Friday, November 15, 2013

Homeschooling and Life: Nov.4-Nov. 15, 2013

Looks like I'm in a habit of blogging every two weeks as opposed to one now. We've had a pretty good couple of weeks. Bug is currently learning about George Washington Carver, Theodore Roosevelt, and the story behind the first Thanksgiving. Doodles learned about Christianity last week (which of course she already knows a great deal about), and this week and next she is learning about Islam. Baby Girl is continuing to work on communication skills, enjoying "circle time," writing lines on the dry erase board, playing outside, putting shapes in containers, and making lots of messes as her curiosity is wide open. We are all LOVING the cooler weather and looking forward to the holidays. Here are some snapshots of the first half of November in our lives:

Signs of fall on our nature walk through the neighborhood-changing colors of leaves

Leaves changing colors

More fall colors

Ants moved very slowly-it was COLD!!!

Photo that Doodles took for a contest

Bug's sketching and writing of things he observed during our walk

Birds we see at the feeder-list and choice of one to sketch (Doodles)

Bug's work on the above assignment

Bug worked on diameter, radius, and circumference in math

Doodles' current reading books (studying Islam)

Two of Bug's current reading books

Another of Bug's current books

Doodles sketch and labels for "Under the Sea" (Oak Meadow 6 Science)

Frog in our backyard
 

Another pic of the frog

Yellow jacket on the window

Doodles' writing about earthworms

Doodles' writing about jellyfish

Doodles wrote a paper about Catholicism


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Homeschooling, Life, and Halloween: Oct. 21-Oct. 31, 2013

I didn't post last weekend. It's been even busier than usual around here! I will let the pictures tell the story:

Lighthouse craft project that we did in my Five in a Row co-op class

Little squirrel friend that visits our dining room window sill

Baby Girl's painting

Doodle's painting

Bug's painting

Report and project that Doodles did on El Dia de los Muertos for Spanish class

Another view of Doodles' project

Close-up

Paper Doodles wrote from the perspective of a wolf

Paper Doodles typed about the public baths used by the ancient Romans

Paper that Bug wrote about the invention of video games

Doodles and Bug made Halloween cookies. Here they roll and cut the dough into shapes.

Final results

Bug and Baby Girl "wrestle."

Bug is almost as tall as I am!

Sweet little flower fairy

My little fairy

Another pic of my sweet Baby Girl

Cutest fairy ever!

Little flower fairy angel :)

The little fairy is chilling out!

Baby Girl's Jack-O-Lantern painting

Doodles' painting of candy in a bowl

Bug's pumpkin painting

Bug caught this doodlebug and then released it.

Baby Girl claps with Doodles

Busted!

Sunrise on my street

Here we are on Halloween night! We are professional wrestlers: Baby Girl is Gail Kim, Doodles is Jeff Hardy, Hubby is Hulk Hogan, Bug is A.J. Styles, and I am the Icon Sting. We had a blast!

Hulk and Sting

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Homeschooling, Life, and A Dary Off: Week of Oct. 14-Oct. 19, 2013

We had a bit of a stressful week. Baby Girl has a cold, so that is difficult for her and for everyone else, too. I know it's normal for a sick person to be grumpy, but Baby Girl has more trouble when she's sick than most people do. Due to her special needs, it's hard for her to communicate the fact that she doesn't feel well, and it's impossible for us to communicate to her that "this too shall pass." So she just really, really struggles when she's sick. Prayers for her healing are appreciated!

So, what else is happening? We had a good day at homeschool group co-op classes on Monday (before Baby Girl got sick.) We took the day off "school" Tuesday because Baby Girl had a rough night throughout Monday night and into Tuesday morning, and that's when we realized she had a cold and fever. But you know what? The cool thing is that we still did lots of learning on Tuesday-it was just unofficial. Here's a list of what we did on Tuesday:

-chatted and ate breakfast
-talked about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
-Bug and Doodles cleaned their rooms
-I rocked Baby Girl and read Five Little Pumpkins to her
-Bug and Doodles went outside to throw the football
-Baby Girl played with wooden toys, while I read a book for pleasure
-Bug came back inside and read some Halloween books I have displayed on our coffee table
-Doodles, Bug, and I discussed the most economical way to get holiday-themed matching pajamas for our family
-I played Super Mario Bros. on the Wii with Bug and Doodles
-Baby Girl played in the sunshine streaming through our dining room windows
-Baby Girl and I had her "Circle Time," which she asked for
-We watched Garfield's Halloween episode on DVD
-Bug and Doodles went to her room to chat & I rocked Baby Girl and sang to her
-We watched family videos and looked at family photos from the years 2008-2010 (My kids are growing up WAY  too fast!)
-We had lunch and chatted
-Bug and Doodles played computer games while I rocked Baby Girl for her nap
-When Baby Girl went to sleep, I watched this past Sunday's episode of Once Upon a Time online, and Bug and Doodles played Wii bowling and Star Wars Lego
-While Baby Girl was still sleeping, the older kids and I went outside to throw the football and then came back in to play the "acting game"
-I planned for my homeschool co-op class for this upcoming Monday
-Doodles and I chatted and Bug played the Xbox while I rocked Baby Girl when she woke up from her nap
-I got a shower while Bug and Doodles watched Baby Girl
-I cooked supper and Baby Girl "helped"
-Hubby came home, we ate supper and everyone talked about his/her day
-We cuddled on the couch to watch The Voice
-We had prayers and bedtime routines

Wednesday-Friday we got back into our school routine. Baby Girl was still grumpy, but we managed. Doodles continued to study ancient Rome, while Bug started taking notes on a research paper about the invention of video games-his choice, imagine that! :) Other than Circle Time and a little reading I did while I rocked her, Baby Girl just relaxed this week and will hopefully be well soon. In addition to the illness issue I previously mentioned, it also takes her a longer time to recover from being ill.

Bug does research for his paper

Doodles researches for her paper

Doodles' paper about animals

Doodles' brief summaries of certain Roman gods

Doodles and Bug work on their nature wreaths. I got the idea from Family Fun magazine.

Bug's nature wreath

Doodles' nature wreath

Football throwing time

I throw to Doodles

Doodles throws to me

I throw to Bug

We found a grasshopper!

Baby Girl-feeling a little better on this day.

Baby Girl does her "prayer hands."
Doodles played with the grasshopper before we let it go.

Self-Care That's Not So Fun

As promised in my previous post, I am now going to talk about self-care that's not so much fun. This kind of self-care involves thin...