Bamboo Sprouts

Well, probably not what you are thinking!!

But we went all out as if it did mean what you are thinking.    Gotta have new shoes for…school…right?

Sophie, second grade

Levi, first grade

Isabella, kindergarten

So here is what it means.    They are enrolled in an enrichment program for homeschooled kiddos this year.  They attend one day a week and take classes like art, science (experiments) and gym with some history and language arts tossed in.  It is all just extra stuff and we will continue to do our regular curriculum the rest of the week.  Last week was the first day, this week was the second.  I had reservations about it, still do I suppose, but am trying to give it a good whirl because I think it is good for both them…and me! 

(Bella is technically kindergarten age since she misses the cutoff by three weeks, so in this program she is in that class.  At home, we have her in first grade with Levi.)

Look at these innocent faces!

Or are they so innocent??

Well at least one of them is NOT. 

Earlier today I discovered that one of these little angel peeps ran their fingers through the frosting on the cake I made yesterday.  No biggie.  And frankly, I pretty much knew who it was.  But when they asked about dessert for tonight, I had them all come line up on the couch (maybe a form of torture in itself?) and asked who it was.  The big punishment I had in mind for this crime?  Whoever ran their fingers through the frosting was going to get the piece they touched!  That is IT. 

But no one fessed up. Oh dear, this was not a problem I had anticipated. Lying just can’t be ignored, so now I had a new problem on my hands.

I said “Well OK then, no cake for anyone tonight.”  Well, Sophie was not pleased about this and refused to leave the couch.  Bella was the first one to get down and run off and Levi was next.  Sophie sat awhile and then went to work!

First, she tried talking to each of them separately, trying to get someone to fess up.  She started with Levi because she remembered him doing something “funny” in the kitchen earlier but she wasn’t sure what he was up to.  LOL.  He convinced her she was talking to the wrong suspect, so she moved on to Bella who flat out refused to fess up. She was sure she had the crime solved, and at that point she just needed the confession. 

She started collecting evidence.  First she and Levi checked out the finger tracks in the cake and their own fingers to see if it could be one of them.  They decided it wasn’t.  Yes, Rick and I just listened and watched all this from the family room.  So then she made the diagram (see top left there in the square) of the cake piece and the finger tracks through it.  Then she traced Levi’s finger and Bella’s finger, labeled them, and compared them to the actual track marks.  Are you rolling on the floor yet?  Rick and I were so amused at all her detective work. 

Anyhow, the ending isn’t as cute as all the detective work going on.  During most of this Bella was downstairs in the playroom basically hiding.  Finally, I needed all three for something else (I had given up and figured no dessert was not going to torture anyone for one night). I went looking for Bella.  She didn’t respond.  Sophie looked downstairs, she couldn’t find her and no response.  I then heard Levi say “last I saw her she was hiding under the beanbags downstairs.”  Well, my heart sank and I made a mad dash thinking the worst of her under the very large beanbags we have down there because she wasn’t responding to any of us calling her!!  I tear the bean bags up and throw them and there she is…alive and well and now sobbing.  UGH. 

I try to explain that this should have been no big deal.  She should have just fessed up right away.  That lying is never OK.  I tell her that had she fessed up, she could have had the piece she touched but now she needs to sit at the table and watch the other two eat their cake and she gets none. 

Sheesh parenting is rotten eggs sometimes.  She loves cake the best and I wanted her to have some too.  But, its just cake after all.  And sometimes lessons have to be learned.  Wonder if this one will be. 

By the way, the beanbags are going to the thrift store tomorrow morning.

So!  Time to head back to school…which for us means back to the kitchen table.   

This year we have a second grader and two first graders, one who is more a kindergartener really.  I am using basically the same curriculum for everyone and then upping the level for Sophie a bit for second grade on some things.  Basically I am going to show my first grade curriculum here but honestly it is so much the same.  Sophie needs a more challenging math than the littler ones and she does cursive writing and that sort of thing, but if I was able to make it the same, I did.

So here is the stack of books that we will be relying on this year.  I am going to go through each one below because a couple of peeps have asked me to but I know this might be quite the dull post for some.   For me, it is my life right now! 

This is THE book for us.  The Well Trained Mind.  It goes into detail about why classical method and it tells just how to do it.  It does not tell you exactly what to order, but it gives options to look into, an idea of how much time should be spent on each subject at each grade level, etc.  This book covers k-12 so it is a great investment.  I ordered this off of Amaz*n and I order whatever I can from them as I like their free shipping and good service and availability of books.

Math.  Oh math.  So this would be our third or fourth math program to try!  Yeah.  We used Saxon the first year, Singapore last year and switched to just basic math workbooks midyear and now this is Math U See Beta level (for first grade).  So far (just started using it today!), I like it.  It feels like a complete program and it doesn’t look like an insane amount of busy work (which is what bugged me about Saxon).  Math is hard to settle on.  We ordered the whole kit, manipulatives, teacher book, test and workbooks and cd from the MathUSee website.  Wish us luck! 

For reading, I like this.  This is by the same author that wrote the Well Trained Mind book and actually I like everything they do so far.  They have their own reading, language arts, history and writing programs and we use all of them.  I ordered this from Amazon.

Also by the authors of WTM.  I love this writing program.  There are two versions, a text only or this is text and workbook combo and to me, it is worth it to have the work pages ready to go so this is my preference!  Available at Amaz*n. 

We use all the BOB book sets to supplement for reading.  I think I found these at Costc* a couple of years ago but they are also available on Amaz*n.

Another by the authors of WTM.  We have the workbook, textbook and also the textbook is available on CD and we have that version too.  There are four volumes and they will get you through high school, you just study each of them three times, at different levels.  First grade begins with the ancients.  I think I ordered this on Amaz*n as well.

Language arts, also by the authors of WTM.  A lot of these resources go k or 1-2 so we really did not have to buy too much this year.  Math was my main investment, plus a few supplemental things for science and some consumable workbooks for writing and such. 

So this I am not too sure about!  Last year we used Spelling Workout and I think I liked that better because it had a few days of activity pages for each spelling list and then a spelling quiz on Friday.  This book is more just lists of words.  Hmm.  Might return this one.

I think this is such a cute little home ec series for home schooled kiddos!  It says for girls but I don’t see a thing wrong with boys knowing how to peel a potato, make a salad and entertain with nice manners so we will all be doing this.  Basically it is a very simple little program that teaches one thing a week.  I ordered this from some independent type website and would just suggest googling it if interested.

I forgot to take a photo of our main science book.  We are going to use Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Nebel this year.  We haven’t started it, but I like the looks of it and the way it is layed out.  We will supplement with these DVD’s and a science experiment type book and they are signed up for some classes that will have them doing some experiments as well.

I also ordered some of these fun little books.  One is experiments, one is geography and one is states.  I think another is backordered, maybe about body or plants.  What “should” be covered in science for first grade is body, plants and animals and Kingsfisher books are suggested but I find I need more direction than that.

I like this series for a general idea of where we should be.  When I have freak-out moments and start to worry that we are behind, I consult this book and usually see that we are basically fine.    These are available for each grade level.

I keep the things we are working on weekly (listed above) out and lots more supplies and resources in this cabinet.

See? 

In our family room, we have these desks set up for individual work but my big goal this year is to do more stuff together so I think we will work at the kitchen table more.

In addition to our regular curriculum, we have decided to try a program that will meet once a week for some extra curricular things like art and science experiments and such.  The girls also do ballet, everyone does Chinese cultural school and Sophie takes piano lessons.  Rick takes them to the library each week as well and I am hoping to get organized enough to get some additional resources from there since you can’t beat that deal. 

I will post our general school schedule tomorrow!

While folding laundry I noticed that all the kiddos ended up in the hallway reading their library books.  Sophie is suddenly becoming a pretty good reader which is a huge relief to me.  She is starting second grade soon so it is certainly time!  She is reading in character voices and everything.  Very cute.  The little ones are just beginning to read.  I love that they all love books.

They also love light sabers…see the homemade one there?  They used the roll that my fabric came on to make some sabers.  Of course they HAVE sabers…but homemade ones always top store bought!

We have lived in this house for five years now and suddenly I can see the things that need some work.    The house had been totally remodeled by an investor when we bought it and it all seemed fine and besides some color on the walls, I pretty much left things alone.   Most of the things that need doing are small, manageable projects so we are working on them a bit at a time. 

In the last week, we did some little things in the kitchen.

(before):

(Another before):

After:

Can you tell what is new? 

Five years without handles on the cupboards and I finally chose some. 

Then yesterday I made new drapes for the breakfast nook and a new valance for over the sink.  The fabric looked so bold on the roll at the store but hanging up, they don’t quite pop as much as I thought they would!  Ugh.  Well, the fabric was a small fortune and I am hoping they will grow on me.  They do have the right colors, brown, gold, red and green. 

The valance is blocking too much of the view so we are going to raise it up.

But all in all, these small changes make me:

  More sprucing coming soon!