Thursday, November 7, 2013
Stay Tuned!
Yay! It seems like I can finally post again! I had gotten a new computer and was having trouble getting everything moved over and then figuring out the new Windows 8 operating system. But I seem to be back up and running now so stay tuned for a lot of posts and pictures coming up! I got pretty far behind but hope to catch up by the weekend!
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Jewish Fall Feasts and More Ancient Egypt, Weeks 5-7
Bear with me for this one... I have a LOT of pictures this time! We've been having a lot of fun with some extras and experiments! But I'll get to those in a minute.
First, I have a confession. The past few weeks have been both amazing and a struggle, if that is even possible. We've had a lot of breaks here and there, so between that and a tough extra curricular schedule this year (Yes, we have a busy extracurricular schedule! Don't talk to me about unsocialized homeschoolers! Lol!), I have been feeling stressed lately. I know what the problem is. I'm always either teaching school, planning school, being a taxi service, or trying to figure out who to take where and when. I'm learning a lot about the Old Testament from what we are doing in school, but I'm having trouble fitting in my own quiet time to really keep developing my relationship with God. I'm feeling so guilty and stressed about that. I've noticed through out my life that when I let that part slip, I begin having problems. So, I'm trying to be more deliberate about finding time to spend in personal prayer and worship. In 2012, I did one of those read the Bible in a year deals and was so proud of myself for actually getting through it! I began another one this year and lasted all of about 4 days. The more behind I got, the more discouraged I got and well, I just quit. So one way I'm trying to revamp this area of my life is to start over on that and do better this time. My goal will be to finish by the end of 2014, so I'll have a little wiggle room on the whole 1 year thing. Another thing I'll be starting will be going to a women's Bible study beginning in October. Spending time in God's word with others who want to learn has always been an encouragement to me. And finally, even though I just got a new phone (yay!), I will be putting my new toy down more often as it can be a real distraction. I'm still working on finding a designated quiet time. I'm truly just too tired in the evenings, but I am not looking forward to an earlier wake up call. Like I said, I'm working on it...
And while I'm in confession mode... if you will notice up there on that to-do list of my stressful day - housework wasn't even included. That's because my awesome and wonderful husband has been picking up my slack yet again this year. I was so determined that things would be different. I blamed last year's lack of housework on my part on it being our first year homeschooling. I needed to figure out this new journey, and if taking a year off of housework would help that, then that was a sacrifice I was willing to make (hehe, some sacrifice, huh?) But this year, I wanted to do better. I did really good the first week we started back, but once again, the endless piles of laundry and dishes got the better of me. Thank goodness Jeff doesn't mind taking care of those things, he is such a good man! It does make me feel like a bit of a slacker or a failure even, so I'm still hoping to change my ways and be able to do more of those household chores soon.
Whew. It feels good to get that all off my chest. Confession is good for the soul, so they say. You know, sometimes people will tell me that they don't how I do it all or that they think I'm super mom or something. Well, I'll just direct them to this blog post from now on. I'm SO not perfect! When others insinuate that I am, it just makes me feel all gross inside because I know the truth. We all have our struggles, stresses, and problems. Let's not compare, let's just encourage!
So, after all of that, here are pictures from our last three weeks. This is the amazing part I was talking about earlier. No matter how busy and crazy and out of sorts life gets, I am LOVING teaching these girls! I know without a doubt that this is what God has called our family to do!
Ancient Egypt pictures
We studied mummies and mummification, drew Egyptian coffins, built pyramids, and studied the science of how real pyramids were built.
Pictures from our Fall Feasts
We celebrated Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkoth. Wow! We learned SO much from this! If you ever have a chance, spend a year celebrating the Jewish feasts. It will change your life!
Rosh Hashanah:
Yom Kippur:
Sukkoth:
Other pictures from the last few weeks, including a couple of how I organize my things. I have file folders labeled weeks 1-34 with all the papers we need for each week. Whenever I come across a cute idea from a magazine or pinterest, I make a note in the appropriate folder so I'll remember when the time comes. Then on my table, I have a red wire dish rack where I keep a few of my supplies plus the things we need for our week. I take the papers out the week's folder and I divide those up in the folders Monday - Friday so I can just grab a folder for the day. It has worked really great so far!
First, I have a confession. The past few weeks have been both amazing and a struggle, if that is even possible. We've had a lot of breaks here and there, so between that and a tough extra curricular schedule this year (Yes, we have a busy extracurricular schedule! Don't talk to me about unsocialized homeschoolers! Lol!), I have been feeling stressed lately. I know what the problem is. I'm always either teaching school, planning school, being a taxi service, or trying to figure out who to take where and when. I'm learning a lot about the Old Testament from what we are doing in school, but I'm having trouble fitting in my own quiet time to really keep developing my relationship with God. I'm feeling so guilty and stressed about that. I've noticed through out my life that when I let that part slip, I begin having problems. So, I'm trying to be more deliberate about finding time to spend in personal prayer and worship. In 2012, I did one of those read the Bible in a year deals and was so proud of myself for actually getting through it! I began another one this year and lasted all of about 4 days. The more behind I got, the more discouraged I got and well, I just quit. So one way I'm trying to revamp this area of my life is to start over on that and do better this time. My goal will be to finish by the end of 2014, so I'll have a little wiggle room on the whole 1 year thing. Another thing I'll be starting will be going to a women's Bible study beginning in October. Spending time in God's word with others who want to learn has always been an encouragement to me. And finally, even though I just got a new phone (yay!), I will be putting my new toy down more often as it can be a real distraction. I'm still working on finding a designated quiet time. I'm truly just too tired in the evenings, but I am not looking forward to an earlier wake up call. Like I said, I'm working on it...
And while I'm in confession mode... if you will notice up there on that to-do list of my stressful day - housework wasn't even included. That's because my awesome and wonderful husband has been picking up my slack yet again this year. I was so determined that things would be different. I blamed last year's lack of housework on my part on it being our first year homeschooling. I needed to figure out this new journey, and if taking a year off of housework would help that, then that was a sacrifice I was willing to make (hehe, some sacrifice, huh?) But this year, I wanted to do better. I did really good the first week we started back, but once again, the endless piles of laundry and dishes got the better of me. Thank goodness Jeff doesn't mind taking care of those things, he is such a good man! It does make me feel like a bit of a slacker or a failure even, so I'm still hoping to change my ways and be able to do more of those household chores soon.
Whew. It feels good to get that all off my chest. Confession is good for the soul, so they say. You know, sometimes people will tell me that they don't how I do it all or that they think I'm super mom or something. Well, I'll just direct them to this blog post from now on. I'm SO not perfect! When others insinuate that I am, it just makes me feel all gross inside because I know the truth. We all have our struggles, stresses, and problems. Let's not compare, let's just encourage!
So, after all of that, here are pictures from our last three weeks. This is the amazing part I was talking about earlier. No matter how busy and crazy and out of sorts life gets, I am LOVING teaching these girls! I know without a doubt that this is what God has called our family to do!
Ancient Egypt pictures
We studied mummies and mummification, drew Egyptian coffins, built pyramids, and studied the science of how real pyramids were built.
Pictures from our Fall Feasts
We celebrated Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkoth. Wow! We learned SO much from this! If you ever have a chance, spend a year celebrating the Jewish feasts. It will change your life!
Rosh Hashanah:
Yom Kippur:
Sukkoth:
Other pictures from the last few weeks, including a couple of how I organize my things. I have file folders labeled weeks 1-34 with all the papers we need for each week. Whenever I come across a cute idea from a magazine or pinterest, I make a note in the appropriate folder so I'll remember when the time comes. Then on my table, I have a red wire dish rack where I keep a few of my supplies plus the things we need for our week. I take the papers out the week's folder and I divide those up in the folders Monday - Friday so I can just grab a folder for the day. It has worked really great so far!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Week 4, Ancient Egypt
This week began our travels back in time to ancient Egypt. We will spend quite a bit of this year studying Egypt's history. So far, it's been fascinating! In our history studies, we have learned about life in Ancient Egypt - how they farmed, where they lived, and how they dealt with the Nile River floods.
(Here they colored pictures of an Egyptian tool called a shaduf which helped move water to the fields)
.JPG)
We learned about how they traveled on the Nile, using the current to go one way and the winds to go the other way. It made for very easy travel. We made these little reed boats one day as a craft.
We studied about the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in 3100 BC by King Menes. The girls had a great time acting out this story! I'm sure they will always remember it!
In science, we studied pyramids. The girls made pyramids and cubes out of straws to see how a pyramid is stronger.
We also drew pyramids one day and tried to make them look 3D.
As a read aloud right now, we are reading The Golden Goblet. I wasn't sure if it would keep their attention, but they are LOVING it! They beg for extra chapters to be read. We got through 3 chapters yesterday because they kept wanting more and more. They keep trying to solve the mystery in the book and decide what they would do in the main character's place! I love seeing them take a real interest in the story. It really gives us a good insight into life in Ancient Egypt.
.JPG)
In art, we are still learning the basics as we are beginning this 4 year study. One day this week we were practicing how to draw circles. To be honest, this is probably our least favorite subject of MFW, but it's short and only 2 days a week so we are plodding through. We do lots of other arts and craft type of activities to satisfy my creative kiddos, so I figure we can get through this. I think it's going to be a good thing in the long run and really teach them a lot about the techniques of HOW to draw things, as well as teach them about art history.
In music this week we continued our study of Vivaldi. We listened to part of his Four Seasons piece - Spring. Next week we will continue that. They notebooked about what they had learned about the life of Vivaldi to include in their history notebooks.
We also watched Kaylin's dance recital piece from a year ago because they danced to the Four Seasons. Kaylin's group was Fall, but the whole piece was included in the recital. How fun to relate something they remembered from real life to what they were learning about Vivaldi!
Of course, we did our other studies also. They are all seeming to do very well in Math this year, which I am excited about. Annlee has caught on quickly to division and Kaylin (gasp) is LOVING fractions! Maryella had her first real "challenge" with Math this week but after a few minutes she got the concept of estimating and rounding and was doing it in her head with ease.
We are moving right along in Language Arts as well. Kaylin is reading a book about Pharaohs right now that's on a pretty high reading level and Annlee is actually enjoying reading a Flat Stanley chapter book about his adventures in Egypt. It's on a 4th grade level, and even though that's a little under her actual reading level, I'm just glad she's reading! Maryella is still coming along with her reading. She had a very good day yesterday where she really worked hard and had a great attitude. Reading time went smoothly for the first time in a while.
They are all still working through their Rod and Staff English books and WriteShop curriculum. Kaylin and Annlee have been studying how to include humor in their writing and we've had a few quite funny days, to say the least. Maryella is learning about biographies (she's read about Helen Keller and Clara Barton so far) and is in the process of writing a short little piece about herself. I just love this list of things she came up with for what makes her special...
I am special because...
I am a preacher's kid.
I love elephants!
I like to do art.
I love to eat sweets!
We are progressing in All About Spelling and Kaylin and Annlee are almost done with book 3. We will start book 4 in about a week and a half, I think.
The girls are all enjoying Rosetta Stone Spanish on the computer. They are all doing pretty well. The older two are moving pretty quickly through it.
Their favorite part of the day is probably practicing guitar. I love listening to them working at that!
They've done an awesome job learning the books of the Old Testament. Even Elianna can sing the song that we've learned. I shold probably record that! Although, I still haven't figured out how to get my videos on here.
And I guess the last thing we are learning is our Greek Vocabulary. So far, we've learned biblos (book), photos (light), sauros (lizard), and graph (to write or draw). We will be adding one more every week.
And because of the nature and freedom of homeschooling, we are taking off next week for another family beach vacation. This one won't be quite as long, as we need to get back for the girls' dance classes, church activities, and a dental appointment, but it will still be fun! I hope everyone has a great week and may God bless you!
(Here they colored pictures of an Egyptian tool called a shaduf which helped move water to the fields)
.JPG)
We learned about how they traveled on the Nile, using the current to go one way and the winds to go the other way. It made for very easy travel. We made these little reed boats one day as a craft.
We studied about the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in 3100 BC by King Menes. The girls had a great time acting out this story! I'm sure they will always remember it!
In science, we studied pyramids. The girls made pyramids and cubes out of straws to see how a pyramid is stronger.
We also drew pyramids one day and tried to make them look 3D.
As a read aloud right now, we are reading The Golden Goblet. I wasn't sure if it would keep their attention, but they are LOVING it! They beg for extra chapters to be read. We got through 3 chapters yesterday because they kept wanting more and more. They keep trying to solve the mystery in the book and decide what they would do in the main character's place! I love seeing them take a real interest in the story. It really gives us a good insight into life in Ancient Egypt.
.JPG)
In art, we are still learning the basics as we are beginning this 4 year study. One day this week we were practicing how to draw circles. To be honest, this is probably our least favorite subject of MFW, but it's short and only 2 days a week so we are plodding through. We do lots of other arts and craft type of activities to satisfy my creative kiddos, so I figure we can get through this. I think it's going to be a good thing in the long run and really teach them a lot about the techniques of HOW to draw things, as well as teach them about art history.
In music this week we continued our study of Vivaldi. We listened to part of his Four Seasons piece - Spring. Next week we will continue that. They notebooked about what they had learned about the life of Vivaldi to include in their history notebooks.
We also watched Kaylin's dance recital piece from a year ago because they danced to the Four Seasons. Kaylin's group was Fall, but the whole piece was included in the recital. How fun to relate something they remembered from real life to what they were learning about Vivaldi!
Of course, we did our other studies also. They are all seeming to do very well in Math this year, which I am excited about. Annlee has caught on quickly to division and Kaylin (gasp) is LOVING fractions! Maryella had her first real "challenge" with Math this week but after a few minutes she got the concept of estimating and rounding and was doing it in her head with ease.
We are moving right along in Language Arts as well. Kaylin is reading a book about Pharaohs right now that's on a pretty high reading level and Annlee is actually enjoying reading a Flat Stanley chapter book about his adventures in Egypt. It's on a 4th grade level, and even though that's a little under her actual reading level, I'm just glad she's reading! Maryella is still coming along with her reading. She had a very good day yesterday where she really worked hard and had a great attitude. Reading time went smoothly for the first time in a while.
They are all still working through their Rod and Staff English books and WriteShop curriculum. Kaylin and Annlee have been studying how to include humor in their writing and we've had a few quite funny days, to say the least. Maryella is learning about biographies (she's read about Helen Keller and Clara Barton so far) and is in the process of writing a short little piece about herself. I just love this list of things she came up with for what makes her special...
I am special because...
I am a preacher's kid.
I love elephants!
I like to do art.
I love to eat sweets!
We are progressing in All About Spelling and Kaylin and Annlee are almost done with book 3. We will start book 4 in about a week and a half, I think.
The girls are all enjoying Rosetta Stone Spanish on the computer. They are all doing pretty well. The older two are moving pretty quickly through it.
Their favorite part of the day is probably practicing guitar. I love listening to them working at that!
They've done an awesome job learning the books of the Old Testament. Even Elianna can sing the song that we've learned. I shold probably record that! Although, I still haven't figured out how to get my videos on here.
And I guess the last thing we are learning is our Greek Vocabulary. So far, we've learned biblos (book), photos (light), sauros (lizard), and graph (to write or draw). We will be adding one more every week.
And because of the nature and freedom of homeschooling, we are taking off next week for another family beach vacation. This one won't be quite as long, as we need to get back for the girls' dance classes, church activities, and a dental appointment, but it will still be fun! I hope everyone has a great week and may God bless you!
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