I've labeled this blog entry Sparkle Day for more than one reason. One of them is because of the ice, sleet and snow we've received over the past few days.....the other is because that is the title of the Henry and Mudge book that BabyGirl read to me last night. It is a small chapter book, and she just plowed through it. She is so proud of herself! We were so excited at the sight of the snow falling last night! We knew today that we could go outside and have our very own SPARKLE DAY!!
On the reading front we've been enjoying the entire Henry and Mudge series. They are so cute! Along with our regular 1st grade reading/phonics from Houghton Mifflin we've also started the Harcourt Oklahoma StoryTown series. We started with book 1.2, and it's filling in the gaps we have in our other curriculum. The gaps being that BabyGirl ALWAYS wants to read more than one story per day, and ALWAYS wants to do some type of craft or activity at the end of each story. This way, we can work with both curriculum's at once, and have twice the fun! It's also in conjunction with the Oklahoma PASS tests, so I can judge where exactly she's ranking. Yay for this wonderful 2008 curriculum find from our Nanny! Woot! Oh, and as always, props to the Goodwill!
Continuing with our science studies on matter, this week we've explored how different types of matter act. So far, we've worked with sinking and floating. It was a fun activity complete with predicting, observing, classifying, and logging in our journal. Needless to say this was a hit for quite awhile, and BabyGirl really never got tired of finding different things to experiment with!
To further our studies on South America we made some home-made tortillas yesterday! (with a healthy twist, of course) BabyGirl did ALL of the preparations herself including measuring the ingredients (even leveling out the measuring cups!), mixing everything into the bowl, separating, and finally rolling out. The only thing I did was cook them in the pan while she was busy rolling each one out. The recipe was: 1/2 cup wheat germ, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup unbleached white flour, 2 tbs. oil (we used coconut), 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup warm water. Mix the ingredients, roll into six balls (which worked right into our fraction study!!), roll into six circles, cook in your skillet, then eat them! They turned out so great, and we definitely plan on making them again! Last week we made Argentina Butter Cookies with Dulce de Leche. I'm so glad I decided to go outside my comfort zone and just dive into this dessert! Although the Dulce de Leche was a little lengthy (boil a can of sweetened condensed milk for an hour and a half!) it was awesome! It was best caramel we've ever had and goes great with the cookies or even ice cream! Along with the dessert on our South American night we made cheese enchiladas. I've never made them like this recipe before, and I'm glad I stuck to the instructions instead of just making up my own. They were absolutely great, and had far less fat than the usual all-cheddar ones. Our filling was made of a mixture of 2 cups low-fat cottage cheese, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 8 chopped green onions and oregano. We just love cooking up memories in the kitchen!
In the subject of math we've been working on time more this week and enjoying the free worksheets from the Learning Page.com. I'm going to see if she's becoming ready to work on money again soon. If so, we'll break out our time and money bingo!
We played outside this morning for over an hour and didn't even feel a bit of cold! Right now our snow clothes are drying by the heater in anticipation of another afternoon session! We plan on doing our school work, and then heading back out. I love these cold days....the fun of the bite of the cold on your nose as you run down the hill....the laughter ringing through the trees as you slide on the sled....and the time snuggled together learning in our school room.....enjoy!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Every Day Is A New Day
As I finally sit down to blog I'm wondering where exactly to begin. The past couple of weeks have been a blur, sort-of like a dream that I vaguely remember. My beloved grandmother passed away leaving an empty space in our lives and hearts. It's so hard to imagine and put life back together without her. She's always been a staple in our family. The one you always knew you could count on to give advice, or just sit and listen. When I reflect upon her life and our memories I always come across one thing that stands out more than anything else. I have never heard my grandmother speak an unkind word about anyone. And I mean that. No matter how much you pleaded your case, or thought you were right, grandma would always bring you that other side of the story....the other point of view....letting you know that you weren't the only one involved. She always had a way of making everyone feel loved and comforted no matter what the situation. Even if you had made some poor choices, she was there to help pick up the pieces, without judgement. I believed she lived her life without regret. This is what I want to consciously do in her memory every day. And, this is what I wish would be impressed upon the heart of humanity. What a beautiful world this would be....I'll miss you grandma.
On the home school front things have been going really great. It's nice to get totally involved in our studies, learning all kinds of great things, and making this part of our healing process. This time together is so special, and I feel so thankful that I have been blessed with a husband who supports us and does whatever it takes to make this possible. Also, how lucky we are to share the same dream for our family. He is the best.
For science this month we wrapped up our Earth science, and started working on physical science. Our last experiment with Earth science was about shadows. We attached a straw to our globe with play doh, shined a flash light down upon it, and slowly turned the globe to see what happened to the shadow. This was awesome and really opened her eyes to what's really happening around us. It's cool to realize the sun isn't just 'going up and coming down'. We made a trip to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum this weekend as well. We went through every exhibit and watched a show in the planetarium. BabyGirl was absolutely enthralled with every aspect of this trip, and can't wait to go back again. She really is an outer space girl, and has been as long as we can remember. She takes after her daddy. We were also able to blend in our studies of Wilbur and Orville Wright with this trip. We got some great resources from the library about the Wright Brothers including a cute little story about a mouse family who lived in their house and watched the evolution from the glider to airplane. We started physical science this week working with matter. Today we gathered lots of different objects from around the house and sorted them into groups according to differences or likeness. Then, she sketched them in her science journal. We have lots more exciting things planned in this unit.
This month we are studying the continent of South America. Again, we've gotten some wonderful resources from the library on this one, including a BBC DVD series called Wild South America. It has awesome footage of the wildlife and the different wonders of the continent. This has been a fun addition to our reading. Our Nanny has also given us some WONDERFUL books on this continent. Our current favorite is one that is filled with different crafts and foods. So far, we've made a black cat for our front window which was taken from an ancient Inca drawing, and a Quetzal made from a paper roll. This weekend we will be experimenting with a dinner and dessert we found in the book. BabyGirl is truly excited about that!!
Our phonics, reading and writing is coming along beautifully. I'm so proud of the progress BabyGirl is making in her hand writing. I'm finding that she tends to gravitate towards continuous-stroke hand writing naturally, and will be introducing that book after we finish the little bit we have left in the kindergarten writing. This week we've also introduced spelling words for the first time, and she was so excited about it! She's doing great with all of the concepts of the first grade curriculum, and the only thing I notice that is a little too difficult sometimes is the writing. Some days there is just SO much. I don't want to overwhelm her. So, we'll just keep patching things together as we go.
This week in math we're working on plane and solid shapes as well as symmetry. She already knows these concepts, but thoroughly enjoys testing her knowledge! There are all sorts of ways to play with all of these, so we're coming up with games and work sheets every day. Her favorite is using pattern blocks to make plane shapes. She could do this all day!
Today, as many of you have done, we watched the Inauguration and briefly discussed what an important day this is in history. After our discussion on Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday I thought this was such an appropriate time for this to happen. My hopes remain high for a wonderful future for our Country and our children. Our freedom is so precious....
Until next time.....
On the home school front things have been going really great. It's nice to get totally involved in our studies, learning all kinds of great things, and making this part of our healing process. This time together is so special, and I feel so thankful that I have been blessed with a husband who supports us and does whatever it takes to make this possible. Also, how lucky we are to share the same dream for our family. He is the best.
For science this month we wrapped up our Earth science, and started working on physical science. Our last experiment with Earth science was about shadows. We attached a straw to our globe with play doh, shined a flash light down upon it, and slowly turned the globe to see what happened to the shadow. This was awesome and really opened her eyes to what's really happening around us. It's cool to realize the sun isn't just 'going up and coming down'. We made a trip to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum this weekend as well. We went through every exhibit and watched a show in the planetarium. BabyGirl was absolutely enthralled with every aspect of this trip, and can't wait to go back again. She really is an outer space girl, and has been as long as we can remember. She takes after her daddy. We were also able to blend in our studies of Wilbur and Orville Wright with this trip. We got some great resources from the library about the Wright Brothers including a cute little story about a mouse family who lived in their house and watched the evolution from the glider to airplane. We started physical science this week working with matter. Today we gathered lots of different objects from around the house and sorted them into groups according to differences or likeness. Then, she sketched them in her science journal. We have lots more exciting things planned in this unit.
This month we are studying the continent of South America. Again, we've gotten some wonderful resources from the library on this one, including a BBC DVD series called Wild South America. It has awesome footage of the wildlife and the different wonders of the continent. This has been a fun addition to our reading. Our Nanny has also given us some WONDERFUL books on this continent. Our current favorite is one that is filled with different crafts and foods. So far, we've made a black cat for our front window which was taken from an ancient Inca drawing, and a Quetzal made from a paper roll. This weekend we will be experimenting with a dinner and dessert we found in the book. BabyGirl is truly excited about that!!
Our phonics, reading and writing is coming along beautifully. I'm so proud of the progress BabyGirl is making in her hand writing. I'm finding that she tends to gravitate towards continuous-stroke hand writing naturally, and will be introducing that book after we finish the little bit we have left in the kindergarten writing. This week we've also introduced spelling words for the first time, and she was so excited about it! She's doing great with all of the concepts of the first grade curriculum, and the only thing I notice that is a little too difficult sometimes is the writing. Some days there is just SO much. I don't want to overwhelm her. So, we'll just keep patching things together as we go.
This week in math we're working on plane and solid shapes as well as symmetry. She already knows these concepts, but thoroughly enjoys testing her knowledge! There are all sorts of ways to play with all of these, so we're coming up with games and work sheets every day. Her favorite is using pattern blocks to make plane shapes. She could do this all day!
Today, as many of you have done, we watched the Inauguration and briefly discussed what an important day this is in history. After our discussion on Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday I thought this was such an appropriate time for this to happen. My hopes remain high for a wonderful future for our Country and our children. Our freedom is so precious....
Until next time.....
Monday, January 5, 2009
Welcome 2009
So, the end of 2008 has been everything all rolled into one. We've had the best Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years ever. We've enjoyed the company of family that we hadn't seen in so long. Yet, along with all of this we've been dealing with the struggling health of my grandmother. She has been a constant source of love and advice for me throughout my life. I have been taking BabyGirl to see her once a week to visit/clean for as long as she can remember. The relationship we have all shared together will be a lovely whispering memory that I will never forget. Like a song you keep hearing over and over again in your mind. One that you love so much. BabyGirl told me the other day "Mommy, I wish we could save Grandma." She was so sincere....and, I have to agree with her with all my heart....I wish we could save her, too...Please keep our family in your prayers as we walk this path with my Grandma....
We started school again today, and I welcome whole-hearted the normalcy. I really need this time together with BabyGirl to focus, have fun, learn, and get our minds going again. Right after breakfast she told me she was ready to begin. Welcome, another wonderful day together!
This month we are studying Earth and space. We started with the sun today. We had fun making signs for the Earth and Sun. We each wore one. The person that was the sun holds a flashlight pointing towards the Earth. The Earth slowly turns so that you can see the transition from day into night. It was a blast, and we practiced many times!
We are also working on South America this month. I worked this weekend on reserving lots of resources from the library, thinking out a field trip to the zoo, and coming up with some crafty ideas. This should be a fun one!
We will also be covering Wilbur and Orville Wright this month. I found some excellent resources from the library, and we'll be visiting the air and space museum. Again, one of our favorite places to go! I love how all of these things can just come together.
Our math, phonics and reading are coming along well. I've been gathering our hodge-podge curriculum for next year, and am looking forward to reading over it during dance and gymnastics classes. I'm pretty confident everything we have so far will go right along with what she enjoys and is passionate about. Of course, you never know for sure until you're there...
We've always baked/cooked a lot together, and lately has been no exception. I love to have BabyGirl work on everything she can by herself. It gives her such a sense of accomplishment to see the finished product and know she had a big part in it's making! We got a Paul Deen's My First Cookbook for Christmas, and we absolutely love it! We made monkey bread, fruit kabob's, and mini pizza's for New Year's Eve. It was such a blast, and I know these times we spend together are some of the most special. Today we are making a cake/frosting, and I look forward to seeing her eyes light up as she works her way through the recipe. We highly recommend this book for any family who loves cooking together! It is written in such a way that kids can read portions of it themselves, and it provides unlimited opportunities for children to be independent in the kitchen. Here's to making memories together.....
One last thought....yesterday I bought BabyGirl a pair of ruby red slippers from the thrift store. The minute we got home she put them on, clicked her heels together, and said "Hey, nothings happening!" I told her that was just a scene in the movie. She said " I know, but I still thought it would work!" I caught several other glimpses of her throughout the evening clicking those heels together......it makes me think of how lucky children are to have such powerful thoughts, imaginations, and dreams. To take life day by day. I can't explain the feelings I have when I think of the gift I am able to give BabyGirl of home schooling. To keep in touch with her dreams, her own personal goals in life, to be a FREE THINKER. To never give up hope that maybe one of the times you click your heels together something magical could happen......really, you never know......it might.
We started school again today, and I welcome whole-hearted the normalcy. I really need this time together with BabyGirl to focus, have fun, learn, and get our minds going again. Right after breakfast she told me she was ready to begin. Welcome, another wonderful day together!
This month we are studying Earth and space. We started with the sun today. We had fun making signs for the Earth and Sun. We each wore one. The person that was the sun holds a flashlight pointing towards the Earth. The Earth slowly turns so that you can see the transition from day into night. It was a blast, and we practiced many times!
We are also working on South America this month. I worked this weekend on reserving lots of resources from the library, thinking out a field trip to the zoo, and coming up with some crafty ideas. This should be a fun one!
We will also be covering Wilbur and Orville Wright this month. I found some excellent resources from the library, and we'll be visiting the air and space museum. Again, one of our favorite places to go! I love how all of these things can just come together.
Our math, phonics and reading are coming along well. I've been gathering our hodge-podge curriculum for next year, and am looking forward to reading over it during dance and gymnastics classes. I'm pretty confident everything we have so far will go right along with what she enjoys and is passionate about. Of course, you never know for sure until you're there...
We've always baked/cooked a lot together, and lately has been no exception. I love to have BabyGirl work on everything she can by herself. It gives her such a sense of accomplishment to see the finished product and know she had a big part in it's making! We got a Paul Deen's My First Cookbook for Christmas, and we absolutely love it! We made monkey bread, fruit kabob's, and mini pizza's for New Year's Eve. It was such a blast, and I know these times we spend together are some of the most special. Today we are making a cake/frosting, and I look forward to seeing her eyes light up as she works her way through the recipe. We highly recommend this book for any family who loves cooking together! It is written in such a way that kids can read portions of it themselves, and it provides unlimited opportunities for children to be independent in the kitchen. Here's to making memories together.....
One last thought....yesterday I bought BabyGirl a pair of ruby red slippers from the thrift store. The minute we got home she put them on, clicked her heels together, and said "Hey, nothings happening!" I told her that was just a scene in the movie. She said " I know, but I still thought it would work!" I caught several other glimpses of her throughout the evening clicking those heels together......it makes me think of how lucky children are to have such powerful thoughts, imaginations, and dreams. To take life day by day. I can't explain the feelings I have when I think of the gift I am able to give BabyGirl of home schooling. To keep in touch with her dreams, her own personal goals in life, to be a FREE THINKER. To never give up hope that maybe one of the times you click your heels together something magical could happen......really, you never know......it might.
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