Happy Thanksgiving!

The Eve Before the Feast of Thanksgiving I thought it would be fun to have a fancy tea party. Decorated with a Cornucopia, and fall leaves. A Real Table Cloth too! :D

The Menu Included Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Apples drizzled with Carmel, Homemade Chocolate Chip Scones, Orange Juice, and Lady Grey Tea. And we topped the scones with.....

Authentic English Clotted Cream. A Co-worker of my husband told me that Whole Foods sold it. I have always been anxious to try it. And my husband picked some up for me.
He did have a slightly disgusted face. He thought it looked like "Rotted cream" instead of "Clotted Cream" ;-)
It was actually quite delicious. More mild than cream cheese, not as heavy, but at lot more thicker than butter.

Care for some Apples?

Our tea party was followed by a reading from a children's book on the History of Thanksgiving. Sweetie about has that thing memorized.

Looking forward to the feast in the morning. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

~In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you~
I Thess 5:18

Fire Station Field Trip

Last Friday many of the home schooled kids from our church went to our local fire station. We all had a blast. I don't know what it is, but I think it is more fun to watch the kid's pleasure and delight than it is to experience such things for myself.
Here the fireman asked the kid's to shout if they were ready for the tour of the fire station and for a good time.

After taking a peek in to fire station and hearing the emergency signal broad casted out over the intercom, we were led out for the kids to take a turn at the fire hose.
Tiny Boy was in respectful awe towards all the firemen that day. He *truly* appreciated this field trip. Just look at his face!
And I think I know what Sweetie is *really* thinking in the back of her mind while holding this hose. She probably is wishing she could squirt her brother and sister with it. It's one of her favorite things to do with the hose at home, so why not this one?
A walk through of the cab of the truck. Tiny Boy didn't walk through. Instead he buckled himself up, ready to take a ride around the block. He was sort of disappointed to learn that he couldn't go for a ride.

But they did let him sit in the driver's seat. Pure joy is written on that face.

This picture cracks me up. The kids are looking at all of the truck's equipment. Look at Tiny Boy's pants. Those things *used* to fit him in the waist, but were too long. Now they are too short, and too big in the waist. He is three and a half, and I bought him those when he was 18 months old. Talk about getting the most ware out of your children's clothes. I guess I should invest in at least a belt?Again awe and respect.
More awe and respect. Sweetie thinks it looks a bit silly. The difference between boys and girls! LOL!





Trying on the gear
More awe. I don't know, but I am wondering if he is one of those kid's that won't change their minds about what they want to be when they grow up? I think he is at least seriously considering his career path.

Second Year in "Offical" Homeschooling

Monday, the 14th, we started our first official day back to school. I am trying to make this picture a yearly tradition.

Here is the First year of "K5" and Preschool for Bean

http://heartofamommy.blogspot.com/2007/10/first-day-of-kindergarten.html

Last year was the official "legal" year of Kindergarten for Sweetie. Legal meaning, I had to keep records and report to the superintendent of education.

http://atranquileducation.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-first-day-of-school.html

How much they have changed over the years. Oh my soul, I just cannot believe how fast they grow up and change. This year Sweetie wants to grow out her bangs, which makes her look two years older right off the bat as I brush them to the side and clip a Barrett in them.


Every year, I *try* to find a good deal on back to school clothing that goes on sale after the public schools are in session. I always tend to start a wee bit later than the public school does. The dresses the girls are wearing I found at Target for $7.00 each. And Tiny Boy got a new Shirt and Shorts as well. His little outfit was about the same price as the girl's dresses put together. I guess they don't put toddler clothes on sale after everyone goes back to school?
This is Bean's first year of "official" Kindergarten. I'd rather she wait until she was six to start Kindergarten. But her Birthday falls "just" in the time frame of having to begin school. Our state law is that children need to begin Kindergarten if they turn six on or after February 16th. I think. I can't remember the exact date. I do know that Tiny Boy can wait if need be as his birthday is February 1st. Which I am grateful, because Tiny Boy...well, I think he's just going to need that extra time. (whispers, if you know what I mean?)
Our curriculum for this year includes:

Math U See
Explode the Code Online
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Memoria Press Copy Book #1 (Both for Sweet and Bean)
Home school Coop Choir
And a little bit of unit studies for history, science, and other "electives"


For our first unit study, Sweetie wanted to study Germs. So I bought a "Germs" lap book from In the Hands Of A Child, and will be using that as my outline. (How Appropriate! Just in time for Swine Flu Season!)

Something that I started last year and got the idea from my best friend Esther, who got her idea from another blog; (I have been pounding my brain to remember the name of the blog, because it's a neat one to share!) is to have a back to school tea party. This year I set the table with a real table cloth and real china.

We had Mint Oreos, and Gingersnap Cookies, along with Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Really easy recipe...just open the box and put on a fancy cake stand. I served our refreshments with Apple Cinnamon tea, Sweetened with a bit of Stevia, and yummy smooth cream.

One of my friend's saw these pictures on my facebook and thought I was a cool mama because I did this. Well, I have never considered myself "cool". I have always been a bit "nerdy" But if she thinks I am cool, I'll take it! ;-)
At each place setting I had a fancy gift bag filled with special school supplies, and a few little extra goodies. All found at the Dollar Spot in Target. I also made them a little name tag for their place setting. Of course Sweetie's real name was on her card, and it was hand written in my ugly handwriting. But to keep her anonymous from wacky people, I used photo shop. ☺Next to her name is a left over princess sticker I had. Bean had the same concept. Tiny Boy had Smiley face stickers on his.

All in all it took about 10 minutes to put this tea party on the table...including the time it took to boil the water in the tea kettle, and brew the tea bags.
Here they all are. Patiently waiting. Patiently, as they *REALLY* want to rip open those bags to see what was inside.
Here's the loot. It included, New water colors, and cutesy puppy school folders, and little scotty dog notebook, cheapo rubber stamps, sparkly pencils, new crayons, and a sheet of stickers

After we cleared all the loot away, we had an enjoyable lovely afternoon tea. Which included good treats, good conversation and good memories

PS. Here is another lady who shared her back to school tea party on her blog as well. ♥

Fair Days

Our items are now entered into the fair. What a fun experience this has been. It's my/our first time ever entering anything into the fair, and I am excited to see what comes out of it.

I made the above page at Scrapblog.com. My Sister In Law showed this site to me, and boy is it fun and addicting! ;-)

As you can see we have a good sampling of things that are stumping the judges right now. I entered two pieces of photography. This:

and This:
I am not sure if they are considered good or not, but *I* liked them well enough. ;-)

Tiny Boy and Bean (as well as Sweetie) entered the egg decorating contest. They were so proud to see their eggs up on the display shelf! (And so was I, mind you. ;0) )

Other Things Sweetie entered were

Cream Cheese Cookies
A Draw String Tote bag that she sewed herself

And this water color painting of the sun

I entered a couple of other things:

Freshly Ground Whole Wheat Bread

And A Custom Boutique Outfit that I had made to sell on ebay, but never did. :(

The girls and Tiny Boy were both pumped with excitement as they saw the fair grounds transformed and workers hustling about busy setting up their stands and rides.

We also saw a friend from church helping out with the gathering of the goods.

Well, wish us the best! :)

Wordless Wednesday~Admiration

For More Wordless Wednesday photos, visit Five Minutes For Mom. Have a beautiful day!

New Post on Homeschool Blog

There is a new post over at A Tranquil Education Check it out!

A Homeschool Compliment

There is a new post in my homeschool blog, about a compliment I recieved yesterday.

Nature Walks

In My homeschooling Blog, I posted about our first series of nature walks. Please visit The Gentle Art Of Learning, and see some pictures :)

Back To School!

I have started a Homeschooling Blog called "The Gentle Art of Learning" . You can read about our first day of home school there. :) Click on the link above that says, "The Gentle Art of Learning" to read it.

The Gentle Art of Learning

Homeschooling has been on my mind lately. We begin officially in a couple of weeks. I have been worried if I will be able to really teach Sweetie how to read. I know I have pottied trained her, taught her colors, numbers and other things. But reading? That is a different story all together.

While I have been reading about the Charlotte Mason philosophy, the concept of not pushing a child; but allowing their natural curiosity to guide me into teaching them is brought up over and over again.

The idea sounded good, but was it true? While most kids Sweetie's age are already going into first grade, Sweetie who is now six, will be officially entering Kindergarten. I just played around with "school" last year, to see what direction I wanted to go with the "official" year.

I attempted to teach her to read. While she was grasping the concepts quite easily, she quickly would become bored and frustrated. After Christmas, I stopped pushing it. I had other things I needed to do.

Recently, Sweetie has been blossoming with her reading, on her own. She has taken an interest in words, and how they are "spelled" and sounding them out all on her own. Occasionally, she comes to me for help. And I help her with it.

Two nights ago, I spelled a word for my husband. It was the word Twix. I wanted him to get me a Twix candy bar, but I didn't want the children to know what it was. Sweetie asks, "What's a T-W-I-X? I told her to sound it out. So we went to her little chalk board, and I wrote Twix down, and she sounded it out, and read it!

She then asks, "What's a twix?" So I wrote the word "candy" on the board, and she sounded it out! By this time, she was quite taken with being able to read "hard" words, that she forgot all about the candy, and wanted me to write more words for her to figure out.

When Nana came to visit the other day, we showed Nana her abilities. Sweetie was quite proud and excited with herself.

While Nana and I were busy with something. The house grew quiet. When I walked out into the living room, I saw that Sweetie had written down many words on her white board. On her own, without *any* help from me. Without any formal curriculum. It was all just play in her mind. But she was learning! It was the Gentle Art of Learning. I took a picture of her white board:

I am so glad that I didn't push her more, and cause her to be frustrated with reading. Because now, it is fun for her, and she is enjoying it. Now, she wants to learn to read. And seeing this progress form her, has encouraged me *very* much. It is going to be a joy to teach her to "cipher" her letters, instead of a battle. :)

Speaking of the Gentle Art of Learning... My best friend has put together a Charlotte Mason Blog FULL of a tremendous amount of resources. Check it out.. It is Ancient Paths Schoolhouse She has done *alot* of work in order for other people to know where to begin with exploring the Charlotte Mason philosophy.

Also, I am working on building our home school blog. I am not sure how I am going to use it yet; I am still formulating it. But I'll let you know when it is ready to read.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Why I Have a Smarter Than Your Adverage Kindergarterner

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Last week, My niece and nephew came to visit from out of state. They were staying with my mother, and my kids *loved* their visit.

Last Wednesday, we went over to my moms, and the kids wanted me to make a list for a "treasure" hunt. On the treasure hunt list I wrote "lizard"

Sweetie and her 8yo boy cousin found a dead salamander somewhere, and brought it to me in a baggie.

Later on Sweetie told me she wanted to take it home and "isect" it. Sweetie has *always* had a fascination for bones for some odd reason. So I want to take advantage of t hat in a positive way, so guess what? I allowed her to take it home. "Ewww! Gross!Sicko! D-i-s-g-u-s-t-i-n-g!" I know.

What's worse, is that we got home late on Wednesday night, and Sweetie fell asleep in the car clutching to that "lizard" in a plastic baggie. My husband carried her in from the car, then he took the lizard and put it in the refrigerator, and didn't tell me about it. How thoughtful of him.

;-)

Sweetie woke up the next morning asking where it was; and I had no idea! I discovered it when I went to make their morning oatmeal!

My husband told me to buy an exacto knife to do the deed with, and so Friday afternoon, I went out and bought one. Plus a seem ripper, LOL!

Then Sweetie wanted me to do it with her. I told her that Daddy loved to do that kind of stuff, so he would do it with her. She waited so patiently to have some daughter- daddy bonding time of dissecting the lizard. And thankfully, my husband is kind of a science nerd, and he cut it open with her.

They found the heart, bones, blood, and the brain.

Sure, Sweetie didn't learn all of the technical terms and stuff about lizards. But she did a highschool project and hasn't even began kindergarten officially yet. Which I think makes her smarter than the average kindergartner, thank you very much. :)

Enjoy the pictures. Not for the faint of heart though!

Really! Who needs a Television when you can see all the blood, guts, horror and violence in real life?!

Cause of death: Unkown

It's Been Awhile

Hello Everyone! It is been over a month since I have blogged.It's been pretty busy so far this Summer.

Mainly, I have been trying to get my thoughts in gear about homeschooling. It is kind of intimidating me, but I know once I get going it will be Lots of fun!

I have been reading two books about the philosophy of education that I have chosen to use. It is the Charlotte Mason Method.

Charlotte Mason was a Christian Educator in England during the 1800's. Her ideas were bold and new; as she thought of children as *people* instead of "Children Should be seen and not Heard".

Her method of education is to cultivate a *love* of learning, rather than a bunch of head knowledge that the child may or may not retain. Another name for it is "The Gentle Art of Learning"

The Two Books I am reading About her, are:

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola and

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

An overview of the Charlotte Mason philospohy that I have learned so far includes:

1.Using "Living Books" These are books that are biographies, auto biographies, books written entirely on the subject that one is studying. Rather than a text book that only gives a simple outline.

2. Narrating the living Books. Once you read a book or chapter to the child, the child is supposed to narrate the book back to you. This helps the child retain what he has learned. And as he/she gets better with narration, the child will developing strong listening skills.

3.Vocabulary This is taken from the new words that they child will read or hear from the living books

Right now that is about all I have gotten to in the Charlotte Mason Companion. :)

Charlotte Mason also wrote an exhaustive six volume set. I haven't plowed my way through those yet. They were my mom's when she was homeschooling me, and I inherited them from her. Hopefully, I will be able to get around to them in the future.

Based on this philosophy; but knowing that I would probably get overwhelmed without some sort of guide, I kept searching for curriculum already planned out for me.

Through The Home school Lounge I was led to My Father's World. (click on the link to read about this curriculum.)

So this year Sweetie will be going through Kindergarten "officially" using this curriculum.

have it already ordered and it is here. Every day I am getting more and more excited. I have been rearranging the house over and over, trying to make room for the supplies, and to encourage the *love* of learning atmosphere.

Hopefully, I will be able to blog more in the coming days. For now, I will leave you with some pictures of getting our curriculum. :)