Back to School

I finally feel better. Still tired, but better. Thanks for all your sweet comments!

Punkin's enrichment program started back Friday, and we start back to our homeschool schedule tomorrow.

I feel like it is the beginning of a new semester - we have new chore charts and a new schedule that we are going to try that includes some activities for Little Man. I know he is only 3, but he is begging daily to practice reading, and he wants to to do workbook pages with us. I have an activity guide for 3 year olds, so we are going to try to do a little more that is on his level. He is very excited.

I've also started a "kitchen helper" chart. I love having the kids in the kitchen with me, but it has gotten to be a little much when they are both there. They are bickering a lot lately, and Punkin is not very good at letting Little Man do what he can do without "mothering" the poor boy - which makes him screech. Joy. So, I printed a calendar and marked the days to show who is the kitchen helper that day. We've done this for a few days now and so far it is working really well. They both love it, and it is a lot less stressful for me at the end of the day. Hope that success continues!

In Weaver, we are in the middle of a unit about the 10 Plagues of Egypt. This upcoming week we are focusing on insects and livestock.

Our last unit was based on Moses and the Burning Bush. The unit was on Godly leadership - I honestly thought it would be a little dry and boring, but Punkin surprised me by being very interested in the lives of the men we studied. We talked about George Washington, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison. Not all of these men were Christians, but it was an interesting study of their lives and contributions - I learned a lot.

We made a big mural that we took at least 2 weeks to complete. They aren't great, but here are the pictures:

The whole mural:

George Washington

Ben Franklin

Thomas Edison

Abraham Lincoln

I thought she did a great job with the writing and the drawings!

While I'm updating on homeschool, I think I shared before that I purchased Singapore Math. I LOVE it! It is a good fit for us, and it has a special teacher's manual that is geared toward homeschoolers that was exactly what I was hoping for - a little structure for me with ideas for fun games and activities to reinforce the math concepts. I desperately needed some additional structure. I also got the computer program that goes with the curriculum - it's called Rainbow Rock. It's very well done, both kids love it, and Punkin asks to play it.

I have to share something funny. When I told Punkin that we were taking a 2 week break, she started crying and asked if she could still play her math game! That cracked me up! Even though preserving their natural love of learning is one of our reasons for homeschooling, it still takes me by surprise when Little Man begs to read and Punkin cries because she might not be able to play her math game.

Crazy kids! :) Gotta love 'em.