Speed Drill

Math mornings are the best! Student really has live-wires in the am. Our first attempt at speed drills went smoothly. Student thought it was fun to time the work! And on top of that, there were no complaints when we finished up with place value review and a test! Whew!

And readying ourselves for Awana, Student recited her verse and hid it in her heart... check out the video!

More review for Student's Genesis vocab test on Friday. And as for the rest of our day, we are off to spend time with Dad on his day off and read all the price tags and signs! As for the last time we went out, Student said:

" 'Please wash hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds before returning to work.' Hmmm. I'm reading everything!"

Tuesday Tuning

Actually, we didn't, but should have. Student has learned the complete Song of the Wind...so here goes, without tuning but with much effort!

Why homeschool, we ask ourselves some mornings? On with our efforts, to God be the glory! Afterall, everything we do with our hands, do with all our might! Thanks to Him for establishing the work of our hands.

Homeschool began with our first attempt of a scheduled start-time since our family's addition, and because of Our caring Father in heaven, we began on time! Starting with a self-lead Art project, Student began her day with one of her favorite subjects.

On we moved to work more with place value in Math. Review of these concepts and added seatwork, Math was complete.

For language, we added some suffixes to our list. And continuing in poetry, Student and I read a highly recommended book o' rhymes: I Never Saw a Purple Cow and Other Nonsense Rhymes. Student had the opportunity to write an animal poem of her own:

Ther Was a Zebra

Ther was a zebra. That was funny and ate alat. It's a speshl zebra.

More review from our Genesis vocabulary. We have finished Genesis, in History, and will have our vocab test at the end of the week.

Classic Monday

Classic as in ballet, that is. The classic came to life through the words of Adele Geras & Emma Chichester Clark: The Nutcracker Ballet. Student spotted this book during our checkout time at the library today. She wondered why it was in our pile, and I told her I picked it out thinking of her...well, it was a classic hit! She couldn't put the book down, beginning to read on our walk out the doors of the library, until she had it completed after Toddler's nap, the story was complete.

Student enjoyed the book, even not having the definition of a "bal-ett", yet, she loved the story. So, we talked about that silly word, ballet, and how she would have known all along, but it just didn't come to her yet...

The books she picked to bring home, were on Art and then two on Egypt. We'll learn and share on those soon. Naturally, since they are second in line to Clara!

Aside from the library, Student completed her last lesson before Fall Fest for violin. This was a sleepy time for the new addition, and Toddler was quite busy with the ball from Mrs. S. So, I think we're ready for a performance!

Seatwork and History doubled-up today. Student wasn't happy about the larger quantities of seatwork today, but completing them everywhere but a seat, probably helped them get done! In the van, on the couch, on the floor and some in the kitchen...completed and ready for another day of Homeschool tomorrow!

Student's latest computer drawing is pictured here, in all it's carefully constructed layers. Take a peek!

Final Friday

Our beloved sister, Sherri, just became a widow 2 weeks ago. In honor of our Final Friday Ministry from James 1:27, we are making cards and taking some baked goods to her house this weekend. To take care of her, and bring her joy of The Lord, as she does for so many!

She is part of our family at church, so we are sure to see her there if we can't get a hold of her. Last month was a bit of a challenge since we didn't hear back from our friend we had hoped to bless. So, we have devised a sure-to-bless plan!

History, Language, Reading and Phonics. All in a day's homeschool, a Friday that is! We are looking forward to no rain so camping can consume the weekend...so hard to think about pencils and paper when the great outdoors await!

Student:

Pen Pal Update

This morning was blessed by Mrs. Nancy sharing with us about her recent trip to The Philippines in which she visited Student's pen pal in her home and school: Vanderpol Christian Academy. Pulling down the globe, Student saw where the islands are. Listening and looking at the presentation photos, Student got a heart-piercing look at poverty. I think of the Linebarger's and the way Mrs. Nancy said God has prepared them to help bring change to these parts of the world by educating the next generation. Educating them in The Word first and foremost. Student likes the fact that they have the same Abeka curriculum as she! So, this lesson of thankfulness and contentment was for more than just Student.

We made bread today to go with our cheeseburger soup from Mrs. Tonya. It is worth the flour mess because Toddler and Student create and reinvent for hours! Art never tasted so good!

Our time with cursive today was review. Student wasn't excited, as she hungers for new material and info and review isn't her favorite.

Math was her only seatwork today. Short and sweet as she is continuing with skip-counting.

And for her self-led project in Art, she fell right into our new season this week!

Student: I didn't know I wasn't going to find the other piece of the project that is seen in the picture here above my words I am saying. So, to fix the missing frame we went to Photoshop on our IMac, and we pushed on one of the other frames and copied it and put it on the part we were missing. There was still a piece on the one we copied...

Mid-Week Counting

Can there be any warmer place than holding a newborn? What a perfectly cuddly place to read! Beginning with our Library book recommended by Tonya: The Little Wooden Farmer, Student listened with the new addition in her lap. This Dutch farmer has no animals and he and his wife decide to get some, and thus the tale begins! Sweet illustrations and mandalas throughout keep the folk tale lively and true to it's Swedish style.

Cursive smiles keep coming! Student has a new favorite subject! Continuing on, we are finishing up with the letter "R".

History has come to Egypt! We read the introduction to life in Egypt and continued with the life of Joseph.

Math was reviewing counting. Backwards, forwards, skip-counting and place value. I think Student will be dreaming numbers tonight, I know I will!

Speedy practice of violin. Getting faster with each song, Student loves learning something new and so she looks forward to her next lesson with Mrs. S.

Happy Wednesday: Awana day!

Happy Painting

CORRECTION: not 1-D, but 2-D...next time I'll ask the artistic principal FIRST!
Reading has become an ordinary event, with less and less struggling and question. Student has truly soared in her phonics and belief in being able to conquer bigger words! Way to go Student!

History is inching us into Egypt. When Student saw the illustration for our lesson from Genesis today, she was just counting down the minutes until she had the opportunity to draw her own 2-D picture from our lesson on Joseph today.

Our vocabulary words:

seduce

objection

2-D

Yes, this is child-friendly history, but introduction to such words makes for great girl-talk and understanding the evils present in our world still today. She understands that God created family and marriage, and this holy union is under attack. She truly has such a loyalty and understanding of such since she watched Fireproof. Oh, what these amazing child brains can sort out!

Letter by letter, we are now through "L" in our cursive lessons. Student has been creating all the words she can, connecting letters to create words from the letters she has already learned. You know, loopy versions of:

cab, dad, lab, jab, bad, dat...no she hasn't learned scat, for music appreciation, but it sounds like it!

Testing in Math proved that she is learning right along, and still wondering why the tests are so easy. Yes, someday it may not be so, but I bask in this love she has for Math, and thank her Dad for that trait. God is good to create brains that understand Math, as I know that mine doesn't.

Violin practice was done with the puzzle method, and am I glad that her excitement lasted the whole session.

Whew!

Fall Fest, here we come!

Student: It is fun that the first day of Fall is now!

I made Potiphar's wife with her head turned away because she didn't listen to Joseph when he objected.

Monday a-go-go

With efforts in full-force, the Monday run-around begins!

The morning gave us a sneak peek of Autumn breezes and light showers, but Student didn't let this stop her from an A.M. stroll. Across the bridge and over the Arkansas she went! What a way to wake up your senses in the morning, just another fringe benefit of homeschool!

Violin lesson brought specific practice instructions to prepare for an upcoming performance at Fall Fest. Can't wait to hear student at her best: on-stage!

History is so close to completion in Genesis. We doubled up on lessons today, because Student is so eager to continue in Exodus and get deeper into our Egypt studies.

During our Phonics and Language lessons, we discovered Student's seatwork was asking her to connect her cursive letters... and so we got the picture! We are behind in cursive, and so that filled our afternoon with much writing! Trying to catch-up with such loops and curves, Student doesn't mind learning new steps. It's the ongoing repetition that drags!

With the review of Space facts for our open house, Student is growing in anticipation. We'll have to search for some tasty space treats to serve!

Student: My favorite cursive letter is the capital "D". I am glad there is one in one of my names!

Fall Break

Fall officially begins tomorrow, but our Fall break has come and gone. September 11 - September 18. Our family has expanded, and homeschool must go on. Student filled much of her break with Art projects and pushing these wheels along.

Welcome back to school!

Goodbye Space

Bittersweetness for us, but alas, we have to depart. Not for space, but rather, from space. Our unit is complete and we will be sending out email invites out during our Fall Break for our Space Open House. Student kindly asked for "scripts" today when I reminded her that it would be her job to tell about her projects and learning! What a kid!

Also along the lines of completion, we are 5 lessons away from finishing Genesis in History. Today was a grand story of a wedding, right along Student's royal liking! Soon, we will continue onto Exodus, with our focus of Egyptian culture.

Our pledge to the flags and The Holy Bible have become such an entertainment! Toddler has been practicing for Awana that begins next week! Student is such a sweet teacher, too. We are so glad to have the opportunity to live in a country that gives us the freedoms to serve our God and our country.

Today's blessing came with the name of Jo. She surprised Student and took her away to an afternoon of girl-time!

Violin in our afternoon and creating more flashcards for Math, this has been our homeschool day!

Student's Take: It was fun, I didn't even know I was going to go out with Jo! We played at the park. Then we went to the store and got a snack. Then we went to her house & played dress-up. And then it was time to go. I went home.

Baby Blessings

No, our new family addition has not arrived, as of yet. However, Student asked me to title our post as such today because of the lessons in blessings the Lord taught us today! Such lessons are not listed in the Abeka curriculum, but in the book of life and growing in the Lord, we have surely gained knowledge today.

Before our trip of last-minute baby needs, Student finished this self-lead Art project. She asked if it could be permanent decor for Toddler's bedroom door!

And as we left for a day's journey to fulfill our needs, we thought we would arrive home again for additional homeschool, but our time away proved both longer and lesson-teaching.

We left with anticipation of probably coming home empty-handed, as we had seen all we needed online, and wondered if the nearest metropolis would have these needs available. But alas, God fulfilled our heart's desire throughout the day with:

crib mattress, on surprise sale

mobile, new but from 2004, the exact one we desired

and somehow in a random area of the store

stroller, on surprise sale

Thanks, Lord, we feel your constant care!

Student's testimony:

Because if we wouldn't have found out about the way to have the stroller for less, it would have been more. And we found all we needed!

Game Day

Rainy day = game day!

We had a tough time choosing which game to begin with. Student was pleasantly surprised to find our vintage Cootie game. And so this began our time of fun and learning on this Tuesday of homeschool!

The game cabinet holds so much treasure! Student also chose to play memory with Pooh Bear and Toddler. And, of course, what is game day without the traditional Candy Land? And to make sure that Toddler and Student got moving room, they bowled with plastic cups on the floor!

Computer is the new-skool rainy day activity, and we included this, too. As Student took turns with Toddler, there was generally peace throughout this activity! Proof of blessings falling down with the rain...

And of course the other fun in rainy days comes in paper form: books! Student chose to read from Dick and Jane. I read their picks of the day, and all was cozy and dry inside homeschool, today. Until we headed outside with umbrellas in hand!

Student: This is a book I can just breeze through, and that will be easy! Dick & Jane used to take me so long, too!

I have never played Cooties before. I was surprised when I saw it, I didn't even know we had it!...(Someone's been nesting!) I even found a pink body.

Thank you for reading my blog and paying attention what I am learning. My favorite things are History, Math and especially Art! And Recess! I think my Mom is a very good teacher.

Holiday

Happy Labor Day! Or is it a lack-of-labor-day?! We sit and enjoy our backyard tenting, surprise firework show, and flashlight hide-and-seek! All fun with late-night kiddos and no bedtime or schoolwork! Happy Holiday!

Cursive Intensive

Yes, there are 26 letters in the alphabet! Wow, it seems like the loops and swoops will never end!

Student enjoyed the introduction to D, E, and F today. She thought that D would be too hard, but her perseverance proved otherwise. Also, the sliding of a hand across paper is a skill ever-so-delicately perfected. The challenge of fine-tuning these fine motor skills was such a struggle for me, back in the days of being a student. I am thankful for the patient fruit God is producing in Student!

Adding more suffixes to the mix, our magnet board is getting more use today. It is fun to see how many rooms in the house can be used for homeschooling! Since we taught Student to operate the washing machine and dryer today, for Life Skills, the laundry room is getting double-usage today!

Math and Phonics seatwork, along with History and good ol' Reading, our light days continue! Looking forward to Fall Break and an expanding family in the next week! Lead us oh Lord, to use our time wisely.

Student Says: It was fun learning more letters in cursive. My favorite was the capital cursive D. Maybe I will stay up late this weekend!

Suffix Delight

Delightful students are hard to come by, but The blessings of The Lord have provided me with one today!

Student is working on our magnet board that Principal put together for us. The frame was from an auction that nobody claimed, the metal from The Yard, and we made the magnets from our ever-so-loved yo-yos! It's home is in the laundry room, so there is a crisp presence of sun.

Now the real blessing comes in with the homeschool materials, as both the magnet letters and large flashcards were given to us by families that God provided through. Once the word gets out about homeschooling, everyone works together!

Suffix , root word, and verb were our focus in Language today. School House Rock was a grand part of this lesson! As well as skimming through History, Space, Vocab Review, Math & Reading, our load was light. Light days will probably continue as long as Teacher is up with Braxton-Hicks through the night hours. Though learning continues in every aspect of life, some are planned through curriculum and others are a renewing of the mind daily that only God can orchestrate!

Student's Space Thoughts: The first astronaut to put his foot on the moon, was Neil Armstrong. It took him 3 days to get to the moon, and 3 to get back to planet Earth with the other 2 astronauts. This happened in 1969!

Pen Pal

Student has had a relationship with Lehi, a student at Vanderpol Christian Academy in The Philippines, for a year now. We have not written as much as we would like to, so today marked our first pen pal day at homeschool. We took the opportunity to learn about the form of a personal letter, and Student completed it quickly.

In addition to a letter, Student included this yo-yo bookmark she sewed for Lehi, today.

Cursive continues, and Student connected her first letters today to form a word. Having learned the first 3 letters of the alphabet, out natural choice for a first word was cab.

Counting down to our last 10 facts in Space for Science, we have only a few more projects to complete before our open house!

Our outing to the store brought another opportunity for Student to gain life skills with her pricing lists, and then contrasting least and most expensive. The winners today were pork chops, and baby socks.

Reading another chapter in her chapter book, working on her flashcards for Math, studying the next two chapters in Genesis, Student is steadily making progress in her schooling. Toddler, on the other hand, is steadily creating distractions from her schooling! I remember thinking that the actual teaching time would be so much less from a traditional classroom because of our one-on-one learning... wonder how much time a newborn will add to our daily schooling?! Can't wait to see!

Student: It was fun making my yo-yo bookmark for Lehi! Lehi lives in the Philippines. I am sending it to The Philippines. One of my church members is in The Philippines, right now. We think she is a little bit older than me. But that's ok, I like the age I'm at!

Violin Fun

Because there are days that God sends His little interruptions, as a teacher, one must let go of rigid schedules. What blessings we have come to know already this week! Friends stopping by offering blessings, prayers and filling needs! Praise be to God!

This Autumn air has been welcomed with much bicycling today! Both Student and Toddler have peddled there way into the breeze.

As for our studies, violin was a FUN focus today, as Student is learning a new song! This sample is the first 1/3 of the song! She likes the part designated as the "chimp tale"! Only her super teacher Mrs. S can truly know what this means! :)

And, our combo dot flashcards are working well. Student now has an interest in dominoes, as these cards we made look like giant ones. Seatwork reinforces these skills in Math, and today we had less pages than usual! What student would complain about that?!

We read in History from the longest chapter in Genesis today: ch 24. Student kept her eye on the pages in between Toddler's jumping and flapping...no there weren't any chickens in our lesson today, but Toddler was a close second!

Student says: I miss Daddy. I like remembering him and looking at our family picture we did together, Mama. I know he'll be home tomorrow, but I still really miss him! I hope Daddy will drive home safe, and I prayed that he would. That he will will not feel down about his long day at work. I miss him, and I hope he misses me.