Well here we are in 2019. I still haven't updated anything. :)

After vacation I will get focused and add some of our fun stuff from this year.

Perfect timing! Today is our first day of school and I just received Kadi's test scores. smile emoticon:) She did amazing! Great job baby girl!
Hailey thank you again for taking the time to administer the tests for us. We appreciate it so much!

2013-2014 Course of Study

Here we go. Another wonderful year of homeschooling ahead of us. I can't help but get all giddy just thinking about it.

Although we loved Bob Jones University Press curriculum we will be making some changes this year due to what we believe may be a learning style clash.

I bring to you our 2013-2014 curriculum choices and resources. :)

Kadence will be in 5th grade this year. She is still steadily moving along.


Bible - We will be using BJU Bible Truths for second grade. We will be using second grade for two reasons. One we feel Kadi's Bible knowledge is a lower level than her core knowledge and two we will be doing this subject with Adam. So I wanted something a little more middle ground for them.

Math - Horizons Math 5. This was our first change away from BJU. Although we liked BJU we could tell about half way through last school year that Kadi was loosing interest. She likes to learn the material and move on. After MUCH research I think Horizons may be a great choice for her.

Science - BJU Science 5 plus a couple "just because" units, BJU 5 does not cover Astronomy and both children REALLY want to do Astronomy this year. Sooooo we'll use the same unit I used when Kadi was in Kinder/first as a fun fill in.

Heritage Studies - BJU Heritage Studies 5.

Language Arts - Our biggest change this year. Kadi will be using Switched on Schoolhouse 5th grade. It is a computer program and it grades a good majority of her work for me. It includes Writing, Spelling, Reading and English.

Spelling - All About Spelling Level 1 for extra practice and for a fill in on possible gaps from past curriculums.



EXTRAS
Art - Weekly Co-op
Music - Guitar and Guitar Co-op
Dance - Kadi will be taking Ballet and Jazz as well as be in the performance troupe at the Fountain Arts Center




Adam will be in 1st/2nd this year. He is still in limbo between grades as he is progressing quickly through the 1st grade work but I want him to complete the curriculum before moving forward so not to have any gaps. He should be done by Christmas break and will come back as a 2nd grader. :) I'll post the update on curriculum as that time comes.

Bible - BJU Bible Truths with Kadi.

Math - BJU Math 1st grade and LOTS of fun interactive games. He may be advancing quickly but he is still only 5 afterall so we still do lots of hands on games.

Science - BJU Science 1st grade. Abeka Health and Safety 1st grade. Astronomy Unit with Kadi.

Heritage Studies - BJU Heritage Studies 1st grade.

English - BJU English and Phonics 1st grade.

Reading - BJU Reading 1st grade.

Handwriting - A Reason for Handwriting level B

Spelling - All About Spelling Level 1

EXTRAS
Art - Art Co-op
Dance - Adam will be taking Ballet and Tap again at the Fountain Arts Center.


As we all know these are just starting points and changes are possible. We'll see. :)

Teaching Style?

Your Dominant Teaching Style: Charlotte Mason


Individual Teaching Styles
Charlotte Mason
19

Unit Study
19

Unschooling
17

Classical
15

Traditional
12


http://www.mardel.com/assessment/teaching/TeachingAssessment.aspx

Day just isn't the same without. . . .

our morning devotion. :)

In my backyard

Sometimes the best homeschool experiences happen right in your own backyard. Sometimes they happen just at the right time to coincide with your curriculum. Sometimes that time is RIGHT NOW!

We had a bunch of little bugs in our garden. No clue what they were, or if they were helpful or harmful. (you'll want to click on the pictures to make them larger)


Sooo we looked it up. Come to find out we actually had several different stages of a certain bugs life cycle right in our garden. Can you guess what unit in Science we are starting THIS week? Yup life cycles. :)

Shown here are 3 of the stages.

Larva (mostly black with orange), what we believe to be the larva going into pupa stage (yellow), and pupa (orange with black)

Any guesses yet what this insect could be?






It's a. . . ..







For more info http://everything-ladybug.com/ladybug-life-cycle.html

Annnnd now we breath. :)

As some of you know this was the year Kadi had to do her very first standardized test. She did it and felt great about it. It was mailed. All that was left to do then was wait for the test results.

They came today! She did great! We are so proud of her. :)

We are all doing a happy dance and are going to celebrate with a family movie night, her choice of course.

Monday morning we will take the scores to the district office and not have to worry about it for another 2 years. :)

Our 2012-2013 Course of Study

As we all know things can and probably will change but as of right now these are our curriculum choices and resources we will be using for the 2012-2013 school year.

Kadence will be in 4th grade this year. - We really enjoyed using the Bob Jones University Press curriculum last year and will be using it as a base for core this year as well.

Bible - We will be starting the year off with Grapevine Studies Ruth.

Math - BJU Math 4

Science - BJU Science 4 plus a couple "just because" units. I am working on one now that will be based on the movie "Finding Nemo". I expect some of the Magic Treehouse Series will spark other units as well.

Heritage Studies - BJU Heritage Studies 4, We will also be doing a USA study (2 states per week based on regions) as well as learning about 1 president per week in order.

English - BJU English 4

Reading - BJU Reading 4, We will also be doing several book studies this year. Some of the books may include the original Boxcar Children, Stuart Little, Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. As well as many of the Magic Treehouse Series.

Handwriting - BJU Handwriting 3, we did BJU Handwriting 2 last year since we hadn't officially started cursive yet.

Spelling - We have decided to go a different route with spelling this year. We will be using Spectrum Spelling 4 as well as taking advantage of all the wonderful games that Spelling City has to offer.

EXTRAS
Typing - Typing Instructor
Spanish - Rosetta Stone and weekly Co-op
Art - Daily art and weekly Co-op
Music - Guitar and Guitar Co-op
Dance - Kadi will be taking Ballet and Jazz at the Fountain Arts Center

Adam will be in Kindergarten and a half this year. Adam is in limbo right now between grades. He is advancing quickly out of the kinder work but not yet ready for full on 1st grade yet. We will keep accessing his progress and may move to full on 1st come the first of the year. When that time comes he will be switching to the BJU 1st grade curriculum.

Bible - Bible - We will be starting the year off with Grapevine Studies Ruth.

Math - Various workbooks and content from The Head of the Class website.

Science - Will tag along in Kadi's BJU Science 4 with me adding in age appropriate material. Also Abeka Health and Safety 1.

Heritage Studies - Will tag along in Kadi’s BJU Heritage Studies 4 with me adding in age appropriate material.

English - Various workbooks and content from The Head of the Class website.

Reading - Picking back up on Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons at Unit 50, Possibly using the You Can Read series by 1+1+1=1 afterwards. Also Reading Eggs website.

Handwriting - I have made handwriting worksheets to go along with the 100 easy lessons book.


Spelling - Possibly Spectrum but haven't decided yet and Spelling City.

EXTRAS
Typing - Wasn't planning on typing this year for Adam but he has asked to, so we will use the Disney Typing with Timon and Pumba as he wishes.
Spanish - Rosetta Stone and Co-op
Art - Art Co-op
Music - Lessons based on Little Einstiens tv show
Dance - Adam will be taking Ballet and Tap at the Fountain Arts Center.

YAY Kadi is done testing! So proud of her. Thank You Sarah Johnson for taking the time to administer the test.

Another first day of school. smile emoticon:) God thank You for this amazing opportunity. Please give me the strength and wisdom to turn to You always, for I can't do this without You. Thank you for my amazing support system to always be there to encourage me. smile emoticon

Our general schedule

First Day of School 2012-2013

We spent our first day of school at the Honolulu Zoo. :)

Wow!

Soooo, um yes, I am officially a bum. :) I haven't blogged on the school blog since the first week of school last year. OOPS. :) OK sooo here is to a better blogging year.

Reading Lesson Funny

Love my son! He reading lesson today talked about an ant eating a seed in the mud. One of the questions they asked was "Would you eat something in the mud?". . . his response "No way, I only like clean food!" :) He makes me smile.

ABC Mouse

Just signed Adam up for www.ABCMouse.com. I think he is really going to like it. He is doing so well with school and reading. He is up to 16 words consistent that he can read, spell AND write.

And he got incredible responses on how well he can write when we were at the homeschool function this morning. (I'll take a picture of his wreath he wrote on)

Our first week of school.

This week has been just plain awesome. Kadi and I are loving the Bob Jones University Press curriculum. Adam decided the Letter of the Week curriculum is too easy. He blows thru it so easily so we decided to add some more/different types of preschool material in with it. Also we are using "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". He is LOVING it and keeps begging to do more everyday. I am keeping it simple and sticking to one lesson a day for now though. I don't want to burn him out on it.

So without further ado I present our first week of school.

Our general schedule consists of
Wake up and Dance (They LOVE dancing and waking up their bodies for school.)
Daily Devotion - Veggie Devos - Patience
Looking thru workboxes to see what is in store for the day.
Working thru the boxes one by one in order.

Here was Kadi's Monday schedule. Just to give you an idea of how I do my lesson planning and "grading". The "X" means we completed that assignment. The colors coorespond to the workbox colors.



Pictures from this week.

Are you ready?

Excited and a little nervous. Today starts another year of teaching my babies. My camera is ready. The homeschool room is ready. Their workboxes are ready. I have God and Dustin, and lots of friends support. They are ready! The babies are ready! I am ready! WE ARE READY! 3rd Grade and Pre-K here we come!

My Favorite Homeschooling Bloggers. :)

I have been wanting to do this for a long time, and with each new AMAZING blog I find I want to do it more. Well the wait is over. I am FINALLY making a list of all my favorite bloggers. :)

*Please note that these are in no particular order.

Confessions of a Homeschooler
Homeschool Creations
1+1+1=1
Totally Tots
Lightning Bug Literacy
Mama Jenn
My Oatmeal Kisses
Tot School
A Mommy's Adventures
Along the Way

This blogs are always so inspiring and always have so many resources and information. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. :)

Just about that time again.

We took an actual "summer" break this year. I needed it and I'm pretty sure the kiddos did too. But here in a few weeks we'll getting back to the daily school grind. Kadi is on pins and needles waiting to start back up. :)

Besides the summer break we are trying something new. Up to this point I have always browsed, hunted down and made Kadi's curriculum from scratch, making sure she got everything she "needed" for the year as well as being super flexible to teach whatever she was interested in. This year she will be using Bob Jones University Press curriculum. It is Christian based and laid out very well, there is little prepping involved and I can spend more time playing with the kiddos and less time searching for materials. :) She, Adam and a few of her homeschool friends will be joining Dustin on Saturdays for Music lessons and joining the friend's mom one a day a week for Art. :) She and Adam will also be working on signing more this year.

Adam will be doing a letter of the week curriculum. Most of his lessons will come from Confessions of a Homeschooler's letter of the week curriculum but we are changing the themes for a few of the letters, for example COAH letter B is for Butterfly, I was looking for a "B is for Bug" and found "B is for Boat" which Adam is SUPER excited about. :) Oh and his most favorite is "M is for Monster Trucks". . how cool is that? :) And to make things EVEN BETTER, I found a Star Wars Preschool Unit. :)

I am hoping to post a general weekly schedule here soon, however I still plan on staying flexible as much as possible. I want learning to be fun for them, not feel like a chore.

Toddler Sewing Basket. :)

http://childhood101.com/2010/09/our-toddler-friendly-sewing-basket/