I know it has been forever since I've blogged here.....it was just getting to take up way too much time to blog at two places, read everyone's blogs (I'm still not keeping up like I want to...) and still get everything done that I need to in a day......I just can't decide what I want to do with this blog...I know if I delete it, I will wish that I wouldn't have, so for now, I will keep it.....If anyone wants to keep up with us, they can visit at www.xanga.com/bkyoungfamily

I have been taking a bit of a blogging break, so I am not posting too much, but when I get back to it, I will post over there......

 

 

Here are the blessings that Bob read to each of our daughters before he handed them their diplomas.......

 

 

Natalie, to say that we are proud of you just doesn't seem adequate. There just doesn't seem to be the right words to express the joy that your Mom and I are feeling right now. It's almost unbelievable for us to realize that we are standing here, ready to hand you this diploma. When God blessed us, as parents of not one, but two beautiful little lives, that August day, almost nineteen years ago, and I saw your tiny body, born too early, fighting to survive, your high school graduation day seemed so far away. And yet, it seems, like all we did was blink.....and here we are.

To your Mom and I, this diploma doesn't just represent what you've learned from books. It also represents what you have learned from life. It shows that you have worked hard to learn all that we have taught you. And I just want to say, that you have learned well. you are a beautiful child of God. Your love for Him shines thru in all you do...whether it's helping at home, working at your job, or doing for others. When you work at something you do it with a heart attitude. You put your whole heart into it, giving it all the love and determination you have.

You have a tender heart. To say that you wear your heart on your sleeve is so very true. You feel life's joys and life's pain so deeply. Many are the times your Mom and I have seen you so happy and excited about the little things that life offers. There have been moments too, when we have seen your heart breaking.....a time, when the hurt was so painful, we would have done most anything to take that pain away, to spare you that heartbreak. A time when our family was so grief-stricken, we all needed to walk by faith daily, to make it through. And you did. You made it. You prayed. You read your Bible. You let God carry you through. You've taken that pain and you've grown with it. You have let Him use the joys, the sorrows, the ups and downs of life to help you become the beautiful young lady standing here today. You have grown so much. Your faith has continued to grow thru the years. You trust God and the plans He has for you. You know that you can depend on Him to get you through all things. You have a quiet inner strength that comes from a love of God and all that He has given you.

You are a kind, caring, respectful, and courteous person. You are mature and responsible. Many are the times when others have come up to me and mentioned what a hard worker you are. How commited you are. You never fail to do a job well. You are funny and sweet. You have silly moments. You make me laugh. You are a great big sister. You love your siblings, you set an awesome example for them. You spend time with them. The younger ones think you are the greatest. You play with them, you bake with them, you read stories, you help teach them. Your older, younger siblings consider you a friend. You spend time with them, you talk with them, you are there for them.

You are a hard worker, whether it be schoolwork or going about life. You love learning. You love books. A good book is a true treasure to you. And from the looks of your bookshelves, you have found many treasures. You are one of the few teens I know, who actually enjoy schoolwork...well, except Math, that is.....the reading, the writing...it's fun for you. You love learning new things.....whether it be baking bread, learning the game of tennis, teaching yourself how to knit, how to sew......You are always trying to do something you haven't done before. Always trying to be the best possible person you can be.

 

You've chosen Jeremiah 29:11 as the verse to be printed on your diploma. "For I know the plans I have for you, "declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Both Mom and I believe this is a very appropiate verse for you to cling to as you continue on life's journey. Even though you may not know the plans He has for you, you can rest assured that our Lord wants only the best for you. That He will always be at your side, caring for you....You can always have hope in Him. He loves you. We love you so very much. So many others love you too. This is a very precious moment for Mom and I. But we want you to know that we are so very proud of you, of who you are......and who you will continue to grow to be. God Bless you today and forever.

 

Nicole, you are an amazing daughter. Standing here with you, presenting you with this diploma is one of the happiest moments in my life. You truly are a blessing from God. You've worked hard. You've learned well, both from schooling and from life. You are one of those people who puts everything into whatever you the task may be. You are strong, standing up for what you believe in.... for what you know is right. You have always been strong, from the very first day of your life. To think that we almost lost you-- that we almost didn't get to celebrate this joyful day with you, is something that your Mom and I have both thought of often these past few weeks. You were a tiny, precious little one. But you were so strong and you fought so hard....and we prayed.....alot.......and here we are........blessed by God to be standing here, our hearts bursting w/ happiness at the joy you have given us.

Your faith is strong. You love the Lord and it shines through in all you do. You aren't one to question Him or His ways.....aren't one to question the plans He has for your life. You accept what He has planned and you give it your earthly best. You trust Him and rely on Him to get you through life's journey. A journey filled w/ many ups and downs, lots of happy moments and some sad ones too. You see others hurting and all you want to do is make their pain go away, to make them feel better. It doesn't matter, if you are also suffering through pain and sadness as well . You dig your heels in, you find the strength and you continue on......You don't let it break you, but only make you stronger. You are determined.

You play hard. Your love of sports is huge. I'm not sure I really should admit this, but I think you probably know more about some sports than I ever will. Obviously, to anyone who knows you, basketball is the ultimate sport. You have even convinced your little sister that life doesn't get much better than sitting in the recliner, snuggling while watching some Detroit basketball...... Again, you give it all you've got....always doing the best you can. Anything less is unacceptable to you. You strive for excellence. And on those rare occassions, when you fall short of your very high expectations, you are harder on yourself than anyone else could be.

Your love is strong. You love your family whole-heartedly. You give so much to everyone. Your family, your Mom and I, your sisters and brothers. You are always willing to help out., always wanting to lend a hand. You work hard, every day. doing whatever needs to be done, helping anyone who needs it. You love being with your family, doing for them, spending time with them. And we love being with you. You are funny. You have a great sense of humor, always trying to cheer someone up, to make others laugh, to make them happy. You are a very responsible person, very trustworthy and dependable. If you say you will do something, we know we can count on you to get it done.

You are smart. You have applied yourself well and learned much. Both Mom and I know that you will continue to learn, continue to work hard, we know you will always be there for anyone who needs you, anytime. We are confident that you will always live a life of faith. A strong faith. A faith, knowing that God will be with you each step of the way....faith that He will give you the strength you need, to continue to bless those around you, just by being you...as you have already blessed those in your life, including the both of us. One of your favorite bible verses has always been Phillippians 4:13. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." It is very evident to all of us, that you have taken these words to heart and chosen them as words to live by. Your life has brought us so much joy.....so much happiness....many special moments to treasure always. I love you. Mom loves you. Your sisters and brothers all love you. We are all so proud of you. May God bless you today and every day. You are so very precious to Him and to Us.

Well practice and pics went great this morning.....

Since we didn't really know what to expect, having never taken part in this homeschool group before,we were really curious about how everything was going to work together......and I have to say that I can't wait until tonight....I think it's going to be a really awesome ceremony......you can tell that everyone, parents and children, all want it to be the best experience for everyone.....and I think that it will be......

Here's a pic of our girls.........

 

 

Today we are thrilled to announce the homeschool high school graduation of our twin daughters.

Ceremony tonight at 7 pm

Natalie

&

Nicole

Here is a pic from their kindergarten graduation.  I am hoping to

have some graduation pics this afternoon.

Our decision to homeschool

 

I have to say that June is an exciting month for me and my family. Both my husband and I are thrilled as this is the month that we are celebrating the high school graduation of our twin daughters. Or should I say, the homeschool high school graduations of our daughters. It is our first homeschool graduation. The first of many, we hope and pray that we are blessed to celebrate in the coming years. We currently have seven children and God-willing, they will all be homeschool graduates.

The decision to homeschool our children wasn't a snap decision, by any means. We didn't just decide one day to begin homeschooling. It wasn't something that, like many families, we always knew we were going to be doing. It has been a journey down a road with twists and turns, taking us in different directions each step of the way.

I don't think I had ever even heard of homeschooling, when our twins began their school journey. We just automatically enrolled them in the public schools. They attended public schools for their pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade years. It was during their first grade year that both, my husband and I began to consider sending them to the private christian school run by our church. I attended the same type of school as a child, and thought how important it was that they be taught Bible classes right alongside of math, reading, history and science. So for 2nd grade, we enrolled them in our church school where they continued through the eighth grade. It was sometime during these years that I first heard of homeschooling. However, I didn't consider it could be something that would work for our family. Our children were doing well. The teachers were wonderful. I couldn't homeschool. I was only a high-school graduate. There are laws about these things. Sure that it wasn't an option for us, we continued on - enrolling our other children in our church school as well. As time went by, I remember thinking more and more of homeschool. It was just something that I couldn't shake. I now know, it was the Lord leading our family in a new direction. To be able to have my children with me throughout the day, to be able to teach them the things we wanted them to learn, to have the extra hours to train them, to keep them from certain situations that did develop, even in a private school. To be able to share special moments with them throughout the day. To be rid of the after school hassles, the homework, the early bedtimes, the early mornings. All these things kept coming to mind.

And then our youngest son, began to have trouble. He was in the fourth grade. He was falling behind. He couldn't do the homework. He had homework every evening and how we had to fight with him to get it done. Our already hectic evenings became worse. How my husband and I wished we could help him more. How, we wondered were we going to get him through his school years without all the struggles that he was now enduring? I began to wish we were able to homeschool. Anything had to be better than what we were going through. But, how? I knew the homeschool laws in our state prevented me from homeschooling. The litte bit of research I had done told me that in order to homeschool, for anything other than religious reasons, one of the parents needed to actually be a teacher. However, it was during a conversation with a friend, that I found out that our state's laws had changed. Our state was now one of the easiest in which to homeschool. It was now possible for us to bring our son home and give him the help he needed. So, we did. I began homeschooling him mid-fifth grade. The rest of that year we did nothing fancy. We used workbooks from Walmart. We printed lots of stuff off the internet. We took the time to get used to the idea of homeschooling. It was during this time that I began to think about our daughters high school years. The school they were currently attending ended with the eighth grade. We had two options. Our first option was to send them to the high school where many of the children from our church attend. A dormitory-type seminary over an hour away from home. This really wasn't an option for us, due to the high cost and the fact that both my husband and I felt that our children were still in their formative years, and needed to be living at home. The second option, naturally, was the local public high school. Now, I have to say that the thought of sending them there scared me to pieces. I was sure they could probably do well, even have some fun. I just couldn't stop thinking of how much schools have changed. How there is just so much stuff for our kids to work through. And how stressful it could turn out to be for them. I know there are many who do very well in the public school system. We just weren't sure we could send them into that type of environment. So we began thinking about homeschooling them as well. And after much thought and prayer, it was decided that, our children would continue to attend our church school, but after completing the eighth grade, they would do complete their high school years at home. However, little did I know that the Lord wasn't finished working on me yet.

The next year, leery of teaching high school, keeping transcripts and record-keeping, we enrolled the girls and our one son in umbrella type home-school, run by a church in our area. It was expensive but well worth it, we thought. Our other son began the seventh grade in our church school. Our five year old daughter also began her schooling by attending their kindergarten class. It didn't take long before we realized that this would not be an ideal situation for our family. The homeschool program required lots of running back and forth between their school and home, as did our church school. I was pregnant with our seventh child, had a toddler, and spent too much time running back and forth. We were always scrambling trying to be some place, trying to make it all fit. The homeschool program had specific deadlines. We were also having a difficult time making our monthly tuition payments. We were also beginning to see things in our other two children who were attending private school. Changes in attitude, in the way they spoke to us, the things they talked about, among other things. Our older son was having his own bit of struggles. Many of the classmates that he had grown up with, some of those who had been his friends, began changing. Some of them became disrespectful and rude. Subjects of conversation turned to things that we considered unacceptable for our children. Life choices that we disagreed with were treated casually. Schoolwork was no longer the priority. Having fun was. Many of the values that we were trying to instill in our children became something that we felt we needed to fight for. Private schools, while a wonderful experience, still have much of the same struggles that are found in the public schools of today. Please don't get me wrong, by no means do we think we have all the answers or that our children are without their many flaws. However, it became obvious to us that alot of our views on raising children were very different than many others. We also believed it was our job, our duty,as parents to make sure that we were doing everything possible to raise our children to be the best possible adults that we could. So now I began thinking, that maybe there was another way. I began making a mental list of all my concerns, spending time thinking about each one.

1.) We could ease up our budget and rid ourselves of the scrambling around by not using the umbrella school.

2.) As for record-keeping, that was easy enough. I just had to be organized. Ha! I can do that. Really, I can.

3.) High school subjects: not that intimidating, I would just learn along with the kids, if I didn't know something. Sounds easy enough, right?

4.) Okay, time to deal with those dreaded transcripts. Both my husband and I agreed, that if our children were to decide to attend college, it would need to be the local community college. So my husband called them, asking exactly what would be needed or required of anyone wanting to attend classes. Interestingly enough, transcripts were not in the list. This facility has what is considered an open-door policy. This means that all the kids had to do would be to take and pass a placement test.

5.) Why not homeschool all of them? Why keep some of our children at home and send some of them to school? Maybe we all needed to be together, working towards the same goal.

It was that easy and my list was taken care of. And so it was that we began to prepare for the next bend in the road.

 

We are now four and a half years into our homeschooling journey, with many more to come. Do we still have bends and twists in the road? You bet! Do our children still struggle from time to time? Most definitely! Are we confident that we made the right decison to bring our children home to educate and train them. Absolutely! There isn't a day that goes by that I am not reminded of how far we have come in such a short time. I am thankful to the Lord and His leading my husband and I to make a decison that I am sure is one of the most important decisons we have ever made concerning the upbringing and best interests of our children. I look forward to our upcoming graduation celebration with one of pride and joy. My daughters have worked hard and earned their beautiful diplomas that their father and I will be signing and presenting to them both. And I look forward to continuing on that road, with each of my other children. No matter how many twists or turns the road takes us on. God has truly blessed us our decision to homeschool.

 

 

May 21, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure what's up with all the extra slash marks in my college post.  They aren't in my original post.  They just appeared.  I have tried editing them out, but homeschoolblogger is being weird and keeps taking me to a blank post titled December 1969.  I have no idea what's up with that. 

I can\'t believe I have children old enough that I am typing up a post about them and college. Wow!!!! It wasn\'t so long ago that I thought this day was so far down the road that I would have plenty of time to worry about it and I "knew" I was going to worry. Because the thought of my children leaving home or even just being old enough to attend college just broke my heart. How would I let them go? Would they be mature enough? Would they make it? Well, our God certainly has a way of preparing us for life\'s journey and through the years, my heart is not so saddened at the thought of my children growing older and moving on with life. In fact, I would even go as far to say that I am excited to see my children grow into the fine christian adults their father and I are praying for them to be. Now, I do still have many questions, especially since I am the parent of soon to be homeschooled high-school graduates. I believe that homeschoolers tend to be watched a bit more closely and judged a bit more quickly. Many are looking for us to fail, to be able to tell us why homeschool might not be working. So naturally, I worry that, due to something I may not have taught my children that they might struggle in some area. Getting them into college, if that is what they should choose and preparing them for college has always been a big concern for us.   Did we teach them enough? What kind of paperwork will we need? I don\'t have transcripts, will that hurt them? They will have a homeschool diploma signed by Mom & Dad, will that also be a mark against them? And many, many other concerns.

It has always been understood in our family that if our children decided to attend college, they would be attending a community college, while continuing to live at home. Growing into an adult is difficult enough, without having to do it away from those who love you most and those you need around you as you mature into an adult. It is also our hope and prayer that our children not leave home until it is time for them to begin their own families. Now, please don\'t get me wrong, we aren\'t judging others who feel otherwise, and this doesn\'t mean that if one of our children were to set their hearts on a career and for some reason, they needed to attend a college away from us that we wouldn\'t consider it, but it would be a very thought out process. Thankfully, here in our beautiful town, we are blessed to have a very fine facility and when we began homeschooling, we checked into the policies of this place. We were pleased to find out that it is very homeschool friendly. We needed no transcripts, which was and is a blessing as we haven\'t ever done transcripts, or even kept track of grades and tests for that matter. Our children do the work and if they get it wrong, they do it again, until they get it right. Now I probably could have kept track of grades based on each child\'s first attempt at an assignment, but we chose not to. So we were very pleased to find out that we wouldn\'t be scrambling trying to come up with any of this paperwork.

Fast forward a couple years, and we are finally ready to celebrate the high school graduation of our twin daughters. Time to sit down with them and talk about life after schooling. Now, here again, I do need to take a bit of a side-note and mention that we are raising our daughters first and foremost to be wives and mothers. Both my husband and I believe that their primary focus should be to their family and if the Lord chooses to bless them with a mate and children, then they should be home fulfilling that role and not out in the workplace. Again, not judging others, just stating what our family believes.  However, should God\'s plan not be to have them married soon into adulthood, or maybe, even possibly to remain single for many or all of their adult years, we have left the choice of furthering their education up to them. And that is the point we are at now.....Our daughters have decided, that yes, they would like to learn more. They enjoy learning and would like to explore the possibility of a career. So, after much consideration our daughters have chosen to attend our local community college and begin taking classes. Their father has been busy working along side of them filling out the paper work, making the phone calls, setting up the appointments and doing everything that is required to get them to begin this next step in their lives. They have chosen their area of interest. One will be taking general business classes and her sister has chosen the field of a medical assistant. They have applied for and received financial aid. They just needed to conquer one last hurdle. The placement test. The college sent home a practice test for them to study and it looked to be very difficult, especially the math. Now I do have to say that I am terrible at math, so we really struggle to get this all in. My husband is the math whiz in our house, but he works outside the home for many hours a week and he does math with them when he can. However, we have always been worried that it might not be enough. So even though we know how important math is in today\'s world, we don\'t get to the many extras that they might need. For example: Algebra. Unfortunately, my daughters also didn\'t get the math gene that my husband seems to have been blessed with and have also struggled in this area. Oh my, I can\'t tell you how this one worried both their father and I. Yes,our daughters are very bright. Yes, their learning most always came easy to them. Yes, they did all their schoolwork in very fine fashion. However, doubts began to creep in, all around, in all our heads. Would they "measure up"? Would they know enough math? Would they pass? Or would they need the offered tutoring and need to re-take the test again? Yes, I know we aren\'t supposed to worry and that we are to pray and leave the rest up to Him. However, my sinful nature wasn\'t doing that and I have to admit, all of us were nervous when it came time for them to take this test. Both my husband and I were trying to be encouraging, "Do your very best?" "Give it all you got." "If you don\'t do well, it\'s our fault, we missed something somewhere." "It\'s our responsibility to teach you all you need to know, so don\'t blame yourselves." So the day arrives. Test Day. I drop them off and head back a couple hours later to pick them up. They passed!!!! They "blew away" the reading/writing portion of the test and "did very well" on the math section of the test. Oh the joy!!!! The relief.

Both my husband and I feel like we passed an important test also. Yes, we are capable of giving our children the education they need. Yes, we made the right decision in choosing to homeschool our children. Now if we only pass the biggest test of all and raise our children to love and serve the Lord for all their days on earth, so that they may rejoice in heaven with Him for all eternity.

Karen

Posted in Day to Day at our House

I got this in my email the other day and forgot about it.....and then I saw it again on a message board that I am a member of and remembered that I wanted to share it here.

In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, these websites are allowing you free access to their sites one day each week......Yesterday, I was able to download a bunch of really great books for Miss Alli, who is doing so well learning to read.

Todays learning plans include:

All ---- Morning Devotion:  continue reading from Psalms and Proverbs.

Then Aaron and Jake are off to do their work independently while I get busy w/ Alli and Rosie.

Jake will join Natalie later in the day to get some work done in his Easy Grammar book. 

 

As for Miss Rosie and Miss Alli:

Bible Memory Work:  Rosie will be continuing to memorize the 2nd half of The Second Commandment from Luther's Small Catechism.  We are using a copy of this book that we have from when the older children attended our private church/school.

The Second Commandment

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God that we do not use His name to curse, swear, lie or deceive, or use it superstitiously, but call upon God's name in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks. 

Allison will be continuing to memorize her verse this week: 

We love because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19

~NIV~

We choose Alli's verses from a small memory book that the school run by our church uses......

Handwriting:  Rosie will be copying The Second Commandment in cursive.  Alli will be printing her memory verse.

Read aloud time:  We will be beginning a new Molly book....Molly Learns a Lesson.  Yesterday we finished the Meet Molly book...of course, our copies of these books are much older and have seen better days......The girls are really enjoying these stories......and we are learning too....After finishing Meet Molly, we talked a little about Pearl Harbor.....and in a totally unrelated conversation the subject of Pearl Harbor came up during supper. later in the evening.....the girls were able to tell Daddy that they had just learned about Pearl Harbor earlier ......and it was evident  that they were excited to be a part of the discussion.  Last week, Natalie brought home the dvd, Molly-An American Girl on the Homefront.  The girls and I really enjoyed watching it also.

Read quietly time:  Rosie will continue in Mary Margaret Meets Her Match......and Alli is taking a break from her Dick and Jane books, which she is doing very well in.  She can now read 3 complete titles, from beginning to end.  Today she will be spending some time using the computer for reading.....at www.starfall.com

Math:  Alli will work in her Math book......and Rosie will be working on her multiplication tables some more.

and maybe if we have time, for Science, we can get to the project that I have been trying to get started since early last week.......

If we get all that finished before Daddy gets home, then I will consider it a great day of learning......

 

Posted in Books we use for our learning

Not too much going on around here lately.....so thought I would list some of the books the kids are doing......Here are the books that Aaron is currently working on:

Bible Quest

Jensen's Punctuation

Math The Easy Way

For Science, he is doing the science research questions found towards the bottom left of this page.

He is also working in the Universe by Design book.

He is also reading Dave Ramsey's More Than Enough.

I just realized he isn't doing anything for History, so I am going to have to go and see what I have that he hasn't already done.......

 

 

 

 

Should I homeschool??

&

What kind of homeschooling?

Well, actually not too much......everyone around here is on Spring Break, so we were a bit relaxed in schooling this week, although we still did school.......

Alli is taking right off on reading......it's Awesome!!!!  She also finished one of her kindergarten math books this week......she is flying through the workbooks......

Rosie has been practicing her cursive......and doing a great job at it too...She's also worked very hard this week on her multiplication tables.....Rosie and I did some science this week as well.....and she started another science project......this one involves a sweet potato, a jar and some water......

The boys have been doing some science sheets that I found here..(the science research questions towards the bottom left of the page).....and Jake just started using the president bio form  printout here to do some studying on the Presidents of the U.S.  

I saw these dvds at Walmart the other day and would really like to pick them up for the kids.....they have always been on my wish list, so it was nice to see them here in town......and maybe not have to order them online......

I think that's about it.....

More graduation plans in the making for Natalie and Nikki......caps and gowns are ordered.....so it's seeming more real every day.....We actually will have 2 graduates soon!!! WOW!!!!!!

 

Posted in Books we use for our learning

One of my biggest fears in homeschooling is how to teach my children to read......Rosie went to kindergarten and reading came so easily to her......so, Alli is the first one who has never been to school, just homeschooled....and I have been so nervous about how long it would take to teach her to read.....well, after practicing sight word flashcards w/ her and having her copy the words, we dug out the Dick and Jane books...(we have the paperback ones and 2 larger treasury collections) ....and after a few attempts, she is reading!!!!!  I am so excited....Rosie has been spending quite a bit of time each day reading also.....Last week she finished, The Last Little Cat, Puppy Summer, and she started reading Miss Hickory.  This week we will be doing alot of reading for our SOTW book.......I was unable to get some of the books I need from our local library, so I ordered them from other libraries, and had to wait for them to come in.....Well, they are here, so it's time to get started.....Some of the ones we will be reading are:

The First Dog

Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile

Mik's Mammoth

Mummies Made in Egypt

The Nile River

One Small Blue Bead

Cry of the Benu Bird

Ms Frizzle's Adventures Ancient Egypt

Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt

DK Eyewitness Books Ancient Egypt

(can you guess what we are learning about??? lol!!!)

Here are a couple more pics:

~Rosie's science project that we got from www.kidzone.ws

 

 and the seeds that the girls planeted on March 8th....

Can you tell we are having fun doing lots more hands-on type projects????  Sure beats book work anyday!!!!

Alli: 

works daily in her Horizons Kindergarten Math book....I love Horizon's Math....very impressed w/ it.....She also has a couple Kindergarten books that I picked up from Walmart that she works in sometimes.

practices reading her sight word flashcards to me each day......

and then writes some of the words for Handwriting and Spelling....

She has also just started reading the Dick and Jane books to me also...We have both the hardcover ones and the smaller paperback ones ..and so far, she is doing great!!!  I can't believe she is reading already......

Rosie has been busy learning her multiplication tables......we are using homemade flashcards that Nikki made up for us...and working in her Horizons Math book.....She has just started a history notebook....we are using Story of the World Vol. 1........I've had it for a long while now, but I have held off starting it until I was able to order the things that I wanted to go w/ it......I think we are really going to enjoy it......we have our history figures.....our timeline.....the activity book to go along w/ SOTW.....and I have borrowed The Usborne Book of World History and The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia from the library to use until I can purchase them.....

The 3 little girls and I have also been busy w/ a few projects around here....Rosie is doing a science project that I found on Kidzone..I will try to post a few pics later.....All 3 of the girls have planted some other seeds in styrofoam cups as well.....Rosie planted corn, bean and radishes....so that she could compare them......Alli and Abby planted some herbs......dill, parsley, chives and catnip......

The older kids have been busy as well.....

Natalie and Nikki have just recently finished their books and are done except for one last report that all 4 of the older ones are working on for me.....they are doing a report on Marian Wright Edelman.....

Aaron just got started on a couple new books.......Jensen's Punctuation.  He has also started Universe by Design for science.....I will try to post a complete list of Aaron's books another time.....

 

Anyone ever play the board game Payday???  I had it as a kid.....and our children got it for Christmas this year.......I knew it would be good for some math, but last night as Rosie and I were playing it, I realized that it is much better than I thought (even though we had already played several games since Christmas) ....Rosie was the banker and she got some great practice counting money back and forth....plus as you travel through the month of play, each space has something slightly different to do.....you learn to pay bills at the end of the month, after receiving your salary.  You also land on spaces that help w/ other math skills as well.....like, multiplication.....I had been slightly disappointed earlier in the day yesterday, because we didn't get as much math done as I thought we should have...and getting her to do the little bit that we did get done was a real struggle...but later, in the evening, when we sat down and played a game, I realized that we were doing more math and we were both having fun while doing it....

 

Posted in Living and Learning

Well, we are trying to get more schooling in each day.....but boy, it sure takes alot of effort....

 

Alli did work on her letter Bb pages.....(let me tell you, that girl sure does like using lotsa glue, lol)....

 

Rosie and I got quite a bit accomplished....We worked on her multiplication tables, her memory/copy work (still working on The Ten Commandments).....She read the next story in New Friends.....she did a page in her manners workbook....practiced her cursive and re-did an English assignment that she had really messed up on....

 

And I even found time  to work w/ Jacob on his English assignment...I think we completed 3 pages....

 

After naptime, the 3 little ones and I sat down and read some autumn/pumpkin story books:

 

We All Fall for Apples

 

Rabbit and Hare Divide an Apple

 

The Pumpkin Patch

 

It's Pumpkin Time

 

Fall Leaves Fall

 

and

 

The Pumpkin Patch Parable

 

and that's our day....

Posted in Living and Learning

 

Alli is five.  And she is a pretty smart 5 year old.  She has known her ABC's for a long while now.....and she knows how to write her ABC's.....but we have been working with her for awhile now to learn the sounds that each ABC letter makes.......So this week, we began spending a bit more time on it, so that we can finally get it done and move on.....This week is, of course, the letter A.....

Here are some of the things we have done:

 

Aa tracing pages

 

Aa template  (we used this to glue dry macaroni onto. The older girls thought we should have used something that begins w/ A.  However I am pretty unsure I will be able to find something that begins each letter of the alphabet to fill in each of the 26 templates.  So we will be working with whatever I have around the house at the time.)

 

Letter A paper craft

 

Letter A mini-book  (requires using scissors and glue)

 

Angel coloring sheet

 

 

Out of the bookcase we are reading: 

 

Chicka Chicka Boom boom

 

Berenstain's A Book

 

Ten Apples Up On Top

 

Dr. Seuss's ABC  

 

And off the video shelf we are watching:

 

Leap Frog Letter Factory

 

Leap Frog Talking Words Factory

 

Richard's Scarry's Best ABC Video

 

Toys we will be using to help us:

 

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics

 

Next week:   On to the letter Bb

Posted in Day to Day at our House

A new week......and it's off to a chilly start..I actually needed to turn the furnace up today....brrrr......

Not to much happening around here today....Natalie and Rosie made some French bread this morning....  Natalie also tried another granola recipe today too..We have several and are looking for the best one....It was a very light schooling day for us....Rosie did a little math (multiplication tables).....After reading Abby a few stories and getting her down for a nap, Rosie, Alli and I snuggled on the couch and finally finished reading Summer w/ the Moodys....and we will be starting to read Autumn w/ the Moodys tomorrow...After storytime, Natalie and Nikki got them all bundled up and took them outside for a bit....Jake and I played a few rounds of Yahtzee.......Now Jake and Rosie are upstairs watching Seven Alone while Natalie and Nikki are getting dinner started....an easy meal tonight....potato pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast... 

 

Well, almost time to eat......take care~

Karen

 

ps....Anyone have or use this book??? Any opinions????

All American History

 

ETA:  Anyone ever order from here????  Likes / Dislikes????

HoldThatThought.com

Posted in Day to Day at our House

http://www.xanga.com/bkyoungfamily

 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend....For you ladies at TGR, I am having a terrible time w/ Msn and have been unable to get the pages to load all day........I keep trying though.....Take care~

Posted in Books we use for our learning

Timeline Figures

 

We have been needing to order some things for the new homeschool year, but haven't been able to afford to.....now w/Bob's new job, we are finally able to do some things here and there.....so I have decided to just order a little bit at a time, depending on the need...I have been wanting these timeline figures for a long while now and was hoping to get the cds, but we won't  be able to afford those for a long while, so I decided to get the printed ones one at a time....We have the first 2 volumes of Story of the World, and I really want to follow a timeline concept w/Rosie, plus I have a couple other resources that I want to pick up before we begin volume 1.....including the activity guides for them, The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and The Useborne book of World History.  I am hoping to be able to order these in the next few weeks...The older kids are really wanting me to hurry and order volumes 3 and 4 as well....They don't use them as official school books, (Jake does, but not the older 3) but they have really enjoyed reading the first two volumes and are really looking forward to reading the others.....

 

I also have a small (???) list of books that I am really wanting to order soon from Master Books...Anyone familier w/ any of these???  They are available from

 New Leaf Publishing Group.  The older kids have done all their science learning from there so far and we have been very happy w/ the books that we have purchased from them already....

 

I also need to order an English/Grammar book for Aaron...He has already finished Easy Grammar Plus awhile ago....but I really want him to do some more....I haven't decided if I am going to go w/ Jensen's Format Writing, Jensen's Punctuation, and Jensen's Grammar...We have the Jensen's Vocabulary one....Natalie and Nikki are working through it now, and Natalie is really enjoying it, but it is giving Nikki fits.......or  if I want to order the Applications of Grammar set that Christian Liberty Press uses???  Ugh~ decisions, decisions......Anyone use any of these before??  Happy or Unhappy w/ either/or???? 

 

I think deciding which textbooks to order is one of the most difficult decisions w/ homeschooling for me....money is an issue, so I really need to get it right the first time.....if we don't like it, we are stuck w/ it...and I am trying to order things that I will be able to use later for the younger kids as well....Mostly I think, I have done okay....even been pleasantly surprised on a couple decisions....

 

Well, Bob will be home soon, and my computer time is over for now....time to get back to being a Mom......not that I ever really stopped, lol...I've been interrupted ever 15 seconds by all of the kids as I have been typing these posts....Take care everyone~ 

 

Ps....I also posted over on my Xanga blog, if you didn't find this too long and boring....lol....