Posted in LapBooks

We have not worked on very many lapbooks lately. But here is one that we got finished for Veteran's Day.

I found it free on Currclick.com.

Here is the inside. It isn't quite put together in the picture because I can't find my brads. But we had a good time with it anyway.

Blessings,

Abby

Posted in LapBooks

I have enjoyed making lapbooks in the past with my kids, but they can be an awful lot of work for me. I have come across a fantastic website that has File Folder Games. www.filefolderfun.com is a member only site, but membership is free and the games are very well laid out. I have taken the little game pieces to a local education store in town that has a laminating machine to get a little more life our of the pieces that get handled all the time.

This is one of the games I printed out for Val. This is a pocket on the outside for the games pieces. It is under the Fall Leaves Games.

This is the inside of the game. The acorns are the pieces that are laminated. The leaves are glued down.

Here is Val playing with the game. She doesn't realize that this is school. To her it is just a game.

This is one of the games I printed for Vanessa. It is one of the Ocean Games.

Here is the inside of this game. The fish are laminated and the anenomes are glued down.

This is a game that I printed off for both girls, but has become one of Vallerie's favorites. It is under the Space File Folder Games.

Here is the inside. The spaceships are laminated and the planets are glued down.

Here is Val playing with the Space Rhymes game.

This is another game that I printed off for both girls, but Vallerie will probably get more use out of it than Vanessa because Vanessa already knows her odds and evens. Vallerie is still learning. This is under the Pumpkin File Folder Games.

This is the inside. The pumpkins are laminated and the carts are glued down to make pockets.

Here is Vanessa playing with the Odd/Even Pumpkins.

This is another favorite of both girls. It is under the Bug File Folder Games.

This is the inside of Snail Mail. The letters are laminated and the mailboxes are glued down. The goal is to start at the "Post Office" in the middle and follow the directions on the letter to deliver the letter to the right mailbox.

This is one that I printed for Vanessa. She has really enjoyed this one. It is under the First Grade Math Games.

Here is the inside of Monkey Money. The money cards are laminated and the monkeys are glued down.

Here is Vanessa playing Monkey Money.

Hope that your family has as much fun with these as we have!

Blessings,

Abby

Well, as you can tell from the title, school has been going great. We have gotten on track as far as hours. I have even found a great phonics workbook for Vanessa to use so I can see where the holes are in her phonics. I am very greatly encouraged.

I am hoping to add a few fall crafts into our schedule next week. My kids love crafts and coloring.

I have been trading music lessons with a friend of mine for some sign language, math, and art lessons for my kids. We have tried to meet every Friday. My kids have really enjoyed the lessons, and it has been really good for them to have someone else teach them something. My five year old at first rebelled, telling me that she only like me as a teacher; but I insisted that she participate with everyone else, and she has really enjoyed the lessons.

Something else that has helped bring us peace in our home is the Maxwells' Chore Packs. The kids have been faithful about doing their chores, and if they are not then there are consequences (loss of tv and computer time mostly). But the biggest impact has been that the responsibility for their chores now rests on them. I no longer have to remind them what to do, or nag them to get it done. I just ask them when I get up if they have worked on their chore packs, and before they are allowed any breaks in school (outside, tv, computer, ect.) I check to see that the chores are done right. We have regular scheduled breaks in our day, so this works for our family. It has brought about a new level of relaxation (my dishes are actually done!)

On the whole, things are going well for the Ellingsworth Family! Hooray!

Blessings!

Abby E.

I was finally able to get my tracking software to load, and it works great. I was correct about spending enough time doing school every day, so I have been trying harder to make Vanessa's activities count for school. For example, Vanessa spent hours outside the other afternoon when it was nice collecting rocks and figuring out if they were hard or soft. We had been studying the three different types of rocks, so I counted it for school, bcause it was a hand-ons application of what we had talked about earlier in the day.

This is hard for me because it never mattered how much of anything that we did. As long as my kids stayed out from in front of the TV I figured they were learning something. Now I have to figure out exactly what she is learning, and how much time she is spending doing it. Oh well, I will get it figured out eventually, and then I will probably laugh at how hard this is for me now.

Except for my stress about counting hours, school has been going great. We have been faithful about doing school every day. Even on days when I feel really lousy, we get something done. The kids have enjoyed everything that we have done so far too, even math. I am using Saxon 1 with both of the big girls, and Vanessa complains of being bored. But I am also using Math-it with Vanessa, which she thinks is more of a game. She is getting fast with her addition and will soon move on to multiplication.

We have not been as great about doing reading everyday. It is something else that I feel needs to be done everyday for the practice, but I am mostly winging it with phonics and reading and it sometimes doesn't get done faithfully. I am hoping though that as I get over the morning sickness then I will be able to be more pro-active with reading.

Blessings,

Abby

It has been a good start to our school year. The Weaver has made school so much easier. Until this year, we haven’t used an actual curriculum. I have done lapbooks on subjects the kids were interested in; or gone through books like “How to Teach Your Child to Read” with Vanessa. But since I started using the Weaver, we have gotten more subjects done, like social studies and science, and I feel like we are actually getting something done. There is a planning book that goes along with the Weaver called “Day by Day”. It tells you what to do, and exactly what pages to read, ect. for every day so I can cross it off when we finish a lesson. That is a really good feeling for me.

The only down side, so far, for school, is that I can not get my tracking software to work on our computer yet. We had to purchase a new desktop last week and it came pre-loaded with Vista. Unfortunately, my software is not compatible with Vista. But once I am able to get it up and running, I will enter all of our activities so far and see where we are for the year. I am afraid that we aren’t spending enough time each day on school. Of course, I am a planner. I like knowing where we are going, and exactly where I am, and if I am on track for getting there on time. That is probably why I like having something to cross off every day. J

All of that will work out though, hopefully in the next couple of days. But I have to say that if my only real problem is getting software to load, then we are really doing pretty well.

Blessings,

Abby

Well it is that time of year again... Actually, this time of year is very exciting to me. I mean, when else can you buy boxes of crayons for a quarter, or boxes of markers for a dollar? I love it.

We are going to start school early this year. On Monday, in fact. I have to keep record of the hours that we have school this year for Vanessa so I want to start early. Not because I don't think that I can get the hours in, but because the sooner I start, the sooner I can quit counting. (In MO I need 1000 hours total and as soon as I have that I don't have to count anymore.) Not that the learning ever stops, mind you...

Anyway, I thought that I would update you all on what we are going to be doing this year. For my core curriculum I am going to be using Weaver. It is still published by Alpha Omega Publishing. My mom used Weaver when I was homeschooled, so I am familiar with Weaver and how unit studies work. Even though, it is very different being the teacher instead of the student. Oh yeah, and Mom kept all of her volumes of Weaver so they are free to me.

Also, I had signed up for a $500.00 drawing that AOP had in the spring and won. I used the money to replace all of the stuff that mom had gotten rid of, or used up to supplement the Weaver. Some of that is for high school, but we'll use that sooner than I like to think. :)

The two subjects that have to be supplemented in Weaver are Math and Reading. Everything else is covered (language arts, science, social studies, ect.) I am supplementing Math with Saxon. We will be picking up where we left off last spring in Saxon 1. It may be a bit below Vanessa, but I think that Vanessa and Vallerie will both be able to do the work. Vallerie will be in K, and Vanessa is in 2nd grade, by the way.

I haven't decided on the reading yet. I will probably start Vallerie with "How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" if she shows an interest in reading. For Vanessa, I have no idea. I have some readers, and some phonics programs. We may just play it by ear. My goal with her is to get her to read more and enjoy it.

We also had started some Greek, which I would like to continue. I would also like to add Spanish and maybe a little Latin. But that may be a little too ambitious for this year.

Well that is all that I have for now,

Blessings,

Abby

Once again, I have been having problems with my computer and camera. So, no pictures today. Sorry... But we have been having a lot of fun that I am more than happy to tell you about.

I bought the girls a slip-n-slide, which has been a big hit. They are so timid with it though... They run up to it, then stop, sit on their knees, and then scoot down the slide. It is funny to watch them. Tori also got a small pool which she has really enjoyed.

Vallerie started swim lessons a couple weeks ago. She is really enjoying them, but still won't put her head under the water, even after seven lessons. We have a family pass at the new Ozark Community Center (or OC for short). Darin has been working out every morning, and the girls and I have gotten lots of use out of the pool. That is where Vallerie has been taking her lessons. Vanessa and Tori are also going to start swim lessons on Monday.

Vanessa and I have been reading "Heidi" while Vallerie has been having her lessons. Vanessa is working through the summer reading program at the library. I am hoping by next summer that she will be able to do the summer reading program on her own.

We have planted our garden, but I am a little nervous about it. We planted four zucchini plants, four pea plants, and five cucumber plants. I think we have too many zucchini plants. They are already starting to spread out and take over, and they are only a month old! It remains to be seen how much of the yard will get taken over.

I will keep you all updated on what else we do this summer.

Blessings,

Abby

It has been a few months since I have made time to update my blog. We have had problems with my computer, so we have been working on backing up our pictures.

Also, everyone except Darin has been sick. Tori got Rotavirus, which took over two weeks to get out of her system. We were not able to get much done in March.

We have been very faithful with our schoolwork since spring break. I bought Vanessa "A Reason for Handwriting". She has done just great keeping up with it on her own. I have also made myself sit down and work with both girls on their math. We are actually making headway! My mom bought Vallerie a math book that she is having fun with. I am surprised at all the numbers she can already identify.

I am hoping to be able to post some more pictures of the girls. Also, some new ideas that I would like to try in the fall.

Blessings,

Abby

It has been a quiet week. We have had inches of ice and snow earlier in the week, so traveling has been out of the question since Monday afternoon. I have to say that I haven't really missed it. Being "forced" to stay home instead of running into town is actually kind of nice.

Vanessa and I have been working on her Cooking Lapbook. We have not gotten as much done as I hoped, but we will work on it again today. We have about five mini-books done right now.

The chore sheet has had moderate success. It works well for Vanessa, who can read, but not so well for Vallerie, who can't read. I like having thier chores split into morning, afternoon, and evening. That part of the plan has worked well. I just need to figure out a better way to work this for Vallerie.

I have started a new reading curriculum with Vanessa. I can't tell you much about it, except that my mom took a class when I was 5 years old and this is how she taught me to read. The book I have was her workbook from the class. It is working though. Vanessa has learned how to sound out words, and is reading everything now.

We haven't gotten as much math done as I'd hoped either (do I ever ). But Vanessa and Vallerie have both worked some in their books. I may not push Vanessa to try to finish Saxon 1 this year. We may just do what we can and then move on to Saxon 2 next year. Vanessa will be ready for Saxon 2 in the fall. I will have to start counting hours this fall too, so we will be a little more faithful about actually getting things done and counted.

I may be kind of hard on myself when it comes to our schoolwork. My children are still young, and we watch very little television during the day. My opinion is that if they are not watching TV, almost anything they are doing is learning. So I may not push them to work on a workbook, or finish a lapbook when they are playing nicely. They will only be young once, and they will only have this little responsibilty once in their lives. I am not going to take that away before I have to.

Blessings,

Abby

As I am catching up on other people's blogs, and spending some very valuble time with friends, I realize that I am thankful that God gives us new beginnings. It is only a few weeks into the new year, but people have organized school rooms, and junk rooms, started exercising, and making family a priority... I think that God realizes that as humans, we need a new start in order to be able to accomplish our life.

God gave us a new year, a new month, a new week, even a new day. (I know "technically" God didn't set up our calendar, but I believe he planted the idea in whoever's head...) The seasons go around the year, and there is a new spring every year. When we become a christian God gives us a new beginning at life. My favorite day of the week is Monday, the first day of the work week.

I love that God gives us that new beginning, whenever it is, to push us.

Blessings,

Abby

We have not done as much for school as what I had hoped (we never do). I have designed a new chore system that is working out well, so far. I have broken their chores down by parts of the day. There are morning chores, afternoon chores, and evening chores. The chores are simple. Morning chores are getting dressed, eating breakfast, feeding the dogs, and practicing violin. Afternoon chores are picking up bedrooms, bathrooms, and the living room. Evening chores are getting ready for bed, and sweeping the kitchen floor. If they get all of their morning chores done, they get a quarter, and afternoon chores are another quarter, and evening chores are another quarter. I am trying to establish some good habits, like picking up after themselves, and getting dressed without getting being told. The system has worked so far. I tried to make it as simple as I could.

We will hopefully finish Scaredy Cat on Friday. I am hoping to get some math done too. I am going to have Vanessa skip forward a few lessons, because I think she is bored with the worksheets. I will start Circle time and bible lessons next week. It should be a slower week, schedule-wise, so we should be able to get some “school” done.

We also got some books on tape at the library this week. Vanessa is listening to "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and I am listening to "Captains Courageous". I planned on Vanessa listening to "Captain's Courageous" with me, but she wondered off after the first five minutes... Oh well...

Blessings,

Abby

I have some ideas for the New Year. You are welcome to try them along with me, or just wait and see how things work for us.

We are going to try to do a daily bible study that I got from a lady in one of my Yahoo groups. The link is here. They may be a little advanced for my girls, but I can take them down to their level.

We will be doing circle time again. I am hoping that we will get to it daily, or at least three times a week. I loved the reading that we did last year during our circle time. I had a list somewhere of some of the books we read, but I can't find right now.

I am also going to try to do math and reading as aften as I can with Vanessa. Again I am hoping three or four days a week. I plan on making a schedule today that will get us on track.

We are going to spend next week getting into a routine. We are going to practice doing our chores without being told (chore sheets), and with good attitudes.

I'll update you later on how things are going.

Blessings,

Abby

Here is an update on what we have been doing for school...

There has been very little actual schoolwork done the last couple of weeks. I have put away the books and projects until after the new year.

That is not to say that we haven't been very busy though. We have been making Christmas presents, and shopping for Christmas presents, and visiting with some of our friends that we probably aren't going to see until after Christmas.

A couple of years ago, I started using Donna Dewberry's One Stroke method of painting. It is so easy to use. I was able, with minimal practice, to paint stuff, that actually looked like stuff! Anyway, I have been using some of our free time to teach some friends this method. It is also really good practice for me, and I love getting to visit as we are sitting around painting. So much fun!

I am hoping to squeeze in a couple more visits with friends before Christmas, but I am not sure I have enough days.

Blessings,

Abby

I have been doing a lot of thinking about life lately. A good friend of mine has a sister who is in the middle of a fight with breast cancer. She is only 38 and has a 2 year old baby. It does not seem fair that she should have to go through this struggle.

Another friend of mine became a widow at the ripe old age of 24 years. Joyanna and Landon were pastors in New York, and they had their whole lives ahead of them. It doesn’t seem fair that she should have to go through this struggle.

Another friend lost both her father and her husband in one week. They were buried on the same day. It doesn’t seem fair… You get my point.

Life here on earth is full of struggles and trials. It isn’t fair. There is no rhyme or reason for who deals with what… or is there? I firmly believe that God is in control of the situations that we go through. And he cares very much what happens to us. Just like Job, we may not be able to see or understand why something is happening to us, we just have to trust that God is still God and he is taking care of the situation.

The first friend’s sister, who is going through cancer, is not a Christian. Maybe by dealing with a life-threatening illness she will reevaluate what is important and find out that she can approach the throne of God on behalf of her own needs.

The second friend, who is a widow now, many people’s lives were touched by Landon’s life. I don’t know why God took him when he did. I am not sure I will ever understand why God took him home when he did. But God knows, and that is enough for me.

The third friend, who lost both her father and husband, again, I don’t know why God took them. I do know that her husband was sick for a very long time. Maybe God was done seeing him suffer. And her father was killed in a car crash, but not instantly. He had enough time (maybe just enough time) to get himself right with God.

I can’t know for sure why this kind of stuff happens. I can only guess. People like to have explanations. They want to know why the serial murderer started killing. They want to know why that person and not this person has cancer. They want to know that it isn’t going to happen to them. “Well if I eat a certain way…” “Well if I love my kids enough…” You get my drift.

Sorry folks, but there are no guarantees, except in Christ. And really, when you think about it, that is the best guarantee after all.

Matthew 28:20 “… I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Blessings,

Abby

I am not sure if you keep up with the NFL, but there has been a lot of talk this week about Plaxico Burress. He is a player for the New York Giants. A couple of weeks ago he was in a nightclub carrying a concealed weapon. The gun accidently went off and shot him in the leg. He has been charged with illegally possessing a firearm.

I saw a segment of NFL Countdown that was talking about the kind of person that he is, and how much he had done for his community. He has spent many hours volunteering and speaking to kids.

Personally, I think that Plaxico just made a poor decision. Now that is not to say that there should not be consequenses for those actions. Or that I disagree with the charges. I don't know anything, really, about the situation. I only know what the media cares to tell me.

My point is this... Plaxico Burress is human. He is a fallible human being who made a bad decision and is now suffering the consequences of that decision. But he is no different than any other fallible human being (like me, or you). The only difference is that he plays (or played) football, and was good at it, and people (the media) knew about him. Therefore, it seems like he is in even bigger disgrace because more people know about it.

I could be writing this about almost any other football player out there who has had problems. People like Ricky Williams, Michael Vick, or Ray Lewis. All have had (or still have) their share of problems. I am just picking on Plaxico because his problems are the most recent.

Is it right to judge sports figures, or famous actors more harshly because of thier close scrutiny in the media? Some would argue that they affect people by their actions. Others would argue that they are just people like us, with problems, just like us. I say that instead of looking at a person, either on a football field, or movie screen, we should be modeling ourselves after Jesus Christ, who is infallible. He is unchanging. He never fails. I will not be disappointed by fixing my eyes on him.

There will always be Plaxicos, Rays, or Michaels to dissapoint us. But there is one who never fails, and never changes.

Blessings,

Abby

It has taken me a little time to find these pictures because my camera was MIA. But this is the LapBook that we did for Thanksgiving. When I started doing LapBooks with my kids I found so many resources online for free that I said I would "never spend money on a LapBook." Well, never say never... I purchased this LapBook from www.currclick.com, and it has been the easiest LapBook we have done yet.

This is Vanessa with the cover.

This is Vallerie with the cover of her LapBook.

This is the inside of one half. This LapBook was two folders glued together at the flaps. This is Vallerie's. You can tell because the pilgrims and indians are colorful. Vanessa went for a more authentic look.

This is some of the mini-books opened. The pop-up books were so neat, and so easy.

This is the other side of the LapBook.

This picture is with all the pieces pulled out from Tic-Tac-Toe and the Pattern Cards. That is also Vallerie's hand demonstrating the wheel.

Like I said, this was the easiest LapBook we had done yet. It even came with pictures showing how to lay it out. The LapBook was also a lot of fun for the girls, which is important at their age.

Blessings,

Abby

Here are some of the websites that I visit most often for inspiration and ideas for school.

www.currclick.com - This has some great resources, and has some great free downloads every week.

www.homeschoolshare.com - This has some awesome templates for mini-books, and some really great free LapBooks.

www.lapbooklessons.com - This requires membership to join, but it also has some fantastic free LapBooks.

www.titus2.com - The Maxwell Family has written a number of great books. I enjoy keeping up with their blog.

Blessings,

Abby

This is my first post on my new blog. I am excited to share with you about some of the books that we have been reading, and maybe about some of the other neat stuff that we have been doing for school.

I need to start this blog off with a good description of what a LapBook is. We have made about five LapBooks so far. They are so much fun to make. It is a wonderful way to learn about subject. Anyway, since we use them so often, it is important to understand what I am talking about. Since a picture is worth a thousand words...

This is the LapBook closed. This is the cover.

This is the inside of the LapBook. It is filled with mini-books.

This was our first attempt at LapBooks, so it was pretty simple (looking, I mean). It was a lot of work for me. Vanessa is not writing much yet, so I did most of the work. It was also a lot of fun.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy my new blog. Feel free to leave any reccomendations in the comments section.

Blessings,

Abby