With summer almost half over, I’m getting that feeling that I should have already been working diligently on next year’s plan of attack! So, after about 4 weeks of total procrastination I think I’ve finally got a working plan. Here’s our list of curriculum choices for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year: Preschool: Since I”m not ready to launch my 4 year old into Kindergarten, we’re going to repeat our Letter of the Week curriculum, but this year we’ll be “kicking-up-a-notch”, think Emeril BAM! Of course I’ll post the printables as we go. My preschooler will also participate in the art, geography and science along with the other kiddos. Art: We’re doing a Geography based year so we’ll be using Global Art by MaryAnn F. Kohl. I’ll also finish up with last year’s I Can Do All Things and How to Teach Art to Children if we have time. Bible: I’m planning on continuing on with our Abeka Bible Series along with Nest Family Videos. Our children LOVE these … [Read more...]
PowerSpeak Spanish Update
I promised an update on how we like our PowerSpeak Spanish program and a lovely reader reminded me I haven’t done it yet! We’ve been using it for about 5 months now and I have to say we still LOVE it! (Click here to read my initial review) This program really makes learning a language fun and exciting. As a parent I love the features they have on your dashboard. You can have more than one student (they each login separately) and it has a parent section so you can go in and check progress, grades etc. We definitely plan to continue on to Spanish 2 when we’ve finished with Spanish 1. The only thing I don't like is that they don’t have more lessons! Currently they only offer Language Levels 1 & 2 for elementary level students, each level is 6 months to complete, so you could potentially do both in a year. So that means there’ll be a big break, then the next avail. lessons are Levels 1-2 for middle school. I think that might bit of a jump for my 7 year old to move … [Read more...]
2010 File Folder Games
Since this blog is called “Confessions…” I have one. When I first started homeschooling, I didn’t understand what a “File Folder Game” was. I downloaded all these fun games and just kept them in a manilla envelopes. It wasn’t until this year when we started Lapbooking, that I realized what a File Folder Game was! I immediately went and gathered my manilla envelope games, and put them into file folders and voila! Here is a gathering of all the file folder games we did this year, just click on the Titles to download:Paint Brush Color Matching: Numbers Cards by Homeschool Creations (This goes 1-20):Puppy Match Up by File Folder Fun: (Memory Matching) Fishy Faces by File Folder Fun: (Memory Matching) Apple Matching by Homeschool Share: Shades of Color (to be used with paint chips): This is game I ended up making into a file folder game. You can download my color grid here, and I used a 1 1/4" square punch to punch the colors out. Candy Cane Color Match by … [Read more...]
What’s in the box Wednesday: 2nd Grade
Welcome to What’s in the Box Wednesday, where I try to share exactly what I’m putting in boxes for the day! Today I’m sharing my 2nd Grade boxes and there are lots of ‘Fun Boxes’ this week as it’s our last official week of 2nd Grade! Whew! View Full Album Abeka 2: Math (We’re done with our Math U See Yay!) Abeka Phonics Test (No she doesn’t get the answer book, I just put it in there so when she get’s to the box, the test and my booklet are there so I can grade on the spot, no homework for Mommy!) Abeka Spelling Book Spelling Words & Magnetic Letters Abeka Language 2 worksheet My Father’s World: State Worksheet Sue Patrick’s Typing Money Hot Dot Cards Pick-&-Draw Art Game Spanish Card: We use PowerSpeak Don’t forget to link up below, I’m sharing 2nd Grade, but feel free to link up any age you’d like to share ideas for! … [Read more...]
Geography Fair 2010
Every year our local homeschool group does a Geography Fair. This year, we were not going to do it for lack of time and creativity on my part. I awoke this morning to my daughter who had made an entire board on her own, prepared a speech and was begging to go!She made this board on The Earth and all the things that God made, and had put so much work into it, that I couldn’t really say no, so off we went…One of my favorite displays was made by a friend of ours on the Brazilian Rainforest. She made a 3 tier diorama with each layer of the rainforest, it was awesome!Here are 2 of the layers up close: After all the presentations were completed, everyone received a Passport and got to go visit each of the other boards. Everyone provided a sticker for their country to place in the passports. Then we finished off with some food tasting from all the countries!Ours was only 1 of 3 rooms they had this year, people are spread out so presentations don’t take so long. I’m not really a last … [Read more...]
Spelling Practice
I’ve been trying to make our spelling a little more fun than boring ole’ worksheets and thought I’d share for anyone interested. We use Abeka spelling, they have 2 worksheets/week that she does to practice spelling, so to give additional practice I type out the spelling words on cards, then cut them out so she can use them as a reference for the other games we play. Abeka gives about 20 words/week, so M-W-F we play a game (I split them up into 7 words/day) and T/Th she does the Abeka worksheet. Friday she also takes a test. Download the Spelling Word Template here. (The words in RED are sight words.) We use the cards to spell the words with the Magnetic Letters then she writes them on the board with a dry erase marker. Letter Tile Spelling: I found these blue magnetic letter tiles at Lakeshore Learning. We use them for spelling practice and other games! Stair Phonics: I do this with all 3 kids at the same time. They each get a question and if they get it correct, they may … [Read more...]
House For Hermit Crab Lapbook
My son wanted to do a lapbook on crabs, and I found this one on Homeschool Share. We read A House for Hermit Crab and then did a fun activity on the back of the lapbook called “Hermit Crab’s Year” It is a story sequencing game, so as I read my son put up the activities of Hermit Crab for each month. Here is the inside of the lapbook, its a simple 1 file folder book that includes: Types Of Crabs (I just downloaded random ones from online) Types of Shells The Wise Man Built His House verse review Sea Creatures Flip Book Hermit Crab Coloring Page Our Address flip book Hermit Crab’s Year sequencing activity Downloads for this lapbook are from Homeschool Share … [Read more...]
Word Jumbles
I made these Word Jumbles to go with our letter tiles, its a fun way to practice spelling in our workboxes. You could also use them with a dry-erase marker or any alphabet manipulatives you have on hand. The set includes 4, 5, and 6 letter words. Download Word Jumbles Hope you like them! … [Read more...]
Color Mixing 102: Color Cards & Lots of H2O
We did some measuring and color mixing today for Art. I found this Liquid Measuring Kit from Lakeshore Learning. We used it along with my color mixing cards to measure and mix new colors. First we filled each container with it’s designated color using water and food coloring. Next we poured, mixed and measured our way to secondary colors and ultimately, icky brown water. I don’t think anyone cared though, well except me, its hard for me to step out of my box and *gasp* …mix! Oh the horror! But, alas, it was a great math and art activity all rolled in to one. And let’s face it, anything involving water pouring is a hit over here! … [Read more...]
What’s in the box Wednesday: 2nd Grade
Welcome to “What’s in the Box Wednesday”! I apologize for skipping a couple weeks there! Frankly, uhem…I forgot! But, better late than never right? So, getting back on track, here’s what we’re doing for 2nd grade this week.We’re nearing the end of the year Yay! I feel like I’m starting to get less creative with our boxes, so I’d love to see what you all are doing as the year winds down so don’t forget to hook up via the Linky below! Here’s what’s in our boxes for 2nd grade:Math U See Beta workbook Abeka Math (Yes, I make her do 2 math’s) Abeka – Creative Writing Subtract It! Math Game Abeka – Phonics American Pioneers & Patriots (My Father’s World) Spelling practice Sue Patrick Typing Lessons Abeka Reading PowerSpeak Spanish & Crochet Craft from Michael’s $1 section Click here for more information on the Workbox System! … [Read more...]
