School Days

We started our school year the same day that our county schools started, which was August 20th. That means we have had 6 weeks of school craziness. It has been a lot of fun-and educational. Amelia is working on 1st grade material and Judah is doing some 4K stuff- and Annalise, well she's doing a little bit of everything!

The source of the sour faces-but why make my children eat a lemon? You will have to read Lentil by Robert McCloskey.

And of course after reading Lentil all children need to pretend to be in a marching band!

Play Dough is a weekly event during school hours.

I included this picture from the Pisgah National Forest because while we were there we collected materials for our Salamnder Room (by Anne Mazer).

Our Salamnder Room

While in the Pisgah Forest, we also found this fun kit. Amelia brought it to show-and-tell at our Mommies Group/Homeschool Co-op. She did a great job explaining an amphibious life cycle.

A little silliness makes the school day fun!

Gross Motor Skill building activities are often favorites-this involved counting, chalk, and water-you can beat an activity that involves water!

Oreo Moon Cycles-yeah-OREOS-and only half a cookie makes it to the paper.

When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant (one of my favorite authors of children's books) tells of life in Appalachia-very conveniently we have a one room school house on display in Gaffney-we had to pay it a visit.

Yes Amelia is holding a scorpion!

We participated in a field trip to meet the Critter Keeper-and he put on a good show. He had several animals and many kids got to be volunteers in the show!

Making Clouds

While studying Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz, we spent time learning about weather-and when you can make clouds with soap and toilet paper you can have fun while getting clean!

Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say is a great book about family connections. You might have guessed by the picture, but it led to a study on Japan.

Sometimes we study the style of the artist who illustrated the book we are studying. Sometimes we study different aspects of the art itself. We looked for shadows in Grandfather's Journey and talked about light sources and shadow casting. We are pointing out the details that enhance a story or a picture at this stage so that as the kids get older they can replicate those elements in their own art/writing, as well as appreciate them in another's work. 

All in all it made for a fun time outside making shadows.

And invariably led to a game of shadow tag-although it was short-lived for multiple reasons!

Amelia made these fun cats with her pattern blocks

And whatever Amelia does-Judah and Annalise do also!

Of course we have an ongoing science project on rabbits! They make great class pets-anybody want one? :) We plan to show them at the Fair next month, so hopefully 3 of our 5 will find new homes!

Amelia has the opportunity to be a part of a lot of extracurricular activities. She attends the Good News Club, attends our Church activities, does Gymnastics, participates in our Mommies Group/Co-op, and has just started Girl Scouts. We are so thankful for all of these opportunities-and for the opportunity to homeschool-we get to live life to the fullest-together! Praise be to God, and thank-you mom and dad for your support, and to all of those who have encouraged us along the way-Thank-You!