Friday, September 30, 2011

Weekly Wrap Up!

I can't believe it has been three weeks since I posted one of these. The last time I posted we were about to start a vacation week, which turned out to be not much of a vacation. We had plans to get some stuff done around the house but were only able to do anything for 2 days of that week. My husband ended up getting a nasty cold followed by a back ache, and a stomach flu. The girls were both also sick with a stomach bug during that week. The next week after that we were back to school full force, and it turned out to be a really good school week. This week also went well! So September comes to a close with 3 weeks of school accomplished, 1 week of not so much vacation, 2 niece birthday parties, a bunch of football practices and two games, and the start of fall co-op. I can't believe tomorrow is October! Sweetpea will be starting her 1st grade work in about 1.5 weeks, and she will be 6 on October 31st. She is super excited and already planning her Flower Fairy birthday. She also will be moving up to the 6 and up swim classes starting Tuesday. Her instructor wanted her to move up even though she isn't 6 yet because she had mastered all of the 4-5 year old classes.

Buster loves flag football!
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Waiting for pictures, he's number 8!
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Buttercup making a D!
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We had some fun with tape on the floor this week!
Shapes
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Hopscotch!
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Doing his daily independent story problem!
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Meet Lady Liberty!
Sweetpea loved this activity!
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I signed up for a free two month trial of Kinderbach!
The kids love it and have done it everyday this week.
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I started putting together a fall play bucket!
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Hours of entertainment here!
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For more weekly Wrap Ups visit http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

AIMS Education Foundation! TOS Review

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I received a book from AIMS called Getting Into Geometry to review! The book is for grades K-1st and covers basic geometry concepts such as: 2D Shapes, Composing and Decomposing Shapes, Symmetry, 3D Solids, Spatial Relationships, and Playful Practice! Each one of these topics has a bunch of worksheets, games, activities, songs and even stories to go along with them. The books is quite thick and is 264 pages! Included in your purchase of the book is a CD that contains all of the necessary printables so you can print them off of your computer without having to photocopy. So basically the teacher prints the pages needed for the lessons, and follows along with the directions in the book. All of the worksheets are also contained within the book so you can see what is used and needed. There is also a list of needed materials at the beginning of each lesson.
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I did some of the lessons with my 5 year old and 3 year old and they both loved them! I think many of them can be adapted perfectly for preschoolers as well. The book is packed full of fun worksheets and hands on activities to teach geometry. I did find Getting Into Geometry to be more geared toward classroom use, but it can be easily adapted for home use as well. AIMS Education sells a wide variety of books and manipulatives for elementary covering math and science topics. The book with CD "Getting Into Geometry" will cost you $24.95!
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Here the girls are working on the first lesson:
Shape Sense!
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Second Lesson:
 Making Models!
I adapted it a bit because we didn't have any straws.
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I received "Getting Into Geometry" free of charge from AIMS Education Foundation in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was given.

Pros:
Fun
Hands On
Multi Age
Reasonably Priced
CD for printables

Cons:
Geared towards classroom teachers.

To read more about this and other products from AIMS visit the Homeschool Crew Blog today!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Before Five In A Row, TOS Review!

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You may have heard of the curriculum Five In A Row Before, but have you heard of their preschool curriculum called Before Five In A Row?

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Before Five In A Row by Jane Claire Lambert is a unit study guide created for 2-4 year olds. The book contains 24 mini units based on classic children's picture books. The units are similar in feel to the Five In a Row Curriculum but even more laid back and less scheduled. The idea is to read enjoyable picture books with your preschoolers while introducing them to early learning skills. BFIAR introduces you child to such skills as Art, Science, Bible, Music, Math, Health, Language, and many more. The suggestions are simple and can be easily followed. Also you can pick and choose which activities you want to use for each book. Some of them build from book to book and are carried on throughout the guide. In the back of the book you will find a 40 page section just for parents. It contains a bunch of helpful info on early childhood development, toys to inspire imagination, and fun activities to do with your preschoolers.
I was excited to be able to give this book a try. It is one that I have heard about many times but never seen. I have seen Five In A Row, so I had an idea of what to expect. We happened to own 5 of the picture books needed. All of which are favorites of my children and quality stories. For us I found the guide just a bit to open. I prefer something more laid out for me of what and when to do it. Also I found some of the discussion topics to be above where my 3 year old is at. She enjoyed some of the art projects and more hands on type things though. If your looking for a gentle start to school that is very laid back than this might be just for you. You will not find schedules or even a guide of how long each unit should take, but you will find a book full of jumping off points, dozens of fun activity suggestions, and some really great picture book suggestions.
You can purchase Before Five In A Row from Rainbow Resource for $35 dollars! They also sell literature packs of all the books needed. For more info you can visit their website.

Before Five In A Row was given to me free of charge in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was given.

Pros:
Fun
Gentle
Full of good preschool ideas

Cons:
A bit pricey
No schedule

To read more reviews visit the Homeschool Crew Blog!

Monday, September 12, 2011

A day at the beach!

We decided we needed one more beach day before the weather turns bad, so on Labor day weekend we headed to the coast!
On the way we stopped at a tiny town that has a small butterfly garden.
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Buttercup loved the butterflies!
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We had to go to our favorite garden at the coast! Shore Acres State Park!
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The pond was lovely in the sun!
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The roses were gorgeous!
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We then headed down to the little cove beach below the garden! I love the coarse sand on this beach it is so pretty!
The littles had to get buried in it!
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Last we headed over to Bastendorf beach and the kids played for a few hours until the sunset. It was a very warm day for the Oregon Coast!
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Buttercup and Buddy stayed by me and dug in the sand!
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They loved looking at their tall shadows!
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Buster and Sweetpea are crazy and got drenched in the ocean with daddy!
When they got too cold they had fun building sand mounds.
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It was a magnificent sunset!
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Weekly Wrap Up!

Weeks 8 and 9!
My husband is on vacation this week and things are starting to get really busy around here with activities starting up again. The kids started back to swim lessons after taking August off, co-op started back up last Thursday, and Buster decided he wanted to give Flag football a try. My husband and I know almost nothing about football so this will be interesting. Neither one of us are into watching sports except for the Olympics. For Co-op this fall we will be studying some Spanish and Learning about Colonial America. School is going well and we are all really getting into a nice groove with our schedule. This week the kids are getting a break though because we are doing some work around the house this week. I decided to give Buster a story problem to figure out on his own every morning and I am getting them out of the Singapore math Challenging word Problems books. Buster really enjoys trying to figure them out first thing when he gets up. Here is a basic run down of how our school days go in Pictures:

We start the day out with exercise! Using either GoTrybe, Praisemoves kids, or Wii Fit. After exercise the kids watch Speekee with breakfast.
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Buster does his seat work with me first. Bible, Hymns, Math, Handwriting, Grammar, and Spelling/Dictation.
Here he is practicing his All About Spelling words.
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Next Sweetpea does her seat work and Buster usually does some computer learning.
Sweetpea does Bible, Math, Handwriting, and Phonics. She Just started Reading Pathways and she loves reading the Pyramids. Here she is getting a bit of help from her dolls.
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She loves building things with her math manipulatives.
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Buttercup likes to do some seat work while Sweetpea is.
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She did an excellent job coloring in her Rod and Staff book last week.
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Buddy doesn't want to be left out so I usually give him some paper and crayons or some manipulatives to play with at the table.
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When the kids are not doing school with me they are playing.
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The girls could spend hours doing this, and they do!
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After lunch Buddy goes to bed for a nap and Buttercup does her Little Hearts with me. Buster reads his DITHR book while we ware doing it and Sweetpea does some computer learning games.
Next I do read aloud time with Buster. We do one storytime book, History, Science, Poetry, and he finishes Drawn into the Heart of Reading. Sometimes I get him started on his project or notebooking while I read with Sweetpea. For her Read aloud time we do a storytime book, and a history reading. After this we finish Busters and Sweetpea projects for the day then Buster and I work on his Science. Once all of this is done we do one group thing per day. Monday is composer study, we read about a composer and then listen to some of his work. Tuesday is President/State Study, we read about one President and one State. Wednesday is Artist Study, right now we are reading through some of the Come and Look With me Books. The kids all gather around me, look at the pictures, and answer the questions. I picked up a neat artwork memory game that we play sometimes too. Thursday is Drawing, when we get to it I have the kids pick something to draw from Draw Write Now, or Draw and Write Through History. Friday is nature study, and when we get to it we just take the kids for a nature walk and bring the nature journals so they can draw what they want.
After school the kids play, and help with chores. They had a blast husking corn the other day.
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Buddy got his toe bonked by the door and Buster decided to soak his foot when I was out of the room it was super cute!
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Well that is a basic run down of our school days!
I hope everyone else is having a good school year as well!

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