School Pictures

Two weeks ago I posted a little about what we do for school at our house, last week I shared some pictures about where we do our school activities.  This week I would like to share our school pictures.  So here they are:

 

You can see how much they have grown since last years pictures were taken.

Cleaning Up

So my two very sweet children decided to do some cleaning for me this morning much to my surprise.  I called Hannah and Ethan to come and get changed out of their jammies only to be told By Ethan that they couldn't get changed yet because they needed to finish cleaning up first.  First of all, this is not a statement that typically comes out of Ethan's mouth.  He usually curls up into a ball and pretends he is invisible at the first hint that it might be time to clean up.  Second, he was in my room, my very clean room.  So I instantly realized something must be up.

Well it turns out that Hannah and Ethan somehow got it in to their heads that the books needed reorganizing in my bedroom.  Not only did they totally empty the bottom two shelves of my book shelf.  But all of Andrew's books that we on a different shelf around the corner.

Look at their guilty faces.  I love how Hannah seems to be sheltering Ethan from my withering stares.  Look at all those books, especially the pile precariously stacked above their heads.

After getting dressed they help me put all the books back and even dusted for me.  Don't tell them but I think it looks much better now.

Where We Do School!

Where We Do School!

This week over at the iHomeschoolNetwork are asking for bloggers to link-up their posts showing their school rooms. They want us to show them where we school.  I thought I would give you all a quick little tour of where we do school.  Have a look:

Here is where we do lots of our activities.  Or at least the activities that require a table or art supplies (or both).  It's also where I keep the majority of our school things.  You'll notice that the table is pushed right up to the bench and this is intentional. My two children don't stop moving and have a habit of slipping off the bench and smacking their chins on the way down.  This works incredibly well to prevent that and to keep the kids up at the table.

Behind the table is our Ikea shelves that I use to keep us organized.This things that Hannah and Ethan are allowed to touch reside on the bottom half.  We keep all the books, toys, puzzles, and craft supplies we use all the time here.

This area is among the kids favorite.  This is their reading area, and they love to sit and look at books in the block chair.  Behind the chair is my white board as well as my rainbow storage tower.

 

Hannah using the white board.

We often find ourselves on the couch a lot.  We do most of our reading here.

In the middle of the kitchen is great for water activities and games.

The living room table is also a fun place to play games.

Outside is out classroom too.

So really, we do school everywhere!

Swimming Lessons

The kids have just finished their 4 weeks of swimming lessons today.  For their efforts they both received 2 badges over the course the the month.  Two weeks ago Hannah passed level four and began level five.  She passed level five today and will start level Six in September.  Ethan started level one a month ago and is now ready for level three.  I am so proud of how hard they have been working at their lessons and doing their best for their teachers.

Here are the badges that they earned today.

Excellent Job my little swimming fish!

Wordless Wednesday- Family Camp

Our Curriculum for 2013-2014

Curriculum 2013-2014

Today I am linking up to the Not Back to School Blog Hop, hosted by iHomeschool Network.  I thought I would share what we will be up to this year.  We start this month (actually yesterday), we start early (according to the traditional school year) because we like to take lots of breaks and this year will be no exception with needing a break in January for our new baby.

Bible

Jesus Storybook Bible - We will be going through this Children’s bible this year.  This will include a variety of activities, art and bible memorization.  I added a link to the Jesus Storybook Bible website and there is a scope and sequence there that I am using which also includes the bible memorization we will be doing.

Math
Compare Bears Maths - Book 1 - I love this book and I was so glad that I found it (There are 2 books this year we will start with book 1).  It is written by Barbara Hewitt and was developed to encourage young children to think and talk about early mathematical concepts.  I’m not really interested in workbook/textbook math at this point.  This is all hands on and done is a playful manner.  Hannah and Ethan both love numbers and games.  They enjoy counting and working out math problems and I am looking forward to see how they like what I have chosen.  You can download your own copy for free at the link.

Montessori at Home(Math Section) - Same as above, this is very hands on approach to learning mathematical concepts.  Their own quote says it well "By providing them with a logical sequence of hands-on activities, Montessori materials help children establish an understanding of numbers and a confidence with mathematics that follows them into their school years".  

Language Arts

All About ReadingPre-Level 1- This is a continuation of last year.  We have already finished the uppercase letters and this year we will move on to the last 2 sections which covers the lowercase letters and the sounds of the letters.  This is geared towards Ethan.  He is my letter and number guy and loves all things in print.  

Literature
Sonlight (Fiction,Fairy Takes, and Fun for Little Learners) - This is a fantastic collection of stories and books and I cannot begin to tell you how excited the kids are to read through the books we have for this year. 

Writing
Handwriting Without Tears – This is also something we started last year and were continuing with this year.  We are about a third the way through our book now.  Hannah and Ethan both enjoy their “school books” and ask for this all the time.  Last year, Hannah has really started showing interest in forming letters and this is giving her a good start.  Ethan likes to do everything Hannah is doing and really has no interest in writing or even coloring most of the time. 

Science

PEEP and the Big WideWorld Explorer's Guide -  My kids (like most their age) are natural explorers.  They love learning about the world around them and figuring out the whys, the hows, and the whats.  This year we will explore our way through shadows, water, plants, sounds, colors, and ramps.  The best part is that my kids already LOVE the kids show “Peep and the Big Wild World” and I love how it is incorporated in the program.  You can download this for free at the link.

And that’s what I have planned so far!

Disbelief Dispelled

I came across this photo earlier today. This is a picture of Hannah's birth mark on her leg below her knee.  I've always thought it either looked like an upside down heart or Hershey's Kiss.  At one of her regular check-up our doctor suggested that we have it looked at just to make sure everything was normal with it.  The picture does a great job of showing how raised and bumpy it appeared on her leg.

Here is another picture and you can see how pronounced it looked on her leg.  When we saw the doctor about it, he assured us that it was a normal birth mark and that it would disappear before Hannah's 5th birthday.  Let me tell you that I really didn't believe him.  I wasn't bothered by the birth mark but I really didn't believe that something so raised and red would ever disappear.

Well here is a picture from today.  You can still see the faded outline of the birth mark but it is completely flat.  She isn't 5 until April so we will have to wait and see how much it disappears over the next 9 months.

Here is my sweet girl. 

Other than the bruises that speckle her legs you cannot see the birth mark at all.

Ahh I feel so much better having confessed my disbelief.  :D