Blast from the Past ~ Volcano!

I used to blog over at HomeschoolBlogger, but soon the site is closing down and all blogs will be erased. I went to check and see if I had anything interesting over there and found this...from February 15th 2010. The kids look so different! LOL

From the old blog.....

I know, everybody in the world has made a volcano from clay or something and made it erupt right? Well actually, I never had. The four little ones never had either. So when our science topic today was about volcanoes I thought we should give it a try! It was the perfect time since two of my older boys were here today and they could help, they had done it before. We decided to use play doh for the volcano....
.

The kids had a blast decorating it and making a scene around it.....they are waiting patiently to see the action!
 
Legos are soooo useful! By the way, the girls' curly hair was another experiment from Saturday night. Its usually bone straight. Baby wants to get hold of that!
 
Woohoo there it goes!
 
We did it again, it worked better this time!
 
Poor Lizard!!


Not too smart of that lego man was it?

Our workbox system

I have had many requests to put up a picture of our workboxes so they can see how we did it here. Well here you go!



Not the greatest picture I know. But you get the idea :0)

You can read more about this system that works for any curriculum at Sue Patrick's Workbox System website.  There are many others who have blogged about this system in detail, and have free printables also, do a google search and you will find plenty of ideas even if you dont have space for something like this in your home. There are many ways to customize it to fit your needs.

I got these boxes from walmart, they come as a set of 3, but we removed the tops and connected 2 sets together to make them taller. Each child has 6 boxes with a number on the box. (Sue recommends 12 boxes but like I said, this system can be adjusted to suit your needs and we only needed 6 boxes.)

Each night I fill the boxes with things for each child to complete the next day. This can be anything from worksheets to games, to art supplies, its up to you! We have bible time and reading together as a group so I didnt need boxes for those subjects. You will notice the boxes on the right do not have any numbers yet. Those are the baby's boxes, I do put things in there for her but shes not old enough to understand all of this yet, she just knows she wants a box of fun stuff too!

After a child completes the activity in his or her box, they take off the number card and add it to either a chart on the wall or a long card held together by rings. (Or some other way that works for you.) When all their cards are gone I check to see what they have done. Some things require help of course, Im never too far away if they need me. It gives them a sense of accomplishment to move those card off the box when they are done. Imagine the feeling you have when you have a list of things to do and you check one off, woohoo one less thing!

So far this is working well, we are on summer break at the moment but there are still lots of fun things in there for them to do each day. Im not requiring them to do everything right now :0) I never hear the words "Im bored!" though. That may have something to do with my house rule that states if I hear the word bored its an automatic chore. LOL!! It sorta rhymes!

So thats about it, hope this helps to inspire someone out there, I know plenty of blogs have inspired me! Have a blessed day!

Volcano!

I know, everybody in the world has made a volcano from clay or something and made it erupt right? Well actually, I never had. The four little ones never had either. So when our science topic today was about volcanoes I thought we should give it a try!  It was the perfect time since two of my older boys were here today and they could help,  they had done it before. We decided to use play doh for the volcano.....



The kids had a blast decorating it and making a scene around it.....they are waiting patiently to see the action!




Legos are soooo useful! By the way, the girls' curly hair was another experiment from Saturday night. Its usually bone straight.


Baby wants to get hold of that!




Woohoo there it goes!




We did it again, it worked better this time!



Poor Lizard!!




Not too smart of that lego man was it?

First Day 2009

We started our school year today! A little before the PS kids do, but they were so eager to get started and didnt mind a bit. This year we are using My Father's World 1st grade for Laurel and Braeden, and Lainey is continuing in the MFW preschool. Its been a bit of a challenge trying to do school with a 6 month old baby! She doesnt like being placed on the floor with toys for long, shes a bit spoiled that way, dont know how that happened LOL! Daddy is still at home for now, so he can keep her happy for a little bit.

I now see why some families have school year round. Kids do forget quite a bit over the summer. Braeden doesnt seem to have lost any of his memory except for writing a few letters. We are starting out with a review of everything though so he is picking it up quickly. Laurel has forgotten a few sounds as well, but remembers them right away when I show her one of the flash cards, she remembers the sound by seeing the coordinating picture. Even Lainey can remember the sounds by looking at those cards LOL.

After our lessons we made treasure boxes to keep our bible verses for the year in. After all God's words are our best treasure! We even made one for Lyriel

It feels like its going to be a great year, but definitely more challenging than last year. Thats OK though, we will make it just fine with God's help!