Hey Friends! An update on us & curriculum

It's been WAY too long since I've checked it! If you have read my last few posts you know this school year hasn't gone as planned, but God's grace is sufficient & just what we need! On October 31 we found out we are pregnant with baby #4!!! Which meant 2 months of HORRIBLE sickness, not morning sickness...hyperemesis! YUCK! But praise the Lord it has passed & I am now in my 2nd trimester & we are back to normal life! Well normal for us :)

We weren't able to to do any school due to the severity of my sickness, but now we are back & on a roll! Before my blog hiatus I didn't get around to posting some of the fun stuff we had been doing so keep your eyes open & ready for those posts!

Brady is doing well in 2nd grade & I have updated & made a few changed in his curriculum. He is using Horizons for spelling & its going great! The various worksheets come in handy for him to practice each day & that has helped me out tremendously! We got behind with MFW but are picking it back up & adding Road Trip USA from Confessions of a Homeschooler soon! Brady has loved learning about the USA & asks lots of questions about all the different states, so instead of using the net level of MFW net year we will continue to do Road Trip USA & dedicate one week for each of the 50 states including Washington DC for a total of 51 weeks so we are looking at a full year of US Geography. Of course we will take breaks in our school year, but since we homeschool it doesn't matter if we finish in the middle of the school year or not. Both Brady & I are VERY excited about this!

He is also doing Singapore math & we really like it a lot. Before we get back to using it again we are taking a few weeks to relearn our addition & subtraction facts before we move on to harder stuff. I want to be sure Brady is ready to move on with a good foundation in place! Brady completed he's reading program from Hooked On Phonics so now we are just reading for fun & doing various worksheets we copy from the Resource Center on specific skills. As far as Bible goes, we use the Beginner's Bible & Brady reads a story from it each day & we talk about it. We also use the Bible lessons from MFW & enjoy watching What's In the Bible DVDs! For Science we go along with our MFW curriculum & do whatever seasonal things that come  up or whatever the boys decide they are interested in.

Rylan is doing great with Horizions Preschool books! The worksheets are great for him! Of course I add fun hands-on stuff & use lots of fun things from 1+1+1=1. He won't complete the workbooks for awhile since we didn't start them til recently, but when he's ready for "Kindergarten" I will also add in Raising Rock Stars Kindergarten, You Can Read & Hooked on Phonics for K.

As for Keller my lil tot, it's just intentional play! We talk about letters & count together as we read & play. He LOVES to color & do "school" when he notices his big brothers working & demands a pencil or crayon & a book or paper.





I hope you all have been doing great! If you are interested in seeing our day to day pictures of what we do you can follow me on Instagram...my name is MommaAsh & don't forget to check out my other blog about my Jesus Journey.

Letting Go, Changing Plans, Moving Forward

I had the MOST awesome homeschool year planned out for my kiddos! I researched & took time to look at what they needed to learn, reviewed curriculum, borrowed books, or bought some cheaply, or didn't buy at all! I had planned to do my own math curriculum because as a former elementary teacher I know what he needs to  know by when & I'm completely confident in myself. I had found free printables & such for my preschooler online that I loved & knew I could totally put together fun ideas to teach him. It would take time to plan, print, copy, & laminate, but I knew I had the complete ability to do it all!

But then the ball dropped. Hard. then it rolled & took on the snowball effect & we got more & more off course. I've been super busy with ministry stuff & a new part time job, not mention staying home & schooling 3 boys: 7, 4, & almost 2. Time is not on my side, 24 hours doesn't do it.

I have to sleep. I need to have quiet time. I'm trying to lose weight & get healthy so we can get pregnant again. My house needs updating on paint (BADLY). I just couldn't & can't do it all. No way. No how. No matter how hard I want to & how hard I try...I just can't.

I decided to not beat myself up. I found a preschool curriculum by Horizons complete with videos, workbooks, music etc. It was a lot more than I ever planned or would normally spend! After sitting at this very computer & praying I knew I needed to take this plunge. My 2 year old could take part in some things & so cute & fun we can totally use year after year 2-5 years of age if needed! It covers everything from letter recognition, sounds, number recognition to early addition, science, character building, Bible, social studies, etc! I'll use it as fast or as slow as needed & I just cut out hours of planning, prinitng, laminating, etc etc etc!! Whoo hoo!!! YEA ME!! (Really praise Jesus for giving me this epiphany!!)

I also gave my 7 year old a placement test & decided on using Singapore Math because of the higher order thinking skills it uses. I really liked Horizons spiral plan, but the reviews & thinking skills Singapore would teach him won me over. Again I just shaved off hour of all the planning I would've had to do.

The best part about all of this? No it's not really the time saving factor, it's that I don't feel guilt or failure for having to change my plans & let go of this "dream" I had. That is the power of Christ in me. Helping me, nurturing me, & reminding me that in Him there is NO condemnation & just because all these other homeschool mommas can seemingly "do it all" it is perfectly ok that I can't. I can take an easier road, press on & move forward.

I will still add in fun themes here & there as time allows, but in this season, this momma needs a break!

I still have blogs to write on our Letter F & H & about my 2nd grader's journey so far this year. We have had lots of fun & I'm excited to share it all with you whenever I can!

Many blessings to you all!!

Get Ready...

Well June is just about over which means we are getting ready to start schoolin again. I'm actually looking forward to it. Brady will be starting Adventures in My Father's World & I found a blog with a link-up full of other mommas who use My Father's World...you would've thought I won the lottery!! :)




As for my 4 year old, Rylan, I've decided to use lots of goodies I've found from various blogs. I really love Raising Rock Stars Preschool, but Ry isn't quite ready for all of it so I'll just use bits & pieces for now along with some fun stuff from my other favorite sites.

Making Learning Fun

I'm still getting things organized & about to do a HUGE clean out of our school room to get everything ready. My goal is to start July 9. Now I just need to get set & GO!

Tot School/Preschool Curriculum & Co-Op

My wild & funny, yet sweet & cuddly Rylan turned 3 the end of May. This year we are OFFICIALLY beginning Preschool!!! You might be asking, "Well what in the world is Tot School?" Carissa from 1+1+1=1 explains it perfectly! Be sure to click on the quote below to read more about Tot School.

"Tot School is the time each day I spend with my tot,
exposing early learning skills through FUN
play. Tot School is not forced,
is always fun, sometimes doesn't
happen the way I plan, and is always focused on
my tot."

Here is another great link for Tot School ideas at Totally Tots.

Now my sweet Rylan LOVES to do school! He gets so mad if he wakes up from nap & realizes Brady & I did school without him. I've done some Tot School stuff with him & like the quote says above, I DO NOT FORCE HIM. I let him explore & when he's done, he can be done. Some days are awesome, & some days are not.

So what's Preschool? Well to be honest, not much different than Tot School, except that this will be the stuff where Rylan will need to participate in. He's a young 3 so I don't want to push him too hard to where he doesn't like school anymore, but he does have to learn to follow directions & do his work as well. To make it easier for anyone reading along, I will probably refer to Rylan's stuff as Preschool :)

For his curriculum I will be using Erica's Letter of the Week & various themed preschool packs from some of my favorites sites listed on the right hand side of my blog. They will be intermixed depending on the season & on what big brother is doing. I hope you tag along to see what all Rylan will be learning!

Co-Op

Rylan is doing a preschool co-op through our homeschool group this year. It will be use VeggieTales DVDs along with the VeggieTales: Values to Grow By curriculum. The classes will include DVD lessons, activity & coloring sheets, games, snacks, music, & crafts.

It meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 9am-11am & I must add that I wont have to stay with him! This is going to be so good for him for so many reasons!

I am beyond excited to see how this year plays out with Ry! I know God has amazing things for him & I'm thankful I get to be his teacher & guide!

Blessings to you all!!!

1st grade Curriculum & Co-Ops

Our school year year is off to a great start! We are in our 5th week of our 1st grade year! Around January every year I devote myself to a lot of prayer & research & more prayer & more research concerning schooling for my kiddos. I pray about homeschooling & I also seek the Lord as to whether I should send them to public or private school as well. My #1 goal is to do whatever the Lord is leading our family to do.

Researching curriculum can be VERY overwhelming!!! So many look good it can be a challenge to pick the right one for you & your child & not spend a fortune! Thank goodness for other homeschooling blogs where parents can share their ideas & opinions!

Last year I walked into the the store Ross & stumbled upon the book below. It only cost $4.99 & looked cute so I just bought it on a whim.


About a month later I really started to look into the book & fell in LOVE!!! It covered the 6 major subject areas of Language, Spelling, Reading, Math, Science, & Social Studies. The beginning of each week has a chart for the daily lesson plans of each subject.



Then the next pages have explanations of activities you can do that are listed in the lesson plans.



After that the book is filled with various full colored workbook pages for that week & other pages you can copy for the activities if you choose to do them. I struck GOLD! I knew without a doubt this would be my base for homeschooling 1st grade this year. The lesson plans are fun, detailed & you can pick & choose what you want to do or add to. Everything is right on grade level with some extra challenges if your child is up for it. The reading lesson plans cover a cute children's books or poems for each week. We enjoyed the ones we've done so far! The math goes at a great pace covering everything Brady will need for this year.

If I ever need supplements I of course use fun items from the Resource Center, printables from Makinglearningfun.com, or $1 workbooks from the Dollar Tree. We are also continuing with Hooked On Phonics First Grade for Reading & will be adding some Well Trained Mind stuff for Language & printing practice.

As far as our Bible curriculum goes I will just be using ideas from our Heart of Dakota book from last year, Christian Preschool Printables, & we will continue memorizing Scripture together. My plan is to just seek the Lord as to what to teach & when. Right now we are finishing up the Fruit of Spirit & then will learn about the Armor of God.

Co-Ops

Every other Friday Brady will go to a local church to take 3 co-op classes with other homeschool kids 1st-3rd grade. He'll stay for 3 hours (which I can leave & head home to work with my 3 year old one on one!!) & will take Apologia Land Animals Science class at 9am, then at 10 he'll take a geography class 1st semester & an American Historical Figures class 2nd semester & at 11 a class on the fundaments of art 1st semester & a fundamentals of music 2nd semester.

Brady is also doing a few co-ops with our homeschool group. They each only meet once a month for an hour. His Book-It class is basically just doing a book report & project on any book within a certain theme & giving a presentation on it at the meetings & listening to the other 1st graders' presentations & eating pizza! I'm really eager about this since Brady has a bit of stage fright! I also signed him up for a Popular Mechanics class that will teach him about force, motion, & all things science related to that. I signed him up for it because it sounded fun & let's face it, I am NOT skilled in that area! :)

He's also taking a Music class that a dear friend of mine will be leading. In this one he will listen to recordings of classical music, learn the stories behind the great hymns. They will also paint to music, dance to a waltz learn sign language to a song, & take 2 field trips. I wish I could do this one!!!

I was very wary of all the co-ops but Brady loves to be with other kids his age & this year may be the only year he will be able to do so much. He's so smart & picks up everything I teach him very easily & I wanted him to be challenged in other areas, have other teachers, & meet other homeschool kids his age. If for whatever reason it doesnt work out then I'll just pull him out of whatever I feel is necessary, but I do have high hopes :)

2010-2011 School Year Review

This year my sweet Brady began Kindergarten! We chose to use Heart Of Dakota's curriculum Little Hearts for His Glory. I absolutely LOVED it! Brady enjoyed the Bible stories, memory verses & all the projects we tried with it. We used Hooked On Phonics for Kindergarten for Reading & Brady did amazing! He LOVES to read which makes me VERY happy! HOD suggested using Singapore Math & we really enjoyed it too! Cute worksheets & activity ideas helped keep Brady interested & focused.

Though by mid-October I was 9 months pregnant & slap worn out between a Kindergartener, a 2 year old & all the other things on my daily to-do list. Though I adore HOD, we had to stop. We continued memorizing Scripture, our HOP Reading & Singapore Math. Sweet baby K came Nov 10 and we took a break until December. This was when I discovered Confessions of a Homeschooler! Her ideas seemed so fresh & fun I had to try them! Through her site I also found many other fun homeschooling blogs with amazing ideas to teach toddlers, prechoolers & big kids.

I wanted to go back to HOD but I hated that I was so far behind in the curriculum, so I just began doing it my way. :) Each week we focused on 2 alphabet letters & discovered new words that began with those letters, made crafts, ate foods starting with those letters, etc. It was so much fun! Both big boys really got into it!

Click on these links to see some of the incredibly fun stuff we did! Letters C & M Letters O & T Letters H & V

When the 2010-2011 school year began Rylan started out in our church's Mom's Morning Out program. I never felt settled about it & eventually took him out & brought him home to teach too. Thanks to Homeschool Creations & 1+1+1=1 I felt confident in doing so. I found many great ideas for teaching him & ensuring he had fun while doing it.

We've already began our 2011-2012 school year so stay tuned for all the cool things we will be doing!