First Week of School!!

It has begun!  I was really ready to just jump in and start this school year but the kids weren't overly anxious to get back to it.  It was a good, long week.  I don't know about the kids but I was exhausted!!  It wasn't a perfect week--I need to tweak some things and rearrange some schedules but it was a good start.

We cheated and did 1st day of school pictures the night before so that Brian could help me.  They turned out great!

I had surprises for them on the 1st day (of course!).  I actually decided it would work best, storage-wise, if the kids kept their supplies and books in a backpack.  We hadn't bought new backpacks in a couple years so I decided to get new ones and surprise them.  I stocked them with the supplies they picked out, a new water bottle, new pajamas and a lunchbox (because it was free with the backpack!) to use for whatever they want.

I had to take a picture of Lily in her "Homeschool Girls Rock" t-shirt.  Perfect 1st day choice!

Nathan was all about school.  He just loved it to death.  His backpack did not come off--it was still on when he crashed on the couch that afternoon.  He was a joy this week--the curriculum is so wonderful for his age--easy and fun!! 

 *Making binoculars for the treasure hunt.*

 Found the package!  It was the Bible we'll be using for his stories this year.

 *Uncle Steve helped out and loaned us some great pirate gear for our pirate box.  X marks the spot was our theme.  All the kids loved this stuff--not sure where it all ended up, actually. *

Nathan still wants more work--he often joined Samuel or the twins at the table and joined in with their work.  Here he is working so hard on cutting.  Such concentration!

Samuel plainly told my parents that he "hated" school.  It's actually not going that bad.  He struggles with writing and it's a lot of writing review right now.  I cut down on the writing he has to do just because it is so much for him.  We are also doing a phonics review, which he does really well with but if he misses just one, his whole world caves in.  So, I've been trying to find ways to make it fun.  For example, he forgot which letter said the f sound so I told him it was "F for fart". Words I never thought would come from my mouth but that's his love language!!  So, he remembers that and told Brian all about it when he got home.  

 Playing with pattern blocks--a gentle start to Math.  I love My Father's World curriculum so far!!

 That painful handwriting!!  :)

For science, we made our ant farm.  We usually are fighting ants in our home but, of course, this day we struggled to find ants for our farm.  :)  He enjoyed this, though.

MFW Creation to Greeks is next!  We got our timeline up in the hall way:

We had a couple art lessons this week.  This lesson was on frustration.  We read about Joni Erickson Tada and how she is paralyzed so she creates art using her mouth.  The assignment was to draw a butterfly using only your mouth.

We learned about and then celebrated our 1st Biblical feast this year, which was the Sabbath.  It was a really interesting, fun experience.  Here they are decorating the spice box:

Rolling dough for the challah (Sabbath bread):

Brian blessing each child.  

Washing hands:

Passing the spices:

It did feel like quite a bit of work but everyone really enjoyed the different parts of it.  Looking forward to our next feast!

Finally, showing off new pajamas.  We were actually quite disciplined this week with getting dressed for school...we'll see how long it lasts!

Adventureland

Last week, we had 1 last fun summer activity before school started today.  The kids love to go to Adventureland and I do think this was the best year yet.  We went with a group--my parents, my sister, my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law along with 3 nieces and 2 nephews.  It helps to have a lot of people to pair up for rides.  Brian and I are not a fan of most rides so we need the support!!  This was Nathan's first time at Adventureland and he loved it.  No ride was too scary for him and he loved waving at everyone!!  Lily tried a roller coaster for the 1st time and I don't think she was a fan.  :)

This was the train ride at the end of the day--everyone was cranky at this point. 

Afternoon snack time!

The boy raft.

The girl + Nathan raft.

The only ferris wheel allowed--the big one is scary.  You can see Nathan waving to his admirers.  :)

The older 2 kids--we didn't see them as much.

Raging River...such a long ride for "the boringest ride ever" (Hunter's words).

The log ride is always a big hit.  Brian and I even rode this one once (only once!).  It is Hunter's and Samuel's favorite!

Bumper Car fun!  Hunter drove me and he actually did a pretty good job--I think it's hard to maneuver!

A wagon helps but this was filled with prizes by the time we were done.

Another train picture--he looks so excited!  He was not ready to leave!!

Grandpa rode the Himalyan ride with Samuel--I don't know how he stood it because it looked fast and dizzy.

Feeding the geese while the other kids do a bigger ride.

Carousel

 Prizes!

I spent too much money for this dragon--Hunter won it in a balloon popping game but he had to hit 3 balloons and he was stuck at 2 for quite awhile.  It was worth it, I think.  :)

The Frog Hopper is a huge hit.  Nathan cracks me up.

Andrea volunteered to ride with Nathan the 1st time--I was nervous sending him up so high without an adult but he did fine.

Homeschool Space

This week's blog hop is all about homeschool spaces.  We have a bonus space between the living room and the kitchen so that's where I try to fit all our stuff.  The stuff has multiplied each year so now I store things downstairs, as well.  :)  These pictures aren't great but here we go:

Lots of stuff stored....learning toys, games, paper, folders for independent work, my  favorite childhood books are displayed on the top white ledge and my lesson plan binder (cute owl!) is on the bottom ledge.  Ignore the laundry baskets in the hall.

Last year I switched out the long, rectangle table and 2 chairs with this round table and chairs. I love it.

Ginormous white board.  :)

Books, books, books...

My personal shelves...teacher manuals, readers, files, etc.  Bright and colorful to keep me happy!

Art and math and misc. fun.

I am thankful for a space to keep our homeschool things in and I'm glad it's in the middle of everyday life -- that makes it so convenient with younger ones.  We are ready for a new school year!

Curriculum Choices

2013-2014 Curriculum Choices:

Hunter:

·       MFW Creation to Greeks (Bible, History, Science, Art, Music, and Read-Alouds)

·       CLE Math

·       HWOT Cursive Success

·       Writing Strands, Explode the Code, Intermediate Language Lessons

·       Finishing the You Can Read series and then moving on to Level Readers

Lily:

·       MFW Creation to Greeks (Bible, History, Science, Art, Music and Read-Alouds)

·       Teaching Textbooks Math

·       HWOT Cursive Success

·       Writing Strands, Intermediate Language Lessons, BJU Spelling

·       Many fun books to read!

Samuel:

·     MFW Learning God’s Story (1^st Grade)

·     I’m still not sure if we will continue All About Reading level 1 or just stick with MFW phonics review…he’s not reading independently yet so we’ll just see what he needs.

 Nathan:

Although I don't usually do 3 year old preschool, Nathan is really into having "schooltime".  He wants to do what everyone else is doing!  So, I decided to try out a preschool curriculum with him this year but there is no pressure on getting it done.  

·     God’s LittleExplorers

·     Many books and games

·     Potty training anytime…anytime now.