School Begins! 2009

Our first full week of school has been better than expected! Both kids are eager to learn and find the materials engaging and fun. Here is what we are doing!

Bible: We’re learning a brief overview of different worldwide religions and how false they are compared to what the Bible teaches using Window On The World. Our key verse is: God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. I Tim 5:17 Soon we will be learning about missionaries that take the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to countries with false religions and poverty. We will be praying for these countries and missionaries. We will also be reading through the book of Matthew and doing various activities that our My Father’s World curriculum suggests.

Spelling: We are using Words Their Way for spelling. We compare spelling patterns by sorting them by sound and then by spelling pattern. Cutie Pie is working on long a vowel patterns and Sweetness is working on r controlled vowels. Their spelling list consists of high frequency words from these sorts. We also play games and read literature to expound on the words we are studying.

Language: I use dictation from Bible verses and other quotes from literature we have read. Sweetness also writes letters to her friends and family. We work on both spelling and grammar using this dictation method.

Reading: Cutie Pie is amazing me with his reading abilities. He is reading Puppy Mudge books and a phonics series that we got from the library. Sweetness’ reading has really took off this year too. She reads the Henry and Mudge series, and other similar chapter books! She also reads books that pertain to our geography studies, like Me on the Map of which she loved and on her free time drew a map of her neighborhood!

Read Alouds: We are reading about animals from the All About Animals books and of course our science and geography read alouds. We started Kingdom Tales, but find that to be a bit abstract and obscure as they try to compare the Kingdom of God to this imaginary enchanted place. It is similar to Pilgrims Progress. While I find the tales entertaining and thought provoking, my kids don’t seem interested so we will put that one down for a while. We are looking forward to beginning Hero Tales and other missionary stories.

Math: We are using Singapore Math again this year. These first few weeks have been review of number bonds in relation to addition and subtraction. We use a lot of word problems with manipulative so the children can visualize the addition and subtraction facts along with rote memorization. One fun thing they both love is go-fish. We stack the deck then draw cards and lay down two cards that add up to the fact we are working on. E.g., two 5’s make a 10, 6 and 4 make a 10, etc. We are allowed to ask the other player for a card we need, and get a second turn if we get what we’re fishing for. Sweetness is getting an introductory to multiplication by map scaling (turning inches into miles).

My Father’s World Exploring Countries and Cultures
We are so loving this program that incorporates Bible, Geography, World Cultures, Vocabulary, and Science (using God’s Design for Ecosystems). So far we have learned what a continent is, the name of each continent using the Yankee Doodle tune. We have learned the 5 oceans, what an ocean ridge is. Also latitude, longitude, map grids, map scales, different kids of maps! I bought an awesome workbook, All About Geography, and have found this to be a gem. Now I’m not the workbook type, but this book is very engaging and gives practice on geography concepts. Soon we will be exploring different countries, the first of which is the USA! We are so blessed to have friends and family from different states and have traveled somewhat. I look forward to playing USA bingo !! A neat little game I picked up at the thrift store for $1. This curriculum also sneaks in a little bit of history to boot ! I LOVE IT.

Science: Again we are learning about the wonderful world that God created using God’s Design for Ecosystems. We learned that a worms niche is mixing and fertilizing the soil by placing several kinds of soil in a jar with some earthworms! Amazing how those creature burrow down. We also learned about the oxygen/water cycle by placing soil and grass inside a jar, placing it in a warm spot and watching the water evaporate and condense. We will be getting some cooler weather next week and will begin our leaf collection as we explore North American forests.

Art/Music: Cutie Pie asks every day, “Mama are we going to do a craft?” He did enjoy the cup we made out of a piece of paper and was really impressed that it actually held water. But he was not too enthused with the dolls across the world and I reckon I can’t expect him to be. So he took matters into his own hands and created this dwelling for his troll. It is complete with a mailbox located on the side with its own assigned mailbox number. (place picture here).

The children are practicing what they learned from piano lessons last year. Cutie Pie is actually asking for more piano lessons. I still want to work on reading music, learning the notes and symbols and need to search for a good music workbook. There is a wonderful good band/choir comprised of mainly homeschoolers that I am itching to join. But we may have to wait until next year as we have a great need to stay close to home and keep our calendar as free as possible this year.

Last but certainly not least is physical exercise. We plan to get back to our daily walks next week as the temps cool down. Eve will be happy to go walking once again too. For now Sweetness and Cutie Pie are utilizing the treadmill. Sweetness has decided to give up English riding lesson and opt for a monthly Western trail ride of which she will earn. I would like to get them involved in gymnastics, but again we need to stay close to home this ear.

Well, the last thing I can think of that I want Sweetness and perhaps Cutie Pie to learn is typing. So need to hop off here and search for a good typing program.

Thanks for stopping by and reading about our school. None of this is possible without the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.