Week Three

Finially decided that making a schedule for the kids might help and it did. I even scheduled some Mei time with each kiddo. All parties involved are happy and thrilled.

We went to the Atlanta Aquarium. That was really a blast to say the least.

Week 2....Making some adjustments

Let's see. Realizing that I have a challenge in making language arts fun. Seriously...how do you make it fun? I have always loves english and all that kind of stuff...but teaching it to a 3rd and 4th grader is tough. Nathan gets it...Charlie not so much. I am needing to get him of his seat more so bring them both up to the board proves fun.Prepositions are a toughy. And this Curricullum I am using is Preposition based. It's Easy Grammar and Daily grams. Basically they need to memorize them. Just need to find a singsongy way to teach Charlie.

New writing cur. Starting it this week. Hoping it will improve N and C's perspective of writing. I really don't want any more tears over it.:)

Madi and Mei are hanging in there. Finding time for Mei is tough. Usually try in the afternoons. Madi just wants to play. She really loves to learn, but wants to play more. Oh...and this girly loves to read.

Went on our first field trip on Friday to the Planetarium. Saw a show on molecules. Lots of fun hangin with our friends.

Week 1 Wrap Up

So we completed our very first week of school...I have to say it went really well. We started out trying to get all our independent work done before lunch and then all our together work after lunch. But i quickly realized that my kids are DONE with school by lunch. As hard as I tried to make it soooo fun, it just didn't work. I think that we will try fitting in SS and devotions in the morning first and then on to our independant work. I am trying to make time for Mei and me in the afternoons so she doesn't feel left out.

We've started a fun routine of taking a walk after lunch. Even with the heat...It's soooo very hot right now. I moved our read aloud time to the evenings. A side note is that the kids are actually asking me for read aloud time. All summer it was like pulling teeth to get them to sit still and enjoy it.

Let's see...what else. Oh some of my favorite memories have been watching Madi teach Mei her colors. And Nathan encouraging Charlie to read a chapter book and Charlie thanking Nathan when he realized he could do it. All in all its been a great week!!!

Only three more weeks!!

Three more weeks til we officially start school!!! And here is what we have been up to. We've finished our very first lapbook....so much fun and now we are off to our second one. Nate and Charlie chose sharks and Madi chose ducks. WE have officially decided to keep Mei home with us this year so I have been looking for fun educational games and activities for her to do. I have come across some file folder game templates that I am working on for her. I have the first six weeks laid out for lesson plans. Very roughly laid out. Just needed some goals to keep us on track. I am working on a daily schedule, but I have a feeling that it will be more trial and error than anything else. I have started reading to the the kids alot more. And have found that Charlie and Madi need a lower level than Nate. So I will probably start doing two differet read aloud times. Nate and I are reading Thirty One Clues book 1. And I read our library books to the others. I have found with mine that if they are interested in the book or if they choose the book then they will sit for a very long time to listen. So I am not going to be so picky about what I read to them or what they read for that matter. If we library it all year thats fine with me. Sonlight gave us a bunch of books, but the kids don't seem to be very interested in them right now. we will see later in the year.

Summer School

So that's what we've been doing around here.....summer school. I have decided to ease into this whole homeschool stuff very slowly. We are taking just Math, Reading and a little Languag Arts. So far the kid seem good. Math is clipping right along. We are using Math-U-See. It's a 5-10 min. teaching DVD and then the workbook pages. I like it becasue the kids move at their own pace. We do not move on to the next lesson until they can teach me the current one. It's great!!! For reading they have read time in their rooms for 30 min. a day from an assigned book.I did change Nate's earlier because he truly was not enjoying what he was reading. I think I may have to do the same with Charlie. My main focus right now is that they learn to love to read. And teh only way to do that is to read books of their intrests. And we also try to have a time that I read to them also. So we are off to a great beginning.....oh and we also have been working on our first lapbooks. I will save that for another post though. It has been so much fun!!!

Transformation of a School Room

So when we first decided to take on the homeschool adventure, the very first question was how?..... followed very quickly by where? So I'm talking about the where in this post because I still have not figured out the how. We first thought of using one of the existing bedrooms. We even went as far as moving Madi and Mei to a whole other room. We painted and were pretty much ready when I hired an organizational professional to come help me with my....ummmm....lack of organization. She asked me a million question, but one really changed things. She asked, "Where do your kids usually play?" I sat there and thought a minute and then said, "Wherever I am." And that's when she said she thought I should change the den into a school room. It's right by the laundry room, kitchen and living room. The three main places I am during the day. SO that's what we did. We got rid of the den furniture, moved the T.V. to the living room, and painted it a very nice yellow. Just this week it finally has new carpet and I bought some book shelves...it's looking great. We also moved the kids toys down there. Not sure if that will do very well or not with about we'll see. I will post some pics this week of the transformation.

Brand new blog

It's all about the homeschooling adventure now.....