"Mom, come look!"

"Do ants eat worms?" "Do they eat leaves?" "Do they eat wood?"

I forget, sometimes, about learning in the moment. And, I have to remember, not all learning is planned out step-by-step in a boxed curriculum. In fact, most learning is not this way at all.

Note to self: Be more flexible

Truths

Yesterday was a memorable day for T (and for me). T is 7 years old now. Seven is such a pivotal age; with losing teeth, learning to read and write, and really, beginning to understand the realities of this life. Yesterday, T found out the truth about Santa Claus. My DH felt like this wasn't that big of a deal, but I felt like a part of her innocence was now gone. I got teary-eyed when I told her the truth and we discussed it. It really seemed like no big deal to her; as if she already knew. For me though, it was a bit heartbreaking. To me, it was the beginning of her growing up. I mean, really moving on from the younger child of imagination and dreams to the older child of figuring out truths and asking even more questions. Of course, this is what I want for her. But, I do hope she takes some of her imaginations and dreams with her as she gets older too. I hope that she never loses those two things as she comes to find out the realities of this world.

First day back

All in all, it went well. I'm a little surprised how well it went but I know how homeschooling days can go. There will be good and bad days. I was just nervous doing it this year with having a newborn in tow. But, we got everything done I wanted to cover. So, I'm happy with that.

However, after today, I did decide to change our math curriculum to Math U See instead of Rightstart. After much thought, it's just not the right fit for T. We will continue with Life of Fred still. And, I'm not too sure how the recorder will go for her either. It's something she decided she wanted to learn, but I feel she may be a little too young yet. We'll see how that goes...

Note to self: Focus on the positives and successes!

T's First Day of School

Rainbow Milk Experiment

Have you tried this yet? I had been seeing this all over my Pinterest and Facebook accounts and wanted to try it with the kids for awhile. I had T and big L do it a few weeks ago and they loved it! T has since been begging me to do it again and today, she got to with two of her friends. They all thought it was really fun. I preferred to watch the colors burst in all directions, while the girls thought that was neat for a bit, preferred to just mix all the colors together and see what colors would appear. 

Check out this link below on how to turn this into a science lesson. Plus, it has a great video of the rainbow of colors bursting in the milk. 

Color Changing Milk

I love when I can combine science and art together.

Our Summer Learning via Photos

Looking under rocks for sea life

Mr. Crabs

"Writing" with a quill pen ( we learned about Colonial America when reading about our American Girl, Felicity this past year)

Big L wanted a try too

A day at the beach and at Fort Nisqually (more about Colonial times)

Sewing with embroidery thread

Learning and having fun at OMSI (in Oregon)

Most of our Summer was spent outside playing in the neighborhood with other children. We made a lot of day trips to local parks but with a newborn, we didn't even go camping this Summer. Of course, I think playing outside all summer long is ideal. I'm a big supporter of learning through play.

Curriculum 2014-2015

And.. I'm trying this whole "blog thing" again. I've always been horrible with journals and diaries. And I'm one of those people who like to start things but don't always finish them. But, I would like to have a place to record our homeschooling journey and just our daily life. I'm tired of posting all our photos on Facebook. I need a place just for me. So, here goes...

For right now, I figured I'd just post T's 2nd grade curriculum. This will be our second year homeschooling T. Big L goes to preschool at a local elementary school that also provides free speech services (he has CAS- Childhood Apraxia of Speech). And little L, well, he's not even 2 months yet. So, right now, it's just T. Big L does join in with us.

Math: Rightstart Math level B (continued from last year) and Life of Fred: Apples

Spelling: All About Spelling Level 2

Reading: All About Reading Level 2

Language:  First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind 1 & 2

Writing: Writing Without Tears

Bible: Big Truths for Little Kids and reading from her Bible (The Action Bible)

Music:Learning the recorder

Foreign language: ASL

Science: finish Apologeia Astronomy from last year and Alphabet Glue experiments

History: American Girl books with crafts, cooking, lapbooks, and other books from that time (continued from last year, we start with Addy this year)

Art: Alphabet Glue crafts, Co-op art class

Extra: Alphabet Glue e-magazine books and projects/experiments, fiction and non-fiction story journals (made by me), Daily Learning Notebook that includes We Choose Virtue cards, sight word caterpillar and 'Sign of the day;, and Co-op on Fridays