Wednesday, September 26, 2012

All the rest...

We did more than just apple stuff last week.  Here is a peek at a few other things that the kids did for school.

April made a veggie tray, and veggie dip.  She learned all about nutrition, and why vegetables are important.  How to know if veggies are bad, and some other veggie tips from her girls lessons in responsibility.  She had a lesson in how to cut up carrots, broccoli, and celery for a veggie tray.  She still won't eat veggies, but she loved doing this. 
IMG_1654
IMG_1655
My cute little tot schooler Alex is loving being right up on the table with us.  He was loving this peg board this week, and so was his brother.
IMG_1608
Aaron started his all about reading level 1 lessons.  He was very excited about starting this when he saw me getting it ready.  This is how he looked toward the end of the lesson 1.  Not happy.  But, the next lesson went a little better.  I think this boy is too stubborn for his own good.  He just needs to READ!
IMG_1587
 
Desiree

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Five in a row: How to make an apple pie and see the world

We had a great time with this book, and our apple unit study.  I have to say this is probably our first complete row of any book.  I've done it in bits and pieces before of some FIAR books, but have never really dived into it like we did with this one.  It was pretty neat.  I really love having so much of our school day wrapped around a book, and/or many books that revolve around the same subject.  We focused on How to make an apple pie and see the world, but we read other apple books each day too.  I'm also happy to report that we actually read the book for 5 days!  (not 5 days in a row though, five days total in the last week in a half).  That was a first, and it's amazing how much it really helps them to get to know the story.  I loved that!

The very first thing we did was pick apples.  This happened last week, the week I planned to row, but real life took over, so we had to put the rest of our apple pie row on hold until next week.  I was so glad it turned out that way though!  I was able to better prepare, and get ready for it.

Picking apples with the kids is becoming a fun tradition for us.  We went on a Monday morning, and it was beautiful.  The kids love to pick their apples, and those buckets fill up fast!
IMG_1525
I love this picture!
IMG_1530IMG_1528
IMG_1534
IMG_1527
The apples looked so plentiful on the trees!
Social Studies: Geography
We are probably the only homeschool family that doesn't have a map up on the wall.  I just don't have a big enough wall space, that is convenient to see, but we do have a globe!  So, we located each stop in the book where she finds each ingredient for the apple pie.  I colored a story disk from the FIAR manual for each spot, but later I found already nicely made story disks from homeschool share.  
IMG_1564

Geography:  Memory Game and flags
Then we played the memory game to try to remember what mode of transportation was taken, to where, and what ingredient was found there.  I printed this version from the Five in a Row circle.  It was pretty helpful.  April was able to remember all of them, and put them in order pretty easily.  And, yes, she participated a lot in these activities, she loved it too!
memorygame
Then the boys had their turn.  I turned the cards over so they could match the numbers up.  It was too overwhelming for them the other way.  They were kinda done with this game at that point too.  So, I just did it with them real fast. boysmemorygame
  
Aaron worked on coloring the flags for each country that she visited.
IMG_1633
Art:  Street Scenes
I just loved this idea of re-creating the street scenes like in the book with the market, bakery, etc. all lined up along the street.  I was also very excited that homeschool share had printables for this, and included pages to create a street scene out of paper bags.

IMG_1619

 All my kids really loved this.  At first I was going to have all 3 create one street scene, but they all wanted to do their own!  So, we have 3 street scenes in various places in the house.  This was really a fun project, and I enjoyed watching them take this project and use their imaginations too.

First, we looked at the street scenes in the book, and talked about how you see stores like this sometimes in big cities all lined up.  Then, we gathered some brown paper bags.  Although, it would be fun to use colored ones too.

Here's Aric's street scene.  He decided to make it "Gotham city" (notice the batmobile).  Then he was telling me the story of how Batman was going to the market or something.  It was a very cute story.
batmanstreetscene
  April was very excited about creating these little stores. This is the picture before...
IMG_1618
...she added her horses.

IMG_1620

Art:  drawing
Aaron is using the Draw, Write, Now books this year, so I had him draw a chicken since it goes right along with the story.  He even drew the eggs under his chicken!  I also found these great printables from 1+1+1=1 that has the words outlined for him to copy with his picture.  He still has a hard time with all that writing with the pictures, but this works wonderfully for him.

IMG_1615 IMG_1614
Science: Salt and evaporation 
We did the salt evaporation experiment as suggested in the manual, and took pictures of each step to include in the mini book for the lapbook.
saltevaporation
We left it in the pan, and as of today (day 5), it looks exactly like it is supposed to...

IMG_1656
 That was most of what we did with the book How to Eat an Apple Pie and See the World.  We also did a lot of apple things.

The older two labeled the parts of an apple using the "Apples" book by Gail Gibbons.


IMG_1659

We learned how to peel, core, and slice an apple with one awesome machine.

IMG_1662 
 
IMG_1643IMG_1653

IMG_1647

Apple KWL (What do you know, want to know, and what did you learn)
I decided to give this a try.  It turned out really neat, and it was fun to see the questions they came up with.
KWLapples
We made apple suncatchers for the window

suncatcherapple

Apple pie crafts by April and Aric


IMG_1606
Aric made a paper plate apple pie
IMG_1607
April's apple pie for her American girl dolls
Aric counted apples on the tree

appletree

We made apple pie playdough, and the kids loved the smell of it.  It was a favorite of the little ones.  Aric also made the letter Aa on his A is for apple playdough mat.
applepieplay
 April worked on apple fractions.  From left to right:  she cut them in quarters first, the apple star, and the book she used Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta.
applefractions
 
Cutting the apple into 8ths, a sideview of the apples in cool form, and the kids planting an apple seed.
applefractions2


We have yet to make our apple pie, but we are looking forward to it real soon!

IMG_1638

Whew!  That was a lot, and I'm so very thankful it all came together.  I learned a lot about planning for future Five in a Row studies also.  I am looking forward to the next row!  But, I think we'll take a break for a week :-)

I'm also linking this up with Delightful Learning's Five in a Row link up:

Delightful Learning

Desiree

Much thanks to Our homeschool fun, and Delightful Learning for most of the ideas and inspiration, and links to other great places with ideas!
Our apple pie, and apple study links:


Friday, September 14, 2012

Homeschool mother's journal: just keep going

 








In my life this week...I had great plans for the week on Monday, but by Tuesday reality set in.  The baby was not feeling well since Sunday.  He wouldn't go to sleep, and was cranky every night.  I lost a few good nights of planning and preparation for the next day because of it.  Then, I finally called the Dr. Tuesday evening, and got him in for Wednesday morning.  Which of course meant that we were going to be out and about again, and not much school would be getting done for yet another day.  Turns out the baby had an ear infection in one ear, and the other was on it's way too.  We were taking care of some errands after the Dr. appointment in town, and noticed that the fountains were on (much to our surprise).  The kids begged me to let them go (in their clothes) since we hadn't made it to them all summer.  The fountains were completely deserted except for 2 small children.  I said yes even though we really needed to get home and get some stuff done.  It was kind of nice to be able to take that moment, and just go with it.  We stayed and played in the fountains, while the school buses went by, and I accepted what our homeschool was looking like at that moment, and really all week.

In our homeschool this week...I had plans to row (Five In A Row) How to make an apple pie and see the world to kick off our apple fun for this month.  We will definitely be taking longer than a week!  We went to pick apples on Monday, and we've done some of the geography by finding each place that the girl went to in the book.  But, that's as far as we got this week.  It sure is a great book though, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the activities, and some more apple pie fun in the next week or two.

Helpful homeschooling tips to share...Just keep going.  Even if you feel like you haven't accomplished nearly half of what you wanted to, don't give up.  Keep at it, and soon it all will come together.  That's usually what I have to say to myself on a weekly basis.

I am inspired by...the sewing machine.  A few years ago I pretty much stopped sewing because I thought I wasn't very good at it, but I have been feeling like I should take it up and develop that talent more.  My Hubby has been huge in this too, he has helped to get me excited about making our halloween costumes, and he even let me get a new sewing machine!  My old one has some issues, and it sat at the sewing place for a few weeks, but never got fixed.  Long story short, I opted for a new one since we aren't sure the issues can be fixed.  My new one came a few days ago, so I'm excited to get to know it more starting this weekend.

 Places we are going and people we are seeing...on Tuesday we went to The Oregon Garden for homeschool day.  We go every year, and we enjoy it every time.  This year was just as nice, even though the activities are usually the same with some variation, my kids always learn a lot.  Wednesday was the Dr.'s, and errands.  Thursday is April's lesson day.  She had horse lessons, and piano lessons.  Before horse lessons we stopped by the library, and in between we decided to check out the Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel.  It was hot, but fun.  We got a personal (pretty much) accordion show while walking through.  One of the guys even let Aaron poke a few of the keys on the accordion.  It was pretty fun to see a real accordion in action.  Today we went to homeschool group at the library for some science fun.

My favorite thing about this week was...picking apples with the kiddos, and getting ready for our apple unit we will be doing for a while.  Going to the Oregon garden was a close runner up.

What's working for me...focusing on the home.  Trying to eliminate trips to town, being home as much as possible, make homemade as much as possible, and making home a better place.  I can get so much more done!

Questions/thoughts I have...I am noticing I am getting stuck in some old ruts.  I need to get back out of those again.  Just a thought. 

Things I'm working on...it feels like I am working on everything right now.  I've been working on getting the pool drained, and ready to put away while it's still nice out.  I'm working on a lot of preparations for our apple unit study, and apple pie row.  I'm working on canning some of the apples we picked.  I'm also working on figuring out my new sewing machine.

I'm reading...this is always a dreaded question for me because usually it's the same books as the last time.  Although, I don't think I picked up any of my books this week.  I read part of my sewing machine manual though!

I'm cooking...I made potato topped meatloaf one day, but that was probably the best meal all week.  It was a grab whatever kind of week for dinners.  Blah!  One of those ruts I'm talking about!

I'm grateful for...having my 11 year old at home during this stage of her life.  She had an emotional break down on Wednesday afternoon, and I know it was just emotions.  I was thankful that I am in tune with her since I am with her all day, and I knew exactly what was happening.  I was able to take a step back, and help her in the way that SHE needed it.  Thankful that she understood too.

I'm praying for...guidance as April is getting older, and heading into the age of adolescence.  I'm not sure I'm ready for this.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...


A back to school pencil craft that we made for church activity girls group.  April had fun making some more at home.

IMG_1509
 
 To see more homeschool Mother's Journal entries visit iHomeschool network.


Desiree

Field trip: The Oregon Garden

We love homeschool days at The Oregon Garden.  I think it's great when places like this offer these kinds of opportunities for homeschoolers.  So, we packed up some lunches, and headed to Silverton to enjoy a day out in the cool breeze, and sunshine.  It was a beautiful day!

This field trip always feels like the big kick off for our school year to me.  We try to go every year, and this was our 3rd time going.  They do the same stations pretty much, with a little variation, but my kids still always learn something new.  They love to go around to each station and get a stamp too.  It's a pretty place with a lot of beatufiul nature to take in all at once.

All these kids looked like they were ready for adventure!

IMG_1542

April took this picture of the yellow flower.

IMG_1559


All these oranges, yellows, and reds were so pretty together. 
IMG_1558


Okay, one more.

IMG_1557


This is always the best station, and well loved by my kids.  They get to explore what lives in a pond.  My boys nearly jumped when I found a crayfish with the net.

IMG_1556


Learning about trees, pine cones, and leaves.  They learned that a Douglas Fir pine cone looks different than other pine cones.

IMG_1555


The children's play area.  It's a fun area with a little grass hill that has a tunnel under it for the kids to crawl through.  I thought this display was fun.
IMG_1553
IMG_1552
 

Aric having fun with what looks like a little telescope.
IMG_1551


One of the stations was all about preventing forest fires, and they had a forest fire truck there.  April and Aaron got to hold the hose and aim at a bucket.


IMG_1549


IMG_1546

Aaron was brave enough to try to fresh herbs at one of the stations.  Here he is trying mint.

IMG_1545
Hmmm....
IMG_1544
He likes it!  He said it wasn't bad, and he could really taste the mint.  Then, he gave the rest to me.  I couldn't taste it, but I have poor tastes because of my stuffy nose all the time.
IMG_1543
It was a great day of nature study! 

Desiree

Thankful Thursday

It's always a relief to not be sick anymore. I am thankful for feeling better after a sickness, and also for the healing power that the ...