Our first unit

We learned all about the Sun this past week as we studied the letter S. The girls did a great job. 

Drawing smily faces and the sun - complete will solar flares (seriously, those aren't scribbles, ha). 

Sun cheese toast for breakfast...

String cheese for our S snack...

And peaches and carrots as a sun for lunch as we watch Sid the Science Kid teach about the sun and why we need sunscreen. 

We also made life-size cut outs of the kids and let them color them as the wanted. This is where we will put our unit badges. AnnaLynn dressed hers up like an American Heritage Girl; a great Faith-based organization which she has just joined!

Our favorite day was Day 6 where we did lots of outdoor science experiments. 

We made solar tea:

Lily liked it - 

AnnaLynn did not - 

But it was still fun to make. 

We also did the "Will it melt?" Experiment to see which objects will melt in the sun. 

And made a solar oven to cook s'mores. 

We made a sun dial, which I know I found more interesting than the girls did. 

And we watched as our shadows changed shape through out the day (we outlined them periodically so we could see the change). 

And we were fascinated to see how the sun bleached construction paper in just a few short hours (yes that is a potato we used, why not?). 

We also sent off our first letter to AnnaLynn's pen pal, whom she calls her "buddy". Her name is Catie and she lives in North Carolina but will be moving to Africa in 2016. 

It was a great week. Next week we will study the letter M as we learn about the moon. I see stargazing in our future! We are loving My Father's World curriculum! 

Two Weeks In

We are two weeks into our first homeschooling year. We have completed the first unit - a 10 day study on God's creation. We learned about what God made on each day of creation, an intro to the letters of the alphabet, and made fun crafts. 

There was a bit of resistance toward the last few days with the repetitive alphabet games. So I tried to vary it with some other games I had on hand. 

Now, we are preparing for our next unit where we will learn about the letter s as we study the sun. 

Creation day 2

Singing ABCs

Math-U-See

Sweet, goofy girl 

Tanogram fun in pjs

The youngest student 

Making a world sun catcher 

We also had an awesome time celebrating this sweetie's fifth birthday! It was a rainbow themed party. 

And so it begins...

Today is here. Today has come! Today is the first day of a journey that will last years.  Today we begin school.  I tried to decide when to start, knowing that once we begin there is no going back.  Once the schooling starts it will be exciting and joyful at first.  But I know weeks or months down the road there will be those days of "are we done yet?" "do I have to do this" and other comments that are discouraging and can break the desire to homeschool, or school in any sense. 

Once school starts she will no longer seem a little girl.  She will suddenly be much older.  As she gains the ability to read and write and add, it will be just another step toward independence.  One day the requests of "Mommy, please read me this book" will be replace by "no, it's ok, Mom.  I can read it myself."  How many more years will I have that special time with her once she can read for herself? Nevertheless, it is my privilege to be the one to teach and instruct her in academia as well as morals and life. I am honored and excited and nervous and a myriad of other emotions. I pray for diligence, wisdom, PATIENCE, and on and on. May I do right by her and by God's call on my life at this moment and this season. 

Alas, her time of independence has not yet come. I hear sleepy footsteps down the hall. In walks a beautiful, tall almost-five-year-old carrying her "snuggle blankets" that she has slept with since she was a baby and her teddy bear that says "Baby's first teddy" on its paw. And I hear the treasured words, "Mommy, can we snuggle?"  I close the computer and say "of course we can." She is still my baby, my little girl... And she always will be. 

Let the journey begin!

Homeschooling - Taking the plunge

In a few short weeks I will begin a journey that will possibly last many years, and will definitely bring many laughs, much joy, many tears, some pain and much frustration.  In August, shortly after my eldest daughter turns five I will begin homeschooling.  We are very excited to start and are gearing up for it.  I hope to use this blog to keep track of all the things we do for our memories and so their Daddy can see what we are doing on a regular basis and what the girls are learning.

After prayer and much research I have decided on the curriculum that we will use this year.  I figure after each year we will reassess our curriculum choices and make changes as are needed based on the kids.  This year we will be doing My Father's World kindergarten and supplementing with Math U See Primer as well as a few resources I have found online.  These include letter lapbook for each week from Homeschoolshare.com and sight words worksheets and daily learning notebook from confessionsofahomeschooler.com.  I am giving myself the freedom to take some of these extras away if it seems too much or to add more if it is too easy. 

My main focus will be on our oldest daughter who will be just starting an official homeschool schedule with kindergarten.  However, my three-year-old will no doubt want to participate to some degree.  For her I will be doing the Preschool Daily Learning Notebook from confessionsofahomeschooler.com and will have other games available.  I will also include her in the MFW program as much as she wants and is capable of handling.  I plan to have her do this curriculum officially either next year or wait until she is five.

With the research and reading I have done I have come to the conclusion that the focus of "school" in these first few years (up to age 7) should really be fun discovery and establishing a joy and love for reading and learning.  Therefore, I do not plan to push phonics and reading any faster than my children want to go.  I do not plan to teach by drills and pure memorization.  I hope instead to get the kids excited about what being able to read means - entertainment, knowledge, etc.  I expect we will spend lots of time exploring and discovering God's creation in our back yard and in the nature reserves in our area.  I want kindergarten and early grades to be a foundation for loving the time we have to learn together.  Not a time where they get all too familiar with the typical school atmosphere and dread learning each day - which unfortunately happens the majority of time in public and private schools.  

So the journey begins in just a few short weeks.  Pray for our family and all the other homeschooling families, school students, teachers, and parents as a new school year starts.  May God's blessings abound no matter where the children are learning.