Week 10, Sept. 30, 2012

In my life this week:  Last Sunday, we woke up to find that our pig (being raised for meat), delivered five little piggies.  They aren't for keeping!  So, the plan is to hang on to Momma-pig until the babies are weaned, then we'll keep one to raise next.  The boys are going to sell the other four to add to their savings accounts.  (I know how cute this picture appears to you, but the Momma was trapped in the wild, and she's extremely mean.  We are not attached.)

 People we're seeing:  We had a friend and his one-year old brother over on Monday, to include school time.  We did just the most important stuff, and the boys all played hard for the rest of the day. 


Places we're going:  Tuesday, we had a field trip to the Old Florida Historical Museum in St. Augustine, FL, the oldest city in America.





This is Thoughtful's Native Florida Timuquan Warrior Face.














And then, Spunk, as the Pioneer child in the Old Schoolhouse.









Saturday, we had Thoughtful's first baseball game!  He was so cute with the jitters in his new uniform.  I was terribly nervous for him, but he seemed cool as a cucumber.  He's learning the nuances of the game, but he's pretty good.  He was at-bat only once, and he had a great hit straight out over first base.  He made it to first, and the coach mistakenly told him to keep running to second base.  Thoughtful ended up out, but he had brought another kid in for a run.  Thoughtful listened well, doing exactly what he was supposed to.  His team won!

In our Homeschool this week:

In Science:  Last week, we studied caves and caverns.  Part of that study was about stalactites, stalagmites, and columns.  We set up this speleothem on Sunday night, and by Monday morning we had a stalactite. 










By afternoon, a full column appeared.  We've watched it all week long, and it appears a little thicker everyday.    The kids have been measuring the water level, and ooh-ing and aahh-ing all week.











This week, we studied volcanoes, and followed up the lesson with the oldie-but-goodie vinegar and baking soda eruption.

In Spanish:  We played a Pictionary-style game with the list of words that we've recently learned.  The boys against me.  It was fun, and I was surprised to see how much they've remembered.  We had lots of giggles playing this one and made memories.

In Nature Study:  We noticed some leaves falling around our neck of the woods.  The kids each chose a few, and drew them in their journals.  They each wrote an acrostic too!  Here is Spunk's journal.

Thoughtful is learning to/about:  skip counting by 9, verbs, writing a paragraph, and North Carolina.  He's also finished Level One in All About Spelling.  He read a Magic Tree House book about earthquakes.  This is nice since earthquakes are next up in our Science.

Spunk is learning to/about:  adding by 8, six new digraphs, rhyming words, opposites, and nickels.  He read a K12 phonics reader, and a few other books from the library.

My favorite moment this week:  Friday, some Mommas from our co-op came over for "planning." We discussed some plans, ate some super yummy food, had homemade pumpkin spice lattes  (recipe here), and one sweet friend treated us to pedicures!! I was so thankful for the Mom-time, and the love for my feet! 

I'm praying about:  a friend who has much strife in her marriage right now.

What's working for us:  sticking to our routine when possible.

What's not working for us:  too much running around, keeping us away from home.  I also need a better plan for Bible teaching for the kids.  I'd like something more than just our devotional time.

I'm desiring:  Story of The World.  I know that we don't need it, but I desperately want to give it a try.  I do wish that it was in the budget.  I really, really need to get over it!

Coming up next:  We are taking off this week from school.  I'm hoping to each day wisely to catch up, prepare and plan, clean out, and just refresh before starting the next six weeks.  I want to get all of those little things done, that I never seem to have time for.  We also have another field trip!

I'm grateful for:  date night with Hubs!  It's a rare occasion for us that someone keeps our kiddos, especially over night.  We didn't know what to do, and neither of us were hungry.  We went shopping, picked up breadsticks and chicken wings, and came home early to just hang out and be together.

How was your week?  You can link up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers  .

School, Weeks 1 through 3

I've had the kiss of death when it comes to anything remotely technical for the last two weeks.  BUT, I'm now up and running with a new laptop, a new router, and lots of computer-related stuff to catch up on, including this blog.  (Please note, I have not looked at Pinterest in about a month, I may get lost over there, and forget to post anything here.)

Today, I'll start with school, you can read all about our curriculum here.

Week 1, Thoughtful had pneumonia, in July.....I know, he should've been resting.  But, he really, REALLY, wanted to school!  Crazy kids I have I tell ya!  So after a few shots and milkshakes for breakfast, we gathered around the school table.

We start light on the academic part, and ease our way into full swing schooling a week at a time.  During Week 1, we jumped into all of our Language Arts and Reading.  Thoughtful read a non-fiction book about spiders and their webs.  I am reading Charlottes' Web to the boys, so this fit very nicely.  After looking through a picture book, Spunk and I found a spider that we later identified as a Phlocus.  Here is a Thoughtful's drawing in his nature journal, with a few facts from his reader.  

I also gave Spunk a workbox assignment to create a spider out of tangrams. 

Each of the boys are working on sight words this year.  I printed lists from http://dolchsightwords.org which has all kinds of teaching tools.  I also printed the flash cards to use with Spunk.  Basically, I had him read the list of words to me, and we're concentrating on those he missed.  He works on a word every day or so by building it with clay and letter tiles, writing it, and using the word in a sentence.  The word goes into a composition book that he's keeping throughout the year.  Every few days, he reads all of the words he's already put in the book and copies some on Fridays.

Thoughtful is working on US States this year - just for fun learning!!  I don't find the need to test him on an additional subject.  So he picks which state to learn about using flashcards, maps, books, and a Children's Atlas.  More on this later.  So far he's learned about Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas (he IS my country boy).

In Week 2, we added History, and frankly, we're wingin' it this year!  Really, do you remember what you learned in History in your early elementary years?  Me neither!!  So I figure that anything we get in is good.  We're starting with a Creation Unit because the way I see it, that's the beginning of History.  We'll carry through this as long as it takes before we feel like moving on to Archaeology and Dinosaurs.


Also this week, I sent them out to collect the eggs, and look what my boys found nearby!  SNAKE SKIN!!


They spread out the pieces of the found snake skin and connected them to figure the length, about 3 feet by the way.

They identified it as some variation of rat snake based on its markings.  They drew a picture of it in their journals and kept an eye out for the owner of the shed skin.

Two days later, Hubs caught the culprit eating my eggs! He's now gone...................The End.




This caused all kinds of snake and wild animal books to be de-shelved!  Can we say unschooling?  I have now heard about every snake found in North America, which are the most venomous, which are the "good" snakes, and which are constrictors.  Gross!  But they're learning so what can I say?











We also had this sweetie, my perfect angel of a 2 year old niece, whom I refer to as The Princess.

I was a little afraid that she'd be a distraction to schooling, but she fit right into our craziness!

I got to throw together some tot activities, and get some sweet Princess lovin'!  I love her to pieces and hope that my brother and sister-in-law will let me have her more. <wink>

Also,

The kids are involved in an instructional bowling program each Saturday.  They've had 4 lessons and have 2 left to complete the class.

They are getting all kinds of tips and helps from some very dedicated bowlers.  Do you notice there are no bumpers for Spunk to bowl with?  I am amazed that with bumpers he was scoring in the teens, and now, without them, this 6 year old is averaging 70 pins!!  Not too shabby! 

In two more weeks, they'll each get a custom-drilled ball as part of the low cost for the class.  Win!


In week 3, we began our new levels of Math U See.  This means that Thoughtful is starting multiplication. 

Translation:  The first time that I'm really questioning my ability to teach my children!  Oh, but teaching is so easy with  Math U See's DVD, and the way that Steve Demme teaches make so much sense.  I wish I was taught this way!!

 Here's a picture of part of his first test.....and yes, we called it a test.  If you know us personally, then you know this is a huge step for Thoughtful!

We've also dabbled with Draw Write now, had some occupational therapy-type stuff, Dictionary skills practice, typing, time, money, All About Spelling, and other extras along the way.   We're using Spanish flash cards, just one at a time - again, JUST FOR FUN!!  They love it!

Using workboxes has proven to keep us organized and we're fitting in so many extras.

Last for today, we were supposed to take Flat Stanley's around this summer, but poor ol' Stanley got neglected, BIG TIME, so we're turning this into a year-long project.  Spunk remembered to bring him to lunch this week where he found a flat fried okra!  It was a hilarious find for sure!

This week, we start Science & PE with our new Co-op, which we are soooo excited to participate in!  Updates to follow, I'm sure!