Week Three Report

After what felt like a long break from homeschooling (and a longer break from this blog 😦 ), we are back! Since Madison went to visit her grandma the week before Christmas, we started back a week earlier. What I had not anticipated, however, was a visit from my sister and sister-in-law this past week (ages 15 and 13). We did school anyway, but only Bible, Math and Language Arts. The girls were actually a great help – they did a science experiment with her one day, and helped with her ETC book and math another day. It was nice having them here for a little while – it was like having live in dog walkers/babysitters/house cleaners – but I am glad they are home now and finally my life is back to what passes for normal these days.

So, here is our light weekly report for last week:

Reading: I have completely given up on 100 EZ lessons and wanted to start something new after the holidays. What I decided to try is two separate things, and neither one is really a new curriculum. First, I made up flash cards to go with the Bob books. I *thought* she could read the first few Bob books, but when I started working with the flash cards, I realized that she was just looking at the pictures and guessing. So we are using the flash cards to play games, like memory, a matching game that includes running, etc. For now, that is working great, but I think at some point she will be bored with it. Then I have her read me the book after we have practiced the words. My goal is for her to recognize these as sight words. The other thing I am using is a combination of Leap Frog products. Right before Christmas, a bunch of Leap Frog stuff was on sale, so I purchased the LeapPad Reading/Writing and their phonics sets. She had a baby leap pad that she liked and has been excited about this one. We do the phonics stuff together, but she plays with the other books I bought on her own as well. We have only done the first phonics book together (out of 12), but it is going well because she thinks it is fun. I did read through Phonics Pathways and the OPGTR, and while we might move to them later, for now I am going to stick with this.

All of this is in addition to ETC. We did the letter “m” this week, and made mud pies.

Math: Madison loves math. Again, I am not sure where this comes from, but I am glad. We are still doing two lessons, two days a week out of the Horizons K book, which is working great.

Bible: I think we are finally finished with Joseph!! I love that this material is so in depth as far as bible history: we have been studying Joseph for 12 weeks. And the best part is, after a quick review last Monday, Madison pretty much remembered the entire story (after 2 weeks of no school). We are also working on learning the books of the bible and have a timeline where we add new events each week.

Science: With my sisters, we did an experiment out of Mudpies to Magnets about shining pennies.

Other: We went to see Mr. Magorium’s Magic Emporium (which I don’t really recommend; it was a little weird), I got my haircut, we went to Bass Pro (that is kind of like a field trip, right?) and, of course, we went to storytime – even the aunts couldn’t persuade her to skip storytime. Also, over our holiday break, we went to the state capitol in Texas, and Nana took her to Exploration Place in Wichita, KS.

One other exciting addition to our homeschool room is a new easel from Grammie for Christma, which we added to our art center.

This week we will be starting Japanese with Rosetta Stone, which I am very excited about.

Today I think we are going to skip everything and go to the zoo – the zoo here is free on Mondays in Jan., and since it is 61 degrees outside today, I don’t think we should pass up the opportunity…

Our Homeschool “Room”

Since we are living in a 2 bedroom apartment for the next six months (without any of our own furniture), I have had to make some concessions to my ideal homeschool “room.”  Hopefully, when we get to Japan, we will be able to have a dedicated homeschool room, but for now, this is what I am making work.

My bookshelf:

On top of the bookshelf, the basket is for supplies and papers I don’t want Madison to touch, plus a little globe and her counting beads. 

On the first shelf, I have all of the workbooks, teacher guides, etc. and in the basket are the supplies we use every day, like glue, scissors, pencils, etc. 

On the second shelf, I have mostly supplies – blank notebooks, paper, pencils, glue, etc. This is also where I keep our library books and math games.

On the bottom shelf, I have a random assortment of books that I brough to OKC but don’t have a shelf for.  They are not necessarily for homeschooling.  In the basket are all the math manipulatives I bought.

Our books:

These are some of the library books we checked out for Week 1.

Our kitchen table:

This is where we do most of our homeschooling work – it is just our (temporary) kitchen table.

The Art Center:

I borrowed this table from my mom – it was mine when I was little – and set up all her art supplies on it:  crayons, colored pencils, markers, stamps, scissors, punches, glue sticks and glitter glue, clay, coloring books, and her scrap box (all different kinds and sizes of paper).  On the floor underneath the table is a vinyl tablecloth I found on clearance at Walmart for $1.  This way, I don’t have to worry about the carpet in the apartment while she does art. 

First day of school present:

This is not really part of our room, but this is the present I gave her the first day we started homeschool.  I thought some fun new supplies would get her excited about doing school, and it worked.  She especially liked the glittery colored pencils and the little markers.

We also have a bible timeline up on the wall underneath our bar, and I put up a number line and alphabet chart.  I don’t really love having them on the wall in my living/dining room, but space is at a premium in this apartment, and I think it helps Madison to look at those things all the time.

So, for now, this is our homeschooling space.  If you have pictures of your homeschooling space, leave me a link in the comments so I can check it out!