PE Giveaway

This is a giveaway for a PE curriculum. I think PE is very important, and it seems like it would be easy to let it go by the wayside. Here is a chance to get an easy to follow PE curriculum for free:

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2011/10/family-fitness-time-review-giveaway.html/comment-page-6#comment-37552

Check It OUT!!!!!!

We rearranged, and I LOVE IT! It actually looks like a school area and is way more functional. I finally got my whiteboard on the wall as well as my calendar time stuff. The artwork on the walls is all original COPYRIGHT: AW  My daughter painted those right after we came home from the hospital with baby #3. And just for the record, my desk does not look that clean on a daily basis. In fact, I don't think I've seen the top of my desk since that picture was taken. So instead of blogging some more, maybe I should turn off the computer and clean my desk, or get a snack. I'm kinda hungry.

So its going.....

Well. We've had our ups and downs, but overall its been good. I'm learning how to be HER teacher and she is learning how to be MY student. Overall, Homeschooling was absolutely the right decision and we love it. Some of the great things so far:
Watching Phineas and Ferb for recess when its rainy
Finishing before noon (not everyday)
Spending the extra time together
Being on a schedule
Being on a chores schedule! :)
Being flexible and changing the schedule if we need to

Some of the challenges:
Getting myself up early (I have to anyway for the baby, but I'm not much of a morning person)
      on  a side note: its really not that early, I get up at 630, kids are up at 700, we start at 800
Getting her to work quickly
Getting her to work quickly
Getting her to work quickly
   not sure why: sometimes I think she's bored with the work, other times I think she doesn't understand and  gets frustrated. FINDING the BALANCE--that's a little difficult. I'm learning patience, or trying to. She is very lacksadaisical in her work, but we are working on it.
THE BOYS--oh my I never realized how much the baby 'bothers' me until I sat down and tried to do school. Also the preschooler--he gets LOUD and distracting.
Doing School with the Preschooler: he's only 3 1/2, but I've been VERY non formally doing school with him. He likes to be silly and say the wrong answer when I know he knows it. FRUSTRATING! but all kids do it! Right?!?
So other than having to exercise patience, which I am desperately trying to get better at, things have been going well.  Stay Tuned for: School Room Revisited

The First Week

The first week has come and gone...I think it's going well. I can tell when she gets bored and I am trying to think of different projects to do to go along with our regular studies. I think when we get into the rhythm of things I will add in some French and Music. I don't personally know French, but I hope to learn right along with her. Speaking of not being in a rhythm--yesterday we got done at 3 in the afternoon. (We had an hour long lunch break) Today, we got done at 10:30am. We had a friend coming over so I guess that was motivation for working faster. Works for me! :) Some subjects we are breezing through--others, like Math, we need to spend more time on. She is super smart with Math, but she wasn't taught to memorize her basic + and - facts in first grade. We are working on that and slowly going through the workbook. Her reading has improved SO MUCH! I'm so excited about that. Last year in First grade, public school, it seemed like she barely progressed with reading. We are still working on balancing loud younger brothers with school, but it will get better. Repeat: It will get better. Tell yourself again: It will get better. In the meantime, I am LOVING the extra time with my girl! I missed her a lot last year.
On a more crafty note:

I did these on my computer, does that count as crafts? The other side has the party info. Sorry about the weird coloring...I should have edited before I uploaded!

EKWP Academy

In our state we can form and 'independent school' with at least one other family in order to legally homeschool. My sister and sister-in-law are both homeschooling, so there it is: EKWP Academy. We had a back to school kick off party on Saturday.

There was an obstacle course, designed by my awesome husband; and a put some freckles on your partner game, and a blindolded play-dough game. Lots of fun. The kids had a blast. I think the favorite thing was the obstacle course. It went around the house, involved a swing, a slide, a trampoline, a laser field (the sprinklers), and a see-saw amoung other things. Perfect way to end summer, cause guess what we started school TODAY! It went well. We started at 8 and got done at 11:20. I loved it!

We hit one rough patch when my 2nd grader started working REALLY slow. I realized it was because she alredy knew the stuff on that page, so I quizzed her on it (verbally), we skipped that page and moved on. Then her mood perked up. Another wonderful benefit of homeschooling: She doesn't have to wait for everyone else in the class to learn it or if she needs more time on something then we can take more time.

The Preschooler: This was a different story. We are starting the Letter of the Week curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler (no, I'm not getting paid to mention her, I just really like her stuff) To get him to sit down and work is a challenge, but I think at this point, casually learning letters and fine motor skills is fine. He's only 3 1/2, after all. :) Not worried.

The Baby:

He took a LONG morning nap today as a 'First Day of School' Present to me. By long, I mean over an hour. Lately his morning naps have been only 20 to 30 minutes. YEAH!!!!

After school, the kids did their chorse, cleaned their rooms--well one of them did; the other room was already clean. Now I'm enjoying a rainstorm while the kids are chilaxing in front of the TV. (no, they don't watch it all day, so stop freaking out) I'm kinda in the mood for some cookies now, but if I bake them, then I'll eat them, and that will negate the exercising I'm planning on doing this afternoon. :)

But, its LAMINATED.

Laminated--you have to say that with Isabella Rossellini's accent.  If you know what I'm talking about then you get the "I think you are AWESOME!" prize today. Are you ready for your prize? Here it is: I THINK YOU ARE AWESOME!!  Anyway, a couple weeks ago I bought this:

You can buy it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Thermal-Laminator-Inches-TL901/dp/B0010JEJPC

It was few days after I received it before I got to play with it. (stinking family in town) (okay, just kidding, it was great having them here)  So, I turned it on and laminated a couple things and realized --I was not prepared, so I had to turn it off and get everything else ready before I could laminate it. After a couple hours of cutting, I was ready.... I was laminating stuff from:

 

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/letter-of-the-week

It's great! She's got some really great stuff on her site---a few downloadable curriculums for purchase and some freebies as well. She has been such a blessing to me.  So, back to the laminating: I feel like a real teacher now. It's so cool to have my stuff all slick and shiny! Now when my preschooler looks up at me and says, "I don't want to do this.", I can say, "But, it's laminated!" (again with the accent)

Ready or Not...

I'm starting our school year in a little less than two weeks. I've never done this before; so, NO, I can't say if I'm ready or not. I've got most of my supplies. I've written down lesson plans in my fancy planner. I have kept the illusion that the two little boys won't bother us when we are doing school. :) I'm not expecting it to be the easiest thing I've ever done. I am expecting it to be the most rewarding. The more I think about it, the more thankful I am to God for giving me the opportunity to teach my children at home. I am so excited to be able to spend all that time with them and impart Godly principles into them. We may not have everything we could have if I had a 'real' job, but I wouldn't trade this life for anything. It's just stuff. My kids are forever. I think I still need to get a few things for Science and make some things for Math. I need to figure out the back to school party--then a couple days later, ready or not, I'm going to start homeschooling. AHHHHH! or YEAHHHH! or WOO HOO!