Everyday Life

Today is rainy and cool. In my opinion, the perfect Autumn day.

We have finished school today, a big thanks to Liberty's Kids for taking over History for us today :)

We've finally(!) started painting around here. No beautiful colors, but fresh paint always feels so nice.

The boys wrapped up their fall soccer. We did Upward this year and absolutely loved it. They learned so much more than soccer. They loved it so much that we are started basketball in a few weeks. They've never played, but I'm sure they'll love it!

Speaking of a few weeks. Uh hm. The holidays are already upon us!? I kinda thought this year just started.
I am pretty excited about sharing another holiday season with the boys. They absolutely love this time of year. It's so special.

I'm reading Women Living Well and joined the Bible Study over at Biblical Homemaking. I am learning SO much. I truly appreciate the wisdom of godly women.

I found these pictures Tristin took of Brighton last week. Oh these boys make me smile!

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Homeschool Series: Curriculum Year 2/3

Thank you to those of you following along my homeschool series! You can find our how I lesson plan here, and the curriculum we're using for Year 0 here.

I am doing a combined year 2/3 because I added in some classical curriculum last year and couldn't quite get everything from Ambleside's year 2 in.

Bible:
Tristin does his own quiet time every morning and then we do a Bible study together and he follows along. We still use The Family Reading Bible.

This year we will be keeping a Bible notebook. This is how we will learn as much as possible using His word. So yes, we will be writing scripture and drawing pictures but we will also include any and everything you can possibly think of.

For example: if we read Isaiah 30:21

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

We will copy it. Learn any new word we didn't know.  We could talk about different spellings and meaning of the word right. Talk and draw about which way is left and which way is right. Then, we could take it further by learning other ways to describe left and right like north and south. We could find it on maps, or go outside to figure it out. After that it would only make sense to learn east and west :)

I will be keeping track of these lessons in our notebooks and will share them on the blog as we do them

Math:

We will be reviewing multiplication and division as well as his mental math with long addition and subtraction, then we will go through Math Lessons for a Living Education. as well as Family math and Ray's Arithmetic.

Fine Arts Term 1:

A Treasury of Poetry for Young People 

Giotto Picture Study Portfolio 

Haydn

Tales from Shakespeare

Literature:

Ambleside online year 2   year 3 (we have read some of these already)

History:

 combined Bible,  Story of the World volume 2, and Child's History of the World

Language Arts:

The Bible.

Proverbs to Cursive to learn cursive and then He will start copying the Bible.

He will be finding and writing phonograms from Bible passages as well as new words that go along with the phonics or spelling we are studying.

He will find synonyms, antonyms, homophones, nouns, pro nouns, plurals, compound words, the subject of the verse, predicates, diagramming etc..

He will learn to use a dictionary for words he doesn't know.

He is also doing Don Potter's Roman Reader and Gospel of mark Club.

We are using Learning to Spell Through Copy work and I will use it as a guide to plan lessons using the Bible for spelling.

Nature Study/Science:

We will be taking nature walks with a nature backpack full of sketch books, pencils, paint, magnifying glass, and jars.

Books to use:
Burgess Bird Book
Handbook of nature Study
Science in Your Own backyard
Drawn to Nature
Big Book of Science and Nature
New Way things Work
My Nature Journal

We will be studying birds, apples, pumpkins, moon phases, weather patterns, the sun, the way things work (when it gets too cold to go outside) simple machines, the earth: layers and rocks and minerals.

I think that about covers it! Are you all ready for the new year? Or have you started?

Homeschool Series: Curriculum Year 0

If you've followed me for any amount of time you know I love Charlotte Mason. Her method is so gentle and rich in living books and learning, and that's exactly what I love.

In the last year or so I branched out to include the Classical method which I love as well, but was happily surprised this year when God interrupted my plans and asked me to use His word instead of the grammar and writing (more for 3rd grade) I had originally had been planning to use under the classical curriculum.




So with out further ado here is what we've come up with this year.

Let's start in Year 0 shall we?


Year 0 is similar to Kindergarten but very short and gentle. You can adapt this to use in Preschool as well.

He does quiet time first thing in the morning using one of the children's bible we have.This one or this one. He usually goes through the pictures or stories we've read before, and he loves to copy them word for word.

We will be reviewing the letter sounds, Leap Frog Letter Factory is a favorite way to review this and I'm going to let home make his own alphabet scrap book using Mr. Printables Alphabet book.  I will have him cut and glue items from magazines and draw. He loves stuff like this and he knows his sounds but I would like to make sure it's mastered.

Reading: 20 min a day.

I mentioned above that we will be using the Bible a lot, so this is how I will use it for him.

Every morning during Bible time, we read the Bible. He will sit right by me and read along side me. Tristin opens his own Bible and reads along with us.

I will read the same story/verse all week so he becomes quite familiar with the words.

Along with that I use The 3 R's as a guide on blending and new words. We will not get in any hurry and just keep going at his pace. We will use the Bible, Bob books, Nora Gaydos books , Frog and Toad, and
 Little Bear to practice reading.

I can go into more detail of the actual lessons if anyone is interested.

Writing:
He is copying the Bible and using Delightful Handwriting

Math:

I want to finish Singapore Essential Math and then we're going to move into more of a living style math.
I love using the book Family Math for games and ideas that reinforce math. We love Sum swamp for adding and subtracting. And for oral practice and on the board I'll use Ray's Arithmetic.

Some fun math ideas and goals:

play dominoes
roll dice to 100
use beads and pipe cleaners for counting and number bands
sorting by size, color etc.
3D shapes Mummy Math
Introduce measurement, estimation, volume, estimate, money

Literature:
We will be using Five in a Row
I love this because we will read the same story all week and use the guide for discussions about the history, geography, and more each day.
We may add a project per book but I haven't planned that yet.

We will also be reading the Ambleside booklist for year 0.

Nature: he will join our nature walks which I will post about, but I wanted to add that we LOVE the
Barenstain Bears Big Book of Nature

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I love this List of Attainments that we'll be working towards:

"A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six", a reprint of a curriculum outline from a CM school in the 1890's.

1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns
2. to recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm
3. to add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters
4. to read--what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child
5. to copy in print-hand from a book
6. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows
7. to describe the boundaries of their own home
8. to describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach
9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from early Roman history (my note here, we may want to substitute early American for early English!)
10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views
11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees
13. to know 6 birds by song, colour and shape
14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed
15. to tell three stories about their own "pets"--rabbit, dog or cat.
16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences
17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song
18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.

Summer Reading List (not for homeschool)

Last week I posted our reading lists. One for the kids, and then one for me as a homeschooler.
This week I wanted to share what is on my list for spiritual growth and my just for fun reading.

We read the Bible as our daily devotions with the boys and have just started Created for Work with them.

I have already started reading Anything and joined the online Bible Study over at Good Morning Girls. I'm actually doing this with a wonderful friend of mine!

I also started Cold Tangerines. I relate so much to this book. You know, I'll start living when... we have the money, I lose weight, the boys are a bit older etc..

Follow Me. I really like when I can feel Jesus in an author's book. I've read Radical, so I'm excited to read Follow Me now.

I'm finishing The Kitchen House. Really enjoying this. It's such a well written story. I love it when a story draws you in so much that you can feel the air, smell the smells, and really feel the emotion.

Cleaning House. I am on a huge kick to get organized and have a place for everything in our home and want for nothing. No more stuff.

The Paris Wife. Because I've always wanted to read it, and I just may be the only person left who hasn't read it yet.


The Lost Husband. Because really I can't pass up a summer story based in Hill Country can I? Must be the Texan in me :)

My Summer Reading List and Lectures: Homeschool/Parenting

Yesterday, I shared what books we will be reading this summer together, as well as what school will look like for the next few months.

Today I wanted to share what is on my list. I love a whole range of genres, but am feeling right now in the mood for home school encouragement and spiritual encouragement. As well as some books related to a few goals I have, so let's get started!

Home school:

The 3 R's is a big one on my list. I've had moments to go through it, but have read it completely. I'm looking forward to using her ideas to teach (and focus) on the 3 R's with Brighton (Kindergarten). After looking through it, I really could of used this for Tristin (my little guinea pig).

Charlotte Mason Companion is one of my favorite books that I dabble in all throughout the year. It is SO full of the most inspiring reflections of learning. I set some goals, and read the chapters that will help with those.

The Well Educated Mind. This book is a guide to the classical education you never had. How to train your mind for classic literature. Something I was never taught, but really enjoy now.

Deconstructing Penguins. This book helps you to teach kids how to get the most of the books they're reading. I read it last summer, and can't wait to read it again!

For the Children's Sake. I've read this one a few times and am ready to tackle it again. I really love this book. If you love the idea of Charlotte Mason, you must read this!

I'm right in the middle of Simplicity Parenting and boy do I love the common sense in this book. It hits the nail on the head about what the effects of too much stuff (toys, media, activities) is having on our children.

When Children Love to Learn. I have never read this one, but have wanted to for so long...don't you just love the title? Also based on the Charlotte Mason method.

For homeschooling, I also love to listen to lectures, conventions, or read articles that keep me going. Some on my list are:

The Circe Institute. See the one down there on teaching boys who would rather be playing in forts?? Eh hmm

The Society of Classical Learning has some of they're recorded sessions from past conventions available for free. A ton of great info here.

The 21 videos from Ambleside Schools International (based on Charlotte Mason) are something I will be listening to again this summer for sure!

And Dr. Cyr's videos called The Pursuit of Maturity (though I haven't listened to all 3 hours) really made me think. You'll be inspired not to raise an immature child, and know the effect video games have in this roll. Plus a whole lot more I'm sure.

Summer is a great time for parents to reflect and get inspired to teach our children in a way God has placed in our lives.

What is on you reading list?

Next up: the rest of my summer reading.

Summer Reading: Homeschool

I'm still stuck in May. Does that surprise anyone??
We went on vacation at the beginning of May so you can bet I have a lot of pictures to share. Soon.
I have (for the past few months) been preparing for our summer schedule.
We are almost done with our Math and reading programs. We already finished spelling, but I'm debating whether or not to keep it going through the summer on a new level or not.
For now we will just review, at least until mid July.

Our summer schedule is going to be short and sweet. For math we will review with games and activities.

I'm bringing out Family Math. A wonderful book with games for helping in math for all levels. The boys have always loved this book, and I can't wait to see what new games are in store for us this summer!

I'll be reading Ray's Arithmetic aloud to the boys while they work on our chalkboard wall. You can use it for free here.

I'm also going to purchase a few games to play weekly with the boys.
Speed, for multiplication review.
Zues on the Loose
and I'm bringing our Sum Swamp for teaching Brighton to add and subtract. Tristin loved this game at his age!

And then we have reading!!
I am so thrilled about this summer and all the reading activities we have lined up. I mean, really excited about this haha.

First of all, have you heard of Thriving Family? It's a magazine from Focus on the Family, and this summer they are offering a summer activity called Around the World in 60 Days. It's a free "trip" around the world! You'll have the opportunity to explore 27 different countries on six continents. For each day of the trip, they have a biblical lesson and an activity that will give you glimpse into another culture.

Along with that, I came across a FANTASTIC summer reading list all about adventure at Redeemed Reader!
Seriously, you do not want to miss this! They have a wonderful list of books and alternate books for all ages. Be sure to check out the current posts like this one, that include activities and journaling ideas.

I am going to buy or make a summer reading notebook for the boys. Hopefully it will be full of interesting and wild adventure by the end of the summer. And they would have learned history, geography, art, science, writing, and reading without really even knowing it! Pretty sneaky ;)



Some books and activities we will be reading and journaling this summer are:


 We are going to read The Green Ship, and along with creating our kid friendly backyard I will be using Se7en's green ship inspiration. Oh my!

Around the World and will be doing the discussion questions and note booking ideas that I mentioned already.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

Toot & Puddle Top of the World

Dodsworth series is so much fun.

The Middle of Somewhere (after Around the World)

The Penderwicks :A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (bedtime reading)

Mr. Poppers Penguins Audio CD

The Wind in the Willows

Mercy Watson (we sure love this pig!)

Library Lion

Nate Saint

Continue our reading through Little Pilgrim's Progress. Tristin LOVES this book.

How God Used a Thunderstorm for family devotional.

Pippi Longstocking

Little Tim and the Brave Sea Capitan

My Father's Dragon Series

Nature:

The boys are very big into constellations right now, so we will be spending most nights sitting outside looking and seeing what all we can find! I may pick up a copy of Find the Constellations.

They are also loving learning about birds (part 2 coming soon). I have an incredible bird app that we love to explore and listen to. And we will be reading the Burgess Bird Book on our kindle. Cards to go with the book. And these beautiful birds would be wonderful for nature journals or hanging on the wall.

If you follow me on instagram (Jeana B) you know that we were observing the sky one day. While doing that we talked about the clouds, rain, and then how a rainbow is made. It was so much fun just to sit on the back porch and discuss all of their interests! We then got the hose and made our own rainbow. They just loved it!
A Drop of Water look like a beautiful book I'd love to get my hands on.

On lazy days I am thrilled to have found The Magic School Bus episodes on netflix. Woohoo!

What are your plans for the summer? What's on your reading list?

I'm working on a book list for myself. I'll share that one when I'm done!

Have a great summer! Grab a glass of tea or lemonade, sit outside in the sunshine, and bring some books along!

Learning to Read

I mentioned last month that we took a break from everyday school to focus on reading in hope that Tristin would become more confident and actually enjoy reading.

I'm proud to say that it worked!

Tristin is one of those kids that learned the sounds of his letters in one week and is wonderful at math, so naturally I decided to teach him to read when he was 4.

I picked up the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and we took off. Only, he was in tears after the first few lessons.

We took a 6 month break, started the book again at 5. Same story.

And at age 6 I tried it again. We made it 70 lessons, and finally realized  it just wasn't clicking.

At the beginning of this school year, I picked up All About Spelling thinking if he learned the rules then it would make sense. It did! We were finally getting somewhere.

After evaluating (in my own head) the first semester, I felt he he needed a boost of confidence in reading. I wanted him comfortable with reading. And you know, not dreading it everyday. I dropped everything else. but reading, writing, and spelling for one month.

We continued with All About Spelling, and I added writing and copy work, sight words, and we added the last half of (yes again!) Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy lessons.

I had this Silly Starters flip book, where he would flip though it and have to write a story, poem, questions, or letter about whatever he flipped to. He loved this! He would make up a short story, and I would write it for him, and then he would copy it in his angry birds notebook.



Then we would work on a lesson of All About Spelling. (He finished level 1!)



I found a list at Jan Brett's website of Dolch Sight Words and we played the bang game with them. This worked like a charm.

*print one word on each index card
*make a few index cards with the word BANG on them
*put them in a box or coffee can
*mix around
*set the timer
*take turns pulling out a card. If he you get it correct keep the card. if not, put it back in. If you get a BANG card, all your cards go back in.

I used words that I thought he needed work on, and added a few new ones as he mastered some of the old ones.

I also used the list of words he was working on and made them his copywork some days, spelling words some days, and our own homemade crossword puzzles some days.



After all of that, we would go back to the Teach You Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (the last 50 lessons) and do 2 a day. I'm happy to report that he loves this as well! Whew!

We went to the library and I let him pick any books he wanted to read to me. I also picked chapter books I thought might interest him and we read, read, read. Turns out he LOVES Henry Huggins and Nate the Great! Those books made him love reading. He has always loved me reading to him, but now, he picks them up on his own and starts reading them.

We still have  a lot of work to go, but I'm so excited to see him interested and enjoying reading!

I will continue most of these things throughout the rest of the year. I'm considering adding the last 100 lessons or so of The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading which I've heard takes reading a bit further than 100 Easy Lessons, or Reading Pathways.

I have also started the 100 Easy Lessons book with Brighton (just turned 5), and it's a whole new story with him. He loves it! Ha ha, you never know.

Enjoying January

I am not one that has always loved January. I used to find it long and dull. I mean what can you expect from a month that follows Christmas?! haha

Over the years I've truly learned to enjoy the newness and opportunities for fresh starts that January always brings. I have to admit, I do not enjoy the cold, but the rest? Yes.

January is a still and quiet month. A month to reflect on goals and plans. I also like to work on projects in January. We wanted to get started on our painting this month, and now halfway into the month, we've yet to start. It just makes me laugh at how I used think this month was SO long. I can't even keep up with it these days!

I have been doing our school work like I mentioned a few posts ago. I can see Tristin improving, but most important, I can see that he is starting to like reading. And that my friends, was the whole point of this! He is having fun with it all. I couldn't be happier about that! Can't wait to update more in the next few weeks.

We have also started giving Jaiden a whole lot of one on one time. After he gets home from school, my husband (if he's home) takes Jaiden up to his room, just to play. Whatever Jaiden wants to do. And I, sit with him at the table before dinner and play games or read with him. His attitude have improved. The real test will be in a few weeks when our schedule changes. Please pray with us on this?

God has shown me that he has big plans for these boys, and one of my desires for them all is to learn and to love reading. My prayer is that they learn to love reading God's word. God is showing me that He wants that for them (all of them!) as well. My time with Jaiden is spent working a lot on reading. I have a bunch of ideas, and will share those as soon as I finish writing it all out.

That leaves us with Brighton. This child is one who has a difficult time listening and paying any kind of attention, yet we've begun teaching him to read and he gets it...like it's no problem! Don't you love how different they all are?

I have also been doing my cooking, cleaning, reading and watching Downton Abbey and Parenthood. Those are the only shows that I just love to watch. I look forward to Sunday and Tuesday nights. A bit disappointed that Parenthood's season finale is next week. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. Really and truly bummed about it ha.

I've been listening to podcasts with Andrew Kern that are renewing my love for homeschooling. I have also renewed my love for having them memorize. I know that Classical and Charlotte Mason use memorization as key in their methods, but we fell off our memorizations when we moved (eh...9 months ago) and never got back into it. Articles like Memorization Should Not be a Lost Art, Edie"s list of what her girls are memorizing, Shawni's post about poetry really struck a chord with me. So I ordered this book and will use it as my guide, as well as scripture.

My last goal is to paint one wall in our family room with chalkboard paint. I know that's not an original idea by any means, but the more we are getting into grammar, writing, multiplication etc, the more I find myself longing for one. Hopefully I can get that done this month too!

I sure am enjoying these boys of ours. I hope you all are having a great start to the new year!

School Days

My goal this year is to try to do school 5 weeks and use the 6th week for planning. I can look over our 5 weeks in advance, order books, visit the library, print anything I need to print ahead of time.

That works best for me, because if I don't have what I need when I need it, I kind of get stuck..and don't proceed well after that.

I look through my list of Read Alouds, History literature, Ambleside readings, Fine Arts prints and resources, and projects that we will cover over the next 5 weeks and either print them, get them from the library, or order them.

We are already starting our 4th week of the 2012-2013 year! Wow. Here's what we've been up to and will continue this week and next before we break of my week of planning.

Bible: Family Reading Bible (Genesis)

Brighton (pre K): My Father's World days of Creation, letter S and sun study. We will begin letter M and moon study tomorrow, and next week will be letter L and leaf study.

I do not do every activity in the curriculum with him because he is in preK and we only spend 30 min. a day on his lessons.

Tristin (year 2):  Singapore Math 2A (3 pages a day)

Spelling: All About Spelling Level 1, we are on lesson 6, we started slowly to make sure he is mastering his lessons. Ending next week on lesson 10 or 12 ish.

Foreign language: We have started Greek. I didn't mention this in our curriculum for the year because I wasn't sure. Well we have started Code Cracker, and are on Unit 3 of the book. Tristin LOVES this book.

History: We have read more than halfway through King Arthur, and hopefully will finish it next week. We will also read The Kitchen Knight.

Science: Apologia Swimming Creatures. We have read Lesson 1. That covers aquatic animals, currents, tides, fresh water,  and the Abyss. This week and next week we start Lesson 2 Whales.

Grammar: English for the Thoughtful Child. We are on lesson 13. Goal is to be finish lesson 16 next week.

We have also started Shakespeare, Pilgrim's Progress, Our Island Story, and The Burgess Animal Book. We are using these prints of the animals we learn about for our nature journal.

Starting (again) Paddle to the Sea.
I love these ideas to use with the book.
Along with this visual pinterest board.
We will be watching this on youtube as well.

Source: youtube.com via Sara on Pinterest

So, there you have it. A breakdown of what we do each week. I'll update our plan for the next 5 weeks when I plan it.

I don't have an exact schedule we have to follow, just an outline to act as a guide. So far that's working for us.

I've been intrigued by these videos. looking into this grammar to use after we finish our English for the Thoughtful Child.

Whats On Our Shelves

One of the biggest reasons I choose this home is because of the built ins. They are wonderful! Even though I loved them so much, we didn't have a ton of stuff to put on them, and I didn't quite have the stuff to put at the very top. You know...the stuff you don't really need goes up there because you can't reach it ha.

I worked with what we already had. I added all of our school books, or these babies would be bare.
I really love the way they came together. Take a look, up close and personal.



This is right by our reading nook. I placed a lamp, and the basket holds our family devotionals and Bibles.
There is a picture of a Van Gogh painting for our "something to think about" (more on this and the Charlotte Mason method tomorrow).
Pictures of the boys we made a few years ago for father's day. And, a tiny picture of my husband when he was a boy.
We have decor and garden books on the bottom,  and rich literature and bible study books on the second shelf.






On this side we have fine arts, geography, children's bibles, and read alouds. We added pictures of some of our sponsored boys and a flower pot full of OLD thread.



This shelf has some wonderfully aged literature, letter "B"s and mercury glass.



This last shelf has a lot of nature inspired items. Birds and our nature collection, as well as another picture of a sponsored child and an old army picture of my Papa.

I love filling our home with things we use and love.

Across the room are some more built ins that are not organized, so you don't get to see all of it. But, I did want to show you that we put our home computer there, and there is another set of stairs there. How fun haha! The boys are up one set down the other. All day long.

School Plans for March

We have a meeting next week with Classical Conversations. I hope this means there is enough interest in our community to start one here.

School plans for the month of March.

Bible: daily reading out of the Family Reading Bible

Leading Little Ones to God devotional

Hymn for March: Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It

Writing: Scripture Journal and Reading Words

Math: Singapore Math 1B
Family Math games
Khan Academy (review on long addition, subtraction, and intro to multiplication)

Grammar: English for the Thoughtful Child, paragraphs, nouns, proper nouns
the book Word Fun (nouns)
School House Rock nouns:


History: The New Americans (Colonial Times 1620-1689)
Benjamin Franklin, Young Printer
Drive Thru History: Benjamin Franklin (we dvr the whole series)

The Courage of Sarah Noble
Sign of The Beaver (movie)
George Washington Drive Thru History: Washington

America, The Story of Us via Netflix

Geography: Paddle to the Sea book and Film


Read Alouds: Finishing The Aesop for Children
The Blue Fairy Book
Among the Forest People

Free Reading: The Moffats series, the boys love these.
The Saturdays
All of a Kind Family

Fine Arts: Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Artists: Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) American; Hudson River School

This term's composer: Mendelssohn, Romantic


Nature: observing weather patterns
Outdoor Hour Challenge

PRESCHOOL: Leap Frog Letter Factory
Finish Doing My Best Workbook from Rod and Staff
Name Practice
Reading Lots of Books: The Relatives Came
Miss Rumphius
On Market Street (alphabet book)
The Seven Silly Eaters

Reading List 2012

I have been slowly reading Bonhoeffer, and have been coming up with a list of books to read throughout the year. I thought it would be fun to share.

In my post last week I shared my next reads but I wanted to add the list for the whole year to that. This is my "would love to read" list.

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxes(almost finished)
The Good Earth by Peter Conn
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Pilgrim's Progress (starting March in this book club)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (I've never read it. I have it, so it's on the list!)
A Tree grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Method For Prayer by Matthew Henry (I love Becky's post about how to use this book)

The Bible (along with The Gospel Coalition's blog of For the Love of God by D.A. Carson. Our church is doing this together this year!)

Oh and I watched this delightful little film a few weeks ago, and was so excited to hear they won and Oscar last night for it. So, if you love books...enjoy!

On the Bookshelf and Favorite Links

For the past few days I have been reading Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxes. If you like to read, learn, and need a book to read, read it.

It has captured me in such a way, it's incredibly hard to get my words together to even explain my thoughts!

Since I just started, I will start by saying that his family life has been such an inspiration to me. You can tell how much his parents valued children. From the way they let them explore and collect animals, to pouring water over a tennis court to make a place to ice skate, you could feel how loved they were. When Dietrich was young, he would be gentle and protective to his sister, and I think that how he was raised played a big part in how he lived. His thoughts and letters throughout the book are so thought provoking, I have to take it in small doses and let them sink in. What a man of God!

Source: google.com via Jeana on Pinterest

I have SO many other book that I'm hoping to read soon, but have vowed not to start another until I'm done with Bonhoeffer *smile* I'll give you a sneak peek at what I'll be adding to my bookshelf.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jeana on Pinterest

Source: goodreads.com via Jeana on Pinterest

Source: amazon.com via Jeana on Pinterest

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Ok, changing gears a little bit here, but I'd like to share some of my favorite things.

One thing I'm working on is dressing nicer and more feminine. I LOVE dresses, but haven't bought any in so long. I guess staying at home so much has made me feel a bit frumpy, but I'm not going to use that as an excuse to be lazy anymore! I feel so much better when I take care of myself, and I know my hubby sure does appreciate it ;) I am currently revamping my wardrobe as we have some extra money, and I found this dress that I think is so pretty and feminine. I ordered it and can't wait to wear it! Do you wear dresses much? Where is your favorite places to buy them?

Source: bodenusa.com via Jeana on Pinterest

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And, this. Just to make you chuckle. have a great weekend my friends.

Source: nickmom.com via Jeana on Pinterest

What I'm Reading

In the still of the night when everyone is tucked tightly in their own beds, I turn on my tiny kindle light and read until I can't hold my eyes open anymore.

I started reading Reshaping It All. A very delightful read, and truly encouraging to get in control of food you eat, thoughts you have, and decisions you make. To live by the Spirit and not let the flesh win. Whichever one you feed is the one that wins.

It's like speaking to a big sister who has heard all your excuses (and has been there herself) and basically telling you to grow up a bit and live your life the way God intended. All in a wonderfully loving and graceful manor.

I have learned a tremendous amount about myself. Which has helped me step up and take the necessary actions to let my body know it is no longer in control. That it is now Spirit led, and I make healthy decisions based on what God designed my body to need, not everything it wants. And when I want something like say a brownie fudge sundae? Get it, but split it with the boys, or my hubby. Remember...Spirit led to do what is best.

Today, for instance, I wanted a burger and fries. I'm not a big burger and fries girl, but my body sure wanted me to know that that's what it wanted today. I always like a a large coke with it as well ;). Well, we headed out, and before I went, I made myself chose whether I wanted the burger and fries, or the coke...a medium coke. I choose coke and a grilled chicken wrap..no fries. I ate until I was full (a little more than half)and was done. In the end, I survived...and feel much better than if I would've if i had given into my flesh and ordered a burger, fries, and a large coke.

What a journey this has been, and it is hard, but the more I stay focused, the better it will get.

Gal. 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

When All Else Fails

Have you ever had one of those days when it just seems school is not going to happen? We have those more often than I'd care admit...

I do know a little boy that needs reading practice everyday. No.Matter.What. Today, we just skipped our regularly planned schedule and did a little Starfall. It was a nice and welcomed change.



He did that while his little brother read him Swiss Family Robinson...*grin*



It was VERY exciting!


Then we had cake. (the one we made yesterday)







Sometimes you just need a change...and some cake.

Using A Kindle in Homeschool

(via flickr)


I mentioned the other day that we would be purchasing a Kindle for easy options on our booklist. If you are new to Charlotte Mason then you should know now it is heavy in literature and reading "living" books. Books that don't speak down to children. The greatest example of a living book is The Holy Bible.

I saved up our extra money and purchased our Kindle touch yesterday! It has shipped, so hopefully it will be here before Thanksgiving! I get very excited about these things ha!

Now, I mentioned that a lot of the books on our list are FREE in the Amazon store. So, I will be filling that baby up!

Here is a peek at the books we will be putting on it. Most for this year, some for next year...or me.. *grin*

The Aesop for Children

The Burgess Bird Book for Children


Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare

The Blue Fairy Book

Just So Stories

The King of the Golden River

Pinocchio

The Velveteen Rabbit

Beatrix Potter Collection

A Child's History of England

Among The Forest People
Among the Pond People
Among the Meadow People
Among the Night People
Among the Farmyard People

Heidi

Around the World in 80 Days

Fifty Famous Stories Retold

Robin Hood

Five Little peppers and How They Grew

My Father's Dragon

The Wind and The Willows

Teddy's Button

The Wide, Wide World

Grandfather's Chair

Our Desire vs. God's Desire

I have spent many weeks in prayer and study in The Word on what God's desire is. If I am to be one that loves God with my heart, mind, and soul, I need to know God and His desires so I know how to love Him.

Can I read His word and know His desires and then turn my back to go on and live out my own desires? I CAN, but why choose to?

You can't claim to know Him when you turn to your own desires.


1 John 2:4-6
4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

How about having a different spirit? A different spirit will be one influenced by God, not others who claim to know Him. One who is concerned in offending God, than one who is concerned others will catch him in sin. One who is afraid of grieving God's Spirit, than one who is afraid of losing friends. One who longs to do what God desires, not what the church requires.
(adapted from Gary Wilkerson)

God is showing us His desires, because we are seeking Him. We don't have all the answers, but have realized that His desires in all things look different than our own. There is freedom in knowing Him and living fully for Him.

School Week 2: A is for Apple

A says ah! Last week we learned the letter A. Our main study was apples. Brighton caught on quickly and enjoyed the weeks activities.

We read the book How to Make An Apple Pie and See the World

Finding the letter A in the apple.



Cutting apples and pasting. Gotta work those fine motor skills!





Counting practice and number recognition.



Fine arts picture study: A is for apple.



Sorting



And finally! Making an apple pie.









Tristin and I started our native American study by reading North American Indians

We used the Draw Write Now Book 3

And we made a Spiked Club Tomahawk. He LOVED this simple project. And see the longhouse he drew on it?!



We again did our Grapevine Biblical timeline lesson.





Then, we started our new reading program. Delightful Reading is from Simply Charlotte Mason. It's an extemely gentle approach to reading, and this was our first lesson. He was working on spelling the word falling all by himself, he almost had it and that smile remained on his face as we added the "n". MUCH better than our past lessons!

Going On A Bear Hunt

The other day we read We're Going On A Bear Hunt together, and decided we need to recreate the obstacles they went through in the book. It was a fine sensory experience!

We took a cardboard tube and wraped rubber bands around it and painted it green. We rolled the tube on our paper to create swishy grass.



Then, using finger paints, we made a lake.







Next up was mud. We have been so dry here, mud was a hard one ;) plus our boys saw NO fun in getting their hands covered with mud, so they quickly scooped some mud and smeared it on our page before running to wash off.



Next we created a forest. Using old leaves from our nature table and sticks, they had fun making their own version of the forest.



I have no picture of the snow storm, but they glued cotton balls all over the page. It was a BAD storm...

And next we found the bear! I drew a simple bear and cut it out. They traced the outside of it with pastels and we turned it over and pressed hard.





What a project! we now have a big accordion style bear hunt book. They sure were proud of it.