May 23, 2013

Spring in our homeschool

I love spring – mostly because of the mindset …  rebirth, renewal and regrowth

We are having a bit of rebirth, renewal and regrowth in our homeschool!

Here are 10 ways I’ve rearranged our room and/or  added some new fun item -
 

New preschool posters and our very own “Jeremiah Tree”.  I used an old box (golf clubs) and large drafting paper.  You can’t tell but it bows out from the wall looking 3D.

 

Character Corner (Family Rules, We Choose Virtues, Fruit of the Spirit) and giant dice for preschool math

 

Morning will start with “circle time on the blanket – learning about days of the week, weather, and reading from our devotionals.  These are only 1 or 2 pages so it will not be overwhelming when the boy does his Discover 4 Yourself Becoming God’s Champion.  I’ve been able to pair both little man’s and the boy’s together so we’ll be covering the same person – different readings.  We’ll be reading a chapter of Luke in the afternoons.

 
More weekly planners (Five J’s) and flashcards so we can match our magnetic letters.


New curriculum for both boys!  Geography Matters, Trail Guide to Learning (we’re in week 2) and All About Reading!

How are you embracing spring in your homeschool this season?

Top Ten Tuesday at Many Little Blessings

Valentine’s Day Project – Love in Action

I want to see love in action in my home.  I want it to be habitual.  But I have two head strong – polar opposite boy who do not “feel” the same way about love nor about each other.

I can tell them they have to love each other.  I can scare them and warn of Cain and Abel.  But the fact of the matter is that they need to first see love in action between me and my husband and second – they need to practice it.  I find when we reward children for good behavior they are more likely to repeat it.  A repeated behavior over time becomes a habit — I’m shooting for love habits!

I printed out 5×7 blank hearts.

We cut out little construction paper hearts – of course in different colors for the 9yr old not to make a fuss about “girly red”. (sigh this age can definitely be a little draining for this girly mommy)

 
I am hoping for them to see their actions – especially important for my visual learner!  Both boys have their own blank heart.  Every time a child shows love in action  a little red heart is glued to the black and white cut out.  We want to fill up these hearts by Valentine’s Day.

We want to fill up these hearts all the time!

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:12

Want to know what we’ll be learning in February? – Check out my February Calendar !!

 


Notebooking Success is a complete manual for implementing notebooking in your homeschool.

Virtues: Gentle Egg Toss

We have been working on virtues – because I can teach any amount of information but I’ll be a homeschool failure if I do not share good character lessons with my boys.  If they choose to live by them – that’s between them and God … but I’ll give them all I can now!

Last week we picked “Gentle” because my 8 yr old has become rough with his younger brother. He’s even complained we favor the 4yr old because we are more gentle with him. We’ve explained the difference in size, shape, and age … but my oldest son is missing something about being gentle.

Each Flash card offers the opposite of the virtue to help explain better and a verse.  I like a few verses – cause I’m hard headed.  I picked more to read together …

The boy is a visual learner – lecturing does not work. Reading stories rarely does. The only “visual activity” I could think to display “Gentle” was an egg toss !!  The boys were so excited to handle the eggs!

None of the eggs made more than a few tosses – but overall they both enjoyed handling the eggs so gently, being outside, and of course – the exciting final SPLAT!

 

 

 

10 Reasons to pick up We Choose Virtues … 10 Virutes !!

Forgiving

Kind

Gentle

Obedient

Perserverant

Honest

Patient

Attentive

Diligent

Content