it's all fun and games: September 2013

ellie!

nate and i did some painting the other day, ellie joined in. she loved it!

nate went and got ellie from her nap dressed as spiderman. she LOVED it

ellie belly boo loves to hide her dollies. silly girl!

seriously, she loved spiderman

cranky baby. she does get cranky around 5 each day.....she goes to bed at 6 most nights....this is her at 5, begging for sleep

shoes! ellie loves shoes! i can find her all over the house carrying her shoes. silly girl!

having breaky with daddy this morning
chris did her hair
awwwww 1 comments

Posted by mel at 11:42 AM

*read below before you start

we start our sit down school when ellie naps, i tell nate that we have to redeem the time and get er done while it's quiet and i am able to sit with him

we start with a devotion. we are finishing up a series with god rocks

nate loves it

then we move onto a modified calendar. i found last yr's calander was not nate's style so i mixed it up and guess what? he loves it!

it has a bunch of everything in it. it's a great way to warm up the brain for the day

then nate gets to pick his lessons, in the order he wants. after school each day i choose the classes for the following day. when nate starts school he picks the lesson he wants and puts it on the following day, so they don't get lost
he loves the freedom and enjoys knowing what he has to do that day. it also cuts out the arguing and fighting
i also sat down with him and defined the lessons so he knows what is included in english, math, reading etc....again, clear and precise. the way he likes it

as he chooses the lesson he sees how much he has left and this gives him a feeling of security and control over hisday

i just keep them on a ring and change them each day

spelling

i'm using 2 programs together. althou this will change when i come back i now havess&s in my hands! but for now i take and pick what i see/like and use it to fit nate's style
we were using all about reading, so i picked up the spelling used. we already had the tiles. i got a used sequential spelling, which i really like! nate likes it too. at first i thought it was way too hard for grade 1, but after i taught the concept he LOVES it...and he likes spelling big words.ha

nate uses the tile board to see the words he spells, i also teach lessons on this board

i give him daily spelling tests on the small board. after i taught the lesson, i give him random words to spell
i thought he would not like spelling but he really enjoys it. i think he likes the challenge of it

english
we do a page in the work book together. i get nate to read as much as he can

then we move onto the all about reading program cards

i noticed that he has a problem reading the words on the card?! so i write them on the board and he gets them?!?

he loves to wipe them off after he read them
then we move onto the constant blends, we are working on the th, sh, ch, ck, ng and a few more

i also have to add, nate chose to dress up as a pirate 2 days this week, i did wash the costume over night so it's clean. ha. he also dressed up as superman

daily color!
i came up with this zero tangible reward system that i call "color your month"
everyday after school if nate was good and i mean good, no arguing, bad attitude etc...i make him work for this...i color the day. if he was exceptional he gets a color and a sticker. he got another sticker yesterday
i thought i'd try a self motivated system. i am keeping this. he loves seeing color!

the only thing he 'gets' is to see the colored block.

daily writing

i keep it simple. i write to him, he writes back and we go over the verse for the week. i chose a bunch of verses, printed them off, laminated them to reuse them and hung them up in the class

reading

each day nate picks a book from the book basket to read out loud. he loves this! he likes to choose for himself.....so far we have only read the science books ursi gave him last christmas....

math! we use math u see!
we do 2-3 pages. he reads the questions and works 80% on his own. i sit with him to help when needed (i use this semi quiet time to write out the following days writing)

let him use the blocks for everything, and as long as he wants

bingo dabber skip counting each day, while reading the numbers out loud
he's mastered it now, he just likes to do it for fun...haha he is reviewing skip count by 5 next week so there will be new charts

if there is extra time for math give him patternables or review number place value with the cards i made up

-chris, there are no pictures of the 25 rules of grammar or creative writing

enjoy! have fun!

* i am leaving tomorrow for a mini vacation with my sister. it has been 10 YEARS since we last vacationed together, a lot has changed since then!

chris is staying home and taking my place while i'm gone. he is not babysitting or watching the kids, he will be fathering them. i am getting a bit annoyed with the comments about how great it is that chris is 'doing' this for me. please, i did the same for him, where's my award? that is another whole rant. we are a TEAM. we help each other. i think it's sad that society still views fathers as not as involved partners. we decided to have children together, we decided to home educate together, we decided to go to mcdonalds late last night together, we decide together. then team up to get the job done

n-e-ways. my point was....haha.....chris is going to continue on with home schooling while i'm gone, i pre did all the lessons for the week and made up notes, charts and files for him. but knowing chris likes details, i decided to bring my camera into the class and photo what i am talking about in my notes :)

so this blog is chris's cheat sheet for the week. haha 3 comments

Posted by mel at 9:27 AM

middle of the week!

opened my pantry last night for some post coffee time/late night snacking and i found a present
someone was there and left her shoe, possibly in exchange for some fishies?
hahaha
ellie is forever picking up and carrying around shoes (and random items) for most of the day. now that shes a full on walker, she makes the most of it and keeps herself busy walking around. which is refreshing, cause nate cant go to the bathroom alone. they are so different!

this morning i asked nate to get dressed
he did
he came down like this

pirates do not smile

see

bawahhhhh i love it

then i said hi to ellie
she smiled

and showed me her cup drinking skills
impressive

i can't believe it's wed! this is nuts! time is flying by. didn't chris just get home????

this is why my heart is glad and my soul rejoices......ps 16:9 1 comments

Posted by mel at 8:26 AM

busted!

ellie loves going through my purse. i find her at least once a day going through it; as well as the diaper bag!
she also loves to pick up her shoes and carry them around
sigh
adorable to watch!

she's laughing! tossing her head back and laughing!

but the big news round here is ellie added another word to her daily vocab, which is mama, dada, yaya, ohoh! and hi! to make her first sentence this morning!

we were doing our morning snuggles (nate likes to watch the kids catch the bus in my bed) ellie was in the bed with me, nate walks in and ellie says "hi yaya!"

her first words are not about me, but nate! my heart.

nate said "mom, did you hear that? she said hi yaya" it was clear as anything

my dolly is growing up

things are starting to settle around here. chris came home sun. he was away last week in sasky visiting and having the best vacation. i didnt blog about being alone with the kids for eternity...hahaha......for safety reasons. but he's home now and we are slowly settling back into life as a family again

i will say that the week went by really well with out chris. haha. we told nate that he was the man of the house and with that role comes responsibilities and freedom....he was allowed to sleep in my bed every night (me love!) and stay up late but he had to not give me a hard time with school....which was the area i was most concerned about....he didn't! it was the best school week. yeah nate!

chris had the best time, i am so glad he did. he was super busy visiting and reconnecting with old friends. can't believe we've been gone for 8 yrs! crazy!

and with that we start another week! 1 comments

Posted by mel at 9:19 AM

this and that

ellie in a basket1

she looks like a toddler. where did my baby go?

table tricks!
we are teaching ellie not to throw food/drinks on the floor. she KNOWS she is not allowed to do this, but it doesn't stop her from doing it!
now she plays a game...she takes her sippy cup or food and holds it down beside her, watching me and smiling as i say "no ellie, don't throw"

will she? she lowers the cup more

turkey!
most times she will smile at me and drop the item on the floor....sigh....

watching tv together

new toy!
he LOVES it!

he rode it all over the back yard, the front yard and picked up some girls along the way

off they rode into the distance

ellie wants a turn to!

too bad the new toy is NOT nate's. hahaha. our neighbour got it from her grandparents but nate has claimed it. the kids prefer to have nate drive them around in it. its cute and for the record as i told nate i would NEVER buy him one, even if we had the money. i would spend the money on school books. hahaha

have a sunny sunday! 2 comments

Posted by mel at 8:51 AM

heart matters

every night i try to read from a book that a friend of mine placed in my hands. it's a devotional for home schooling mom's by my fav homeschooling author

i find when i read even just a short paragraph, i wake up feeling focused and calm, ready to start my home educating day

last night i read this

if you really desire to reach your children's heart for christ, you cannot do so until you build a deep and trusting relationship with each child. they must feel that they can find no better confident, no more loyal friend, no greater encourager, and no one who understands their thoughts and dreams, fears and doubts, joys and hurts better than you....that you accept them no matter what you do...

it spoke to me because i believe this with all my heart. my goal in home schooling is not the academics but to reach and hold the heart of each of my kids. too have their deepest trust, love and emotions. so i can guard them, love them, teach and train them.

i feel that relationships with each of my kids is the most important thing, then the studies/school will follow. does this mean we don't do book work? no! but before we open a book each day, i have spent time with both of them that when we sit down to do school its calm, loving and joyful. is it like this all the time? no, it never is when a child is learning something new or is antsy and wants to play. when this happens i am able to instill in them discipline and a chance to teach nate how to act, with a pure heart when he has to do something he doesn't want to...and learn a lesson in patience for myself

home school is hard. it's work. i knew the cost of taking this on the best i could with out actually doing it but i feel that because i did count the cost (my time, my patience, money, freedom or lack there of and many, many learning lessons for me) i know i will keep on keeping on because i know the road will end one day, my kids will leave (sooner than i care to think!) and then i will be able to move into a season of more freedom and free time to do those things i want to do

this yr, i can honestly say with out any frustration that i do not miss going out with the girls as i see and hear about their mom clubs/coffee dates and even long walks in the park.

i counted my cost of home school, as with any season in life there is good and bad. but there is a joy in the trenches when you know you are doing what you were called to do

my heart would burst into a 1,000 pieces if i missed out on the adorable things ellie does...why this morning alone the silly girl went and got into her shoes and proceeded to walk around talking "baba, dada, mamama and yayaya" while carrying and trying to out them on

or hearing nate yell "mom! get in here and see what ellie did" walking into the hallway i see my dolly walking with a sookie in her mouth, one in her hand and a cup of fishies. giggling and laughing all the way to my arms. where i scooped her up, cuddled her and asked her where in the world did she find them?!

then there are the moments of frustrations....the calls to chris....the prayers of a righteous (haha) mom on the verge of losing my patience when i see tooth paste in the sink and on the mirror of my just cleaned bathroom....or the pile of science experiments i find all over my cleaned living room.....i counted my cost....i pour a coffee, grab a cookie and relax (then email, phone a home schooling friend or talk to chris. haha)

the hearts of my children out rule the craziness

"mom, mom, mom,mom, mom".....i must go i am being be called.........."mom! what's for lunch, i'm hungry"......."mom! i have a question!" "mom!" "mom! can i make a ship out of the laundry?" "MOM!!! WHERE ARE YOU, I NEED YOU> MOM!.........................."

those are my deep thoughts, yes i can have them. haha

happy friday everyone! 1 comments

Posted by mel at 10:18 AM

rock study

knowing we are going to lose our warm mornings...we hit another park yesterday to study rock. i did a quick read on the different types and assigned nate to find some
off we went. it was a bit colder yesterday morning so we bundled up

nate used tweezers, cause all scientist do that and gloves (wild kratt for super strength) for safety

he selected 4 types and we brought them home, cleaned them up and checked them out

us

last night ellie kept herself quite busy with nates cars

so cute!

home school is going well. yeah. the bus stops are in front and behind our house (french and english schools) the kids get home and congregate in our back yard for nate. we are usually finishing up around that time anyways, then nate heads out to play with the kids and i chat with the other stay home moms, who proceed to tell me daily that i am crazy to home school and why would i when i can ship the kids off to school for someone else to deal with? sigh. they do get why we home school....its our life style

with that i am off to start our day. i wonder what this day will bring?

happy hump day! 2 comments

Posted by mel at 9:00 AM

sun-mon

ellie belly girl sun morning before church

she was so tired, she was on the floor BEFORE we left. she did well during the service, even thou she was so tired...she came home and slept for 3.5 hrs. and slept through 8 kids in the gazebo! haha somehow i ended up with all the kids in the neighbourhood for most of the afternoon...i put nate to bed and he said "this day was the busiest day i have had. church, then play with the kids until bedtime"
nate was asleep in 5 mins

dolly ollie peeking at nate

yesterday before the rain hit we did some science

then hit the park for a walk and nature study

it was prob one of the most relaxing, enjoyable park trips with the kids
we had a blast
the best was the show the squirrels put on for us...risking sounding like a geek....nate and sat in the woods and listened to the chipmunks and squirrels playing. they came closer then

using the canopy of the trees jumped back and forth and put on a show for us. i've never seen them up that close before and play. so fun!

then nate hit the trails and ran off some energy

ellie and i sat in the woods on a blanket and enjoyed our snuggles

so pretty!
so quiet!
a wonderful way to start the week

ellie amd her fishes

silly ellie

ok. this is the best. all day long i see ellie walk past me. it's so cute! i will be in the kitchen and she will walk past me talking to herself "baba mama dada yaya" her she is off in the front room