Field Trip to Bronx Zoo

We are back from our trip to the Zoo. We had a great time in NYC. A8 was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the big buildings of New York City since we avoided downtown altogether. She did have a great time at the Zoo.

The weather was pretty good.... sunny, hot but lots of places with shade. I had water with me at all times! My Mom took a lot more pics than I did, hopefully she will post them on facebook SOON!!! ha ha!!

A8 at the entrance of the Bronx Zoo!

A8 and my nephew J5 on a camel ride!!

The "king" of the jungle and his family! he would not turn his head around...
lions are such divas!! :)

King Julian... ha ha!! the Madagascar exhibit...

This is just to give you a little taste of all the animals we saw! We also got to go to the Butterfly Garden, the World of Birds, Dora and Diego 4D Adventure and many more!!

Next time we go we'll be taking X5 along.... in five years.. ha ha!!

Stage Odyssey

Here's a couple of clips from A8's performance at Stage Odyssey_Rhythm of Life! We are going to Grandmas tonight to get ready for the Bronx Zoo tomorrow... we leave nice and early!! See you Sunday with lots of pics!!

A Week of Music School

This week I signed A8 up for this Rhythm movement class at CVSM, the same place she takes piano lessons. She gets to go with her friend and her friends Mom will be taking her to class every morning and dropping her off at noon. The class is 3 hours, 9 AM to 12 PM, for the whole week! Yes, it does count towards school! By the time we start normal school in August we will have 11 days of school in the bag!!

We long decided, Dh and I, that we were going to try and limit the kids' activities to one per kid. However, since X5 is not involved in anything right now we are going to sign A8 up for Ballet this Fall. It starts right after Labor day and goes till May. It is an hour class once a week, and there is a recital at the end of May.

As for X5, we are waiting till he is a bit older to sign him up for either soccer or football.. although I'm hoping for soccer!

At the end of this week we are taking a field trip to the Bronx zoo with Grandma! X5 will be staying with Daddy this weekend. Dh is going to plan something for the two of them to do!

Next week we start packing for Roxbury! We need to find somebody to take care of our dogs....

Our Upcoming School Year 2010 Edition Part 2

Last year was really the first year I had to homeschool both my kids. It took a while to find our rhythm, I made some changes and then ended up going back to my original plan. This coming year I feel a bit more relax.

For X5 this year is all about learning to read. When I started homeschooling with A8 she had all of my attention, this is not the case with X5. He has to share me with his sister. I am going to try to give the kids different table times. A8 is at a point where she can do her table time activities with little help from me. Which frees me up to work with X5 on reading and phonics.... we will see how this plays out....

Here's the planned lineup for our upcoming year(X5):

Five in a Row
Story time will be first on the list with X5. Only FIAR books will have lapbooks, for the other books we will have coloring pages, crafts and the like. FIAR books all include lessons in Social studies, language arts, science and art.

• Fireflies (Reading Rainbow book)
• Storm in the Night
• Harold and the Purple Crayon
• A Little Prairie House (not a FIAR book)
• Dandelion (not a FIAR book)
• Lentil
• Henry the Castaway
• Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
• The Ugly Duckling (not a FIAR book)
• Truman's Aunt Farm
• County Fair (not a FIAR book)
• Columbus Day (Unit Study)
  
• The Feast (not a FIAR book)
• The Three Questions (not a FIAR book)
• The Library Lion (not a FIAR book)
• X-mas Books
• Madeline
• Winter on the Farm (not a FIAR book)
• Katy and the Big Snow
• A new Coat for Anna
• The Greatest Treasure (not a FIAR book)
• Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
• Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car
• Papa Piccolo
• Grandfather's Journey
• The Story of Ferdinand
• The Caboose that Got Loose (not a FIAR book)
• Abuela (not a FIAR book)
• If Jesus Came to my House
• The Three Trees (not a FIAR book)
• Easter books
• The Runaway Bunny
• I am an Artist
• The Bee Tree

Math

• Math U See Alpha

Language Arts

• Explode the Code 1 & 1 1/2 - 2 & 2 1/2 (3/week)
  
• Language Lessons for Little Ones 2
• Handwriting Without Tears: My Printing Book (2/week)
  
• Reading Made Easy (1/week)

Science

• Apologia Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day(2/week)
• Junior Notebook Journal for Zoology 1 (I made a junior copy for him with mostly coloring pages and simple mini books.)
  

Art

• Art with a Purpose 1 & 2

Lapbooks from 1+1+1=1

• Pond Life (Ugly Duckling)
• Farm (Winter on the Farm)
• Tarzan II (just for fun)
• Christmas
  
• Easter

I have a variety of games and activities that we'll be doing throughout the year.

• painting
• puzzles
• pentominos
• geoboards

Our Upcoming School Year 2010 Edition Part 1

Now that I'm done with all the planning, gathering and printing... I can go ahead and post what our school year is going to look like come Fall.

I have 36 weeks of school scheduled, that is 180 days. I always start the school year at Roxbury Holiness Camp. We spend 10 days there(1st week of August) but I only count Monday through Friday, 5 days.

The kids are on a schedule at Roxbury, breakfast, lunch and dinner are always at the same time everyday(when the kids hear the bell, they know exactly what to do). They have Sunbeam(K through 6th) in the mornings and afternoons, two sessions everyday. They get to hear Bible stories, do activities, crafts, songs and memorize scripture. Not to mention nature study and lots of playing time with friends.

A8 is going on a field trip to the Bronx Zoo, that is day 6! That leaves 174 days of school.

Normal school will start the 3rd week of August and end the 3rd week of May. God willing of course!!

Here's the planned lineup for our upcoming year(A8):

Five in a Row
We are doing Vol 4 this year, FIAR includes Reading, Social Studies, Language Arts, Science & Art. We are going to focus more on the Social studies part of it this year, geography, culture etc.

Here is our FIAR book list for this coming year:

• Roxaboxen
• Albert
• The Raft
• Angelo
• The Pumpkin Runner
• Arabella
• Grass Sandals
• Mailing May
• Snowflake Bentley
• Higgins Bend Song & Dance
• Hanna's Cold Winter
• The Gullywasher
• The Bravest of Us All
• Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M Russell
  
• The Hickory Chair
• The Hatmaker's Sign

American History
My America Books
Colonial Period 1600s

• Our Strange New Land, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Book 1
• The Starving Time, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Book 2
• Season of Promise, Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Book 3

American Revolution 1770s

• Five Smooth Stones, Hope's Revolutionary War Diary, Book 1
• We Are Patriots, Hope's Revolutionary War Diary, Book 2
• When Freedom Comes, Hope's Revolutionary War Diary, Book 3

Underground Railroad 1850s-1860s

• Freedom's Wings, Corey's Underground Railroad Diary, Book 1
• Flying Free, Corey's Underground Railroad Diary, Book 2
• Message in the Sky, Corey's Underground Railroad Diary, Book 3

Civil War/Slavery 1850s-1870s

• My Brother's Keeper, Virginia's Civil War Diary, Book 1
• After the Rain, Virginia's Civil War Diary, Book 2
• A Time to Dance, Virginia's Civil War Diary, Book 3

20th Century Immigration 1900s

• Hope in My Heart, Sofia's Immigrant Diary, Book 1
• Home at Last, Sofia's Immigrant Diary, Book 2
• An American Spring, Sofia's Immigrant Diary, Book 3

Additional Books

• Paul Revere's Ride
• Pocahontas
• Benjamin Franklin

Math

• Math U See Beta & Gamma

Language Arts

• Language Lessons for the Very Young Vol 2(Grammar)
  
• Wordly Wise 3000 Book 3 (Vocabulary)
• Learning to Spell through Copywork Book A & B(Spelling)
• Handwriting Without Tears Cursive Handwriting

Science(2/week)

• Apologia Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
• Notebook Journal for Exploring Creation with Zoology 1
  

Art (1/week)

• How to Teach Art to Children, Grades 1-6
• Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
• Art with a Purpose, Artpac 3
• Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Michelangelo

Music

• Suzuki Piano Book 1
  
• Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers: Ludwig Van Beethoven
• Book & CD: Beethoven Lives Upstairs

We are also doing Home Economics for Home Schoolers 1, and Perplexors: Basic for Logic!

Next post, X5's upcoming school year!

July Update

So here we are... it's July already!! Summer is going much too fast. I have been purging my house of all things unnecessary. Summer is a great time to get rid of all those things that have been gathering dust during the long winter months.

I was able to donate a big box of books, workbooks and the like to the local used books store..I have two more boxes to give them. Out with the old and in with the new!

Homeschooling requires a lot of books around, but even that can get out of hand sometimes if you are not careful.

Speaking of homeschooling, I'm done making the folders for each week for each kid for next year. I have A8s notebooking journal done for American history and I have X5s Jr notebooking journal for science. The last thing I need to do this month is plan the workbox schedule for each kid.

I'm making some changes to the boxes this coming fall. X5 had the more traditional boxes, with the shoe rack and 9 individual boxes. That is about to change! After talking to him about it, he would rather use the Iris 6-Drawer Mobile Chest that his sister has been using.

He told me he likes it better than having to bring the box with him to the table, he would rather get the stuff he needs from each drawer and then when done just put it back in the box.
This works for me since I was going to go from 9 boxes to 6 for him this coming year anyways.

He wants the black and clear model.
This weekend we are having Nina and Grandpa coming over to celebrate the Fourth of July! We have burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob and sausages ready for the weekend, and hopefully we'll get to watch a little movie called Eclipse while the kids stay with Nina and Grandpa!
Happy 4th everyone!!!