Thursday Art

Art in the morning,
Art in the evening,
Art at supper time!



Art alone,
Art with siblings,
Art with friends!

All the live-ling day the Homeschool worked on a project to further the Kingdom. A community project for May Day. And that's enough to call it Halfies and sit back and ponder how God will work through this event!

Leaving the Homeschool for violin lesson, God provided a break in the rain and a dry ride for travel! Thank you Lord, for blessed neighbors! Student just has to decide which piece to play for her recital next week...decisions, decisions.

Not to forget the play of the day:
Student and Warrior constructed a new toy from the following:
spoon
rubber band
hanger

And the creativity brought cooperation and hours of bow and arrow hunting-fun!

Wonder Working Wednesday

And why is it Teacher wonders if the lessons are really soaking in? How can Teacher doubt that Warrior is learning as succinctly as Student though he's standing on his head? When he goes around singing about the wonder-working power in the precious work of the power, of the blood, of the work...there's no denying, the Lord is establishing the work of our hands!

Warrior not only sang, but praised the Lord with horns today!



As for the phonetic alphabet, Warrior has chosen a few favorites in his manly alphabet:
P is for Popeye
W is for Wood
Y is for Yo-yo
X is for Xylophone



God continue to show us your favor, and may these children grow in You through their knowledge, and admonition. Amen.

Today was focused on The Word. The Homeschool has found that there is no overwhelming rush to scramble and fit in all the remaining knowledge of a lifetime, in the last 2 weeks of homeschool. Still trying to focus and remember what comes first. Thus, we caught up on Bible History, all 5 lessons! And gazed upon some funnies about figuring just what is in the Bible?!





Thanks to Grammy for some recent Easter greetings of Jelly Telly! This humor is parallel with Student's age and interests right now. And Teacher can't complain when there's not even a purple dinosaur in sight!

Student has been working on reconfiguring fingers and rearranging bows to fit her new, larger and God-provided violin! Readying her working piece for solo recital next Monday, she is looking forward to surprising Mrs. S tomorrow with the rewards of her diligent work.

Mascot has been enjoying lunch as a family. Eating food off Teacher's plate, and having playtime afterwards! Principal rather enjoys midday love, too!



Student reviewed addressing an envelope and sent off the UPCs for Warrior's surprise Toy Story 3 plate. Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee when she offers FREE stuff!



Counting down, daily...
In Christ alone...
The Homeschool perseveres...

Thursday: Feet off the Ground

Up and down, around and around, where our feet pedaled us, nobody knows!?



Who: Student and Teacher

What: unlikely event of a morning excursion

Where: from the homeschool to the local donut shop

When: 7:00am

How: with feet pedaling and bicycles rolling

Why: to surprise the boys with some morning goodies,
think of others first,
have some communion with the Lord in His beautiful morning,
get some girl time,
make our hearts happy with a 2 mile ride



After returning back to the homescool, Student continued work on her current families of multiplication... and then it hit.
The...
morning...
was...
suddenly, too long...
and her morning activity caught up with her.



To bed, to bed. Fast asleep in her parents' bed. And what a catnap of beauty rest she had!

To follow:

Reading the promises of the Bible to Warrior.
I want him to be in heaven where I'll be.

And a trip back downtown with Warrior and Mascot to see a local star...



And a trip to lesson with Mrs. S, accepting the blessing of the new violin! On-loan and in-her-hands! God has answered our prayer for the larger sized instrument that Student's growth was requiring! So with much thanks, and praise to a God of details, delighting in giving Student her heart's desire because she delights in Him, we finish yet another day in His plan.
God is faithful! Amen.

Interrupted Wednesday

It's true, the learning of complete sentence structure was upon us, but it was Student that suggested today be the day! Through a God-interruption, that is!

Student separated the subject from the predicate, and viewed one of her fav old skool house rock videos! Really, God's timing is perfect because Teacher wasn't looking forward to this lesson, and with the contagious enthusiasm from Student it was a rather fun experience! Oh, Lord, how patient You have been with us this year. Thank you for reminding us that the Grammar and Language are second to the relationships we are building with You and each other as a family.
Amen.

Student filled her arms with a fresh load of books from the local library. Immediately upon our return to the homeschool, she escaped to her room with her newest treasure in hand: Fancy Nancy Bonjour, Butterfly.

Teacher had her chance to read as well. Student chose a historical fiction journal from a dust bowl migrant. And also on our pile, we read Here Comes the Garbage Barge, base on a true story which showcases fabulously creative art from Red Nose Studio. Also we enjoyed There Was an Old Monkey Who swallowed a Frog. We must have done as much reading as the Oregon Steiny Homeschool! Whew!

While Student, having her mid-morning snack on the porch, noted the chirping of the breeze, Teacher found the homeschool to be quite quiet.



Suspiciously quiet...
and the search was on!
Where could Warrior be? Mascot was fast asleep in his crib. And Warrior? Well, in bed because he said he was cold! Thus Teacher knew the ordinary daily experiments would have to take a hiatus, as something was fishy. Alas, a fever was brewing, and he spent most of his ibuprofen-filled day in bed. Blessings of restored health to our Warrior. Amen.




Mathematics continued Students introduction to multiplication. She wrote the facts for the 3s family, and explained how she figured each correctly the first try! Again, props to the God of grace for granting Teacher a daughter who enjoys Math and has such a gift for the subject!

Squeezing in violin practice, Student gently swiped the instrument from the grasp of one certain excited Mascot...



and memorized the finger positions for her working piece. (No, Mrs. S, we don't make a habit of this sharing with Mascot...) Student now works on the ever-familiar transition from fingers to bow, go! And we shall see what tomorrow holds!

May the God of Lights bring us more sunshine and interruptions to our schedule of life. To Him be the glory forever and ever, Amen.

Tuesday Roll

Just like the old skool when we opened that fresh canister of film and couldn't fathom the possibilities we could capture with just a click...Student walzted through the yard to find 15 different blooming varieties of God's beauty ever-present in the earth. A true celebration of the new season He has brought. A truly unfathomable outcome from the hands of a first grader.

And the roll drops...






This was an encouragement to bring her out of bed early. Listening to the birds praise Him, feeling the morning sun, Student became a fan of God's creativity! As though she didn't already have a love for color and visual arts, she has now a new appreciation for these that God has given.

This collage had to endure bits of cropping, unlike the above raw shots, but is the result of her Spring Scavenger Hunt. From the outdoors, to the indoors: a transformation by Student.



Reading, Math, and Language seatwork, violin, hospitality toward Warrior's playmate, Art, Geography, and a day of homeschool was made.

Thursday: Feet on the Ground

The ground away from the Homeschool, to be exact. Away with the wind we went, as in the Midwest there aren't many other directions to go! Bikes for a total of 3 miles, including stops at the following:

local thrift shop, (where Teacher spent more of her Christmas certificate and enjoyed the company of friends)

donut shop, (where Warrior was a man of honor and thought to get his buddy the same apple cake donut he wanted to enjoy)

park, (where Student enjoyed her peanut butter donut)

flea market, (where Warrior spied a fishing pole)

local library, (where Student learned the online book search program, and scouted books on our last few History requirements)

violin lesson, (where Student grew her knowledge of note-reading)

Civil War cannon memorial (where Student and Warrior climbed and played pirate while Teacher sucked up knowledge from her mentor during Bible Study)

and through the rocky detour that paralleled the train tracks and brought smiles to Mascot when the passing train engineer waved at him.

Thank you , Jehovah Protector, for commanding your angels to guard us in all our ways away from the Homeschool today. Amen.

Thursday: Feet on the Ground

Does the Homeschool remember this day by now?

C'mon Teacher, think HARD! HARDER!

Well, it was a Math day with the introduction of greater than > and less than < symbols...ummm...

Reading pretty much is daily...

Traveled in the sun and wind to Student's Violin lesson...

Remembering a faint Bible lesson including Warrior asking questions about the miracles of Jesus...

This blog is a legal log requirement... we just have fun posting pictures and blessings and memories and reminders of WHAT NOT TO DO next time! And so that's what this day as, a day of learning now logged at the Homeschool!

Wednesday Wish Wash

Reading in the morning, Reading in the noontime, Reading at Supper time! Today's Reading brought this summary from Student of William Tell:

In Switzerland a long long time ago. There was an army that took over the land, and a man that became the new ruler. And, he put his hat on a pole and it was in the public square and every one had to bow to the hat. But William Tell did not. So he had to go to jail for a long long time. And so, after that happened he said he was going to let him free, but the next day his son was going to be on one side of the tow square and if the apple on his head was not shot, but his son was, he said he would shoot his son before everyone's eyes. And the next day the arrow given to shoot the child was bent, and it hit the apple instead. Everyone but him was happy. The man thought that he had more friends than he had, so the man went away and the country was free again!

Math had a tall order for Student as she completed 2 pages of seatwork and new ideas of carrying over. Her fun of equilateral shapes expanded her excitement of graph paper! And of course the triangles couldn't just be lonely shapes...Student turned them into a dino!

Self-led Art brought more spring into the Homeschool! Dutch shoes and blooms galore!



Ready for lessons tomorrow with Mrs. S, Student will deliver her full version of Long Long Ago...can't wait to move onto the next song! Teacher thinks everyone in the Homeschool will vote for that!

Computer time was a group effort today as we participated in a Live Online Event. Fun and family go together hand-in-hand! We worked on our family tree. Parts of the game were hilarious, with popcorn popping into the air and sheep running with bowls to catch the flying grain! Other parts were confusing to Warrior, as he had to sort out which grandpa went to which parent...



History in the Bible today was all about transfiguration. From the Gospels, Student reminded Teacher, that many may call them ghosts, but they didn't know what else to call them. They were a vision, like a dream! Ok, no fear here, AMEN! And when we see Jesus and Moses next time, we'll know it's all real, too! Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!

Venturing out in between heaven's showers, during Mascot's nap, Warrior and Student assisted Teacher with some bicycle surgery.



The 16mm wrench just wouldn't budge with the force of Teacher's muscles, though. Oh to have the power of Principal around. Unsuccessful, Student and Warrior opted to finish the afternoon indoors with a little drama of King and Knight with a baby dragon arousing in the cave...



In preparation for AWANA, Warrior made of list of the ways he has loved his neighbor and helped them this week:
Loved Dad and helped find his pool stick
Loved Mom and helped do the dishes.
Loved Student and helped her when she was hurt.
Loved Mascot and kept him safe by holding him correctly.

And congrats to Student who earned her Sparks review patch tonight! Only 4 more nights of Awana before summer break! Let the countdown begin!

Monday Music

Reading keeps on bringing new ideas and stories into Student's brain. She began Reading in the Abeka 2nd Grade storybook from Mrs. Val. She picked her fav of 6 stories she read in the sunny backyard and summarized the Real Princess to Warrior. He even related it to the puppet show he last saw at the local library. Those thinkers!

Language had Student practicing more sentence structure and cursive along the way. TOday's topic: breakfast.
Four things you like for breakfast:
toast
eggs
bacon
stroodle

Two sentences about your fav breakfast:
My favorite was eggs! Breakfast is your first meal so your hungry!

Violin moves through Long Long Ago as we wish for it to be LONG LONG GONE...we tried playing a game to have fun reviewing for the special guest-teacher this weekend at peer group class, and it did bring smiles to our faces!



Math brought practice of number lines concepts, and Mr. Clock review. Student also worked on feet to yard conversions. She had thoughts as to whether to use a ruler or yard stick to measure the following:
Rug in living room: yard stick
Violin: ruler
Porch: yard stick

Subtracting double-digit numbers, and learning about scale drawings, Student completed her work!

It was Mascot that had a skill-developmental lesson from Warrior today: the sock ball!



Working on returning items given to him, eye-control to focus on moving objects, awareness of throwing an object with a ouroise (doesn't EVERY boy need to learn this?!) and further eye-hand coordination, Mascot enjoyed his learning-play with big Warrior!

Cuddling for a pre-nap read, Warrior asked for Lil Bill! Mascot much enjoyed the bright illustrations, and it wasn't until Warrior squeezed Mascots leg for kicking him that the reading and warmth was interrupted. Alas, to nap he goes, and to play the Homeschool goes!

Wednesday Wilderness

Wilderness Road, to be exact. Student is getting through the still-needed American History. Daniel Boone also fit into today's lesson. No big smiles or groans either way for Student, she just listened and learned.

It was the violin practice that brought out the groaning. But Student made it through Long Long Ago, and will have another quick practice tonight for Principal when he returns from the workday.

Mascot and Warrior read Dr. Seuss together. The growing age of Mascot is more obvious with the Homeschool events of reading, as he lets no book go unread! Don't even try to sneak and read without him, either.




Student scored 80% on today's Spelling list:
photo
√ chaot (caught)
moth
fear
orange
almost
√ pillo (pillow)
dimple
station

Finishing up Phonics and Language with review of pronouns and examples of antonyms and synonyms, Student was ready for a break! Math break to be exact!

Writing the long name for numbers and adding combinations with 4 addends, Student enjoyed the flashcard work. Making the pages kid-sized makes all the difference some days!



Warrior is also growing as he now plays the actual learning games on his toy-computers instead of just using them to make racket to distract Student from her studies...well, sometimes he still distracts, but what else are boys for bu to annoy those in their immediate environment and get a kick out of it? Got to love the little men!



Carted and rolled around all-the-live-long-Homeschool-day, Mascot served his purpose: ceating smiles on family faces! Through Bible History, Cursive Writing, and yet more Reading, our little trooper rolled in-style!



Thank you Lord above for adding your grace and mercy in the presence of our littlest adiition, that makes some of the biggest difference in our day! Amen

Thursday Things to Read

Beginning our morning of learning in Warrior's bedroom as he had his separate computer turn,
Mascot wanted his share of the flag-holding duties for pledges.



Trying to do her Spelling list of special sounds dge as in fudge, ch as in chorus and suffix review, Mascot was right in on the seatwork as well.



Pinkalicious was the first of the day's Reading. All from Student to Warrior, Teacher listened to their words from the other room. God's ways of making the little things work, is the heart of Homeschool. So often big plans are the focus, and as in life, it's the little daily things that are making it all worthwhile.

Reading also took place at the library. As we left the Homeschool for Student's first lesson back after sickness, we thought to make an afternoon of outings in the sun! Riding bikes from place to place, Student was readying her legs for soccer while Warrior is focused on readying his muscles for tee ball come summer!

Again, the little things, like walking as buddies, times of sibling togetherness that result inn love. Only God could orchestrate such peace out of sibling chaos!



Working together in playtime at the park, we knew our afternoon was fading and we must return to the Homeschool for seatwork. And once arrived, Student worked on Mathematics and wrote her sweet kite story and read it aloud:
Sally's Kite
One day Sally got a kite for her birthday!
She went outside to play with it.
She ran out to fly it it went up into the sky.
"Oh!!! Look mom the kite went into the tree!" the kite got stuck. DADDY! got the lattr
DADDY! can reach it! HooRay DAD saved the Day!!! By Student

Reading also from The American Revolution from A to Z, Warrior wanted to answer each question with a sure bet of an answer: George Washington. Every question, every answer throughout the reading. Now that's just like the sure answer in Sunday School:Jesus! He's got it down.

Finishing the day reading from Fancy Nancy A to Z Fancy WOrds, Student has a favorite for today: Z is for Zany. Daddy is zany!
Speaking of Principal, the kids created some springtime Art for him. List of needed suuplies:
pink cotton balls
white cotton balls
scissors
crayons
glue
LOVE
They let their bunnies hop to be with Principal at work and smiled as they left a trail of cut paper, broken crayons and glue puddles behind...

Thursday Thumbnails

As a legal record for our midwest state, we keep our homeschool records here, thanks Blogger.
And knowing Teacher all-too-well, if this blog were on paper, it'd be in 27 places at once, right now. Thus, one would conclude that the organization of the Homeschool would be better kept in cyberspace... but alas, not all of our doings can make it there. Teacher can only recall what happened by looking at the pictures because Toddler is finding every paper possible to wad into a baseball, and at the same point in time, Student is drawing on every available paper and folding airplanes... so as to where the notes of learning accomplished went to for Thursday, we will never know!

The picture evidence is as follows:



Teacher remembers early morning target practice at the front door, with the world's largest orange rubber band...



Teacher has fixed in her mind the lesson of the phonetic alphabet while simultaneously shooting pool...



Teacher recalls asking Student to read to Toddler as Mascot was nursed...and a faint memory of calmness was detected for the 30 minutes following their reading as the two disappeared upstairs to play reading-motivated airplanes...



Somewhere after violin lesson and during the quiet of Toddler's nap, Teacher walked past Student curling up in a chair for a chapter of Mattie Mae...



Teacher witnessed the smile on a face when giving Toddler a minute of photography opportunity...



Teacher sees the beauty of the Lord and rests in His promise to bring a new season, as well as rhyme and reason to our Homeschool.

Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Midweek Rocketeer

Yes, the Homeschool met it's goal of finishing seatwork and learning-on-paper before noon, so the afternoon could be set aside for outdoor rocketeering! Go us!



We began the day with breakfast and History at the table. Principal listened to Student read 3 sections! And with his ears and eyes amazed..Student read right through "...summoning the officer and his guard...anxiously they returned to Jerusalem...the distinguished men were amazed at the wisdom and understanding of the child at only twelve..." If Teacher could have read so well in first grade, there may have been an actual enjoyment developed of reading! God has truly blessed this generation with more than we can know!



Amidst Student's seatwork in Phonics, the rockets began to take shape. Beginning from an attachment formed by Toddler to a rocket set at a metropolis bookstore, last week, our promises of creating a homeschool rocket took shape today.

After all was complete... WAIT ...come and see how the Mascot laughs... that was the call from Toddler and Student from the nursery. We found them batting baby fabric blocks intoMascot's face, and he was indeed laughing about it! What a united set of siblings! Getting them together and on the same page of creativity happens more than before we began the obedient journey of homeschooling. All praise to God for the times of peace and unity, not by our workings do they love one another.



Before we get back to the great outdoors...
√ Finish the introduction to George Washington
√ Complete a map of the US during his administration (while Teacher nursed Mascot and so the prevailing map was a bit mixed-up, but full effort was put forth, it's just that Teacher needs to learn the EXACT shapes or print a copy of the states before setting Student free to complete such a task...)
√ Violin practice
√ Phonics seatwork
√ Math calendar review

All thoroughly enjoyed the experiment, and though Teacher and Principal taught of the solid and liquid reaction creating a gas.. the experiment never lifted the rocket off of the ground! Maybe next time, we should tell the instructions to include MEASUREMENTS of the ingredients!?

So, Student and Toddler settled for the ol' Mentos and Coke reaction:
exploding soda to new heights was just as much of a blast! The reaction being visible with the naked eye helped Toddler and Student get it.

As for the clean-up? Weather man says God's planning showers and light snow tomorrow night...Thanks, Lord.

Finishing up the afternoon outside in the sun... just for fun!



Principal aiding in the learned new skill: Heeley hand-me-downs...

as the smiles from Mascot were just enough to remind us that everyday is a day the Lord has made, with or without sun! Though, honestly, we are praising Him for the presence of the sun today!

Tuesday, Really?

Opening up the books, again, the Homeschool
read of the birth of Jesus, the shepherd's visitation
in the stable and the arrival to the temple with baby Jesus.
Toddler always gets excited for the temple story
from Luke ch.2. Even with his vitamin C,
kleenex, water, medicine and sneezes close by he enjoyed hearing of Simeon.
And for the rest of History, we will catch up to George Washington this week.
Curriculum catch-up is the name of the game!



Student had a tough violin practice today. She is working so diligently to get through this working piece before she meets for her private lesson with Mrs. S on Thursday.



She is determined, and her fingers will prevail. This video gives the first line of her working piece: May Song. It always helps the Homeschool to think of May...cuz summer's on the way!



New to violin practice is the volume chart. Mrs. S drew up this pretty paper for Student, and just had to include PURPLE! Well, it's a great help in learning the Italian terms and remembering to look for such clues in her music.



Aside from review and seatwork in Math, Student joined Principal for some hoops at the Rec Center. We all are resting on the promise of warmer weather tomorrow! Provided God brings it, we'll be out in it!

Mascot enjoyed a naptime read with Toddler: The Relatives Came, from Gramma S2. Really, this book gives more laughter and fun than a winding-down naptime story should...but Toddler especially picked it out.



Toddler learned all about fighting-fires today, with his favorite video from Grandmother. He has seen this teaching-tool countless times, so Teacher quizzed him on his findings.

Teacher: What did you learn about fire fighters today?
Toddler: Everything! All about fires.
Teacher: Who fights fires?
Toddler: I do! I have my very own fire suit!
Teacher: But you haven't gone to school to learn about fighting fires. Would you like to do that when you are grown?
Toddler: Yes!
WHEW! No arguments that the Homeschool needed to teach fire science, so all is settled, now!

Tuesday, Really?

Yes, the name of which day this post pertains to must be in the header because we are behind in posting! So, back to Tuesday...



Student is continuing her studies of the ocean. The creature of focus was the majestic angelfish. Student learned:
The fish grows bigger in the ocean. It is smaller in a tank. A kid angelfish is about 2 1/2 inches. They live by the coral reef, but not by Florida. You have to go to Australia to the Indian Ocean. The natural habitat God designed is warm saltwater. Is my natural habitat a belly?
Teacher: Well, we were created for a far better place than this!
Student: Oh yeah! So my natural habitat is heaven?! Then this isn't my home?! Good. That's really good to know.
Teacher: Amen!



The majestic angelfish swam over to the subject of Art as well. Student is learning about portraits and drawing something how it looks through your eye, as closely to the way appears in real life. But, Teacher used the word DRAW only and didn't specify that COLORING is included. Thus, Student produced a colorful angelfish indeed, just not acurate to the design of God. That's when we remembered that this life is preparation for Heaven and maybe God's preparing her to be a fish designer in Heaven! We all know the world could use more pink and purple, so why not begin the revamping in Art?! GO STUDENT!

In preparation for Valentine's Friday Party, Student made cards for our homeschool pals that will be coming over to celebrate. Her leftover paper scraps and goodies were from her Art time with Mrs. Nancy. What a blessing! How many times can God go before us and set the details in a row? Keep it up, Lord! We are thankful for Your constant care!



That ever-present angelfish also jumped out of the water and into Biology! No, we usually don't study multiple types of Science, today just happened! Student was amazed at God's intricate design of cells. How can people be deceived and think we just happened? Our conversation was of her new vocab:
cell
nucleus
chromosome
DNA

And, thanks to God above, violin is back and harder than ever! Student is being challenged with note reading and this is a whole different dimension of practice, and time, that Teacher never even saw coming! So, we ask for our Father's care in creating time for each of the tasks He has planned for this and every day! Amen.