Pics like THESE scroll across my screen!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
I can't keep up!
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Wow, my blog has been so neglected lately. I have great plans and think of blog posts I need to make and then get up in the morning and am pulled 17 different ways before eight o'clock, and that's the QUIET part of my day! LOL
I was talking with a friend about school this year. I'm not gonna lie - three kids, three different curriculums, three different Heart of Dakota programs going makes for a BUSY day. Add in the fact that these little darlings think they should eat at regular intervals and want to wear clean clothes and such, and something has to give a bit. Apparently that something is blogging.
I really do enjoy blogging though. I love to look back through old posts and seeing how the kids have grown and what we were doing a couple of years ago. I completely dropped off the Project 365 bandwagon. After Troy died and then having surgery a couple of weeks later, I just couldn't keep up. I will say - I did P365 for 2009 and 2010, and although it's nice having all of those pictures, it's been nice to take my camera when I want to rather than feeling obligated to come up with some sort of picture for the day.
I do have some fun pictures for a week in review post (um yeah ... I know ... MONTH in review at this point) that include a couple of field trips we've done recently. They are on my laptop - and that's another blogging hindrance. The girls use my laptop for a couple of their classes, which means my laptop time is reduced.
(Um. Retitling this post: in which Melanie makes a bunch of excuses.)
Hopefully I'll get some laptop time and will be able to do a couple of field trip posts! Plus we've had a few cute snack days and other fun stuff.
:)
I was talking with a friend about school this year. I'm not gonna lie - three kids, three different curriculums, three different Heart of Dakota programs going makes for a BUSY day. Add in the fact that these little darlings think they should eat at regular intervals and want to wear clean clothes and such, and something has to give a bit. Apparently that something is blogging.
I really do enjoy blogging though. I love to look back through old posts and seeing how the kids have grown and what we were doing a couple of years ago. I completely dropped off the Project 365 bandwagon. After Troy died and then having surgery a couple of weeks later, I just couldn't keep up. I will say - I did P365 for 2009 and 2010, and although it's nice having all of those pictures, it's been nice to take my camera when I want to rather than feeling obligated to come up with some sort of picture for the day.
I do have some fun pictures for a week in review post (um yeah ... I know ... MONTH in review at this point) that include a couple of field trips we've done recently. They are on my laptop - and that's another blogging hindrance. The girls use my laptop for a couple of their classes, which means my laptop time is reduced.
(Um. Retitling this post: in which Melanie makes a bunch of excuses.)
Hopefully I'll get some laptop time and will be able to do a couple of field trip posts! Plus we've had a few cute snack days and other fun stuff.
:)
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Week in Review - Weeks 4, 5, 6, 7 ... the little one
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And finally a post for the little one!
He is doing so well with school! He has figured out his routine pretty well and knows what is expected of him, and most of the time does it. He's generally a pretty compliant child who is eager to please, so that makes things a little easier.
He finished his math program. The math program I expected to last all year. (Do I have a mathy child? Could it be? Please say yes.) After some searching and scrambling, we decided to go to Singapore Math 1B. Hopefully it will be here the first part of the week and we can run with it.
He is using Bob Jones Kindergarten Beginnings and now sings along with Hopscotch on the DVDs. He is doing amazingly well with his sight words and getting there with his word families and blends. Some days he can get them right away and then other days he looks at us like we're speaking a foreign language. Which, I guess if you're just learning, is pretty accurate. :)
We are still really enjoying Heart of Dakota Little Hearts for His Glory. His favorite part of the day is when it's time to read about Reddy Fox. Even though we finished the Reddy Fox book and are now on to Peter Rabbit, he still calls it Reddy Fox. I love snuggling up with him and reading to him.
In history, he has gone from Creation to Sampson so far. It is absolutely amazing to me how many of these stories he already knows - from either Mrs. Russell's class, Sunday school, AWANA, or Veggie Tales. LOL When I start to read a story and he finishes it for me and I ask him how he learned that story, I never know what the answer is going to be.
In science, we're talking about plants, and if I were a good mom, I would have had him plant something. ;) Maybe I'll get to that soon.
We are doing a mix of the Bible study recommended in the HOD guide and his AWANA verses for Bible, and he is doing very well with that. He gets SO EXCITED when he has a verse memorized and can't wait to go share it with his teachers. GO my little one!
I have to say though - his favorite part of all of his schoolwork is snack time. About once or twice a week, it's Snack Day with Hopscotch. They are cute and clever snacks that he makes himself. This means there is usually peanut butter all over his desk. Here's one snack day treat:
Can you tell it's a mouth? Apple slices with peanut butter and marshmallows for teeth.
Usually the sisters get in on the snack day action:
These are traffic lights. (Did I already post this picture? I went to find the mouth picture and this one was next to it. The bed was still in the family room though, so this may have been from one of the other weeks I blogged!)
And I think that's it for our weekly (or monthly!) review! We have several field trips coming up in the next couple of weeks. We are very happy to get out of the house a little!
He is doing so well with school! He has figured out his routine pretty well and knows what is expected of him, and most of the time does it. He's generally a pretty compliant child who is eager to please, so that makes things a little easier.
He
He is using Bob Jones Kindergarten Beginnings and now sings along with Hopscotch on the DVDs. He is doing amazingly well with his sight words and getting there with his word families and blends. Some days he can get them right away and then other days he looks at us like we're speaking a foreign language. Which, I guess if you're just learning, is pretty accurate. :)
We are still really enjoying Heart of Dakota Little Hearts for His Glory. His favorite part of the day is when it's time to read about Reddy Fox. Even though we finished the Reddy Fox book and are now on to Peter Rabbit, he still calls it Reddy Fox. I love snuggling up with him and reading to him.
In history, he has gone from Creation to Sampson so far. It is absolutely amazing to me how many of these stories he already knows - from either Mrs. Russell's class, Sunday school, AWANA, or Veggie Tales. LOL When I start to read a story and he finishes it for me and I ask him how he learned that story, I never know what the answer is going to be.
In science, we're talking about plants, and if I were a good mom, I would have had him plant something. ;) Maybe I'll get to that soon.
We are doing a mix of the Bible study recommended in the HOD guide and his AWANA verses for Bible, and he is doing very well with that. He gets SO EXCITED when he has a verse memorized and can't wait to go share it with his teachers. GO my little one!
I have to say though - his favorite part of all of his schoolwork is snack time. About once or twice a week, it's Snack Day with Hopscotch. They are cute and clever snacks that he makes himself. This means there is usually peanut butter all over his desk. Here's one snack day treat:
Can you tell it's a mouth? Apple slices with peanut butter and marshmallows for teeth.
Usually the sisters get in on the snack day action:
These are traffic lights. (Did I already post this picture? I went to find the mouth picture and this one was next to it. The bed was still in the family room though, so this may have been from one of the other weeks I blogged!)
And I think that's it for our weekly (or monthly!) review! We have several field trips coming up in the next couple of weeks. We are very happy to get out of the house a little!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Week in Review - Weeks 4, 5, 6, 7 ... the Middle One
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Because I'm combining four weeks on my Week In Review post, I decided to separate it by child so I'm not ending up with humongous long blog posts. :)
The middle one!
Can I just say that I really like fifth grade? It seems like some kind of groove kicks in at about that time, and school just kind of rocks along. I love it!
She is moving right along with Bob Jones Reading 5 and English 5, and with Teaching Textbooks math 5. I have to brag on her a little - we talked about neatness when doing math problems, and from that moment on, her notebook where she works out math problems has been perfectly neat and easy to follow. She has also done a lot better on her big multiplication problems. Wonder if these things could be related ... ;)
She really enjoyed the unit in Reading about puppets and made several rather interesting puppets that her brother destroyed before I pictured. :( I need to get her to make another one, especially the one with the grocery bags! It was darling!
She is writing a business letter in English, and her letter is going to be written to Dairy Queen requesting that they add a nutella blizzard to their menu. Awesome!
In her Heart of Dakota, I have to say that we are LOVING the book Tirzah!
It is offering a perspective about the Israelites fleeing Egypt that I hadn't thought of before. I love it when authors really draw the readers into a story. We are both anxious to see what happens next!
Also, she is really enjoying Usborne Internet Linked Ancient World, and looks forward to pulling it out and telling me all about it.
In history, she in in the middle of the desert. ha! She has fled Pharoah and Egypt but not made it to the Promised Land yet.
When I take pics of the oldest's notebook, I will take pics of the middle one's history notebook. Both girls have projects from various Draw and Write through History guides, and let me tell you - these are TREASURES! The middle one did frogs this week (from one of the plagues in Egypt). Fabulous!
In Science, she has gone from the Arctic Tundra to the Cactus Desert. She is enjoying the One Small Square books and the science she is learning.
For Bible, she is mainly doing her AWANA guide. There is Bible entwined with both her history and science, and we are pleased with that.
Okay, I think that's it for the middle one these past few weeks. I'll write up a post for the little one in a bit. :)
The middle one!
Can I just say that I really like fifth grade? It seems like some kind of groove kicks in at about that time, and school just kind of rocks along. I love it!
She is moving right along with Bob Jones Reading 5 and English 5, and with Teaching Textbooks math 5. I have to brag on her a little - we talked about neatness when doing math problems, and from that moment on, her notebook where she works out math problems has been perfectly neat and easy to follow. She has also done a lot better on her big multiplication problems. Wonder if these things could be related ... ;)
She really enjoyed the unit in Reading about puppets and made several rather interesting puppets that her brother destroyed before I pictured. :( I need to get her to make another one, especially the one with the grocery bags! It was darling!
She is writing a business letter in English, and her letter is going to be written to Dairy Queen requesting that they add a nutella blizzard to their menu. Awesome!
In her Heart of Dakota, I have to say that we are LOVING the book Tirzah!
It is offering a perspective about the Israelites fleeing Egypt that I hadn't thought of before. I love it when authors really draw the readers into a story. We are both anxious to see what happens next!
Also, she is really enjoying Usborne Internet Linked Ancient World, and looks forward to pulling it out and telling me all about it.
When I take pics of the oldest's notebook, I will take pics of the middle one's history notebook. Both girls have projects from various Draw and Write through History guides, and let me tell you - these are TREASURES! The middle one did frogs this week (from one of the plagues in Egypt). Fabulous!
In Science, she has gone from the Arctic Tundra to the Cactus Desert. She is enjoying the One Small Square books and the science she is learning.
For Bible, she is mainly doing her AWANA guide. There is Bible entwined with both her history and science, and we are pleased with that.
Okay, I think that's it for the middle one these past few weeks. I'll write up a post for the little one in a bit. :)
Week in Review - Weeks 4, 5, 6, 7 ... the Oldest
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Seriously? I haven't done a weekly wrap-up since week 3? Oh my.
(I realized this is likely to be a long post if I put all three kids in it, so I'll do each kid in a separate post. LOL ... nothing like no blog posts for a month, and then ten in a day, right?)
We are continuing to love, love, love Heart of Dakota for all three kids. (Oldest is doing Resurrection to Reformation, Middle is doing Preparing Hearts for His Glory, Little is doing Little Hearts for His Glory.) We have figured out a basic schedule so each child has me with them when they need me, and the other two are staying (mostly) out of each other's hair when I'm busy. I think this has been the hardest part of the year. We seem to have finally settled into a schedule routine that is working though. That schedule I posted a couple of months ago? ha. Nice idea, but most of it has gone by the wayside. I will try to update it and post that soon.
The Oldest:
She is getting close to finishing Texas History, and we are all happy about that. I knew she wasn't going to love doing it in the format I had chosen, but she is also getting it at co-op, and with the time constraints of schooling three, and my personal ... ahem ... notsomuch enjoyment of history, we're making the best of what we have. Since the middle one is also getting it at co-op, I plan to add this book to our read-aloud list:
In History, she has gone through Attila the Hun, to Theordoric, to Clovis, to St. Patrick, to Benedict and Gregory the Great, then to Boniface, Justinian, Mohammed, Charles Martel and the Moors, to Charlemagne, and Julius Caesar was just introduced. As she's reading and learning about these people, she is doing geography that goes along with it. She has read From Bondage to Freedom: A Tale of the Times of Mohammed, and has started Black Horses for the King.
She is still quite enjoying the Shakespeare study, finishing up A Midsummer Night's Dream, doing Winter's Tale, and then starting Much Ado About Nothing. (She is reading overviews of these plays, not the actual plays.)
In science, she is still doing Astronomy. This is going to bridge into physical science pretty quickly, and I think she is quite happy about that. :)
She is also studying through the book of Philippians this year, and the book Beautiful Girlhood.
I think that's it for her overview. I will get motivated to take some pictures of some of the things she has done soon.
I will write up posts for the middle one and little one shortly. :)
(I realized this is likely to be a long post if I put all three kids in it, so I'll do each kid in a separate post. LOL ... nothing like no blog posts for a month, and then ten in a day, right?)
We are continuing to love, love, love Heart of Dakota for all three kids. (Oldest is doing Resurrection to Reformation, Middle is doing Preparing Hearts for His Glory, Little is doing Little Hearts for His Glory.) We have figured out a basic schedule so each child has me with them when they need me, and the other two are staying (mostly) out of each other's hair when I'm busy. I think this has been the hardest part of the year. We seem to have finally settled into a schedule routine that is working though. That schedule I posted a couple of months ago? ha. Nice idea, but most of it has gone by the wayside. I will try to update it and post that soon.
The Oldest:
She is getting close to finishing Texas History, and we are all happy about that. I knew she wasn't going to love doing it in the format I had chosen, but she is also getting it at co-op, and with the time constraints of schooling three, and my personal ... ahem ... notsomuch enjoyment of history, we're making the best of what we have. Since the middle one is also getting it at co-op, I plan to add this book to our read-aloud list:
In Math, I am happy to report that she has about 20 lessons left to finish 7th grade Teaching Textbooks math. Maybe a few less than that. She will be done right around Thanksgiving. We will go directly into 8th grade at that point. I'll probably just let her take the quizzes for the first couple of review chapters and see if we can get her on track for finishing by May. That may or may not happen, but it's okay. She is doing well in math and working hard, so I'm pleased.
We are both enjoying IEW for writing, and she is moving right along with it. Nothing to really add about that.
Everything else she does is from Heart of Dakota. (She will be starting English/Grammar when she finishes Texas History since both are one semester classes.)
We finished Mystery of the Silver Coins as a read aloud.
This was an enjoyable read! We're actually wanting other books in the series because it left us with a bit of a cliffhanger.
She is still quite enjoying the Shakespeare study, finishing up A Midsummer Night's Dream, doing Winter's Tale, and then starting Much Ado About Nothing. (She is reading overviews of these plays, not the actual plays.)
In science, she is still doing Astronomy. This is going to bridge into physical science pretty quickly, and I think she is quite happy about that. :)
She is also studying through the book of Philippians this year, and the book Beautiful Girlhood.
I think that's it for her overview. I will get motivated to take some pictures of some of the things she has done soon.
I will write up posts for the middle one and little one shortly. :)
Inconsistent Blogging!
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Wow, am I ever rocking the inconsistency lately! I feel like I am behind on everything except school, which is taking up most of my time. I am going to do a weekly wrap-up post today. (I am. I am. I really really am.) I think we had a couple of birthdays I neglected to post about, and some other fun things we have done lately. I am planning to do these in separate posts, so I may end up posting a bunch today. Or not. Because I seem to be all about inconsistency regarding the blog lately.
In the meantime, a couple of really sweet pics of my oldest and my niece. These two girls are a year and three days apart. From the time I heard about my niece being on the way, I pictured giggling and sleepovers. Since we don't live in the same city, that hasn't happened as much as I pictured. Well, at least the sleepovers haven't happened as much as I thought. The giggling has.
You can totally see the family resemblance, right? haha ;)
And one more:
This one was from the camp they went to this summer.
Okay, working on a weekly wrap-up post now. Or maybe I should call it a monthly wrap-up at this point.
In the meantime, a couple of really sweet pics of my oldest and my niece. These two girls are a year and three days apart. From the time I heard about my niece being on the way, I pictured giggling and sleepovers. Since we don't live in the same city, that hasn't happened as much as I pictured. Well, at least the sleepovers haven't happened as much as I thought. The giggling has.
You can totally see the family resemblance, right? haha ;)
And one more:
This one was from the camp they went to this summer.
Okay, working on a weekly wrap-up post now. Or maybe I should call it a monthly wrap-up at this point.
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