God Bless our Home - Homeschool Blogger

Learning Phonics

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:14:00 -0600

We have been pretty busy lately with various family/health issues but we still manage to find time for our schooling! I am so blessed that I don't have to spend any time in prep work or reading lesson plans or I am afraid we would be very behind! Even during my busiest days we can sit down together at the computer log into our Time4Learning page and knock out an hour of "school". The kids think it's so fun .

The past several days we have been focusing on phonics . My daughter "J" can actually already read (she is only 4) but I like the review for her and my son (also 4) is learning along with her. Today we were working on blending sounds....ex. "ch, sh, er, ir, ur". We are currently working in the 1st grade level for language arts.

Another favorite subject of my kids is science.
This month so far we have learning about the earth, moon, sun, weather, seasons, and magnets!

I like to then go to the library and check out books on the same science lessons and expore the concepts further. The kids really get into it and they remember what they have learned from our science lessons!

Our Homeschool !

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:14:00 -0500

It has been quite awhile since I have posted on this blog! We are doing well and I am excited to share how our homeschooling is going this year!

After going through several different curriculums I happened upon one that is a perfect fit for us! It is called Time4Learning. Jessie dd (4 1/2) is doing the 1st grade level
and Ryan ds(4) is doing Preschool level

It's basically on online homeschool curriculum that runs preschool thru 8th grade. Lessons are in language arts, math, science and social studies. It is only 19.95/mo and requires no prep work the night before on my part. Yay!

We have been using this as our primary curriculum now for several months and both of my kids are learning so much it just amazes me! They love it and often ask to do "computer games" on a daily basis even on the weekends. I usually sit with them and do the lessons and we talk about it as we go along, my kids aren't that proficient in using a mouse yet so I do that part for them as well. They love to sit on the desk and use their "pointers" , which are fancy unsharpened pencils! They point to the screen for the answer to click on etc. Anyway we love it and I encourage you to check it out, they have free demo lessons that are really fun!

I plan to be sharing our on-going homeschool experience on a more regular basis!
May God bless you! Thanks for stopping by!

A Blessed Christmas

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 13:12:00 -0600

SNOW!!!

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:56:00 -0600

Well you would think we were living in the North East or something....we have had VERY cold weather here and lots of snow and ice (Seattle, WA)!. It has not been above freezing for the past 2 days so everything is iced up and its really too cold to play outside, although the kids did sled a little bit. Our Thanksgiving was nice with my folks, we just put our Christmas tree and I am half-way done with the Christmas decorating around the house. I am also almost done Christmas shopping as I do most of it on-line. I am dis-satisified with the Sonlight curriculum we are using...I just dont like the layout, it seems very choppy and kinda boring for my kids. I think I am going to try WinterPromise Animal Worlds, as the kids are really into animals and I think they would truly love it, I ordered most of the books on e-bay and overstock.com (saved alot of money this way) but I wont have the guidebook, so I will have to "wing-it". I think it will be fine :) We are getting our first family portrait done on sat am, my parents are gong to join us as well. I cant wait, but I hope the kids do ok! HHHMMMMM...what else.....We are loving our new church, my parents left their church and are attending ours....I love having them there. I am still not on board with my schedule yet....ugh...procrastination is my middle name...I think I am "fearful" of starting it...I cant explain why but that is how I feel. If you use WinterPromise or are on a set schedule I would love to hear your ideas!!

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 21:58:00 -0600

My Baby girl Jess (3 3/4) is sick :( she has been throwing up off and on for the last 5 days or so, yesterday and today were the worst, could not even keep water down. She looked so pale and weak...it just broke my heart. I took her to the local urgent care at the pediatrician's office this morning as I was suspecting she was nearing dehydration and possibly needing IV fluids. The Dr. tells me she is close but not there yet, so we will wait another 24 hours and keep trying to push the fluids. She then mentions...well we could give her phenergan...".but it's kinda dangerous...could have some permanent side effects in little ones"...UM I think I will PASS on that one thank you. I have tried homeopathy with great success in the past and wanted to try something for Jess but the health food store was closed until 11am today. After the failed Dr. appt I went down there and purchased a 5 dollar homeopathic remedy for nausea and vomiting. I gave her 3 small tablets (which she takes no problem) and soon she is fast asleep in her car seat. The rest of the day NO nausea or vomiting and she is drinking fluids! WOO HOO! I am telling you this stuff works, I keep a bottle of Arnica around for minor aches and pains and we use it instead of Tylenol or Advil. I should have listened to my instincts and went to the health food store yesterday to get the homeopathy remedy and skipped the "dangerous drug" speech :/ Since I am a nurse practitioner I get the whole drug vs natural battle....it is very frustrating. If I were to call that office in the morning to report I gave her a homeopathic remedy and it actually worked they would politely dismiss it as "coincidence". I don't buy it...it works...I dont know how or why but it does. Thank the lord!

Oh yes and on another note....we suspended our direct TV today! As a "trial" basis to see if we can actually "live" without Tv or not. So far so good, I am typing on my blog , getting ready to scrapbook and DH is reading a book on the sofa with the great dane asleep at his feet (so cute). It is rather scary to think no TV...wow...something we have become so used to having and spend countless hours wasting time on meaningless shows. I cant wait to see what I can accomplish without this in our life...for now anyway.

Update on various things

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 16:02:00 -0600

I have thought about blogging many times over the past month but it seems some other little project or task has pulled me away and then I forget about it again. GASP! I realized today after logging on that it has been over a month....well I must do better than this. This week our family has the flu bug, the throw-up kind (ick). Thank the lord I am suffering the least so that I can take care of my family. I have finished my home-improvements for now. I painted our bedroom and bathroom after ripping off the ugly wallpaper that was there...wow what a difference. It is so serene and beautiful now, I love our room! I have managed to get a few more pages of my baby scrapbook done..which is at least a start. We have done school very informally for the past several weeks. My latest idea is to get rid of our direct tv. There is so much trash on TV and it seems the only thing we really enjoy is Jeopardy, so why pay so much to have it around? My husband is "thinking" about it....we will see, maybe we could do a month trial without it or something. We got rid of our TV when I was a kid and I remember playing games, reading and listening to radio with my parents, it was fun! Do you live without a TV? If so I would love to hear about it! Thanksgiving and Christmas are almost here! I am feeling much better now....SAD is pretty much gone until Jan/Feb. We will go to my parents for Thanksgiving day (they live only 15 min away). My husbands parents will fly out from VA for Christmas. I have decided to go back to flylady.....no other method seems to work. At least my house was clean and organized when I was following her ideas. I need to start slow as she says and just work on my "routines". That is everything new around here, I really want to strive to post more often....so check back! :)

OK, I dont like the Fall

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:01:00 -0500

I admit it, the fall is my least favorite season. I know that may sound strange to some, afterall it is beautiful with the leaves turning, the air turns cool and crisp...blah blah blah. What it really means to me is an end to another glorious summer of beautiful sunny weather, the beginning of the "rainy season" which in our neck of the woods equals three out of four. It also means ALOT less daylight, which in medical terms equates to alot less serotonin into my brain. That means I feel SAD. Ever heard of it SAD? Seasonal Affective Disorder, well I suffer from it, have for years and it hits me the hardest in October. So I am feeling kinda blah these days and in my head I know its that but I keep trying to figure out why I keep feeling so....so YUCKY!! Yes, I know it would help if I exercised more and ate better, all things I truly desire to do, but just cant seem to muster up the motivation to carry out. So as I struggle along feeling out of sorts, I am trying to lean on God, Lord show me how to structure my days to glorify you and carry out your will in my life. Help me to be the wife and mommy you would have me to be. I most certainly cannot do this on my own strength..that much I know for sure. So I wait, pray, read God's word and watch the leaves turn, fall, and then aaaahhhh winter is almost here....a breath of fresh air in my own little world. Another Fall behind me....at least I know my world is not coming to an end, my life really is GOOD and I am Loved....its all just a little bit SAD this time of year.

Frogs!!

Mon, 2 Oct 2006 22:46:00 -0500

We did it ...we started school today! The kids were sooooo excited..."yeah school, school, school!!!" We flew through all of our material in 45 minutes. We did the pledge of allegiance, sang songs, reviewed the calendar, counted our numbers poster (1-100), read about frogs, colored a frog picture, did a frog craft, and watched letter factory (leap frog). Oh yes and we found a live green frog out on the deck this afternoon, so that was great!! Then the kids went outside to ride bikes and play. I managed to wash 3 loads of laundry today and only 1 of it is put away (sigh, I tried). I did work on painting the kitchen some more but it is slow due to all of the trim work. We had pork tenderloin in the crockpot for dinner tonight. Tomorrow is errand day, I have to work my few hours in the AM as a Commercial Driver Medical Examiner. Kids go to gramma and papa's house, which they absolutely LOVE TO DO!! I have to pick up our milk (we drink raw goats milk) then come home to finish the day out. We most likely wont do school on Tuesdays or Thursdays (the kids have AWANA on thursdays from 9-11 am) so we will try a M-W -F approach for now. Its only preschool, so that should be fine. I think I am going to try to get another load of laundry put away tonight and get things ready for the morning....BLessings,

School starts tomorrow!!

Sun, 1 Oct 2006 22:53:00 -0500

Things are finally settling down. DH just returned from a trip to Bulgaria...he was there a week, and boy did we every miss him!! It really made me realize how much I need him and love him. I painted and decorated his office while he was away as a surprise and he was thrilled! I also finished the dining room, and am 1/2 way done painting the kitchen so we are moving right along. Tomorrow we start school. My DD still thinks we are going to get in the car and go "somewhere" for school....I hope she wont be too disappointed. We are doing the Sonlight theme schedule written by Amy....so this week the theme is frogs. I am also going to start a new schedule....for housekeeping, the flylady zone thing just isnt working for me right now, so I am going to try a daily "task". Monday is Laundry day, Tuesday is Errands day, Wed is Kitchen day, Thursday is office day, and Friday is Cleaning day. So, tomorrow being monday my goal is to get all of my laundry washed , folded and put away, and if I have extra time tidy up the laundry room area. I will post this week my progress.....goodnite for now .

more thoughts

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:07:00 -0500

I fell down our back porch steps last evening....needless to say I am a bit sore today. I feel sorta "out of whack" today. The top step is very slippery (apparently) so we will be installing some sort of rubber stuff for traction before the kids slip and hurt themselves. We started AWANA last week for the first time, we go again tonight, the kids are excited...last week I stayed in the room with them. This week Jess informs me they they want me to "drop them off!" Well, I wont go that far, but I will sit upstairs or something...I wont leave the building and I dont understand how the other parents of the 3-4 year old class can do that? It's just not safe in my opinion....church or no church. I am really wanting to be more "organized" in my home. I have visions of homemade bread baking, nice healthy meals, clean organized home, and our schooling going wonderfully. Well at least I have dreams of this anyway, I am lucky at this point to get dinner made. I know I could do better, I really want to start with my schedule again...we never really got to try it out before we moved. I am nervous about it actually...having my whole day all planned out. I am sure I will get tons done and I will probably actually feel better as I have built in time for exercise, meals, cleaning etc. Just looking at it however makes me feel tired. I need to at least give it a go thought...right? I will post how it goes when I start it. I have to pull it out of the file cabinet first. It feels like fall around here....rainy and cool and the leaves are turning. Time for a new season....a good time to start a new season in my life in our new home. Lord I need your strength and guidance, Please help me to start and continue my schedule.