she likes art

Patience enjoying pictures at the Gum Tree Museum Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Finally a Reader

We have a new reader at our house and yes I love it! It has been a hard road for PJ but, finally he is actually on it. Yes, Dick and Jane is sight reading at it's best but we needed to do something to boost his confidence and it seemed that letting him delve into some Dick and Jane was the key! I'm so happy to report that at 7 yrs old Preston James Hill is a reader!

Toni Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

School Lunch

This is what school lunch looks like most days at our house. Of course we have our occasional pb&j days but, I have found it takes as much time to prepare this lunch as it does sandwiches if I plan. Plus we start school so early most days that by lunch time we are absolutely famished and a sandwich just does not do the trick. What is lunch like at your house?

Toni

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Our house, almost

This week's art project for our art class at the C.H.O.I.C.E co-op was a house with paper bags. it was so much fun seeing the kids make their own creations. We had kids who even had snow on their lawns. I hated that I didn't get anymore pictures but, here is a sample of how we did it. I found the idea on pinterest, my newest addiction.

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Wordless Wednesday 9/21/11

Can you figure out which book we read today?

Hint: He's very hungry!

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Week 2

Wow! week 2 went quick. Sort of like most weeks do I guess. We finished the first lesson in Mystery of History. I will put pictures up of the beginning of our timeline soon. Also the boys and Little P are exploring astronomy with Apologia. We also have some supplementary books that we have been reading on the subject as well. Preston's reading base is growing steadily and surprises me daily. Little P always surprises me with her willingness to learn. We delivered meals on wheels this week and Little P had her tutu on the entire time. School for me has been a challenge but, I am using my stuck-to-it-tiveness to get things done. I am busy working on our calendar for the year. I have only gotten through December and I know the months go by so fast. It seems like we are getting into our routine and getting off to a good start for this school year. The kids love their co-op classes at CHOICE and Patience was extremely happy about her kindermusik class last week with Ms. Sandy and is looking forward to having fun tomorrow as well. Precious ran her first official meet on Saturday in Saltillo and did very well. She sprinted past ten people in the last stretch.

Well I guess that's about it. Lots of cross country practice, football practice, birthing project business, doula babies, my college homework, etc. etc. other than that we have not been too busy. Hope you and yours are doing great!

Toni

Day 2

Usually day 2 goes horrible because the kids figure out school is in and it's such a sad day. Maybe that will be day 3 this year. We started the day pretty late because I had homework and I was selfish and let them sleep in. Can you believe no one complained? :) Any who, today we reviewed math facts, and added our grammar studies, did more Mystery of History, and the younger ones worked on phonics.

Preston, at seven years old, is just now doing some early reading. I am so happy! He is reading Away We Go, which is one of the books in the Dick and Jane series and is almost done with it. It will be his first book to complete that is not one of the printable type or Bob Books. I am so happy he is progressing finally. I listened to all of the other mothers who had boys who read at their own pace and drew from their experiences and stayed patient. We just continued to read lots of literature to him to increase his knowledge base while he learned on his own time.

Precious, our ninth grader, is reading the unabridged version of Huckleberry Finn and is very shocked by the language. Tre', our 5th grader, is enjoying a children's classic version of Ben Hur.

Patience, our 5 yr old, is not classified by a grade yet. She learns so much from her older siblings. I would place her at 1st grade or so. She is reading better and better by the day. I didn't teach her to write last year but, she has taken it upon herself to learn. She copies the names that are on everything into her drawings as she did in the one below.

If you look hard enough you can make out the words"Toshiba", from Daddy's laptop where Tre' did his Rosetta stone Spanish this morning. "Mississippi history" from Precious' History book, "pencil tablet" from her writing tablet, "crayon" from the box, and some other assorted words. Just in case you were wondering this picture is of her daddy driving in "BIG MAMA our conversion van. She said that is her at the table playing cards with her brother.

Tomorrow is the first day of our co-op, C.H.O.I.C.E. The kids are looking forward to their classes and spending time with their friends. I am teaching only two classes this year. One is a creative writing class for high schoolers, the other an art class for 4yr old-2nd graders. I always finish these classes wishing they weren't over. I'm looking forward to school tomorrow since we had such an awesome day today. I love homeschooling! Patience says Hill house school is the best.

Toni

2011/2012 school year has begun!

Today marks our first "official" day of school this term. We normally "school" all year around but, this summer we were so busy with camp and short trips, we never got around to doing much of anything other than reading. The pupils at Hill learning academy decided to do the Pledge of Allegiance (which we do every school day) outside. It was the first chilly day of the season and I was wondering why would they want to do that but, who am I to extinguish their right to pledge where they feel comfortable. We are still waiting on a lot of our books to arrive so we are starting the term off mainly with review. We completed lesson 1 in Mystery of History volume I. Precious and Tre' both got started on their reading for the month in hopes to get ahead so they can earn some time "off" in the near future. We missed xc practice today but, Precious did run at the park to make up for it. Overall it was a good day.

Wordless Wednesday

Homeschool Freedom day!

My friend Mary Jo, started a holiday with her kids a few years back called homeschool freedom day. It's basically celebrated on the first day of school for our public/private school counter parts. I thought it was a wonderful idea and celebrated the first time last year. This year we had planned to meet other homeschoolers at our local splash pad but, I also told the kids since it was their freedom day they could sleep in. Well lol they slept in well past the time we were supposed to meet the others and we ended up braving the 100+ heat index. After 30 or so minutes out in the heat, I was so wishing I had brought a change of clothes for myself. I let them pick whatever they each wanted for lunch since I never am a short order cook once we are schooling. Of course PJ wanted oatmeal (yes for lunch, it's his chocolate-could be worse) , Tre' wanted pb and j, Cookey Face wanted a hot ham and cheese and buttered noodles and Precious toasted some bread and made a peanut butter sandwich. I had a concoction plate of all of these - minus the oatmeal. I just can't eat that in the middle of the day. We went to McDonald's for ice cream afterwards for a cool off. Once daddy was home we had a late dinner and watched movies off of netflix until everyone fell asleep. We had fun! Isn't that what homeschool freedom day is all about? Now it's time to get in planning mode. nope I'm not done with that yet..

Toni