Water Balloon Fight

To celebrate the girls' first day of school, four weeks ago, James filled up water balloons.  They had a blast getting each other soaked. 

After the balloons were gone, the hose came out.  Building memories is so important.  I don't remember all the toys and gadgets I had as a kid, but I do remember the people that poured love into my life. 

My prayer is that my girls will remember that we got dirty, we got wet, we dropped things in order to spend time with them, we made sacrifices, we loved them.

Embroidery in Colonial Times

The past two weeks we have been finishing up our study of Colonial Times.  Lulu, Monkey, and I have been going to church twice a month all summer to tack knitting and crocheting classes.  We have all three really enjoyed this time together.  It's one of the things I regret not having my grandmother teach me when I was younger.  Anyway, when I gave the girls a list of activities to do for Colonial times I knew the choice would be an easy one.  They both wanted to knit a pouch and do embroidery.  We have not gotten to the pouches yet, but they have finished their embroidery.  (Lulu even done an extra one on her own)

Don't you just love the way Monkey 'sits' in her chair.


Lulu finished hers very quickly.  She is serious at embroidery.


Lulu loves horses.  She also chose to add buttons to her work.



Monkey was proud of her finished product as well.

 
The girls did a great job.  I am really proud of them.

Physics

We follow a four year cycle for science.  This year our studies will focus on physics.

Several years ago James and I purchased six Scienceology kits: electricity, magnetism, flight, land vehicles, lights/colors/optics, and radios/phones/telecommunications.  I am finally going to make good use of them.  There are around 20 different experiments within each kit, as well as an instruction manual.  I think they will make a nice intro into physics.

Today we started our study using the Magnetism kit.  The girls wrote definitions and complete two experiments.  They made a 'metal detector' and tested various materials to determine whether or not they were magnetic.  Then we learned about induced magnetism.  Lulu and Monkey had a lot of fun making their magnetic sculptures.

Student Photos - Not Back-to-School Blog Hop

My students were very excited for their first day a couple weeks ago.  I missed the curriculum sharing week so I am going to combine it with this week.

First up is my fourth grader.  How is that even possible?

Lulu is becoming quite a young lady.  She has a big heart and wears it on her sleeve.  Her personality is very giving and compassionate.  She rejoices with others and also cries for them.  She has often wanted to pray about something for a friend.  I am so excited to see what God has in store for her.

Her individual work is listed below:

Bible - An emphasis on personal devotion
Math - RightStart Mathematics Level E
Spelling - Spelling Wisdom (copywork and dictation approach)
Grammar - Daily Grams 4
Writing - Writing Strands Level 3

Next up is my third grader.

Monkey always has a smile on her face.  She loves to laugh.  She has been determined from day one to do her own thing.  Monkey loves the Lord and she will not be swayed.  I know that God will use her in a great way.  During prayer time I can always hear her saying her prayers right along with me.  She is a hard worker and is not afraid to get dirty.

Her individual work is listed below:

Bible - Reading through the New Testament
Math - RightStart Mathematics Level D
Spelling - Spelling Wisdom (copywork and dictation approach)
Grammar - Daily Grams 3
Writing - Writing Strands Level 2

Lulu and Monkey do a lot of work together as well.  Here is their combined work:

History - We are going to use a unit study approach this year.  I started out with the four year Classical cycle.  Last year I switched to Ambleside Online and our cycle got a little off.  I am going to try to get back on the four year cycle this year with unit studies.  We are starting out with a small unit to finish up the Colonial period.  The girls are preparing individual reports and one together.  I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

Geography - Minn of the Mississippi and Paddle to the Sea (Both books are by Holling C. Holling.  We read three of his books last year and the girls loved all of them.  They were excited to start Minn this week.)

Literature Readings - Robinson Crusoe, Kidnapped, The Incredible Journey, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Paul Revere's Ride, and Rip Van Winkle (Selections taken from Ambleside Online)

Biographies - Poor Richard and Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution

Science - It Couldn't Just Happen (Give facts that support creation and disprove evolution) and a focus on physics this year

Spanish - Let's Speak Spanish workbooks

Poetry - Alfred Lord Tennyson, Emily Dickinson, and William Wordsworth

The girls will also have gym, art, Keepers of the Home, creative literature, science units, and choir at our co-op.

Last, but not least, is our preschooler.

Lil adds a lot of spice to our family.  She is Lulu and Monkey all mixed into one.  She has qualities that link her to both her sisters.  Lil wants to learn so bad.  She complains that I don't have enough planned for her to do and her sisters complain that she gets more free time than they do. 

I am planning to do a mixture of things with her this year.  We did not finish our ABC notebook last year.  That's first up.  And then we will see.  I had wanted to have more planned out for her by now, but it just did not happen.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great year.

Our School Room - Not Back-to-School Blog Hop

Our school room has changed some from last year.  James made us a new table and computer desk!  The girls and I are very excited about this table.

It's a marker board table.  We all four have our own spot at the table with two shelves to store our books.  The girls have their pencil box, abacus, ruler, etc. on the top shelf.  The bottom shelf houses their basket that holds their workbooks, notebooks, and binder.  And we get to write on it :)

I have not had a chance to redo our bulletin board for this year.  That is on my list, my very long list.  The white cabinet houses all our art supplies.

The brown bookshelves, which bugs both James and I now that everything else is white, house all our curriculum, resource books, storybooks, and manipulatives.  The white shelves house my office supplies and help support the new computer area.  Della, our cat, is a regular at the school table.

This is such a space saver.  I am so thankful that my husband is talented in building.  He blesses us with so many wonderful things. 

Thanks for visiting our school room.