What a week!

This week was (already) one of those weeks!

Our family had been planning our vacation for weeks. Counting down the days finally paid off!

This past Monday night we left for a mid-week vacation. As new homeschooler's, we have been looking forward to that advantage! It really paid off, Cedar Point was great! We managed to walk on most of the coaster's with no wait. Never again will we go in the summer!

Getting back in the groove Thursday was tough, we were all exhausted! We ended up doing all our basic things, Math, Grammar, some handwriting practice (Chloe). Today was a much better day. We found our groove again and things were kind of normal. My DH is still home from vacation, so things were still pretty relaxed. Chloe spent the whole day in her PJ's. I don't usually allow that (I like some structure!) but like I said, it's vacation week!

We wrapped up our study on Islam this week. That has been very interesting. I really feel like the girls (and myself) got a good introduction to the Muslim lifestyle. Next week, Morocco, camels, and Bedouins!

I got our first homeschooling news letter for the group we joined! Our first gathering is in a couple weeks, I am very excited! There are a lot of offerings as well. Everything from a swim day at the "Y" to a 10 week art class session! I am very much looking forward to getting the family involved. I really want the girls to make some good, close friends!

Getting in the groove

Whew! I am feeling a little tired today! Is it Friday Yet?!? :)

Today has been an interesting day. Had a mishap happen with the middle school where Kenzie is supposed to be attending band. Apparently she got deleted over the summer. I have made various phone calls trying to re-enlist her, but so far I am not getting my phone call returned. Kind of annoying!

Other that that, our day was wonderful! This was our 3rd day officially. I think we are starting to get in the groove of things. It was a strange morning, watching the school bus pass and my kids not getting on it! (It was the first day in our area.) I think it made 'homeschooling' a little more real to all of us, but I can't help but constantly say how weird it is. I don't know why, it just feels WEIRD! ;) Being a graduate of public education, I just can't imagine that any learning can happen outside of that public, government run ;) school building! (Have I been programed or what?) I am beginning to wonder exactly how long it will take for this to feel normal. Not just normal, but excellent.

Studying the list of prepositions with Kenzie is actually going very well. She still feels kind of funny memorizing a list of words, but I love watching it 'click' with her. I am excited to see how well the girls excel in grammar!

In our bible time we are studying stewardship, as I have previously mentioned. Today we made charts to track our progress over the next 2 months or so that we are doing this study. I made one myself, I figure if I don't lead by example, why in the world would they get it? Our categories are: money, time, talent, home, work, earth, gospel and body. WHEW! Just think about this for a minute. This would be a lot of pressure on anyone! :) I have to "improve" in these areas right along side my girls. I joke, but seriously... I am excited to see the growth that is not only going to start happening in my daughter's lives, but mine (and Jason's) as well!

The fun part of our day today was studying Pharaohs and pyramids of Egypt. We ended up doing a lot of reading. I also am lucky enough to have a book my mom gave Kenzie that has giant photos of all kind of things related to this. It was great, we must have spent another 30 minutes looking through and discussing that. (Chloe wasn't thrilled by the mummy of Ramses II. That was personally, my favorite part! ;) Anyway, it was a VERY interesting day, and Chloe told me afterward a very FUN day! I'll take that! :)

THe photos above are pictures of the pyramids the girls constructed. Each including their names spelled in hieroglyphics! (Oh my goodness, I spelled that right the first time!)

Our First Day!

Today was a VERY exciting day for us! Our VERY first day of homeschooling!

The girls have been counting down for days, and as the hours quickly approached before bed last night, they were coming unglued! They had a hard time going to sleep last night due to excitement, and quite honestly, so did I! I kept repeating things over and over in my head, making sure that I had everything prepared that I needed, and going over any last minute plans... I finally had to concentrate on NOT thinking! Must sleep! :)

It's funny, Chloe kept saying how shy and nervous she was going to be, thinking of me as her teacher. So the first thing I did this morning was smile and say, "Good morning class!" They both giggled, and Chloe said "Oh no!" Of course after just a few minutes of getting into our bible lesson, she was just fine. As I knew she would be!

For those of you interested in what we will be doing on an average day, I thought I would give you a general idea!

We start each morning out with prayer and our bible lesson. For the first 9 or 10 weeks of the year we are studying stewardship. Today we learned, "What is a Steward?" Over the next few weeks we will be learning what that means to God, how we are to be stewards for Him, and charting how well we do personally in those areas of time, treasure and talent. I think it's going to be great!

Grammar: We are using curriculum called "Easy Grammar". I have to be honest, teaching this subject scares me to death! But... with lots of prayer and study myself (and the help of my DH) I am determined that not only will my girls learn but I will too! I am so excited with how smart I am going to become through all of this! ;)

Math: The girls are both using "Math U See". Jay and I were both very impressed with the quality of teaching segments that come on DVD. This program uses manipulative's, that reminded me of Montessori which Kenzie attended for a couple years. The girls did they're first lesson today, and they loved it! Hopefully that remains true in the weeks to come!

Science: Mckenzie is going to do 7th and 8th grade science with a curriculum called "The Rainbow" It's a serious two year study that comes with all the lab equipment one needs to do at home! I was excited about that. As I've read over the first couple of lessons, I found that the text is written in a fun way that kids are "supposed" to enjoy. I look forward to seeing how much Kenzie will enjoy science this year.

Spelling and Penmanship: 3rd grade is the year that our public schools teach our children cursive. Kenzie learned cursive in 3rd grade, then was never required to use it again. She had forgotten how to write in cursive last year when I brought it up. I was really disappointed with this! Anyway, she has quickly regained her knowledge, and a couple days of each week we are going to work on penmanship. Chloe will be learning cursive over the next couple months, and is very excited to do so!

Spelling is also something we do weekly.

History/Social Studies: The first 10 or 11 weeks of our school year we are doing a unit study on Africa. It's pretty exciting for us, due to our family missionary ties in different countries of Africa! It's a very fun, lively course. Lots of projects and reports while studying different countries and topics like Islam (Which I thought was wonderful! What is Islam that we hear so much about today, and what does the Bible say about it?) Showing the girls strong biblical truths rebutting the religion... I think this will be a wonderful study, for all of us!

Starting in November, when our Africa unit is over, we will start studying Early American History. This is a curriculum that uses real books, instead of a Text book, so we will be doing lots of reading and journaling. This is a broad based study, so the girls and I can do it together, with their assignments geared toward their own age level. I am really looking forward to this as well!

I am sure their will be a lot of other things that pop up along the way, but this is a brief overview of the things we will be doing every day!

Gearing up for our first year!

It's been a long time since I've posted. That's because we've been enjoying a very busy summer vacation! As I finish up with curriculum purchases, and finish collecting all the last minute items on my list, I think of my blog! :)

Things are finally starting to come together. I have all but one piece of curriculum here, and that I just ordered this morning! I am still reorganizing the house. We had a large sale this past weekend. I was very happy to get all the excess out of the house, I feel like I can "concentrate" better that way. ;) Today I am going to look at and hopefully purchase a buffet. I am going to use it in my living room to hold our books and supplies. I am excited to have found something BEFORE school actually starts. The more organized I feel, the better for my sanity. I also have some last minute cleaning projects to get done. I want to shampoo my floors, and scrub and reseal the grout on my kitchen floors. Just knowing that my house is clean (even for a short time) makes me feel like we can start school and I may hold on to my sanity. Even if it's just for a good month! (smile)

I thought I would share a post on what this blog is actually going to become!

For the most part, I want to use this blog to keep my family and friends updated on what the girls and I are up to everyday! I think that sharing pictures and accomplishments will be a fun way to keep family updated and will allow them to feel connected with us. I'm sure I'll have a few opinions of my own to share along the way. (Hey, it is my blog! ;) But mostly it will be concerning our school and the many things we will be up to!

So stay tuned! Our first day is August 17th (less than 2 weeks!) I'm sure I'll have a lot to post!