Week 20

We are entering a new phase of our homeschool as we schedule schoolwork around Thursday class, which takes the whole morning, and Friday's play practice, which takes the whole afternoon.  I am still fitting things in nicely and I don't feel like we are missing out on anything at home but it does make things interesting.  :)  

Nathan learned about "E" this week but we really didn't do a lot with it.  He made his E craft (and elephant) and that's his favorite part because he gets out his alphabet binder of crafts and reviews everything he's done.

He is certain that playing apps and games on the ipad is part of "his school" and they are all educational right now so I don't argue.

Playdough and eyeballs:

For Konos, we learned about friction and resistance so we did a tug of war game.  Don't worry, I joined the girls side and we won.  :)

I did a science trick by showing them how I could make my egg spin but I didn't tell them it was hard boiled.  They tried to make their (raw) eggs spin but couldn't--a lesson on inertia.

And, running cars on wood, sandpaper and wax paper ended our week.

Hunter read his first story in his new All About Reading book and he did GREAT.  I'm very happy with his progress and this program.

Sunday was my birthday and we celebrated all the January birthdays with my family.  Here's the little kids' table:

And here is Nathan, totally in love with the lounge chairs in my sister's "Pooh Room":

Week 19

This felt like a regular week of school!  Back to regular life after all our illnesses.

Nathan learned about 'D' this week so we made a dino:

He had a dino sensory bin, which involved "sparkly sand from the sparkly sand store", according to him. :)  Samuel loves sensory bins, too!

Nathan could easily become addicted to the iPad.  He has a few apps he loves, like Toca Boca Lab and ABC Mouse.

You can see from the white board that we learned about military time this week as we studied about the military.  We all learned a bit more, including family history of who was in the service and if they were in a war.  Over the break, I bought Thinking Putty for the kids to play with during reading time.  They LOVE this--I had it the 1st year we homeschooled, too.  The rule is it can only be out at this time and it has to be at the table--it will stick to clothes and carpet if sat on!  We learned that the hard way.  :)

Samuel posed with his glasses on during his All About Reading game--he had to flip fried eggs and read the word.  We're learning the "th" sound and it's a hard one for him--not sure if it's from his speech issues or it's just a hard one to learn.

Samuel has also found an app he likes--something about Zeus and math and he gets to strike bad guys with lightning.  :)  It doesn't seem to go as fast as the other math app I had so it's good for him.

Hunter had a reading game this week, too, since he started All About Reading level 3.  He put pigs in the mud after reading the words.  He is learning the "ai/ay" sound and it tricks him up a bit but he's doing really well with this program so far.

Lily started her Animal Behavior science class this week so the rest of us had an hour to kill.  We took Papa PJ to Wal-Mart to look at birthday ideas for Samuel.  Papa bought BIG icees for everyone.  :)

And, from church today, the twins got to hold Ezra!  They were the only 2 that wanted to but the other boys were interested in looking at him yawn and wake up.  :)

Week 18

Well, this was our 1st week back at school and not only was it a crazy weather week, it was the sickest week we've had so far this winter.  

So, we did a lot of this (resting):

And, we took a trip to the Urgent Care:

And gave steroids and steam therapy for croup:

Believe it or not, we did get through most of our schoolwork.  Finally, on Friday, I gave up on the week and we did the bare minimum.  However, Samuel didn't want to miss his handwriting nor his Explode the Code so he did more than the others!  Otherwise, we accomplished enough to stay on track.

Nathan learned about "W" this week so he watercolored:

We also learned about water and it's different forms, like ice:

In Konos, we started the attribute of obedience.  We talked about who we should obey and who we should not and talked about light vs. darkness.  

We watched a Veggie Tales video:

And we learned about lighthouses.  Here's the ones we made, from top to bottom they belong to Hunter, Lily and Samuel:

In other school news, the kids got to use our new iPad for the 1st time.  I found a math app that everyone seems to love.  Hunter voluntarily does multiple levels!

We also visited Papa PJ this week and met the new-to-the-house dog.  :)  The kids love him!

Hoping for a healthier week and warmer weather next week!

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Nathan is 5!!!  I can't believe it--it has honestly been a blur but he is a joyful addition to our family!  He is very funny and loving and we still all treat him like the baby.

Posing with his cake!

His party at my parents' house was early December:

Grandma Barb and Papa Lee came over on his birthday to bring presents:

Our gift was a train table:

Opening cards/money from Great-Grandma Hill and Aunt Nikki:

Just a random picture of Nathan with Aunt Andrea's Christmas gift--he does love to punch!  Ha!