2012-2013 School Year

This post was started…oh, way back in early September.  I just don’t find the time to do much blogging lately.  I wanted to attach links to all this stuff, but that probably doesn’t matter anyway!

School is off to a good start!  We have our moments of frustration trying to get back into things, but all and all it has been a blessing.

Here’s a run down of what we are doing:

Andrew – 4th Grade

Math – Horizons 4

First Language Lessons

A Reason for Spelling

Reading Comprehension

The Story of the USA and many supplements with this.  We are having a lot of fun with this so far!

Awana T and T

Piano Lessons

 

Ethan – 2nd Grade

Horizons Math 2

A Reason for Spelling

First Language Lessons

Awana Sparks

Piano Lessons

Samuel – Kindergarten

Horizons Math K

Writing

Shapes Builder

The Reading Lesson / Phonics Pathways

Awana Sparks

Time with mommy while the other two are at piano!

We have started our co-op again this year.  We are such a close family.  I really enjoy it, and my boys do even more.  We are doing Apologia’s Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day this year.  Last year was Flying Creatures.

Reading and iPad apps add to all of the above, as well as miscellaneous unit studies we do throughout the year.

In the evenings we are going through “The Dig” as part of our family devotional time.  It’s so neat to see these boys grow in the Lord.  We have some fantastic discussions!

Our school area looks like this, although I didn’t get a picture of Samuel’s little school desk…

School has started!

Our first day of school was last Thursday!  It went very well.  I will share our curriculum soon.  It’s just been a busy last few weeks!  We are winding down from a big party here with church friends.

We did do a fun treasure hunt using some fun clues I found on line.  They always look forward to the annual event.  They were so cute, and are always so appreciative.  One of the gifts was a “survival kit” as you see above.

And here are my three wonderful students that I am so very proud of!

I had fun with this idea from Pinterest.

Summer Bible Stories

A great book we have been reading…

I went to the Scholastic sale a few weeks ago and found this half price.  We are really enjoying the way the stories are told.  The interesting facts are really great!  The whole family is learning a lot!

Drawing Fun on a Beautiful Day

Praying For My Boys

Today I began the challenge to pray for my precious sons.  The MOB Society  (Moms of Boys) is hosting this.  If you have boys, why don’t you join in!

Day 1 | Action Steps

• Read | The Introduction (pg. 7-9) and section titled, “The Battle” (pg. 10-11) in the eBook, “Warrior Prayers” and work through any (or all) of the Study Questions that enhance your time in this challenge!

• Pray | Work through the 10 prayers on Heart Change (pg. 12) using whatever method works best for you!

I am praying for a heart change in me!  Because let’s face it.  We can always use a change of heart about something!  Let it begin here, dear Lord, as I seek to raise up godly men.

Having Boys

Life is never dull around here. This is having boys…

Chad a busy last week. His company hosted their national meeting here in Indy, so he was gone a lot. Him and I got a night in a hotel suite, which was totally worth all the time he put into the week. But not for Samuel. He was so excited about “spending some time with Daddy” Tuesday night. He says, “I almost forgot I had a daddy!” Ok, that’s a little much. But that’s Samuel!

We bought a brand new electric pencil sharpener Tuesday night. Wednesday, Ethan thought that it would be great (while I was in the shower, of course) to sharpen his pencil eraser with it. He came to me crying and said, “I’m really sorry for what I did.” I had no idea what he was about to tell me. Reluctantly, I asked what it was that he had done. The first thought that came to my mind when he told me was, “Now Sarah, you have three boys who really haven’t been that daring with stuff. It’s no big deal, so let it go.” I went to find him and forgave him, of course. It’s just a pencil sharpener, and he’s just a curious boy.

If you don’t have any “ash mud” in your yard, you are missing out! One of their favorite things to do now is make recipes of ash from out firepit, mixed with water and whatever else they find.

I had to teach on crickets for co-op this month. This week we had a lab where we made homes for crickets. I love the Apologia Curriculum, but I don’t love insects. We made it through with screams and heebeegeebees.

I played nurse for a couple of boys yesterday. They were cutting grass with their little kid scissors. One little finger got too close to another’s pair of scissors. Then one little guy and I went on a bike ride together last evening and he had a bike wreck. It’s frightening when you see a mouth full of blood. They are all ok, though. No major injuries. I’m glad to wipe boo boos and tears.

And what could have been a trip to the hospital…

I snapped this one with my phone just before I made them quit. So rest assured, there were no knots on heads this time. Yep, they are beating a box and thought it was hilarious!

There are a couple of arrows on our roof now. Can you guess why?!

And my girl dog has the job of watching the boys out in the yard, and occasionally herding them back into the yard.

We are nearing the end of the school year. I put the rest of the work in our folders today just so we could all see that it is going to happen soon! This year has flown by, though, really. Give me some summer. I’m ready for some more boy fun.

I’m linking up to “Let’s Hear It For the Boys” at the MOB Society!

Egg Hunts

I love having egg hunts throughout the Easter season! We’ve done all kinds, and even more to come. But today the boys hunted for their lunch! They enjoyed it, and want to do it again.

They each received a two coins. One to buy a drink, and another to buy a snack later in the day! I hid them in 3 different rooms so they would all have a complete lunch.

Pinterest Party!

A group of super fun homeschooling moms get together once a month.  We have way too much fun and stay up way too late doing it, but it’s so worth it!

This month I planned a Pinterest Party!  We called it a Spring Fling as each mom brought in spring ideas to share.

I only got a few pics from the party.  Too busy!  Not pictured from these amazing gals were:

Peep Garland; Popcorn Bar; Potato Soup; Growing Tulips Indoors; Paint Chip Easter Garland

Everyone made one of these pinned from here.  Hopefully my grass starts growing soon!

And a spring paper garland that’s found all over Pinterest.

We also painted some chalkboard labels pinned from here.

I love just getting together and doing some things that we are interested in!  It was so nice to chat with each other, and encourage each other with ideas to make our families and homes and fun place to be.

Next month we plan to have a pampering party!  Each of us are getting tired, and definitely spring fever with this crazy warm weather we are having!

Readeez! A review on a super fun way to learn!

A good friend told me about Readeez.  Actually, her son told my son.  You gotta love it when your homeschooled children brag about something they are using at home!  It must be good if boys are sharing such info!

What is it?

Readeez are a new way to learn reading, math, ESL, spelling and other useful things. A Readee is a short video, usually musical, where you see and hear every syllable at the same time. We call this SyllableSync. More than 150 Readeez have been produced so far. Readeez were created by Michael Rachap.

So we checked out their website.  I was impressed right away,  and my boys were instantly hooked!  I was, too!  Mr. Rachap’s voice is great, and his daughter’s is as sweet as can be.  That’s a huge plus when you don’t mind hearing them play over and over and over again!

We have them in our iTunes, so they can easily watch them on our iPad.  It’s appropriate for multiple ages.  Andrew couldn’t wait to see “Volume 3” that he had heard about.  And they are 3rd graders!  Ethan was right there with him.

It wasn’t long before little brother showed up to watch…

Then little brother got a hold of it to watch the Nursery Rhymes video while eating crackers!  This picture makes me laugh.  This is the life.

So here we have a preschooler, a first grader and a third grader enjoying!

Watch some videos here!  We actually viewed “The Value of a Dollar” in our little money class here at home.  It definitely is cathchy and teaches them in a way that keeps their attention.  Learning to music is always great, in my opinion!

Math Folder Full literally is a folder full of goodies!  In these, you receive videos, audio clips and an ebook with great printables.

I cannot wait for more Bible videos to come out!  Share your opinion and suggestions!  Right now they have the Beatitudes.  We have taught our boys these recently, and this was a great help!

We have really enjoy the videos and the mp3s on every form of media we have!

So check it out!  I think you might be hooked, too!

I was provided the Readeez material at no cost in exchange for an honest opinion.

Downtown Parade

We had such a fun day today!  The boys and I went down to the St. Patrick’s Parade in Indy.  We spent the day there.  It was a gorgeous day.  Here we are, with many more pics to come…

I don’t consider myself LUCKY at all.  After all, where does luck come from?  I am BLESSED by God!