I love it! The kids love it!
Not going to lie, at first I was skeptical. But HWT Bobo actually said, "I can't wait to do the next page!"
Mimi took the time to work with her letters, instead of speeding through her transcriptions.
We bought it through this site. It has been the cheapest we found.
Eventually, they will get to choose what they want to transcribe. But for now, we are just working on one letter at a time, or one word at a time.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
New Year, fresh start, and new beginnings
It seems like Christmas and Thanksgiving slowed us down a bit. Trying to get back into the swing of things and find a schedule that will work for us. We have been blessed to start a new year with new opportunities.
I have been accepted into the nursing program at TWU. I have classes Monday through Thursdays during the day. Fortunately, we were able to find a nanny to come to the house while I am in classes.
My husband decided to open a vegan food truck. He will still continue his full time job and run the truck on the weekends.
Yes, we are going to be very busy. We are going to continue to homeschool. My husband, I'll call him "Head Zombie", will help throughout the week while I study for classes and I will teach them on the weekends while Head Zombie sells his sandwiches.
I'm excited to share how a family can work or go to school full time while homeschooling. Let's hope this works! I'll take all the prayers, thoughts and luck you can send.
I have been accepted into the nursing program at TWU. I have classes Monday through Thursdays during the day. Fortunately, we were able to find a nanny to come to the house while I am in classes.
My husband decided to open a vegan food truck. He will still continue his full time job and run the truck on the weekends.
Yes, we are going to be very busy. We are going to continue to homeschool. My husband, I'll call him "Head Zombie", will help throughout the week while I study for classes and I will teach them on the weekends while Head Zombie sells his sandwiches.
I'm excited to share how a family can work or go to school full time while homeschooling. Let's hope this works! I'll take all the prayers, thoughts and luck you can send.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Classifying game
Our orchard visit sparked the interest of spiders and insects. What is the difference? They are both arthropods, meaning they have an exoskeleton and a segmented body. But a spider has eight legs, while an insect has six legs.
This fits into our animal unit nicely. We started off the unit by watching this free movie from brainpopjr.
http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/animals/classifyinganimals/
Mimi is a kinesthetic learner. So lots of manipulations, movement and actions helps her retain what she has learned.
The object of the game was to pretend to be an animal and hop to the group.
Are you a vertebrate or invertebrate? Warm blooded or cold blooded? Bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, or arthropod? If it was an arthropod, are you a spider or an insect?
This fits into our animal unit nicely. We started off the unit by watching this free movie from brainpopjr.
http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/animals/classifyinganimals/
Mimi is a kinesthetic learner. So lots of manipulations, movement and actions helps her retain what she has learned.
The object of the game was to pretend to be an animal and hop to the group.
Are you a vertebrate or invertebrate? Warm blooded or cold blooded? Bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, or arthropod? If it was an arthropod, are you a spider or an insect?
Field trips
We had the opportunity to visit an orchard. We were lucky to catch them before the closed.
The people who run the orchard were great. The people who run it are great. The kids got to see the steps of making a blanket from cottonbud to weaving.
They learned about bees.
Did you know that bees have a straw-like tongue?
After the demonstrations, they took the tour of the orchard. They learned about worm composting. They also learned which insects were good and which insects were bad for the garden.
Look a huge spider!
They visited several areas of the gardens and learned about "raincoats" or pods.
Yummy, black eyed pea
At the end of the tour, the kids got to pick an apple. They were very careful to twist until the apple fell off, so it won't break.
Look at huge apple washer!
The people who run the orchard were great. The people who run it are great. The kids got to see the steps of making a blanket from cottonbud to weaving.
They learned about bees.
Did you know that bees have a straw-like tongue?
After the demonstrations, they took the tour of the orchard. They learned about worm composting. They also learned which insects were good and which insects were bad for the garden.
Look a huge spider!
They visited several areas of the gardens and learned about "raincoats" or pods.
Yummy, black eyed pea
At the end of the tour, the kids got to pick an apple. They were very careful to twist until the apple fell off, so it won't break.
Look at huge apple washer!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Kindness Co-op
One of the most common arguments against homeschooling is that the kids won't get enough socialization. On the contrary, most homeschooled children have more opportunities to interact with their peers along with other age groups older and younger. They learn to be gentle with the little ones and sometimes it can lead to them mentoring. They get to speak to adults on the same level, while still being respectful.
There are so many opportunities to "socialize". Besides going to the park or museum, we joined a couple of co-ops. You should check to see what co-ops are in your area.
One co-op we joined is called The Kindness Co-op. We meet every other Thursday. Every week there is an activity geared towards nurturing the kindness.
This last week, we made bird feeders with pipe cleaners and cheerios. This is also good for helping with fine motor skills.
They also played the "Pass the Mouse" game. They get in a circle and take turns handing the "mouse" (beanbag) to the next person.
The kids get very excited about waiting the turn. It has taken a new creative twist, where they will pretend the mouse is telling them how she wants to be passed (slowly, fast, up in the air!).
The age range for this particular group is infant to seven. They all play very well together. My kids come home with new creative ideas for playtime.
There are so many opportunities to "socialize". Besides going to the park or museum, we joined a couple of co-ops. You should check to see what co-ops are in your area.
One co-op we joined is called The Kindness Co-op. We meet every other Thursday. Every week there is an activity geared towards nurturing the kindness.
This last week, we made bird feeders with pipe cleaners and cheerios. This is also good for helping with fine motor skills.
They also played the "Pass the Mouse" game. They get in a circle and take turns handing the "mouse" (beanbag) to the next person.
The kids get very excited about waiting the turn. It has taken a new creative twist, where they will pretend the mouse is telling them how she wants to be passed (slowly, fast, up in the air!).
The age range for this particular group is infant to seven. They all play very well together. My kids come home with new creative ideas for playtime.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Muzzy giveaway
I believe that teaching the kids to be multilingual is very important. Because we live in Texas, I would love to teach the kids Spanish. I would also like to them Vietnamese. Fortunately, my parents speak Vietnamese so they will have the exposure.
For Vietnamese I would like to use Rosetta Stone. It will freshen up my Vietnamese and my children and husband can understand when my parents talk about them. ;)
For Spanish, I plan on using Muzzy. And guess what? A homeschool blogger (she's vegan too!) is doing a giveaway! So go and check her out and enter to win! The drawing will be on her son's birthday, October 26th, so you have a couple weeks left!
For Vietnamese I would like to use Rosetta Stone. It will freshen up my Vietnamese and my children and husband can understand when my parents talk about them. ;)
For Spanish, I plan on using Muzzy. And guess what? A homeschool blogger (she's vegan too!) is doing a giveaway! So go and check her out and enter to win! The drawing will be on her son's birthday, October 26th, so you have a couple weeks left!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
How it all began
History is one of my weaker subjects. After reading many reviews, we decided to get A Child's History of the World . It presents history in a more secular point of view compared to the other history curriculum for homeschoolers. According to the reviewes, God is mentioned, and it is assumed that the reader believes in God, but it is not totally biased. You can also purchase a workbook to go along with it. I don't know if I will get the workbook or not.
The first chapter of the book is, "How it All Began." It talks about the theory of the beginning of the world coming from stars (it does have one sentence saying thaat God created the stars, and because of our beliefs, I omitted that while reading). From the stars came the sun, the sun emitted sparks and one became a rock, which became our Earth. It goes on until humans are created. The kids enjoyed this lesson. There is a little timeline:
Stars,
Sun,
Spark,
World,
Steam,
Rain,
Oceans,
Plants,
Animals,
Jellyfish
Insects
Fish,
Amphibians,
Reptiles,
Birds,
Mammals,
People
For our activity, I cut and pasted images from the internet onto one page. The kids cut and pasted the images in the order according to the timeline.
I think it was a wonderful way to introduce history. Tomorrow we will probably read about the Big Bang Theory.
The first chapter of the book is, "How it All Began." It talks about the theory of the beginning of the world coming from stars (it does have one sentence saying thaat God created the stars, and because of our beliefs, I omitted that while reading). From the stars came the sun, the sun emitted sparks and one became a rock, which became our Earth. It goes on until humans are created. The kids enjoyed this lesson. There is a little timeline:
Stars,
Sun,
Spark,
World,
Steam,
Rain,
Oceans,
Plants,
Animals,
Jellyfish
Insects
Fish,
Amphibians,
Reptiles,
Birds,
Mammals,
People
For our activity, I cut and pasted images from the internet onto one page. The kids cut and pasted the images in the order according to the timeline.
I think it was a wonderful way to introduce history. Tomorrow we will probably read about the Big Bang Theory.
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