Getting ready....

Can't believe it's almost the end of June! Our summer home-school session starts next Monday, the 24th!!! Crazy! I've gotten all our curriculum, made our lesson plans and gotten stuff prepped for the first week or two. I'm very excited!!
For those curious about what we're using, here's a rundown:

*Saxon Math: 1 for Eli and Saxon Math 3 for Harrison.
*Five in a Row for overall curriculum for Eli. I think it's a tad young for Harrison, but I think that he will enjoy doing it with us, especially the crafts. I really like this program because it takes a book and they read it every day, (hence the five in a row), which really reinforces the points in the story..it's how I like teaching literature.
*Apologia Science: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day. I think this will be too advanced for Eli, who's a Kindergartner, but he can listen in or he can just do the experiments with us.
*Story of the World: This is a great classical history curriculum that again may be too advanced for Eli, but he can listen in from time to time, and do the activities with us. I plan to incorporate Harrison's love of Minecraft into this, giving him the task of creating worlds to match what we are studying.

We will add Spelling and Geography for Harrison and Phonics for Eli in the fall. There are a ton of other little things we do that I don't talk about like adding words to our Word Wall, arts, Legos, educational apps on the Kindle and Ipad, etc. They resume PE in the fall as well.

I think we are slowly getting used to the idea of homeschooling. We are getting more used to being together ALL the time. They've had their ups and downs of attitudes, behaviors and getting along. I'm reevaluating how I deal with the children and how I allow myself to react to their behaviors. I know we'll get on each other's nerves, I know they'll have bad days, I know there will be days where the house looks like it exploded (okay that's ever day...) but I hope they enjoy learning at their own pace, and really, truly absorbing what we study.

Thanks for coming along on our journey!~~
Amy

Angry Birds Geography

Who says a lesson has to be planned, prepared or even premeditated?? My son requested some colored/laminated Angry Birds characters. He requested these when he saw some made by the 8 year old son of my best friend. He (and I) thought it was a pretty nifty idea, so Eli asked for some of his own. He requested Angry Birds Star Wars characters.

I remembered how much I loved my flannelboard stories when I was a teacher, so I covered a box in felt and stuck the hook side of Velcro tabs on the back of the angry birds. (I used Contact paper to cover them, instead of busting out the laminating machine.) 

So Eli has had a ball playing with these. But I didn't expect him to take them to his room where the United States map was and start playing with it that way. We moved the characters all around the country, having them travel from state to state. Luke Skywalker hung out with Princess Leia for a bit in Texas, they all had to escape from Darth Pig in North Carolina.

I didn't set out to do a lesson on the US States, but we ended up on one!

To make your own, google any coloring pages of what you want, color, and then cover with contact paper. Stick a 'hook' side of a velcro tab on the back and they will stick to felt and other items (like a rug!) :)

Enjoy!
~~Amy