Eleven

So the same is true with my Tater. She came to me and asked me how to spell eleven. I told her to sound it out and I would be here if she needed help. She started out sounding the word out and then asked me had she spelled the word wrong. I looked at her and said yes its spelled correctly. She said the most amazing sentence I've ever heard her say. "Momma, I believed in God and I did it. Are you proud?" I stood with tears in my eyes and told her more than she will ever know.
The Bible says train up a child in the way that they should go... and I'm thankful that she is beginning to see and understand what I'm trying to impress upon her heart. She's beginning to have a knowledge of who God is and how important He is in her life. I pray that this stays with her as she grows older she will always recognize her incessant need for Him in her life.
But for today, the number eleven stands as an example of her growth, her need for God, and her belief in Him.
The number 11.

Learning during the Weekend

So today is Sunday, usually the day of rest from school. But my dear son wanted to work on letters and numbers. One of the things that I have learned about homeschooling is that school can occur at any time or any place. Even on a day of rest. Besides if I didn't allow him to learn on today then he could equate that to not learning on other days.
So as I sit here and listen to him counting and coloring I am gently reminded that learning occurs at any time, any place and on any day.
Thank God for homeschooling and for the lovely reminder that I am doing the right thing.

Week 30

This week we spent time learning about King Kk. We spent time focusing on God's Character and we studied our addition facts. A busy fun week. Let me tell you more about it.
This week Tater spent time relearning her addition facts. This is a subject that we have veered away from, but are now coming back to. She spent lots of time using her math manipulatives to handle her addition facts. We also worked on mammals and mammal facts.
Jr Bug worked on the king K and the "k" sound. We counted to 10, and counted our 10 fingers and toes. We sang songs about monkeys and generally just played.
Both kiddos finished our study of the Bible, so we are moving on to character training. We started with Gods'' character since we are learning to emulate Him. Tater made a poster of the most important traits of God. We then discussed the Fruit of the Spirit and why we would want and why we would show these traits. We are going to finish the rest of our year learning these character traits.

Tater working on addition.

Jr Bug working o the character trait Love.

Look Momma I know what a mammal is. 

10 little monkey's jumping on the bed.

Tater picked out who God represents Himself to her. 

My Jr Bug with his King K. 

Coloring the letter K. 

Both of the king K's big and little. 

Working on spelling. 

Shh! Learning is happening. 

Shapes and math all in one!

A busy week we had! A great time learning and a great amount of fun being creative. I can't believe we are in the last few weeks of school. Time really does go by when you are having fun. 

See you next week. 

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day. A day set aside to remember those who have fought and died for our freedom. As a veteran of this great Nation, I feel its my duty to teach my kids why Memorial Day is important. I lost a friend of mine, while he was fighting in OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom), and in honor of him, and my fallen comrades, I taught my children why I salute these men and women. I know that my babies are young, but my belief is that if I teach them while they are young, they will be able to forever remember why this day is important to me. Below are pictures of us honoring this day.

Tater and Jr Bug watching a video about Memorial Day.

Same video, different view. 

Tater's journal assignment for today. 

We lit this candle in honor of all those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom. This candle stayed lit during school. 

This was just a glimpse of our reverence to every sailor, air men, soldier, and Marine who gave their lives. To you I salute you. To your families I say May God Bless You. 

HOOAH!!!!

Week 29

    So this week we finished our lessons on  rocks. We made crystals, we made the rock cycle, and we ate our science experiments. We also spent some time learning about famous and historical African Americans. We talked about the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement, we even discussed Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong.
    Jr bug learned about the letter J and how J is the first letter in his name. We also finished counting from 1-10 and we did lots of stamp work with our numbers. A very slow week we had, but we did get our lessons taught and learned.
Here are some snapshots from our week. They were excited to learn so much this week.

Jr Bug showing off his number stamped artwork. 

The alphabet stamps. And yes Momma is  helping him.

 

Reading the instructions on how to make crystals. 

Making our crystals. 

Painting their handmade rocks. 

Jellybeans start with the letter J. 

Learning how to write the letter J. 

Coloring a picture of Harriet Tubman.

Tater was "Harriet Tubman" and took us on an Underground Railroad journey. She had to read to clues to get us from one clue to the next. A great lesson in learning how to read, social studies, mapping, and p.e.

Reading more clues.

Clues were spread all over the house and yard. 

Jr Bug working on his numbers

Watching a video about Rosa Parks, the mother of the Civil Rights Movement. 

This is it. Our busy week 29. Next week we are moving on to learning about global awareness, learning about the importance of God, and the letter K. Stay tuned. 

Week 28

    So this week we started back at school. We worked hard this week, counting, learning, telling time, and making igloos.
    This week with Jr Bug we made igloos, we counted to 9, and we watched some educational video. We've had a lot of fun with Ike our iguana making the iiii (short i sound). Much fun. We also made an igloo out of sugar cubes. As you can tell below, he was really proud.
    Tater had fun with making and using her clock. We had a lot of fun playing and learning how to tell time with her new clock. She is getting much better with reading and telling time. She also made a compass in reverence to Albert Einstein. We learned about George Washington Carver, Joesphine Baker, and Phyllis Wheately.  Tater also wrote a poem about me. We also studied the word geology. We went on a field trip to the local creek where we learned and came face to face with our studies. We sat, felt, and discovered rocks. We got up close and personal with the creek and with the types of rocks we were studying.

   This week was an awesome, busy week. And its only gonna get busy as we go on. Stay tuned for next week when we play baseball, when Tater leads us on a underground trail with clues. Jr Bug will be working with jelly beans, and he will be using stamp art for jis letters and his numbers. A busy week we shall have.

Happy Mothers Day

  Mothers Day is today. A day when mother's are honored and revered. And in my house it is no different. I am momma, mommy, mom. Mother. But I honor my children on today. They are the reason why today is so special. Without them, I would not be a mom. I would not have drive, I would not have motivation.     They are the reason why I exist, why I love, why I teach. They are daily sweet reminders of what is pure, good, and what is right in this world.
  I can't imagine my life without them. Everything I do is for then. They are my legacy. My joy, my lifesong. They are my everything.
  And no, I don't get everything right with them. Yes sometimes I yell, yes sometimes, I get mad and sometimes its unfairly done. But the beautiful thing about my children is that they show me Gods grace and His mercy. His mercy is new every morning and sometimes its new minute by minute. And He is a forgiving God. Just like my kids forgive me unselfishly when I've wronged them.
  So yes today is Mothers Day. A day to honor mothers. But on today I honor my little ones who made me a Mommy.