Homeschool Schedule like Sonlight

I have created a new document, for the purpose of making my hectic life a little easier. I have always been drawn to the Sonlight Instructor's Guides, and I almost bought one just because I love the format! However, I like doing things my own way, so I tinkered around on excel to make a document that would fit my needs. Feel free to download it and alter it on your own computer as you need!

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApkU0Jijr_J2dFdJVzlDWGtodlA3eFdXWndCcVR3Q3c&hl=en&authkey=CKbjtfsI

I haven't gone near this blog in so long. I am constantly on the go. Let's break it down:

Monday-Friday: Homeschooling

Tuesday- Gymnastics and Swimming

Thursday- Indoor Soccer and Swimming

Friday- Co-op (PE, Music, Geography)

Sunday- Church and Scouts

This is weekly. In addition, we have constant play dates and field trips. This week, we went roller skating. Sometimes, we head to the museum.

Our trip last week was lots of fun. We went to the Museumof Natural Sciences in Raleigh as well as a quick stop to the history museum next door.

Here is Aidan, showing you a turtle and the boys posing in front of a Hell Bender. Yes, a Hell Bender. How many times do you think they said "Hi, HELL Bender?" "Mom, it's a HELL Bender!" Any chance to say a "bad" word, it is ridiculous. :)

Aidan is learning how it would have felt to get water for the family in the first picture, while Preston looks on as a dinosaur consumes his brother.

In December, we celebrated Aidan's 7th Birthday with a Star Wars theme and on February 2nd, we celebrated Preston's 4th birthday with a "Blue Baby"/"Brown Baby" theme. Those are his precious monkeys who like to go everywhere with Preston.

Here is the R2D2 cake I made:

Blue Baby/Brown Baby cake I made:

So, those are just some highlights of recent months.

A day in the life of our homeschool

So, here goes... a day in our homeschool. I would say "typical" day, but there is never a typical day, because we switch things up, go to co-op classes, enrichment activities, field trips, and meet with homeschool groups. We have a field trip coming up soon to go to... a COOKIE FACTORY! We are super excited about that, as we will get to sample their moravian cookies and see how they are made. We are going on one to the transportation museum, plus we are going to the Alamance Battleground one day in October to get a very Colonial Williamsburg type experience- meeting blacksmiths, schoolteachers, spinners, and more. We will even see a cannon fired! Aidan is thrilled about that.

First off, here is what our homeschool area looks like. It is a section of the playroom. The picture on the left shows you that there is a bookcase full of books(this is 1 of the 2 we have upstairs), a Thomas chair the boys sit on to look at books, the plastic bins with craft supplies and math manipulatives, a map of the U.S., a dry erase board (which we use every single day for most subjects!). On the picture on the right, you see 2 desks. The smaller one is for our 3 1/2 year old, Preston. The larger is for Aidan, our 6 1/2 year old. We have a multiplication chart, 100 number chart, chore chart, calendar, and weather chart.

Now, here is how our day went today.

I first woke Aidan up...who happened to be camping out in his tent in the playroom. Life is good. :)

Somewhere around 7:15

We started with an art project, and then went on to math. We use Saxon 2, which is manipulative heavy. The lesson today was on drawing pictures to represent addition and subtraction problems, plus reviewing calendar work, graph work, addition, and basic fractions.

After our normal lesson (which takes between 30 to 45 minutes), he got to play around with tangrams/pattern blocks.

Around this time, Preston woke up and was ready to learn! He may be 3 1/2, but he tells everyone he is homeschooled. He loves reading, math, pretty much everything. Here he is, reading from an easy reader.

After breakfast, it was time for history. This is Aidan's favorite subject. We use Story of the World and we are currently studying ancient times-middle ages. We had an encyclopedia reading today and we read a book set in the time period of ancient India, entitled The King's Chessboard. Aidan also went back to last week's work to finish a project from the Byzantine empire.

Aidan then did some reading from two of our Abeka readers, his Handbook for Reading book, as well as his seat work for Language 1 and Letters and Sounds 1.

After a snack, we needed a break... so we headed to the Burlington area to Joe Davidson park for playground fun and a nature walk.

The boys loved hiking through the woods and discovering different trees, rocks, mushrooms, and even a little stream of water. After a nice walk through the woods, we found a bench to sit on and eat our picnic lunch. The boys were very tired when we were through and ready to go home. We ran into another homeschooling family there, learning about the phases of the moon. The woman, who will teach Aidan's geography co-op course, had the same idea as I did- to do some learning outside.

We went back home and it was time to read! I read the boys a book about too many toys, and Aidan read a Henry and Mudge book. Aidan also used Explode the Code online.

This usually takes place in my bed. :)

When all of the subjects were completed, we headed down to the .....

POOL!!!

So, that is one day in our lives. Every single day is different. Some more stressful, some more exciting, but each a blessing.

1st Grade!

So, today the school bus arrived nice and early to take all of the neighborhood kids to school... It was the first day back for the local schools, but we started back with our school work 3-4 weeks ago (so we can break when the weather is nice and cool). We are loving homeschooling right now! Today we did our schoolwork, went to a bowling playdate with our homeschooling group, and spent an hour at the pool.

Our school choices this year:
Math- Saxon 2
Reading- Abeka, Explode the Code Online, Phonics Pathways, HOP
Spelling- Hooked on Spelling
Science and History- Well Trained Mind choices (classical)
Electives- Hooked on Spanish, Abeka Health
Classes- Homeschool Gymnastics, Art, Geography, and Music
And lots of trips to the museum, zoo, and LIBRARY!

This year we switched our math program from Math-U-See (used Alpha last year) to Saxon 2 this year. The boys like Saxon much better. I say boys, because Preston sits there and counts, skip counts, and answers the questions with his brother. He also insists on reading his brother's 1st and 2nd grade reading material, annoying Aidan greatly. :)

I am really looking forward to a great year. Last year I was not at all confident, but I am learning more each year!

Mother's Day reflections

I am sitting here in a quiet house... Joel has taken the boys out for some Mother's Day shopping. It has given me a peaceful house, which is nice- for a while. My family often comments on how crazy it seems at my house, but I truly cherish the noise. The sound of raucous laughter, the running feet, the barking dogs. It may be chaotic, but it is my chaos.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I think back to those hospital trips...those tiny little babies that I would be entrusted with. I remember turning around in the car as we left the hospital when we brought Aidan home and seeing the car seat with him in it. It hit me...he was MY son. Up until that point in the hospital, it was all very dream like. He would be mine to protect, nurture, and raise. When his little brother joined us 3 years later, I felt so blessed. They certainly grow quickly, but every stage is so special. Play-dough food brought to me for tasting, pictures to admire, swings to push, and books to read. I could fill pages with the every-day moments that fill my day, and my heart.

I hear them in the driveway now. Bring on the noise! I am so very blessed...

I am on a roll!

I am getting in shape! Since last Monday, I have spent every day on my treadmill. I took Saturday off, so I have so far done 7 out of 8 days. I have dropped 3 lbs. Only 8 to go!!!

I absolutely abhor exercising, but I love my bikini more than comfort any day of the week. So, I am officially on a roll.

On another note, I sent my resume to Burlington Christian Academy. Gulp. We'll see if I get a response, if they are even hiring... I would like to teach for a year, see if I like it before I devote a Master's to the subject. I could bring in some money, the boys would get a 90 percent tuition break, and it is a good Christian environment. I hope to hear something in the next week or so. It would definitely be a change for us all, but it would be a nice change, albeit temporary (hopefully a baby will come one day). If it doesn't happen, that is OK as well. Aidan has been a bit lonely without any friends around and I would like him in school...just not public school.

Finally, we have bought land and we are listing our home this week on MLS! I am super excited about moving, our cool house plan, and our proximity to my mom. After yet ANOTHER break-in for the neighborhood (2 in 2 weeks, 4th or 5th in a year), I am ready to GO! :)

Preston, my 3 year old!

Well, this post is a tad late. Preston turned 3 years old on Groundhog Day (Feb 2nd). We spoiled him rotten, of course. Joel took the day off and we started the day at Bob Evans for breakfast. After a nice meal...

We went to Build-A-Bear! Or, in our case, Build-An-Owl and Build-A-Puppy. Preston made a cute dog, which he named....Rocket! Yes, he is obsessed with Little Einsteins. Aidan made an owl, named Hedwig, demonstrating that my children watch too much television. :)

On the following Saturday, Preston had a birthday party with our family. We decided on a Little Einsteins theme, so of course I made a cake shaped like Rocket.

We did a treasure hunt for musical instruments, which the kids played when the hunt was over. They did a craft, played together, and it even ended with their cousins spending the night!

I cannot believe my baby is 3!!!