Ollie's Bargains

A trip to Ollie's yielded a $40 cartload of bargains...most to keep and some for gifts. Our favorites so far are the giant U.S. Map puzzle (the boys favorite) and the Janette Oke Animal Friends series (my favorite). The Animal Friends series is great for Elijah's reading level right now with short, simple chapters and colorful illustrations throughout. Each book is approximately 60 pgs. long and recommended for ages 7-10. Each story teaches a different character trait with an animal being the main character/narrator. These books were $1.99 each at Ollie's while CBD sells them for $5.99 each. WOW!!! I love a good bargain!!!

Isaac "Reads"

Not one to be left in the background, Isaac typically declares, "Me turn now" at some point during the day so he can do "me (school) work wike me big brudders, Ewi and Wukey!" Usually I spent some time reading books, counting fingers and toes, naming body parts, etc. with him during his "school time." After seeing Luke read a book today, Isaac wanted to have his turn to "read" as well.

"The Bus" read by Isaac...

Luke Reads "The Bus"

Luke, mainly because of his persistence at this point, is eagerly jumping into Kindergarten type work though he doesn't technically need to start until the fall of 2009 or 2010. He's just weeks shy of 5 years old. Math is his favorite. He joins in most days with Elijah's first grade math work. He loves learning to read and has made good progress especially in the past few weeks. He chose a book titled "The Bus" this morning and I recorded his second read through. He is proving that his Kindergarten year will be much "easier" than my initial year of homeschooling. He is farther ahead than I anticipated and I am more confident in my ability to teach my children.

Enjoy...

Geography

As part of our weekly lessons, I have the boys engage in geography studies. With our history curriculum The Story of the World, we are learning ancient geography, but I wanted to add continents, US geography, and current world geography. I use a variety of learning tools - a laminated place mat with continents on one side and a US map on the opposite side, state flashcards, a world geography flip chart, a US floor puzzle and our globe. We recently ordered two books by Rand McNally that the boys really enjoy looking through. Some of the information is above their grade level and reading ability, but the simple facts are listed on each page about that state or country - pictures of the flag, bird, flower, tree, etc. as well as a listing of the capital, population, highest points, area, etc. I can always read the other information to them and the boys will not outgrow these atlas' for quite a while.

Looking through the Rand McNally Children's Illustrated Atlas of the United States. Elijah typically reads (or tries to read) the state's name and they look at the state flag, bird, tree and flower, then move on to the next page.

Here is the globe that we own. It is a GeoSafari Talking Globe Jr. that gives facts and information. The boys can then play games quizzing their memory and knowledge of facts just learned. I found it for a steal a few years back at almost half price...it is pricey. But, my boys really enjoy it.

How Your Body Works

In our science studies, we've been using Christian Kids Explore Biology by Stephanie Redmond. I appreciate how the author weaves our Christian faith into every lesson. As a Christian, is there really any other way to talk about the awesome creation around us without talking about God, our creator??? We've just begun our study of the human body. Of course, we have our Human Body Flip Chart mentioned in a previous post that will be a favorite around here for years.

Two books we've found useful and right on my boy's level are The Busy Body Book: A Kid's Guide to Fitness by Lizzy Rockwell






The Best Book of the Human Body by Barbara Taylor. I delight in seeing my boy's faces as they discover new things about how our bodies are made...206 bones???!!! They just couldn't get over it...so we had to count to 206!





I came across a website the boys loved playing around with called How The Body Works. There are movies to view about each body system and body parts/organs, where each part is located in the body, activities, quizzes and articles to read among other helpful information related to health. After showing the boys how to maneuver the site, they mostly watched videos as some of the information was above their grade level.

The timing is great for this topic in our house as the boys are questioning more about our baby due in July. Luke was surprised to know that the baby is "naked" right now and will NOT be born fully dressed. Ha, ha! What a neat way to bring real life to school studies!

King Tut

In our Story of the World studies, we're reading about King Tut and the discovery of his mummy and treasures. I found this chapter book about the life of Howard Carter and the team that discovered King Tut's tomb. It's an easy read and presents our topic in story form instead of fact laden pages in picture books. Don't get me wrong, it's essential that we use the non-fiction picture books, but this is a nice change of pace. And it works as our Read-Aloud this week!

The Uterus

This flip chart has been a favorite the last few weeks upon rediscovery of the page on Reproduction and Pregnancy. I've begun telling the boys more specific details about the baby and my body in response to their questions. The best question so far, because we say that Mama has a baby in her tummy, is about whether the baby is mixed in my tummy with all the food I eat. I explained that the baby is actually in my uterus or womb separate from my stomach and food. Now, every few days, particularly when I'm wearing a snug shirt, Elijah comes up to me and puts his hand on my growing tummy and says, "I know our baby is growing because I can see your uterus." Ha!


I'm just waiting for the BIG question that I know will come..."How does the baby get out???" In the past, I've answered that there is a special opening on a Mama's body for their babies to be born. I think they'll want a more specific location this time...and if Elijah can read the chart he may figure it out on his own!

Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons

I came across these books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal in my local library. They are wonderful for teaching children the meaning of character traits in a way they can easily relate. These books are on my wish list for my boys. They'd make really great gifts for others as well.

The first book Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons teaches traits through the activity of making and eating cookies. Here are a few of my favorites:

"COOPERATE means, How about you add the chips while I stir?

PROUD means, My chin is high, and I sure do like the way my cookies turned out.

MODEST means you don't run around telling everyone you make the best cookies, even if
you know it to be true.

RESPECT means offering the very first cookie to your grandmother.

PESSIMISTIC means, How awful, how absolutely dreadful - I only have half my
cookie left.

OPTIMISTIC means, This is great - I still have half my cookie left.

REGRET means, I really wish I didn't eat so many cookies."


Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons just came into publication this fall and explains character traits in the same simple-to-understand style.

"DISAPPOINTED means, I tried to make it look like a star, but it didn't turn out at all the
way I expected.

APPRECIATIVE means, Thank you so so much for taking the time to bake with me.

CHARITABLE means setting a big batch aside to give to people who maybe don't have any
cookies at all.

MODERATION means at the party not having twenty cookies, and not having zero cookies,
but having just enough cookies.

FRUSTRATED means, I can't believe we burned them again!

PERSEVERANCE means, We tried and tried and tried, and we finally made the perfect
not-burned batch.

THOUGHTFUL means, Let's give some to our neighbor!"

School Day Sampler

Here's a glimpse at part of our school day and schedule minus lots of pictures. I would like to do a blog post on "A Day In The Life..." at some point, but this post is really just about schooling my mancubs.

8:15AM - 8:45AM: Breakfast and Bible time. We're reading through Exodus now - we recently started there because we are learning about Egypt (the ancient world) in our history class using The Story of the World materials. We are memorizing the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20. Yummm...made from scratch pancakes - I've got a great recipe if you need one - and NYS maple syrup! We finished the bottle and it's a sad day other than the fact that I don't have that massive bottle clogging up my fridge space. But back to school...

9:00AM: Everyone is dressed, fed and ready to begin. I give Elijah a run down of what we need to accomplish that day and he chooses the first subject. See my lesson planner (3 ring binder) leaning against the wall behind Eli's chair. That is it's permanent home. On this day, I choose Spelling first and Luke wanted to work on his handwriting.

9:15AM: Practicing those spelling words before the test tomorrow. I like to use manipulatives with the boys to break up the monotony of always writing or using flashcards, etc. Old metal cookie sheets serve as our magnetic boards.

9:30AM: Still playing with the letters. Eli works on spelling words, Luke spells his name, Isaac throws them.

9:45AM - 10:00AM: Break, do morning chores (gathering garbage and dirty laundry), play Legos while mama sorts and starts a load of laundry.

10:00AM - 10:30AM: Elijah's first choice almost 100% of the time - Math - we're learning calendar facts, weather graphing, doubles addition, writing number sentences, more and some more stories, getting tired of counting to 100...so we skip that most days!

10:30AM - 10:40AM: Practicing our other Bible memory verses for Christian Education at church. Elijah is so blessed to have his mama and daddy as school teachers and CE teachers...at least we can say for sure what he is learning!!! We're working on Romans 3:23-24.

10:40AM - 11:00AM: Break to be wild and crazy while mama does something...probably laundry...

11:00AM - 11:30AM: Phonics lesson using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, Grammar lesson using First Language Lessons.

11:30AM - 12:00AM: Mom disappears on account of the laundry monster while the mancubs ascend to the second floor to build forts in their bunk beds and pretend there is a fire everywhere but on their beds...yes, there is loud shrieking and screaming, cries for "HELP!" and warnings of "FIRE" that can be heard all the way down in the basement. I'm praying the neighbors don't hear us...

12:00PM: TV time...A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and The Mayflower Voyagers (another Charlie Brown story) have been the recent favorites.

12:45 - 1:15PM: Lunch consisting of yummy leftover pasta with basil pesto and veggies...for mama...while the mancubs plead for something "better." Okay, flour tortillas with peanut butter and raisins, peas, more raisins and milk. Sweet smiles asking to have a "picnic lunch" as we like to call it meaning that I lay a blanket on the living room floor so they can watch TV while they eat. I probably do it more than I should. More TV...A Charlie Brown Christmas. Can you tell we just bought two new movies?

1:15PM - 2:15PM: I can't remember...I'm amazed that I remember this much so far...definitely more playing and probably folding laundry now on my bed. I've found that if I fold it on my bed, it doesn't get "stuck" in laundry baskets lining the walls of my room to be picked through as needed. I can't go to sleep with piles of clothes on my bed forcing me to take care of them.

2:15PM - 4:45PM: Isaac goes for his nap

2:30PM - 3:30PM: Science, our last subject for the day loosely following Christian Kids Explore Biology. We're studying birds right now and on this day, owls. We read lots of non-fiction books borrowed from our awesome library system. The boys fill out an animal fact sheet for each animal we learn about and then draw a picture of that animal. Facts might include - Does it fly? Does it have a backbone? What does it eat? Is it endangered? These questions and idea for the fact sheet were pulled from a book I reference frequently, The Well Trained Mind. In addition to our animal study this day, we were able to include our "artist of the month" study as well. John James Audubon is well known for his life like animal drawings, especially of birds, so he was an obvious choice for this month's artist.

3:30PM: Done with school stuff for today until Daddy comes home...so the boys and I each do our own thing for a while...dinner prep, sitting around for a few minutes, checking emails, playing, etc.

7:00PM - 7:20PM: Elijah does his independent reading time with Daddy looking over his shoulder to help with harder words...and to make sure he is really reading and not just guessing the story line based on the pictures...

7:30PM: Family read aloud time...we're reading Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski. I like that I can make up a southern accent to read it, Luke just loves strawberries, Isaac pays attention when I show a picture and Elijah keeps asking why they talk that way...it's a little slow go with this one, but we press on.

11:00PM: Mama finally hits the sack knowing that tomorrow will be just as busy yet content and confident there isn't any other alternative as beneficial and rewarding for our family.

Little Pilgrim's Progress

Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen L. Taylor

We just finished reading this children's version of the classic John Bunyan allegory, Pilgrim's Progress. Taylor has simplified some of the vocabulary and ideas behind the allegory but still maintains a richness of words and imagination. Little Christian is a boy who takes a journey from his burden [of sin] to ultimate peace and rest the Celestial City with the Prince [Jesus]. He meets a variety of characters along the way, Sloth, Obstinate, Ignorance, servants of the Wicked Prince [Satan] who entice him to leave the Way of the King for an easier journey. But Little Christian also meets other pilgrims along their journey as well, Evangelist, Faithful, Hopeful, Discretion who encourage him to stay on the Way of the King.

My boys LOVED this book - soldiers, danger, battles, armor and ultimate victory. There were mornings when the first request was for reading about Little Christian and begging for "just one more chapter...please!" at bedtime. It has been an awesome avenue for talking our relationships with Jesus or the need for one. Now we sometimes refer back to "...remember when Little Christian faced...?" I cried at the end when Little Christian sees his mother in the Celestial City for the first time. He had been asking exactly when he was going to see his mother throughout the entire story and that moment was so emotional for me! (I think especially about my Grandpa Givens...)

As a note of caution, there are situations in the story where characters are beaten, harassed and one even dies because of what he believes. I used these situations to talk about how Jesus died on the cross when he didn't deserve to. But He did it because He loved us so much, He was willing to die in our place to take our sins from us. The character in the story who dies loved the Prince [Jesus] so much that he was willing to give up his life for him.

I highly recommend this book! I usually would stick with the original, unabridged versions of books, but for my boys, aged 2-5, this was perfect! Even Isaac sat for most of reading time!!! As as added bonus, the story of Christiana, Little Christian's friend from the city of Destruction, is included as part two of this book. We haven't read that one yet, but plan to in the future.

Day by Day a Week Goes Round

Day by Day a Week Goes Round by Carol Diggory Shields

I found this sweet book through my library system and love the catchy, rhyming verses for learning the days of the week. The author also has another book called Month by Month a Year Goes Round following the same format.

At the beginning of each of these books there is a poem I thought would be fun for memorization. Elijah is working on it right now and has it almost perfected. We're calling it "Day by Day" because there is no official title so we used the book name as the poem name.

"The sun comes up, the moon goes down,

By tick and tock a day goes round.

The days go dancing, one by one,

When seven pass, a week is done.

The moon is counting in the sky,

As week by week a month goes by.

Month by month the seasons swing,

Summer, autumn, winter, spring.

The moon comes up, the sun goes down,

And month by month a year goes round."

Big Brother Reads

Elijah has gotten to a point where he can sit with his brothers and read stories to them. We attempt to have independent reading time for 20 minutes everyday as well as reading picture books, supplemental school reading (mostly for history and science), and family read alouds. But I think Isaac especially loves it when Elijah reads to him.

Elijah reading "This Train" to Isaac.

Franklin stories are some of Luke's favorites.

Books! Books! Books!

I love buying books for my boys. I have a long list of books I'd like to purchase from a variety of subjects...but this shopping spree was an effort to help us with our study of Fine Arts.

For Art this year, I am using How to Teach Art to Children published by Evan-Moor. The first few lessons have been about Line - recognizing and drawing vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines in varying widths thick, thin and dotted. After each lesson, we've looked around our house to find the different lines and follow that up by looking at examples of artwork through our borrowed library books Museum ABC, Museum Shapes and Museum 123 (all published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art). I love these books because they are appropriate for ANY age - everyone in our family can look at these books and come away a little more knowledgeable. They were number one on my shopping list and I'm sure the other patrons of the library will be thankful that I'm not holding those copies hostage any longer.

Can You Find It? is a search and find book using art work. Elijah and Luke love these types of books, so that was a extra purchase. It's turn out to be a treasure as well.

I am planning to study a different artist each month. I found Discovering Great Artists many months back, but wasn't sure about it. Then I happened upon a blogging mom who is using it with her little ones and I loved the projects her children were doing. Check out this Van Gogh project that finally sold me. Maybe it's just because I love sunflowers...

The rest of the stack is for Music. Both Elijah and Luke will be taking piano lesson together with Miss June. They will focus on the piano as the main instrument, but will try a variety of rhythm instruments and music "play." I am hoping to teach them about the different sections of the orchestra and listen to a variety of classical musicians. Again, I've borrowed these Classical Kids CDs from our library and love them. We occasionally watch Little Einsteins on TV and the first time I put in one of the new CDs, Elijah said, "Hey, I like this music...it's from Little Einsteins!" He then proceeded to "fly" in his rocket around the house, joined within seconds by his brothers, humming along with the music.

This treasures below are a stack of well loved books I picked at my local library sale. My favorite of the bunch is Jamberry. I love the rollicking flow of the words about a little boy and a bear picking berries for jam...

"One berry

Two berry

Pick me a blueberry...

Trainberry

Trackberry

Clickety-clackberry...

Raspberry

Jazzberry

Razzamatazzberry

Berryband

Merryband

Jamming in Berryland..."

Of course, you can't beat classics like Madeline and Babar, too! My only problem now...my only problem always is...I NEED MORE BOOK SHELVES!