A Thoughtful Bit of Truth

Contentment! That is a beautiful adornment! It makes everything sparkle and look so lovely! In addition to being a beautiful adornment, it is very contagious! When worn with a joyful heart, our children catch it and wear it as well! Don't forget to put it on this morning and every morning. It works well as a pair of glasses too when reading Facebook and other homeschooling blogs!

Science and the Library

We utilize our local library a ton.  It is a regular thing to find what seems to be 100’s of library items on our library shelves.  We are so thankful for our local library and the children’s librarians who help us find just about anything!

One of our favorite science series is the Let’s-Read-And-Find-Out About science series.  There are two levels that we have used:  one for Kindergarten and one for first and second grade.  While they are secular, I have found that they don’t deal a ton with evolution.  The ones that do have become a talking point for us about God and His design for the universe in contrast to man’s design for the universe.

Here are some of our favorites:

All pictures are from Amazon.

The Making of a Clay Pot

So for Week 1 we were supposed to make a clay pot.  We just now got around to doing it.  So here are some video clips for your viewing entertainment.

The first week of school we studied how the Bible was written by the original authors and how scrolls were made by papyrus and such.  They were stored in jars so here we are trying to make a jar.

Sorry the audio is not so good.  I don't know how to get it any louder.

I love her smile here.
She is loving school!

 

The finished product drying.

First Grade School Pictures

So today was the first day of CBS.  We have taken a picture on our front steps every year since we started.  This year was no different EXCEPT that I will be using these shots for her official first day of First Grade shots.  She has grown up so much!

When did she group up?!

All ready for her first day in the Primary Class at CBS!

Showing her sassy side!

Portland Mounted Police Tour

    The trainer is “dressing” the horse for duty.Watching the trainer work with the horse in the training ring.  Notice her pink cowgirl boots! 

Exercising on the horse tread mill.  This machine not only exercises the horses but is also used to de-sensitize the horses to flapping plastic bags, flags, skate boards, loud noises, etc.  Anything that will startle a horse on the street.

  

Our tour guide, Roxie, showing us all the different work horses.

           

The friendliest horse in the stable, Punch, who allowed all the children and adults to pet and admire her.  She is not fully trained for street patrols but will be out there soon.

Notebooking

As we continue on our homeschooling journey, notebooking will become a weekly and then almost daily assignment.  So what is notebooking?  What are the advantages of notebooking?  Since I do not have any experience yet, I thought it would do well to share with my readers from a seasoned pro, Lainie!

Here is the link to the blog where she was a guest author.

Shoelaces, Fractions and Ant Hills

Shoelaces:  After getting baptized last night, Dacia Grace decided that she just had to learn how to tie shoelaces.  So here she is after tying the shoe many, many times!

Fractions:  First grade math is centered around many activities that are hands on.  The intention is that Dacia Grace will learn math from touching, feeling, and tasting math.  What a fun way!  Well this morning’s math topic was FRACTIONS!  What better way to experience how fractions affect our daily lives than by baking.  We sure enjoyed the scones!

    

Ant Hills:  First grade science is also very hands on.  Today we soaked a piece of bread in honey and then laid it outside near a rock that we knew had ants under it.  Soon there were ants everywhere.  We fully expected the ants to carry the bread off to their hill/nest piece by piece.  We were very surprised to see the ants COVER the piece of bread entirely and then carry the bread piece by piece into their store rooms from UNDERNEATH the ground.

The piece of bread is still barely visible at the bottom right of the middle of the picture.  I know it is not easy to see.  Mainly we are including this picture so that WE can remember what happened.  :)

Science

Our curriculum, My Father’s World, includes three fantastic books for science.   We are so excited to go through these books.  There will be many hands on activities.

Our first topic of discussion will be “Close to the ground”.  We will be doing nature hikes, creating a worm jar to watch worms tunnel through soil and then feeding some ants……at the park NOT my house!   In preparation of these activities we read some fun books from the library that introduce the importance of worms in our environment.  Dacia Grace loved them!

First Grade

Today was the first day of First Grade at the Fanno Creek Academy and Dacia Grace R-O-C-K-E-D it! Last night we went over a chore chart of sorts that allows her to be responsible for her morning routine and then for staying on task during school.  I am so glad that we took the time last night to go over this chart.  It was such a useful tool which will be used over and over an over again this year.

Here she is working on her morning folder that I created from several different things I found online.  What a beauty with her toothless smile!  Probably the best picture I have of her since her teeth were pulled.

  

Working on her reading notebook.  Her handwriting has approved so much during our August break.This year we are studying the book of Proverbs but before we dive into that we are learning about scrolls.  Here Dacia Grace is working on her alphabet scroll which she will continue to work on over the next week until all the pages done for a scroll.

Here is a list of what she would like to learn this year:

(1) To read my Bible

(2) To paint better

(3) To read on my own

#1 Homeschool Resource

The teacher's manual offers many options for additional reading on the lesson of the week.  If I were to purchase these books, we would have to create a separate budget just for books.  This is not a reasonable solution for most homeschooling families.

Our number one resource is our local library.  We LOVE our library and the children's librarians!

When I begin planning for the upcoming week's lesson I begin by looking at the list of books that are suggested as optional reading.  I have also gleaned from some moms the list of books that they have used for the same lessons.

Equipped with this list of books, I begin to search the online catalog of our local library system.  I place all the books that I can find on request which allows me to pick up the books once the library has collected all the books for me.  Letting them do the legwork frees up time for me to do other things as well as enjoy looking through the library with Dacia Grace for fun reading books.

Now everyone knows the frustration of not finding a particular book in our library system.  Most will give up at this point.

WAIT! DON'T GIVE UP!

There is another option that most libraries have.  It is officially called.... World Cat.  It is a catalog of all the books in the world of the participating libraries.  These libraries agree to share books just like a regular library.  While this is available online, I usually always go into the library to have help searching World Cat.  While there is a limit on the amount of World Cat requests that I can put in at one time, I have never had any difficulty receiving a book, cd or dvd that I have been requested.  All at no cost to me!

So go on in and armed with the list of books that you cannot find or that are out of print.  You will be surprised what you will be able to find!  Just know that with some books that are out of print, due to their scarcity and to their condition you might not be able to check the book out of the library.  You might have to view the book at the library and not in the warmth of your own home.

At this point, I have never had to pay to receive any of the books through this service.  They do ask when I place the request if I am willing to pay a nominal fee.  I decline.  They are fine with that.  But with the changing economic times, this could change.  The nominal fee however would still be cheaper than buying the book. 

Wednesday Weads

I have not done a Wednesday Weads in a long time.  So here is a new one for you.

We found Wilfred to the Rescue at the library recently.  It introduced us to Brambly Hedge.  We fell in love with the classic story and the fabulous illustrations.  While this book is not by the same author as the Brambly Hedge series, our interest has definitely been piqued and we will be reading all of the books in the series. 

I grew up with Beatrix Potter and with the Burgess books.  The stories and character development as well as the illustrations are all along the same lines.  Classic and beautiful, encouraging personal character development, etc.

Once all four of the original books have been read aloud, we will then look for the DVDs or videos.  We are so looking forward to them.

Park Day

Having had a "cold" summer this year, due to the G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S weather we took a break from our normal schedule and headed to the park with some friends. Free play and bike skills were enjoyed by all. Here are some highlights:

First Day of CBS

Community Bible Study (or CBS) is affectionately referred to as church school in our home.   Dacia Grace and I have attended since the fall of 2007.   It is a much anticipated beginning each fall.  Each fall we take "new school pictures".  This year was no different.

Pretty in pink and
ready for church school.

With Teacher Chrystal

With Teacher Julie

Dacia Grace was very excited to be "graduated" upstairs with the big kids!  Her classroom is also right across the hall from mine room.

Trader Joe's Field Trip

A field trip to Trader Joe's with a homeschool group has been on our calendar for almost two months now.  Dacia Grace has been anxiously awaiting this trip.  Here are the highlights:

MMMMM Sample Time!

Yummy produce

The sign makers' art corner.
Dacia Grace wanted to go have fun in there.

One of the highlights of the visit:  checking out your own items.

This was a very fun field trip.  Some of the highlights that I was not able to photograph included a tour of the subzero freezer, the regular freezer and playing peek-a-boo with the customers and the box crusher and baler.

Waiting for School to be done!

Waiting and waiting and waiting!

"They seem to like things in this library box.
Maybe they will take me for a walk soon!"

MFW Lesson 2: "M"oon - You are the light of the world

We are still working on parts of this lesson but here are some of the highlights thus far:

Artist hard at work on her "M"osaic.

Artist with finished "M"osaic.

"M"om with "M"osaic
Photo taken by Dacia Grace

Enjoying some "M"acaroni for lunch.
Notice the blue paint still on her cheek.

This is the week that Dacia Grace voluntarily sounded out and wrote "Mom" and "Dad" by herself on her notebooking page.  When I am able to take a picture of this I will add it.  :)