Aug. 8, 2008 - Rice and Beans
Am I the only one who gets tired of picky kids in the house??? I was sure that *I* would never raise picky kids; they would simply be expected to eat whatever was set before them, and that was that. Breakfast and lunch are rarely a problem, but at dinner time it seemed that there was (is) always someone that is unhappy, someone that just "isn't hungry", or something to complain about. We have tried different approaches: disciplining for complaining about the food, clearing the table and making them go without until the following meal, and even then we often saved their plate and gave them the same thing at the following meal, etc.
Still, the problem persisted. It's not like we make them eat liver and brussel sprouts at every meal! I began to realize that they just have too much. Too much variety, too much abundance on the table, too many options to be thankful for just anything they have available to eat. We are SO thankful for the Lord's provision for us, and yet it is so easy to start complaining when things come too easy and not be thankful for our "daily bread". The Lord even warns us in Dt 6 that this is our tendency: "When the Lord your God brings you into ... a land filled with large, flourishing cities which you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant - then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
So, I had an idea. We set aside a day in which we ate only rice and beans, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No snacks inbetween, and only water to drink. I started talking it up a week in advance, telling the children that we were going to learn to be truly THANKFUL!!! YAY! We were going to experience what the majority of the world live on every day, and we were going to remember that SO many people in the world don't even have that much, and would be ecstatic if they did! We were going to be in missions training - learning to eat anything, so that one day if the Lord should call them to another country, they would not have to wonder or worry about what they would eat, because they were learning to eat anything! It was going to be GREAT, I kept telling them!
Well, the evening before our rice and beans day, Joshua didn't "feel like" eating his supper. I told him that was fine, but he would not eat anything else until the following day, and that would be rice and beans only. He said that was fine, so I cleared the table.
The next morning, I served rice and beans for breakfast and the two older kids just picked at it, eating nothing. I told them that was fine, but there would be nothing else until lunch! And then I cleared the table. We left the house to go garage saling a bit later, and Joshua started to complain about not feeling well. I told him it was because he had not eaten, and that he should have taken the opportunity to eat when he had the chance, and that he would have another chance at lunch. He stayed in the car during all of the garage sales, and even dozed off several times - VERY unusual for him in the AM hours. He was really starting to look lethargic by the time we got home for lunch.
So for lunch, I served more of the same. This time Dominique ate well, as did Israel and I, but Joshua STILL just picked at his plate and said he wanted to go to bed! I couldn't believe the stubbornness! He does not usually take naps anymore, but I do require him to have a quiet time in the study and read while the other two are napping. But this day, he went straight to his bed and slept for about three hours!
When he woke up, I asked him if he wanted his plate? He said no. I was really surprised, because *he* is the one that usually eats rice and beans without any problem when we serve them for dinner. I was not anticipating this kind of battle. I was starting to feel bad, because he was really looking pitiful, but it 's not like I was starving him! His plate was right there available whenever he wanted to eat it! Instead, he laid on the couch the rest of the afternoon, dozing off now and then, until supper time.
That is when I discovered his plan. He figured he would just withstand the hunger for the day, because he could eat something better tomorrow! When I informed him that we would have Day 2 of Rice and Beans if he didn't eat them today, he decided to eat supper, and BOY did he eat supper!
That night with Daddy, we read the account in Exodus about manna in the wilderness, and then about the complaining and the desire for meat instead. The Lord finally "gave in" and sent them quail - but then sent a plague "while the meat was still between their teeth" and they died! (See Numbers 11) So again, we talked about being thankful for what we have, eating what is set before us, we prayed for the many who go to bed hungry every night, without even rice and beans to satisfy them, and we talked about preparing to be missionaries.
The next morning I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to talk to Joshua about spiritual nourishment. As he had gone for about 24 hours without food, and felt weak in his body and unable to function well, so our spirits become weak without the nourishment of God's Word and the seeking of HIs Presence in our lives on a daily basis. We talked about this for a while and a light really seemed to go off with him.
So... Fabio and I decided that we will continue to do this once a week, at least for this season, to reinforce the lesson. I think we will call it "Manna Day"! :)
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Aug. 6, 2008 - Science Plans for this School Year
NOTE: Sorry about the crazy coloring on parts of this post! I can seem to make it behave!
What to blog about today, that is the question! I have about four posts floating around in my brain or in my computer - just havent had the time to post them! lol.
So, I decided to post about our science plans. We are fans of Charlotte-Mason style nature study, and generally take about 3 months per unit. We are also fans of notebooking, so we create a scrapbook-style notebook as we go along. Here is our line-up for this year. We are about half-way through "insects" right now, and loving it!! :) Notice we are taking October off altogether, and then allowing FOUR full months for the next unit, which should be a lighter one anyway. This is all because of our baby blessing arriving the end of September! :)
Plans beyond the tree study, as you can see, have not been fully developed, but I have been collecting resources on those topics, and tucking them away in my private shelf! hehe. I have one section of the bookcase that the children are not allowed to touch in which I stick stuff "for future use". It is so much more exciting that way! So, anyway, I think I already have everything I need for the anatomy study - I just havent organized it all yet. I guess I can post more on that when I do. :)
July, Aug, Sept 2008:
General Ideas:
-In the book of Exodus, read about the plagues in
-Do a scavenger hunt to see how many insects we can find. Be sure to take along a magnifying glass and field guide so we can examine them closely.
-Read the poems from Joyful Noise together. After reading each poem, use the field guide to find out about the insect in the poem. Fill in insect worksheet.
-Insect Parables by Robert Baker
*Week One and Two: General.
-Talk about what an insect is, general anatomy, etc.
-Insects by Alice Field (read aloud)
-Read Aloud: When Insects are Babies
-Independent reading: Strange World of Insects and
-True Bugs and 3-D Thrillers
-Bible verses: draw the bug plagues of
-Bugs: what day of creation?
*Ant week:
-make fingerprint ants
-make and eat "ants on a log" for a snack!
-Read aloud: Fact II in Lessons from Nature
-Prov 6:6-copywork and memorization
-Insects do The Strangest Things: pg 8
-How to draw book: ants
-Independent reading: Story of ants
*Butterfly week:
-put out butterfly feeder
-butterfly life cycle craft
-read aloud: Monarch Butterfly of Aster Way
-Wonder where Butterflies go in winter?
-Very Hungry Caterpillar
-How to draw book: butterflies
-Read Alouds: Nature reader ch11-26, The Bee Tree, A Hive of Busy Bees
-Fact XVII in Lessons from Nature
-Insects Do The Strangest Things: p52 honeybee
-Independent reading: Bees, Wasps, Ants
-How to draw: bumblebee
-Make Bee Book from Danielle’s Place- Children can write Bible verses, words starting with the letter "B", a short story about a bee, or facts about bees in this cute little bee-shaped book.
-Bee and Flower Mobile (Danielle’s place)
-Eat Honeycomb cereal! (glue to projects, use for counting games)
Bible verses:
-Prov 16:24 “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.”
-Ps 19:7-11 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.”
-Plant flowers to attract bees. Plant flowers such as sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, mint, and clover. Spend time in the garden and try to discover which types of flowers they like best. Try to catch a glimpse of the pollen sacks on large bumblebees as they fly from flower to flower. You really can see them. http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/na/bgardn.html
-See if we can visit a bee farm!
*Ladybug Week:
-The Very Grouchy Ladybug
-Ladybug and other insects
-Insects do the Strangest Things: pg20
-How to draw ladybugs
-Find rocks to paint like ladybugs
*Misc Bugs Weeks:
-Read remaining parts of Lessons from Nature: grasshopper and firefly
-read remainder of Insects do the Strangest Things
-Other wrap-up, review and notebooking
- Why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears : by Verna Aardema
-Firefly night / by Carole Gerber
-Two bad ants / Chris Van Allsburg
- The napping house / Audrey Wood
- The icky bug alphabet book / by Jerry Pallotta
November, December, January and February
Trees
Read Alouds:
-Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling
-A Tree is Nice
-A Tree Can Be…
Ideas:
-Trees – what day of creation? Review creation lapbook.
-Collect leaves, identify, press and include in notebook (field guide)
- Look at the leaves we collected w/ magnifying glass. Notice veins on leaves.
-Learn about life cycle of tree and the seasons
-Learn about photosynthesis
-Bible: -Psalm 1 and Jer. 17 about righteous vs wicked men
-Good fruits and bad fruits: Mt 7
-Crayon rubbings of tree bark in the forest preserve and yard
-“T” in Proverbs for Preschoolers –verse about trees.
-Independent
-Notebook about all. – Notebooking pages available at hslaunch J
-Here a Plant, There a Plant, Everywhere a Plant, Plant by Robert Quackenbush
Human Anatomy
June, July, August 2009:
Plants and Gardening
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Jul. 28, 2008 - Nature Scavenger Hunt
I grew up in the country, and would love for my children to also. However, we are very blessed in many ways where we currently live, in town, and one of those is that we have a forest preserve right across the street! The area across the street does not have trails, which I almost prefer. Seems more "raw" that way, ya know? hehe. Anyway, today we did a nature scavenger hunt over there that I got from here (for free!). It was a lot of fun! Here are some pics from our adventure:
Above: Israel and I, all ready to go. He prefers this method of exploring nature right now. He isn't crazy about tramping through the brush on his own yet! (Tomorrow I will be 32 weeks along!)
Below: our list and some of our finds:
Above: Joshua and Dominique on the Adventure!
Below: A few other pics of our discoveries:
1. A Dragonfly
2. A beetle (we have yet to identify it - is it a Japanese beetle?)
3. Pretty effective camoflauge!!
4. Dead tree trunk with markings of ?? (we plan to identify this later too.. .:)
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Jul. 26, 2008 - History Plan for this School Year
History
Core Books:
In God We Trust- Stories of Faith in American History by Timothy Crater and Ranelda Hunsicker and
The Light and the Glory for Children and
From Sea to Shining Sea for Children by Peter Marshall and David Manuel, with accompanying activity books (these activity books are really cool and fully reproducible for the entire family!)
I got the recommendation for this book from The Boyers :
This is an AWESOME book for children, and could actually be a stand-alone text, but we are integrating it. American history from a Christian perspective, and with great character lessons along the way. This first one covers up to George Washington, and From Sea to Shining Sea picks up at 1787.
-Read one chapter per week of In God We Trust, possibly more on weeks with less involved or with related chapters (there are 50 chapters total)
-Create a timeline figure for each chapter (see pics below)
-Read accompanying section of The Light and the Glory when appropriate
-Notebooking pages for information, activity pages,
coloring pages, copywork and narrations
-Mapwork, where appropriate
-Crafts and Projects for some (like Indian or Pilgrim theme, for example)
-Additional reading/ biographies (on occasion)
-Bunny trails related to chapter, when there is interest (and time)
-“Who Am I?” history cards for review games
The following is a list of the subject of each chapter, with ideas for supplements and enrichment activities. I will likely add to this list as I go along. I know this is more detail than most of you care to know, but just in case anyone else would like to use a similar plan, this might save you some time and searching!
(note: my sil lent me Truthquest after I had already put together the majority of this plan, and I think it is GREAT, but then I got totally overwhelmed with TOO many ideas, so I ended up giving it back after picking out a few nice things. I did, however, copy a few of the pages of text that I thought would be helpful to read out loud to begin certain units.)
1. Leif Ericson – AD1000
»Read pg 2 in Truthquest
»Learn something about the Vikings:
»Leif the Lucky (Ingri & Edgar D’Aulaire)
2. Stephen Langton -1155-1228 –LIGHT WEEK
»Obtain copy of Magna Carta to read and include in notebook
3. Christopher Colombus -1451-1506
»Independent reading for Joshua: additional bios that we have
»Light and Glory ch 1-2 / coloring page 3-11 and GAME pg 8-9
»Notebooking page available at homeschoolerhelper.com – Colombus ships
»Sower Series biography: Christopher Colombus
4. Valient Virginians – 1607
»Light and Glory ch 4 / coloring page 17-19
»Mapwork:
Stories of American History: ch XI
5. Mayflower Pilgrims -1620 –LOTS! (2 weeks?)
»book: If you sailed On the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern
»Light and Glory ch 5-6 / coloring pg 20-33
»Pg 19-21 in Truthquest
»Ch 1-2 in Big American Heroes
»Notebook pg at homeschool helper: Thanksgiving Pilgrims
6. John Winthrop 1588-1649
»Light and Glory ch 7-8 / coloring p 34-42 =Puritans – split up for R.Williams
7. Roger Williams 1603-1683
»Mapwork:
»Light and Glory ch 9 and continue coloring of Puritans
»Truthquest p 32-33, 37
8. James Oglethorpe 1696-1785 – LIGHT WEEK- combine w/ ch 9
»Bible verse: James 2:15-17
»Truthquest p. 70
»Mapwork: GA and Stories of Early GA – ch XVI in American History
9. Calverts 1634 – LIGHT week – combine w/ ch 8
»Mapwork:
»Light and Glory: ch 3
»Talk about/ pray for persecuted Christians
10. John Eliot 1604-1690
»Bunny Trail: Indians
»Light n Glory Coloring pg 12-13
»Truthquest p 40-41,44
»Notebooking pg at homeschoolhelper: Indian boots
11. Father Jacques Marquette 1637-1676
»Mapwork:
»Light n Glory coloring p 14-15
»Truthquest p. 49
»Stories of American History ch XVIII
»Bunny Trail: Lewis and Clark
12. William Penn 1644-1718
»Bunny Trail: Colonial Life
»Truthquest p 62-63
»The World of William Penn by Genevieve Foster
»Hands-on: Try writing w/ a quill and ink
»Mapwork:
13. Eusebio Francisco Kino 1637-1675-COMBINE w/ ch 14
»Learn something about the Pima Indians
14. Father Junipero Serra 1713-1784 –COMBINE w/ ch 13
»Mapwork:
»Bible verse: “No one who has left mother or father…”
15. Eleazar Wheelock 1711-1779- LIGHT week
»Talk about prejudice. Bible verse:
»INSERT about French/Indian Wars also??
16. Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758
»Great Awakening: Truthquest p. 72-73, 81-83
»Light/Glory ch 10
»Trial and Triumph ch 31-35
17. John Witherspoon 1723-1794
»Learn more about the American Revolution: Truthquest p 102-104
»If You Lived At The Time Of The American Revolution (by Kay Moore)
»Coloring pg 46-48
»Big American Heroes ch 4
18. Samuel Adams 1722-1803
»Learn more about the American Revolution cont.
»Coloring pages 49-50
»Big American Heroes ch 5-6
19. Paul Revere 1735-1818
»Learn more about the American Revolution cont: Light/Glory ch 11
»Coloring pages 51-52
»Jean Fritz biography about Paul Revere
20. John Adams 1735-1826
»Learn more about the American Revolution cont-Light Glory ch 12
»Truthquest p 163
»Coloring p 53
21. Patrick Henry 1736-1799
»Notebooking page at homeschoolhelper: Revolutionary war soldiers
»Light and Glory ch 13 AND coloring p 54 and 56
»Stories of American History ch XXIII
22. John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg 1746-1807-LIGHT week
»Bible verses: Ecc 3- a time for everything
»Big Heroes ch 7-8
23. George Washington 1732-1799
»Book: George Washington’s Breakfast – by Jean Fritz
»Light and Glory ch 14-15 AND coloring p. 55, 57-63, 67
»Notebook pg printed from consumer help web
24. Benjamin Rush 1747-1813-COMBINE with ch 25
»Doctor. Talk about how each one can use his gifts to serve the Lord.
»Big Heroes ch 9-10
25. John Jay 1745-1829 – COMBINE with ch 24
»Learn more about the American Bible Society
»Mapwork: PA and NY
26. James Madison 1751-1836
»Mapwork:
»Sea to Sea ch 5
»Copywork: quote at bottom of page 109
27. Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790
»book: Benjamin Franklin by Peter Roop and Connie Roop OR
»Benjamin Franklin by Edgar Parin and Ingri d’Aulaire
»Truthquest p 119
»Light and Glory Coloring p 64-66
»Obtain copy of preamble for notebook
»Notebook page at homeschool helper: “We The People”
28. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 1746-1825 – LIGHT week
»Talk about bribes. Bible verse:
»Mapwork:
»Big Heroes ch 11-12
29. Abigail Adams 1744-1814
»Talk about what a good wife is/ does
»Bible verses for copywork from text: 1 Kings 3:9 and Luke 19:42
»Sower Series Biography
30. John Marshall 1755-1835
»Talk about what a judge is/ does
»Sea to Sea ch 6
31. Francis Scott Key 1779-1843
»Learn the Star Spangled Banner!
»Sea to Sea ch 7-8
»Big Heroes ch 13-14
32. John Quincy
»Talk about being a pleasing son. Bible verse:
»Mapwork:
»Sea to Sea ch 9
33. Pilgrims of Hawaii 1819-1841- LIGHT week
»Mapwork:
»Big Heroes ch 15
34. Charles Grandison Finney 1792-1875
»Review the Ten Commandments
»Sea to Sea ch 13
»Mapwork:
»Big Heroes ch 16
35. Noah Webster 1758-1843
»Learn more about using a dictionary; Practice!
»Talk about the importance of words: Bible verse:
»Big Heroes ch 17
36. Samuel Finley Breese Morse 1791-1872
»Learn more about the morse code. Try it!
»Book we have on messanging:
»Big Heroes ch 18
37. Missionaries on
»Bunny Trail on Pioneer Life –Truthquest p 169, pg 83 and book: Children of the Covered Wagon by Mary Jane Carr
»Sea to Sea ch 14, ch 2
»Notebooking page at homeschooler helper: covered wagon
»Trace the
38. Daniel Webster 1782-1852
»book: If you lived at the time of the Civil War – Kay Moore
»The First Book of the Civil War by Dorothy Levenson
»Copywork: quote on page 157
39. Elijah Parish Lovejoy 1802-1837
»Talk about the many ways we can share our faith
»Talk about suffering/dying for our faith
40. Frederick Douglass 1817-1895 - LOTS (2 weeks?)
»Learn about slavery- Truthquest p. 76
»Light and Glory ch 15
»Sea to Sea ch 1, ch 10-11, ch 16
»If You Lived When There Was Slavery in
»Fredrick Douglass : Freedom Fighter by Lillie Patterson
»Notebook pg printed from consumer help web
»Copywork: quote on pg 165 sidebar
41. Sojourner Truth 1797-1883
»The Lord is with us, even in hard times. Bible verse:
»If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad (by Ellen Levine)
42. Abraham Lincoln 1809-1865
»Read Emancipation Proclamation and include in notebook
»Notebook pg: White House from notebookingpages.com
43. Robert Edward Lee 1807-1870
»Sower series biography OR
»America’s Robert E. Lee by Henry S. Commager
44. Clara Harlowe Barton 1821-1912
»Learn more about the Red Cross
»Bible verse: “Inasmuch as you’ve done it…”
45. Hiram Revels 1827-1901
»Mapwork: MS, NC, IN, OH, MD, MO, DC (trace life travels)
»Discuss how blacks rights were limited, even after slavery ended with book: Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
46. James Garfield 1831-1881
»Copywork: quote on page 196
47. Frances Elizabeth Willard 1839-1898
»Mapwork :WI, IL
»Talk about liquor and its effects. Bible vs: Prov 23:32
48. Francis Bellamy 1856-1931
»Notebooking page at homeschool helper: flags
»Memorize the Pledge of Allegiance
»Book: The Pledge of Allegiance (we have)
49. Mary McLeod Bethune 1875-1955
»Copywork: quote from pg 209-210 about flowers
»Bible verse: Jn 3:16 “God so loved ALL the world…”
50. Katherine Lee Bates 1859-1929
»Learn to sing
»Find pictures of
»Mapwork: CO, including
And last but not least, a great little book that I also got from the Boyers about American heroes, many of them children! 
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Jul. 23, 2008 - 100th Comment??
I have seen several people here on homeschool blogger celebrate their 1,000th comment .... but after two years of blogging here, I have yet to "celebrate" my 100th!!! LOL! Anyone want to help me out??
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Jul. 18, 2008 - Curriculum Quandry
I'm sure I'm the only homeschool mom who has been in a quandry over curriculum choice, right? Ha!
I reviewed so many different things, and much of it appealed to me in one way or another, but after much consideration, I decided that, at least for another year, we will continue to put our own things together rather than use a set curriculum. Then next year we can reevaluate again. 
I like the philosophy of integrated studies, such as unit studies, and I like the idea of “real” books, rather than textbooks for the core of learning. So, we will continue on the track of Charlotte Mason and Ruth Beechick, having also learned much from Robin Sampson and Jennifer Steward, and having been given confidence by guides such as those by Kathryn Stout, Diane Lopez and Cathy Duffy. (see resources at the bottom.)
Therefore, the main theme for this year is to be “mini” unit studies based on history (early American history), and nature studies (science). Into these we will weave our reading, writing, geography, some Bible, and other topics as we go. I am especially excited about our history plans, so I plan to post more about that later...
Daily we will do math separately, as well as a separate Bible curriculum (which I already posted about).
I think we will try to have two days a week based on our history topic and two days based on our science topic.
That gives us one “extra” day to either wrap up what we were doing in science and history, take some time off, or work in other elective studies.
The only other “curriculum” will be those certain electives when we can fit them in, such as critical thinking activities, and artist and composer studies, which don’t take much time or preparation and, I feel, greatly enhance the educational experience. J Last year we did one artist and one composer for each three month period, which left us a lot of “slack” so we could enjoy it when we were able to fit it in, and not stress about it when we couldn’t.
So, our year may look something like this:
Daily: Bible and Math
Monday and Wednesday: History and related activities
Tuesday and Thursday: Science and related activities
Friday: “Other” (artist, composer, field trip, review, other electives)
Our School's Theme Verses
Isaiah 54:13-14 “All your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression….”
Main Learning Goals:
*Teach my children the fear of the Lord and work on molding their character according to Scripture
*Impart to my children a love of learning
*Have FUN in the journey!!
My Favorite Resources:
*The Three R’s by Ruth Beechick
*Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach by Robin Sampson
*Everything you need to know about Homeschool Unit Studies by Jennifer Steward
*Design-A-Study Guides by Kathryn Stout. I think I have them all now:
Maximum Math
Science Scope
Guides to History Plus!
Natural Speller
Critical Conditioning
Creative Composition
*Teaching Children by Diana Lopez (K-6 scope and sequence especially geared to those using a Charlotte Mason approach.)
*100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy
*How to Create Your Own Unit Studies by Valerie Bendt
So, that is our plan for this coming school year, which we are currently in our third week of now. So far, so good! 
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Jul. 10, 2008 - Postscript of our School Year 2007-2008
Well, in between trips to the zoo and the park and the forest preserve and the beach and friends' houses and the blueberry patch, and hanging out with our exchange student from Spain, etc.... we have managed to fit a little school in here and there! LOL. We have been thorougly enjoying our summer, but last week we also wrapped up our previous school year, and this week we are beginning our current year. :) I'm not much into labeling grade levels, but I guess you could say that Joshua finished kindergarten now and started first grade, which is good timing as far as a break-off, because his birthday is Saturday. So, new age, new grade! As for Dominique, she just passed from Preschool 1 to Preschool 2, I guess, but they were both excited to decorate new covers for their NEW school year notebooks/ binders, and have some new things to start. :)
So, anyway, as a wrap-up, I journaled a little postscript about what we accomplished last year, compared to what we had planned to accomplish. It was fun, so I thought I'd post it. Pretty soon, I will post our goals for this coming year too. :)
POSTSCRIPT: What we accomplished during the school year of 2007-2008
Dominique: -Learned all her letters and beginning phonics sounds very well!
(preschool) -Completed Heart And Hands
-Read lots of books with Mommy, participated in our Five In a Row studies and our nature studies, memorized several Bible verses, and did many arts and crafts projects
Kindergarten:
(Joshua) -Bible: Read all the way through the Children’s Bible in Portuguese. Memorized several Bible verses. Added timeline figures of prominent Bible characters. Completed unit study on the Ten Commandments. Learned the books of the OT well; still working on New Testament. Included Bible in many of our other studies.
-Phonics: Noah Websters Reading Handbook and various worksheets
- Reading: Pictorial Primer, Rod and Staff Readers 1-3, and *many* read-alouds with mommy, as well as independent reading.
-Math:
-Writing: Worked on copywork notebook and also did other writing activities in lapbooks and other activities
-Portuguese: did some copywork in Portuguese, and towards the end of the year began learning Portuguese phonics.
-Five in a Row –completed the literature-based unit studies of Volume 1.
-Nature Studies: three months each of: birds, mammals, reptiles. Worked on a scrapbook-style nature notebook to record our findings.
Composer Studies: read biographies and listened to music of: Mozart, Handel, Beethoven. Also notebooked and added timeline pictures.
-Artist Studies: found out a little bit about and did picture studies of Leonardo DaVinci and Rembrandt. Added timeline pictures as well.
-Japanese: We did this very sporadically and only got to learn about eleven letters and not as much vocabulary as we started out learning at the beginning of the year… Maybe we’ll do better next school year!
-Geography: I think we were pretty effective at including this in almost all of our other studies and had a lot of fun doing it! We got geography with FIAR studies, art and composer studies, Bible, nature studies, and with other misc. things that came up in everyday life. J
Overall Evaluation: Joshua became a very proficient reader! This was exciting for both of us! Math did not come as quickly as reading, but we have seen great improvements. I think, if nothing else, I learned how to be a better math teacher! I think Joshua has a much firmer grasp on mathematical concepts now, even though his facts are not all perfectly memorized. We are still working on that, but doing more with manipulatives than at the beginning of the year, and hopefully the rote memorizing will come more easily this way.
Best of all, we had a
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Jul. 5, 2008 - FIAR Review, Wrap-Up and Lapbook
Well, as I have mentioned before, we enjoyed doing Volume I of Five In A Row this past year. Now that we finished the last book, I decided to take our story disks off of our table map and put them on an outline map to save, and review in the process. So, I printed an outline map of the US, one of Europe and one of Asia, and also one of South America, as we did a FIAR-style unit study with a Brazilian story as well. Then we went through each disk and talked a little bit about the story, and had such fun reminiscing together! I had Joshua color in the appropriate place on the map, and glue the disk there on its permanent home. Then I covered the maps with contact paper. (Have I ever mentioned how much I love that stuff??!!)
Here are the four maps: 
Here is a little closer-up of the map of Asia. I labeled each disk with the name of the story and the name of the place where it happened, and in some cases, a few other little relative notes.
Following this pic is a closer-up of the New England section of the US map.
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