"Insta"-replay #50, huzzah for pirates and potter

One more busy week done! (This one went better than the last)

Merry has already started learning her dance for the Christmas Recital.  She has been excitedly showing what she knows so far.

We dressed up for talk like a pirate day. One of these years we will make it to crispy cream for our free doughnuts, but not this year.

We took a trip to the zoo with our lovely Aunt Abbie.  She is a good sport and will pose with my crazy kids.

Charry turned 11, and I think it will be a good year.  She is taking after her parents, loving all things nerdy. The Tardis dress was a huge hit!

Her family party had a wizards theme.  She was brave and tried a few of Burt's ever flavored beans. She was not a fan, somehow earswax and garlic just didn't appeal to her. 

"Insta"-replay #49, and so it begins!

This last week was crazy busy as we started up all our extra curriculars and coop!

We started a new bedtime book.  Then I decided their room needed to be clean if I was going to read so we only got one chapter done.

We hung out with cousins while taking turns having piano lessons.  I really enjoy seeing my nieces and nephew each week.

Getting school done was a major chore, I'm hoping it will get easier!

The week ended with a free movie at the library.  I am a huge Muppet fan so any chance to watch them on a big screen and I'm there!  It helped that it was a free event.

I had forgotten how busy the school year can be!

"Insta"-replay #48, busy, lazy week

The week has been one of those really busy, lazy weeks when you are always doing something but looking back, I'm not sure what.

We had fun with cousins before they started back at school.  A last trip to Target seemed in order since it has been our go to hangout all summer (mostly because it has a Starbucks for us moms.)

We also had time with our California cousins!  They were up for a short visit and watching the girls play always makes me smile.  We are already looking forward to Christmas when they are up next!

After a full week of school the girls got a chance to get creative, making a school room for their dolls.  I have a feeling this will be an on going craft that won't be finished anytime soon.

 Lazy summer days are coming to an end!  Now for the busy fall schedule.

Whatchadoin? #14, Merry and 3rd grade

As a teacher/lesson planner 3rd grade is the last of the lower elementary years.  It an exciting year for me!

English consists of a grammar/writing workbook I found online, daily reading comprehension, and "All About Spelling."  We have not used the spelling as much as I would like but I'm hopeful that once we get into a routine I'll pull it out more.  Merry is not a fan of writing so I'm making a point to require something written out each day.

Math is "Life of Fred" again this year.  She loves it!  This year she started multiplication and division which is kinda a big deal!  She was reluctant at first but has warmed up to the concepts.

Science is done with her big sister.  This is Merry's last year using a "junior notebook." She is making sure to color the extra pictures and enjoy the simpler assignments.  I haven't heard her complain yet when I tell her to write complete sentences.

History is our final main subject.  She is doing "American Girl History" again this year.  It's a program I put together myself with free printouts from online as well as a few activity books I bought from the American Girl company.  This where I can see how much she's grown over the summer, she is reading the books in half the time, able to answer questions with complete ideas, and willingly reads the looking back pages.

Our other schooling consists of Latin and Geography with her sister, typing on the computer, and a few workbooks.

The year has started great!  Merry looks forward to learning new things, even hard things.  She especially likes the classes with her sister.

"Insta"-replay #47, first real field trip, kinda

Insta-replay is back!  Our school year is going good.  We still have a week before all the extra curriculars start!

Family racing on the WiiU has become a regular event.  We link up online so even though we are in different places it is still something we do with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

We took advantage of the beautiful weather to eat lunch outside.

This weekend we went on our first "just because of school field trip."  Most of our trips are places we would have gone anyways but this time it was because of what the girls are studying in history.

Both girls are learning about the civil war era so we went to a civil war reenactment.  The girls asked questions and watched the battle carefully.  We tried to spot the officers we had seen in the camps.

As an added bonus the reenactment was at a military base ruin.  We explored the concrete structures and saw some big guns!

It was a great week, I hope the school year keep running this smooth!

"Insta"-replay #47, first real field trip, kinda

Insta-replay is back!  Our school year is going good.  We still have a week before all the extra curriculars start!

Family racing on the WiiU has become a regular event.  We link up online so even though we are in different places it is still something we do with Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

We took advantage of the beautiful weather to eat lunch outside.

This weekend we went on our first "just because of school field trip."  Most of our trips are places we would have gone anyways but this time it was because of what the girls are studying in history.

Both girls are learning about the civil war era so we went to a civil war reenactment.  The girls asked questions and watched the battle carefully.  We tried to spot the officers we had seen in the camps.

As an added bonus the reenactment was at a military base ruin.  We explored the concrete structures and saw some big guns!

It was a great week, I hope the school year keep running this smooth!

Wharchadoin? #13, Charry and 6th grade

Charry has been happy to start the new school year, surprisingly so. Most of her school looks just like last year.

For History we are using book 2 All American History.  This year I decided against the workbook and instead are going to have end of unit projects.  Our first project will be a display board.  She already has ideas for dressing up dolls and which pictures she would like to print out. 

Science is also just the next book in the series, Zoology book 3, Land Animals.  This is a subject that the girls do together so I am glad it is one they both like!

Math has been a challenge for me.  She is whizzing through her Life of Fred Decimals book but still struggles with fractions.  Finding a review workbook for upper grades has proved to be a challenge.  Luckily for me Kumon has come out with "focus on" workbooks.  The short review pages seem to help.

English also has been a challenge.  I had hoped to simply print out a free grammar book from online but the page had expired, so I had to scramble to find something new.  In the end I went with "Essencials in Writing."  The program is designed to go with a video series but I wasn't ready for something that intense, so I just bought the workbook. 

Besides writing/grammar we are also using All About Spelling again this year.  So far I haven't been very consistent with the program but I'm hopeful.

The final main subject is Latin.  We are continuing to use "Latin for Children."  Charry likes the videos and the funny tunes they use to chant word ending.  This year we are focusing more on translation.

A geography workbook, handwriting practice, daily reading, typing, and online math practice wrap up our schooling.

So far she is enjoying the new school year and eagerly starts each day!