Blogger Friend School Assignment 101

Posted on 2008-Sep-12 at 10:37 by KimMC - 6 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Memory Verse:  Psalms 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Assignment: This would be a good week to tell about your worst struggles with a lifestyle of homeschooling.  Tell about something you’ve struggled with and how God’s mercies gave us the strength to get past it.  Also, share any curriculum/homeschool methods that have been a relief to you, i.e., a particular Teacher’s Manual or Homeschooling method that’s been easier for your family.  Talk about how you felt when the burden was lifted and Oh, What a Relief it is!

Hmm...If I really stop and think about it my worst struggles aren't major problems.   My biggest challenges are homeschooling with toddlers and wee babies in the mix.  Also getting rid of the pressure to get it "all" done.  I've learned to work around the littlest nap schedules for the more one on one topics like math.  After coming close to a burn out for both the little ones and myself I realized that I needed to cut back.  I've always said I felt the biggest problem in homeschooling is the HUGE wealth of good books and topics to cover!  But when you try to do to much at once, even if its fun, you burn out.

Last year I was trying to do FIAR every day, math, phonics, reading, grammar, copy work and then have world history (SOTW)  3 days a week and science 2 days a week.  It was just to much with pregnancy/new baby, and two toddlers and major renovations LOL.  This year we have relaxed and although we have added MORE topics to cover we are having fun doing it a simpler way.

First I'm using FIAR as our main curriculum.   Putting the focus back on this allows us to truly enjoy the program.  We also do math, and language arts everyday.  Then we do ONE extra.  So one day a week for each wold history, Canadian social studies, nature study, science, artist/composer study.

I find this works sooo much better for us!  And of course we do lots of reading together and cover many "extras" that way also.

Blogger Friend School Assignment 100

Posted on 2008-Sep-12 at 10:12 by KimMC - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

 Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling.  Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back.  Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

I was a public school child.  I loved to learn and always had my noise in a book.  However it did not take me long to figure out the kids that like learning are on the "outs" in school.  The teachers might like you but know one else does.   Being in a room of 30 other children that mock and pick on you all day does nothing to encourage a good learning environment! 

There was a homeschooling family on our street and I always envied them.  They got to really learn things and we not stuck at a desk all day.  I remember being so surprised at some of the topics they learned about, that we later didn't touch on until high school! 

When I was in my  mid teens I removed myself from school and finished with a mixture of homeschooling and correspondence.  I LOVED it!  Once again I could actually LEARN. 

I always knew that if I had children I would homeschool them.  My husband also had very little he liked about his public education and was all for my choice in this.

My goals for our children are to love the Lord with all their harts, develop a true love of learning and good work habits and not to be afraid to be themselves.

Blogger Friend School

Posted on 2008-Sep-12 at 10:07 by KimMC - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Last year I had a lot of fun participating in the Blogger Friend school, I'm a little late this year but joining in the fun anyway.   

The are also kicking off the new school year with a give a way.  Stop by and check it out!

Burr!!!!

Posted on 2008-Sep-10 at 09:32 by KimMC - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Oh it's been so cool and damp lately with all the rain.  Last night it got down to at least 5C burrr!!  One of dh jobs this weekend is cutting fire wood.  He's been bring home lots of skids from work and we almost have enough for the winter.

The leaves have started turning and we even have lots of green ones falling to.  The girls are so excited about fall, if only the rain would stop for a while!  They are calling for rain again every day this week, except tomorrow.  We need a good dry spell to start getting our potatoes in.  Going by what we've dug up as new potatoes we are getting a good yield this year. 

Homeschool Memoirs Assignment 4

Posted on 2008-Sep-10 at 09:19 by KimMC - 4 Comments - Post Comment - Link

This weeks theme is to share something new we are using this year.  To see what others are sharing click here.

We are doing a few new things this year.  Some of what we have started already others have not yet been worked into our schedule.

Last year I started using Five in a Row.  But I found it to much to do it and all the other add ons I wanted.  So we did 4 or 5 units from FIAR.  But oh how we missed it!  So this year FIAR is our main focus as it was made to be  It is such a rich program yet so laid back and easy to use!  Any extras we want to do are done once a week for fun.

Another change this year is our spelling program.  Last year we used Spelling Work Out A for dd6 (5 at the time) and she was so board by it!  This year we are using Christian Liberty Press Building Spelling Skills .  So far it's working much better for us.  There is less busy work and dd likes that a lot.

One other thing we are doing this year is adding in nature, art and composer studies.  But these are laid back and done using mostly materials I already have around the house or free on the internet. 

Homeschool Memoirs Assignment 3

Posted on 2008-Sep-8 at 10:40 by KimMC - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

This weeks theme is to share out homeschool routines.  To read about others routines and schedules click here.

While I love schedules and order a strict and fixed schedule just will not work in this house.  LOL  I need to be flexible to work around dh shifts, a 2 year old and a baby and soon to be another newborn.  I do try to keep a flow to our work though.

We typically start our lessons after breakfast.  We start with our Bible lessons then phonics for dd4.  After that we do our Five in a Row story and activities.  I like to do this in the morning because I can easily included dd2 in it. 

Then we take a break until lunch time after lunch when dd2 and baby girl are napping we try to do math, spelling and our weekly "extras" such as world history, Canadian social studies etc.

Fridays are our lighter day.  We do our artist and composer studies in the morning and shopping in the afternoon.  Often we stop at different conservation parks for nature walks before shopping.

Farm Unit

Posted on 2008-Sep-8 at 09:35 by KimMC - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

This week we are working at finishing up our Peter Rabbit unit and combining it with a unit on farming.   The International Plowing Match will be in our area in a few weeks and we are all looking forward to that!

I found this DVD at the library and the kids just love it!  I think I'll have to pick up a copy for them some time. LOL  The first part of the DVD is a farm tour for kids, the second part is an ABC of horses. 

We are also watching these DVD's on Ferguson tractors.  They are set in England so tie in a little with Peter Rabbit.  Dh also has a Ferguson tractor.  I gave him this DVD set a few years ago and we all love watching them!

You can read more about video 1 here.

And video 2 here.

We are also watching this one on draft horses.

We are also reading the following books.

Vegetable Friends, Animals on the Farm, Milk, Butter and Cheese, The story of Dairy Products, Prairie Boy's summer and Tell About The cow Barn Daddy.

We are also going to be doing some crafts and activities from these sites.

KidzClub

ABCTeach

Easy Fun School

Park and Pics

Posted on 2008-Sep-7 at 10:14 by KimMC - 4 Comments - Post Comment - Link

We had to go out this evening for a little bit and decided to take a quick walk at the park.  Unfortunately after about 20 minutes or so a storm started to roll in.

This little bunny was in the dear/turkey pen area.  He was definitely a pet at one time!  I hope know one dumped him there...He came right up to the girls and loved to be petted.

Then the turkeys wanted to say hello to.

Then we heard some thunder and it started getting dark.

We pulled over on the way home to take this.  The sun was shining on a rain band and the whole field shone like gold!

Kitty Pics

Posted on 2008-Sep-7 at 10:06 by KimMC - 4 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Last week the weather was really nice, so the girls and I have been trying to spend lots of time out side!  They loving exploring and can always find something "new" and interesting around the yard to look at.  These are a few photos of them playing with the outside kitties.

This is our "barn" cat who spends more time up on the deck with the kids.  LOL He is a sweetie and a good hunter though.  We kept him from our Manx's first litter.

These two little ones just went to a good home with our good friends.  We are so glad to hear they are settling in great!  They loved "playing" on the kids teeter-toter (sp???).  LOL

And my little sweeties. 

Tire Swing!

Posted on 2008-Sep-7 at 09:54 by KimMC - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

The girls got a surprise this past week.  Dh put up a tire swing for them.  At first they were a little unsure of how to use it, but that didn't last long!  Now they are up and down like little monkeys.  LOL

Here are some pics from just after they discovered it.  Even Dh got in on the fun.