I am a stay-at-home, missionary, homeschooling mom of 4 kids who are growing way too fast. I enjoy sewing, scrapping, stamping, reading, etc. This blog will contain various ramblings about my journey as a homeschooling mom and anything else life throws at me. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:43:00 -0500 Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:43:00 -0500 FOR TODAY August 31, 2009... Outside My Window...It’s been a nice mix of sunshine and clouds. I am thinking...about needing to schedule a family portrait session at JCPenney.  I finally found a khaki skirt for Care Bear today so everyone has coordinating clothes. I am thankful for...the gift of a serger from a good friend this past weekend. From the kitchen...I am making spaghetti from leftover sauce that I froze in Ziplocs. I am creating...an ‘ugly’ quilt as part of my homework for getting to know my new serger.  I also hope to use it in making Buddy’s new shirt that I am still working on. I am going...to make it a priority to make Buddy’s winter dress shirt this week (yes, I know I said that last week; I at least have the material cut out). I am reading...I finally got caught up in reading the online story I’ve been following. I am hearing...a neighbor kid practicing their instrument. Around the house...we are working at using up all the food stuffs in the freezer & cupboards without buying much new stuff in preparation for leaving. One of my favorite things...is taking an evening walk to the park with my family. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  I have an appointment to drop off clothes at the children’s resale store down the street and I hope to remember craft night at the church this week.   Here is picture thought I am sharing...   Fun at the church campout! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/722724/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/722724/      I was nervous about starting Buddy in 1st grade this year.  Kindergarten didn't seem to be a big deal; everything I read said to relax and just concentrate on teaching him to read and understand the concept of numbers. Last year went really well, but I've always looked at 1st grade as starting 'real' school with ‘real’ curriculum.  There are so many more subjects – science, history, grammar, etc. to think about now.  So far, we are doing well (3 weeks in) and I'm relaxing as we get the feel of it all.  Buddy has commented several times that he likes ‘this school stuff’, usually when we are doing history.  I'm still amazed at how little time it takes to do it all. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/720493/ Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/720493/ FOR TODAY August 24, 2009... Outside My Window...It looks like we are in for a cooler day with more clouds which sounds very nice.  I am thinking...about things that need to be added to my to-do list. I am thankful for...a healthy family right now which allows us to do fun stuff like driving up Pike’s Peak and going to the church picnic. From the kitchen...I need to figure out a menu guide for this week.  There’s corn on the cob, yellow squash and some thawed hamburgers and chicken in the fridge that need to be used. I am creating...folder games and activities in bags to help keep Princess occupied so she won’t pester her siblings (and hopefully work on her fine motor skills at the same time). I am going...to make it a priority to make Buddy’s winter dress shirt this week. I am reading...about possible vacation activities.  We want to take a few days to relax and regroup on our way back to AK. I am hearing...my daughters getting dressed, Buddy playing his Jump Start and the Little Guy enjoying his morning juice. Around the house...it is actually fairly clean for once.  I even got the kitchen mopped last night. One of my favorite things...is clean smelling kids. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  This was going to be our week off from school (3 weeks on, 1 week off), but since we want to take a quick trip later in Sept.  we are doing school now so that we won’t have to then.   Here is picture thought I am sharing...   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/720195/ Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:33:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/720195/ FOR TODAY August 17, 2009... Outside My Window...I see blue skies with a few white clouds gathering in the northwest.  I am thinking...about laundry, supper, school… I am thankful for...good fellowship at the church campout this last weekend.  From the kitchen...I am continuing in my quest to find good kid friendly recipes that don’t involve cheese or other dairy products.  It’s been a challenge and I sincerely hope that this time of lactose free food will ‘fix’ Care Bear’s digestive system. I am creating...to do lists of things that I/we need to do before heading back to Alaska (only 7 more weeks). I am going...to just keep going.  We’ve had several very late nights and busy days; and I keep thinking of everything that needs doing. I am reading...a free e-book on Frugal Family Fun – Travel Tips and Field Trips.  We are hoping to take some time for a mini vacation on our way home. I am hearing...my Dh fussing at a computer. Around the house...lots of laundry to do after our ‘camping’ trip, but I’m waiting for a warmer day since I prefer to hang out the laundry as it is saving me $8-10 a week.  I just did one load today since it is a cooler day and is taking all day just to dry the one load. One of my favorite things...peace and quiet on a summer afternoon. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  I need to start making a new winter dress shirt for Buddy, figure out what to write on the inside of the Christmas cards, do more scrapbooking, write thank you cards, etc.   Here is picture thought I am sharing... Buddy had fun showing us all the stuff he learned at soccer camp this summer. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/718191/ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:06:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/718191/ FOR TODAY July 20, 2009... Outside My Window...There is blue sky peeping through between white fluffy clouds.  It’s quite warm today and the kids have had fun playing outside. I am thinking...about supper.  The older two have VBS starting at 5:30 so I need to feed them early. I am thankful for...the increases we have had in our support and hoping to see more.  From the kitchen...I found a recipe for a potato, chicken, summer squash casserole that I am going to try tonight.  Hopefully the kids will like it. I am creating...scrapbooks.  I am really trying to make an effort to get as caught up as possible before I have to pack everything up. I am going...to try to get some more boxes repacked as well.  I think I have most of the boxes repacked.  It’s been good to go through everything again. I am reading...nothing right now; although I did get distracted this last week re-reading some books that I was repacking. I am hearing...neighbors voices drifting in through the open windows and a fire truck going by. Around the house...as usual there are dishes waiting and I really should vacuum soon. One of my favorite things...is a cool summer breeze. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  I plan to keep plugging away at my list of things to do before we head back to Alaska.   Here is picture thought I am sharing... The Little Guy is so happy to be able to cruise the backyard on his own. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/709740/ Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:15:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/709740/ Hooray!  We are at 84% and finally have a date set for heading home.  Lord willing, we will be leaving Colorado no later than October 12.  We are actually planning on being out of our apartment here by the end of September so we may get on the road a little earlier than that.  It has been exciting and also a big relief to finally have an end in sight.  Of course, this definitely affects our school schedule this next year.  It suddenly hit me last week that we would be on the road for the month of October and I don’t really want to deal with school on the road unless I have to.  I was planning on starting our new school year at the beginning of September after taking August off.  The new plan is to start at the beginning of August after a quick two week break at the end of July so that we aren’t playing catch-up when we get home.  Except for our moving break I’m still planning on doing three weeks on, one week off, with a couple extra weeks off for holidays, etc.  I read somewhere about a homeschooling family with this schedule and it really intrigued me.  I like the idea of having a week each month to catch up on various projects.  I also like the idea of not having a long summer break during which I’m trying to keep the kids busy and after which we spend time trying to remember what we learned last year. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/705899/ Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:19:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/705899/ Buddy has finally finished all of the various math workbooks etc. that we have been working through this year.  It was a little like pulling teeth at times; at least until he figured out that he really does know the various math facts.  He seemed to struggle especially with remembering his subtraction facts.  During his most recent melt-down and disbelief that he would ever remember them, I reminded him that less than a year ago he couldn't read or do addition - things he now finds easy.  I also had a talk with the principal (Daddy) who then offered a new incentive for finishing all of his math curriculum - the Math Blaster computer game from Knowledge Adventure.  Buddy received his reward this afternoon and is having a blast playing his new game.  I love being able to reward his learning with more learning. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/701609/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/701609/ It's amazing how early the differences between boys and girls become obvious.  The Little Guy is only 13 months and already he has developed a strong interest in 'vrooming' cars (or anything resembling a car) around the house.  The girls never developed such interests.  (Of course neither did Buddy, but that's because for him everything is some kind of flying machine.)  The girls have always shown more interest in play that relates some how to domestic things - dolls, cooking, etc.  It is obvious though that they have an older brother since they are usually setting up house in a space ship or war zone of some kind.    An incident that has really stood out to me in showing the difference between boys and girls occurred when Buddy was about a year and a half.  Our neighbors had a little girl about his age who was very interested in dolls.  One day her mother was showing Buddy how to hold one of the dolls.  He gave it a brief once over before chucking it over his shoulder and heading for the toy cars.  It's also been interesting to see how the 'experts' have changed their minds on the subject in the last few years.  When Buddy was born it was still the prevailing thought that children were blank slates and now they are starting to admit that a great deal of the differences between boys and girls are actually hardwired from birth.  Of course, anyone with half a mind would think this obvious. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/695907/ Thu, 4 Jun 2009 14:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/695907/ The Little Guy turned 1 year old last month.  It doesn't seem like enough time has passed for that.  He isn't walking yet, but I doubt it will be much longer before he does.  They say that a boy is 'a noise with dirt on it, well I think Buddy is the noise part and the Little Guy is the dirt part. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/686286/ Wed, 6 May 2009 12:58:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/686286/ It’s been an interesting challenge sifting through the many possibilities and choosing curriculum for next year.  Last fall when we started this adventure I didn’t really do much looking at different curriculums; mostly I just bookmarked any websites that looked interesting.  We were pretty tight financially at the time and since we already had several workbooks that we had picked up from Costco, the only thing I bought was a set of Math-U-See blocks because I felt it would benefit Buddy to have some manipulatives.  I figured it was just Kindergarten after all and the important thing was to concentrate on the 3Rs to get him ready for first grade. There is so much more to look at and consider for a First Grader as opposed to a Kindergartener – history, science, grammar, etc.  Wading through the seemingly endless possibilities has taken a lot of time.  It has really made me do a lot of thinking about what exactly I want my children to learn.  Some things are fairly cut and dry like phonics and math; it’s just a matter of which curriculum I think will best fit my kids.  Others like history and science require more thought about my goals, expectations, and teaching style.  How broad or focused do I want the curriculum I choose to be?  Do I want something that involves a lot of reading or something more hands on?  Of course, science and history curriculums also tend to be mostly non-consumables; so I want to choose something that will hopefully work for each of my children.  I know one of the benefits of homeschooling is the ability to tailor things to each child’s learning style and interests; but I also don’t want to be buying a different curriculum each year trying to find ‘the one’ that fits.  (I can’t afford it either.)  History especially seems to be a subject in which I need to look ahead because most curriculums are designed to cover several years, if not all twelve.  My biggest challenge has been choosing a science curriculum.  There are so many good curriculums out there and they all have their pros and cons.  It seemed every time I would start to narrow down the possibilities I would discover a new one.  I know I eventually want to do Apologia’s Jr./Sr. High courses.  Figuring out what to focus on between here and there however has proven difficult.  I think I’ve finally decided that while I want to make sure each child has a solid yet broad foundation so that they are ready for the higher level courses; this is a subject that I will need to take one year at a time so that I can take into consideration their individual interests. So, after much deliberation I have chosen the following for Buddy’s first grade curriculum: Bible:  Building On The Rock from Summit Ministries – It seemed like most bible curriculums consisted of just reading through the Bible and while there’s certainly nothing wrong with that, I felt there should be more to it than that.  I also didn’t want to replicate what my kids are already getting in Sunday School and Awana.  BOTR has a bible survey portion, but it’s main emphasis is on building a solid Christian worldview foundation.  It’s a bit pricey, but they tell me they are working with Apologia to bring the price down and make it even more homeschool friendly. Math: Math-U-See – He will be ready for the Beta level this fall. Phonics:  Explode the Code – I think book 4 is where we need to start. Grammar: First Language Lessons – I’m still a little torn between this and Easy Grammar.  I think Buddy will do fine with either one and both have pros and cons.  However, I think when Princess is ready for grammar that she would do better with FLL.  We’ll see. Science:  Studying Creation Through Astronomy from Apologia – Space is definitely Buddy’s area of interest (anything that involves flying or rockets or outer space) and since his sisters won’t yet be old enough to fully participate this next year I decided to pick something that was more specifically for him.  I am planning to purchase the coordinating lapbook from Live and Learn Press. History:  Mystery of History – I am grateful to my dh for taking the time to sit down with me and talk about what was important to both of us that our children learn about history.  After comparing the different options MOH stood out to us both as the best fit for our family; not only because of the worldview it presents, but scope and sequence it uses. Handwriting: Getty-Dubay Italics – I definitely like the idea of this approach to handwriting verses the traditional manuscript/cursive approach.  (Personally I do not like cursive and only use it for my signature.) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/681186/ Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/seedpearl/681186/