it! ... the little bugger.

Anyway I thought that was pretty imaginative of him and he was pretty proud of himself for fooling me so thoroughly! :o)

Here are a couple more shots he got of cat tracks.

All in all I thought it was a pretty good lesson in finding out what animals make what tracks. Even if it was only two different animals! :o) A fun way to learn, don't you think?

Connecting the K'nex

2008-12-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

Jayden received a box of K'nex blocks in his stocking this morning and promptly got down to work in putting it all together.

These are great educational toys...
They not only help with motor skills or reading instructions, they also help him understand how things are built, how wheels are able to turn and all sorts of things.

He had a bit of trouble putting the plane together so I worked with him through it but while I was busy blogging on my other blog he came to me and showed me that he had put the truck together all on his own! He was so proud... so I just had to take a picture!

They say this box is for ages 5+ but even I found it a bit difficult to read the instructions at times so I was very impressed that he was able to figure out the truck without my help at all!

Where We're At...

2008-12-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

Where we're at right now in our Sonlight Curriculum Core 1:

Week 10. - Four Day Schedule.

We have the book, "A Child's History of the World" but I have chosen not to study it in depth with Jayden. I just really don't think he needs to know all that they have in that book at this stage in his life.

I am not following the "Bible" part of it except to do the memorization together and we are one week behind on that. My hubby reads the Bible with us at every meal time so I haven't followed what the curriculum has asked us to read.

For "Reading" we are up to date (Week 10). Jayden has completed the first "I Can Read It!" book and I am really impressed with his improvement. When he was finished the last chapter he cut out the certificate at the back of the book, wrote his name on it and hung it on the fridge. He was so proud of himself! However. He still complains daily about having to read, but he is catching on amazingly well despite all of his whining. Any suggestion on what works to curb the whining??? Besides bribery.

And for everything else in the curriculum we are up to date (Week 10). We are very much enjoying reading "Mr. Popper's Penguins"!

But really, if things would have gone according to what I had set out to do at the beginning of the school year (September 1st) we would be on Week 14 and we would be happily cruising along enjoying this year to the full! Doesn't that sound wonderful and dreamy? I know!

However, we are one whole month behind and that's just this part of it... what about MATH???

Well, I'm not quite ready to go there yet... I'll save that for another post... some...time...

About the Moon

2008-12-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

On a recent trip to the library I picked out this book for the boys
and I finally got around to reading it to them this afternoon
when the school work was done.
I can't believe what a wonderful book this is!If you want to teach your child about the different phases of the moon this is a fun way to do it.
Some of the pages have flaps that you can open up and the middle page opens up like this...
so that they can see how big and round a full moon is. I really enjoyed it myself and afterward we talked about where the moon is at right now (thanks to the "moon phase thing-y" I added to this blog just this morning!) and I asked them what their favorite kind of moon was and Marcus pipes up, "A QUARTER moon!" I thought that was quite the word for such a little guy! (smile)

Anyway, great book. Just keep it away from little 3 year old hands or you'll be dealing with a few ripped pages... they aren't the greatest at opening the flaps carefully! (grin)

Santa Craft

2008-12-02T07:18:00.000-08:00

Jayden did this craft last week all on his own. I am impressed with the improvement of his cutting skills. All I had to do was print the pages off of the computer and he did all the rest with no instruction from me. He even found the brads on his own amongst my scrap booking supplies! When he was all done I poked a hole in the top and put a string in for him and he proudly has it hanging in his bedroom.

I need to remember to find stuff like this for him to do more often. He really enjoyed this!

Adventures in Home Schooling

2008-12-01T14:35:00.001-08:00

I am setting up this blog for the purpose of having
a place to record
my adventures, thoughts,
discouragements and triumphs in this
journey of homeschooling
my 7 yr. old boy, Jayden, with 2 other boys (Marcus 5 and Allan 3)
on the sidelines and sometimes underfoot.

I want to be able to keep a record of things that I have
done each day for homeschooling so that I have something to look back on.
Something that says "This is what we did and did not do,
and this is what we thought about this or that".

So here goes!