Curriculum Review and Update for next year~

I really think our school year went very well considering it was our first official one and we brought home two new littles with no language and experiences... very successful actually.

When I began this home school journey, I really didn't know where we were going or how we would get there.
I just knew God gave me a calling to pull my children into our home and allow them time to become a family of learners.
I knew each one needed time to love each other, learn how to be friends, and be each other's greatest advocate/helper.
 
I had to make a concious effort to make home our school... not bring school into our home {big difference} and huge for a public teacher of 18 years.
I had the priviledge of teaching to my indiviual children's learning style and not the middle of the group.
I chose if we hit the curricululm hard or maybe needed a slow free day of art/music/nature. 
I gave myself time to grow and learn from my own children... boy have they taught and taught and taught.

I do not take this time lightly~ I am savoring every moment {even the ones when the girls are trying to read, the boys are too loud, and little bit is in a crying fit on the floor}. 
    {First day of school}

2012-2013

Our curriculum choices were pretty strong:

Bible~ read through 3 different ones and wrote in notebooks

BFIAR & FIAR~ Loved the book/activity format

Writing~ wrote in journals all year

Grammar/Language~ First Language Lessons 1    

Reading~ first semester All About Reading, second Henry and Mudge, Annie and Snowball, now Pinky and Rex, Ivy and Bean. 

Spelling~ All About Spelling 

Explode the Code ~ Level 1, 1a, 2

Math~ Math U See: Primer and Alpha

{Last day of school!}

Next Year:
EK~ 2nd and SJ~ K

Bible~ (Both) Leading Little Ones to God

Switching to Beautiful Feet {History through Literature} (Both)~ Early American History ... EK and SJ have LOVED learning the states and presidents so much I think they will LOVE this curriculum!

Grammar/Language (EK)~ First Language Lessons Level 2

Writing (EK)~ Writing with Ease Level 2 

(SJ)~ Writing in journal again

Reading (EK)~ continue reading level with various books

(SJ)~ BOB books

Spelling (EK)~ Spelling Workout Level B 

Explode the Code (EK) 2 and 2 1/2, 3

(SJ) 1 and 1 1/2

Math~ Math U See (EK) Alpha

(SJ) Primer

 

The Cat in the Hat Crew~

We are celebrating Read Across America Week anticipating Dr. Seuss' birthday on Saturday~

“Look at me!

Look at me!
Look at me NOW!
It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat 

For a look at our very FUN day, click on the link below...
Growing Whole Hearts 

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree~

Our book for today was Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree.  A darling story of how snipping off the top of a tree many times can make someone's Christmas a little brighter. As we were reading, the littles noticed how the same thing kept happening over and over and at the end was back right where it had begun. {Circular Story} I had the story pieces all ready to go for sequencing but because they noticed the circle, I decided to switch it up and record on a paper plate.

  I numbered the plate with 1-7 and we retold the story gluing pieces around the edge. I pulled out paper and sequins to create Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree in the middle. Talked about how writing the story in a circle made it interesting and SO fun!

WP wanted a pic of his masterpiece. :)

Angels We Have Heard on High~

We have really loved using Truth in the Tinsel for Bible time this month. Today our story was about the angels. We wrote in our bible journals and made beautiful angels~

 Go HERE for a tutorial.

Luke 2:14
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Writing Strategy~

As fine motor continues to strengthen and SJ/WP practice writing, it is sometimes hard for them to concentrate on all the mechanics of the skill:

pencil grip, formation of letters, upper/lowercase, etc.

I get an email each day from Dr. Jean with lots of early childhood ideas and last week found a super idea to help with formation of letters. For

Hang Your Bottoms Down  (Melissa Miller)

A  B  C  D  E  F  G - G?

Hang your bottoms down, down.

Hang your bottoms down.

Some letters stand tall.

Some sit on the ground.

But hang those bottoms down, down!

 

For SJ this was huge but not because of this song.

 I had taught her the lines as sky, clouds, and ground. If she writes a t, I say it touches the sky. If she writes an a, I say it sits on the ground and touches the clouds. If she writes a y, I say hang the bottom down. Saying this one thing was SO funny to her, it completely changed her writing. :)

Sometimes it just takes the smallest of ideas to make the lightbulb come on.

Right now I am just calling attention to my letters written and asking her if they are high, ground, or hang bottoms letters. She loves this game and also starting to pay attention to some of her formations as well.

Good job SJ! 

  

Thankful to be a Teacher~

Next to God and Scott there is nothing I love more than my children and would do anything in the world for them!!! Being a mom is the greatest calling I have and right after that is being a teacher.

 I always knew I would be a teacher even though I didn't go into college on that track. In the midst of several major changes, God showed me I was gifted to educate. 

My grandmother was a teacher. 

My mom was a teacher. 

I am a teacher and Savannah is a teacher... sort of runs in our family. :)

Over the last days I have held my children close as have all of you I am sure and whispered thankful thoughts to God. 

I am thankful God chose teaching for me!

I am thankful I have taught in some of the best schools in the country!

I am thankful for all the friends I have made through teaching (fellow teachers, administrators, and parents)! 

I am thankful for every! single! student! I have ever taught and LOVED! 

And now I am thankful God has called me to teach my little ones at home each day!

This is where we spend our days together~

 Nestled together usually on the floor talking, reading, laughing, and learning. Not too much different from my classroom days. Scott used to say if he loved his job half as much as I did, he would have it made. 

As I reflect on the Sandy Hook School tragedy, I am so proud of the teachers there and their choice to love their children so well. I can well imagine their pain and continually pray for the parents of the lost ones. There are just no words. God bless them all in this time of grief! I pray His richest blessing on that community, every school, and every home where children are educated.

Thankful to be a teacher! 

 

 

The Pine Tree Parable~

Today we read The Pine Tree Parable for our storytime~

 Our Art project was our very own beautiful pine trees.

I showed them an example, drew a swirl tree in pencil, and they traced with paint.

I gave them lots of items to use for decorating:

foam shapes, glitter paint, puff paint, sequins, glitter glue.

They loved the finished product.

2 Corinthians 8:9

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

  

Poem Work~

My s-i-l gave me such a great suggestion for EK from her teaching experience as a 3rd grade teacher.

I found a poem online, printed it, and we worked on reading at first.

Echo reading is one of our favorites and she had it down quickly.

I cut and taped it to her journal, made a couple of categories, and she began color coding nouns/verbs then recording them.

   Thank you Amy for the awesome idea!!!

Language and Spelling~

Our language curriculum has been a very good choice for us this year. We are about 3/4s through First Language Lessons. Both girls have a firm foundation so we continue along. Each day the lesson gives you a written activity and I have EK complete in her journal.

Today we reviewed all we have learned about nouns and our new info about verbs. We put them on the wall and EK used a pointer to read. Both girls wrote the definition of a verb in their journals then decided on a verb to illustrate/write about.

  

Later in the morning I was working with EK using our new Spelling curriculum and had her code some of the words to connect back to our language lesson: Box the proper nouns, circle the common nouns, and squiggly line under the verbs. She did really well with spelling and grammar coding!!!

SJ just enjoyed drawing on her board... awesome!

Cranberry Christmas~

We began our day reading from our Advent Chapter book Jotham's Journey, then our Truth in the Tinsel reading/ornament, and also from our Jesus Storybook Bible. 

 

The littles LOVED Cranberry Thanksgiving, we HAD to have Cranberry Christmas too.

A lovely story we will enjoy reading every day this week~

 One of the characters in the story is Mr. Whiskers and boy does he have whiskers. I asked them if they knew anyone else this time of year that has big whiskers... SANTA!

That lead into our art activity for the day~ Santa Wind Socks.

Need:

1 8x12 white paper

1/4 sheet 8x12 red paper

1/2 sheet 8x12 pink paper.

~ Glue red to top of white (hat)

~ Glue pink right under red (face)

~ Cut fringe on the bottom white and roll with pencil to make whiskers

~ Add wiggly eyes, pom pom nose, smile, cotton

~ Staple into a wind sock and add hanger   

Just so you know, we always do things like I just shared in addition to our reading/writing/math curriculum.