The Ant and the Grasshopper

Last week Buster Brown and I read the Ant and the Grasshopper.  The book is a suggested reading title in MFW 1st grade curriculum.  So I wanted to tell you about a great resource that Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations has shared!  These animal classification fandex cards were created to go with Five in a Row, but could compliment MFW as well.

Thanks Jolanthe!!!

Calendar Time

My youngest 2 start each day with calendar time.  At this point MJ can almost teach Buster Brown all the information we cover during this activity.  I stay close to prompt when needed and to answer questions.  I try to get J-saurus going on something while the other 2 do calendar time.

Pictured below is just an inexpensive dry erase board that I turned into a changeable calendar.  I used a sharpie to make the grid, write in the days, etc.  Then we use a dry erase marker to fill in the days.  We used to add each day one at a time, but MJ likes to write out the whole month and cross of the days.  On here we...

Write:   Month (Looks like a spelling lesson is in order!)
             The Date  m/d/year
             Day of the Week
             The Season
             Weather Condition
             The Year

Next we...
Say the Pledge"...one nation under GOD!.."  :)
Season
Number of the Day (MFW First Grade)
Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow
Address & Phone Numbers
Weather Chart

We finish with our Weather Calendar.  I think I found this at Deals, a dollar-type store in our area.  I've laminated the dates and weather symbols that we add each day.  The black sqaures are velcro.  Would've been nice to have white, but the black was free and free is good!

HTH!

MFW First Grade Phonics

Buster Brown is doing very well with his new curriculum.  This is the first year I've used MFW for first grade even though I've done first grade twice already! ;)  In his workbook he's been writing the beginning letter for each word I read and then practicing some sound blending at the bottom of the page.  Rather than cut out the vowels on the dotted lines, we use our letter tiles for this activity.

Hope you're having a great week in your homeschool!

Preparing for "Not Back to School"

It never ceases to amaze me how looooong winter seems and how lightening fast summer flies by.  We have 1 more week to enjoy summer AND Daddy.  He's off until the 22nd, when we plan on starting our homeschool schedule.

I have all my curriculum together with the exception of a few supplemental materials I hope to order on payday!  So here's what we're using this year:

J-Saurus, age 10  (11 in October):
* MFW CTG (Creation to Greeks)
* First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind
* Writing Strands
* Spelling Power
* A Reason for Handwriting, Cursive
* Singapore Math

M.J., age 8 (9 in October)
* MFW CTG
* First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind
* Spelling Power
* A Reason for Handwriting, Cursive
* Singapore Math

Buster Brown, age 6
* MFW First Grade

On my Wishlist
* Mystery of History

This weekend I hope to get our "classroom" organized and ready for our first day!

I'll share pics ;)

Wildlife Fair

Our local homeschool group hosted a "Wildlife Fair" several weeks ago.  Each child picked an animal to report on using a project board or diorama.  J-saurus put together a power point on the Komodo Dragon ( I didn't get a picture! ), M.J. decorated a 3-panel project board with Cheetah facts,

and Buster Brown constructed an Emperor Penguin diorama ( We also did a lapbook ).

Our group's coordinator invited "Alligator Eric" to show the children some of his animal friends...

J-saurus was in heaven!  He couldn't keep his hands off the alligator, named "Beautiful," and he showed off his knowledge of reptiles answering almost all of Alligator Eric's questions!  Since we are studying biomes and animals from every continent in My Father's World, this event really enhanced our curriculum.  We just finished Africa in ECC and we plan on going to the matinee Friday to see African Cats!

Blessings!

Great Geography Game!

This morning we rapped up our study of Canada.  I fortuitously stumbled upon this great interactive game!  The kids really enjoyed playing it and even my 5 yo caught on shouting "Northwest Territories!" when he knew the answer.  The site has an interactive game for every continent on the globe.
Enjoy ;)

Wait...what day is it?

Oh, that's right it's Tuesday.  Does that ever happen to you?  Sure it has.  Anyway, I was hoping to show our finished craft that I mentioned last week.  Alas, it is UNfinished...sigh. 

So here's why the fall craft (along with a list of other things) didn't get done...

We started out the week with dh getting food poisoning (tip: If the grilled chicken sandwich you order looks questionable, DON'T EAT IT! No matter how hungry you are!)

Then MJ was struggling to breathe which led to a dr. appt. and asthma medication :(

We did accomplish some schoolwork, too...

Studying Mexico in MFW:  Yarn Art

 J-Saurus did a dragon...big surprise!



What's a fiesta without a pinata?

And then there were costumes to make for "Free Candy Day" :)

So I missed "Motivated Monday" this week, but hopefully I'll get back on track this week.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Crossing the Border

We're heading south of the border this week to study Mexico!   Don't worry.  We are merely traveling in our imagination.  Our neighbor to the south hasn't sounded very hospitable lately.  So, we'll stay safe in our Ohio home and open our atlas.

This is our first year using MFW and so far I'm loving it!  We're beginning with Exploring Countries and Cultures (ECC) which provides a strong foundation in geography.

These passports created a ton of excitement for the kids!  They couldn't wait to add their photo and have their pages stamped. You can see them proudly posing in front of our map.

Break time is over...back to work!

~Adios!