Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Frustrated

Today I am just frustrated. I have had 3+ days of girls screaming at each other, not listening to me, being totally rowdy. Yesterday they had a SMACKDOWN over play-doh Lock Ness monsters we made as we were talking about Scotland. Honestly I don't even know what started the whole melee, but it ended with Maggie ripping in two Mackenzie's Nessie. Let me tell you, there was a whole lot of drama over that! And today they have been banned from sitting on the couch because they can't seem to obey the rules such as no jumping, no running, etc!!

On top of that, there seems to be something wrong with our Jeep, again!!! Yes I know it is awesome to have no car payment, but the "curse of the Cherokee" as I call it is getting rather old. Every few months there is some kind of rinky dink problem with this stupid vehicle that ends up costing us. I am OVER IT!!!

Please say a little prayer for me toady! :)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Caterpillars and Butterflies

Today we did a lesson on The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We watched an animated book on YouTube (found the link on Confessions of a Homeschooler). The girls and I re-enacted the story with cut-outs from the story. Then we learned about the life cycle of a butterfly. We rolled up like an egg, crawled around like a caterpillar, wrapped up in a cocoon, and then popped out as a butterfly!! They had a blast!


Mackenzie and I also worked from Piano for Preschoolers. She is working on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It is recognizable!!

Monday, January 11, 2010

School Day #1



So, we accomplished school today with relatively few problems. YEAH!!! I did plan everything and prepare it last night so I was ready to go this morning. We started at about 9:45, after chores around the house were done. The biggest problem we had was Mags! Bless her, she just couldn't stay still and wanted to do the opposite of everything I was doing, so after about 10 minutes she was moved to the TV to watch The Letter Factory dvd, which she loves. So it worked out well, Mackenzie and I finished up. So, here is a breakdown of our lessons for today.

1. Prayer and devotion: We had a quick prayer to ask the Lord to be with us today, to help our hearts and minds be ready to learn. I also read a quick devotion from The Princess In Me Devotional Bible by Sheila Walsh. We are at the beginning so we discussed creation.
2. Pledge of Allegiance: I really need to get a flad, but for today we had a cutout of the flag. It was so cute to hear the girls recite after me, plus we worked on right/left too!
3. BINGO: We played a game of BINGO with letters, shapes, and numbers. It came out of a book that my mom got me for preschoolers. It was great because Mackenzie really got the concept and she was helping Maggie with her card. Maggie on the other hand did great the first round, she really matched her images well. But, after that, everything I called she kept saying "I WIN!!!"
4. Bible Story: I read from a book that I had as a child, The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes by Kenneth Taylor. Then I read more out of Instant Bible Lessons for Toddlers: Jesus is My Friend . The lesson we are focusing on this week is My Friend Jesus calls helpers. I read the story and then asked Mack questions about what I read. We also started to memorize the scripture, "Follow ME, " Jesus said. (Mark 1:17). There was a counting chart with the disciples and also a coloring page.
5. Daily Binder: This consists of several pages that we will review every day: calendar, abc/sounds, numbers, clock, map of the US, currency, sight words, cursive letters.


6. Lunch: I made a lunch following the idea from Muffin Tin Monday, although I did not follow their theme, I went with a fish theme. We had goldfish, fish shaped pb&j sandwich, fish shaped cheese, and Nemo gummies. And, I forgot to take a picture!! :( But this went along with our bible story and we talked about it over lunch.
7. Snowman: We made a snowman out of 2 paper plates


8. Scotland: We started a lesson on Scotland Robert Burns. Mackenzie drew a thistle and made her own kilt. We will be doing lots more on this over the next couple of weeks leading up to Burns Day on January 25.

All in all we had a great day! Here are some pictures of how I set up our school space. We don't have lot of room, but it works for now- until we can finish out the basement.
The Girl's area- holds supplies and the daily items we use



My are- my supplies, books, etc.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Schooling 101

Well, I have finally made the decision!! I have struggled with this for MONTHS!!! I am going to begin officially homeschooling Mackenzie next week. The plan is to continue what we've already been doing, but just more regularly. She attends preschool 2 days a week, so on the other 3 days, we will be schooling. I am in the process of setting up the school room in our bonus room- pics to come. The challenge is going to be in occupying Mags and keeping the two of them from harming each other over a box of crayons!! Wish me luck!!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy 2010!

Well, here we are, another year!! I spent today cleaning out my closet (yet again) and parting with sweaters that I have not worn in at least 3 years. I hope I don't regret that! HAHA! I also went on my first run of the new year yesterday. It was only 3 miles, but it was also 24 degrees!!! I honsetly could not feel alot of my body by the time I got back! And in addition, I chose a course that made me feel like I was climbing Mt. Everest. Dewayne tried to warn me that it was "pretty hilly", but I, in my infinite wisdom, knew better!! Not so much. But, I got through it. I am hoping to do a 5k in a couple of weeks, and ultimately do the Country Music half marathon in April.