Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

I have some news about Abby that she's very excited about.  She has a Pen Pal!!!!  Hurray! 

I get on the Sonlight Forums pretty regularly, since that's the curriculum we use and love, and another mom out there had a little girl wanting a pen pal.  We e-mailed back and forth after finding out if Abby would want a 'mail friend', and it's all set.  This little girl is a little older, but will also mostly be drawing pictures with a few words here and there.  I think it will be great fun for them to have something to look forward to in the mail, and on top of that might end up being good writing practice. 

Than, after this sweet lady started the thread on Pen Pals, it seemed like everyone jumped on the boat.  'My son wants a pen pal, too' and 'My daughter mentioned something about wanting a pen pal, she's 11' and on it went.  It was so neat to see children of all ages start matching up around the country right before our eyes, just because this lady had the great idea to start it.  God bless her.  I think she started a good thing.  Abby is anticipating her first letter, and I can't wait to see her excitement when she recieves it!

Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

I'm trying to get back to my normal life, now that we're not packing anymore.  Most of what I already packed is staying that way, but hopefully I'm going to slowly go through each box and try to get rid of as much as possible.  There are certain things that I would not have boxed up if I would have known we would not move yet, so I have to find those things. 

I ordered and already recieved our next set of Science curriculum!  I am so excited.  Abby and Abram LOVE their science stuff and we flew through last years stuff.  I couldn't justify reading all those Core C Science books yet again, when I've already read most of them twice.  (I will again when Abram gets older, just not again this year).  Plus, the Science 1 from Sonlight looked Sooooo appetizing!  Hee Hee!  I LOVE TEACHING!!!!!!!!!!!!  Anyway, here's what we just got in the mail from Sonlight.  (They are already devouring the pictures and asking questions!)

Science Supply Kit 1

Science 1 Instuctor's Guide

Pasteur's Fight (a biography)

Usborn's Internet linked First Encyclopedia of Animals

Usborn Starting Point Science Book (including What makes it rain?, What makes a flower grow?, Where does electricity come from?, and What's under the ground?)

Usborn's First Guide to the Universe

Discover and Do Level 1 Science DVD!!!!!!!  (Our first one is about worn out and they snatched this one out of the box and started jumping up and down begging to watch it right then!  How could I say no to that??  If this one's like the other one, they will ask to see it every day.)

Usborn's What Makes You Ill?.

Usborn's Science Activities Vol. 1  (Science projects)

Magic School Bus at Waterworks (really cute!)

Usborn's Why Do People Eat?.

Usborn's What's Inside You?.

Then I couldn't help but get a few extras!  I bought Abby a suppliment Math program from Singapore and some storybooks for Abram:

Singapore Math 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B (Earlybird set, including Pattern Blocks with Mirrors and guide cards and book)

A Robert McCloskey collection (for Abram)

Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales (I couldn't leave Abby out--she loves the storybooks!)

Mike Mulligan and More (for Abram)

This is the first time I have not bought the entire year's Curriculum at once, but we just weren't going to buy stuff we weren't ready for yet!  We were only days away from being done with her Science K stuff, but we are months away from finishing anything else. 

I can't believe we're so ahead when I feel like we're just PLAYING!!  (We're really just ahead in Science, though.  The rest of it, Abby's either in K or PreK material, depending on what subject it is.)  It's going to be pretty funny if someone asks me what grade she's in!  LOL!!!  "Ummm...preK through 1st."  There is just no such thing as grade level when it comes to homeschoolers, is there?! 

So, what would I really say?  I don't know, honestly.  At this point, I might spend time explaining.  But it's kinda like people asking about a broken leg--at first you want to explain it to everyone, and then you get tired of explaining and just say you had and accident on your bike.  So, right now I might be funny and say she's in preK through 1st or PreKfirstagarten! LOL!  But really, I'll probably just try to remember whatever grade her age group is in and say that...at least when I get over the thrill of saying Prekfirstagarten.  But, maybe I'll never get tired of saying that!  But I do keep her back with her agegroup in Sunday school, though.  I don't want her thinking she's better or smarter than everyone.  I don't want her to be some egotistical brat, if you know what I mean.  But, I'm so proud of her.  (And, whisper whisper, the Fletcher/Fenter/Dyson children are smarter than the status quo!)

Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

Books Completed:

Abram

Dr. Suess's ABC

My Big Golden Counting Book by Lilian Moore

Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child's First Collection

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

The First Christmas by Carol Heyer

The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurk Wiese

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Swimmy by Leo Lionni

Abigail

The Year at Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen (Science)

Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child's First Collection (Literature)

Boxcar Children: Surprise Island (bk #2) by Gertrude C. Warner (Novel)

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (Literature)

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (Literature)

Spring Things by Maxine W. Kumin (Science)

The First Christmas by Carol Heyer (Bible/Holiday)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Science/Art)

Swimmy by Leo Lionni (Literature)

God's Wisdom for Little Girls by Elizabeth George (Bible)

Books Currently Reading:

Abram

Dr. Suess's ABC

My Big Golden Counting Book

NASB Bible (my bible)

Egermeier's Bible Storybook by Elsie E. Egermeier

Focus on the Family Bedtime Bible by Rick Osborn and others

DK The Children's Illustrated Bible by Selina Hastings

The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury by Janet Schulman

Hero Tales by Dave and Neta Jackson

Berenstain Bears Big Book of Science and Nature by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Poems and Prayers for the Very Young by Martha Alexander

Eric Carle's Animals Animals by Eric Carle

Abigail:

NASB Bible (my Bible)

Egermeier's Bible Story Book by Elsie E. Egermeier

DK The Children's Illustrated Bible by Selina Hastings

Focus on the Family Bedtime Bible by Rick Osborn and others

The Llama Who Had No Pajama by Mary Ann Hoberman (Poetry)

Hero Tales by Dave and Neta Jackson (History)

Eric Carle's Animals Animals by Eric Carle (Art/Poetry)

The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury by Janet Schulman

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (History/Literature)

Fun Tales, Sonlight Curr. (Early Readers)

An Acorn in My Hand by Ethel Bouldin (what I use to teach reading)

Draw Write Now-Bk #1 by Marie Hablitzel and Kim Stitzer (Art/Drawing/Handwriting)

A Reason for Handwriting-Manuscript A (Handwriting)

McGuffey's Eclectic Primer by John Wiley and Sons (Reading)

McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling Book by John Wiley and Sons (Spelling/Handwriting)

Ray's New Primary Arithmetic (Math)

Horizons Math K (Math)

(It seems like a lot of books, I know, but I do not do every one every day, and I spread their school out throughout the day.  And their's no science for Abby right now, cause even though she's already done Berenstein Bears Big Book of Science, she loves it, and that's enough for me.)

Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

Well, there's only a couple of months left before the new year, and I'm winding down the school year as well.  We started school in April last year, right after our tax refund came in (that's how we afford school every year, typically).  I've decided I want to begin starting school in January and ending in December every year, taking breaks where we need them.  I've completed 23 full weeks of school so far and will add to that a few more before year's end. 

For anyone who may be interested, I'm listing the books we have completed this last year and those we are transfering to next.  When I am finished planning next year, I will update everyone on my refreshed curriculum list.

BOOKS/CURRICULUM COMPLETED THIS YEAR: (subject in perenthesis)
NKJV bible: all of Genesis (bible)
My First Picture Dictionary (lang arts)
Sing the Word from A to Z cd (bible)
Children's Encyclopedia (Social Studies/Science)
Granny Han's Breakfast (bible-true missionary stories)
The Boxcar Children #1 (read aloud, novel)
The Apple and the Arrow (History)
My Father's Dragon (read aloud, novel)
The Hundred Dresses (read aloud, novel)
Johnny Applessed (history,a first biography)
Dolphin Adventure (science, a novel)
Dolphin Treasure (science, a novel)
The Story of Ping (Social Studies)
The House at Pooh Corner (read aloud, a novel)
Richard Scarry's Please and Thank You Book (life skills)
Capyboppy (Science)
Usborn's First Book of Nature (science)
Fun Tales K Readers 1-7 (reading)
The Story of Me: Book 1 (Physical Education)
Horizon's Math K: Book 1 (lesson 1-30) (math)

BOOKS CURRENTLY USED, TO BE FINISHED BY DECEMBER 31:
Jame's Herriot's Treasury for Children (read aloud, story book)
Five True Dog Stories (read aloud)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (read aloud, novel)
The Ten Commandments: To Learn and Color (bible, color book)
Developing the Early Learner: Perceptual Growth #4 (lang arts, workbook)
World of Art Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children (art appr.)

BOOKS USED AND UNUSED TO BE TRANSFERED TO NEXT YEAR:
Language and Thinking for Young Children (teacher resourse)
Egermeier's Bible Story Book (bible, storybook)
The Children's Illustrated Bible DK (bible, resourse)
Hero Tales (History and bible)
Book of Time (History)
Living Long Ago (History/S.S.)
Wild Places (Social Studies and Science)
The Llama Who Had No Pajama (Poetry)
The Light at Tern Rock (read aloud, novel)
The Family Under the Bridge (read aloud, novel)
Twenty and Ten (history read aloud, novel)
Mary on Horseback (read aloud, novel)
The Story of Doctor Dolittle (read aloud, novel)
In Grandma's Attic (bible read aloud)
A Grain of Rice (Social Studies, read aloud novel)
Usborn's Finding Out About Everyday Things (Science)
Usborn's Science Activities, Vol. 2 (Science)
Fun Tales K Readers #8-27 (reading)
World of Art Come Look With Me: Animals in Art (art appr)
Horizons Math K: Lesson 31 on (math)

I'm sure you can see why I'm not worried in the least that she completes this in one year!  Most all of this is stuff included in Sonlight's Kindergarten Curriculum. 

Already, as young as she is, she is jumping ahead in certain areas and falling 'behind' in others.  I was planning on buying an entire curriculum every year, but I think it will end up being more frugal to buy it as I need it--at least in part.  I will still buy the core curriculum as a set to save the discounted amount, but I'm going to buy the different subjects as needed, when needed.  This next year is going to be so fun!  I can't wait to dig in.  We've only got two new books, but I'm still excited.

Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

The days are much shorter, now that the time change has taken effect.  It gets dark by about 6:00pm.  I wish they would just leave the time alone.  It's pouring rain outside, but overall the weather has been really slow at changing this year.  Not that I haven't enjoyed it!  But usually by late October it's getting breezy at night and early November starts to welcome in the colder season.  Not this year.  We are still wearing shorts outside most of the day!  I have pulled a couple of long sleeve shirts out for evenings or chilly days that pass on through without stopping, but none of them have stayed this year so far.  As long as the cold hits before Christmas I'll be satisfied.  Christmas without snow is bad enough, but Christmas in shorts would be far worse. 

My John the Baptist study isn't doing very well at the moment.  I'm just too busy with school and preparations for Christmas right now.  January is when I start school for the year, so I'm also preparing for that.  Abby's not through all her curriculum yet (which wasn't expected) and I've decided which books I'm going to finish with her before the end of the year and which will be transfered to next year.  (I literally go at her pace, so it doesn't bother me a bit where she is in any given subject.)  I bought a few new books from Sonlight for Abby and this year Abram to freshen up their library.  They are going to be part of the Christmas presents.  Abby's getting a couple from the pre-K curriculum that weren't available when she did it, but I think she will thouroughly enjoy them.  And Abram is getting a couple of his own storybooks this year.  He loves listening in to some of Abby's school, so I thought I would go ahead and pick a few storybooks out to start him on the road to school, too.  I will be recording his school along with hers, but only for memories to treasure (besides the fact that I love recording school).  I can't wait for a new year with my children!!! 

My diet is going pretty well, although it hasn't been perfect.  I haven't lost any weight yet, but I'm fitting into smaller clothes (so it's doing something).  Today's my free day, and I'm going to enjoy it.  I'm probably going to Starbucks tonight with my next door neighbor who's doing Body-for-Life with me.  A big coffee and desert should get rid of my craving for another week of stricter eating. 

Thanksgiving plans:  As usual for us, we'll be making the rounds.  Quick breakfast at home before heading to my sister's house for lunch (they just got a new house, so it's there this year).  Then after visiting for a few hours, it's off to Josh's family for the evening meal.  Both of our families do Thanksgiving at lunch, and than leftover Thanksgiving at Dinner, so we switch off pretty much every year where we're going to be when.  It's kindof a big potluck for our family--different people assigned to different dishes.  (Whoever's house it is does the turkey).  I almost always do the greenbean cassorole and a dessert--same this year.  I've already got the Frenchfried Onions (they always run out quickly on those at the store, so this year I got smart).   

Oh, and Christmas preperation so far:  God has been very good to us this year (and every year).  All we did was stop paying the extra on our debt and vwalla--Christmas money!  I've already got a lot of it done and only have a little left for last minute shopping fun.

Our Gift Plan this year/child:

Stocking Stuffers

1 big Santa gift: the one we leave out to discover

1 (maybe 2) little Santa gifts

1 gift from Daddy

1 gift from Mama

1 gift from each other (between the kids)

2-3 School books (story-type)

1 movie each

2 gifts of clothing

(And this year, to try and get rid of excess in Abby's room, I am 'buying' stuff from her that she is willing to let go of.  Anywhere from .10 for a McDonald's toy, to 1.00 for a really decent toy I could pass on.  She has gotten rid of 24 toys so far and earned $8.00 to spend on presents for Christmas for whomever she choses.  But I'm not even through half of her room yet.  It's working out great.  Win-Win, as you might say.  I win because she is getting rid of stuff we don't need, and she wins because she can give everyone a Christmas present especially from her this year!)

Well, gotta go.  I guess I had more to write about than I thought.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!! 

Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

I'm so excited about Abby's progress in Reading!   She has now successfully finished reading seven of her Sonlight readers, and her words for today were 'quag', 'pot', 'quid', 'quad', 'quip', 'gap', 'rig', 'rake', and 'ran'!!!   Those are the words we worked on her white-board.   She is really getting it!   I can't wait until she learns a few sight words so she can really start reading some of the regular readers.   For right now, her books are like this: Jim's Ham--book 7 Jim has a ham. It is a fat ham. Jim jabs the ham. It is a bad ham. Jim is sad. Jim has jam. Jim dips a bit. It is bad jam.   Jim is mad! She has a very short attention span for reading books to me, but she loves figuring out individual words on the white board.   It surprises me sometimes to see how well she understands the rules.   Words like, 'bite', 'as', 'sale', 'beat', 'rob', 'pine', 'hope', 'sea', 'rain', 'fine', 'cup', 'rake', and 'tube' are all words she has sucessfully sounded out with the reading rules she knows.   I love this reading system!!!!   I use a combination of Sonlight readers and the 'Acorn in My Hand' book to teach her reading.

Isaiah 28: 9-10 “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

We have just finished our 15th week of school with Abby.  (If you want a grade comparison, it's Kindergarten material--but we might be on it for longer than a year, depending on her pace).  She's been doing great and enjoys her reading lessons the most.  I have slowed down my reading-aloud time with her, however, because she seems to have a harder time focusing than ever. 

Overview of week:

Habits-Right now I'm working on building the habit in Abby of brushing her own teeth.  She does a fine job at it, but needs daily reminders so far.

Music-They listen to a Classical CD that I've had for a few years, called "Relax" that has soothing music from the great composers.  I put it on during their naps, and it serves a double purpose!  LOL!

P.E.-It's been incredibly hot here in the Houston Area, so we've had limited time going outside, but we did manage to get outside twice this week to really play. 

Art-This week we used Abram's "Windows To Color" by Baby Einstein.  It's actually a very great book for color.  On Monday, we studied "Peasant Wedding Feast" by Bruegel and on Wednesday we studied "Arles: A View from Wheatfields" by Van Gogh.  They both came out of the Windows to Color book. 

Bible-We've read Gen. 26-30 throughout the week, Reviewed Adam through Esau and Jacob in our Book of Time, Read several pages in A Practical Primer on Prayer (which I'm not very impressed with and might abandon), and used our "Sing the Word from A to Z" pretty much every day.

Science-We took a Nature Walk on Monday and watched their "Discover and Do" DVD from Sonlight on Thursday.

Social Studies-On Monday, we reviewed the stories we had read about Martin Luther and on Tuesday flipped through and read a few sections from Usborns "Wild Places".

Math-I just bought a Ray's New Primary Arithmetic, which I'm using at a very slow pace along with other things, but Abby plays 'Little House School' with it whenever she can.  I also use manipulatives from Horizon and every now and then use some of their worksheets as test to see what she knows already.  I also use flashcard as part of a game.  We usually do math daily.

Read Aloud-We just finished "The Magician's Nephew" by C.S. Lewis on Monday and started "The House at Pooh Corner" by A.A. Milne on Tuesday, and have been reading a chapter everyday.  We finished the first of the Chronicles of Narnia books (The Magician's Nephew), but I honestly think that it's still above her level, so we didn't continue the series and instead went to one of her other books from Sonlight for the next Read Aloud novel. 

Handwritting-We've been combining handwritting with math lately, learning to write her numbers on a slate 'just like Little House'.  She's doing really good with this. 

Reading-She's learning to read by the Acorn in My Hand system.  I absolutely love it, and she's doing awsome!  We do flashcards everyday of the vowels, long and short, and then about six additional consanants that she's working on.  She learned the grammar rule of 'When a word is one sylable, and their is only one vowel, that vowel is short', and she can do so much with just that.  She doesn't actually memorize this rule, though, I just work with it everyday on a white board, asking her questions.  (I write out "bug" on the white board and ask, "What vowel is in this word?" and she responds "u", and I ask, "How many vowels are in this word?" and she says, "one", and I ask, "So what does that make it?" and she says, "short".  That's it.  I don't have to actually make her memorize the rule, and yet she knows it.  I let her write her own short symbol above the letter 'u' and then she sounds it out.  This rule has made it so easy for her to sound out words she's never even seen before!  The other day, she sounded out 'fax' without a single problem!!!!  I was amazed.  This is really working.  We work on this every day but the weekends.  This week she has successfully sounded out these words, without ever having practiced them or memorized them:

bib, bub, bad, bed, cab, cud, dad, fub, bid, cob, cub, cad, cod, did, dud, dab, dub, fad, fed, fib, fid, fob, gab, bug, dug, fig, bag, dig, dug, and fig.

This week I started making flash cards of the words she has successfully and easily sounded out so that she can practice them without the whole grammer drill.  Once it's on a flashcard, I no longer ask her the questions for those words, but just let her read them off the card. 

So far she hasn't really gotten into reading out of practice books because the ones we have are difficult for her to see the divide between each word and it confuses her. 

Anyway, that's an overview of our school week.