I love home schooling!!

Sometimes I laugh when people ask me what curriculum I use for home schooling.

Exhibit A (scissor cutting practice...made by me...ha!) :
Many of the activities we do are inspired by the boys' imaginations:
(J said he wanted to make a kite, so he got out paper, scissors, glue, and some yarn and did the entire thing by himself while I watched!)
Of course, T wanted to make one as well.
I got out the Geoboard to practice some letters, numbers, and shapes. J decided to get out our "hundred blocks" to fill all of the 100 squares on the geoboard.
Sometimes, I combine items from 3 different sources to make one activity.
(Alphabet flashcards from My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum, magnets from a book about colors, and magnet board from our Magnetic Letter Pattern manipulative)
Sometimes, we draw pictures and write to our Compassion child!
Here, J is practicing his writing using some wooden letter blocks from Hobby Lobby and red paper inside a clear folder (with a dry erase marker.)

I love that the boys are using their imaginations. I love that they can learn things from each other without me saying a word. I love that we can do school in our pajamas...on any day we want, at any time of day we want to. I love that I can have one idea in mind for an activity, and my kids can change things up to make it a totally different activity where they learn and LOVE learning. I love that I hear my children laughing often when doing school. I love that I can combine different curricula with my own ideas, based on my kids' learning styles, my teaching style, and what we are interested in at the time. I love that we can really do whatever we want to, even if it means taking a day off from normal "school" activities and enjoying just being with each other and spending time in the 80 degree weather!!

Collecting leaves and sticks for our Autumn nature table
(I can't even keep them from doing school when I try! haha, JUST kidding, I would never try to stop them from learning.)

Check out that blue sky!!! WOW!
(J loves taking pictures. Here, he is laying on the street looking up at me.)

E looking for rocks for the nature table

I don't think you could pay me to send my kids to school!

~So blessed!! :)

"You learn something new everyday!"

One of the joys of homeschooling is the fact that we don't have to have school TIME. We can learn all day, every day. Awhile back, I bought a CD of classic classical music. I didn't want to start listening to it with the boys until I could take the time to introduce them to the composers. Yesterday, I bought pictures of the composers, so today? We listened and learned about classical music and the composer, Mozart. I have to say, it's been awhile since I listened to classical music, and I truly have been neglecting myself!! The baby also drifted off to sleep so peacefully the second I turned it on. It was amazing.

Fall is here!

Little leaves fall gently down,
Red and yellow, orange and brown,
Whirling, whirling, round and round,
Quietly without a sound,
Falling softly to the ground,
Down and down and down and down.

(Not so true where we live, but it's still fun to help us remember what happens in nature during this season!)

A Montessori Kind of Day

We made some new activities, played some, and learned!

We all sorted sea shells together

T practiced small motor/coordination and opening/closing the lid
(sorting lids from used bottles into a cashew container)

J, T, and E practiced taking turns and helping each other
(straws cut into different sizes and a parmesan cheese container)


J practiced his photography skills ;)
(my camera!)



J sorted some beans
(miscellaneous beans, cups, bowls, and spoons)
AND J practiced his photography some more :)



We built towers, castles, and swimming pools!!
(good old wooden blocks)

this week, the letter h

There weren't a lot of photograph-worthy activities this week.
This is a little of what we did.

Math:
Number Clip Cards from another homeschool mom

H is for Holes
(for our wall alphabet)

Reading/Spelling/Phonics:
H is for hat, hop, hog, ham, hop, and hit

this week, school is back in session!!

Wow, was my last post really in July? We gained a VERY cute addition to our family on Aug 3, so we took what was going to be a week but ended up being over a MONTH apparently :) off to relax, have company, and enjoy our new baby!! We'll be reviewing A-G this week, and then it's on to the letter H! See you soon :)