Monday Beginning

Finding the math of an art project too-complicated, Teacher calls Principal in for assistance!



And so his brain and our hands collectively finished HALF of our first Pinterest-inspired project!

As for rug time, those kiddos scrunched down and squatteed for their chance to JUMP up for their birthday month during our 12 months of the year lesson for cousin. He hadn't heard the Homeschool's rendition before today, but he's in love now!



Back to desks for piano activities. Studying up on their note-reading, Cousin is certainly thinking hard!



Working puzzles and practicing 0-5 times tables, this morning has been a blessing, A reminder from our Father in heaven that all good things come from Him.

Having some quiet-space for Reading, Warrior chooses the dining room to speed through his lesson and hit the outdoors as soon as possible.



Student, also loving the Autumn weather blessings, is putting her artistic talents to work for the 1st Annual LIFE RIDE to take place over the next weekend. Lord, may you get the glory and honor as you are a God of truth. May your truth be celebrated on bikes this weekend!

Monday Before

Begin, and then begin, again.



Everyday His mercies are new. Thank You, oh Lord.



Outside for Warrior. Glue, markers and
it's not even a disaster!



This kid is counting by two's!



Skip counting is a fun, new but strange voyage for Warrior. He's hooked.

Back to the familiar, review on musical families.



Also in the Fine Arts, Student leaps into contour drawing. She set up the still-life and caught the action on paper!



Ending work with play, Warrior's bed proved to be a great card table.

Wednesday Dirt

Because the promises of our Heavenly Father
stand true, planting begins.

As spring is bound to come, the garden work begins inside with Student, Warrior and Mascot
each providing their skills in a group effort:



water: check.
seeds: check.
dirt: check.

Let's do this thing!





Alongside the dirt,
praises fill the air.



From piano to voice,
the Homeschool belts it!



Seatwork for all, and all for seatwork...right?



Not all feel that way, but each does their share...
or tries to escape before doing so.

Thursday School

And so continues the learning process.



Reading for Warrior gets a new environment,
as he reads in his room and tries to take turns
playing AND reading!

Mascot toots the train from the other room,
as Student and Warrior try to focus among the noise!



Just more training for the world outside of the campus, right!?
Wherever God plans to work through these kiddos, there will surely be noise!
So we do all things for His glory and make some noise with an old favorite hymn:
Pass It On.

Teacher remembers the Autumn mornings Grandmother would invite the neighborhood kids over. Yes, before school made for an early start on the school day, but the kids would come, and we would sing to Jesus and pray for our day ahead in the public schools.

Grandmother would play piano as the kids would sing. Teacher longs to teach her own kiddos of the days and music past. Hymns that bring praise in a warm presence of togetherness and the Holy Spirit. Mmm, hmmm.

As for Warrior, he sits and shoots like he isn't listening... til Teacher hears him sing from the other room. Those brains are always at work!



And finishing his Phonics lesson with a request, Warrior identified the letters with his sense of touch and CLOSED eyes!



Student kept busy with Reading, as usual, but made time for an experiment after her seatwork.

She has been studying energy, and today was wind and water.



The Homeschool had no pinwheel on hand. Our artful skills proved not too useful this time, as the pinwheel we could MAKE would be water and Student quickly hypothesized that it would get soaked! We had better get some foam on hand for just such emergencies!



Realizing that the blades of the propeller needed to be angled, Student's last effort to use wind to push the propellers brought her fun mess to an end!



Lord, above, we thank you for this daily experience raising these children in the knowledge and admonition of You. Feeling exhausted, exhilarated, pain and joy many times even all in one day, we lift our efforts and ask that You would give the courage and perseverance to continue in this good work You have begun in us. In the Holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Monday

That's all?

The weekend is over?

But there's still illness going around on campus.

However, Student & Warrior found something to sing about:
Transportation Vehicles.

This is a melodic short featuring their Teacher-lead Drawings.
Complete with stuffy voices, and lack of practice, as nobody wants to revise a project
when they are sick!



Read some.

Spell some.

Review some.

Call it a Halfie and go back to bed.

Tuesday, Last

Student and Warrior have done well caring for their sprouted beans. Watering,
sunning,
and waiting.

Oh, yes, part of the learning experiences of life: waiting!



What other life lessons are going on around here,
one may ask?



Just ask Warrior, he'll tell you what he's reading!
He's moving onto ai, ay, y, and long O.
He continues his struggles with short i and e,
but since they are both non-projectory sounds, this is rather common.

And there is no news in Student's Reading, but that it's taking up more of her free time.
When the schoolday is over, she requests quiet time up in her room away from the boys, with her dolls and her books!

As for her Science, the Abeka Discovering God's World have proven a good fit for the Homeschool. It's filled with colorful pictures relating God to all of the happenings in nature and simple machines and pulleys.



Yes, that white window blurrrr is the freshly fallen snow.
Even with the canceling of some local districts, we continued our day of learning.
That's the beauty of a schedule made by the Homeschool
and implemented by Principal!

Also getting in on the Reading fun, Mascot enjoys some cuddle time with Student here and there!



Continuing work in Music on their transportation song, both Warrior and Student completed Teacher-lead drawings of all the vehicles in the song:
car
train
helicopter
tractor
They will present their song with these pictures as soon as they have it mastered!
Video to come soon!



And not to spoil God's surprise of snow, the day ended with a romp among the beauty of white covering the backyard!

Wednesday Wonders

Really, it is obvious there IS a God, when it's January and the sun continues to bring warmth for out door activity.



It is even MORE evident that there is a God when Teacher observes the daily ways this family grows closer together.



Being in the lives of these children God has entrusted us, is going to bring lasting memories and love.



And what else is MORE eternal than relationships. First and foremost with our Savior Jesus Christ, and then with those we love.



Even when the wee hands MUST get involved in reorganizing scattered recipes, there is the presence of God in the love that is daily being harvested through learning at the Homeschool.

Make a Difference Monday

Beginning our last semester of the year... WOW! His grace has been, and will continue to be sufficient. Thus, we continue our journey through 2011. We are making a difference in the lives of these children of God, on Mondays and always, as we will not be strangers to their souls.

Our mornings are beginning with Student's reading aloud a Psalm each day. This devotional has some fun insights, and Student is learning more about pausing with punctuation and elocution. Warrior is just trying to learn to LISTEN & SIT simultaneously. Today he opted to piggy back on Teacher and listen.



Continuing seatwork and finishing up Christmas thank yous to our thoughtful relatives put our new pencils to work. Thanks to Grammy for the school supplies! Nice rulers just in time for Student's transportation lessons in Math. She's measuring to the quarter inch and even singing about it! The song will have to come later, after Teacher can play it succinctly on the keyboard!



Teacher had thought including this song was far less than NEEDED, and maybe even under the maturity level of Student, but it just so happens, that Warrior enjoys it and loves all things TRANSPORTATION, so God went before us and lined-up an opportunity for Teacher to read music and play the keyboard! Oh what fun! (Yes, Teacher has not had a lesson since 1996...and that was clarinet!)

On the homeschool campus, Mascot roams and finds the best places to park it and learn...



Of course, that's when he's not in on the lesson...



With the constant help of Student, our semester began right on track. Oh what love the Father has lavished upon us, as that girl is the nucleus of everything that goes on, here. In addition to her own studies, she is actively helping others. Thank you, God.



The day is done, the lessons are learned,
and the result of Warrior's continued practice cutting with scissors
has yielded the sweetest one-legged bear!
God is smiling, and so are we!

Monday School

How better to start the week than sleeping late & waking up to some PRINCIPAL play!



Student has been helping Warrior much with his reading, during their backpack time.



Not only a lover of Reading herself, but this love is being passed onto her brothers with a smile! Including Christmas accounts of the CHrist-child's nativity...




Really, this account of our days schooling is such a blessing to look back at all the blessings He hath bestowed upon our lives. Our lives that are but a vapor...may we continue this good work He has begun in us until the day Christ Jesus returns.

And with great gratitude we thank our Lord for bike-riding/skating weather!





As for this day, through the learning, play, pencils and erasers, the days ends as sweetly as it began...PRINCIPAL play!

Monday Back, Again

The hiatus is back off, again! Holidays are so sweet and such a need to recharge.

In the sunshine and pumping it up! Student, Warrior and Mascot share mats for sit-ups and push-ups.



Mascot has really gotten a hang of hanging with the bigger kiddos. There isn't much going on these days that he ISN'T a part of! What a blessing!

Student is readying her singing voice for the Christmas parade. She has her carols in hand and is taking time to sing during this Advent season.



Her writing today, focused on the 3 parts of a story and how completing each part in order is key. She loved the opportunity to draw pictures to help her brain organize the words. However, her idea of a completed assignment doesn't include REVISIONS! So, alas, Teacher has to be teacher more than once a day, and revisions conquered and we all learned something!



And, almost as much as Student reads, she draws. She says she would like to be a fashion designer or make-up artist when she's grown. Her illustration gifts remind Teacher of Principal's! And, really, her prayers are that God's purpose for her would bring her to the city! She says she likes the country, but loves the city!

This curvy sketch was part of Teacher's birthday card last week!



Our Bible lesson is focusing on the birth of Christ. We checked out a colorful book with rhyming for the sake of Warrior. He's still focused on the beginning sounds of words for Reading, that the whole rhyming idea really throws him off. Each day we will read a different version of the Nativity of Christ and know how such a babe born to die for us is a wonderful gift!

Warrior's seatwork had his attention with the information of doctors. He hasn't been to the optometrist in his short life, as of yet, so the eye chart he thought quite fun!



It was the information on shots that he couldn't listen to because he was too focused on the picture itself! He circles each picture in the order he wants Teacher to talk about them, and he was hesitant, but didn't save the SHOT til last! What a brave boy!

It was a day completed with a time of activity at the rec center. It was after the indoor play that the kiddos wanted just 5 minutes at an outdoor park. They agreed that upon hearing Teacher honk, they would come running...and they did!



Praise be to God for His presence of beauty in this world. The sun shines like no other today, and His care is around us. Amen