Is it Just Me?

I don't know why, but April always seems to run me over. And over. And over. I think it's just that it's the culmination of lots of things at our house. Holidays, birthdays, moving (we always seem to be moving in the spring recently, ugh) travelling with the gymnastics team, etc. Anywho, now that all those things have passed, I quit almost all of my jobs and only work 5 hours a week at the gym...and now Dan is unemployed and underfoot. (inset hysterical, maniacal laughter here) *sigh* Isn't that always the way? Suffice to say that we got one whole day of school accomplished last week, and this week isn't looking too good either. I think I'm going to wrangle Dan into giving car maintenance lessons. Change a tire, check the oil, change oil, etc. That way, 2 birds with one stone, right? ; ) At any rate, I think I've decided that instead of trying to CRAM the rest of the school year into the next few months, a feat that would include lots of crying, hysteria and gnashing of teeth, and the kids would be upset too. So I'm going to stretch the current curricula, thus saving money on next year's curriculum, and some sanity, which I can use all I can get. SO, what I'm wondering is, Is it just ME that is struggling with "I don't want to/can't manage to get school done" blues, or it is everyone?
Next week will be better. It will, right? Right. God always provides a way to make it work. <3
   

HELLO 2011

Is anyone still homeschooling these days? Is everyone too busy to post here? I know the last 6 months of my life have been completely insane...so I'm cutting everyone a break...LOL! I'd like to see a post for each author once a month if possible and you ladies feel free to hold ME to that as well, OK?
As for the Homeschooling MeYeRs, we are trying something COMPLETELY new this year. Last school year ('09-'10) took much longer than planned. As in we didn't finish that school year until November of '10. YIKES...however, since we have switched to the year round schooling to accommodate our ever changing schedule that tries to accommodate Dan's work schedule, it's all good. So, we've been on break since the week of Thanksgiving and are restarting today after a move, the holidays and some good family time together. The new things that we are doing are as follows...

I am buying NO BOXED CURRICULA this year (this should THRILL you, Kim *winks* )

I am using up the FREE resources that I've downloaded or been given, or things that I have previously purchased and haven't used yet.

I am going to write/create/find more of my own teaching plans...anatomy class, anyone?

I am going to work on having MORE hands on activities...science experiments, music class, more structured PE time, going and SEEING things, not just reading or hearing about things (for all the boys, but especially for Pat)

We are going to take more "educational" family field trips, serve the community together and get involved in something besides our own life.

I am not teaching English this year....no grammar, no book reports and no diagramming sentences. We will be reading, reading, and reading....mostly from the classics and we are going to let the GOOD English seep into their brains without horrible worksheets and boring book reports. We will be using narration and dictation as our guides for retention and understanding. Oh and enjoying a free spelling program I found online since D and P both struggle with spelling sometimes.

We are starting movie/book month themes. We will read books and watch movies from particular categories each month. So excited about this one! For instance, this month is comedy. We will be watching, listening to and reading some of the greats; Bill Cosby, Mark Lowry, Red Skelton, Abbott and Costello and more. I've got some super audio broadcasts downloading and waiting for them. Add some good belly laugh movies and before you can say, "I love homeschooling!" we are having fun AND learning a bit of history AND sharpening our comedy skills.

I found a great deal ($4) on some math books/DVDs at the local used book store this fall and am excited to get started on using it since the boys have been just trudging through math this past year. So this year, they get to watch a 10-15 minutes lesson on math, do just a few practice problems and badda-bing, DONE with math for the day : ) It's a thing of beauty

Derek will be working on his alphabet lap books, working his way through the 100's of preschool/kindergarten resources that I have, playing math games, using flashcards, memory and other learning games and sitting in on the big boys' lessons when the mood strikes. He will do nature study alongside of them as well.

We will be joining Jodi and James several times a week to work through the 2nd year of My Father's World with them and I'll have the boys do the supplemental (6th -8th grade) work at home. They LOVED doing MFW last year and are looking forward to it again.

I think that's about it for now. So excited about this new school year! I know I always say that this school year is the best one, but this past one really had some super high HIGHS and a few lows. It was a good year, but it just stretched on for too long. So this 'year' we are trying to cram everything in by mid July. Then we can have a short break and begin again in late August. Phew, I can't even start thinking about next school year yet...LOL! Hope all is well in your homeschooling universe. Be well, learn and love much!

Blessings from my homeschool to yours,

Kristy and the Man Crew

Hit -N- Miss

That is how our school has been lately.

We finished our science on how toys work. Now we are learning about animals. Next is birds and I have that study all planned out.

1. Learn about birds body parts and feathers, Read First Book of Birds ebook (FBB) pg 6-16
2. Learn about birds body parts and feathers, Read FBB pg 16-25
3. Learn about migration, Start bird-watching journal, Do Nature Journal cover, Read FBB pg 52-60
4. Learn about mating/nesting, Read FBB pg 33-43
5. Learn about eggs/babies, Read FBB pg 43-51
6. Look at books with birds in Washington and choose bird to do lapbook on, Learn about bird watching, Read FBB pg 62-65, Bird Watch
7. Research favorite foods, flowers, etc. of chosen bird, Take notes, Read Bird Watching For Beginners (BWFB) ebook pg 8-19, Bird watch
8. Anatomy lapbook, Read BWFB pg 8-19, Bird watch
9. Migration lapbook, Read BWFB pg 19-22, Bird watch
10. Nest lapbook, Read BWFB pg 22-34, Bird watch
11. Babies lapbook, Read BWFB pg 34-37, Bird watch
12. Predators lapbook, Read BWFB pg 37-46, Bird watch
13. Poem and Song lapbook, Read BWFB pg. 46-52, Bird Watch
14. Observation lapbook, Transfer information from bird-watching journal, Bird watch
15. Finish bird lapbook

We have 2 more stories to read about Jacob. We read 3 of the stories about Joseph while we were camping and we will finish Joseph after Jacob. Tonight I am going to change the bulletin board. We are almost done with math for the year. Phonics and Language Arts we still have quite a bit because we started that really late. But that's ok, I don't mind working through summer. We are going to be doing Science during the summer also. A lengthy unit on plants/flowers/gardens.

We read Dinosaurs Before Dark which is book #1 of the Magic Tree House Series. Kyle really wanted to finish it today, so I read the rest to him. Amanda didn't want to do anymore reading so she will finish it later. Kyle was really into the story and that just tickled me! I will definitely encourage the reading!

MFW Creation Book

This is our Creation Book. Each day has a number and description to correspond with the picture. We're going to make a cover page and take it to Kinkos and have it bound and laminated. :) I love the art work my kids have done in this. :D

This is such a FUN curric and I'm so glad we went with it! :D Yay!!! Thank you, Kristy!!!

~*April*~

Creation

Hello, All! It's been a while since I've posted - unfortunately, that means that it's been a while since we've schooled... soon that will change, though. A new and productive schedule is upon us. :D

We finished the first 7 days of our My Father's World curric. - our 7-day poster and Creation Book are complete. So, I thought I'd share the pictures. :) The 7 numbers - if you look closely - have each of the creation events in them. I'm having a hard time with the pictures of the creation book, so I may put them all together in a different post.

This has been fun and it makes me sad it took us 3 months to get through it. I'll have more pictures and updates as we go! :)

~*April*~

Notes From Rhonda

We are finishing up on learning about Virginia Randolph, Frederick M. Jones, Charles Drew, and George Washington Carver. We have learned so much about these wonderful people!

Today, Maria will play Dentist in dramatic play. she will give all her dolls and stuff animals checkups and teeth cleanings! I set up a dentist office in our dramatic play area.

For manipulative activity, Maria will do several "tooth" puzzles.

We will also learn how to practice brushing and flossing. I have a Styrofoam egg carton, a toothbrush, and 12" length of yarn. Maria will be encourage to pretend to brush and floss the sections of the egg carton as if she is flossing teeth. While she practices< I will be talking about the importance of brushing and flossing to keep her teeth and gums healthy.


Our Rhyme we are learning is:

Brush Your Teeth
Brush your teeth. It's fun, you'll see.
You can brush them now with me!
Put on toothpaste, just a bit.
Then start brushing, just like this.
Brush and brush, it takes awhile.
When you're finshed, show your smile.

Hope your weekend is going great!
Blessings,
Rhonda

Notes From Rhonda

Today we worked on "Jack and Jill" nursery rhyme.

Our Community Helper is "Doctor" So today Maria was "Dr. Maria"! She made a doctors bag on the bag she glued cotton balls, a tongue depressor, and a Q-tip. She then got her own box of band-aids and "fixed" all her dolls and teddy bears. She gave them all a check-up, As we talked about what happens at the Doctors office when we goes see her/him, She claims that they are all healthy!

Next, we worked on Shapes. I took some blue paper and drew a shape on it then I covered it with clear contact paper. then Maria took Cotton balls and lined up them up in the shape. Our Shape today was "Triangle".

Our Story for today was "The Sassy Seniors" we did this story on the felt board. Tomorrow we are going to the nursing home to give cookies to the residents there and Maria is going to sing some songs for them. This is part of our bible work. "Being good and kind to others"

For math we worked on counting to "20" and Maria counted all the canned goods in my kitchen pantry. We were short 3 cans so we went to the pantry in the basement and found 3 cans to bring upstairs. So we worked on 17+3 =20.

We also read again "The Snowy Day" and then Maria practised putting on all he winter gear, snow pants, boots, mittens, scarf, coat, and hat. She then got to go outside to play in the big snow bank that her daddy made for her. When she came in, there was Hot chocolate waiting for her, so she counted the marshmallows to put in her cup, her daddy's cup and my cup. Of course it was to 20!