Playing in Pisgah Forest

We went on another field trip this week. This time to Pisgah National Forest with our dear friends the Kruegers! We called it the traveling field trip as we went to several places. Our first stop was the Gem Mine. Our children have never been gem mining before and had so much fun! I was impressed at their finds. 

 Next stop was Sycamore Flats. The children had such a fun time wading and exploring in the water. They were still in gem mining mode, so there was a lot of rock collecting going on. And Eleanor and Abby made a lovely mud soup. I was not one to get dirty when I was a little girl. Elle has no problem with that! In giving showers/baths later that day, Eleanor was by far the filthiest of them all! There was some serious dirt under those painted fingernails. 

 She was just so happy, as she always is, when there is water involved. 

 I say we had a beautiful backdrop for our play that morning. 

 And Thatcher Reid was happy watering everything. 

 And we had a picnic lunch to follow. 

 Our final stop was Looking Glass Falls. 

 What a wonderful trip of learning and fun!

Field Trip to the Arboretum

We took our first field trip this school year to the arboretum to go see the Lego display. We had a wonderful time. The weather was mild. And the arboretum never disappoints. The older three brought a notepad and wanted me to jot down how many pieces each display contained. When they got home they then sketched pictures of what they remember them looking like. They have also been building with Legos and making their own exhibits! We haven't been the arboretum in quire some time and it was perfect how it lined up with some other things we have been learning. We had just learned about John James Audubon and this week we have been studying insects/honeybees. Hands on learning for the win!

Eleanor Jane Turns 5

Oh sweet Eleanor Jane. I cannot believe I am writing your birthday post for your 5th year. You are a joy and delight and we have loved watching you grow and learn. Noni came for Elle's birthday and then Gigi the next weekend. She was showered with all things girl. And pink. A few things I want to remember about this little lady:

She loves the color pink. 

She is girly and feminine but tough if she needs to be. 

Sis can outrun her brothers. 

She has recently gotten very into Legos. Girl Legos of course!

She loves to do crafts. Give her a gluestick, crayons, markers, scissors, and glitter and the girl is in heaven. She keeps a craft box for all her creations.

Her favorite Disney princess is Ariel. So was mine as a little girl. 

She still is very attached to her bunny and blankie. Bunny in particular is very loved. 

She loves the water. Swimming may be her favorite thing to do right now. 

She also loves milk and buttered noodles. That was her request for her birthday dinner.

She constantly requests for her and I to have "girl time."

She sleeps well. And is a hard sleeper. Not much wakes her up. 

Eleanor has continued to exceed her height for her age. At her 5 year check up she was in the 90th percentile for height (50th percentile for weight). 

She has started PreK with me this year and I am focusing on her learning her letters and sounds. She will also be starting homeschool enrichment courses next week. 

We love this quirky, girly girl. She is sweet, sassy, and is so much fun!

Our Homeschool Room 2016-2017

We have been loving our homeschool room this school year. We have a super hero theme and it has been fun!

Our mantel where we keep our unit study books. These change out weekly. This week's study is the water cycle and fish. 

 Our desks.

 Where we keep our bins of manipulatives, extra supplies, and books for the year. 

 Our workboxes. 

 I went a couple months without a white board last school year and realized it is much needed! Happy to have it again. The boxes underneath the whiteboard houses most of my preschool supplies. 

 Spelling words on the small whiteboard. 

 Eleanor and Thatcher's letter palm tree. As Eleanor learns a new letter we put it up on the tree. 

 Super work habits!

 Shelving where I keep our extra curriculum supplies. 

A toddler and his bed

Oh this toddler Thatcher Reid keeps us on our toes! We always joke that he did not get the memo that he is a fourth child, not an only child. He is the loudest (although Hampton is a close second) of our crew and is by our side constantly. All three children can be playing happily, but Thatcher prefers to be near us. And we are okay with that!

We decided it was time for Thatcher to transition out of his crib and into a toddler bed. He was pretty happy with his crib, however recently has been able to climb out. At three and a half, it was time!

So we took off the rail and made the transition. It is now day 2 and it has not been easy! He has not napped yet, although I do believe that will catch up with him, and keeping him in his bed is a big challenge. But alas, these are the changes all the children have had to go through and is another step toward independence. He will get it down. He always does. 

And we used his crib rail as a new book display!

First Day of School 2016

Everett, first day of 3rd grade

 Hampton, first day of 1st grade

 Eleanor, first day of Pre-K

 Thatcher, first day of Tot School 

And so it began today, the first day of balancing four curriculums! Here is how our first day went:

7:45-After breakfast, chores, and daily devotions, school began. My three older students did their Daily Learning notebooks and recitation. Thatcher watched Leapfrog Letter Factory. 

8:15-Hampton worked on his phonics worksheets and I began Everett's Latin lesson. Hampton worked independently as it was review concepts, and after Everett's lesson, he wrote his new vocabulary words in his Latin notebook. At some point during all of this Eleanor and I did circle time and Thatcher ran an errand with Daddy. 

8:45-Eleanor and I did a "pencil grip" lesson and some tracing, as well as practice writing her name. Hampton and I reviewed his spelling words and then he copied them into his spelling notebook (his first year for spelling). Everett finished up Latin and then moved on to math. Math was review concepts, so he did not require a lesson this morning. Then he went through his math facts flashcards. 

9:00-Hampton had finished spelling and looked through some books. Eleanor and I did a numbers lesson with focus on number recognition of "1" as well as understanding the quantity concept. Everett  completed math during this time and took a quick break.

10:00-Hampton did his art and handwriting lesson via Draw Write Now. Today's lesson was on Christopher Columbus. Everett had finished math and now worked on spelling. All of his spelling words are in cursive this year. He then had to read a paragraph in his spelling book and circled all the spelling words. Eleanor and Thatcher played with play dough. 

10:15-Everett moved on to cursive. In his cursive book he had to do an "All About Me" page. Hampton was still working on his art book and Eleanor/Thatcher were still playing with play dough.

10:30-Everett began literature. He is reading Farmer Boy. After a review of the table of contents, author/illustrator and copyright date, he silently read chapter 1. Hampton then did some more free reading. Thatcher and I did his calendar time as well as read his preschool book Jesus Knows Me. He also wanted to read a Mickey book (of course) after that. Eleanor was roaming around at this point, I believe. 

11:00-Hampton and I worked on reading. We read from his Classical Phonics book and then he read aloud a primary reader. After this he played with the play dough. Thatcher was roaming around at this point as well (playing) and Everett still reading.

11:15-Time for English grammar with Everett. I did a lesson on capitalization rules, then Everett did copy work for this lesson as well as a correcting exercise. Hampton worked a phonics puzzle.

11:30-Eleanor and I did our All About Reading lesson (letter A) and then read our literature book-Green Eggs and Ham as well as did some poetry. Eleanor then did a Do a Dot sheet for letter A. Thatcher was playing with his toys at this point and Everett read chapter 2 of Farmer boy. Hampton had listened in on Eleanor and I's lesson. 

11:45 (ish)-Hampton and I did our Bible lesson on Moses.

12:00-1:00-Lunch and free play! During lunch I read aloud Meet Felicity (chapter 1).

12:45-Thatcher went down for a nap.

1:00-1:30-Unit study of Apples and read aloud Johnny Appleseed. Science lesson via book How Do Apples Grow?

1:30-Hampton and Eleanor play quietly as Everett and I begin Christian studies. We are starting off with creation. After reading together in Genesis we did an activity where we look at a Bible illustration naming all the days of creation. 

2:00-Everett and I read chapter 3 of Farmer Boy together on the couch. Thatcher is asleep at this point and Eleanor/Hampton are still playing. 

2:30-For historical studies, I read Everett the first half of Leif the Lucky. He enjoyed it thoroughly and it was interesting how he connected the capitalization rule of not capitalizing the "g" when referring to the pagan gods and the worship of Greek gods. 

Around 3ish-All done! Rest time for all!

I am exhausted just typing that all out but it really was a solid first day! And we do it all over again tomorrow!

Crafts, a sick toddler, and Lego Creations

Eleanor is crafty and loves crafting. I intended both definitions of that word! With the latter, she loves to make us creations. I've learned to just set her up with paper, scissors, glue, (sometimes) glitter, pom poms and things of that sort. And then she lets her creativity flow. We get some interesting art projects and she loves it. 

 Our sweet baby boy was sick this last week. We had met some friends at the park and he popped a high fever out of nowhere. And fell asleep in my arms! I stayed since he was napping and I have to say loved every minute of his snoozing in mama's arms. I took him to the doctor and it turned out to just be a virus. He was better the next day, but spent that whole first day in Eleanor's bed watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and playing some with his toys. 

 The boys got Lego Creator sets as a back to school gift this year. I am so impressed with their level of independence and ability to follow the specific instructions for these sets. They have enjoyed them so much. 

 And more crafting...........