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The last two weeks we’ve wrapped up our insect studies with more on mosquitoes and a little about crickets. Joe completed his lapbook, read some new and old books, made some cool crafts and pretended to be a mosquito. He made a mosquito mask from a paper plate. I attached a straw to it and he drank blood (Crystal Light) just like a mosquito. OK, he LOVED this, and it was so much fun to watch!
He made a really fun cricket using a comb, green craft wire (legs), pipe cleaners (antennae), googly eyes, and green craft foam (wings). He thought this was “so cute” as he put it–I do too.
We went to the bait store and got some live crickets to observe. This was another highlight of our insect studies. We watched them eat, burrow, and listened to them chirp. I didn’t realize that they actually nibble their food. They are pretty strong too. From our Science Experiments in a Bag we conducted an experiment on how temperature affects a crickets chirping. Joe asked to do this several times over the course of the week.
Here are some of the books we’ve been reading the last two weeks (you can see all of our reads in my Shelfari):
Joe completed Book 1 from Explode the Code and did super on the post test! He is doing so well with his reading and writing. We are still using Progressive Phonics and games from Happy Phonics too. I like having this variety so neither of us gets bored and we cover things from different angles. He had fun using our blend ladders and was pretty quick to come up with words on his own.
We read a the Value Tale on Sacagawea in our History studies. This was perfect to follow up with after Thomas Jefferson. I loved this particular Value Tale. The story of Sacagawea was so interesting and so emotional for me as we read.
In Math we moved right along with Abeka daily lessons. We are covering multiple lessons each day and moving through the book pretty fast. I am very impressed with what Joe can do so far in Math:
simple addition on paper and mentally
count by fives and tens
knows the value of all coins
can make change with the least amount of coins up to one dollar (and beyond if asked)
tell time to the hour
Joe loves Math and asks to do it first each morning. I am proud of him, and enjoy teaching him and watching him learn new Math skills.
I kept art simple for the kids. We used oil pastels and watercolors again. I am going to make sure we move on to something different next:-). Jack painted his first real picture!! I was so, so excited to see him actually paint purposefully on the paper trying to make a picture. He didn’t sling the paint into the air or try to fingerpaint with the watercolors this time!!
Hanna painted a butterfly. This butterfly to me is how I think of Hanna–bright, happy and colorful.
Jack played more with his rocks and construction trucks–surprise, surprise:-).
And, he decided to branch out and use pom poms in his trucks too.
Jesse discovered the pots and pans cabinet. I love it when my kids get to this stage and start exploring and discovering like this! My bottom cabinets, by the way, are completely unorganized because all the little ones have free play in them while I cook. Mom, I know you are cringing as you read this:-).
Hanna moved right along with her lessons in all subjects. No problems with any areas. Do you know what a relief it is to finally have curriculums for all subjects that she is enjoying and excelling in?! She has been studying about vikings in history which has required her to read articles and watch videos online at BBC.
In Science she has been studying leaves. She had Joe help her with leaf classification one afternoon. As you can see, Joe is still having a problem keeping his shorts on. He says his legs “get sweaty” in them. I’ve bought him boxer shorts, but he still insists on wearing his briefs saying even the boxers “make his legs sweaty”–cracks me up.
Teaching Textbooks is a dream for any homeschooler! We LOVE this Math! Grammar is still going well. Hanna is learning to diagram sentences with ease and is doing great with labeling parts of speech.
We will be on break from school for the month of August. We’ll start our next quarter Sept. 2nd–the day after Hanna’s birthday, per Hanna’s request to have her birthday off:-). I plan to spend our time off record keeping, relaxing, working on my 365 album, baking, playing, and crafting lots and lots with the kids.
School is going so well this year! This time of year especially I am so, so thankful for homeschool. For so many years at the end of Summer I would be sad because I knew Hanna would be going off to school, and be faced with who knows what each day. It was also like a countdown of sorts for me as to how much time I had left with Joe before he wasn’t mine anymore. Now, each day is exciting. School is a highlight of our time together at home. I cannot put into words how much I thoroughly love teaching my children, planning their lessons, choosing their curriculums, watching them grasp new concepts. Being able to homeschool my children is a task I thought I would never be able to handle with confidence. I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the ability to be able to do this, Jamie for supporting and encouraging me every step of the way, and my children for just being so sweet and full of love.
….has been a good one. I guess in some ways I could have chosen to see it as a hard week, a hectic week too, but I have too much to be thankful for, so it has been a great week.
We’ve been busy. Busy with school, pottery camp, swimming lessons, visiting with family, and just everyday life. Hanna had pottery camp the last two weeks and I can’t wait to get her finished pieces. She had lots of fun and from what she told me they made some really neat stuff.
The last two weeks Hanna and Joe had swimming lessons. Bless Joe’s heart, this was the first year he’s actually cooperated enough to take the lessons. We’ve signed him up since he was 3, but he’s always been too afraid to let himself do it. This year he very excitedly took his lessons, looking forward to them every evening. He still showed some fear, and was in the very beginner level, but just the fact that he did all that he was asked to do happily and had fun was enough for me! He even got up the courage to jump off the diving board the entire second week. I was really proud of him. He had a cool teacher too that he adored and got private lessons so that was awesome!
Hanna did great too! She improved in all areas this year. She wants to do year round lessons, so we’ll see. Here she is doing the backstroke, and then another shot jumping off the diving board.
I really want my kids to all learn to swim well. I cannot swim and have a fear of water above my head. I don’t want my kids to have this same issue. I want them to love the water and be able to feel comfortable in it. I’m proud of Hanna and Joe and very happy at their excitement in the water.
We spent some time at my mom’s house this week. Hanna and Joe played in their tree house, my mom and Jack played with tons of dinosaurs–setting them all up in little family groups. Jack loved doing this.
While they all played, I took advantage of this time to do something I like–surf the internet, work on my blog and read some blogs:-)–Jesse got some beauty rest. Goodness he is an angel! I could eat him up. Seriously, I could hold, squeeze, kiss and snuggle him ALL DAY LONG!
We got much accomplished in school this week, but that’s for another entry. Joe found another interest in addition to his castle–marbles. He’s been playing with them lots, so I thought I’d make him a cereal box marble run like I saw on a blog. As simple as it looks, he loved it and it’s been keeping him occupied.
That’s pretty much what we’ve been up to lately. A little of this and a lot of that. Mostly just trying to stay cool and enjoying being together.
Jesse is 44 weeks old. He’s learned some new things since my last Jesse update. He’s learned to clap, he’s standing alone lots more, and he is quickly learning to use his walker. (Sleeping and eating habits are still the same, and no new teeth.) I got a short video of him pushing his walker.
I haven’t taken many pictures the last couple weeks. We’ve been on the go lots. I did get a few cute ones of though.
Jesse playing with kitchen stuff.
Jesse trying to get the camera from me. See that look of concentration on his face:-).
Jack holding Jesse. Jesse looks scared to death, but he wasn’t, promise! His expression is HILARIOUS!!
I love to watch my kids while they are sleeping. I took this picture of Jesse earlier this week when he was napping. He looks so cozy snuggled up with his Lovie.
One last picture of my handsome Jack.
See, he’s still sporting those stickers. He wore them for four days!
My boys sure are handsome, sweet and make me so very happy. I love the phases that both Jack and Jesse are at right now. Jack is becoming more independent, but still so much a baby and loves to cuddle and snuggle just as much as my Jesse. My children make each day so happy for me. I truly love being with them and can’t get enough of them.
I have felt so full of gratitude this week for all that I have. I’ve had reminders every day of all that I am blessed with. Sometimes just something as simple as a smile from Jack, a conversation with Hanna who is growing up too fast, watching Joe learn so quickly as we do school lessons together, or quiet time with Jesse before a nap. I am also reminded each day how blessed I am to be loved so unconditionally by Jamie. To have a healthy family, a happy marriage, and a home full of love is all that I need and I could not ask for more.
Jack has discovered a love for ice cream cones thanks to the never ending supply provided at Nana and Pop Pop’s house. I finally gave in and bought some cones for Jack at home too.
Here, he demonstrates the proper way to eat one. First, make sure it’s all over your entire face, dripping off even, and OH, don’t forget you have to have your arms covered in stickers that you refuse to have removed (without fits of loud screaming) for four straight days:-).
Eat it, all of it slowly while it continues to drip, drip, drip….
….stop and grin for the camera.
Finish off the last piece!
I love my Jack. He keeps me hopping, keeps me laughing, and keeps me listening as he talks my ear off all day long with his sweet, litte two-year-old voice.
We have been using Science Experiments in a Bag since the first week of May when we began our new school year. I cannot say enough good about this curriculum and am exicited to offer two of my readers a chance to win their own!
I like these experiments for several reasons:
First, I was able to get them printed out, bagged up and ready to go for the whole school year before we even began. Yes, that means no prep work for me for these experiments. When we are ready for one, I simply pull the bag out of this bin and we start.
They are multi-age through 8th grade. Even though this is my main Science curriculum for 5K, I still include Hanna (6th grade). Often, she is even the one who does the experiment with Joe and I just observe and listen.
They are inexpensive. I spent under $20 on all supplies for the entire book of 25 experiments.
They are super fun, yet very educational. I have learned a lot myself so far:-).
They are hands-on and centered on subjects kids love.
We are currently doing an experiment in a bag on crickets. To extend all of our learning before and after each experiment we read lots and lots of books, and I try to find a few simple crafts to go along with the subject.
Here are several experiment titles included (their are 25 in each book):
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I came in from running a few mornings ago and found Joe and Jamie in our bed together just like this….
I had to get my camera and take a quick picture.
It’s no secret to my family that I could spend, and do spend lots of time editing and playing around with all the pictures I take. I had fun with this one in a new program I found called BeFunky. It’s similar to Picnik, but a little more on the artsy side of editing. I thought the cartoonize effect suited this picture perfectly! Not to mention it suits Jamie and Joe’s silly personalities too:-).
Jack is so happy playing with his trucks and rocks right now. It’s by far his favorite thing to do. They keep him occupied for long periods of time. I like listening to him talk imaginatively and make truck noises as he plays with them. He is at such a sweet age where everything is brand new and exciting.
We went on another day trip to the beach Friday. We enjoyed all of what we usually do when we go. The weather was great. No storms and a very nice breeze so even though it was very hot, it didn’t feel like it on the beach. The best part was just getting away for the day together and having a break from the norm. It was fun.
Here are pictures from our day. I thought this made a great shot. So pretty.
Hanna as always in the water the WHOLE time! Really, she only comes out to eat lunch and that’s it!
Joe playing around. He is so cute.
Jamie looking like Jack to me in this picture.
Boys digging with Daddy. Again, this was Jack’s favorite thing to do all day. He only went in the water briefly if Jamie or myself carried him in. That’s ok, he’ll come around eventually, and besides he had LOTS of fun without the water:-).
And lots of pics of Jack because he’s just so handsome!
We went to see Toy Story 3 Thursday night with Hanna and Joe—thanks Mom for watching Jack and Jesse so we could go. It was so good! Sad, because it made me think about my kids growing up and just how fast they are growing. But, it was such a good movie. We all loved it. A very good lesson to be learned from it too. I left the theatre feeling so thankful for my family and for all we are blessed with.
We had a great weekend. Lots of time together and lots of fun.
The last two weeks we’ve continued to study insects. We were going to move on to crickets, but I wanted to have some live ones for part of our study. I haven’t made it to the bait store yet—hopefully this weekend I’ll get there so we can end our insect unit with crickets.
We’ve been reading some fun books in addition to the ones we read the last two weeks.
We went outside one evening and caught fireflies. I’ve never done this and it was really fun! We put them in a mason jar and brought them inside, went into a dark room and watched them flash. It was so neat! Hanna was the best at catching them and getting them into the jar. She is soooo good at doing anything with critters. If you look closely you can see the little firefly light in her hand below.
Joe made a couple really cute firefly crafts. This one is out of construction paper, but for the light on the tail I had him use some of his Crayola Glow Explosion paper so it would really glow. We made one more with a small mag lite flash light. He LOVES this one! He cut the wings out of craft foam. I attached everything though because I wanted to use E6000 glue (like I used *here*, which he couldn’t use) so it would hold up and the pieces wouldn’t fall off.
He made a lapbook with a little bit about fireflies, crickets and mosquitoes. This was the first lapbook he actually cut out the pieces for and glued together almost all by himself. I was surprised too that he actually enjoyed doing it. Joe enjoys lapbooks, so I’m thinking we may try to do more of them now that he is ready to make them on his own. We still have a bit to complete on the actual work in the lapbook as we read more about crickets and mosquitoes this upcoming week. I copied the front cover from one of our library books on my printer. Here are the inside and back cover. The mosquito survival guide pictured above is a great mini book to complete as a sort of quiz after reading a book about mosquitoes.
We went outside and saw some real mosquito larvae because we are yucky and had standing water that needed to be dumped out that was a disgusting breeding ground. But it did make for some great Science:-). Don’t worry Mom, I dumped the water out immediately following this video, and Mom, this video is just for you:-)!
Joe and I continued with Progressive Phonics and he is enjoying it. All of a sudden he is liking writing again—glad the displeasure with it did not last long. Abeka Math is such a good fit for him. We finished up reading our books on Thomas Jefferson in History and are moving on to someone new.
Still not much school stuff with Jack. Mostly play. I am on the lookout for some new things for him though and hope to have something figured out by September. (We’ll break in August.) Jack did have fun with his Color Wonder fingerpaints.
He also enjoyed building with his lego duplos. Jack doesn’t usually try to build “something”, he just builds. He actually set out of his own desire and imagination to build a train. He was so proud and he did a GREAT job! He built with his blocks alot this week. Joe enjoyed building alongside him.
Jack’s favorite thing by far right now involves anything to do with construction vehicles. He talks about them all day, looks for them any time we’re out and about, asks to read books about them all day—he LOVES them! I got him some little rocks from Dollar Tree and he has a blast playing with them with his various trucks, trains and cars.
Hanna had a good two weeks with all of her school work too. She moved right along with daily math, grammar, wordly wise, science and history lessons. She’s been studying Shakespeare and then Vikings in history. We’re still doing lots of diagramming in ELA. She really enjoys her math. She had no complaints with Life of Fred, but she likes Teaching Textbooks even more. The fact that she enjoys it and that it’s totally hands-off for me is wonderful! She wanted to do something in black and white for art. She came up with this painting of a cat. She did a good job! It’s hanging in her room. I hope to frame it along with several more of the kids’ pictures next month.
We went to our children’s museum to see the butterfly exhibit. It’s fun to visit and went perfectly with our insect study. We looked for and found lots of pretty butterflies with the scavenger hunt sheets they had, plus saw caterpillars, caterpillar eggs, a chrysalis and a butterfly just hatched drying it’s wings. After the exhibit we explored the museum. We all had a good time. The kids love this museum, we all do actually.
Jack and Joe’s fave spot was the fire truck for sure this time. We spent alot of time here in the truck, crawling through the tunnel to escape “smoke”, and… sliding down the fireman’s pole. Jesse hung out having his naptime bottle while the kids above played. Next up was the farm. Jesse enjoyed eating a little more while Daddy, Jack, Hanna and Joe played more. Next up was Timbuktu. Jamie and Jack put on a show for us.
Hanna and Joe went on a bike ride. Joe was revving the bike and really acting like he knew what he was doing. He was serious too, it was so funny.I think that actually wraps up our last two weeks of school fun. Wow, this is a long entry! We have had lots of fun. Just moving along and trying to enjoy all that we learn and do in the process.
