I seriously cannot believe another month has flown by. Alas, it is now September and I’m so excited to share with you all the things that we accomplished during the month of August.
5TH GRADE
Last month we had the opportunity to continue our study with Creation to Greeks and Bear has been enjoying each lesson as we move along. We learned about the celebrations of the Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and celebrated the Sabbath. We found some Sesame Street videos explaining more about the Jewish culture and it the younger cool kids enjoyed watching them. So far, one of our favorite activities with C2G has been doing science activities. I found some great books featuring biblical science activities for all ages and I will be reviewing them on YouTube soon. Our next favorite part of this experience is the read-aloud options. We are working our way through Patricia St. John books and the stories are so descriptive and relatable. I’m told that I cry every other chapter. #fact
“My favorite part was watching the wrestling match and starting football. I like the new read aloud and I read five chapter books last month and I’m on my ninth Hank the Cowdog book.” Bear, 10 years old
KINDERGARTEN & PRESCHOOL
So far our journey through God’s Creation From A to Z has been quite a memorable experience for Bam Bam and myself. Each time we do an activity I am flooded with love and memories of doing those same things with Bear several years ago. I also realized that next year will be the last opportunity I have to teach this kindergarten curriculum to my children. For Princess, I chose ABC, What Will I Be from Schoolhouseteachers.com as her basis for this year. This program teaches a new career for each letter in the alphabet and includes various activities. We have several manipulatives and worksheets that I use to cover math for both levels.
Our days are quite simple since I have combined some of the elements from both curriculums to make teaching easier. We start our day with the Bible lesson and then we move into the letter of the week. I print off the corresponding career from Princess’s curricula and doing a letter curriculum and we learn about that next. So far their favorite has been the Music Teacher lesson. They were able to compose music using an app and even pretend to direct an orchestra while I taught Bear his music lesson.
This month we kept science super simple by painting with water outside. This taught us about evaporation, heat, and how clouds are formed. We also played Operation to coincide with Bear’s Anatomy and Physiology curriculum. The children got a kick out of this board game, especially when they missed the mark.
“My favorite part was doing the mingos te-tastion (Flamingos presentation). And I like painting on the sidewalk with water and making footprints.” Princess, 3 years old
NEW THINGS I TRIED
I’ve purchased two large dry erase, magnetic boards for each my younger two to write and play magnets on while I am teaching their brother. This has kept them occupied quietly and out of my way so that Bear can get the quality time and attention that he deserves.
Last month I actually read our read-aloud books rather than choose the audiobook. The children enjoyed the change and asked me to continue reading them, including the Wizard of Oz series. I’m going to keep reading at home but I enjoy the character voices too much within the Oz series so I might let Hoopla handle it.
I decide to pair Bam Bam’s speech therapy with Princess’s review time. We’ve been playing games three times a week and during that time I teach speech and letter/number recognition. Turning into a speech therapist has been an exciting transition. I have a video coming up this month sharing about our speech therapy journey and I can’t wait to share with you. Using the game time has made it easier to teach both without making our school day an hour longer.
See an updated tour of our Homeschool Learning Center via this recent YouTube video.
EXTRACURRICULARS & REWARDS
This month Bear read Julis Caesar for book club while we read Who Ate All the Cookie Dough by Karen Beaumont. We found a cool online course on this Shakespeare play that Bear enjoyed taking. We also watched a movie on YouTube that showed the cartoon version. In our Book Club meeting, the younger two explored poetry by writing about their snack. As they ate I asked questions and wrote their answers down. We also used expired spices from my pantry to write our names.
The children took on various animals with this month’s research project. Bear picked an Orca while Bam Bam and Princess chose the Flamingo. Each presentation was wonderful and I was amazed at how much they learned. Bear took a different spin on his graphic this month and decided to draw a picture and write a poem. His enthusiasm never ceases to amaze me.
Since the cool kids had such a phenomenal month we rewarded them with some quality time. Princess and I had a girl’s day with shopping, lunch, and makeup time. The boys headed to our college alma mater to tailgate and watch a WWE wrestling match. We also enjoyed a skating party with our family. The time together was appreciated and we look forward to more rewards next month.
“My favorite part of August was going to book club, playing with my friends, and you being my teacher.” Bam Bam, 4 years old
Comment below:
What’s your fondest school memory and why?
Make this week grand,
Ta’Neisha K.
Marriage, Motherhood, & Homeschool 