Update

I’m getting so behind posting on here.  :(  Well as of today, I’m officially out of the Army.  My husband went back to work full-time last week.  It’s been a pretty big adjustment for the kids, especially the wee one.  (Poor Sarah!)  She is definitely missing her Daddy.

Of course now that Daddy is at work all day, some have decided to test Mommy and make sure she’s serious and sticks to her guns.  I knew it was coming, and I’ve been standing my ground.  However, it is so exhausting.  Consistency.  I have to tell myself that everyday because it’s hard to be when there isn’t enough of me to go around.  Praise also works wonders in this house.  (Especially for a special little four-year-old who is VERY stubborn.)  I have to say he got it honest though.

So to catch up a little.  The boys finished up their study on Ancient Egypt.  Maegan is still working hard and next week will be her last week on Egypt.  I decided to use Galloping the Globe for the boys.  It’s a country/geography study and they really LOVE maps and geography.  (I needed something that they were interested in after the Egypt unit.  Other than studying about mummies, they weren’t interested at all.  We’ve spent this week on maps and they have had a great time.  We have a huge map in the kitchen and they are always asking, “What is this called?”.  It’s really went over very well with them.  Next week we will start the China portion of the study.

I’m learning so much from working with the boys.  Maegan has been so easy going and eager to learn about anything and everything.  So when the boys came along.  I looked forward to reading them the Boxcar Children and the Beverly Cleary books, but they are just still too wiggly to sit still and listen.  I honestly, don’t even expect them to sit still.  I just want their attention and who knew it was so difficult to get.  So for the time being, I’ve just decided to go with their interest.  They pay more attention and don’t fight me about their work.  I know that there will come a time in the future when they won’t have a choice, but for now I’m willing to do whatever it takes to give them a solid phonics and mathmatical base.  These subjects are the most important for now.

While we’ve been studying maps, we have studied weather in science.  Here are some pictures the boys drew.

I thought these were too cute!  I had them dictate what their pictures were about.  Children’s imaginations are so vast.

Well, I’m going to finish scanning in some of Maegan’s work to show off on here.  Don’t give up on me.  I’m trying to keep it updated.

Have a great week!

Andrea

Well I’ve been wanting to post pictures of our classroom.  So here they are.

We do most of our work in the kitchen. With 6 children, we have to have a big space to work and this is it.

My crayon/marker stained desk. This is were I plan and the kiddos work on the computer. Can you tell I used to let them use it to color?

This is built-ins with all our books, supplies, notebooks, and calendar wall.

Our Calendar/Weather Center.

I just wanted to check in.  So far this week has been great.

Here is our schedules for this week:

5th Grade:  Week 3

Kindergarten/First Grade:  Week 3

Phonics and English:

The boys are continuing with Phonics Pathways.  Maegan is working on diagramming sentences in Rod and Staff English 5.

History:

We are continuing our studies on Ancient Egypt and all the kids are really enjoying it.  We watched Ancient Egypt:  The Nile River Valley today.  We all liked it.  It still amazes me how much our kids love documentaries.

Geographical Odysseys:  Egypt Valley of the Nile

We’ve read Chapters 3 and 4 in Story of the World, Volume 1.  We have covered the Nile, pyramids, and mummies.  We are spending the rest of this week on mummies and pyramids.

Story of the World, Volume 1:  Ancient Times

Science:

The boys are studying Elephants this week.  We are still using the Kingfisher Animal Encyclopedia  We also read the book below.

17 Kings and 42 Elephants

We also did an elephant craft.  It was a HUGE mess, but a huge hit for the boys.  They loved it.

The elephants were made with paper plates. The kids painted and glued on the elephant "parts".

Maegan wanted to make one, too. Her's turned out very beautiful.

Maegan has just started with Prentice Hall Science Explorer:  Animals.  I bought the entire 16 book set on ebay for $25.  I then went and purchased each of the teacher’s editions on Amazon.  You can find them on Amazon for $5 or less.   I’ll post more on these books as we progress.  (If you would like to purchase this book, buy it from Amazon or Ebay.  It’s cheaper.  Amazon didn’t have a picture for me to use on this post.)

Prentice Hall Science Explorers:  Animals

Art:

Maegan is working very hard on her art.  She is a fantastic artist and here is the picture she drew for her still life portrait assignment today.  It’s of her brother, David.

I hope you enjoy this update.  Check again this weekend for more about our week.

I just don’t love snakes.  I know they are God’s creature, but ewwww they are so gross.  So guess what I found on my front porch this morning?  Take a look for yourself.

I’m the lamest mom ever because I wouldn’t let the boys go and catch the snake.  I had to hold them back at the glass door to keep them from running after it.  Ohhh….fearless boys.

Well this week has been a VERY busy one.  School went great.  We’re studying Egypt and Nile this week.  The boys loved reading the books Croco’nile and Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile.  In science this week, the boys studied Cheetahs and watched the movie Duma about a real Cheetah that was raised by humans in South Africa after it’s mother was killed.  We also learned about lions this week.  I’m going to post the very funny narration pages once we finish them up on Monday.

Maegan is studying history with us and just finished reading Tirzah which is about 12-year-old girl and her brother who were slaves in Ancient Egypt.  She really enjoyed it.  In science this week, she began How Nature Works.  She did her own sketches of plant and animal cells.  She also did an experiment with potatoes on osmosis.  It was pretty interesting and showed how water can penetrate the cell membrane, but sugar and salt can not.  We got a little behind in our experiments this week, so tomorrow we’re doing an experiment with liver.  Yes, I just said liver.  I’ll post the pictures when we’re done.

The kids are progressing really well.  Matthew is blending.  YES!  I’ve been waiting for this for a really long time.  It has been a constant prayer of mine.  He is finally starting to get it and I’m so excited.  We’ve had to work really hard with his language delays, but we are making success.  David and Jonny are doing great.  They read everything they see. Their handwriting is getting better, but needs a good bit of work.  I’m not really concerned about it yet.  They are still little.  We have a lot of time to practice.

The kids also started soccer this week, except Maegan. (She will start volleyball in two weeks.) They are all so excited.  We also had vacation bible school this week in the evenings.  I taught the preschool class and boy they were a handful.  There is nothing like sharing the Bible with little ones though.  They are so eager to learn and have such a heart for God.  It’s awesome.  The theme was Veggietales:  The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.  They kids love that movie, and everything was pirate themed at church.  It was really a lot of fun.

Well that’s about it.  Look for pictures this weekend.  I’ve got a bunch to take off my camera.

Here is a picture David made today.  It was so cute.  He loves to color, paint, and draw.  He is very particular about how his creations are made.  He takes so much time and effort.  It is so precious.  Anyway, here is the picture of Spongebob he drew today.  Enjoy.

Well today we started our second week of “school”.  The kids seem to be enjoying themselves.  We are studing Biomes in science this week.  Today we covered the rain forest.  The kids really enjoyed reading about the animals of the rain forest in the DK Animal Encyclopedia.  If you don’t have that book…get it.  It’s awesome.  The illustrations are just beautiful.

We are studying Ancient Africa this week.  The boys don’t seem to enjoy Story of the World as much as Maegan has.  It’s a wonderful story format for history, but it’s not illustrated.  So we are using the Usborne Book of World History and so far they have all liked it very much.  Maegan has also started reading Tirzah this week.  I’ll let you know how that goes over.

Well, I’m off to work on creating the perfect history experience.  (At least I’m trying to anyway.)

Homeschooling is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but life happened and those wishes were put on the back burner. This is our first year adding our boys into the mix and I have to say that I’m pretty overwhelmed. I’m a very organized person and like things planned out to a “T”. I’ve spent the last 6 weeks full throttle….planning, planning, planning.  I actually really enjoy doing it.  (I know, I”m a nerd.)  The sad realization is I really need to trust my initial instincts on things.  For example, I LOVE the Rod and Staff English Series.  It’s a fantastic program.  However, I have three children learning to read right now, and with them being at different levels in the learning process Rod and Staff is NOT an option.  I think I’ve known that since I received the materials, but just have the worst time parting with it because “I” love the program so much.  We started the program earlier this week and I knew yesterday that there was absolutely NO way that we would be able to continue with it.  The twins are bored out of their minds because the material is “too easy Mom”.  Matthew looks at me crosseyed wondering what the heck I’m talking about because his attention span is about 3 seconds long.  If it’s not hands-on, he is in another world.  After thinking about it last night, I decided that we would give Phonics Pathways a whirl this morning and just see how the boys respond.  Well, I have to say, Phonics today was so much better!  I was able to devote time with each of the boys each on their own level.  It worked out perfectly.

I was hesitant to just drop Rod and Staff the first week of school because it just seemed so early for a rash decision like that (Did I mention I love the program, too?).  It would be impossible to teach Rod and Staff on different levels for the three boys.  It is pretty teacher intensive which I don’t mind, but three different lessons everyday.  Craziness.  For now I’m shelving it.

Being a mother is such hard work.  It’s even harder when you are making decisions regarding your child’s education.  Reading is such a scary thing to teach.  It’s crazy that I say that because I spent the better half of this year teaching remedial readers at a public school.  I tutored a child who was not reading at all when I met him.  He was in the middle of first grade and couldn’t read at all.  It was very sad he made it that far without anyone even noticing or doing anything about it.  Anyway, he was successfully reading at a first grade level when we tested him at the end of the year.  So why is this so scary now?  Because my own child is at risk for my mistakes.  So scary.  I know I’m more than competent enough, but the fear still resonates anyway.

Baby steps.  We’ve almost made it through the week.

Well this week marks our first week of the 2008-2009 school year. I’m so happy to get started after spending the past month planning…planning…planning. We will officially be doing 5th, 1st, Kindergarten, and Preschool. Our first two days have gone smoothly. A few tantrums, lots of crying, lots of “But, I want to watch t.v.” We’ve gone cold turkey on the t.v. and the kids aren’t taking it well. However, Adam and I see how much of a distraction it is for them and it just makes us more confident in the decision. Please pray for us as we attempt to educate and mold our children. We sure need it!

David posing with his football.

David and Jonny. It’s April, but David’s in a
Christmas mood.

Caleb posing with the football.

What else needs to be said? Put the kleenex
up higher maybe???