Fingerprint sunflowers

Today my mom came over with a pile of glass plates, her plan was to have the kids makes finger print sunflowers for dining room wall.  I watched in amazement as she patiently showed each one how to make a circle of brown finger tips first.

Then I remembered I had a camera and started clicking.  After the centers were dry she painted yellow on one finger for the kids to make petals. 

They started close to the center for short petals.

They continued making the petals all the way around the flower's center.  Grandma helped coach a bit so there were no large gaps.

In the end each flower was unique as the child who had made it!

I learned two things about displayable children's art.  Number 1: patients pays off, do not rush the child.  Number 2: one on one is the way to go, don't try to have everyone working at the same time.

 

"Insta"-replay #10; first week of school

Last week was our official first week of school, hurrah.  School didn't go as we'll as I had hoped but the week was still full of fun and new adventures.

The girls wrote their own back to school signs.

Merry was pretty excited to be moving up to second grade.

The real excitement came after school.  Merry had fun being a block artist.  Angry Birds Star Wars was the inspiration for her creation.

We had some potatoes that needed used so we decided to make lefsa.  I grew up eating the Norwegian potato pancakes every year after thanksgiving because that was the only time we had left over mashed potatoes.

We had lovely relatives up from Cali last weekend so we crammed as much fun in to it as possible.  First we went bowling, it was the very first time for both my girls. 

We finished up the week with a trip to the state fair.  We saw blinged out sheep, giant turkeys, funny cakes, table settings, people trying to sell just about everything...etc.  But the highlight each year is seeing the Dairy Princess.

What a week.  It's been long and another is coming quick!

"Insta"-replay #9, mom on vacation

It was the last week before school so I did what every homeschool mom dreams of doing... I sent the girls away for a week with Grandma! 

Monday I kicked them out of the car and waved goodbye as I drove away.  OK I made sure they were settled in and Grandma had everything she needed then I drove away.

This week also happened to be my anniversary so I got to do a bit of shopping with my hubby.  He held my purse and I found shoes that literally had my name on them.

We have a family of build-a-bears and the mom bear was in need of a new outfit.  Hubby even picked out glasses for me.

Before I knew it the vacation was over and our kids were happy to see us again.

We ended the week with a family movie, "Planes" in 3D.

Even though school is starting there will be plenty more summer fun to come!

"Insta"-replay #8 ~cousin fun

This last week has been full of cousin fun.

The girls have decided to decorate their room with "Pokemon princesses."  They were inspired by some drawings they saw online by Hapuriainen (I'm not sure if that a name or title, she's from Finland )and have been busy creating their own versions.

With Pokemon on the brain there have been many poke-battles around the house.

There were extra cousins up from Cali, always fun to see them!!

We played with a parachute my mother-in-law had found, it is one of those toys that you really need a group of cousins if you want to play.

Last Thursday was miracle treat day so I hope everyone bought blizzards and showed support for their local children's hospital.

Then we were off for more cousin fun!  We made our own pizzas with lovely Aunt Mel.

Even after the cousins left we managed to have some fun, a trip to Barnes and Noble for free books.  The summer reading program was really easy to sign up for, just pick up the reading log in the store or print it online, then write the names of books as you read them and who you would recommend them to.  After eight books you bring it to the store and pick up your free book. 

One more week done, now just one week and we start school!

"Whatchadoin?" #4~ extras

The subjects that are taking me the longest to plan are our extras.  They are the ones that don't have any real grade level requirements.  Different curricula take different approaches so it is up to you, the teacher, to decide which works for you.

During our first few years homeschooling science was a tricky subject for me.  I wasn't sure if I wanted something secular or Christian, general or specific.  After discovering the "Exploring Creation" series last year I knew I had found the right fit for us.  So we will be using the next book in the series.

This year we will be learning about the swimming creatures.  The curriculum offers many hands on activities that explore not just the animals but the world around them.  For example, when learning about artic fish we learn about how salt water has to be colder than fresh water before it will freeze.  I ended up choosing specific because my daughters really liked getting into all the details and Christian because I was so disappointed how many churches act like God had no part in science.

While science was an easy choice history was not.  This is the first year I will used an actual history book and I am a little nervous.  I ended up picking "All American History" for two reasons.

The first reason is the worksheets.  They have cutting, glueing, and tracing as well as fill in the blanks.  Since my oldest prefers lap booking to work booking this set up should be good.

The second reason is it is a two year program that starts with the early explorers.  That means we will spend more time learning about the different historical events and that the time line will line up with what my younger daughter is studying.

My youngest will be making American Girl lap books, spending an entire week on each book. (6 weeks for each unit.) Since I am putting together the units myself it is a bit time consuming.  On the plus side most resource websites have materials for each of the American Girls, like the American Girl website and homeschool share so as long as I bookmark the sites they will be easy to find for the next unit.

That brings me to my final extra subject, Latin.  I took Latin in high school and have been eagerly waiting for my daughters to be interested.  Last year we tried Minimus as a family and, while it was fun, we weren't able to stay consistent.  This year we are using a more intense program, "Latin for Children."

We will be working at a slow pace so my youngest can keep up.  I hope my excitement will wear off on the kids and we stick with it this year.

So those are the extras that will keep school interesting.  With just a few more weeks before we start I am excited to see how everything is coming together.

"Insta"-replay #7, wild about wild life

This week I would have been fine sitting around being lazy but thanks to my family we were busy as ever.

The week started with a trip to the zoo.  Thanks to the reading program at the library the girls had earned free tickets they were eager to use.

It was a great day to see the animals, most were out and about.  Many came right up to the glass.  It was amazing to see them so active.

My own troop was pretty active also.  We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the weather.

A cousin's birthday gave us another excuse to be out and about.

Wednesday I only had one kid with me so she got a few special treats.  Of course first she had to sit through two fillings at the dentist.

The kids came up with their own arts and crafts outside.  They were especially proud of their stick figures that were made from actual sticks.

We also got out some packaged projects my sister had bought on clearance at Target.  She is the queen of clearance.

Next was a trip to the local Children's museum.  It was on our bucket list of Summer fun so when my sister-in-law invited us I jumped at the opportunity. 

The kids had fun learning, play and creating.

Yet another night out was spent at my Uncles retirement party.  It was a fun time and I got to meat my cousin's son for the first time.  He's super cute!

The week ended with more wild life.  Only these weren't behind glass, they were in our front yard.  Charry decided to name them after the twins in "how to train your dragon" so meet Roughnut and Toughnut.

"Whatchadoin?" #3, English

English is kinda a funny subject if you ask me.  It contains a myriad of mini-subjects that are taught at different points in the schooling spectrum.  Reading, writing, grammar, spelling, phonics, handwriting, literature, and vocabulary all show up under "English."  To add to the complexity, many of these small components have thier own curriculums or are left out of all in one curricullums.

It can be a bit tricky trying to figure out which components you want to work on for the year.  After debating with myself and weighing the options here is what we've decided to try this year.

First spelling, as a student I was awful at spelling.  Every week I dreaded the pretest, then diligently wrote out the words over and over and over... only to still miss them all on the post-test.  It was terrible!  So as a teacher I put off teaching spelling as long as I could.  When I found out about All About Spelling I was so excited.

This is our third year using the program and I love it.    The combination of using tiles and phonographs with scripted lessons has made the program easy to use and easy to understand.  We will be making a few changes as we go this year.  I want my natural speller to be able to move a bit faster and my just like me speller not to get discouraged.

Next handwriting, cursive for my 5th grader and manuscript for my 2nd grader.  We will be using daily handwriting practice workbooks from Evan-Moor.

I bought the student books this year because, honestly, I got tired of making copies.  Besides with only two students paying more now for something I might not use again doesn't make sense.

For anyone who hasn't used the daily practice books I like the format.  Just a small bit of copy work with a common theme each week.  This will be something the girls can do by themselves while I'm cooking or cleaning.

Finally writing, I found a writing program online that I used last year also.  It has a good balance of writing and grammar.  The only down side is it has to be printed out.  I had a few weeks I forgot to buy ink  last year so we had to skip writing, oops.  This year I printed it all out ahead of time.

We will be taking a break in October and November for NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month). Last year Charry had a blast and wrote a fabulous story.  This year I am more prepared with my Young Writers Guides all printed out.

We will spend October doing activities and developing the story line with the guide.  Then in November they will be on their own creating a novel.

You may have noticed reading and literature are not on the list there are a few reasons for that.  Mostly I haven't found a curriculum I like.  So instead I'm making an effort to read the classics at bed time.  It helps that most classics are available for free on the Kindle. 

So there are the plans, I'm not sure how they will change through out the year but I look forward to finding out.