Educating Emme: Week 4 Report

This week we started going to our homeschool group's Monday co-op. We go from 10-3 and have two 2-hour classes with a 1-hour break in between. Emme was really eager to go!


The first class is World History using Story of the World 3: Early Modern Times. We learned about Charles II becoming Holy Roman Emporer and about the conquistadors and their travels to South America to take gold from the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas.

The second class is an American Girls class. We will be studying Kaya (Native Americans) for the next 11 weeks and then move on to Felicity (Colonial Times).

The class started with the children sitting in a circle on the floor (about 20) and the teacher asking questions about what the children knew about Native Americans. I was surprised when Emme raised her hand and offered an answer! Then the teacher asked the children what they would like to know.

After this she read 2 chapters aloud of "Meet Kaya" and then they discussed the chapters and answered some questions. After this she passed around several books related to the Nez Perce Indians.

The children then gathered around and we made necklaces similar to the one that Kaya wears in the book.

Here is a review of Meet Kaya at Eclectic Homeschool.

Here is Emme's little Felicity doll wearing the Nez Perce belt that she made in class.
Here is Emme holding up her necklace. (Bad angle, look closely!)

Tuesday we worked on doing a booklet and some questions for the field trip we took to the zoo. Excuse the handwriting -- we're working on it!


We also had a field trip to the airport -- you can see Emme's captain wings!


We worked on math basics all week. An addition table, flash cards, and CLP math book.
In phonics we did Explode the Code, 2 pages daily. Emme read from either Treadwell's Reader or McGuffey Readers. We did spelling each day, copywork, read from the Bible, and devotions.

We finished up our butterfly lapbook and read more about insects in science. We also started to learn the names of the bones in the human body.

We read about the American Flag and its importance in Abeka's Our America 2, read from Burgess Book of Animals, started Understood Betsy, and 3 chapters of Tree in the Trail.

Emme read "Mouse Tales", "Buttons", and the original "Three Little Pigs".

She was not liking "Five Little Peppers", so we switched to "Grimm's Fairy Tale" and I read "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", which she loved.

She did a book report on "Anne of Green Gables", we finished listening to the audio of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", and we watched the movie "Pollyanna".

Those are all the things I can think of off the top of my head! Spelling's in there somewhere too, more reading, computer work --- OH! I can't believe I almost forgot!

We listened to "Scherhazade" (sp) and filled out a worksheet about how the music made her feel, what instruments they used, etc. We also learned about Rimsy-Korsakov.

We listened to two different versions of "Go Get the Axe" as well.

We started to learn about Da Vinci, filled out an artist worksheet for him and studied a few of his paintings. Emme wants to know why the women he painted looked sad! lol

Also read Walter de la Mare poetry every day, started our 50-state lapbook and began discussing "Delaware".

*WHEW*

I hope to have another week full of fun and adventure!

Bless you and your homeschoolers!

Sherry

First a question ........... When you read my blog, is it on a solid background, or is it messing up and are you scrunching up your eyes trying to read this between wild flowers?  Thanks! 

Secondly......  We had a super full day today.  We're studying dolphins as our animal of the week.  We read three stories about them today, we have the IMAX video coming about them, and I found lots of great print outs from the web too from www.enchantedlearning.com.

On my other_blog I have started to list the links!  There are a lot more to come.  It's just very time-consuming.  I also have an email in progress in the drafting stage to you SoCalVal!  I will get those links to you for use on your website! 

The weather was just gorgeous today!  We went on an impromptu nature walk through out field in search for bunnies and Woody, the downy woodpecker.  We were able to find him and he gave us another show!  I got a few pictures but they are pretty grainy.  I need a new camera!  We also saw several Admiral butterflies, who are SO social!  They kept landing on me and Emme just thought that was so great!

We did so much gardening today as well.  Lots of new flowers planted, as well as 2 butterfly bushes and a lilac bush.  I can't wait until one day when they are full grown!  It will be awesome!

Tomorrow is supposed to be another wonderful day and I plan on taking Emme for a short hike in the woods.  I printed out this really cute Spring Watch booklet from Nature_Detectives that gives you things to keep an eye out for while you are in the woods.  They have other great printouts at that site too!

Well, I better get to bed!  I hope you are all finishing up your school year and enjoying this wonderful, warm, sunny weather!  We will be done with our official school year on June 14th, along with Jennah and Jacob.  We'll start "Summer Term" on June 18th and run through the end of July.  I think August will be completely off -- we'll see how that goes.

Handwriting book, reading, and Explode the Code books will be completed by the end of next week!  Not even close with our math book.  I've been doing a lot of addition practice worksheets because I want to make sure she has it down before moving on to something else.  Next couple of weeks we will just practice subtraction -- then we'll move on.

As I said, I better get some sleep!  Another big day tomorrow of gardening, school and church.

Sherry   

Wow!  I had no idea this was my 300th post until I went to write it!  How awesome is that?! 

We've had another really fulfilling week of homeschooling.  It's just getting better and better.  Her reading is REALLY taking off and I tested her with a Scholastic book and she is reading slightly above grade level!  *sigh*  What a relief!  I knew if I just gave her time it would happen!  Over the past few weeks she has read a 130-page Dick and Jane book, some Dr. Suess books, and other easy readers.  It's an incredible feeling!

The other day my Dad actually said ... "You ARE putting her in school next year, right?  She's smart as a whip!  You know how I know?  Because she was correcting ME!  I bet once she goes to school she will just attack that schoolwork!"   *sigh*  I had to bite my tongue.  HOW does he think she GOT to be "smart as a whip?"  WHY does he think she is so inquisitive?  He has NO IDEA what we do during a school day.  For all he knows, we sit at home and watch television! 

Today we sat at my parents' kitchen table with "Backyard Garden" magazine and Emme pointed out and identified nearly a dozen birds.  I bet neither of my parents could do that.  She's got a very firm foundation in the history of the early United States, science, religion, phonics, music, art, etc.  I'm proud of the work we've accomplished this year -- and I KNOW I am not doing it for kudos from others or respect from my parents.  I'm doing this because I know it's the best thing for her and that I want to raise her to be a Godly young lady. 

So, although that disheartened me a little bit, it doesn't change my resolve to continue homeschooling her.  In fact, I started another blog just to keep track of what we do every day.  At some point I will give the link to my dad (he doesn't know how to get to a blog website or even how to open an email, but i'll help him to figure it out -- by the way, emme is self-sufficient on the computer.......hmmmph) 

I don't mean to disrespect my father.  I respect  him more than anyone -- but I only wish he would get on board and support me in this. 

In case you are wondering what our day to day looks like, feel free to check out our curriculum blog:

http://educatingemme.blogspot.com  If you give me a few more days, I am going to have over 100 great links on the side bar to help other homeschoolers!  I just set the blog up yesterday and I've been going through them and trying to organize them into categories.  (SoCalVal if you are reading this, I will email you the list when I get them sorted!)

I'm sorry this sounded downbeat, as things are really going well.  We have four more weeks of Term Three, full time school, then we will have "Summer Term" -- which will be more laid back, more fun -- but still working on areas that need improvement.

During the summer, I will be posting what I'm teaching Jennah and Jake as well.  The books we are all reading, etc.  Blogger is much easier to update than Homeschoolblogger (as much as I love it here!) and it's so easy to personalize the blog. 

Well, thanks for sticking around for 300 posts!  I hope to post another 300!

Sherry

We were blessed today with sunshine after expecting storms!  We may still get them later today, but we were able to enjoy the birds and the flowers all day so far!

I picked up "Nature's Garden" magazine, which is a special edition from Better Homes and Gardens.  Apparently this is their second seasonal issue (summer issue).  Inside is a do-it-yourself field guide for common backyard birds!  I am going to cut it out, take it to be laminated and use these cards to help the kids recognize more birds.  Gorgeous pictures and information about the birds is printed on the back. 

Emme watched March_of_the_Penguins last night, as our animal for this week is, you guessed it, penguins!  I also picked up  Penguins_Frames_and_Toppers from the Scholastic 1 dollar sale.   They are super cute!  Emme and THE BOY love Penguins and I am certain I will find a lot of uses for the frames with their artwork. 

I have the  SchoolHouse_Rock DVD coming today.  I hope Emme enjoys it as much as I did as a kid! 

"Reminisce in bliss with all 46 vintage "Schoolhouse Rock" shorts, from the famed "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill" to all the other rockin' bits left in the recesses of your brain. These all-time faves are joined by a new song, "I'm Gonna Send Your Vote to College," performed by the creators of the original series. " 

We have our last field trip of the official school year scheduled for June 11th or 12th.  First we are going to the_Toledo_Museum_of_Art  and after a morning of taking in the beautiful creations, we will stop at  Crane_Creek in Toledo to go BIRDING!  I am so excited you just don't know!  I just found out about this place a few days ago from a friend whose sister is a big-time birder.  Emme and I are just beginners, but I know we will have a great time! 

Well, that is going to be my update for the day!  It's time for me to get our tablework started.  Em should have her phonics, printing, reading,  and history books done by mid-June so we can call Term Three to a close!

Have a really blessed week with your family!

Sherry  

Last night I had a dream that we had a woodpecker in the yard. 

Last summer I saw one actually hopping around on the ground, which I thought was strange, but I watched it for about 10 minutes.  However, I haven't seen a woodpecker IN ACTION since I was a child.  I posted a long time ago how my grandparents were very "Charlotte Mason" and I spent a lot of time with them, and teaching me about plants and birds (in a very nonspecific way) was one of the wonderful things we'd do together.  I still remember them pointing out that woodpecker.  I thought it was the coolest thing.

Well, emme and I were out in the yard weeding (she was tending to her garden) I heard it.  The rat-a-tat-tat sound of the woodpecker!  After about 4 times, I decided to go on an impromptu nature walk in the field behind our house. 

We headed toward the sound, careful not to make large movements or too much noise, and we were rewarded!   The smile on Emme's face when she finally saw the Downy Woodpecker through the branches of the old tree was a homeschooling gem.   We watched him for about five minutes and he gave us a great show.  I did't have my camera, but here is a picture of the type of woodpecker we saw:

 isn't he so cute?  They are all across the country, but here in my area they are considered "common", but not "abundant".  I guess I just wasn't looking in the right place?

We also identified a couple other birds and a butterfly today.  Again, these are common birds, but we are just learning! 

This is a house wren.  He is so cute too!  We don't see a ton of these, but a couple every day:

AND!  For the first time ever, I was able to recognize a brown-headed cowbird!  (The brown head helped a lot, haha)

Finally, we saw a little butterfly that I wasn't familiar with.  I looked him up and saw that it is called the American Snout Butterfly.  Everything they listed about this butterfly was displayed to us by our little friend.  When we got too near, he would hook up his antennae and look exactly like a dead leaf!  It was very cool.  Here is what it looks like when it is open:

Ours was much prettier!  More vibrant and the white spots really stood out. 

So as you can probably tell, Educating Emme lately has been a lot of fun outside in nature!  LOL  We are getting our indoor work done too (I got behind due to my Strep, but other than that we are doing great!)  She has been planting, weeding, watering, and nurturing her own little flower garden.  We've been doing so much birdwatching, nature walking, etc.  We transplanted a yellow weed/flower today from the field to our house because it seemed to be drawing a lot of white butterflies. 

I'm just starting to get our summer plan into action.  Jennah and Jake are out of school and I'd like to find a way to do something with all three of them together.  I know so many of you moms homeschool several different ages, and I don't know how you do it.  I homeschool the older two during the summer months, but Jennah pretty much does everything on her own, I just give her direction and guidance.  Jake fights me every step of the way, so I sit down with him and basically hold his hand through everything. 

I really want to find something that I can do with all three of them.  Not a whole curriculum, but a day full of learning adventure, nature hikes, notebooking, read alouds, etc.  I pray I can manage it!

And then there is planning next year with Emme.  I don't need anything except a math curriculum, and I think I will go with A Beka.   We will continue to do mostly Ambleside / Charlotte Mason, with some subtractions and other additions.  I'm excited for planning next year!  I'm one of those weird people who like to lesson plan :D

Speaking of, it's time for us to go out on the deck and get the rest of our read aloud in for the day!

May the Lord's blessings be upon you and your homeschool,

Sherry  

I have been in bed all week with Strep throat!  All of my planning for the week and here we are at Friday with only one day of school!  Ah well.  Last week's schedule is now NEXT week's schedule with a few additions!  That is one of the great things about homeschooling, it fits right in with your life!

We started our poetry scrapbook today and Emme just LOVED it.  I think she liked the cutting and "pretty-fying" of the poems more than the poems themselves.  lol

My voice is still pretty hoarse, but I'm out of bed, no fever, and decided to do school today.  She dawdled through math like always, and then I read THIS article by Catherine Levison about Charlotte Mason (who you know I adore) about ways to get her to quit daydreaming through math.  You see, I always make her do it first, to get it out of the way.  She doodles, stares at the maps on the walls, birdwatches, doodles some more, etc.  It's just addition and subtraction practice -- boring yes, but necessary.  A quote from the article says

"try conducting math time (if math happens to be the problem) about 30 minutes prior to when the neighborhood boys ordinarily come over to play basketball with your child. If he gets it done and done correctly then he is able to go out and play with them. Another idea for these serious cases is to set out the chess game right there next to the child who now has a reason to make himself finish his work"

Of COURSE!  I should make math last, so she wants to get it done so she can go and play!  Ah.  I hope that works!  She is very interested in history, science, phonics, reading, art, etc.  It's only the math that really sets her mind elsewhere!

And I was just catching up on some of your blogs and I read at Westward's_Blog that  SCHOLASTIC is having their ONE DOLLAR SALE!  Woot!  You have got to love it!  Check it out! 

Here is a list of what I got:

100 SkillBuilding Lessons Using 10 Favorite Books	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
15 Easy Lessons That Build Basic Writing Skills in Grades K-2	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
BestEver Activities for Grades 23: Grammar	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
First Word Problems: Time & Money	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Fresh & Fun: Our Country	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Instant FileFolder Learning Games: Penguin Pals	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Learn All About: Ocean Life	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Reading Placement Tests: First Grade	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Reading Placement Tests: Second Grade	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Scholastic Display Frames & Toppers: Penguins	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Scholastic Book Guides: A Wrinkle in Time	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
30 Nonfiction Book Reports	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
15 Primary Source Activities: American History	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
HandsOn History: Colonial America	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Irresistible Shakespeare	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Ready-to-Go Super Book of Outline Maps	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Meeting the Math Standards with Favorite Picture Books	1	$1.00	$1.00		$1.00
Read Around the World with 20 Great Picture & Chapter Books	1	$1.00	$1.00

A couple are for right now (the money/time book, Colonial America)  The penguin things are for THE BOY, and a couple are for Jennah.  The rest are for next year!  Gotta love it!  And only 2.25 for shipping!

Well, I've been on the computer far too long this evening and I need to clean up the kitchen and vacuum the living room before dh gets home from work tonight!

Have a blessed weekend!

Sherry

I have tried to post FOUR TIMES now.  I keep getting kicked off.  So I will make this short and, well, short.

School is going well.  Emme is a bit distracted with the excitement of the migrating birds out of our schoolroom window, but other than that, things are great.

We are starting a Degas study, which I HAD posted several links to, but seeing as it took time each of the three times I went through and did it, I will have to post it again another day!  LOL

We are also starting to study Mozart.  We tried once before, but it was when we were having trouble with the basics, so I discontinued art and composer study.  I feel confident enough in the rest of our schedule that we can try them again!

I think nature/science study is the most exciting right now!  The earth is in full bloom and the birds are flocking to our backyard for a bite to eat.  It's just amazing.

Well, that's going to be it, seeing as I have been sitting here for 1/2 an hour now trying to update!

Have a great week,

Sherry

It was just a perfectly lovely Earth Day today.  But let me start with yesterday, the day I turned 37.

I just felt so full of blessings yesterday.  My entire family made me feel so special.  It wasn't the gifts that they gave me (which were very generous and much loved) but with the amount of care that was taken to make sure that I felt loved!  My dad bought me beautful flowers and a mushy card telling me that I am a wonderful daughter with a heart of gold.  My one sister made me a bookmark and card from our favorite "American Idol" (this is a running joke between us, but it meant a lot that she took the time to be crafty to get me to laugh!) and my other sister lavished me with sweet smelling cherry blossom goodies from Bath and Body Works.  She also took the time to pick out really funny e-cards to send me at midnight so she could be the first to wish me a happy birthday.  My Mom made me an INCREDIBLE dinner, all my favorites, and a scrumptious homeade cake w/ homeade frosting.  And the kids -- Emme made me a planter that she painted and planted w/ seeds, Jacob colored me Pokemon pictures, and Jennah gave me a polar bear pencil holder.  They are all cherished gifts. 

Today was beautiful in another way!  God granted us the miracle of a cloudless blue sky and 80 degree weather for Earth Day!  We spent the day in the backyard cleaning up and getting flower beds ready.  Clearing areas to plant.  Filling bird feeders, hanging up new suet, creating bird baths, etc. 

We saw a HUGE crow across the street, butterflies flitting around the blooms, and so many little song sparrows enjoying a good meal.  God was EVERYWHERE today!

As for school, we have two movies to watch this week:

We are going to do further study on the beaver this week so we are watching IMAX: Beaver.  Also, since we are still in the colonial era, we are watching "This is America, Charlie Brown"!  I also let her watch part of "The Story of America" last night which is about John Smith and Pocahontas.  She pointed out many things that we have studied.  Most of the movie wasn't suitable for her though, so I sent her off to play!

We'll be doing planting this week in the backyard, visiting Greenfield Village, having a playdate with another homeschool friend, and doing plenty of birdwatching!

All of her "table work" subjects are going great:  Math, reading, phonics, handwriting.  We're doing another week on forests and hopefully will finish up her notebook on that.  We are still studying birds too, which is an ongoing study, right now we are focusing on spring birds.  I ordered a book that has a list of the birds from SE Michigan -- and also the best places to look for more of the rare visiting birds.  I'd love to catch a look at something exciting!

Ok, well it's time for me to get to bed -- I hope you all have a fascinating homeschool week!

Many blessings to you and your families,

Sherry

I'm not sure what made me think that the last Saturday of spring break would be a good time to go to the Science Center.   Not to mention my anxiety level in crowds, fear of downtown Detroit and going anywhere with the three kids alone.  All in all, it was worth it

We arrived around noon and there were about 50 people in line.  Thankfully, I had researched their website and knew that the usual 70 dollar family year-long membership fee had been cut to 49 dollars for the weekend.  I zipped to the front of the "membership" line and was called within a minute. 

While over-crowded, noisy, and warm, we were able to experience some educational moments!  We got to see what 1,000,000 grains of sand looked like, how to use levers and pulleys to lift 1,000 pounds (THE BOY thought he was SO cool) and we were able to feel what it's like to lose your sense of touch and hearing through aging.

The highlight of the afternoon was our first visit to the Planetarium to see "Views of the Universe".  They showed what the starry night sky looks like over Detroit right now.  (If it was clear and wasn't polluted!)  Venus is very prominant right now and if you're lucky, you might even see Mercury.  They showed pictures of Saturn from the Cassini spacecraft which found new rings!

Finally, we went through the Steel Mill exhibit.  DH works in the Steel Mill that they emulated at the Science Center, so it was pretty exciting for the kids to see what he does at work!  It was even a little exciting for me to see videos of what he does inside the mill and view the work stations they have set up so you can try your hand at making steel!

I didn't get very many pictures, but here are the few that I was able to get.  Here is THE BOY moving a car door around the ceiling and Emme watching it up in the air.

Here is THE BOY running from the camera:

Here is Emme showing that crayons are an example of something that gets extruded:

And here is THE BOY and Sweet Pea using Play- Do to emulate extraction (A big hit w/ all three kids):

As we were leaving the Center, the line stretched out the front door and down the block!  I will remember this on our next visit and come on a weekday while everyone else is at work and in school!

Sherry

I don't think I've posted in awhile what our homeschool schedule looks like.  I tweaked it just a little bit and I think it is running really smoothly. 

We start the day with our table work.  Emme does 2-4 pages of math, depending on the length and difficulty.  She is doing addition and subtraction through 19.  It is a great deal of repetition, but I can't seem to come up with any other way to teach it to her.  We do use manipulatives as well.   We are also practicing adding and subtracting money.

For handwriting, since she inherited the really bad printing gene that all of my children received, we are doing two pages a day of "Power Printing", which is a workbook that is by the author of "Handwriting without Tears".   It has helped her a lot with the correct formation of letters and numbers and I can tell that her handwriting is improving.

We are doing tons and tons of reading.  Emme reads a few easy readers to me, and then we have a reading lesson, a few pages of phonics in "Explode the Code", and then more reading work in her Reader Rabbit book, which she loves.

So far we're not sounding very "Charlotte Mason-esque" are we?  LOL  I guess I should say we are eclectic, because the desk work is very mandatory and it's WORKING for her, so it stays!

For Religion we have discussions from the Bible, I have a Jesus story book that I read out of to her, and she does coloring pages in her Old Testament coloring book.  We also do crafts for each holiday, pray for people, and go to "Girls on a Mission" through our church.  They do crafts and pray for the person who they are giving the craft to for an entire month.

For Nature we are reading from the Christian Liberty Nature Reader, keeping a bird feeder log, weather log, going on weekly nature walks, growing an herb garden, doing experiments, learning about birds from many different books, including the Burgess Book of Birds;  we will be planting a butterfly garden, and she will have her own flower garden with her sister.  We also watch appropriate shows on Animal Planet.  Last night we watched how 10 different animals and insects make their houses.  She really seems to love learning about animals.

For Science we are learning about forests right now and making a lap book.  She's really enjoying this.

In History we are still learning about Colonial Times.  After studying Native Americans for awhile, we took some time off.  We've been studying Colonial Times for about a month now.  We are reading "Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims",  "If You Lived in Colonial Times", "Stories of Early America" and keeping a time line and notebook.  

We're following Ambleside for the Art and Composer studies, poem printouts, and free reading book lists. 

Generally we do table work and some of the reading at the school table.  We'll take a break for lunch or playing outside or clean up and then later in the afternoon we will go to my room, snuggle up on the bed and finish reading stories to each other.  This seems to work the best for both of us.

Well, now that I've updated you on what we are doing -- I'd love to hear what your very favorite homeschooling books and links are!

Sherry

Is it really April already?  I can't believe how the time has flown.  I've taken quite a long hiatus, but I have missed you guys.  I have missed your blogs, your children, your schooling, and your lives!

Things here in the Honeycutt Household have been pretty trying so far this year financially.  After the layoffs, Mike ended up taking a medical leave.  He was going to physical therapy three times a week and to the doctors about weekly.   He just recently went back to work.  But overally, we have been very blessed. 

The kids are all doing tremendously well.

Jennah, my sweet pea, is still getting all A's in school.  She is still just as kind hearted and sensitive as ever.  She is just like her mother with a book always in hand.

Jacob, THE BOY, is also doing excellent in school.  His heel problem was minor and he is totally healthy now.  He has become interested in art, so I am encouraging him to do more drawing.  It's about the only thing he wants to do aside from getting on the computer, watching t.v., harrassing his sisters, or playing video games, so I highly enjoy this new hobby!

Emme turned seven in February.  She is now reading short books and is about at grade level with her reading.  She's doing well with math and history.  She has taken a big interest in animals and has been learning about many of them, the giraffe still her favorite with the dolphin and flamingo close behind.  We've started a new handwriting program, as her handwriting is extremely sloppy (just like her sister and brother's!)  So far it is going well and her writing is more legible.

I'm still going back and forth with homeschooling.  I want to continue.  I do.  I've decided to work from home, because I can't bare the thought of being tied down to the job if one of the kids need me.  I also wouldn't be able to drive Mike to and from work and we would need a second car. 

My biggest problem now is my parents.  Not sending her to school will cause a big rift between us.  I know this shouldn't change my mind towards homeschooling, and I know many of you have had to face similar problems in the past. 

So, I'm back here to discuss curriculum, get encouraged again, and share what we're doing.

Right now we are studying early America.  We went over Pilgrims and discovering American in kindergarten as well, but we are doing it in more detail.  I'll post the books we are using in another post.  We are doing a lot of phonics work as well, and she is doing really, really excellent in that area. 

We will be doing school throughout the summer with all three children.  I don't have it planned out as of yet, but I would like to teach all three at the same time for some subjects.  If I can get Jacob to sit still and behave during this, it would be a wonderful experience for all four of us.  I hope I can get it to work.   Jennah will have work to do on her own, since she is off to sixth grade next year!  Middle school.  Now THAT I am really worried about.

Ok -- well, I hope you will all  accept me back into the homeschooling circle!  I've missed you all and I so look forward to catching up on your journals!

Many blessings,

Sherry

Emme feels like she is a "business woman" whenever she wears a jacket.  LOL 

School went smoothly and quickly today.  Subtraction seems to be going pretty well for her, which I am glad.  I always had trouble with math in school.  Our Native American study is winding down and we will finish at the end of the week with our lap book of what we have learned.  She still stumbles when reading, yet she whizzes through phonics like nobody's business -- which is odd to me. 

We drew a house today with 31 icicles on it for each day of January.  We are going to color in the icicle according to the weather.  Today started with a touch of snow and ended up being sunny, so it got two colors (Emme's input).

She has been drawing a lot of fantasy type pictures -- castles, unicorns, and princesses.  I think all little girls love to do that!

We started learning about our first state today -- Florida.  (Em chose)  We talked about Florida being a peninsula, just like Michigan.  We also discussed how it has two different bodies of water on each side.  Of course we talked about Disney World, LOL.   We will learn the state flag, flower, bird, main exports, etc throughout the week and each day complete 1 or 2 pages to end up in a notebook, so by next year we will have a notebook on every state.  (I have a huge 3-ring binder these will all go into eventually)

I'm going to be heading out tonight to buy this crafting supply bag at Michael's that I had my eye on before Christmas.  I am going to use it to hold crayons, erasers and pencils, highlighters, markers, etc.  It has a lot of pockets on the side of it and handles so we can easily transport stuff from room to room.  It is on clearance for 9.99 and it is super adorable to boot!

While I am out, I am also going to be heading over to the bulk food store, as I need cumin and I cannot find it ANYWHERE!  I may also grab a few other spices while I am in there -- but no goodies, as I have started healthy eating. 

I also need to stop and get some staples, pens, folders, and I am sure something else I have forgotten! 

I am giong to attmept to FINALLY hook my printer back up, as I really like to use printable from the Internet to compliment our studies!

Well, I better get to it!  We have to leave here shortly,

Sherry

We were about to read the story of Moses when Emme asked:

"Is he the one with the ark or the one with the stones?"

I tell her that it was Noah who built the ark. 

She says "Then he must be the one with the stones"

It took me a minute, but then I realized, and answered,

"Yes!  He is the one with the 10 Commandments!" 

LOL

She played on Starfall this afternoon for half an hour.  I think my Dad's comment affected her as well.   

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I joined in on the 30 Day Organizational Challenge at I'm-an-Organizing-Junkie.  Check it out!  You can find my before pictures here.

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I ended up not being able to make what I had planned on for dinner tonight because I forgot to get two important ingredients at the store!  (Leave it to me to go to the store sick and forget things like that!)  So, I ended up compromising and using things from our pantry and leftovers to make THREE dinners! 

First I used 2 cans of vegetable broth (I bought this on a big sale w/ coupons) and lots of spices to make a big pot of rice.  Then I put chicken breasts in foil packets with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic.  Next, I sauteed up some peppers from the freezer, onions and garlic that need to be used up by the end of the week and some beef smoked sausage that I had left over from some jambalaya I made awhile back.  I have a small amount of leftover pork roast and veggies in the fridge to make pork fried rice.  Finally, I am going to use the ham I thawed (for the original meal we were supposed to have!) to make some western omelets for dh when he gets home from work.  If there is any left (and there will be!)  I think I will make some ham and cheese breakfast muffins too. 

All of this took very little time to put together because I just utilized leftovers, cleaned out the fridge of veggies, thawed meat, and some pantry items I had on hand!

Now I won't have to cook tomorrow either for lunch or dinner, yay!

I'm really glad that my mindset has changed to a more thrifty one.  Before, just about everything up there would have been thrown away without using it!  Now I can't stand throwing stuff away.  (I still do and it kills me)

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School has been going well all week.  Jennah helped Emme with math, phonics, reading, and our lesson on the election.  She also read her The-Girl-Who-Loved-Wild-Horses and helped her with suggestions for what to draw in her History Scribe book on Native Americans. 

Today we read "Zac the Rat" from Starfall and Emme read it all the way through on her own and really enjoyed it.  I let her pick out a big reward sticker.  Tomorrow we will use the printed booklet that goes along with the book.  

We read about Moses (as you could see above) and colored a picture of him.  I started collecting her crafts and coloring pages and drawings with religious subjects and I am gathering them all together in a folder to start up a new Notebook.  We really love notebooking together.  I have been doing my own "notebooks" for myself too -- I just enjoy the concept!  I'll share what some of them look like someday!

Have a wonderful week,

Sherry  

  I just lost my post.  I was thanking each of you individually for your wonderful comments about reading.........

I will go back and do this again, because I wanted to post what you all said (aside from Ms. ANONYMOUS!  *coward!*)  and give you personal comments about how your suggestions have helped me to rework how I will teach reading.

Thank you, thank you for your encouragement!  It has really helped me to climb back on the reading train and try new and fun things with her to further motivate her to continue on with reading. 

Having this journal is such a wonderful resource -- having all of you homeschooling moms to look to when I am having difficulties, or to share successes with is just awesome!

Please watch for my updated reading post later tonight or tomorrow!

Sherry

Emme is almost 7, and she is not reading well.  My Dad made a comment about it today and I felt like a total failure.  I'm not sure what else to do.  We're following curriculum -- we read aloud, we do phonics, we do spelling, we do comprehension, we narrate, do copy work -- what am I doing wrong????  Why can't she read?  *sigh* 

It's not clicking.  She still sounds out everything -- rarely is she remembering any site words. 

I upped her reading from 3 times a week to 5 times a week. 

Any suggestions?  Should I just let her read when she is ready?  Should I try another method?  Should I try harder?  Do something more?  UGH!

I know homeschooling her is the right choice -- but reading isn't coming naturally and I have to ask myself 'would she be able to read if she were going to school right now?' 

I need all the help, comments, opinions, (*encouragement?*) that I can get right now. 

"Children who struggle in vain with reading in the first grade soon decide that they neither like nor want to read". (Juel, 1998)

National Research Council. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Catherine Snow, Susan Burns, Peg Griffin, eds. (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1998).

Sherry

 I figured that a laundry picture would be appropriate, seeing as I have about a dozen loads to do! 

I was sick with the stomach flu and then a sinus infection, so things around here got a little behind, including with school! 

The last time I re-did our schedule, it worked out well.  What HASN'T been working well is our record-keeping.  I was using  Homeschool-tracker and while I like it, it was just too many steps for me.  I like it a little more simple, I think.  I still use it to check off attendance every day, and it gives me a count of what day we are on. 

I am going to "borrow" an idea that I saw from one of my favorite blogs.  I just spent the last 15 minutes going through my favorite blogs and cannot find it to give credit!  Well, when I do come across it, I will most certainly give you the link!

She uses a folder for each week.  On the outside she staples a weekly planner page w/ a timeline, inside the front of the folder she staples a lesson plan page and uses sticky notes for extras, and inside she keeps any material she will need for the week.  I completely STOLE her idea and have us set up for next week.  I also added a "behavior chart" on the inside of the back cover and I'm using a monthly calendar which will go from week to week and stay in the last folder of the month. 

I like this system.  The only cost is buying the folders -- the what do you call them folders?  Sheesh.  Tab folders?  no pockets -- you can put them in hanging files?  I can get a bunch of those for a couple dollars.  I really like this system! 

Now we have a schedule that works for us (after the 3rd try! but it's been working well for the past few weeks) and hopefully now we have an organizational tracking system. 

 Now I'd like to direct you to a few of my favorite blogs! 

On this first one, check out her home notebook!  It puts mine to shame!  It did, however, get me to spruce mine up a little bit.  (You may have to scroll down to get to her post about the notebook, but trust me, it's worth it!)

Real-Learning

Dawn  "By Sun and Candlelight"  She is so creative and always inspiring!

O-Night_Divine A wonderful Christmas blog

Visit Lapaz_Farm

and finally, I can't possibly make a list of my favorites without adding a plug for

The_Lilting_House  The Bonny Glen gang drove cross country from Virginia to California.  They are settling into their now lilting house as we speak.

Sherry

We still have some lessons yet to do today, but I'm having yet another one of those achy, mopey SAD days -- so I sat Emme down at the kitchen table with some kid scissors, Elmer's glue, 3 bags full of assorted pieces of felt, foam, and fuzzies and guided her towards making a nature picture.  It was her final decision to make a beachy theme -- part will be underwater with sea creatures and part will be the beach itself, complete with real seashells.

I'm trying to give her some focused direction in her free time so she will not be wasting away watching t.v.  I have to say, she does watch a lot less t.v. than she used to, but still too much.  I KNOW I need to cut her back further, and that is where the extra arts and crafts come in. 

My Mother's friend gave us a huge shopping bag FULL of crafty goodness!  Tons of things to keep a little girl entertained through the colder months when she is indoors much of the time. 

I AM going to try and get us out for nature walks -- but the Michigan winters can be brutal -- and I don't see our walks being long ones.

I'm being awfully negative today, aren't I? 

On a more positive note -- I am trying a new recipe for dinner tonight.  Kielbasa bean soup.  It smells so yummy and filling!  It should be about another hour.  If you'd like to see the recipe, it's posted at my_other_blog. 

A good friend of mine from our Fly group and HS group sent me a link yesterday for  Teaching_with_Movies.  She and my other friend had nothing but great things to say about it.  Their children range from ages 5 to 16.  I think I am going to use one of their sample themes (Wizard of Oz) and see how it goes over with Emme.

I wanted to give you this other link that is just fabulous -- but I have LOST it!  It had Peter Bruegel the Elder and other famous artists and you could see the painting, have discussion questions, and even do a puzzle of the painting.  I hope I do find it, and if I do, I will share!

Sherry

I reworked our schedule, yet AGAIN!  It's funny how you can have an entire YEAR worked out on a schedule and then you start school and find you need to fine tune it, maybe once, maybe several times!  I think this time we have something that will work for us.

Once more, I thank whoever it was that told me to focus on basics while I was feeling really down and out of things for awhile.  That kept us going!  Now that I am feeling better, I want to keep focusing on basics while slowly getting back to the place I love -- the CM/Ambleside-type of approach.  We still do that with some of our subjects, history especially.  We both enjoy that subject the best!  Emme wonders what fun thing we will make or what story I will tell her about Native Americans.  One thing that I HAVE stuck to from my original schedule is the three terms -- and how I structured History with Native Americans 1st term, explorers and colonists 2nd term, and westward expansion, industry, and the civil war for the 3rd term.  History is really coming alive with the living books, notebooking, and the book of centuries/timeline. 

On another note, it is getting COLD here!  We are going to have our first wet snow overnight!  I am not ready to turn the furnace on yet, so we will just have to snuggle up and wear extra sweaters around the house!

Tomorrow is Jake's 8th birthday   We will have a family birthday for him over my Mom's house.  I was very good and I stuck to my budget!  However, my parents and my ex will be spoiling him beyond belief.  Ah well.

Dick Devos's wife will be speaking at my church in the morning to my homeschool group!  Devos is running for Govenor of Michigan.  Hmmmmm.  I'm not a political person, at all.  But I think I am going to go!  If I do, I will make sure to update you all.  It appears that this man is very homeschool-friendly and wants our vote. 

What else?  Oh, we had a special worship night at church.  There were two new familes who joined our congregation!  I love to see the church grow!  We sang and the kids had a special night of crafts, prayer, and stories.  Emme was awarded a cross necklace, a surprise bag, and a bird craft.  She had a great time.

Well, it's getting COLD in here!  I better go and shut the bedroom window -- it was 64 today and we had all the windows open!  Crazy Michigan weather!

Sherry