Weekly Wrap-Up: Back to Business

We are back from our trip to North Carolina. Land of mosquitos who love to bite us!

We had a nice visit with my dad and his wife. Plus my sister and her family drove down from Michigan.

I know I said that I was going to do some school buuutttt....we didn't. LOL We just relaxed and had fun. Although we did see A LOT of nature, as grandpa lives in the boonies, so I'm counting it as science! LOL

So this week it was back to business as usual...

She reviewed skip counting in math. So the week's work took all of 10 minutes. LOL

In history we are studying Columbus and Native Americans. We're reading Pedro's Journal at the moment and it is really interesting. It's a fictional account of Columbus' journey from the point of view of the ships boy. It's really interesting. Mackenzie was properly horrified with the way the Europeans just showed up and stole the land and the people.

We are also working on a history pocket on Columbus. So far she's made a "compass", a letter requesting employment as an artist on Columbus' ship, and made a map of his routes.

We're reading The American Indian Prayer Guide and Vostaas: White Buffalo's Story of Plains Indian Life. The more we read, the more she says she feels ashamed about how "we" treated the native Americans. It's sweet that she's so moved. And of course she's right, it was definately a blight on our history.

We just finished our first read aloud, Walk the World's Rim. FABULOUS!!! It starts slow but boy does it get good.

In science we're studying the body. There was an experiment on digestion involving jello but, as none of us enjoy jello, we opted to just watch the experiment on the dvd. One more reason I LOVE Sonlight.

We also had time for some fun stuff. We went to the water park twice, took an impromptu "field trip" to Krispy Kreme with friends, and went to an open house at The Little Gym.

Join the weekly wrap-up over at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Hope you all had a great week!

Tot School #1

I've known for a while that Kayleigh needs some more guided activities in order for us to stay sane. She is very curious and very demanding and requires a lot more attention then Mackenzie did at that age. So I've been pondering starting up some specific "toddler time" for her for a while now. The pondering's been great but the actual implementation...not so much.

But now I've found some inspiration!! It's called Tot School.

So what is Tot School? It's a Meme that is hosted by Carissa at 1+1+1=1. I stumbled across it recently and it has a wealth of information for toddlers with tons of fun activities to encourage learning! I've been pouring over the site the last few days getting ideas. (And I think I've got Kayleigh's whole Christmas list finalized now. LOL)

Mainly, I'm in the "planning stages". I've been making lists of toys we already own that would be great for our "Tot School". Making another lists of toys that I want for it. (And I'll confess to ordering 3 new things after seeing some of the things on the blog. LOL I can't wait for them to arrive. The others are on her "Christmas List".) And I have another list of things I can make.

I'm hoping have a more organized plan of play in a few weeks. But for now, here are some of the things that we did this week on the fly.

Of course, we went to baby gym...

We went to the waterpark twice, but I didn't bring my camera either time.

We read lots and lots of books, as usual. She loves to be read too. Mackenzie is really good about reading to her as well.

This morning I gave her an empty water bottle and some clothes pins and she had a good time with those.

We also took an impromptu field trip to Krispy Kreme today. We learned that, while not healthy, those yummy donuts give you a mad burst of energy.

Chasing Picture Perfection: Assignment # 3 "Window Light Portrait"

In an attempt to get to know my rockin' camera better, I have decided to go to "photo school" over at Chasing Picture Perfection.

Although I missed the first two assignments because I was "late for school", I'm excited to learn more about photgraphy and my camera. The current "homework" assignment is to take a window light portrait. Kayleigh made this assignment easy for me, as she likes to stand and look out the window a lot.

Weekly Wrap-Up: August 14

We got a lot accomplished this week and had time for fun too!


In math Mackenzie started multiplication. This weeks focus was 1's and 0's. Mackenzie declared it "easy." Just as I thought. LOL


Here she is with her "math teacher", Mr. Demme.



We are studying animals in science. We covered elephants earlier in the week. Mackenzie pretendedo be an elephant. She was eager to squash the "bugs off her backside" like the elephants do.




We also studying kangaroos. We consider ourselves kanga experts, having spent a lot of time with the creatures when we were in Australia a few years ago. On this day we made Kenzie a mama-Roo and gave her a pouch and a "baby Roo". Then we took a walk down memory lane and looked at some of our old photos from Australia.





Do you see the resemblance?

In history we are continuing to study Native Americans and we started learning about Columbus. We are still reading Walk the World's Rim and The Corn Grows Ripe. We also started reading Pedro's Journey, a book about Columbus.

Here are some of Mackenzie's favorite history activities.

Mapping Native American tribes in N. America, courtesy of Winter Promise.



Notebooking what she thought Columbus saw when he discovered land, again courtesy of Winter Promise.

Mapping the route Columbus traveled, courtesy of Knowledge Quest Maps. I don't know why it's sideways. That's not how I saved it. LOL

First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease went well, as always. I decided to skip spelling this week.

We also had time for some fun in the sun. We went to the water park with friends and invaded our friend's community pool.

Next we're off to North Carolina to visit Grandpa and Grandma.

ETA: I forgot to post about Kayleigh's week.

Baby Gym went well. She had fun playing and learned a few new skills. She ever shared a ball with a friend. Usually she snatches them.

Art, however, isn't going as smoothly. LOL

Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop: School Room Week

It's time for another edition of Darcy's Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop.


This week were are supposed to blog about our school rooms, so here's mine.








We are very blessed to have a room just for school in this house. That being said, we aren't in it that much. We do most of our school in the living/dining room.

The number one reason is that the wee babe, for whatever reason, is very disagreeable in this room. We have toys and activities that are just for this room and yet she's fussy.

I guess it's alright for now. The couch is better for snuggling with a good book anyway.

Weekly Wrap-up: Kind of Boring Edition

This week was an easy one for me.

Mackenzie went to a day camp at a local church. She had a BLAST! And my wonderful friend did all of the driving so I wouldn't have to disrupt Wee Babe's napping.

Mackenzie did some hiking, canoeing, swimming, crafts, and learned a lot about missionary work. So we're counting this week as PE, religion, and world cultures for school. And she doesn't know it yet, but, she's doing a math test when she gets home. LOL

Kayleigh and I had a relatively peaceful week. We went grocery shopping, to baby gym, and I learned something new. I now know what to do when your lawn mower starts spitting out tons of white smoke. That is knowledge that I never wanted to have and I hope to never use again. =o)

Next week it will be back to school. I can't wait!

Join the Wrap-up over at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

My Life. In Pictures. Session 2 Day 5

Today's challenge is Black and White.

My subject is my beautiful daughter, Mackenzie. I was torturing her with her first day of 3rd grade photos. This is the least squinty of the batch. The instant she sees a camera her eyes start squinting and closing, no matter where the light is.


On this particular day, the light was behind her. Yes, I know that's the wrong thing to do but I wanted a shot with her eyes open. But, alas, she squinted for every shot as if the sun was shining directly in her face. Sigh...





Join in the photo fun over at Everything Except the Grill.

My Life. In Pictures. Session 2/Day 4

Today's Challenge...Something that you're proud of. That was easy! My incrediably brave husband and daughters, of course.

Join the challenge over at Everything But the Grill.

My Life in Pictures

I love taking pictures and this challenge, over at Everything But the Grill, looks like fun.

The Rules:

The purpose of this photo challenge project is to encourage you to pick up your camera and start capturing details of your life. This project should also serve as a way to look at what others are finding to shoot and will hopefully keep you inspired to look for more moments in your life you wouldn't always think to capture with your camera.

Our first My Life. In Pictures. challenge will start on August 3rd- 7th. The assignments will be:

Monday- Summer Fun
Tuesday- A Favorite
Wednesday- Out and About (anywhere but home)
Thursday- Something You Are Proud Of
Friday- Something (or someone) in Black & White

Since I just discovered this challenge, I'm going to use one photo to cover the first 3 days. Here's Kayleigh out enjoying some summer fun at one of our favorite places, Ocean Breeze Waterpark. Floating down the lazy river is one of my favorite waterpark activities. Sadly, this waterpark doesn't have a lazy river for us "Big Kids."

One more reason to LOVE Sonlight

We've been Sonlight users since the day we started homeschooling. I love books, my daughter loves books, as soon as I saw the curriculum I knew it was meant for our family.

I have never regretted that decision. There are so many reasons to love it!

The books are fantastic. We laugh, we cry, we reread. What could be better than cuddling on the couch with a great book and calling that school?

I can't think of anything either! =o) And we've been learning tons! And I do mean WE. I've learned tons, as well. And I have a minor in history.

Their customer service is top notch. They go above and beyond the call of duty time and time again. You have a problem, they'll fix it. If you have suggestions on ways to improve the curriculum, they'll listen. And don't be surprised if your suggestion becomes a reality in a future revamp.

"Box Day", the day your HUGE box/es of Sonlight books arrive via UPS/FEDEX, is a much celebrated day in the home of any Sonlighter. It's as anticipated as Christmas morning around here. We even get a geography lesson out of it as we track our beloved boxes. And the joy of opening those boxes full of books...words just can't describe. But maybe pictures can.

And guess what? 90% of your purchase is reusable. It's not a bunch of workbooks that get tossed when they're completed. It's real books that you're child will want to read over and over. Real books that you'll be able to use again with younger children. You're getting a 2-for-1 deal (or 3-for-1 or 4-for-1 depending on your family size) on curriculum. Buy it once, use it over and over and over!

We've been raving about to everyone we know for years. We think everybody should be able to enjoy learning this much.

What's not to love, right? Well, now they've gone a step further. Sonlight has announced that they will give a $5 dollars off to anyone placing their first order ($50 or more) if they are referred by a current Sonlight customer.

Simply, you get $5 off because I told you to check Sonlight out. How many companies do that? They are that awesome!

What do I get out of this? I'm not sure exactly. They got some sort of points system in place for those doing the referring. I don't really understand it. It doesn't matter really, because I'd be telling you about Sonlight anyway. I'm happy knowing that you'll be getting $5 off a fabulous curriculum.

My Rewards ID: SS20146209

Or just use this link:

http://www.sonlight.com/rewards/SS20146209

Check out http://www.sonlight.com/why-sonlight.html for some great articles about Sonlight that may help. I particularly appreciated "27 Reasons NOT to Buy Sonlight," "You can teach your children--with confidence--from your first day" and "How Literature-Rich Homeschooling Awakens Your Child's Natural Passion for Learning."

Not Back-to-School Blog Hop: Curriculum Week

I decided to participate in a blog hop put together by Darcy. The topics look really interesting and I can't wait to see other people's post.

I posted Mackenzie's curriculum in my last blog post. She is 8.5 (today!) and is going in to 3rd grade. You can read all about it here.

And now on to Kayleigh's school year. Kayleigh is almost 18 months. Here is her tentative schedule and goals...


Weaning 101: Milk from a cow in a cup is good too.
Art 101: Drawing utentsils are not for eating.
Reading 201: Books! Books! Books! She's fairly advanced in this area so I moved her up a level. :grin:
Signing 201: Continue learning signs so mommy will know what you're screaming about. She probably knows a good 20 signs now.
Baby Gym: Good times at The Little Gym.

And that is our year in a nutshell. Now I'm off to read what everyone else is doing!