Aa - Along the Alphabet Path

Good Afternoon!

I am finding a nice minute to blog our start to our journey Along the Alphabet Path and though we are not done (I still need to read our saint and fairy stories and do some art work and writing) we have enjoyed exploring Aa this week. We'll be moving quickly since this is a summer plan, so we will also be doing B and C this week before VBS starts up.

While I don't have pictures of our apple pie (we ate it too fast!), here are some other pictures of our Awesome Aa exploration! I'll add more pics as we go.

Here, we attempted the letter A with all three kids, but little Gift (our son) doesn't seem to get the memo:

The big hit (and I forgot to snap pics) was a scavernger hunt with baskets to find items in our home that start with the letter Aa. We found an American Girl Doll:

an angel....

an alligator....

"A" cute little boy...

We also read some great books:

We love Amelia Bedelia! She cracks us up!

We made our apple pie and did some GREAT geography (we are still building on it, we look at a country mentioned a day) from this book: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.I can't say check this book out fast enough! Go get it from the library. It is a great book! Great for science.

Other great stories we have read nightly or daily have been:

Angels, Angel Everywhere
Angelina Ballerina
The Art Lesson
The Little Airplane
and my childhood copy of The Value of Love: The Story of Johnny Appleseed

We also had an Aa picnic...we had apples....

and Aa shaped sandwiches....

Even little Gift had an Aa lunch!! Look carefully...

somehow our cheese even looked like an A:
 

It was a lovely way to relax and start our summer Along the Alphabet Path....

 

Homeschool Mama's Journal

In my life this week...

Swim lessons, potty training, a morning at the park, a morning at a play gym, cooking, cleaning, and maybe a nap? I need one! I feel run down....

 

 In our homeschool this week...

Our first week of Serendipity's  "Along the Alphabet Path". We started with the letter "A". Check back in a few days for pics and a write up (if you dare lol...will I get around to posting? hehe). We'll probably do 2-3 letters a week (much faster than the normal use of the "Path" - but this is just for summer learning) that bring us all together age wise. We've had so much fun so far! 

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing...

We hope to get out and about this weekend and see some museums or hike, or work on our garden this weekend. We are so behind!! lol

 My favorite thing this week was…

The fun "A" scavenger hunt we did the other day. The girls were SO excited. I never expected this start to our summer! I've also enjoyed napping, relaxing, and not doing much of anything lol!

What’s working/not working for us…

 Summer break is WORKING for us so far...hahaha!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

We have decided to go with the k12 curriculum for next year. I'm both excited and nervous as I LOVED how we did things this year. I'm just intrigued by the learning support and FREE materials for every subject and project we have and how many of the sources are what we did this year with "The Well Trained Mind".  I just wonder what the personal cost will be working so close with the state. 

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

I did some catch up posts below of our final weeks of the main school year...scroll down and see! Also a picture thought to share....

My summer swimmers! PE at its best!

I am hoping to make the rounds and meet more of you!! Thanks for your kind words!!!

(Don’t forget to stop by The Homeschool Chick and The Preschool Corner to be encouraged by other journal entries or to add one of your own.)

Natural History and Science Discoveries

Lovely looking through "night vision" goggles....(see next pic)

The view in her goggles (you see an alligator, possum and other animals)

Using a pulley

Microscope discoveries

native turtle

SSSSssssssssss....

Counting tree rings...

Bee Hive

Discovery Club House

log discovery

And reason #530 I love homeschooling together?

Learning with friends...

is always MORE fun!!!

The girls were listening to the audio CD of "Story of the World" and coloring in pictures and maps. It was really sweet how into they were....

Frontier Days

We recently took a family field trip to our local state park for their annual Frontier Days. We got to see what pioneer life was like in various forms from housing, culture, food and so much more. Here are some of our highlights. What a GREAT family learning experience!

 

Homeschool Mom's Journal

.I'm a new follower and reader of Sue at The Homeschool Chick and I'm so excited she is sharing so many wonderful ideas and creating a community for homeschooling families to come together on! I'm thrilled to take part in this Friday-Sunday meme about the ups and downs of homeschooling. I look forward to doing this weekly in time. I've needed something to help me journal here! I hope more of you join in!!! Also...if you scroll down my sidebar, I've added some buttons that lead back to Sue's pet projects of support!

In my life this week…

     Well - this week I have been dealing with various stages of sickness. I've been mildly dealing with a sore throat, and now our youngest daughter (who was supposed to have her 2 year old end of preschool program tomorrow) has a fever. I was supposed to go to see a dear friend, but she is sick as well - so in a way - it all worked out. This weekend we will focus on rest!!

In our homeschool this week…

      We are wrapping up our 1st year! I can't believe it! We ended today because I thought tomorrow would be busy at Valiant's school program, but the fever changed things. So, we'll just start vacation early! We could use it. We're not fully stopping homeschooling this summer, I have plans. You can read about them here. 

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

      For the next week, we are staying close to home - but we will hit up places like a local play gym, state parks, hike, watch movies, nap, and read! We may see friends, but otherwise, we could just have a "staycation" for a few days.

My favorite thing this week was…

     Seeing Lovely's excitement for learning, even knowing the thrill of summer vacation was just around the corner. 

What’s working/not working for us…

     In reflecting on our 1st year (which will probably be a post of its own) I would say what worked for us this year was our fantastic materials that came on the recommendation of "The Well Trained Mind". I loved all our materials and the challenge. We spent the whole year on some books that usually are semester books, but that may be because I assessed Lovely more advanced than she was. This was in her reading, and in Singapore Math. Now, I did a lot of the activities in the reader, so that lengthened its use, and when doing Singapore Math, I was stretch out the lessons, and create more reviews, than the text and activity book had. We will actually go into the summer with math so we can do Level 2A in the fall. We started this past fall in 1B. Our phonics book was also a "B" book (meant to last all year - MCP Phonics) and I really liked the materials, but they were a challenge for Lovely to read, but I think they really helped her learn with me. I also got behind on our Charlotte Mason dictation and writing - but we will continue that this summer. I hope to really hone in on these areas next fall!

     
     Highlights of this year also included working outside, nature hikes on a whim, art class, gymnastics and taekwondo, and being together as a family. I loved being a part of all the lightbulb moments! Other highlights have been improved parenting skills, me working on my patience, and Lovely and I learning to work together and like it. I feel very blessed in that area, so far...  


Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

     I would love for anyone to chime in on this post. Do you have any opinions on k12, staying on track, etc?  


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

Spelling Games!

I look forward to meeting so many of you!!! Thanks Sue!

Trying to post!

Hey There!

I am so behind on logging in our past month's work. I promise to get here ASAP. It seems when I take time to focus on the home/family, blogging goes out the window but I really want to log our highs and lows since mid April.

Quick question - does anyone have experience with the K12 program for homeschoolers? Many states have it, and offer it free through virtual home academies, etc. I've learned they use many of the sources I use, except they provide them all free to the family (it counts as public school - so I get to use my own tax dollars). Yes....there is more structure involved, but I have heard it is getting more flexible. Anyone want to chime in? I love they use so many "Well Trained Mind" and Charlotte Mason techniques.  Also, many of their explorations herald back to Waldorf. I feel like I'm getting courted and I want to research it....

Also, a quick comment on our summer plans. I am going into Waldorf country! We will be starting (and overlapping as we finish in the fall) with Along the Alphabet Path from Elizabeth Foss' Serendipity site. I'm looking forward to bringing my family together for learning this summer! We'll do this a little every day - probably in the hottest hours of the day when they can't be outside or at the pool, etc and the baby is napping.

How is your school year wrapping up?