Homeschool Spelling Review

This year, our 6th and 7th grade girls have been working on spelling lists from HomeSpellingWords.  It is a free website originally created for use by their own homeschooling family for spelling practice. Now visitors from all around the world come to practice their spelling at this site. 

There are lists for K-9th grades, with 30 lists per grade.  Students have the opportunity to practice their words in a variety of ways such as listening and typing, doing a Word Find Game, playing the Spelling Soup Game,  completing a Fill-in-the-Blank activity and also taking a spelling test.

Our weekly schedule looks something like this:

• Monday: girls copy down spelling list in notebooks
• Tuesday: do Word Find activity (we create our own here with the spelling list from HomeSpellingWords. More about this later!)
• Wednesday: Play Spelling Soup
• Thursday: Fill in the Blank Game (sometimes play online, sometimes print out...depending on how much paper is in our printer!)
• Friday: take a Spelling Test

The girls were complaining that the black background of the Word Find game was hurting their eyes, so I found a free Word Search Worksheet creator website where I type in the girls' lists for the week and then print out the worksheet for them to complete.

Another great part of HomeSpellingWords is that you can create a free account, add each of your children and keep track of their progress on the spelling tests.  There is also the option of importing your own spelling lists and using their website to test and keep track of your children's progress.

Hope you enjoy this FREE resource as much as we do!

Happy (Late) Halloween

What do an umpire, a softball player, a fan with popcorn, a pink bunny, a Shopkins cookie and a Christmas tree have in common?... candy, of course!  

We took a tour of the couple surrounding blocks spreading some smiles and collecting some treats

(not pictured: a homeless person, our middle son off already with some neighbor buddies)

A Couple of Years, a Couple of Changes...

Well, it has been a couple of years since I have written anything for our blog and we've had quite a few changes!  We moved two times and added a new blessing who is now almost 4 months.  We are now closer to family and longtime friends (and a big library, and park, and...) and have room to spread out in our new home.

My husband has a new job with a shorter commute and is home evenings and weekends... when he isn't doing his hobby of officiating sports.

I have been busy planning for the new school year. Much praying, printing and Post-It noting going on around here as we will have 6 learning this year! We will have a 9th, 7th, 6th, 4th, and 1st grader, as well as a precocious preschooler.  Most of our learning will be with Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool  which is a free online homeschool curriculum.  This is the first year of having a highschooler so, much planning and prep has gone into planning not only this year but laying out the next four years!  I am getting excited looking at all the fun and amazing things I get to teach the kids this year and the kids are nearing the "I'm-bored-can-we-start-school" stage of summer.

Trying Something New...and pretty excited about it!

Well, I finally did it. I switched curriculum...mid year. Tried to make the old one work, tweaked and tweaked until we really weren't using it anyway. And then, we finally got internet service so I decided to take the plunge into cyber schooling.  I had spotted this website a year (or two?) ago, but lack of reliable internet service made using it impossible.  Now we could proceed!

http://allinonehomeschool.com/

This was a curriculum put together by a mom for her own children made entirely from free resources available on the internet.  I cannot imagine the amount of time she had to have spent researching and compiling this curriculum, but am extremely grateful. Preschool through high school!  There are core subjects of Bible, Math, Reading, Language Arts, History, and Science with all the extras: Music, Art, PE/Health, Computer, Thinking, and Foreign Languages.  

The kids are loving it!  One of the first things they say in the morning is: "Can I start my school now, Mom?"  And, like it's name, Easy Peasy is easy to use!  My first grader has no problem following his course for the day, reading the directions, clicking on the links, and returning to the next item of study.  I have a houseful of independent learners, and this is such a blessing to facilitate their learning.  We also use a "Daily Accountability Sheet" to help keep the kids on target and make sure they are getting everything covered that needs to be.  If you are looking for a new way to teach your kids (especially independent learners) or need new curriculum but need to save some cash (did I mention it's FREE?), go take a look at EP All-in-One-Homeschool!

6 years old

My sweet, silly, wild, challenging boy turned 6 this past week.  His antics make me laugh daily, and his current stubbornness and defiance make me dig deeper into how to be a better mom. I am so thankful for this boy with the big heart and big voice :)

Back to School

This past week we started school!  The kids had been begging (honestly, ask my husband) to start for almost 2 weeks, but I wasn't quite finished with my planning. Even now I don't feel totally set but felt it was time to get going and harness their excitement.

Honestly, they were excited to start! Mixed emotions over First Day photos however :)

We are using Learning Adventures again this year. Learning Adventures is a history based unit study curriculum geared for grades 4 through 8, but am adapting it slightly to include my 1st and 3rd graders. We didn't quite finish up the curriculum last year for many reasons so are now completing the final unit on The Age of Exploration and then will start on A New World of Adventure as soon as we can.  We've really enjoyed the curriculum with the wonderful living books we gather from the library, science experiments, art projects, writing exercises, and at the end of each unit, my kids' favorite: a themed party!  Looking forward to another year of learning with my kiddos!

Jana, while not officially schooling loves to tag along and be doing "school" right alongside the big kids.  She is my sweet little 3 yo who loves painting, puzzles, and all things princess

Tobiah- my energetic 1st grader.  He amazes me with his creativity and amount of energy! His reading improved amazingly this summer due to the Library's Summer Reading program

Rayna- my fiesty 3rd grader.  She loves math, reading, art and making lists!  She can ususlly be found in a quiet corner devouring a book or creating a new masterpiece.

Lydia is my athletic 4th grader.  She loves to read, draw, help with her "baby" brother, sew, and do anything active outdoors. 

Isaiah is my thinker.  He amazes me with some of the things he ponders and the problems he tries to solve.  He has a quick wit, an amazing memory, and is another fellow bibliophile!

I am looking forward to this year in many ways.  I am so blessed to be able to stay home and teach my children.  Even though I am supposed to be wearing the teacher hat, I am learning so much right alongside my children!


"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." -Deuteronomy 6:5-7

On the go

Jana has been walking for almost a month which makes getting a good picture of this busy girl sometimes rather challenging. She loves to be outside and enjoys investigating all the flowers, rocks, dirt piles and puddles around. So, if you're wondering why most of my pictures look like the following, you'll know why! :)

Pedicure

Guess who got into the nail polish yesterday

New views

Last fall brought yet another move for us (8 in 9 years). No more city view, although we are still looking at the same river just further up stream.

It was hard to leave friends and extended family but the blessing of making new friends and getting to be with John all week have helped to lessen the sadness of separation.
We are winding down the school year and should be completely done by the end of May. Already planning for next year. Having a tough time trying to pick curriculum...there are just so many choices!
We are enjoying the warm weather here and spend most of our time outside. We often eat outside and the kids will do their school work while I am working in the garden.

$100 Hearts At Home Curriculum Giveaway

Want to win $1oo to spend on books and supplies for homeschool? Then click here and sign up to win $100 from Hearts at Home from The Crafty Classroom (also an awesome site for fun craft ideas and more!). Hearts at Home is owned by a Christian homeschooling mom of two girls. They have super fast shipping - same day/next day on all in-stock orders. They have a wide selection of curriculum at affordable prices. Right now they are having numerous sales including 30% off Apologia curriculum... I'm hoping to get this for our science unit! and also planning on getting Mystery of History for our Social Studies. I can't wait for school to start! (But my kids are sure enjoying summer!) Hearts at Home also has two sister sites: Homeschool Giveaways (who doesn't like something free?!) and Curriculum Share a really neat idea to share books with other homeschool families.

Just like Daddy

Tobiah is always wanting to be a helper and to be doing just what you are doing...

Yesterday it was shaving like Daddy

"Look at me! Me shaving!"

Day at the park

We try to get down to the park as often as possible in the summer during the week to enjoy the splash pool. We usually meet up with our friends the McMillins to enjoy the water, sun, and fellowship.

Isaiah is often coming up with new games and activities.... this one: see how many kids I can hit with the water spray!

And Jana just loves to lay around and be cute

Welcome Baby Jana

On May 17th we welcomed our newest family member... Jana Ruth. She was 6 lbs 8 oz, 19 in long, and absolutely perfect. I had invited my best friend and her family for dinner and had it mostly ready when my labor started (about 6pm). Thankfully they were able to watch kids until my parents arrived. My dear friend and neighbor, MeeSook, drove me to the hospital and provided support until John arrived 16 minutes before Jana was born. He was about 2 1/2 hours drive away when I called when my labor started, and she decided to wait until her Daddy was there. (and no, he did not speed at all on the way! )

Parade time... again

Parade time again...

This time Isaiah and Lydia were invited to ride with a relative:

L-Bow the clown in his cool jeep

We had an exciting time trying to find L-Bow's jeep amidst all the parade entries in the staging area. Fortunately I knew what color his Jeep was... bright red! that made it a bit easier to find.

Cool balloon hat, and ready to rock.

practicing waving with new friends

On our race down to the end of the parade route... about 2 miles.

Tobiah loved the mascots and the big trucks... but not the pirates

Enjoying the sun...

just being cute... and then, when Isaiah and Lydia finally came by...

there was a sudden downpour!

Hoping the next parade isn't quite so wet!

Science Experiment

Day one of Isaiah's new science project... growing Triops. Right now we are just trying to get the water to the proper temperature before adding the triop eggs. It will take almost a day for the eggs to hatch and about several days before they are full grown (about 2-3 inches). Hopefully they survive! This will be a good lesson for following directions and learning to take care of living creatures.

Fun Family Day

There was a fun local festival that had a lot of kid-friendly booths, craft areas, the firetruck and ambulance...

and a spot where you could learn about bugs (always a favorite with our kids)

Enjoying the show, fruit from the Farmer's Market, and a balloon animal from...

...my long lost cousin! Actually L-Bow the clown really is my cousin. I never really lost him, just hadn't seen him in awhile!

Surprise Lake and Deception Falls Hike

In August (yes, I know it is now 7 months after the trip!) we took a grand hiking adventure on the Surprise Creek and Deception Falls Loop. 4 days, 3 nights and nearly 18 miles! First stop: Surprise Lake. We ended setting up camp in the dark, and had many mice visitors during dinner hoping for a few crumbs.

The next morning (while John broke down camp) I set out with 3/4 of the kids, got on the wrong trail and ended up losing one of Tobiah's shoes down a very large hole between a couple of boulders. Thankfully he still had a good pair of strappy sandles that were actually descent for walking!

Our longest and toughest day ... tackle Pieper Pass.

Hard work riding in a backpack!

Can you guess the mountain in the background?

Spirits are always high after reaching the top, a couple of granola bars, and beginning the trip downhill.

Our fearless leader leads the way.

Second stop... Deception Lakes. Nasty mosquitoes. But smoke sticks made it bearable!

Having fun throwing rocks and trying to splash Daddy

Yet another log "bridge" crossing before reaching our third campsite near the Upper Deception Falls.


Tired, dirty, but only a 1/4 mile left to go!
The kids and I waited at Deception Falls Interpretive Trail while John hiked back up the road to fetch the Suburban. Definitely the scariest part of the hike... crossing Hwy 2 with 4 children and walking about 200 yds from the end of the trail to the Deception Falls area along the highway.

The End
Where will our next adventure be?