Daily Devotion: Read John 6:35-40 and talked about how Jesus is "the bread of life" and how God's word keeps us from being spiritually hungry.
Health: This is our last week of Health so the kids finished up their "I Can" books about ways they can keep their bodies healthy. We sang a song and played "Healthy Habits Simon Says."
Writing: Faith wrote the letter M in her journal for milk and drew a glass of milk and some cookies.
Geography: We left Japan and headed south to Australia where we learned a little history about the only country that is also a continent.
Math: Faith did a worksheet about calendars.
Spelling: Practiced writing words that are associated with the Easter holiday.
Reading: Started reading a chapter book from the Hooked on Phonics program called "Detective Dog and the Lost Rabbit."
We were all disappointed this morning when we received a phone call from the family we were going to babysit for. Apparently the dad's new job did not work out so they will not need us to watch their little girl until he finds a new one. :(
Seth had Head Start today. Faith, Anna and I played outside for half an hour after lunch. We had time to bake some chocolate chip cookies this afternoon and Faith used her Easy Bake oven.
We purchased some used calf hutches and got them all set up in the evening. The kids and I were very excited and happy with how they work. They will make our chores much faster and easier. After chores we drove over to our Amish friends house to wish their son a happy first birthday. (I was their doula at his birth) We ended up staying for supper and had a nice visit. When we returned home Faith asked if she could read a couple more chapters in the "Detective Dog" book. Even though it was late I said yes because I was so happy that she actually wanted to read.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 26 - Monday, March 29
Friday was a short school day because the family went out for our monthly pizza and swimming day. We did do a couple lessons in the morning though. Faith read a new book from the Hooked on Phonics program that she really enjoyed and she completed a review sheet on writing the numbers 0-100. Then we all joined in on counting to 100 because this is good practice for Seth also.
We finished watching the Iditarod DVD and then watched an Animal Planet DVD about the panda bears in the Washington DC zoo. The kids loved it so much they watched it two more times over the weekend.
My aunt and uncle from Michigan were down visiting for the weekend so on Sunday, after church and Sunday school, we rode our bikes over to my parents to visit and have dinner. I have been trying to get out for a walk or a bike ride with the kids after evening chores on the nice days.
Monday was a big cleaning day and we tried doing a science experiment by placing a white carnation in colored water, but for some reason it didn't work, yet.
We finished watching the Iditarod DVD and then watched an Animal Planet DVD about the panda bears in the Washington DC zoo. The kids loved it so much they watched it two more times over the weekend.
My aunt and uncle from Michigan were down visiting for the weekend so on Sunday, after church and Sunday school, we rode our bikes over to my parents to visit and have dinner. I have been trying to get out for a walk or a bike ride with the kids after evening chores on the nice days.
Monday was a big cleaning day and we tried doing a science experiment by placing a white carnation in colored water, but for some reason it didn't work, yet.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thursday, March 25
Daily Devotion: Read 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 and talked about grief.
Writing: Faith did an alphabet journal entry; O is for Octopus and drew a nice picture. (I forgot to previously mention we are doing this for handwriting because we finished up with the Handwriting Without Tears Workbook.)
We did not have science today because I have to pick up some supplies for the experiment. Instead we did the arts & crafts project we didn't have time for last week. The kids cut shapes out of construction paper. We hung them on pieces of yarn attached to a ice cream cover with the center cut out. Then we tied colorful ribbons on the yarn and hung it up for a kite mobile.
Geography: Colored the flag of Japan and listened to a book on tape called "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes," a true story about a 12-year-old Japanese girl who was 2-years-old when the atomic bomb was dropped and then ten years later was diagnosed and died from leukemia. While sick in the hospital a friend brought her an origami crane and told her a story about if she made 1,000 paper cranes it would please the gods and she would become well. The girl's brother hangs the cranes from the ceiling of her hospital room and over the months she is able to fold over 600 paper cranes before she dies. Her classmates from school then finish making the rest so the paper cranes can be buried with her and make a book from the letters and journal she wrote. The book passes throughout Japan and Sadako becomes well known and remembered.
Math: Did an exercise in following oral directions.
Reading: Learned some new helper words and reviewed previously learned ones. Read a new story out of the workbook.
Spelling: Unscrambled words from spelling list 3.
Later this afternoon Faith will attend her weekly gymnastics class.
Writing: Faith did an alphabet journal entry; O is for Octopus and drew a nice picture. (I forgot to previously mention we are doing this for handwriting because we finished up with the Handwriting Without Tears Workbook.)
We did not have science today because I have to pick up some supplies for the experiment. Instead we did the arts & crafts project we didn't have time for last week. The kids cut shapes out of construction paper. We hung them on pieces of yarn attached to a ice cream cover with the center cut out. Then we tied colorful ribbons on the yarn and hung it up for a kite mobile.
Geography: Colored the flag of Japan and listened to a book on tape called "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes," a true story about a 12-year-old Japanese girl who was 2-years-old when the atomic bomb was dropped and then ten years later was diagnosed and died from leukemia. While sick in the hospital a friend brought her an origami crane and told her a story about if she made 1,000 paper cranes it would please the gods and she would become well. The girl's brother hangs the cranes from the ceiling of her hospital room and over the months she is able to fold over 600 paper cranes before she dies. Her classmates from school then finish making the rest so the paper cranes can be buried with her and make a book from the letters and journal she wrote. The book passes throughout Japan and Sadako becomes well known and remembered.
Math: Did an exercise in following oral directions.
Reading: Learned some new helper words and reviewed previously learned ones. Read a new story out of the workbook.
Spelling: Unscrambled words from spelling list 3.
Later this afternoon Faith will attend her weekly gymnastics class.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 24
Faith surprised me by being up at 4:00 a.m. this morning, dressed and ready to help feed calves. Last week Seth surprised me one morning by doing the same thing. Since we have so many calves being born right now Loren and I have changed our morning routine so he gets up earlier and starts milking the cows and I come out awhile later to feed and help finish up so he can head in to work at Menard's. With Faith's help my chores only took an hour and we were able to feed milk to nine baby calves, give hay to the dry cows (the cows that are going to have calves and are not milking right now), clean the stalls and wash the bottles. They say a farm is a great place to raise a family and I totally agree. The farm is a great learning environment and teaches responsibility not only by helping with chores, but also responsibility for yourself and others. I depend on my children to listen, follow direction, look out for themselves and each other because in reality a farm can be a dangerous place and accidents can happen. But I compare it to a child living in town who grows up learning at a young age to watch for cars, how to cross the street, to play in their own backyard and not to talk to strangers. One reason I chose to homeschool is to instill the values that come with growing up on a farm and also because their is a real possibility that our children may be the last generation to truly experience life on a small, family farm.
Today for our Daily Devotion we read Psalm 103:11-13 and talked about forgiveness.
We finished up learning about teeth in Health by discussing plaque and sugar causing tooth decay and how regular checkups at the dentist are important. The kids completed a dot-to-dot for their final page in their booklets that we will finish putting together one of these days. We read "Curious George Goes to the Dentist" and "The Berenstain Bears Go to the Dentist." The final activity was using old toothbrushes and water to scrub the dirt off small rocks.
Writing: Faith finished coloring her quilt picture for the letter Q and then practiced writing the letter p for plate and drew a picture of a plate with different foods on it.
Geography: We looked at some different library books about Japan; some were informational and some were just stories.
Math: Faith took a test on the different things she has been learning the past couple weeks. She passed so we will move on in the workbook next week.
Bible: Did a finger play and read a rebus story out of the Happy Times magazine.
Reading: Read a workbook review page and played word search.
Spelling: Cut out and pasted the spelling words from word list 3 in alphabetical order.
Today for our Daily Devotion we read Psalm 103:11-13 and talked about forgiveness.
We finished up learning about teeth in Health by discussing plaque and sugar causing tooth decay and how regular checkups at the dentist are important. The kids completed a dot-to-dot for their final page in their booklets that we will finish putting together one of these days. We read "Curious George Goes to the Dentist" and "The Berenstain Bears Go to the Dentist." The final activity was using old toothbrushes and water to scrub the dirt off small rocks.
Writing: Faith finished coloring her quilt picture for the letter Q and then practiced writing the letter p for plate and drew a picture of a plate with different foods on it.
Geography: We looked at some different library books about Japan; some were informational and some were just stories.
Math: Faith took a test on the different things she has been learning the past couple weeks. She passed so we will move on in the workbook next week.
Bible: Did a finger play and read a rebus story out of the Happy Times magazine.
Reading: Read a workbook review page and played word search.
Spelling: Cut out and pasted the spelling words from word list 3 in alphabetical order.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 23
The start of another new school week. We have been listening to Grimm's Fairy Tales whenever we drive somewhere lately. The kids love stories on CD or tape. I like them because they encourage children to use their imaginations so much more then television.
We had a busy, but productive day. We read Psalm 20:3-5 for our Daily Devotion and prayed for the leaders of our country and the people who protect us.
In Health we began learning about our teeth, which is partly review from previous years and also some new information. We discussed how we use our teeth, (eating, talking, nice smiles), the purpose of each kind of tooth (biting, tearing, chewing), primary and secondary teeth, said the alphabet slowly while thinking about how our tongue and teeth help us make each letter sound, read the books "How Many Teeth," "The Missing Tooth," and "Rabbit's Loose Tooth." The kids got to eat fruit roll-ups for a snack to see how they need to use all their teeth to eat. I also stressed the importance of taking care of their "baby teeth" even though they fall out because they help determine the health and how well their "permanent" teeth grow into place.
Writing: We used a creative writing prompt; "If you could prepare one meal for your family what would it be and how would you make it?" Both Faith and Seth got to make up a story while I wrote it down for them. Even though they are not actually practicing their handwriting I think it is important for them to practice making up stories that have a beginning, middle and end and also how to answer a question and follow direction.
Math: Faith did a review page on the "ones" and "tens" columns. I like that our curriculum reviews previous material in between new material, especially since she struggled a bit at first to understand how many are supposed to go in the "tens" place.
Geography: The kids were given a coloring sheet with decorative carp to color with the names of each color written in English and Japanese.
Faith, Seth and Anna ate orange slices for a snack and played outside for awhile before Seth and I left for Head Start. I was a parent volunteer for the class's trip to the circus. Loren helped Faith with her Reading and Spelling after lunch.
At chore time the kids played outside riding bikes, running around and Faith decided to "spring clean" their playhouse. Seth helped feed calves and Faith helped make biscuits from scratch to go along with supper. The recipe is called "Cowboy Biscuits," but we call them "Faith's Blue Ribbon Biscuits" after she won first place at the county fair last summer.
We had a busy, but productive day. We read Psalm 20:3-5 for our Daily Devotion and prayed for the leaders of our country and the people who protect us.
In Health we began learning about our teeth, which is partly review from previous years and also some new information. We discussed how we use our teeth, (eating, talking, nice smiles), the purpose of each kind of tooth (biting, tearing, chewing), primary and secondary teeth, said the alphabet slowly while thinking about how our tongue and teeth help us make each letter sound, read the books "How Many Teeth," "The Missing Tooth," and "Rabbit's Loose Tooth." The kids got to eat fruit roll-ups for a snack to see how they need to use all their teeth to eat. I also stressed the importance of taking care of their "baby teeth" even though they fall out because they help determine the health and how well their "permanent" teeth grow into place.
Writing: We used a creative writing prompt; "If you could prepare one meal for your family what would it be and how would you make it?" Both Faith and Seth got to make up a story while I wrote it down for them. Even though they are not actually practicing their handwriting I think it is important for them to practice making up stories that have a beginning, middle and end and also how to answer a question and follow direction.
Math: Faith did a review page on the "ones" and "tens" columns. I like that our curriculum reviews previous material in between new material, especially since she struggled a bit at first to understand how many are supposed to go in the "tens" place.
Geography: The kids were given a coloring sheet with decorative carp to color with the names of each color written in English and Japanese.
Faith, Seth and Anna ate orange slices for a snack and played outside for awhile before Seth and I left for Head Start. I was a parent volunteer for the class's trip to the circus. Loren helped Faith with her Reading and Spelling after lunch.
At chore time the kids played outside riding bikes, running around and Faith decided to "spring clean" their playhouse. Seth helped feed calves and Faith helped make biscuits from scratch to go along with supper. The recipe is called "Cowboy Biscuits," but we call them "Faith's Blue Ribbon Biscuits" after she won first place at the county fair last summer.
Monday, March 22
Monday is considered to be my "work" day because I spend the majority of the morning putting together my two newspaper columns and making phone calls. It is also the day I clean the dining room/kitchen area and do laundry. The kids usually play while I am working or watch PBS if I am on the phone making my news calls. I also look ahead at our school schedule for the week, which I like to have planned two weeks in advance, so I have everything we need on hand.
I wanted to get the kids on a better track with chores, so today after they helped throw wood in the basement (we heat our house with a wood furnace downstairs) Loren paid them for the chores completed and we reselected cards. Seth had a little bit of difficulty understanding why he had to give me his dollar (remember he owes me $2.00 for the paper dolls he bought on Friday). I gave him the choice of either he gives me the dollar or I get to keep the paper dolls. In the end I got the dollar.
For her chore Faith chose to make all the beds in the house, but since it was laundry day I had her take all the sheets off the beds so I could wash them. Seth chose to clean up their bedroom, so I gave him a basket and he picked up all the clothes that were on the floor. Faith also volunteered to help feed some calves tonight at chore time. We have a lot of calves to feed bottles to right now, so I appreciated her help. Seth also volunteered to help make Anna's bed by himself. After a little frustration with trying to get the fitted sheet on he proudly finished the task.
Spring is a hard time of year to keep the kids interested in helping in the barn. With the weather so nice they are like the cattle when we first let them out to pasture. Our kids know not to go too far away without permission, but many times I will not see them in the yard and will have to call for them. Soon I see them coming from the pasture or out of the woods always with out two dogs following close behind. I love having all this space for them to explore. This time of year also means more laundry and baths because they collect a lot of dirt on all their adventures.
This afternoon we did our Geography project we didn't have time for last week; we made Jellied Plums for our Japanese recipe and ate them for dessert after supper. Usually the kids are excited about a cooking project, like last night when Faith helped cook pancakes, but today they were more interested in watching Cyberchase on PBS.
Next week we start babysitting a two-year-old girl three days a week, so we will have what Seth calls "the new kid" participating in our homeschool adventures. It should be fun!
I wanted to get the kids on a better track with chores, so today after they helped throw wood in the basement (we heat our house with a wood furnace downstairs) Loren paid them for the chores completed and we reselected cards. Seth had a little bit of difficulty understanding why he had to give me his dollar (remember he owes me $2.00 for the paper dolls he bought on Friday). I gave him the choice of either he gives me the dollar or I get to keep the paper dolls. In the end I got the dollar.
For her chore Faith chose to make all the beds in the house, but since it was laundry day I had her take all the sheets off the beds so I could wash them. Seth chose to clean up their bedroom, so I gave him a basket and he picked up all the clothes that were on the floor. Faith also volunteered to help feed some calves tonight at chore time. We have a lot of calves to feed bottles to right now, so I appreciated her help. Seth also volunteered to help make Anna's bed by himself. After a little frustration with trying to get the fitted sheet on he proudly finished the task.
Spring is a hard time of year to keep the kids interested in helping in the barn. With the weather so nice they are like the cattle when we first let them out to pasture. Our kids know not to go too far away without permission, but many times I will not see them in the yard and will have to call for them. Soon I see them coming from the pasture or out of the woods always with out two dogs following close behind. I love having all this space for them to explore. This time of year also means more laundry and baths because they collect a lot of dirt on all their adventures.
This afternoon we did our Geography project we didn't have time for last week; we made Jellied Plums for our Japanese recipe and ate them for dessert after supper. Usually the kids are excited about a cooking project, like last night when Faith helped cook pancakes, but today they were more interested in watching Cyberchase on PBS.
Next week we start babysitting a two-year-old girl three days a week, so we will have what Seth calls "the new kid" participating in our homeschool adventures. It should be fun!
Daily Chores
As parents, one decision we had had to make was whether or not to give our children an allowance for the chores they do. I developed a chore card system using the clip art in the Microsoft Word program. We have 15 picture cards, each representing a different chore (wash dishes, feed pets, vacuum, dust, sweep, make beds, clean living room, help cook, clean bedroom, take out garbage, clean bathroom, clean one area of the basement, help with farm chores, help with laundry and set/clear table). I will mix the cards up and Faith, Seth and Anna will each draw 5 cards. Even Anna is old enough to participate with some help and the kids earn one dollar for every five chores they complete. I try to have them choose 1 card for each weekday, but some days, if we are extra busy or go to town, I don't.
Each child has a chore chart hanging on the wall where they can list their chores and mark them off when completed. Loren and I still expect them to help with small tasks or extra chores if asked, without a reward, but for the bigger chores we do give them an allowance. Once all 15 chores have been completed, which usually takes a week or two, we mix the cards up again and start all over.
We also try to incorporate 5-minute cleanups each day so picking up does not become a long, overwhelming task because we let toys pile up on the living room floor all week. For example, I will set a timer for 5-minutes and we will all work together to see how much of the living room we can get cleaned up before the timer rings. If someone refuses to help they lose privileges like TV time or computer use.
One of my goals is to get into a better habit of having the kids help every day. Mainly, it's just fitting it into our daily routine, which usually ends up being at the end of the day when we're all feeling tired. So, this is something I continue to work on.
What we like about this system is it teaches the kids money management skills and also to recognize the different coins and dollars. When we go to town and they want to buy some candy or a small toy that I normally would not purchase they can use their own money. They need to look at prices and decide if they have enough money or if they need to make another selection. Sometimes they buy an item and then afterwards learn that it was not worth the money they spent. Now, if I would have paid for it then it probably would not matter so much, but because it was their hard earned cash, next time they might remember to not impulse buy or to be more careful with their choices.
They have also learned to save money and right now Faith and Seth are both hoping to buy rabbits this spring. And they have felt the reward of giving to others by buying treats or gifts for friends and family and putting their own money into the Sunday school offering plate.
One other tip I picked up somewhere, is to have a set of morning routine cards. This really helps me to not have to remind the kids what to do after breakfast and before school each day. Anna still needs my assistance at getting ready in the morning, but Faith and Seth each have a set of four picture cards on a key ring that reminds them to brush their teeth, comb their hair, make their bed and get dressed. When everything is complete, they return the key ring to me and I know they are ready for the day.
Each child has a chore chart hanging on the wall where they can list their chores and mark them off when completed. Loren and I still expect them to help with small tasks or extra chores if asked, without a reward, but for the bigger chores we do give them an allowance. Once all 15 chores have been completed, which usually takes a week or two, we mix the cards up again and start all over.
We also try to incorporate 5-minute cleanups each day so picking up does not become a long, overwhelming task because we let toys pile up on the living room floor all week. For example, I will set a timer for 5-minutes and we will all work together to see how much of the living room we can get cleaned up before the timer rings. If someone refuses to help they lose privileges like TV time or computer use.
One of my goals is to get into a better habit of having the kids help every day. Mainly, it's just fitting it into our daily routine, which usually ends up being at the end of the day when we're all feeling tired. So, this is something I continue to work on.
What we like about this system is it teaches the kids money management skills and also to recognize the different coins and dollars. When we go to town and they want to buy some candy or a small toy that I normally would not purchase they can use their own money. They need to look at prices and decide if they have enough money or if they need to make another selection. Sometimes they buy an item and then afterwards learn that it was not worth the money they spent. Now, if I would have paid for it then it probably would not matter so much, but because it was their hard earned cash, next time they might remember to not impulse buy or to be more careful with their choices.
They have also learned to save money and right now Faith and Seth are both hoping to buy rabbits this spring. And they have felt the reward of giving to others by buying treats or gifts for friends and family and putting their own money into the Sunday school offering plate.
One other tip I picked up somewhere, is to have a set of morning routine cards. This really helps me to not have to remind the kids what to do after breakfast and before school each day. Anna still needs my assistance at getting ready in the morning, but Faith and Seth each have a set of four picture cards on a key ring that reminds them to brush their teeth, comb their hair, make their bed and get dressed. When everything is complete, they return the key ring to me and I know they are ready for the day.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Friday, March 19
Fridays are our pajama day at school where the kids and I do not have to get dressed for school unless we want to. We also have show-and-tell because the kids kept asking if we could. They each get up to 5 minutes to share something with the rest of us.
Today we had a chiropractic appointment in Park Rapids in the afternoon, so we had a short school day and will probably do our Geography and Arts & Craft project tomorrow, unless I get called to a birth. (A mom called while I was in P.R. and was having contractions.)
This is what we did get accomplished today:
Daily Devotion: Mark 13:32-33 The Day and Hour Unknown
Talked about when Jesus will return (will it be today, next week, years or even in our lifetime?) and what we should do while we wait. Faith reminded us of how the Bible says heaven is full of many rooms that God has prepared for us and when our room is ready Jesus will come and take us to heaven. "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." John 14:2-4 (This verse was read by our Pastor many times while my father-in-law lay in bed dying.)
Writing: Faith started on Q is for Quilt in her alphabet journal, but didn't quite finish coloring the picture of her quilt because I only allowed so much time since we had an appointment to be at on time.
Math: Did a worksheet on following oral directions. The worksheet had 16 pictures on it and as I read a story out loud Faith had to put a number by each picture in the correct order. She let Seth help by letting him point to the picture too.
Reading: We played Word Play in the HOP workbook. Faith is given cards with a letter on each and then is given a word to spell with those letters. Seth helped identify the letters in the words Faith spelled. Faith read a short story out of her workbook and then Seth read a book too by looking at the pictures and telling the story. Even though he isn't actually reading any words, telling a story is great practice for his speech development.
I liked the fact that Faith and Seth chose to work together today and cooperated. Anna sat on the couch engrossed in this Amish Life book that has been her favorite for the past few days. She just loves the photos, especially of the babies.
In town we stopped to do a little shopping for some birthday gifts for our friends and Seth practiced his money management skills. He wanted to buy a book of paper dolls that cost $4.00. I told the children I could not afford to buy each of them something that cost that much, but I would give them each $2.00 to spend. Faith chose a plastic jewelry set for $1.50, Anna chose a .25 sucker, but Seth was still intent on the paper dolls. So I gave him a choice of paying $2.00 out of his own money to make up the difference or choosing something that cost less. This was a hard decision because he knows he has a $10.00 bill at home that he has been saving for a bunny rabbit and he did not want to give that up. In the end, he chose to give up two of his dollars for the paper dolls. After some thought while driving home I chose to let him keep his $10.00 bill and instead will keep $2.00 of the money he earns from doing chores. He was very excited about this and agreed to get all his work done.
In a future post I will explain more about our chore and allowance system.
Today we had a chiropractic appointment in Park Rapids in the afternoon, so we had a short school day and will probably do our Geography and Arts & Craft project tomorrow, unless I get called to a birth. (A mom called while I was in P.R. and was having contractions.)
This is what we did get accomplished today:
Daily Devotion: Mark 13:32-33 The Day and Hour Unknown
Talked about when Jesus will return (will it be today, next week, years or even in our lifetime?) and what we should do while we wait. Faith reminded us of how the Bible says heaven is full of many rooms that God has prepared for us and when our room is ready Jesus will come and take us to heaven. "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." John 14:2-4 (This verse was read by our Pastor many times while my father-in-law lay in bed dying.)
Writing: Faith started on Q is for Quilt in her alphabet journal, but didn't quite finish coloring the picture of her quilt because I only allowed so much time since we had an appointment to be at on time.
Math: Did a worksheet on following oral directions. The worksheet had 16 pictures on it and as I read a story out loud Faith had to put a number by each picture in the correct order. She let Seth help by letting him point to the picture too.
Reading: We played Word Play in the HOP workbook. Faith is given cards with a letter on each and then is given a word to spell with those letters. Seth helped identify the letters in the words Faith spelled. Faith read a short story out of her workbook and then Seth read a book too by looking at the pictures and telling the story. Even though he isn't actually reading any words, telling a story is great practice for his speech development.
I liked the fact that Faith and Seth chose to work together today and cooperated. Anna sat on the couch engrossed in this Amish Life book that has been her favorite for the past few days. She just loves the photos, especially of the babies.
In town we stopped to do a little shopping for some birthday gifts for our friends and Seth practiced his money management skills. He wanted to buy a book of paper dolls that cost $4.00. I told the children I could not afford to buy each of them something that cost that much, but I would give them each $2.00 to spend. Faith chose a plastic jewelry set for $1.50, Anna chose a .25 sucker, but Seth was still intent on the paper dolls. So I gave him a choice of paying $2.00 out of his own money to make up the difference or choosing something that cost less. This was a hard decision because he knows he has a $10.00 bill at home that he has been saving for a bunny rabbit and he did not want to give that up. In the end, he chose to give up two of his dollars for the paper dolls. After some thought while driving home I chose to let him keep his $10.00 bill and instead will keep $2.00 of the money he earns from doing chores. He was very excited about this and agreed to get all his work done.
In a future post I will explain more about our chore and allowance system.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Thursday, March 18
Daily Devotion: Genesis 45:1-8 Joseph Makes Himself Known
(We use the My Devotions book that our church hands out quarterly)
Talked about forgiveness
We also have a cute, little series of books from Concordia Publishing House called "God, I need to talk to you about......" and each one focuses on a different problem children may face (disrespect, hurting others, lying, sharing, whining, etc.)
Health: Personal Grooming
Talked about a display of different items that we use to keep ourselves clean and healthy.
Sang a song called "What are we doing now?" and filled in the verses with different things like "washing our hair."
Read a poem called "Wish" abut a child who wishes he/she was a fish so no one would ask "Have you washed today?" Discussed why adults check up on whether children have washed.
Completed another page for the booklet about making healthy choices
I read the books "Harry the Dirty Dog" and "Mud Puddle" to Faith and Anna
Writing: Faith made 2 entries in her alphabet journal. She wrote P is for Winnie the Pooh and J is for for Jam. She drew a picture of Pooh, Christopher Robin and Piglet and another picture showing four different jars of Jam.
Math: Did 1 review page on fractions before moving onto something new tomorrow.
Science: Talked about the different parts of a plant (root, stem, leaf and flower, fruit or seed). Examined a tomato, carrot, lettuce and celery. Matched up which food went with which part of the plant. Discussed what parts of different plants are edible.
Geography: Learned fascinating facts about Japan. I make this more entertaining by hiding clues around the house and each clue has a fascinating fact to go with it.
Spelling: Did a worksheet unscrambling the words from word list 2
Reading: Sounded out compound words like kit + ten = kitten
Faith read a few pages of "Go Dog Go"
Another set of books I really like that we have on our book shelf is the Explore and Learn series because they are great reference books or can be used to supplement a curriculum or even make up your own curriculum for younger children.
And of course there are those everyday moments that make great teaching opportunities like cooking, grocery shopping, even folding laundry and matching socks!
Faith attended her weekly 1 hour gymnastics class this afternoon while Seth, Anna and I went to the library.
Tonight before bed the entire family watched 1 hour of a library DVD on the Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska.
(We use the My Devotions book that our church hands out quarterly)
Talked about forgiveness
We also have a cute, little series of books from Concordia Publishing House called "God, I need to talk to you about......" and each one focuses on a different problem children may face (disrespect, hurting others, lying, sharing, whining, etc.)
Health: Personal Grooming
Talked about a display of different items that we use to keep ourselves clean and healthy.
Sang a song called "What are we doing now?" and filled in the verses with different things like "washing our hair."
Read a poem called "Wish" abut a child who wishes he/she was a fish so no one would ask "Have you washed today?" Discussed why adults check up on whether children have washed.
Completed another page for the booklet about making healthy choices
I read the books "Harry the Dirty Dog" and "Mud Puddle" to Faith and Anna
Writing: Faith made 2 entries in her alphabet journal. She wrote P is for Winnie the Pooh and J is for for Jam. She drew a picture of Pooh, Christopher Robin and Piglet and another picture showing four different jars of Jam.
Math: Did 1 review page on fractions before moving onto something new tomorrow.
Science: Talked about the different parts of a plant (root, stem, leaf and flower, fruit or seed). Examined a tomato, carrot, lettuce and celery. Matched up which food went with which part of the plant. Discussed what parts of different plants are edible.
Geography: Learned fascinating facts about Japan. I make this more entertaining by hiding clues around the house and each clue has a fascinating fact to go with it.
Spelling: Did a worksheet unscrambling the words from word list 2
Reading: Sounded out compound words like kit + ten = kitten
Faith read a few pages of "Go Dog Go"
Another set of books I really like that we have on our book shelf is the Explore and Learn series because they are great reference books or can be used to supplement a curriculum or even make up your own curriculum for younger children.
And of course there are those everyday moments that make great teaching opportunities like cooking, grocery shopping, even folding laundry and matching socks!
Faith attended her weekly 1 hour gymnastics class this afternoon while Seth, Anna and I went to the library.
Tonight before bed the entire family watched 1 hour of a library DVD on the Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska.
Welcome
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6
A little background about our family:
My husband Loren and I have three children; Faith (7), Seth (4) and Anna (2). We have a dairy farm on the land that was settled by my great-grandfather back in 1893 after he emigrated from Germany at the age of 15.
Loren is on the Wolf Lake Fire Department and is chairman of Toad Lake Town Board. Currently he is also working part-time at Menards.
I work from home as a free-lance writer for the Frazee-Vergas Forum and am also a certified birth doula.
Faith is in first grade at home, Seth is enrolled in pre-school at Head Start where he receives speech therapy, but we plan to homeschool him for Kindergarten, and Anna is an active and healthy toddler.
Why we started homeschooling:
When Faith was two-years-old I was already feeling anxious about the day she would leave us to attend school; it just didn't feel natural to be away from my child for that many hours a week. We had been attending ECFE classes since she was 6-months-old and continued until she reached pre-school age. Although we enjoyed the classes, I gained much insight into what the future would hold for our children in a public school setting. I began to feel that our values and beliefs would not be upheld in this environment.
I was reminded of this today when I heard Pink Floyd sing on the radio, "We don't need no education, We don't need no thought control, No dark sarcasm in the classroom, Teacher leave them kids alone." That may be a bit extreme, but I was one who said, "I could never homeschool." But God helped me see that it could be done by working through our neighbors, friends and acquaintances that had already started on this journey.
I read and researched, gave it much thought and prayer, and after discussing it with Loren we decided to try teaching Faith pre-school at home with the plan of taking it one year at a time. We continued the following year with Kindergarten, but I can honestly say I questioned our choice on and off the first two years because I was afraid I was making her "miss out" on something or was "holding her back." But my heart and instincts told me to continue. Now, in our third year I can say that I homeschool with confidence. Our plan is to still take it one year at a time, but as long as I feel capable of teaching and our children enjoy it, we plan on continuing.
Curriculum we are currently using:
The past two years I made up most of our own curriculum with somewhat of a "unit studies" approach, but this year I purchased everything through Rainbow Resource Center Inc. In the past I have also purchased teaching materials and arts & crafts supplies from Trend, Discount School Supply, and various local stores. I set a budget for myself, but also take into consideration that we cannot put a price tag on our children's education.
If I had to put a label on what kind of homeschoolers we are I suppose we would best fit under "traditional" because I like routines, a schedule, a curriculum to follow, and an area of the house setup as our "school area" (although we also use other areas of our home too). But I also take into consideration our children's learning styles and interests, so we could also fit a little bit in the "eclectic" category.
This is what Faith has been using this year for first grade:
Reading: Hooked on Phonics program, Book-It program
Writing: Handwriting without Tears, creative writing ideas from superteacherworksheets.com
Math: Alpha Omega Lifepac
Health: Horizons Health
Science: Brown Bag Science books, Science Play
Geography: Beginning Geography books, A Trip around the World (Book 1)
Bible: Daily Devotions, Happy Times magazine, Family Bible Library books
Spelling: School Zone workbook, worksheets from superteacherworksheets.com
Arts & Crafts: The Mailbox Big Book of Monthly Crafts
Music: CDs from the library, percussion instruments, keyboard and guitar
Physical Ed: Lots of outside time, swimming, gymnastics, soccer and trips to the park
We also supplement with reading books, some educational computer games, reusable wipe-off books, and of course a homeschooler's best resource; the library.
Because Seth attends Head Start in the afternoons three days a week I do not have a set curriculum for him at home this year because I feel it would be too much structure and activity for him each day. So, while we are doing school in the mornings he is allowed free choice of sit down activities (like puzzles, coloring sheets, workbook pages, games, etc.) and he participates in all group and hands on activities. Anna usually just goes with the flow and likes to do whatever the rest of us are doing.
Our schedule:
Our school days are Tuesday-Friday. We try to start school around 9:00 in the morning, take a mid-morning break, do another subject and then break for lunch. We finish up the remainder of our work after lunch and are usually done around 2:00 in the afternoon.
We do a daily devotion each morning at breakfast along with a Bible themed activity on Wednesdays and read a Bible story on Sunday evenings.
We begin each school day with the Pledge of Allegiance because I feel it is important to teach our children respect for the flag, our country and its people, especially our veterans, no matter what our personal feelings may be about our government, its laws, war or any other political matters.
We look at our calendar and review the day, month, year, season and look ahead to any special days that are coming up. We also check the weather and discuss the temperature, weather conditions and dress our weather guy for the day.
We have Health on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, a Science experiment is done each Thursday and an Arts & Crafts project is completed each Friday. Reading, Writing, Math and Spelling are done each day.
Our school calendar runs from mid-September until the end of May with a two week Christmas break and a one week spring break sometime in March or April. We also allow days off for other major holidays, birthdays, field trips and sick days. Sometimes we will use a Saturday as a makeup day if needed.
Some subjects, like reading, are continued throughout the summer and this year I plan on doing one unit study in June, July and August to add in some extra fun activities that we didn't have time for during the regular school year.
Purpose of this blog:
My plans for this blog are to update it with our daily activities in each subject as a way to journal it for our own memories, to help keep our friends and family informed as to our homeschooling activities, and also to share some ideas with other homeschooling parents. Well, let's get started.......
Tuesday, March 16 (This week we switched our Health and Bible days because I needed some supplies from the store for an activity. One benefit of homeschooling: a flexible schedule.)
Daily Devotions: Read Mark 12:13-17 Paying Taxes to Caesar
Is it necessary to pay our taxes? Jesus says, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
Bible: Read a poem about sheep going to their shepherd in the Happy Times magazine and Faith filled in the rhyming number for each verse. We reviewed last week's Bible story about the shepherd and the lost sheep and how it relates to our relationship with Jesus.
Writing: Faith did a journal entry for the capital letter T, which she practiced writing a full line of. She chose the word Tiger and drew a picture of Tigger and Roo.
Math: Started to learn fractions by dividing different objects into one-half and writing 1/2. Completed one worksheet page in the Lifepac workbook.
Geography: Left China and headed to Japan, which we located on the map and globe. Gave a brief overview of the country we will be visiting for the next two weeks.
Spelling: Practiced writing words with the -in, -on, -un endings.
Reading: Read words with the dr- and qu- prefix, did a word search in the workbook and chose one story to read out loud.
Wednesday, March 17
For St. Patrick's day the kids are looking for paper clovers that are hidden throughout the house.
Daily Devotions: Read Mark 12:41-44 The Widow's Offering
Discussed what it means to give with "a joyful heart" and encouraged the children to use some of the money God has blessed them with for the Sunday school offering.
Health: Used our health puppets, Sam and Terry, to discuss healthy snack choices and nutrition. The kids helped make frozen yogurt pops, completed a page for the booklets they are making about taking care of their bodies, talked about why we pray before we eat, and sang a song of thanks to God for our food.
Geography: Learned some simple phrases in Japanese and watched a Little Pim language DVD.
Writing: Did creative writing where Faith made up a story about a leprechaun.
Spelling: Did a St. Patrick's day word search and alphabetized the words she practiced writing yesterday from word list 2 (superteacherworksheets.com)
Math: Continued with fractions by learning to divide a group of objects in half. Did one workbook page from Lifepac.
Reading: Read words with the tr- prefix and the story "Miss Prim's Hat"
A little background about our family:
My husband Loren and I have three children; Faith (7), Seth (4) and Anna (2). We have a dairy farm on the land that was settled by my great-grandfather back in 1893 after he emigrated from Germany at the age of 15.
Loren is on the Wolf Lake Fire Department and is chairman of Toad Lake Town Board. Currently he is also working part-time at Menards.
I work from home as a free-lance writer for the Frazee-Vergas Forum and am also a certified birth doula.
Faith is in first grade at home, Seth is enrolled in pre-school at Head Start where he receives speech therapy, but we plan to homeschool him for Kindergarten, and Anna is an active and healthy toddler.
Why we started homeschooling:
When Faith was two-years-old I was already feeling anxious about the day she would leave us to attend school; it just didn't feel natural to be away from my child for that many hours a week. We had been attending ECFE classes since she was 6-months-old and continued until she reached pre-school age. Although we enjoyed the classes, I gained much insight into what the future would hold for our children in a public school setting. I began to feel that our values and beliefs would not be upheld in this environment.
I was reminded of this today when I heard Pink Floyd sing on the radio, "We don't need no education, We don't need no thought control, No dark sarcasm in the classroom, Teacher leave them kids alone." That may be a bit extreme, but I was one who said, "I could never homeschool." But God helped me see that it could be done by working through our neighbors, friends and acquaintances that had already started on this journey.
I read and researched, gave it much thought and prayer, and after discussing it with Loren we decided to try teaching Faith pre-school at home with the plan of taking it one year at a time. We continued the following year with Kindergarten, but I can honestly say I questioned our choice on and off the first two years because I was afraid I was making her "miss out" on something or was "holding her back." But my heart and instincts told me to continue. Now, in our third year I can say that I homeschool with confidence. Our plan is to still take it one year at a time, but as long as I feel capable of teaching and our children enjoy it, we plan on continuing.
Curriculum we are currently using:
The past two years I made up most of our own curriculum with somewhat of a "unit studies" approach, but this year I purchased everything through Rainbow Resource Center Inc. In the past I have also purchased teaching materials and arts & crafts supplies from Trend, Discount School Supply, and various local stores. I set a budget for myself, but also take into consideration that we cannot put a price tag on our children's education.
If I had to put a label on what kind of homeschoolers we are I suppose we would best fit under "traditional" because I like routines, a schedule, a curriculum to follow, and an area of the house setup as our "school area" (although we also use other areas of our home too). But I also take into consideration our children's learning styles and interests, so we could also fit a little bit in the "eclectic" category.
This is what Faith has been using this year for first grade:
Reading: Hooked on Phonics program, Book-It program
Writing: Handwriting without Tears, creative writing ideas from superteacherworksheets.com
Math: Alpha Omega Lifepac
Health: Horizons Health
Science: Brown Bag Science books, Science Play
Geography: Beginning Geography books, A Trip around the World (Book 1)
Bible: Daily Devotions, Happy Times magazine, Family Bible Library books
Spelling: School Zone workbook, worksheets from superteacherworksheets.com
Arts & Crafts: The Mailbox Big Book of Monthly Crafts
Music: CDs from the library, percussion instruments, keyboard and guitar
Physical Ed: Lots of outside time, swimming, gymnastics, soccer and trips to the park
We also supplement with reading books, some educational computer games, reusable wipe-off books, and of course a homeschooler's best resource; the library.
Because Seth attends Head Start in the afternoons three days a week I do not have a set curriculum for him at home this year because I feel it would be too much structure and activity for him each day. So, while we are doing school in the mornings he is allowed free choice of sit down activities (like puzzles, coloring sheets, workbook pages, games, etc.) and he participates in all group and hands on activities. Anna usually just goes with the flow and likes to do whatever the rest of us are doing.
Our schedule:
Our school days are Tuesday-Friday. We try to start school around 9:00 in the morning, take a mid-morning break, do another subject and then break for lunch. We finish up the remainder of our work after lunch and are usually done around 2:00 in the afternoon.
We do a daily devotion each morning at breakfast along with a Bible themed activity on Wednesdays and read a Bible story on Sunday evenings.
We begin each school day with the Pledge of Allegiance because I feel it is important to teach our children respect for the flag, our country and its people, especially our veterans, no matter what our personal feelings may be about our government, its laws, war or any other political matters.
We look at our calendar and review the day, month, year, season and look ahead to any special days that are coming up. We also check the weather and discuss the temperature, weather conditions and dress our weather guy for the day.
We have Health on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, a Science experiment is done each Thursday and an Arts & Crafts project is completed each Friday. Reading, Writing, Math and Spelling are done each day.
Our school calendar runs from mid-September until the end of May with a two week Christmas break and a one week spring break sometime in March or April. We also allow days off for other major holidays, birthdays, field trips and sick days. Sometimes we will use a Saturday as a makeup day if needed.
Some subjects, like reading, are continued throughout the summer and this year I plan on doing one unit study in June, July and August to add in some extra fun activities that we didn't have time for during the regular school year.
Purpose of this blog:
My plans for this blog are to update it with our daily activities in each subject as a way to journal it for our own memories, to help keep our friends and family informed as to our homeschooling activities, and also to share some ideas with other homeschooling parents. Well, let's get started.......
Tuesday, March 16 (This week we switched our Health and Bible days because I needed some supplies from the store for an activity. One benefit of homeschooling: a flexible schedule.)
Daily Devotions: Read Mark 12:13-17 Paying Taxes to Caesar
Is it necessary to pay our taxes? Jesus says, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
Bible: Read a poem about sheep going to their shepherd in the Happy Times magazine and Faith filled in the rhyming number for each verse. We reviewed last week's Bible story about the shepherd and the lost sheep and how it relates to our relationship with Jesus.
Writing: Faith did a journal entry for the capital letter T, which she practiced writing a full line of. She chose the word Tiger and drew a picture of Tigger and Roo.
Math: Started to learn fractions by dividing different objects into one-half and writing 1/2. Completed one worksheet page in the Lifepac workbook.
Geography: Left China and headed to Japan, which we located on the map and globe. Gave a brief overview of the country we will be visiting for the next two weeks.
Spelling: Practiced writing words with the -in, -on, -un endings.
Reading: Read words with the dr- and qu- prefix, did a word search in the workbook and chose one story to read out loud.
Wednesday, March 17
For St. Patrick's day the kids are looking for paper clovers that are hidden throughout the house.
Daily Devotions: Read Mark 12:41-44 The Widow's Offering
Discussed what it means to give with "a joyful heart" and encouraged the children to use some of the money God has blessed them with for the Sunday school offering.
Health: Used our health puppets, Sam and Terry, to discuss healthy snack choices and nutrition. The kids helped make frozen yogurt pops, completed a page for the booklets they are making about taking care of their bodies, talked about why we pray before we eat, and sang a song of thanks to God for our food.
Geography: Learned some simple phrases in Japanese and watched a Little Pim language DVD.
Writing: Did creative writing where Faith made up a story about a leprechaun.
Spelling: Did a St. Patrick's day word search and alphabetized the words she practiced writing yesterday from word list 2 (superteacherworksheets.com)
Math: Continued with fractions by learning to divide a group of objects in half. Did one workbook page from Lifepac.
Reading: Read words with the tr- prefix and the story "Miss Prim's Hat"
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