Week 2-3: New Baby Coming! It's Time To Get Flexible!

We have found out that we will be adding a 4th "student" to our schooltable! Well, actually he/she should make their arrival in April of next year and will probably join us at the table about 2 years later.. For many health-related reasons, this is an unexpected miracle and we are all so thrilled.  AND being of the schoolmarm mindset, I quickly realized that if we can get our work done in April, we could have a long summer break to enjoy the new baby! :-)

A good friend of mine did something similar last year when her son was due in the beginning of May.  She piled on the work (6 hour math sessions anyone?) for her other son so that they could be done. Thankfully she did it with a good attitude and lots of incentives so her son wasn't complaining or bitter (in fact he told her he still "loved homeschooling"), but I am hopeful I won't have to take that route. One of the big things I love about HOD and Mrs. Austin's box-style lesson plans is the flexibility that it invites. Plus, by using living books rather than textbooks, the kids are usually begging me to read "One more chapter!" anyway.  So, I spent time last week to sit down and look at each weekly unit and figure out where we could double up without missing key elements.  This is what I figured:

Unit 3&4: Ice age
Unit 9&10: The Greeks at the time of King David/Early Greece and Rome
Unit 11&12: The Israelites worship idols/ The Israelites in Babylon
Unit 27&28: East meets West/ Age of exploration

These are units where the themes flowed well together. I will have to pick between the history,science and geography projects for each day, which means we won't do all of them. However, I know my kids retain the basic points of these lessons (mainly from the great literature), and we will definitely keep our vocab. boxes and timelines updated. As to the math, grammar, spelling, and handwriting workbooks? Well, those are fairly independent lessons anyway, so I will probably add extra work in here and there, or let them continue on with those into the summer like we've done in the past.

The arrival of our new blessing is exciting and frought with anticipation for all of us. I am so glad that I do not have to worry about how to make schooling work. HOD has been such a blessing on many fronts, and this has given me one more reason to be thankful I've found it!

Blessings to you and your students!
Hillary At Home

Week 1 Under our Belt. Now onto week 2!

We had a great first week, and what made it especially good (for me) was that I understood  I was probably not going to be able to do everything I wanted, and would end up needing to whittle things down.  I know that sounds like the revelation of a simpleton, but preparing myself to be flexible ahead of time really helped me to keep a better attitude when my own plans went awry.  In other words, I did not let the enemy beat me up with my own guilt and frustration this week. Score one for the Kingdom!

So, what did we do? For Kindergarten, we read and discussed Ping (Marjorie Flack) a couple of times, did some pre-writing and math worksheets, our reading lessons, history reading, and our "Annie Pages" from the Little Annie's ART Book of Etiquette & Good Manners published by How Great Thou Art.  I had found this book at a garage sale a few years ago, and used it with my olders. Now I've brought it back out for Miss Chevious (her Grandpa's name for her) and she loves it-as did her siblings before her!  It's such a sweet book with little lessons on being a good host, friend, neighbor, etc. Each page is a lesson with a little drawing exercise and a scripture to go along with the scenario that "Annie" is experiencing.  It would be a fun book to use as the spine for a little art/etiquette co-op for young girls, but I will look at tackling that at another time...

We ended the week with our traditional "Low Table American-Chinese Dinner" to celebrate the time we spent learning about China via the Ping story.

Looking at this picture, I realized what a 'brown' dinner this was!

On the menu:

Egg Drop Soup

Egg Rolls

Peking Chicken over Sticky Rice

PandaBerry Tea (A light strawberry/cherry tea blend from The Republic of Teas).

What a way to end the first week of school!

A big piece of burlap hides the trusty jack-stands under the table :)

As for the olders, we embarked on our HOD journey into ancient times, arctic tundras, poetry, and literature analysis. (All three kids are really enjoying the history read this week; Grandpa's Box. It recounts Creation through the Resurrection framed as a giant war plan using battle terminology; a big hit with boys especially!)  The kids enjoyed making their own 'Shield of Faith' by designing a coat of arms to represent their beliefs and interests. They are definitely a personal statement of each child!

Mighty contenders for the faith!

 We worked in math, grammar, handwriting, and critical thinking along with therapeutic activities for speech related needs.  I ended up staggering some of the subjects that did not need to be done daily, and figured out how to better manage the fun activites that I add into their workboxes (trampoline time, computer disc time, wii fit time, centers, etc).  So while we may not  be able to do all subjects every day, I think we will still be on track to finish in April (Lord willing!) with a four day work week. However, we shall see what really unfolds in this crazy thing called 'Life'!

A man's heart plans his way, 

But the LORD directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

Here's praying that you have a beautiful week ahead!

Blessings,

Hillary At Home

First Day of Schoolin' Fun!

Yesterday, my baby started kindergarten. Sigh.  Yes, even homeschool Moms get a little teary on that day! However, the tears soon subsided and the festivities began!  I wanted to make this a special day for my kids, so after waking them up and having them get dressed in one of their favorite outfits, I took 'back to school' pictures to mark this big event.  I used the free printables at iheartnaptime for them to hold.  Aren't my students adorable? :P

Look at that impish smirk! Oh brother...

Serious Scholar

Class Clown

We had 'Party Oatmeal' for breakfast (oatmeal with colored sugar sprinkles), and then the big kids started right in on their new workbox line-up. This time I included a learning center that corresponded with our science theme this week: Arctic Habitats.  I bought the Arctic Toob and Penguin Toob, and set them out with white paper, blue crayons, and styrofoam cups to let  them imagine their own arctic land. They thought this was a lot of fun, and I sandwiched it in between two of their harder studies so that it would give their brains a little respite.  Here area a few shots of their creativity:

The walrus cracked the ice. tee hee

A pretty detailed playscape

Yes, I know penguins and polar bears do not live together. We made sure to discuss that!

Kindergarten was fun, and I have been informed that I met my daughter's expectations. We wrapped up her day by making homemade alphabet soup for lunch. It was a hit!  In fact it was "the best soup ever!"

After lunch we did our HOD of lesson for Unit 1, Day 1.  The kids were so excited. They kept saying they couldn't wait to start our new history lessons. I don't think they were disappointed. The only distress I saw was when I stopped reading at the end of the chapter and wouldn't continue. That's how good these books are!  (And sure enough, my youngest tagged along for the ride. She hung in there for the whole time with the big kids!)  We began our project of making a shield of faith, by discussing what a 'coat of arms' is, and the significance. We played around with a digital, family shield on this website and then the kids proceeded to sketch out their own. They'll continue to work on it throughout the week.

Finally, we ended the day by having the kids go around the house with plastic bags to gather 5 items that tell something about them or their life thus far. After we got back to the table and shared their selections, I introduced the topic of a 'biography'. We discussed the genre, but I didn't tell them what books I had chosen for them yet. Those will be unveiled this afternoon, and the suspense is killing my kids! muahahahaha (villianous laughter)

Well, that was about all the excitement I could handle for one day. My children were thrilled with all of their new work. I just hope that excitement lasts for the next 9 months!

What about you? Do you have any 'back to schoolin' ideas to share?

Blessings,
Hillary At Home

Making A Hideaway Timeline With a Twist

Well, I've been a busy schoolmom this week getting ready for the first day of Kindergarten and 3rd grade next Monday.  On my to-do list was to make a new timeline. One of the aspects I love most about homeschooling is that I get to teach History as one chronological story; a story ("His story") that spans from creation to the modern day, and is all part of one huge plan by my enormous God!  Not only do I know that my kids are retaining the information (more so than if it was taught in sporadic increments with a focus on dates) but I am truly learning and retaining information that I am certain I had previously memorized for tests in my own schooling-and then proceded to dump that data as soon as the bell rang! 

Timelines are a perfect way to make time a visible concept for children. They can see the continuous flow from beginning to now, and how one set of events influenced others. There are many versions of timelines to make: wall, notebook, accordion file, index card, etc.  I have previously used a notebook version with my older two, but have decided to switch to a wall chart that all three kids can contribute to and view (hopefully re view) at will.  However, I had some criteria for narrowing down which design I would implement:

1) I wanted it to be large enough for the symbols to be seen clearly, but able to fit on the inside of the closet door so that we can hide the chart away when I am tired of looking at it.


2) I wanted it to be a fairly continuous line so that my children can really see the 'flow' of time.  That was another reason I had decided to switch from a notebook version to a wall version.


3) I liked Ruth Beechick's concept that you put one line of Bible history figures directly underneath secular figures (i.e. the figures of John the Baptist and Jesus underneath the line showing Ancient Greek and Roman events).  By doing this, the children are able to understand how those world events influenced the teaching, geography, and vernacular that is used in the scriptures.

I played with various ideas in my mind, but could not come up with my own design. Thankfully, I was able to find one to plagiarize and tweak a bit! :)  I was very excited when I stumbled on this design from i am aud.  With just a little personalization, it would be perfect.

She used the bottom piece of poster board to show the progression from creation to Christ's birth, and the top piece flows from 0 A.D. to modern times. Each curve line represents a 300 year interval. It definitely fits my first two criteria, and since it has double lines, I could easily adapt it to fit my 3rd.  Here's what I ended up with:

I used the back of some hideous wrapping paper that I found at a yard sale. I had started to throw it away, but then realized it would be great for banners and art projects.  Since the lid I used to trace my curves was a bit bigger than the one 'aud' used, I had less curves and had to adjust my time intervals.  My other tweak was to make one of the B.C. lines a different color than the other. The blue line would be for secular events and the red for biblical.  It took me about an hour, but I am thrilled with it! Oh-and did I mention that it fits perfectly on the inside of that closet door?  YAY!!

Hopefully this has given you some ideas for making your own timeline.  Another great website to check for ideas (which is where I found this one linked) is squidoo.  I don't know about you, but I am soooo thankful for these kind souls who take the time to share their brilliant ideas with the rest of us.

Happy Schoolin',
Hillary At Home 

The Last Day of Pre-K

Well, before we embark on the 3rd Grade/Kindergarten adventure for the next year, we needed to finish Preschool and 2nd grade!  Friday marked Babytoes' last day of Pre-K.  For us, as homeschoolers, that meant that we finished the last lesson in Little Hands To Heaven, read the last story in the corresponding story bible, reviewed the sounds of all 26 letters, and finished the last page in her leapfrog math workbook.  Then a time of play-dough kicked off the daylong celebration of festive activities to celebrate my baby's big day!

First, we headed to the store to pick up her selected prize that she earned by filling up her sticker chart (it came with the math workbook).

The bizarre neon owl that captured her heart.

Then, we went down a local trail to pick more fireweed for one last batch of jelly.

Fun in the Fireweed!

Next, we headed over to a generous woman's house where she let us pick her wild raspberries in return for some jelly.

Mmmmm! Our biggest challenge here was keeping the berries out of little ones' mouths!

Finally, we headed home to dinner, and then made snickerdoodle cookies to finish up Babytoes' Cookie-baking badge for Keepers Of the Faith.

So, what about your family? What kind of ideas/celebrations do you have for marking your child's accomplishments? If you don't currently have any, maybe this will help you to start thinking on it.  Just like we want to be encouraged in our endeavors, so do our babes. 


Now we are off to vacation for a week, and then home for a week of "Teacher Mom Inservice" (planning), and then the first day of school at our table!  August 28th is the big day when we will crack open the new books and begin our next adventures. *See* you then!

Blessings,
Hillary At Home

Coming Soon!!

We are under construction as we prepare for this new endeavor! Be sure to check back to see the finished-yet-evolving blogspot!

Blessings,
Hillary At Home