Showing posts with label Sonlight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sonlight. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Weekly Wrap-Up: It's Been a While

Well summer break is officially over. Kayleigh started kindergarten (sob!) three weeks ago and Mackenzie has 2 weeks of seventh grade (double sob!) under her belt. I blogged about Kayleigh's first week but didn't had time to blog about Mackenzie's. I've been busy homeschooling and being a full-time pancreas for two defective ones. So I guess I'll play a bit of catch up.

Seventh Grade


Bible


Mackenzie is still drawing her way through the book of Proverbs and loving it. You can read all about the Notgrass Draw to Learn in my REVIEW of it.

She's also doing the Bible included with her Sonlight Core G. She's happily reading through the book of Mark. The last few years have had us reading a lot in the Old Testament and she was ready to move on to the New.  She's also using the International Children's Bible Field Guide which she is finding very interesting. Lots of fascinating Bible facts.

Math


She's finishing up Math-U-See Zeta from last year and plowing through it rather quickly. Decimals are so each for a type 1 diabetic. We use them 3-6 times a day to figure out carbs and insulin doses. Easy peasy!

Language Arts


We are working on report writing in our IEW lessons. A little mini report on elephants. Report writing is easier on my because I only get the required amount of writing instead of the 300 squillion pages she turns in for a creative writing assignment. Yay me!!!

She's also enjoying IEW's Fix-It Grammar, Tom Sawyer. The first couple of weeks have been pretty easy for her but it'll be stepping up soon. Enjoy it while it lasts girlie. Ha!

History


We've started off of our year with ancient Egypt. We're reading lots of different books on the subject. She is LOVE, LOVE, LOVING her current reader, Mara Daughter of the Nile. She was hoping that there would be a sequel to it but no luck. Such disappointment. lol


To add in some fun, besides reading fabulous books, she's been using the Draw and Write Through History Books that pertain to what we're studying. I'm just having her do the drawing part. She doesn't need the copy work. Her first week had her drawing some things from the creation story. The bush and the tree were her favorite drawings. She said her Adam and Eve looked weird. I thought they were cute.  I know the phot is side ways. I'm too lazy to go back and fix it. lol You'll just have to tilt your head to the right for a better view.


Science


She is using Exploring Creation for General Science this year and it is the first year that she's doing science independently. I wasn't sure how she would take to that but she is having a blast!! I was a little nervous about her doing experiments on her own but she's been doing awesome. And buying the student notebook to go along with was a great decision. It helps her get an idea of what to focus on and it is going to be a nice record of her experiments. Sonlight really should include that in their package. (Cuz mama would've liked to have gotten free shipping from ordering through Sonlight. lol)

I have to say... She rocks the "protective eye gear!"


She did do more than one experiment over the last two weeks but it would seem that the other photos are on my camera. You might recall, from the section entitled "History", that I'm feeling lazy. That's also the reason that I'm not going to take the time to explain the experiment to you like I normally would. Being a full time pancreas for two is exhausting because it involves lots of math and very little sleep. All of which suck the short term memory right out of your head because you can only remember things like blood glucose readings, carb ratios, correction factors, and carb counts. There's only so much room in there.

Extras


We didn't do any. We started slow. Soccer should be starting soon. And I'm planning on starting Spanish and art next week. I hope. Maybe. It could happen. Possibly. We'll see. Piano starts next week. Definitely.

Kindergarten


Bible


We finished studying Joseph with our Bible Study Guide for All Ages and have moved on to Daniel. With that change came learning the song "Daniel in the Lions Den." You know the one... "Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. Daniel in the la la lions..." Huge hit!! She sings that one all of the time.

We were also reading through the Ergermeir's Bible Story Book, as part of Sonlight's Bible for Core A. It's a bit to much for her and she's not feeling it at all. So we're dropping it. Reading from the actual Bible with the Study Guide is apparently how she rules.

Don't you love being able to ditch what isn't working for your student? Homeschooling is so awesome!!!

Math


We started it back up with lesson 9 of MUS Primer, place value. Hooray for Mr. Demme and Decimal Street!!!


Language Arts


Her All About Reading lessons continue to go well. The constant review and the game like nature of the lessons really click for her. She's got a lot of cards in her mastered pile. Go Kayleigh!!


 She is still loving The Boxcar Children. I am just thrilled that she is enjoying her first chapter book. One day she asked to make scrambled eggs for lunch like the Boxcar Children ate. So she was given the job of scrambling their eggs. Imagine her surprise when it turned out to be a tiny bit of work mixing them all up. LOL Heaven forbid!!

I should note that these eggs were NOT authentic Boxcar eggs. I added cheese to them. It had to be done and I won't apologize for it. We also ate toast. So there!


We started a new Nursery Rhyme Pocket for Little Miss Muffet. We haven't gotten very far with it yet. Just created the pocket and colored the rhyme sheet. She's excited to make a spider next week.


Curious George has entered our reading list and she is super excited about that. We've been doing some printable activities to go along with that. She loves George!

History


Conveniently, Kayleigh was studying ancient Egypt just like her big sister. She did quite a few "Egyptian" projects. She made "Egyptian" paper beads and made a necklace along with an "Egyptian" cuff bracelet. She also made us all Mummy Dogs for lunch.


Science


We're supposed to be reading about weather but for the life of me I cannot find the book and it's driving me nuts. So we've been reading a bit from some of the books that were in the core when Mackenzie used it. Funny how the older ones didn't seem to go missing from the shelf.

We also are learning about frogs and we did a fun sequencing activity.


Extras


She refused to play soccer this year. It's just as well because she'd mostly sit on the sidelines and waited for snack. She's hinted at gymnastics so maybe. And her music class starts next week.

And that was our week(s). How was yours?

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Linking to: The Weekly Wrap-Up, Pre-School Corner, Homeschool Mother's Journal

This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here. 

Monday, August 12, 2013

Weekly Wrap-Up: Our Last First Week of Kindergarten




Well she went and did it. My baby started kindergarten last week. It's a bit bitter sweet as it's my last time through it. My last baby officially school age. But Mackenzie was at music camp at church so it was a good time to get Kayleigh started with out any distractions.

If you're wondering what Kayleigh is using for kindergarten click HERE.

Bible


We're working our way through Egermeier's Bible Story Book courtesy of Sonlight Core A and the Bible Study Guide for All Ages courtesy of The Review Crew. (Read my review HERE.)  Kayleigh also memorized her first Bible verse from Sing the Word: From A-Z, also from our Sonlight Core.



Check out how well she did. Don't mind her crazy hair. She was going for some curls like sissy. lol


Doesn't she look cute with her curls?


Math


We didn't do math this week. We're starting slow. But we'll pick up where we left off in Math-U-See Primer soon. We'll be starting lesson 9, place value.

Language Arts


Well naturally we did a lot of reading, we are Sonlighter's after all. We started her very first chapter book this week, The Boxcar Children. I've been a little nervous about how well she would do with chapter books, she likes to be read to, but she is very different than Mackenzie at this age. This one
can't sit still and be quiet for very long. So I was very surprised with how well she did listening to this book. She was very interested in the characters and was angry on Friday when the book wasn't on the schedule. So we read ahead. Shew!!  I hope this trend continues.

We finished our week with a Boxcar Children snack of blueberries and cream. Yummy!!! She was so excited. Last year, after her dx of type 1 diabetes, extra snacks were a little more difficult. She was on multiple daily injections and that took away a lot of our eating freedom as we're expected to keep a more regimented schedule for meals. This year, however, both girls are now using insulin pumps and, while it has it's own set of challenges, it makes fun snacks a lot easier.

She started All About Reading Level 1. She did so awesome!! I'm so proud of her.

She started off last year really eager to read and then it fizzled out a bit so I didn't push it. The last thing I want is to make her dread school and reading.  It was a challenge for me because Mackenzie was a very early reader. She taught her self and was reading fluently before she started kindergarten. Kayleigh however is a very different creature so I didn't push her. We'd work on it when she wanted to and drop it when she wasn't interested.

Plus it breaks my mommy heart when I see kids pushed beyond their ability because big brother did this at this age or because mom has some ridiculous notion that every child should be doing the same thing thing at a certain age. The best party of homeschooling is being able to go at the child's pace and not be dictated by curriculum or age so it irks me when I see that. Okay, it also makes me want to throat punch people some times, if I'm really being honest. lol So I try really hard not to be like that so I don't have to throat punch myself or turn my kid off of learning.


I think this level is even more fun than All About Reading pre-1 and she loved that one. Level 1 has tons and tons of games and using the letter tiles just thrills Kayleigh. She had so much fun with it!!!

We also read The Story about Ping and did some activities from this cute printable pack from Royal Baloo. There was mapping, phonics, math, sequencing, and lots of other fun stuff.


Naturally, one of our year round read alouds is a Mother Goose book so I got Literature Pockets: Nursery Rhymes to add some fun crafts to our year. This week we worked on the Little Bird pocket.
She memorized the poem, made a little book, "rewrote" the poem, and made a puppet. She worked so hard to color neatly which was a pleasant surprise since she usually just makes a quick scribble and calls it good.


She's still doing things like handwriting and Explode the Code but that's not that interesting so I didn't take any pictures. lol

Science


First up this week was dinosaurs. We were reading a bit from The Usborne Internet-Linked Children's Encyclopedia  and Kayleigh brought in dinosaurs and matched them up with the ones from the book. So cute!


She also made a dinosaur with hand print spines. Thank you pinterest.


We also talked a bit about the season and made this ADORABLE paper bag book on the seasons.  I found this awesome project over at Delightful Learning. Michelle is so clever.


Lastly she got to do her very first science experiment. She was so excited! She learned that even though something looks empty it's not. It's filled with air. All she had to do is push an empty water bottle and watch the water force the air out making bubbles. Which she did. Over and over and over and over and over. You get the idea. lol


Other Stuff


Not much other stuff going on at the moment. lol We did our art study for the week. We're working our way through the Come Look With Me series for art appreciation. First up is Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art With Children. She loves to look at art so I knew she'd enjoy that.

She also did her first lesson in Draw Write Now, Book 1. Check out her chicken. Sooo cute!!! I tried to get her to color the background but she was having none of that.  Now that's the Kayleigh that I know. lol


Kayleigh had the idea to hang up her work, at least the stuff that wasn't in a book. So we now have her "Wall of Work." She likes to show it to her daddy each day so that he can see what she did. So I think that we'll keep it up for a week and then take it down over the weekend so we can start all over again the next week. And then I can just snap a picture and not have to store all of that paper. WTG Kayleigh for a great idea.




And that pretty much sums up my last first week of kindergarten. How was your week?

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Linking to Homeschool Creations, Weekly Wrap-Up.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure policy HERE.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Lucky Seven

My other baby, Mackenzie, is going to be in seventh grade this year. Gah!! Why do they insist on growing up? It's getting annoying.

Once again, I was forced to plan for it against my will. Darn these kids.


(This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for more details.)

The spine for Mackenzie's seventh grade year is Sonlight's Core G: World History, Part 1. This year she will revisit the time of creation through the Middle Ages with lots and lots of books. I think she's excited because I keep catching her trying to read the books.

Bible


Sonlight Bible G featuring...

     International Children's Bible Field Guide
     Sing the Word: Credo...I Believe CD

Draw to Learn Proverbs  - Notgrass

Math


Math-U-See Pre-Algerbra
      Mr. Demme all the way!!!

Language Arts


Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons - IEW
     Canadian Andy is back in the house!! Woot!!!

Fix It! Book 1: Tom Sawyer - IEW
     Canadian Andy revolutionized our writing lessons, so why not grammar too?

Sonlight Core G Read Alouds and Readers featuring...

     The Golden Goblet
     The Westing Game
     The Trojan War
     Master Cornhill
     Favorite Poems Old and New
     I, Juan de Pareja
     The Second Mrs. Gioconda
     A Single Shard
     Beyond the Desert Gate
     God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah
     Flame Over Tara
     The Shakespeare Stealer
     The Hidden Treasure of Glaston
     King Arthur: Tales from the Round Table
     The Samurai's Tale
     The Bronze Bow
     Adam of the Road
     Shadow of a Bull
     The Phantom Tollbooth
     The Great and Terrible Quest
     Mara, Daughter of the Nile
     The Beduins' Gazelle
     Mystery of the Roman Ransom
     Leonardo Da Vinci
     Hittite Warrior
     Archimedes and the Door of Science
     The Ides of April
     Mary, Bloody Mary
     A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver
     Black Horses for the King
     CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY
     Theras and His Town
     Son of Charlemagne
     The Monk Who Shook the World
     Greek Myths

History


Sonlight Core G featuring...

     The Kingdom Strikes Back
     The Story of the World, Ancient Times
     The Story of the World, The Middle Ages
      Usborne Encyclopedia: 12,000 Years of World History
     The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

Draw and Write Through History: Creation through Jonah
Draw and Write Through History: Greece and Rome
Draw and Write Through History: The Vikings, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance

Science


     Exploring Creation with General Science
     Exploring Creation with General Science Student Notebook

Electives


Beginning Web Design, Homeschool Programming Inc.  (Semester 1)
The Art of Argument (Semester 2)
Rosetta Stone Spanish, Level 1
Creating a Masterpiece, Level 1
Visual Latin
Private Piano Lessons at Young Musicians of Virginia
Soccer through Beach Junior Athletics



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