Homeschooling adventures...

Free 66-page Preschool Unit (Free for One Week Only)

2011-07-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

This Preschool Unit of printables for math, writing, and reading is free for one week. The unit has over 60 pages of printables and is available as a download with no catches, and no payment information needed.

The ebook contains the following printables for teaching preschool:

-Alphabet Match
-Size Sort
-Word Cards
-Number Match
-Cloths Pin Clip Cards
-Missing Numbers
-Number Puzzle
-Patterns
-Match the Picture
-Number Sequence Puzzles
-Pre-Writing Skills
-Scissor Skills
-Puzzle Match
-Lacing Card
-Magnet Page
-Uppercase and Lowercase Sort
-Small, Medium, Large Sort
-Word Trace

How to Get this Freebie: Download the free Tools Preschool Unit here.

Geography Canada's Provinces and Territories

2011-05-18T18:25:00.001-04:00

New printable worksheets and pictures of the Canadian Provinces.

Check out the link below:

Link to new sheets and printables

Butterfly Ideas

2011-04-28T07:20:00.003-04:00

Great info links:

Butterfly World

Butterfly Website (amazing site)

Zoom Butterfly

The Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Learning Activities:

Butterfly Life Cycle

Easter Ideas and Links ...

2011-04-17T13:39:00.003-04:00

Easter themed Game and Printable

Easter Writing Station

This idea is so cool. I am definitely going to be making this for my daycare tomorrow.

The kids are going to love it. They love doing stuff now with writing and sentences.

Build a Bunny

This is an adorable game....

Days of the Week

2011-03-03T11:29:00.000-05:00

days of the week
(to the tune of "The Addams Family")

Days of the week, (snap snap)
Days of the week, (snap snap)
Days of the week,
Days of the week,
Days of the week. (snap snap)

There's Sunday and there's Monday,
There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday,
There's Thursday and there's Friday,
And then there's Saturday.

Days of the week, (snap snap)
Days of the week, (snap snap)
Days of the week,
Days of the week,
Days of the week. (snap snap)

ObSEUSSed: Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Celebration Ideas and Li...

2011-03-03T09:40:00.000-05:00

ObSEUSSed: Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Celebration Ideas and Li...: "Happy 107th Birthday Dr. Seuss! 'Today is your birthday! Today you are you! If we didn't have birthdays, you wouldn't be you. If you'd never..."

Mighty Book Jr

2011-01-26T13:07:00.001-05:00

http://www.mightybookjr.com

Over 900 animated storybooks with quizzes, etc. free to homeschoolers through December 2011.

http://www.mightybookjr.com/Mightybook_Jr_Home.php

Click "subscribe now" at the top, and use coupon code "learntoread".

I just subscribed but I like what I see so far.... :) Got to love the free resources.

Progessive Phonics

2011-01-26T12:00:00.002-05:00

Progressive Phonics

Progressive Phonics is an all-in-one reading program that is easy, fun, and totally FREE---that's right, totally and completely free!

And with Progressive Phonics, ANYONE can teach a child to read and write in just a few minutes a day, which makes it ideal for parents, teachers, tutors, volunteers and home-schoolers.

No experience necessary. Just pick a book and start reading it with your child/students.

Matching handwriting worksheets and activity sheets for each book -- when children write what they learn, they learn it better.

Also teaches the essential sight-words (phonics rule-breakers) that most phonics programs fail to teach.

Instant access -- download and use today. (Free registration required, but there are sample books you can look at before registering.)

Our books can be read on-screen or printed on your color printer. Each book takes 4--8 minutes to print and uses as little ink and paper as possible.

But don't judge a book by it's home page. Read one of our books with a child and see for yourself.

I have just signed up to start using this program... and so far I am loving it!!!!

Valentine Craft Ideas

2011-01-26T09:47:00.003-05:00

Valentine Sun Catchers

Check out the link above for the craft below... from

Modge Podge Rocks

Valentine's Lapbook

2011-01-26T09:00:00.008-05:00

We have not done a Valentine's lapbook in a few years and I am going to do one with all my daycare kids also. So they will have it done come valentine's day. I will make my daughters more geared to her age then the other little ones just to give her more of a challenge. So here is where I will post my different ideas of what I should use in the lapbooks.

here are some FREE printables you can use for your lapbook or for Valentine's Activities:

Valentine Themed Worksheets Organized by grade

Make your own writing paper

Dot to Dot

Valentine Mazes

Valentine Tic Tac Toe

Make your own Valentine Match Game

Crossword Puzzle

Valentine Comprehension Sheet

More Valentine's Day Printables

Funnix Reading Program... free download

2011-01-20T08:58:00.005-05:00

Just a heads up that this is free to download for all of January.

Funnix

During January 2011
FREE Funnix Reading Program
Yes, FREE!!!

Computer requirements: You will need at least 2 GB of free space available on your computer. PC users: XP, Vista, Windows 7. MAC users: 10.4 or above. You will need a high speed internet, either cable or DSL. Dial-up is not recommended.

Themes for this month... WINTER

2011-01-10T09:56:00.004-05:00

I am putting together some things for a Winter theme and I thought I would share it all with you.

Finger plays

5 Little Snowmen

5 little snowmen sitting on the ground, (pat hands on floor)

the first one said; "oh my aren't we round." (make circle with arms)

The second one said; "there are snowflakes in the air." (wiggle fingers above head)

The third one said; "but we don't care." (shrug shoulders)

The fourth one said; "lets run and run and run. (pat hands quickly on the floor)

The fifth one said; "I'm ready for some fun." (smile)

Whew went the wind (blow) and out came the sun (make circle with arms over head)

and the five little snowman knew their fun was done.( pretend your melting)

Listen and Spell website

2010-11-21T18:33:00.001-05:00

this is a really neat listen and spell website.

Dolch Word Games

Be sure to check out some of their other games that might work for you.

Teddy Bear Theme

2010-11-01T13:09:00.002-04:00

This week's theme is Teddy Bears!

So much fun things you can do with this theme from all the different kinds of bears to the ones we love to cuddle with at night. Bears comes in all shapes and sizes and we love them all the same.

Song/Rhyme: Two Little Teddy Bears
Adapted from two little black birds

Two little teddy bears sitting on a hill. (Have the children show the teddy bears)

One named Jack and one named Jill. (Hold one up high then hold the other one up high)

Run away Jack. Run away Jill. (Hide one behind your back, and then hide the other one behind your back, so both are now hidden.)

Come back Jack. Come back Jill. (Bring back one teddy bear, and then bring back the other teddy bear)

Repeat.

Teddy Bear Song - sung to "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

(Child's Name) has a teddy bear,
Teddy bear, teddy bear
(Child's Name) has a teddy bear
It's brown and furry all over.
(change last line to fit description of child's teddy bear.)

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around,
Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, reach up high,
Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the sky.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch your shoe,
Teddy bear, teddy bear, I love you!

CRAFTS

Teddy Bear Hat

Need: a picture of a teddy bear head, Brown construction paper, Crayons, Glue, and Scissors. Have the children color a picture of a teddybear head. About the size of a 8 x 11 page. Then cut strip out of brown construction paper. Make headbands out of the strips. (Either use glue or Tape, remember no stapes near a child's head.) Cut out the teddy bear head and glue it to the front of the headband. Now the children can be teddy bears too!

Thanksgiving...

2010-10-04T06:50:00.006-04:00

Love this little turkey and plan on making it with my kids.

Handprint Picture Frame

Bingo Dabber Art Pages

Handprint Turkey Craft with Poem

Turkey Coloring Pages

Thanksgiving Mini Book

Halloween Songs and Activities

2010-10-04T06:34:00.005-04:00

Brown Owl, Brown Owl

Brown Owl, brown owl who do you see?
I see a White Ghost look at me
White Ghost, White Ghost, who do you see?
I see a Purple Bat looking at me
Purple Bat, Purple Bat, who do you see?
I see a Green Witch looking at me
Green Witch, Green Witch, who do you see?
I see a Black Cat looking at me
Black Cat, Black Cat, who do you see?
I see an Orange Pumpkin looking at me
Orange Pumpkin, Orange Pumpkin, who do you see?
I see a Jack-O-Lantern looking at me

**my plan is to make this for felt board**

Today we are having Pajama Day!!!!

2010-10-01T06:57:00.001-04:00

The kids are so excited to be having Pajama Day today! We are going to eat on a blanket as if we are having a slumber party. Today is going to be so much fun!!!!

A is for Apple

2010-09-05T08:12:00.002-04:00

We are going to be doing an Apple Lapbook this month. We love lapbooking and I can not wait to get started.

My Apple Tree (PDF)

Letter A Wheel - What begins with Aa (PDF)
Apple Graph (PDF)
Apple Counting Hotdog Book (PDF) how to hotdog book (PDF)
Apple Life Cycle Maze (PDF)

more links coming later today...

Busy getting our schedule ready

2010-08-21T21:34:00.002-04:00

I am busy getting our schedule together for homeschooling my now grade 1 daughter. How exciting is that. Below I posted the curriculum I am going to be using and I have starting using it and so far we are loving it all.

At the same time I am doing my homeschool schedule I am doing my daycare schedule as well. I want to get things all ready so we can just keep going with theme after theme for the daycare kids.

Happy learning going to post it all once I get it done here.

Grade 1 Curriculum .... all ready to go!!!

2010-08-04T08:59:00.004-04:00

for Math:

Counting with Numbers (Rod & Staff)
Learning numbers with Spunky (the Donkey)
MEP (free online)

for Language Arts: Pathway Readers and accompanying workbooks

First Steps w workbook
Days go by w workbook
More days go by w workbook

for Phonics:

Learning Through Sounds book 1
Learning through sounds book 2
Before we Read
Climbing to Good English

for Spelling:

1st Spelling Book

for Penmanship:

Pentime Manuscript book 2

for Seatwork Extras if needed:

Everywhere we go (Rod & Staff)

Also in my possession I have:

Complete Canadian Curriculum for grade 1

Math
Language
Social Studies
Science

for History:

http://www.lessonpathways.com/
maps & globes
continents
oceans
rivers, lakes & mountains
Native americans
Journey to a New World
Colonies
around the world
Africa
USA & Canada
Pocahontas
The Calendar
King Tut & the Nile
Seven wonders of the world
so much more

for Science:

I also plan on incorporating some of the CM books again this year... it just works really well for us and how we homeschool.

Added new category on the side bar....

2010-07-17T11:33:00.002-04:00

Homeschool Forms.... if you are like me you use a lot of different forms and papers when homeschooling to keep track of various things you do in your homeschool.

I have a new list in my sidebar with various forms and resources for forms I have found online. Please feel free to take a look at them all.

Right now we are just trying to decide on what we are going to do for Grade 1. I do have a friend who has Sonlight grade 1 curriculum but she is not sure she can find it all for us to use... if she does and she can that would be wonderful. Or I will start piecing a few things together for my daughter here shortly. I do have our readers already.... Pathways Publishing is what we will be using. I would love to get my hands on handwritting without tears.... there is a sale going on locally here of homeschool stuff and I hope to pick up a few things there but that is not until late August. We shall see.

Happy Canada Day!!!!!

2010-07-01T11:06:00.001-04:00

This is my favourite Canada Day photo ever!

Happy Canada Day Everyone!!!!

Week 5: I am Canadian/Canada Day

2010-06-27T19:08:00.003-04:00

Canada is 143 years old this year!!!!

Canada Day is July 1st so I thought I would do the whole week on Canada.
Coloring Pages

Canada Day Crafts

Handprint Flag

Maple Leaf Medal (necklace)

Maple Leaf Magnet

Votive Holder

Wind sock

Handprint flag another one

Beaver Craft

Other Activities

Work Search

Various Puzzles
Canada Theme Units

Theme: Summer Fun

2010-06-24T08:03:00.002-04:00

Songs

Hot Dog Song
5 little hotdogs in the fry pan, (hold up all your fingers and wiggle them)
The grease got hot and one went bam (clap loudly)
4 little hotdogs in the fry pan, (hold up four fingers and wiggle them)
The grease got hot and one went bam (clap loudly)
3 little hotdogs in the fry pan, (hold up three fingers and wiggle them)
The grease got hot and one went bam (clap loudly)
2 little hotdogs in the fry pan, (hold up two fingers and wiggle them)
The grease got hot and one went bam (clap loudly)
1 little hotdog in the fry pan, (hold up one finger and wiggle it)
The grease got hot and it went bam (clap loudly)
No little hotdogs in the fry pan, (hold up a fist and shake it)
The pan got hot and it went bam (clap loudly)

Summer bugs...

(sang to "do you know the Muffin Man" tune)

Do you know a Butterfly, a butterfly, a butterfly.

Do you know a Butterfly who loves a summers day!

Yes we know a Butterfly, a butterfly, a butterfly.

Yes we know a Butterfly who loves a summers day!

Continue changing butter fly to other summer bugs...
caterpillar, house fly, dragonfly, lady bug, spider, moth, glow bug etc..

Art Ideas

My kids enjoyed painting foot prints while wearing inexpensive flip flops bought at a discount store. We displayed our creations under the caption "We've Flipped For Summer!"

Let's Go Fishing! / Father's Day themes....

2010-06-14T14:24:00.007-04:00

I love planning my week based on a theme. It looks like my summer is going to be quiet in the child care area... but I will still have themes for my daughter and due a ton of lapbooks... I am hoping a few a week.

Okay... now on to this week's theme...

Let's go Fishing!!!

I am planning some ideas... that involve our Little Tikes cast and count fishing set.

The kids love playing with this... I think I might set it up in the little pool out back...

We also made rainbow fish today....

I cut out a fish shape out of construction paper (yellow)

and they kids glued on tissue paper in various colours with

a glue stick. They had a blast making them.

Dot to Dots

Fish Dot to Dot

Fish with Gills Dot to Dot

Fish with Bubbles

Dot to Dot Alpha Fish

Fish 1 to 5 (prints clear) PDF

Coloring Pages

7 Fish on this page

3 Fish Coloring Pages

Goldfish

Fish

Letter F

Capital F

Lapbook Links

Most are from Homeschool share.

Fish Lifecycle Wheel

Cover Idea

Fish Cards

more ideas... colouring sheets ... such coming your way...

Ocean/Water Theme Week

2010-06-07T09:29:00.005-04:00

This week we are doing water/ocean life theme.

After searching the internet and finding some wonderful coloring pages for the kids and some great crafts we are ready to go with our week.

Coloring Pages

Craft Ideas

What a great blog!

An Octopus who is a real handful.

Really check out this resource it is great!!!!

Crawling Crabs with Claws

this is so cute!

Terrific Turtle

another adorable craft

Lapbook Ideas

June Themes and such....

2010-05-22T09:44:00.003-04:00

Week 1: Bugs/Insects
Week 2: Ocean Theme
Week 3: Father's Day/Let's go Fishing
Week 4: Picnic/Beach Day
Week 5: I am Canadian/Oh Canada

Recipes:
Beaver Tails
Yeast Mixture:
1 tbsp. White sugar
½ cup warm water (120F)
1 package (or 1 tbsp.) Dry yeast
Dough:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
21/3 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp. White sugar
5 to 8 cups flour
Dissolve & mix together the ingredients for the yeast mixture in a small bowl and set aside. Mix other
ingredients in a large bowl (except flour), then add yeast mixture and mix. Add flour 1 cup at a time until
a smooth dough forms. Knead dough, then let it stand (covered with a tea towel) for 1 ½ hours so
dough can rise. Form dough into balls about the size of eggs, then roll flat, making ovals about 1/8 to
1/4 inch thick. Heat oil to 350F in deep fryer, pot or electric frying pan. Fry”Beaver Tails” one at a time
until light brown on both sides. Place on paper

May 17 - 21 - Theme "Community Helpers" and the "Letter C"

2010-05-16T19:08:00.010-04:00

I am so excited to do community helpers with the kids.

Make a map of the community and start labeling where all the community helpers can be found.

Make a list of community helpers and discuss how they help us.

Monday:

Garbage Truck craft (we will be using crayons to color the pieces and put them together to make a garbage truck)
Go thru community helper picture book I made (print off pictures of community helpers and slip them into a photo album and go thru them with the kids asking if they know who the community helpers are)
teach the kids Stop Drop and Roll - Fire safety
color fire truck or fireman
add fire hall to community map
read Sparky story online

Tuesday:

Bake cookies in the shape of the letter C
Color the letter C to look like a carrot
add library to community map

Wednesday:

Take our teddy bear to the doctor
Read Story: About going to the doctor
add hospital to community map
Doctor coloring page

Thursday:

Make mailbox and letters for kids to deliver (we are recycling a large family size cereal box for this craft for the mailbox)
add post office to community map
Mailman coloring page

Friday:

Color police badge or police car
trace our hands and then ink our fingers so our finger prints only show up.
add police station to community map

Theme this week Gardening and Letter V ...

2010-05-09T16:13:00.006-04:00

Last week I concentrated more on Flowers than Gardening because of it being Mother's Day weekend. So this week... we will plant seeds.... watch them grow and do gardening activities.

Seed Story/Felt Board activity
Five Little Seeds - story and seeds

I printed the seeds on brown cardstock and put velcro on the back to stick to the felt board for story time this week.

Printables
Letter Vv Search
What begins with V
Coloring page: vegetables and wheel barrow
Uppercase Letter
Letter Vv search

Math
Fill the wheel barrows with vegetables
Circle the correct amount of vegetables

Handwriting Worksheets
Letter V
Letter V tracing

Microwave Playdoh (I am going to be colouring it green in honour of Gardening week)

* 1 cup all purpose flour
* 1/2 cup salt
* 2 tsp cream of tartar
* 1 cup water
* 1 tbsp oil
* food colouring
Mix all dry ingredients together. Add oil, water and food colouring. Mix dry and wet ingredients thoroughly together. Microwave on HIGH for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Let cool and knead. Store in airtight container after cooled and when not in use.

Seriously you all need to check out this blog where most of the links were created from: Home Grown Hearts.

Theme this week.... Garden/Flowers and the letter F!

2010-05-02T15:58:00.007-04:00

This week we are concentrating on Gardening and Flowers since it is both May and Mother's day this weekend.

Great craft idea.... for a mother's day gift or just to celebrate May!

Flowers for Mother’s Day

May Day basket... great for putting flowers in to give or just to decorate your home.

Coloring Pages:
Rose
Flower with smile
Flower
Flower

The Letter "F"

Printable Letter to decorate with cut out flowers

more will be posted later tonight....

Theme this week is .... Humpty Dumpty and the Letter E

2010-04-25T08:06:00.005-04:00

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Coloring Pages to print:
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty (lapbook cover)

Craft Ideas:
Oval Egg for making Stuffed Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty put together and color

Puzzle:
Humpty Dumpty (color and cut puzzle from Making Learning Fun)

Lapbook Ideas:
Humpty Dumpty

The letter E printable to color or paint.

Earth Day Activities....

2010-04-22T08:29:00.004-04:00

I came across some great earth day worksheets to use. I used page 1 for the really young ones and some of the other pages also. We discussed things that can hurt the environment and how important it is to recycle.

Earth Day Coloring Pages
Earth (with facts)
We've got the future in our hands
Recycle Symbol
Earth I plan on using this one as a painting page

National Geographic 4 Kids

2010-03-23T07:20:00.003-04:00

We have been spending some time on this website lately. It is so much fun.

There are lots of geography games to play.
There is an online encyclopedia of animals, people and places. We are loving the animals one right now.
Activity ideas and experiments are also on the site.

I think taking some time and exploring what is on this site is a wonderful idea.... did I happen to mention that it is all FREE.

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

Free Online Curriculum

2010-03-03T16:42:00.003-05:00

I am not sure how I happen to come upon these two sites... the first is

Head of the Class is a free online curriculum for use covering grades Kindergarten to Second grade.

and the second one is Lesson Pathways. It's a full-curriculum for grades Kindergarten through 6th grade.

I just signed up to both of these sites to use for the rest of this year with my daughter and I plan to come back and do a review in a few weeks. So far I am really liking what I am seeing with Lesson Pathways.

Great site for practicing Math... IXL
Have fun exploring and enjoy!

2010 Olympics in Vancouver, BC, CANADA

2010-02-17T09:32:00.005-05:00

I can not think of a better theme to do right now then the Olympics. It seems most of Canada has Olympic Fever and who can blame them. It is so exciting to watch all the athletes compete and represent their countries.

I am going to be adding links and stuff we do at our house to celebrate the Olympics in our homeland of Canada.

Colouring Pages:
DLTK - coloring pages
Activity Village - coloring pages
First School - sports coloring pages
Olympic Coloring Book
Primary Games - coloring pages
Kid's Turn Central - coloring pages

Craft Ideas:
First School - Lesson Plan
Craft Jr - Olympic Crafts
Free Kids Crafts.com
Kaboose - Olympic Torch

For craft time we are making Gold medals today. I think maybe torches on Friday. Thursday we go to a local playgroup so that eats up most of the day for us.

Letter Mm

2010-02-15T13:49:00.004-05:00

Valentine's Day!

2010-02-09T07:43:00.004-05:00

I love doing crafts with my daughter for Valentine's Day so while searching the internet for craft ideas and coming up with a few of my own I thought I would post a page that links to some really neat ones so it would be easy for me to access at any time and easy for you also.

Tissue Paper Heart

Sweetheart Glasses

Handprint Heart

Valentine Bracelet
Also for my fellow canadians if you just make the bracelet
red and white you can wear it to support Canada in the Olympics.

Lacing Hearts

Heart Leis

Heart Paper Collage
Love this idea but I think I would do it with pink, red and white paper only.

Valentine Card Ideas

Valentine Shaker

Woven Hearts

Heart Valentine Faces

Groundhog Day!

2010-02-01T08:49:00.003-05:00

Groundhog Songs:

I'm A Little Groundhog (sung to I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little groundhog, furry and brown,
See me pop while I look around,
If I see my shadow, down I'll go
Six more weeks of winter, oh no!

On Groundhog's Day
(sung to "Mary Had a Little Lamb" )
Do you see your shadow, shadow, shadow?
Do you see your shadow?
On Groundhog's Day.

Yes, I see my shadow, shadow, shadow,
Yes, I see my shadow
On Groundhog's Day.

I don't see my shadow, shadow, shadow,
I don't see my shadow
On Groundhog's Day.

INTERNET RESOURCES
Education World
Groundhog Day Links
Groundhog clip art
Groundhog day website for Teachers
Teaching Heart Groundhog Day unit

PRINTABLES
Alphabet groundhogs (PDF file)
Groundhog Shadow matching (PDF file)
ABC Teach
Groundhog puzzle
Dot to Dot groundhog picture

Groundhog mini Book 2
Groundhog mini Book 1

Emergent reader book 1
Emergent reader book 2

COLOURING PAGES
color me Phil
Coloring book fun
Preschool coloring book
Kidsparkz coloring page 2
Kidsparkz coloring page 3
Groundhog Colouring Page
Coloring Page and Poem

CRAFTS
DKTK's Crafts - Groundhog
Make Learning Fun - Groundhog Puppet
Danielle's Place - Groundhog Hat
Mask or Puppet

For more ideas visit,
First-school groundhog activities

Christmas/December Ideas

2009-12-02T15:31:00.002-05:00

I am so loving this being the month of December and Christmas. Time to dive into all the great Christmas crafts and lessons.

The Christmas Story Advent Coloring book from DLTK is a great hit here and we are just getting started on it.

First School has some great printable sheets for kids all themed for Christmas.

I found some coloring pages over here at coloring.ws.

I will definitely be updating this thread a lot as the days progress along!

Happy Learning!

Days of the Week songs....

2009-11-23T15:50:00.002-05:00

Today is... (sung to Are You Sleeping?)

Today is ________ , today is ________
All day long, all day long. (motion hands like safe in baseball)
Yesterday was _________. (point behind with thumbs)
Tomorrow will be _________ . (shade forehead to look ahead)
Now we're done, oh, what fun! (clap)

And another popular one here

Days of the week song (sung to Oh my darling)

There are seven days, there are seven days
there are seven days in a week, there are seven days in a week
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday, Friday, Saturday

We usually sing through this twice.

I am really concenetrating on the days of the week and the months of the year for my kids to learn right now. Just have to figure out how to do a decent calendar to use. Something I can make would be best.

Great website....

2009-11-16T13:18:00.001-05:00

I found this neat website and do you know what is even neater about it.

you can play some of the games on the wii!!!! YEP! you heard me you can play them via your internet connection on the wii.

here is the website:

Arcademic Skill Builders

Gearing up for the Winter/Christmas Season...

2009-11-16T12:59:00.002-05:00

My goal is to tomorrow sit down and firm up what crafts we are doing this year, get all the supplies needed together with instructions so I can just go into the box and pull things out one by one and do them with the kids. Alone with having all the coloring sheets printed and ready to go. This time of year is busy enough so to have it all organized would be a HUGE blessing! So get ready for some winter and Christmas fun stuff.

Dancing Raisins Experiment

2009-11-09T10:04:00.003-05:00

Today we did a science experiment with raisins okay craisins but it still works like raisins. :)

I took a mason jar and put the craisins enough to cover the bottom. Then add 1 cup of water. nothing happened. Then we added 1/4 cup vinegar. After the vinegar we added 1 tsp of baking soda... and the water went cloudy and tons of bubbles started forming.

The craisins have tons of bubbles around them making them dance in the water. The bubbles make them more buoyant in the water kind of like a life jacket does with us in the water.

What is making the bubbles? The chemicals in viengar and baking soda make the bubbles on the craisins and then when the craisins get to the top the bubbles burst around them causing them to go back to the bottom until they have enough bubbles around them to go back up to the top again.

Some homeschool Humor!

2009-10-14T08:15:00.001-04:00

Autumn Activities

2009-10-02T21:11:00.003-04:00

Going to share some Autumn activities we are doing this October.

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "Oh, my it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!"
The fifth one said, "Isn't Halloween fun?"
Then Woooo went the wind
And OUT went the lights.
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

APPLES

Apples here (point to yourself)
Apples there (point away)
Apples are growing everywhere (hands form a circle...the world)
Some are high (point up)
Some are low (point down)
You will see apples wherever you go (point to eyes)
Apples on the left (extend left arm)
Apples on the right (extend right arm)
You will see (point to eyes again)
Both day and night (Hands together and head down on them)

************************************

APPLE TREE
(sung to the tune twinkle, twinkle, little star)

Way up high in the apple tree (stretch arm up high)
Two red apples smiled at me (hold up 2 fingers)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (make a shaking motion)
Down came the apples, (make a downward motion)
Mmmm--were they good! (smile and rub stomach)

I'm a Little Apple
(sung to the tune I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little apple, short and round,
I make a munchy, crunchy sound,
If you bite into me you will see -
I'm delicious as can be!

************************************

Apples
(sung to tune of "Are you Sleeping?")

Picking apples
picking apples
one by one
one by one
Put them in a basket
Put them in a basket
Oh what fun!
Oh what fun!

************************************

Apples, Apples
(Tune: "Twinkle, Twinkle")

Apples juicy, apples round,
On the tree or on the ground.
Apples yellow, apples red,
Apple pie and juice and bread!
Apples crunchy, apples sweet,
Apples are so good to eat!

Weather Lapbook

2009-10-01T22:22:00.002-04:00

Homeschool Share Lapbook Links
Weather Theme Arts and Crafts

Rain or Shine CD Craft

Weather Songs

Preschool Weather

Preschool Science Ideas

55 Preschool Weather Lessons

year 2009 - 2010 has started!

2009-09-10T08:24:00.002-04:00

We had a really busy day on Wednesday so I thought I would wait until this morning to post about it what we did.

In the morning we attended an awareness event for FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder). Our miss mew suffers from this and it is important that we all take time out to try to prevent this from happening to another innocent child.

Now onto our homeschool stuff.... :)

We traced our hands and decorated them. Then cut it all up. :)

She absolutely loved this. This is one activity that we are for sure going to be doing lots of.

NGBTS "Not going back to school"

2009-09-08T19:44:00.000-04:00

We attended a not going back to school picnic. It was held in a city nearby and since my husband was heading into the city for the day we thought we could drop him off and have some fun.

Well after dropping off our daughter at school... special art school she is 18 ... we ventured to the park. The picnic was okay I guess but my daughter seemed to be left out of stuff and things happened... her being attacked by a dog... marks on her face, neck, arms, legs, etc. Not a good day. I child painting on the back of my shirt. The list goes on.... we went to eat lunch and well there were way to many bees so we went to our van to eat... and then decided to just go for some ice cream and head back to my parents empty house. Not a very good day. Oh well maybe next time will be better.

New playroom...

2009-09-08T08:18:00.000-04:00

With me looking after children during the week it made more sense to have a playroom upstairs where they come in so that children were not taking over my whole house and so that we could have our own area to keep just for us and miss mew for her special toys.

In the first picture you can see the a bit of the corner of a black shelving unit which houses bins filled with toys and play items. This is working out really well with the kids. I am loving the mess contained to the area too!

We often use the table for crafts as I have small chairs that go around it making it a perfect height for crafts and eating for the kids.

Here is the entrance... with the cubbies for shoes and other things. It really helps keep things tidy in my house. Also the bookcase in the background houses some homeschool items because I also homeschool my 5 year old.

2009-2010 Curriculum

2009-09-05T19:34:00.002-04:00

Bible

Family Time Bible in Pictures by Kenneth N. Taylor

Language Arts

Learning to Read- "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons".
Learning to Write - Manuscript lessons for "100 Easy Lessons" from DonnaYoung.org.

Finish up "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", and then move to other things.

Reading - Sonlight P4-5 Curriculum
Penmanship - Handwriting With Out Tears Kindergarten

Math

printable worksheets
number games

Science

assorted science books

Life-Skills

age appropriate life skills (cooking, laundry, cleaning, personal care, etc)

What will be in the workboxes??

2009-08-30T23:35:00.003-04:00

This is a question that I am asked often when it comes to homeschooling my daughter. What am I going to put into her workboxes for school work this year. I am going to start a list and try ti keep the ideas flowing for her workboxes.

file folder games
colouring pages
worksheets for math
worksheets for printing
reading book
dice game
domino math
cookie sheet activities (magnetic letters)
tangrams
stringing beads and cards
play dough
paint by number
name writing practice sheets
cutting practice
mazes
dot to dots
puzzles

Themes for 2009-2010

2009-08-30T22:11:00.021-04:00

I am so gearing up for this school year.

September
In the Barn Yard
All About Fall
I am Special (about me)
Creation Lapbook
Special Days: Labour Day (7th), Grandparents Day (13th)

October
Thanksgiving
Fire Safety
Scarecrow/Pumpkins
Special Days: Thanksgiving (12th), Halloween (31st)

November
All about Me
Five Senses
Colours
Special Days: Remembrance Day (11th)

December
Christmas
Gingerbread Man
Special Days: Christmas Eve (24th), Christmas Day (25th), New Years Eve (31st)

January
Let it Snow
The Snowy Day
Special Days: New Years Day (1st)

February
Friendship
Groundhog Day
Dental Health
Special Days: Groundhog Day (2nd), Valentine's Day (14th)

March
Kites
Dr Suess
Special Days: St. Patrick's Day (17th)

April
Easter
Earth Day
Special Days: April Fool's Day (1st), Easter (4th), Miss Mew's Birthday (14th), Earth Day (22nd)

May
Watermelon
What about Weather
Teddy Bears
Special Days: Mother's Day (9th), Victoria Day

June
Special Days: Father's Day

Homeschool Supplies... and wish list...

2009-07-23T16:50:00.002-04:00

just putting a list of homeschooling supplies that I have in my homeschool or that are on my wish list.

glue
construction paper
math manipulative's
microscope
magnify glass
writing paper
measuring spoons/cups
coins
library card
pencils and erasers
crayons
markers
paint and brushes
wall maps and atlas
stickers
dictionary
camera
jump ropes
hiking guide
small white boards with markers

Can you think of any more???

Story Strips and Picture Cards

2009-07-21T10:41:00.002-04:00

After doing much research and trying things that work for us. I am going back to using story strips and picture cards. Why did I stop using this? Good question... I guess on the quest to find something bigger and better I stopped using them. Why try to fix what is not broken? I ask myself this question all of the time. So back to story strips and picture cards we go. Sad thing is I can not find my old picture cards so I have to print out all new ones. :(

I have found some amazing links that I will share with you all here

The Internet Picture Dictionary
Autism Picture Cards
English Visual Images
Do 2 Learn Educational Resources

Re-vamping my homeschool situation for next year...

2009-06-09T14:44:00.003-04:00

So I am re-vamping things... we are going to be using the workbox method when homeschooling. I plan to cover up some cereal boxes that will fit on my bookcase to start with... I hope to get this done in the next few days. I am really excited about this new adventure and it will be nice not to answer "are we done yet" every time we finish one assigned task. She will know that once her card if full she is done.

Don't get me wrong I am still going to use Sonlight P4/5 while homeschooling my daughter as well as other material I pick up and of course lots of crafts and lapbooks.

I do not have the workboxes book yet but I hope to get it soon but I know it will be a good fit for my daughter and me. Click here to find out more about the system.

I plan on looking for cereal boxes today and tomorrow I am sure we have a few in our recycle bin I can pull out and recover to make them pretty to go on my shelves in our kitchen for homeschooling. Did I mention how excited I am about this. :)

more pictures and info to follow as I get this up and running at our house.

Homeschool resources...

2009-05-03T08:17:00.004-04:00

Spelling

Zaner Bloser's Spelling Connections

Math

Houghton Mifflin's Leveled Math Practice

2009-04-22T09:01:00.002-04:00

I am still here....

2009-03-24T13:49:00.001-04:00

I haven't forgotten about this blog but we have just been very busy. :)

I do plan to update it this week for those regular visitors I do apologize.

Valentine's Day Ideas

2009-01-20T10:19:00.005-05:00

Crafts

Handprint wall hanging
cardboard tube cupid
pom pom critter
Valentine's Day T-shirt
Heart Pillows
Kids Valentine Hat
Using up candy canes
Valentine Printables
ABC Teach
edHelper Valentine's Stuff
DLTK's Valentine's links
Teacher Help

Winter Ideas

2009-01-20T09:57:00.005-05:00

Just putting together some things for a winter lapbook to work on as well as worksheets to go with our home school curriculum.

Snowflake Designs

Beginners 1

Puzzles

maze
picture hunt

Coloring Pages

sled
snowman
penguin
skating
snowflake 1
snowflake 2
snowflake 3

Stories

The Mitten

Crafts

Paper Plate Snowman
Styrofoam Snowman
Snowmen Fence
Snowflake Mobile

Lapbooks

The Snowy Day
My Book of Winter Words
Winter Counting Book

Food

Snowflake Tortillas

Christmas with the Animals

2008-12-03T14:06:00.004-05:00

We went on a field trip to a local conservation area where we learned about animals in winter. We fed the birds, left food for the skunks, squirrels and rabbits. It was so much fun despite the frigid temperatures. It was cold out that is for sure. The instructors were fabulous. I highly recommend this as a learning opportunity for others.

Looking at this week....

2008-11-30T19:49:00.005-05:00

I have to tell you all how much I enjoy homeschooling my youngest daughter. This week we are going to start working on our Christmas lapbook and we have a field trip on Tuesday that we are so excited about. Of course as the week progresses pictures will follow. Right now it is snowing out so our plans for tomorrow could change... to lots of outdoor play depending how much snow we get.

Monday
start on Christmas lapbook
daily lessons

Tuesday
Field trip: Christmas with the Animals
daily lessons

Wednesday
baking with mom
Christmas Lapbook
daily lessons

Thursday
more baking
Christmas Lapbook
daily lessons

Friday
Children's Museum (maybe)
Christmas Lapbook
daily lessons

Christmas Lapbook Ideas

2008-11-28T20:26:00.005-05:00

I am just putting together our links for our Christmas Lapbook. I can't wait to get started on this next week. Enjoy! As we put our lapbook together I will direct links and pictures to what we actually used to make ours.

Example of Christmas Lapbook
Printable ABC mini book
Christmas Symbols
More Christmas Lapbooks
Audrey's Christmas Page
Pop Up Christmas Tree
Free Christmas Coloring Pages
The Night Before Christmas
J is for Jesus book
Homeschool Helper Stuff
Printable Christmas Advent story book
12 Days of Christmas Lapbook

Jesse Tree Links
Jesse Tree
Jesse Tree Calendar
Jesse Tree Colouring Book
Jesse Tree Family Devotional

Advent
ABC's of Advent
ABC Advent Calendar to Colour

To my American friends and readers...

2008-11-27T09:26:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas Links

2008-11-26T11:48:00.009-05:00

These are some links I have found while searching for curriculum for my daughter on Christmas so I thought I would share them with you. As I find more and some that are not as useful I will purge the lists but for now they are here for you to look through. ( I have fixed some of the links... I will tr to get the rest fixed later this evening)

Advent

Annie's Advent Calendar Page
Make an advent calendar

Lapbooks

Christmas Symbols Lapbook
Christmas Customs Lapbook

Unit Studies

How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Cookies

Curriculums

A Holiday Preschool Curriculum
Christmas Bible Reading Chart

History

Christmas Traditions
Christian Origins of Familiar Christmas Customs
Christmas History

Colouring Pages

From Sheryl's Originals (Santa, Angel, Snowman)
Santa 1, 2, 3
Coloring Book Fun 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Trace and Colour Star

Other Activities

Christmas Tree Light Sewing Card
Christmas Templates

Printables

Kaboose Crafts
Christian Printable Worksheets click here (pdf)
Mazes 1, 2
Christmas Themed Worksheets

Books

Christmas Alphabet Book "print here"
Twas the night before Christmas (printable minibook)

Crafts

Christmas Crafts for kids 1

Stories

The Christmas Story for "kids"

Recipes

Miniature Gingerbread House 1
Stained Glass Cookies 1

Online

Christmas Fun with Veggie Tales 1

Sorry about little updates

2008-11-16T22:06:00.000-05:00

but I have been busy trying to get my life organized with my husband currently at home with us and getting on a schedule that will work for all of us. I plan to post more this week as I try to work on a new schedule.

Nature Walk and lessons for today...

2008-11-04T15:08:00.005-05:00

Today we went for a nature walk... the temperatures were beautiful outside so we thought we would take full advantage of the weather. We did our lessons first thing this morning... it worked out well for us... and then in the afternoon we did some crafts.

Today's lesson on the table waiting to be taught.

Off on the nature hike we go:

Getting the crayons ready to make the rubbings. It took longer to peel back
the paper on the crayons then it did to do anything else.

It is magic... a leaf appears!!!!!

For our Felt Board (Halloween Theme)

2008-10-28T12:51:00.004-04:00

5 Little Ghosts

5 little ghosts flew through the door

One flew away, and then there were 4.

4 little ghost spooky as can be.

One flew away, and then there were 3.

3 little ghosts drinking Halloween brew,

One flew away, and then there were 2.

2 little ghosts having lots of fun,

One flew away, and then there was one.

1 little ghost is a real super hero,

He flew away, and then there was zero!

Halloween Songs

2008-10-28T10:30:00.005-04:00

5 Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate (Hold up open hand)

The first one says, "My, it's getting late." (Point at the thumb)

The second one says, "There are witches in the air." (Point to pointer finger)

The third one says, "But we don't care." (Point to the middle finger)

The fourth one says, "Let's run and run and run!" (Point to ring finger)

The fifth one says, "We're ready for some fun!" (Point to the little finger)

Ooooooooooo went the wind (Hold hands open beside mouth)

And out went the light (Clap hands together)

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight. (Roll hands around each other)

Hoo!

The owl goes Hoo
The owl goes Hoo
Hi ho on Halloween the owl goes Hoo
The ghost goes Boo
The ghost goes Boo
Hi ho on Halloween the ghost goes Boo

*Sung to Farmer in the Dell

Jack O Lantern

I'm a little Jack o lantern
Fat and Fine
They picked me off a pumpkin vine
Halloween is coming don't you know
just light my candle and watch me glow

*Sung to I'm a Little Teapot

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

2008-10-27T13:30:00.003-04:00

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, by Engelmann, Haddox, and Bruner is the book I have been using kind of to teach my daughter to read and learn the alphabet. But I am not using it in the way the book was meant to be used not at all. Here is how I am using it.

I took some cue cards/blank recipe cards purchased from the dollar store and a black sharpie and I put all the different letters and combinations on the cue cards that they teach. Complete with blend so she could see how to say them. I did all 44 letters/blends and every day we would do some cue cards... nothing hard core because I like to keep things simple with her. She prefers that and it is much less stress when your dealing with a 4 year old. So every day we are adding more and more cue cards until she can do them all without prompting.

After she is done with the letters/blends then we will go on to the words they have in the book. I will just take my cues from her. If she can say the blends without prompting then it is time to go onto the words.

This book is available at most libraries I have found and it is a wonderful resource to use to make up the cue cards and not do the lessons. Mind you some people have had wonderful luck with the lessons it just isnt' something my daughter can handle and I know that so I just changed it up for us.

Staying Motivated and feeling like your doing something...

2008-10-22T08:42:00.003-04:00

I have had many conversations as of late with people who are concerned about if they are doing enough when it comes to homeschooling. Between not doing enough and staying motivated these seem to be a couple of areas many homeschooling parents struggle with.

As far as asking yourself if you are doing enough. There are many styles of homeschooling and just because "susie" uses a curriculum and you don't doesn't mean she is doing any more or less then you are. Children learn in different ways. I know that if I was to do just work sheets with my daughter I should just forget it. It won't work she would be totally bored to tears and be difficult to teach. I have chosen a literature based curriculum because after doing much research and sitting back and watching my daughter I realized that it was the fit for her and so far so good.

Just because one child learns one way doesn't mean the rest of your children will learn the same way. That is the beauty of homeschooling you can customize the curriculum to fit the child. Something that can not be done in a public school.

I have been homeschooling my daughter for about two months now and it is going well, we do have times when we dont' get done everything I want to in a day but I still walk away at the end of the day knowing we did accomplish things whether it was just a walk and talking about nature or baking something.

So staying motivated is harding than feeling like you have done something I think anyways or maybe they go hand in hand. You will still be motivated or will be motivated period if you know you are accomplishing something every day. Look at the little things. Keep a list of the things you do throughout the day so that you can look back at it at the end of the day and see that you have accomplished something. That would probably be a good start.

I will try to post more on this subject in another post. I have to get ready to start my day here this morning and set up things for my daughter and I.

Children's Museum... and schedule for the week...

2008-10-20T14:58:00.002-04:00

We made our first trip into the Children's Museum and Shaylin loved it!!!!!

Shaylin loved working in the McDonald's and going in the Dinosaur cave. She loved playing the drums as well as meeting up with some new homeschool friends and a former nursery school friend Ani. It really was a good morning and I was impressed with the museum. I am sure we will be making many more trips back that way.

Today I am just getting ready to start school I know it is 3pm but Rob doesn't go into work until 2pm now so we start it late in the afternoon. It really doesn't take long we read some of the stories after bath too before bed. We do crafts in the morning as Shaylin likes it when her daddy helps. I have to decide on our outings this week.

Tuesday ~ eye doctors (nothing like making appointments learning time)
Wednesday ~ ice skating
Thursday ~ story time at the library
Friday ~ go to see High School Musical (might wait until cheap Tuesday)

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-10-12T10:03:00.001-04:00

Wishing all my Canadian readers a
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Letter B Lapbook Butterflies

2008-10-06T14:40:00.003-04:00

I hope your enjoying the links I am using to create my lapbooks. I will continue to post them as I go through the making my lapbooks as I find it easy for me to organize them this way also.

Butterfly Crafts 1,
Colouring pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Activity Sheets 1,
Butterfly Anatomy 1, 2,
Lifecycle 1, 2,
Homeshare Butterfly Links
Butterfly activity kit free download near the bottom

Fall Songs to sing...

2008-10-06T12:18:00.006-04:00

The Leaves are Falling Down
Sung to: "Farmer in the Dell"

The leaves are falling down
The leaves are falling down
Red, yellow, green, and brown
The leaves are falling down

Scarecrow
Sung to: "Teddy Bear, Teddy bear turn around"

Scarecrow, Scarecrow, turn around.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, jump up and down
Scarecrow, scarecrow, arms up high
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, wink one eye
Scarecrow, scarecrow, bend your knee
Scarecrow, scarecrow, flap in the breeze
Scarecrow, scarecrow, climb into bed
Scarecrow, scarecrow, rest your head

Letter A Lapbook - Ants

2008-10-06T11:55:00.008-04:00

The ant pictured above almost makes ants seem cute... I did say almost.

Here are some links where I picked up some things to do on ants.

Question from my comments: How long does it take to do a lapbook or do I spend on them?
Lapbooks sometimes take a week to do but most often usually a couple of days because we add so much crafty stuff to them. I plan to do the ant lapbook in two days and of course I will be taking pictures of the lapbook once it is done and probably some during. We do others that work out to be more than a week to do at times. Just depends on Shaylin's interest but I have condensed these so they won't take long.

Week 5

2008-10-06T09:03:00.004-04:00

Ideas for this week:

ant lapbook ~started Monday
butterfly lapbook
count numbers on the clock
collect leaves for a leaf rubbing
play dress up
bake a pie
make soup
build a spider web "Little Miss Muffet"
nature walk "Jaffa maybe"
Make a chart of Shaylin's daily schedule and post it
musical band with kitchen utensils

What are we reading this week:

Every insect
~~The Ant~~
~~Willie Winkie~~
Little Miss Muffet
The Four Friends
Little PeeWee
Busy Timmy
The Hungry Caterpillar
5 3 pages from our Science book
Math make patterns with coloured blocks

Matching colours today

2008-10-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

Friday we decided to cruise some links that have been giving to me.
My daughter really enjoyed matching the colours together and it
was really good in helping with some fine motor skills with the work
she had to do with the mouse.

Here she is loving the game she is playing.

Week 3 ~ Day 2 and Day 3

2008-09-17T14:07:00.004-04:00

Today was a fun day homeschooling learning about rain and spring and rainbows.

We sand the song... Little Cabin in the woods with the hand motions today for those of you who don't know the song.... here are the words with what the motion you do with the words.

Little cabin in the wood (trace a cabin outline with your index fingers)
A little old man by the window stood (hand above eyes)
Saw a rabbit hopping by (two fingers of one hand like rabbit ears, hopping)
Knocking at his door (knock with fist)
"Help me! Help me! Help me!" he said, (throw arms up for each "help me")
"Or the hunter will shoot me dead!" (make a finger gun, point, and shoot)
"Come little rabbit, come with me, (welcome gesture with hands)
Happy we will be." (hug yourself)

This is Shaylin reading the Bernstein Bears big book of science. I have to say this book is so cool and we always enjoy our daily lessons in it.

Week 3 Day 1

2008-09-15T17:07:00.001-04:00

I am loving Sonlight curriculum for my daughter it is working really well with her. So exciting to watch her learn. We had so much fun today learning about the wind and trying to fly our paper airplane indoors... it was raining outside here. Windy but rainy which is not the best flying environment for a paper airplane.
We also enjoyed playing with playdoh making worms/snakes into
bracelets.... okay... I have a total girlie girl.

New location for homeschooling curriculum...

2008-09-15T16:53:00.002-04:00

The middle shelf has her sonlight curriculum.

Hurricane Lapbook

2008-09-03T18:42:00.001-04:00

I am on a yahoo group and someone shared the most wonderful link with us all it is Weather Wiz Kids it will teach your children about weather. We are starting a hurricane lapbook here on Monday to go along with our Sonlight curriculum.

Here are some of the links we are using:
Weather Wiz Kids
Printable Hurricane tracking Chart (pdf)
Another Printable Hurricane tracking Chart (pdf)
Lesson: The Eye of the Hurricane (grade 3-5)
Hurricane Lesson
More Hurricane Lessons (more than one)
Weather Lapbook
Hurricane Watch

more links to follow as I research this more and get all the info together for the lapbook.

Back to Home School

2008-08-27T08:40:00.000-04:00

Now that everyone is healthy again time to get back on track for homeschooling.
I have noticed that Shaylin knows a lot more than I realize she knows. It is always a delight to see how far she is coming along and how much she enjoys homeschooling.

We are getting excited about our NGBTS Picnic on Tuesday. It is going to be so much fun to hang out with other homeschoolers on the traditional first day of school around here. But alas I have already broke traditional ways and started school already. Call me a rebel.

more pictures will be coming now that things are back to normal around here.

Extras for this week...

2008-08-05T14:55:00.001-04:00

I thought I would post some of the extras for this week that we are doing along with our week 2 of Sonlight P4/5.

Monday

watch a train movie
practice counting to 20

Tuesday

Chipmunk coloring page
make a windsock

Wednesday

noah's ark craft
nature walk
try to use a hammer and nails

Thursday

make a monkey craft
fly a kite

Friday

paint a rainbow

Day 2 of school....

2008-07-22T21:33:00.002-04:00

I have to tell you... it is going so well... my little one wants to keep going after we have done the days work... but so far we are keeping on track. More of an update and pictures later.

Moving a Big Rock

2008-07-22T14:26:00.000-04:00

This video is absolutely incredible... seriously! Give it a view.

First day of school for us!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-21T13:41:00.000-04:00

Today we plan on starting our first day of school. I can't tell you how excited I am. I figure come family when school traditionally goes in we will be doing lots of stuff with different homeschooling groups so if we get a head start now I will feel a whole lot better. Besides she is more than eager to start. She can't wait.

Box Day!!!!!!!!

2008-07-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

Box day was officially July 9th....
(due to a death in my family we didn't get it open and looked at until yesterday)

The box has arrived!

Shaylin showing how excited she is about the box being here.
She can hardly wait to get started.

I love having my week laid out of me. It makes it so much easier to
plan my life.

The books are all on the shelf we bought at Ikea on Monday.

For those who don't remember our curriculum is Sonlight.

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-05T00:51:00.000-04:00

In honour of the Fourth of July I thought I would share some of my
favourite american blogs and links with very useful resources.

Freebie of the Day - check this one daily

Ambleside Online - free online curriculum

Homeschool Helper

Lapbook Resource s

Giggles, Grins and Grades - new blog I found and visit

School name and motto

2008-07-04T07:30:00.000-04:00

I am so excited for you... just today I pressed the order button on my curriculum.... :) So it should be here next week... and we have come up with a name also it is:

HOPE Learning Academy

HOPE is an acronym for: Home is the Opportunity for Pursuing Excellence

Motto:

Living and Learning in Love, and Faith

I am planning on making ID cards for both Shaylin and I and hope to do t shirts and sweats also... which should be easy... I just have to come up with a logo, mascot and some school colours now.

We are on summer break right now...

2008-06-13T14:43:00.000-04:00

just so you know... I haven't forgotten this blog but school is done until September maybe late August I am undecided as to when I will start up again.. we will be doing little projects here and there throughout the summer and I plan to post them as we do them.

Right now we are concentrating on our garden which is growing like crazy so you might want to skip over to my main blog It's Just my Life to check out our garden and other things happening at our house.

Learning about Kites

2008-05-25T15:40:00.001-04:00

What a perfect time to be learning about kites!
The kite festival is in town and we had a blast there today.

Picking out the colour for her kite.

Helping add the tape to keep it together.

more putting the kite together.

Kite ie almost complete just adding the tail.

Tail is on now time for some string.

Up and flying!!! It really does fly!

Check out my main blog for more pictures of the kite festival today.

Curriculum Decision... DONE

2008-05-19T15:48:00.000-04:00

After much prayer and research... ugh.. totally researched out I tell you we have decided to order the Sonlight P4/5 for September. We are just going to do math basics this year and start with Math U See Primer for next year Primer level. I can't tell you how excited I am about this!!!!

I plan on continuing with lapbooks on the books we will be reading and what we will be covering in the Sonlight curriculum. My daughter loves lapbooks way to much to give them up. She just loves seeing the final product.

Thrift store find...

2008-05-12T14:34:00.000-04:00

Here is my latest thrift store find... I can't tell you how
excited I was to find this book today. And only for 25cents.
It just reminded me of my old school days.

Who knew shaving cream could be so much fun?

2008-04-29T20:11:00.001-04:00

With a dollarstore crafting mat... nice and big
and no mess on my tables and some shaving cream
just a dab... she had so much fun.
This helps with both her sensory issues and
learning to write letters and numbers.

Here she is spreading the shaving cream all around the mat.

You can tell she is making different numbers here as she is playing.
What child doesn't like to get their hands all messed up but mom
loves the fact that it is a very easy clean up.

Got to love those hands... I had to inform her she was not to
touch mommy until after her hands were clean.

Planners

2008-04-22T16:09:00.000-04:00

Found these at a local dollar store last week... great planbook I
purchased two one to have next year also. I love to have
everything organized so when I saw these I was really excited.

Nature Walk

2008-04-21T18:12:00.000-04:00

We have a really cool place here locally to go for walks at.
I have to say it is one of my most favourite places to take a walk.
And what is better than a walk with a dear friend and some littles ones.

Two cuties posing in front of the house where the cookies are.
Funny children always remember where the cookies are.

One of the beautiful displays.

The goats Zohie and Yoshi. Not sure who is who but the kids like them.

I really like this guy... you could sit here just enjoying some jazz music.
Alas no jazz music playing out of the sax.

Family 1st Day

2008-04-18T19:22:00.000-04:00

A local city had a family 1st day and they had many activities

going on a different places and the children had a passport

they could fill up and enter a draw. Anyway...

The Toy Shoppe was one of the places we really

didn't make it anywhere else as my daughter wanted

to move in there and stay in Thomas forever.

Two students in School today!!!

2008-04-16T22:08:00.001-04:00

Just had to share my two students in school today. I haven't been as good about taking pictures while homeschooling and that must change... we have finished up our Pig lapbook and are starting on the Alphabet lapbooks... they are going to be so much fun.

Life has been busy...

2008-03-31T10:33:00.000-04:00

Last week someone was always sick in the house. What a long week. I plan to get back to posting this week with some updates of what we have been doing. I love lapbooking but I have been getting lazy with taking pictures of our homeschooling stuff. I must get on track.