Hello! I'm Sarah, an unlikely and blessed homeschooling mother to 1 wonderful son (7) and 3 darling daughters (5, 3 and 1). http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:46:00 -0600 Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:46:00 -0600 Apparently I cannot add a title to my posts anymore.  Frustrating.  Well, I think I'm moving on over to my personal blog on blogger.  Please follow me over there! http://www.unlikelymother.blogspot.com ~Sarah http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/663036/ Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:46:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/663036/ BOX DAY! First let me say that for some reason, I cannot add a title to this post.  Not sure why ... Today was our second box day from Sonlight!  It was less than a year ago when we had our first box day: The remaining books from Core P3/4 (we had ordered some from Amazon and other places previously) and all of Core P4/5.  We have been having a wonderful time with Core P4/5 and various other things like Math-U-See and Handwriting Without Tears. So, today's Box Day was full of Core K.  It is recommended for children ages 5 to 7, so that fits Aaron and Alayna nicely.  I love that they can use the same curriculum and learn together!  Aaron tore into the box and fell in love with the Usborne Children's Encyclopedia right away.  I can tell this is going to be another great year with Sonlight. And also for buying the full Core I received a wonderful gift.  I need to find a necklace to hold it, and then I will show it off.  It's beautiful and so thoughtful. Now comes to fun work of putting the Core in the new Expedit.  We won't be using Core K for about a month, so in the meantime I need to buy some quality laminate to protect the paperbacks.  That's always a fun job ... not!  But it's worth it.  The books that I covered from last year still look new, and I know they will be around for a long time to teach my younger children, and who knows, maybe even my grandchildren someday! A weekly update will be coming soon!  And I really need to figure out why I cannot add a title to this post. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/661952/ Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:34:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/661952/ I think I'm going to give a weekly update on what we've done for the week.  Last week ... just random reading and an occasional workbook because we were all sick in various degrees.  Tomorrow starts our new week (yes, I know, our schedule is weird!) so I hope to have more interesting things to say next time. ;-) Oh, I do have something cool to share:  We have 25 lbs of books from Sonlight coming next week!  That's always exciting! More later! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/660694/ Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:07:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/660694/ I don't have a lot of time to blog right now (or lately!) but I wanted to share a picture of our new homeschooling shelf.  You may recall seeing the 2x4 cube shelf from IKEA.  This one is the 5x5 cube shelf.  Enormous.  Perfect.  And there's room for the next Sonlight Core, too!  We were about to play Chutes and Ladders. :-) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/657245/ Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:42:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/657245/ Yesterday we had our homeschooling friends come over and we made some homemade play dough.  A mess, but fun!  I just love the feeling of warm play dough.  Well, I didn't take any pictures because I was busy making the dough!  Don't worry, the children wanted to play with it today so at breaktime, I pulled out the dough.  We have red, yellow, orange, blue, purple and I still need to make green.  Here are my little play doughers: Coming soon - a post about our Christmas. :-) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/638132/ Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:11:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/638132/ Still here, still homeschooling, although it's a bit lazy here from pre-Thanksgiving (hunting) until after Christmas.  Ahh, the beauty of homeschooling, to continue with what we're doing but at a slower pace so that we can fully enjoy the holiday season. I'm sure in January we'll have more fun adventures to share!  Until then! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/634482/ Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:39:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/634482/ I have a homeschooling friend that I met at our local library, and our children are around the same age - right now they are almost 7, almost 6, 5, 3, almost 3, and the babies are 9 months (born just a few days apart).  We decided to meet and do a group activity with all of the children once a week.  Whether or not we actually do it weekly, we'll see!  But at least we can try.  It'll be good for the winter when everyone is cooped up and bored of being inside. Here are a few pictures of our last meeting.  Me, reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (actually I was singing it!): And here is a cute pic of our babies, playing so nicely together.  This little guy was born in the same hospital as Maria and they met when she was hours old and he was 3 days old. :-) Homeschooling friends are fun!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/616861/ Sun, 9 Nov 2008 17:53:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/616861/ Remember this post about my homeschooling space?  I thought I was done messing with it, but no ... not so.  My brain wouldn't deviate from wanting to improve it (believe me, I tried to stop).  So ... we had to go down to IKEA again because my hubby wanted a new frame for his new TV. You can see that "frame" over there (on my other blog) if you'd like, but this is about homeschooling so I won't waste your time on other stuff. So, IKEA again.  I bought a few more things to make the shelf (which shall be called the Expedit 2x4 or just 2x4 from now on) more organized.  I'll have to buy the 4x4 Expedit shelf later when we had the other 2 children to our homeschooling mix, though!  When I do that, I'll bring the 2x4 upstairs, turn it on its side, put some short legs on it, and I'll have an amazing scrapbooking station.  Woo hoo!  Here is our homeschooling corner of our living room: I took this picture as I was sitting at our large homeschooling table - the IKEA Norden Gateleg (that has the two wonderful fold-down leaves).  See the paper that is yellow-stickied to the shelf?  That's week 17 of our Sonlight IG for P4/5. So ... starting from the top, we have: Our small CD player, my Aloe plant from Cathy (in a gigantic coffee cup pot!) and then in the top left is Alayna's workbooks and materials and the top right is Aaron's workbooks and materials. The 2nd shelf is: Core P3/4 (or Core A) and the right is Core P4/5 (or Core B).  Nicely color coded - Sonlight had me in mind for that, I think!  I should add that I have laminated all paperback covers and used dust jacket protectors for these books (Vernon Library Supplies) so that we will be able to use them for many more years and for more children! Next shelves are: Right and left are 6 bins from IKEA (Trofast).  They hold misc. art supplies, Math U See blocks, crayons, Handwriting Without Tears manipulatives, and blank and lined paper (for now).  I may move these things around when I get some construction paper.  The bottom 2 canvas bins are from Target.  Funny story about these .... I was looking through 1000+ pictures of Expedit shelves on Flickr and saw a picture of someone who used these bins and kindly stated where they were purchased.  I went to Target and picked up a few and WOW.  I LOVE THEM.  They fit the entire area of the cubby (approx 13.5 inches square).  They don't just fall out, you have to give them a little tug - which is GREAT because Maria won't be able to just pull them out and get into them!  THANK YOU to the person who posted that picture, without you, I would never have known.  The brand for them is called Itso.  Anyway, the red canvas has all of our educational Discovery Toys, and the blue canvas has homeschooling supplies such as the letter cards, etc, from Language Arts. So, there you have it. Everything has a place and that makes me extremely happy.  I am always much more productive when things are organized and clutter-free.  I love IKEA, Target (for the awesome canvas!), and my dear husband for indulging me in my organizational quest.  It may seem frivilous but when you live in a small home (approx. 1000 sqaure feet for 6 people) ... you need to maximize your space as best you can!  And if you want to see an example of that, be sure to see my other blog for the Expedit 5x5!   I had to strike a deal with my hubby for that. Pictures of my precious ones actually using the space will be coming soon! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/614433/ Tue, 4 Nov 2008 13:27:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/614433/ Today Serena showed me how she can sort these pegs by color and by shape.  I love it when we get to do "school" together.  Usually I am busy reading instructions (for the older 2) in a workbook, or reading from a book, or doing a messy craft.  What I love is that she could tell me the colors and the names of the shapes (except for the hexagon) - and I didn't directly teach her these things.  I remember trying so hard to get Aaron to remember his colors, by using crayons or colored blocks.  He didn't seem to care!  With Serena, she just picks this stuff up through everyday life.  It helps to have a big brother and big sister to teach you things, too!  She surprises me daily with the things she knows at age 2 - things that the older children didn't know at that age!  I have to stifle feelings of regret (because I was just so busy with 3 under 3 at that stage in our lives).  Anyway ... Good job, Serena!  She wanted me to take a picture of her finished project: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/608505/ Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/608505/ Way to go, Alayna!  Her handwriting has come a long way!  Now on to Handwriting Without Tears Kindergarten! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/607468/ Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:42:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/UnlikelyMother/607468/