Monthly Newsletter for Our Family

So, I mentioned in another post recently that I would like to post through the process of writing a monthly newsletter from our family.  I am not committing to doing this every month of the year-I like to set myself up to succeed as many times as possible!  We had a lot of "stuff" going on in February and I thought it might give us lots of good material to write about.  Also, once the articles are composed and illustrated, I may work on a little desktop publishing with the two older children just to test the waters and see how they take to it. 
You can click on the picture and see our list..there was a move we helped Grandparents make,  an anniversary, special Valentine's breakfast and more!

Today, I used our time to recall events from the past month.  Tons of stuff to write about here!  I gave them a little bit of time to chew on it and then choose the article they wanted to write about.  Then, we brainstormed the topics that they chose. 

I hesitate to state just how far we will get tomorrow because I make lots of plans, but the Lord sometimes has His own plans for our school days!  But, tentatively, barring intervention, I plan to help them get through a rough draft.  My 3rd grader will probably only be required to compose about two paragraphs.  My 5th grader can come closer to one page.  My 1st grader will dictate to me while I type his out and the preschooler--well, she's a whole 'nother story!!

I'll let ya know how it goes :)

More on Teeth

With all the snow we've been having, running otu to gather supplies was not on my list. So, I made my own play dough. That was actually kinda fun. A project--just for Me!
Anyway, I had the children to make models of their teeth when studying the anatomy of a tooth.

In Our Homeschool....Teeth and the Tooth Fairy

Now, I'm so sure that this must only be of interest to a very slight few……but we have had quite a few teeth flying around our house for the last, oh, say 5 years!! This was an easy and fun unit to do since we only had a few legitimate school days until we are done for the year.

Even taking plenty of snow breaks, we were able to finish it in about four days. We learned soo much about teeth and the customs that other countries hold with regard to children losing their teeth. It was very, very interesting. If you read the books in order and do the lessons in relatively close order of how they are presented, it comes together nicely. This study is FREE from Homeschool Share!

First, we started our days with Geography. There was sooo much geography involved that we had to break it up and do some map searches every day. I printed out these little clipart pieces and the children would hunt for the places I called out. For the 7 yr old, I provided the continent as well as the country. The olders had to search a bit before I would give them the continent.

We did the egg/vinegar/soda experiment. All through the day, the kids couldn't help but to walk by and touch or dunk the egg back down into the vinegar. :) The egg in the soda sank and stayed there. But the one in vinegar dipped and danced a little.

We have now posted charts for every single child and they have been diligently checking off when their dental duty is done!

Planning for Next Year Part 2

    Preschoolers.  Oh boy.  Mine can really do a number on the room, the schedule, my nerves and the peace efforts of any diplomat.  She's also quite  a clown.  So funny, happy, smart and very sweet. I can't imagine doing all this without her.  She loves to do her schooo-work just like the others.  I feel urgency to get a plan for her learning time this year. Not just so that she won't be a disruption, but so that I effectively steward her time and effort as well.

    Preschool is a time for fun with learning, although some is rote memory. This year for our preschooler, she will be using lots and lots of good picture books from our local library.  Older siblings will read to her and the entire crew will enjoy audio books.  There will be times when she will be playing counting games with a brother, drawing pictures for her stories, practicing tracing with her sister and of course, she gets to do art with the rest of us. 

     Her schedule is semi-organized, meaning I don't have it down to the very activity for every minute of the day.  I do, however, have a general idea of what I want her to do by the end of the week.  Each day, we do Circle Time.  This is mainly for the younger two children and is a daily review/intro as you would expect to see in a regular school setting.  It makes them feel all school-y to say the Pledge of Allegiance, sing their little song and go over the date and such.  She will be doing one new letter each week and several activities that go along with that letter.  Many of my materials are downloads from Confessions of a Homeschooler, whose blog I stalk love.  She has lots of cool games and printables for each letter.  But, I never stray far from my roots.  I began my homeschooling career using Five in a Row with our youngest and continue to love this method for my younger students. It has brought us many memorable learning times together.

      I know I haven't been specific on this post, but many days are "go with the flow as long as we get it done".  This is the stage of schooling/life we are in right now.  Sometimes it takes forever to recapture attention, others it is all done and idle hands create boredom.  So, as long as I have a general idea, I can usually roll like that.  Every day, I hope, holds only what the Lord has ordained for us to accomplish in a meaningful manner.

      I would love to hear others' preschool plans!

Introducing........Our Homeschool

We are a homeschooling family of six plus one very humanized chocolate lab. It is always crazy around here, unbearable once in a while, and on occasion, downright insane. But, we like it that way and hope you'll hang out with us and see what we get into along our journey.

We have one beautiful 4th grader who is very much Daddy's girl. Our Little Big Man is in 2nd grade. There's a new guy in our homeschool this year: it's our Little Guy. And then, there's Little Miss, the 3 yr. old and boss of the forementioned lab!

Grab a cuppa something, cause you're gonna need the sugar to keep up !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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