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FOR TODAY October 12, 2009

Outside my window… grey, wet, cold

I am thinking… I shouldn’t have assumed I was better and gone back to life full force so fast. We all know what happens to me when I do that. Relapse! ugh

I am thankful for… all the kids getting better.

From the learning rooms… planets explorations & facts, one by one. everything is slowed down and drug out so far this month, with all the illness we’ve passed around here. Moons and Muffins and MOoses for ms. Aa.

From the kitchen… still haven’t implemented my 2 week meal plan, not sure what will happen for dinner tonight - leftover chili?

I am wearing… yoga pants, my 1998 Old Navy Fleece

I am creating… muffins for counting and talking about words that start wtih M.

I am going… to rest as much as possible today

I am reading… The Accidental Best Seller (a Novel)

I am hoping… we’re over the worst of this stuff and everyone gets completely better asap. (finding it ironic that the last daybook I did was the same week we started getting sick, and I was thankful for good health & hoping no one got sick).

I am hearing…Veggie Tales Silly Songs & Jacob Two Two - yes, two TVs going at once.

Around the house… kids are mesmerized by the television. feeling the cabin fever combo of the weather & the sickies.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Celebrating Aaralyn’s birthday tomorrow, not sure what all else is going on.

Today’s boxes were pretty simple, I even ended up skipping Ks math - we don’t do math on Fridays usually so this week he will do math on Friday since I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it today to give him the lesson. When mama isnt feeling well, some things have to be put on hold !

Things we DID do today - made pumpkin soup, baked banana muffins, and the usual schoolwork. I added some fun activity cards today, I am not sure where I got them from but they are great, Aa hasn’t discovered hers yet, it says to hop like a frog (she doesn’t work her boxes in order/everyday). Also each of the boys had a strip that said to read any book for Book It and I did that in place of their reading books. And uhm OH brick building cards, they love those !  They worked on the next thing in their science notebooks, a cool page w/ the planets. I’ll take a photo when they are completed on Friday.

For today’s photo I have the completed posters for their August projects. Kieran’s was Weapons of the Civil War and Lochlan’s was The Statue of Liberty.  I am not sure what the October projects will be yet, the posters were supposed to be done last Thursday but Lochlan being sick end of last week pushed them over to this week.

Our latest issue is rushing through work/not taking their time/not wanting to spend the time making things (coloring, cutting well, etc) look nice. And it is very frustrating because I put a lot of time into planning and trying to make school fun. So I’ve been stressing how it is disrespectful to scribble on a coloring sheet, not listen, talk or mess around when I am trying to read, etc and we’re working on that. Exhausting. I did tell them that I especially need them to do their VERY BEST WORK because I would like to set up a special Open House for their grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. to come over and see what they’ve been learning this year just like the public school teachers do for mom & dad. I’m hoping the anticipation of this makes them (one in particular …) slow down & think through what he is doing instead of rushing to move on to the next thing, next thing, next thing.

Okay. Onto the photos ! Enough yapping from me ! I would resize them, but that is just too much work right now.

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FOR TODAY September 28, 2009

Outside my window… looks like it’ll be a gorgeous day

I am thinking… hoping our school rythym is for real because it’s a nice one, and i hope we can implement the new ideas because i like em.

I am thankful for… healthy kids ! especially with all the changing weather and sick kids we enounter

From the learning rooms… the planets, the stars, ancient egypt, and the usual reading, writing, and math

From the kitchen… today is a day without cooking. hurray ! I have begun a two week meal plan idea of sorts, but have yet to fully write it out.

I am wearing… pajama pants and a sweatshirt of course ! nevermind that we’re supposed to go out in a little more than an hour

I am creating… socks for small ones

I am going… to lunch today

I am reading… How To Be A Famous Writer Before You Are Dead

I am hoping… that the kids don’t pick up the junkie illnesses going around the school - LOTS of abscenses last week.

I am hearing…the boys NOT settling down and starting their boxes as they are meant to be doing!

Around the house… it’s busy busy busy. Aa is on PBSKIDS playing, Toby is reading a Veggie Tales book by my feet, Kieran and Lochlan are messing around in the school room with a long (Ikea) dragon toy. And Jeric too. . .

A few plans for the rest of the week: Jasons Birthday (today)!! Happy Birthday Jason. homeschool PE, Tae Kwon Do, Knit Night, Keepers At Home meeting, Dance, Chess club, Kieran’s Birthday (friday)!!! Happy Birthday Kieran! getting ready for a double-party

Here is picture thought I am sharing…
don’t have time to find one today - I am having trouble remembering my photobucket log-in and I need to get to schooool because a couple of sweet boys are waiting for me.

You know those times you mean to get on and make a blog post and honestly it’s just not at the top of your list for that day, there is so much else to do, and it doesn’t get done. It’s just a blog. Whatever. Haha.

There is also the fact that the photos were still on the camera!

Let’s start with some new things in our school room - our new rug. I had seen this on the chasing cheerios blog, forgotten about it, then got a Heartsong Catalog in the mail and ordered one for us.

Sorry the photos are huge, I don’t feel like messing with them. Plus, I no longer have psp on my computer which is my go-to for resizing and playing with stuff.

A preschool workbox activity in the box & after being played with, she loved it. Autumn stickers were $1 at Target, construction paper (which she didn’t use) and her box of supplies - scissors, crayons, glue stick. Also below is a photo of Aa playing a game created for clothespins but we didn’t have any so we improvised with counting squares, she loves that "tivity" too. It was a download from  http://www.sunflowerschoolhouse.com/ 

I don’t really have anything to share. We’re loving the workboxes. I mean LOVING them. It is so nice for the boys to see what is there. I need to be more creative in funthings boxes, we’re getting into a bad habit of there only being a couple and mostly work because they do like to just get through what MUST be done and then use free time for a computer game or something.

They will be doing a project next week that they are doing reading/listening/research on this week. Tomorrow in a box they’ll have to find 5-8 facts about their topic & write sentences for them. They will be making a poster. I am so excited to have printer ink again!!! For choosing topics I had told L to choose a state - he picked New York - and that got narrowed down to The Statue Of Liberty. And I told K to choose a president - he picked Lincoln - that got narrowed down to The Penny. Interesting, finding facts should be fun.

I went to knit night tonight and worked on Aaralyn’s sock. I am almost done with sock #1 for the third time. I knit & pulled out the toes twice now, third times the charm, right? Plus, I had help with it Never again will I knit one sock at a time, I am sure I will go nuts trying to make #2 just the same. 

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FOR TODAY September 15, 2009

Outside my window… wet & cooler - hope it stays that way

I am thinking… we’ve got a BUSY Day ahead

I am thankful for… healthy kids

From the learning rooms… researching & putting together a project (poster) starts today

From the kitchen… mmm coffee of course! chili over the weekend was excellent, but is gone now

I am wearing… jamma pants & a sweatshirt

I am creating… scribble scarf & socks for the smallest ones

I am going… to be running around all day art class, homeschool pe, tae kwon do

I am reading… Bring on the blessings

I am hoping… for a somewhat enjoyable day

I am hearing… my son getting his things together for school

Around the house… 4 gorgeous sleeping children!

A few plans for the rest of the week: homeschool PE, Tae Kwon Do, Knit Night, second Keepers At Home meeting, Dance,

Here is picture thought I am sharing…
Missing this guy

I considered doing hte Monday thing on Monday night, but I guess I forgot. Hm. Anyway Monday was not a day off around here, but we’re doing a 4 day week - taking Friday off for a field trip.

Some things that have been in the boxes this week - put this story in order. I just jotted down sentences on strips of laminated paper (scraps from cut-out activities). Find which thing doesn’t belong - also done on laminated paper scraps. The best thing about those is I can erase and use the paper scraps again. Lochlan did the under/over/in/left/right/etc. ball in a box activity today. I took & Printed photos of the ball then made cards with the words. So they match the picture to the word (self checking w/ words on back of pictures, too) and demonstrate with the ball and box themselves.

I have to get back to schoolwork, each of the boys has two boxes left and both are work with mom boxes and Kier is driving.me.nuts. asking about his birthday preset.

If i’m going to expand the blog, it might as well be with one of my other huge "Hobby’s" - homeschooling. Obviously my other hobby’s are knitting, and writing. Homeschooling and my kids are pretty much my life though.

So for workbox wednesday I don’t have any photos of today’s boxes but I’ll try to remember what was in them, as one set is worked through all but one, and one set is worked through all but two. And I do have photos of our set-up that were taken over the weekend to share.

So today for Kieran - ETC, 4 pages. Sort cards into three different categories (these cards are made for sorting, possible categories were all different colors, # of items on the cards, things you eat, fruit, vegetables, things you wear, animals , zoo animals / pets, different shapes, etc). Math (work w/ mom box), reading cards & reading, pick a president to learn more about (I want them to learn about doing research, putting together a project/poster so he has a president & L has a state - I haven’t choosen a deadline yet), and Spelling. Six boxes Plus together topics.

Lochlan’s boxes today included choosing a state for the Fall project, his math lesson, playing with the lego education set (I plan to include activities with this from time to time but just let them play today & yesterday), ETC -1 page plus building blend words with letter tiles, back of yesterdays math page, and picking a book from our book box to read to me & aaralyn & Toby. Plus together topics.

The boxes -

For homeschool we’re trying out the Workbox Method, by Sue Patrick. Toby likes to take the numbers off the boxes and throw them around or stick them in a drawer. I didn’t set up the exact system and we sure don’t have twelve boxes per kid! I set up drawers, that have ten in each thing but so far they’ve only had six boxes each, plus the things we do together (grammar everyday, writing 3 days/week, history 2 days/week, science 2 days/week). 

So today in the boxes we’ve got : Kieran - Explode the Code 4 pages, Math, reading cards (new words), reading pages, small lego set, spelling.

Lochlan - Math, blend wheels, reading cards, reading pages, flip book - matching #, # of items, written # word, Explode the code 4 pages.

So, this year I have Making Math Meaningful for Kieran this year and the first lesson starts with counting out toothpicks. And they count out three different sets. 75, 157, and 368. Then you ask them, would it have been easier if you had counted by 10’s?  Okay so what if your child sets out to do this and COUNTS BY TENS or FIVES. What do I do with the script when my child has figured out howto on his very own already ?! Go Kier.  This should be fun

I am tired of this blog just sitting here, so I’ve decided to use it for more than just knitting posts. Please ignore anything that doesn’t interest you, if I even have any readers at all !

<center><a href="http://www.aholyexperience.com/"><img alt="holy experience" src="http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee349/GDest07/ann%20voskamp/mondaybutton2.png" title="holy experience" /></a></center>

Seems to be yet another Monday thing, so I’m technically a day off with this too but I just found it and I will not wait another week to begin. We’ll go with ten at a time, Mondays or whenever I Feel like it.

1. early morning nursing, when babe is awake just enough to know he wants his mama nearby for a few minutes

2. our awesome learning space

3. fresh flowers on the table

4. coffee, tea, dr. pepper, lemonade ice cold water - all the things i love to drink the most

5. that very best friend of mine, and her beautiful children

6. libraries, books, words

7. freshly folded laundry, all done for the week ahead

8. Sunday mornings - and all that entails

9. the desire in his* heart to know The Lord

10. curiosity