Sonlight Core B + C - Week 1

This week started the first week of our school. I wasn't able to start as early as I would like but we finally got started and I was happy to begin a new routine. J is working through Sonlight Core B + C combined. Our first week was hectic but it's good to be back!

For Bible, J and Kaleb learned about the parable of the lost coin. While listening to the reading, J and Kaleb colored a sheet that came with the curriculum.

She started her first week lessons with Learning Language Arts through Literature. This is new and I hope to get her able to do this independently. It covers a variety of language arts activities. This week, she learned about nouns, adjectives, wrote sentences, and worked on sight words.

J is reading through a Bible Story book, one story every day. Kaleb and Mouseys joined in for the story of Adam and Eve. I may not be doing all of the language arts activities in the Core manual but I do like the her reading through this book.

J began her math workbook - reviewing concepts from last year. She's smiling - it must be a good day. We read about early civilizations and learned about Judaism.

Thursday was Science experiment day. I decided that I would bring Kaleb in on the science fun. He is discovering what "sticks and doesn't stick."

We worked through the experiments, played the sock matching game, and then watched the Science video. I am hoping to have Kaleb join in on our Science experiments every week. He definitely likes to be part of everything! It was a good week. I am glad to be back to school, with a schedule of sorts. Hope your week went well.

Letter A Interactive Notebook Pages - free printable

This week for preschool, Kaleb worked on the letter A - A is for Airplane. I wanted to create something that he could use to review his letters as we continue through the alphabet. I discovered many posts about interactive notebooks and thought it would be a good tool for this review. So, I created mini interactive notebook pages for the letter A. Each week that we learn a new letter, I hope to add to the printable pages for the notebook - so stay tuned! Here is my first try at interactive notebooks -

Page one - What Begins with A? flap book with pictures to paste under each letter A. Only glue down the strip in the middle and cut the mini pages apart. I used the letter A pictures and cut them into smaller pieces. Then I gave those pieces to Kaleb to cut out. He did a really good job, I can notice a difference in his cutting skills already.

Page two - Where is the Airplane? Game. One of the skills that I am working on with Kaleb is recognizing his colors. This is a simple game where you tape the edge of the clouds down and hide the airplane. The child has to guess where the airplane is using his color words. I also added a pocket on this page for the small pieces. The clouds and pocket were printed on card stock for durability.

Page three - this craft idea can be added as another page to the interactive notebook or used alone. Kaleb made the lower case a into an airplane. I printed the pieces onto colored paper and allowed him to glue them anywhere.

It turned out cute - even though it has a helicopter feel to it. He likes it so that is really all it matters. I created this page not so he can copy the craft exactly. I really just wanted to give him some practice gluing and such.

Page four - I added this activity to practice counting from 1 to 5. The airplanes are programmed with numbers as well as the correct number of windows. Kaleb's task was to pin the clothespins onto the windows and count them. These airplanes can fit in the pocket on page 2 (not the clothespins though).

Page five - Letter A shape puzzle. I added a blank letter A to make the puzzle easier to put together. Print, laminate, and add velcro if you want to include the puzzle in the notebook or do what I did, add magnets.

Add a cookie sheet and the outline letter A. He worked the puzzle several times while we discussed the pictures on the pieces.

So, this is my first installment of Interactive Notebook Pages. Hope you enjoy them. If you have any questions or problems, let me know.

Download Letter A Interactive Notebook Pages HERE.

New School Year Begins

Because of traveling, I didn't quite get to start the school year as early as planned. But, as my DH keeps reminding me - we homeschool for lots of reasons and flexibility being one of them. J will be in Second Grade and Kaleb will be continuing preschool activities. Here is a break down of the curriculum we will be using for the new school year.

J - Second Grade

Bible:

Telling God's Story Year One - Meeting Jesus. This is a hands-on bible curriculum that comes with coloring sheets, art projects, and games. I am hoping that we will be able to do it together with Kaleb, after some adjustments for the preschool age.

Core: (History, Science)

Sonlight B + C - Intro to World History Combined Year. Because we worked with Winter Promise last year, I decided to use the Combine B + C to keep J on track with the Sonlight schedule. It is definitely more intense than Winter Promise as I hoped to be in a permanent environment by now so I am praying that we can keep up with all the work involved.

Math:

Horizons Math Grade 2 Book Set.  We are continuing with Horizons Math, it seems to fit J. She tested well in Math last school year so why change something that isn't broke? I know many parents who don't like Horizons but J likes it and it works for her.

Language Arts:

Learning Language Arts Through Literature: Red Book.  Even though I love Sonlight, I always feel that their language arts program needs some amping up. This year, I decided to supplement with LLATL. 

All About Spelling Levels 1 and 2.  I decided to add a spelling curriculum this year. I probably could have left it with LLATL but we will give All About Spelling a try. If it proves to be too much, I will eliminate this. I bought both levels because the first 8 to 10 lessons are alphabet sounds and such which she already knows. We will review the first lessons at a quicker pace and then slow down to a lesson per week when the actual spelling lists come in play.

All About Reading Level 3. We will also continue with All About Reading Level 3 and possibly Level 4 (since I heard that it is coming out in September). 

Explode the Code Books 4, 4 1/2, and 5.  We are still working through these books and have been since Kindergarten. 

Handwriting Without Tears 2nd Grade. This book also came with a pre-cursive workbook. 

Art and Music: I have plenty of ideas but I haven't finalized this one yet. I may just continue where I left off last year.

Kaleb - preschool

Kaleb's curriculum will be a mixture of Before Five in A Row books, Wheel School Alphabet packs, and my own literature studies that I have created. I will be focusing on many preschool skills such as learning his name, the alphabet, numbers and counting, etc... He will participate in our bible time as well as art, music, and some science. I am still working out how I will schedule and work with two children but most likely, I will work with Kaleb first. I will have some work that J can do independently while I am working with Kaleb to make the day run smoother. We will see how it will work. If it doesn't, I will just have to adjust.

So, we are now ready to begin our first week of school. Wish me luck :)

Tot Tuesday

We have some news that I have been waiting to share for many reasons. I finally feel like it is okay to share it and I thought that the pics of Kaleb would help to announce our news.

The pictures are kind of hard to see but Kaleb has been modeling what is going on in our family.....Kaleb has been walking around the house with Mousey under his shirt. It is so cute....Mousey in his tummy. We found out several months ago that we will have a new addition to our family. I am pregnant with our fifth child, a little boy who is definitely a gift from God. We were not expecting this, it was a total surprise but we are extremely happy. I am just about 30 weeks and after an extreme amount of testing (because of my age), I feel ready to share our news. Our new addition is expected to arrive early November.

Because I am starting to show already, I decided to explain to Kaleb about the baby in my tummy. He looked at me all serious and asked, "Did you eat the baby?" "No, no, Mommy didn't eat the baby." So, now when we talk about the baby, he makes sure to reply, "Mommy didn't eat the baby in the tummy," while shaking his head.

My Blogging Break is Over

I apologize if it seemed like I dropped off the face of the earth. It was an interesting summer full of traveling and adventures of sort. We had some major decisions to make and finally, we are ready to continue. Because of health as well as some other decisions, we will not go back overseas right away. We are still in the states and will be for another year. This was a difficult decision for many reasons but we feel it was the best one to make.

Having said that, we are not exactly sure where we will land. We still seem to be dividing our time between a couple of states but it is proving to be more difficult with each move. My Kaleb does not like the constant packing and moving. It really stresses him out which in turn makes it hard for the rest of us. I was hoping and praying to land somewhere permanent (at least for awhile) but we found we were needed to help my older daughter with her transition to America. So, again, we are off but for how long, no one knows at the moment.

So, we are trusting in God to provide what we need and where it needs to be. But, for now, we are here and I have to get back to "normal" if that is even possible. We are starting school this week and I plan on returning to my blog. I have been working hard on finishing the alphabet review packs. Right now, I am finishing VWX review pack and this week I plan on posting my first installment of mini alphabet interactive notebook pages with the letter A being the first printable pack. So, please bear with me. My life is in transition but in this, I am hoping to maintain the blog and my printables. Thanks for being patient and I will see you soon.