St. Nicholas

We have been learning about Christmas Traditions around the world this month, and on Monday the kids woke up to a wonderful suprise! St. Nicholas filled one of their sneakers each with healthy treats and gifts for the kids to enjoy! I was so excited for them, that I forgot to take pictures. In Germany, Christmas celebrations start on December 6th with St. Nicholas filling childrens shoes or socks with treats.

Holiday decorations

The kids and I had fun decorating a tree for the learning room...the ornaments onteh tree are all school themed and were purchased at K-mart (great gift idea for teachers).
The gifts under the tree were picked out, and wrapped by each of the kids for a child from the giving tree.

Some of our field trips

One of our local home school organizations hosted a Thanksgiving Day reinactment. The kids and I attended and we had a blast! Camden was the King of England, and he really got into his role...it was great! Riley was an indian. Following the show, we ate a thanksgiving day feast with all of the participant! It was a bit of a cold day, but it was fun none the less.



We went to the zoo and walked through the nocturnal animals exhibit, my favorite animal was the skunk! The kids liked the bats.

Arts

The kids and I had fun making Christmas gifts this year...here is Riley painting part of one of her gifts...sssshhhh, don't tell!

Pilgrimage

With Thanksgiving approaching, we have been learning about pilgrims and indians. We have made trunks, and pilgrim hats to prepare for our journey from England to America and today we started our journey. We sorted through 12 items and packed only those that the pilgrims may have packed for their two month journey. We read a letter from a pilgrim girl on the Mayflower, and discussed what each item in our trunks might be used for. We will continue on the journey for the next 6 school days.
Check out The First Thanksgiving for more fun ideas!!!

Food Drive

Camden collected 9 bags of food for Cub Scouts to support our local food pantry in Chaumont. He was very independent in this activity, and did a great job! He also is the top popcorn seller for his pack! He loves Lion Scouts!

Bar Graphs and Tying Shoes

Camden and I worked on tying shoes today...willingly! O.K., so I bribed him, but the deal is that he can get a new DS game to play when he independently ties his own shoes. He has the skill, can slowly tie with very little help, and only needs verbal ques to tie...so this reward might come sooner than later! Also, Camden and I made a bar graph. We used our pattern blocks and recorded data (the amount of each block used in a pattern) then added up our numbers for use in the bar graph. He had FUN! It was nice to work with only one kiddo today. Riley did not join us today until we were done so she colored a few states on a US map. This morning we had ice skating, the kids are doing GREAT! Camden can skate independently and he goes pretty fast too. Riley CAN skate alone, however she still likes having someone hold her hand...I do not blame her! There will be an Ice Skating Recital mid December for the kids to show off their newly learned skill.

Field Trip

We went on an outing to the Burrville Cider Mill where we took a walk to the falls, learned about the making of apple cider, and then tasted apple cider, ate a cider donut, and picked apples! We had a nice day.

First Day of Ice Skating

Ice Skating is a hit! The kids are in their 5th week of lessons...they can now officially skate without a "walker"...they just do not like too! Here are pics from their first lesson.

Substitue Teacher -- Mr. Dad

So I took a day off and scheduled a Lady's Day Out on Monday November 2nd. Sunday night I wrote up my lesson plan and Monday morning I passed it along to Kevin! Actually, I got the kids through Reading, Writing, and started with Math before I ventured off for the day; but then Kevin took over and finished Math with the kids, he managed to do a science lesson and worksheet with the kids, review our home address and phone number, read a book and had a discussion with the kids on it, fed them morning and afternoon snacks and lunch, and then took them to the zoo and park!!!! All of this in a 4 hour period of time! I am very impressed, since the zoo and park were his idea and a complete bonus. He even wrote down the notes I asked for in the lesson plan. He earned an A+ as a substitute in my book. What started out as hesitation on his end has resuted in a plan for him to substitue once a month. Not a bad idea considering Home-schooling is truely a family effort.

Yoga and Batting Practice

On Wednesdays, the kids and I have been going to a Family Yoga class. The kids love it, and so Dad came with us this past week. Some of the kids favorite positions are: Bridge, Bee, and Child Pose (Pictures shown). Riley said her favorite was the Elephant pose, and Camden liked the Owl. My favorite is Downward Dog, and Tree. This class is very basic, but that is why it works so well for the family. Even Kevin said it was fun!

Following Yoga we head upstairs and use the batting cage for a little year round batting practice. This is Camden's sport, but Riley and I are sure to get some fun in too. Even Daddy had a turn this week...Can you say, Go Team Rickman!

behavior chart

I am implementing a weekly/monthly behavior chart in October. I think the traveling in September has thrown the family routine off. This is a visual for the kids to see how their behavior is during the day. I used it last year, but steered away from it over the summer. The kids loved it and often reminded me to record their day's outcome. I'll try it for the month of October to see if it helps.

August/September Work

Here is a photo of the kids with most (not all) of their worksheets over the past 5 weeks (they have work books in most subjects as well that are not shown). I save work that I need to observe improvements on such as writing, coloring, and personal projects; all other work gets saved for Dad to look through and file/dispose of as he chooses.

Yoga

Wedneday, The kids and I took a family yoga class...It was a blast. I will try to bring my camera this comming week, no guarantees though. After all, it is YOGA! We loved it and have decided that Wednesdays are for Yoga and following, Batting practice! Gotta love the YMCA.

Mathematics

Camden is digging math! He learned how to do vertical math earlier this week (although I am not sure he likes it yet) and we have talked about how each digit has a place (1s, 10s, 100's etc.). Riley has been very motivated to learn how to tie before Camden, and also is striving to read along side of him. She needs to learn how to blend her sounds, but then she will give Camden some competition.

Science Goggles

I have been wanting to make these goggles since August, but have waited until we actually did a science expirement. Today we learned about Solids, Liquid, and Gas. We did the "Magic Balloon" experiment (use an empty water bottle, add 4 tbls. vinigar, set aside. Next fill a deflated latex balloon with 2 tbls. baking soda using a funnel. Stretch balloon opening over water bottle opening carefully--do not allow powder to fall into bottle. When ready, lift balloon to make a solution, and watch the chemical reaction. What happens?) and the kids eyes were suprised at the reaction. Following the experiment, they each drew a picture of the before and after. We have the pictures hanging up in the learning room.

Vacation

School was limited last week because of all the hussle and bussel, however I did manage to get in a few lessons. I have to share how proud I am of Camden though. He has really been trying to read, and while we were in the grocery store, he used my notebook and pen to write out his own addition problems, and then solved them. We have company visiting Monday and Tuesday so I will continue to limit the lessons, however, we will be schooling Wednesday-Sunday this week. I will update this weeks outlook soon.

Sackets Harbor

We went on an outing to Sackets Harbor where we learned a lot about the war of 1812 between the British and Americans. Camden loved every bit of it, while Riley tired very easily...she was a "trooper" though. Camden kept calling the soldiers, wariors, which I found funny. I realized that I never told him they were soldiers until the very end! We have also been "playing" alot and using our imagination. The next couple of weeks we will be visiting family so our studies will be in Maine, I am very excited about that. There is so much to do and see, and the kids will get to experience so much while we are there.

Blogging

I will not be updating this portion of my blog on a daily basis. I will however try to keep it updated once a week for those who are interested in following my progress. Thank you all for your support.

Love,
Sonia

First Day of School

We officially started school today! Everything went well. The kids enjoyed a full day of activities, and fun; and Dad even sat in on our "first day of school craft". We are all fighting off sinus infections, and that made for a testy day. However, all things considered, we are ready for tomorrow.

Our Learning Room

Here it is! The long awaited space where we will be having fun while we learn.