Updates on our new term - Fall 2012

This September brought the end of our summer term and the start of fall term.  Here is a breakdown of what we're doing...
Bible - We are almost finished with Matthew.  R has been memorizing verses from the Old Testament that are prophecies of Christ. 
Character - We've just finished up a unit on contentment.  It has been good for her and good for me.  God has truly given us all we need to be content.  The story for contentment was focused on the author of the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" and was very meaningful for both of us.  If he could say, "It is well with my soul" after he lost four of his children in a sunken ship, then surely we can learn to be content in our present circumstances.
Devotions - We finished up the chapter on Jesus being our Shepherd.  Something I never noticed before is that He is described in Scripture as the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.  We had a good time discussing these three descriptions.  We also read a little about the author of this book (Frances Havergal) and were both inspired.  She was known as a great encourager and they found the secret of why in her diaries - whenever she spoke with someone, she was also silently praying for them, praying that she could bless them.  So neat! 
McGuffey - We have gotten into a good routine using our McGuffey readers.  R reads aloud one lesson a week and I pick a paragraph for her copywork.  We go over any hard-to-spell words and any pertinent grammar.  The heart of these lessons really seem to stick!
Print to Cursive Proverbs - This has been perfect for R.  She is gently learning cursive and the method of transitioning from print to cursive has built her confidence. 
English for the Thoughtful Child - I love these gentle lessons!  This week we talked about the difference between proper nouns and common nouns. 
Math on the Level - Oh, what a change to our day this has brought!  I'm so glad I made the purchase.  She no longer dreads math, in fact she asks, "Can we do math next?"  We're reviewing concepts she's previously learned as well as slowly adding in new ones this week.  She's getting much better at counting money, telling time, and adding with regrouping.  Yay!
Nature Study - Now that we're in our fall semester, we've upped our nature study, trying to do something with it daily.  As part of our study on Fungi, we read about Louis Pasteur this week - so interesting!  And he was a very strong believer in Jesus, preferring to use his research to help others rather than for money.
History - We're almost halfway through our main history book (we'll just add more when we finish this one).  We've been learning about the rise of the Greeks and the different battles they had.  She has been enjoying this.  We always read with a map open to trace where the events happened.  In independent reading, she's started a book showing Spartan culture which she has enjoyed so far.
Science - This has been one of my favorites!  We're learning about the parts of plants and what they are for, supplementing with library books when needed.  I've actually learned a lot right along with her.  We've had several nature study experiences come from our readings.  After we learned that weeds don't like salt, R poured salt on several weeds in our yard.  A few days later, they are starting to get brown and shrivel up.  In independent reading she has been reading about Peter Rabbit and the different flowers he meets.  We often look up a flower on the internet.  She's been fascinated by several.
Literature - We're still plodding along with Christian in Pilgrim's Progress.  She says this is her favorite part of the day.  I really am shocked she loves it so much as it is a difficult read, but she seems to understand it.  We also play the audio book in the car so she hears it there too.  Our second book we're going through is Aesop's Fables.  This has been short and sweet and it's how we end our homeschool day each day.
For independent reading she has been reading through The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts.  She loves this book and we talk about what things could be true and which are probably fiction.
Arts - We started new art studies this term.  Our composer is Frans Joseph Haydn, our artist will be Carl Larsson, and our poet is William Blake.  The other day we were driving by a lake with boats on it and R says, "That looks a lot like a Wassily Kandinsky painting." (He was our painter last term)  Jared bursted out laughing.  At least I know she's learning something!  =)  She continues drawing with her Draw Write Now book.
Foreign Language - We've got to pick up on sign language again.  I also want to start Greek and R wants to start Spanish...so we'll see. 
So that's our academics for this term!  Phew!  It looks like so much when I type it out, but we don't do everything everyday, so it works for us!  =)

Little Bits of Random (in Pictures)

Here are some pics of life this week...

Jared made paper look old with R by painting it with lemon juice and then baking.  She used it to make a treasure map.

Listening to Haydn while dancing in fancy dresses during our Composer Study

Riding his big boy bike!

G running to Mommy!  (Yes, I know that both he and N are both barefoot...don't judge me...I do put their shoes on a gazillion times a day, but they insist on taking them off....)

Paying one of our many visits to Grandpa

The whole crew teaching O how to ride her bike without training wheels.

Welcome September!

I just love love love back to school time!  Even though we've been schooling all summer, we still took a few back to school pictures of R, 2nd grade, 7 years old. 

She has so far lost 3 teeth. The fourth is loose and the big tooth is growing behind it.  I wanted her to show her teeth when she smiled, but this is how she likes to take pictures.  =)

Fun and goofy girl!

Strike a pose, Miss R!

So we had an "official" first day of school this week along with the public schools.  We are about 7 weeks into our year as far as how much work we got accomplished this summer.  Then yesterday, the second "official" day of school, R, O, and G were sick, so we didn't get too much done.  Today R and O are better so we'll be schooling after I finish this post.  =)
Some changes to our curriculum: 
I have long loved our math program, Math Mammoth, but as we got more and more into it, R was getting more and more frustrated.  I love the idea of a mastery program (vs. spiral), but sometimes if we got stuck there would be tears and I wished we could do something else.  So, we have switched to Math on the Level.  It takes the best of mastery and spiral and puts them together.  It's very teacher intensive and a pricey up-front cost, which is why I didn't purchase it last year, though I had been drooling over it on my computer!  Last year at this time, R was 6, O was still 3, N was 1, and G was 3 months old.  I just didn't have it in me to get something so teacher-intensive.  But now, I feel ready for it.  After a lot of prayer and saving up, we purchased it and I am so excited!  This week we are working on figuring out what she does know to find out what she needs to know.  =)  We are also doing a lot of math games, which she LOVES. 
Simply Charlotte Mason also came out with a new handwriting program "Print to Cursive Proverbs" which I purchased and R has started.  It's a very gentle approach to learning cursive and so far it's working great!
Our School Room:
This is the time of year when many homeschooling families post pictures of their beautiful school rooms.  I look and wish and hope, but know that for now, we just don't have the space or money.  So, I was getting pretty discontent, to be honest.  Last weekend, I decided to clean up our living room/school space.  I went through every book and every math manipulative and every file.  It took all day, but the result is a living room/school room that is organized and more efficient and that I LOVE.  Everything has a place.  I'm so, so thankful!
Well, it's about time I publish this post and get on to schooling... 

Bay Beach

So, how is it September already?!?!
August flew by!  The girls did pass their swimming levels, Ruby finished her summer piano lessons, and life just doesn't stop!
Here are some pictures from our 2nd trip to Bay Beach.  The first time, we went on the train and then two kiddie rides and it started to thunder, lightening, and pour.  So, they closed the park.  

The girls and Jared waiting in line for the "Paris" wheel.

So high!  Poor R hated it, and O loved it.   O said, "When I'm up high, I just close my eyes and pretend I'm a bird!"

N and his buddies!

Almost done!

I also chopped all my hair off!  I love it!  Here am I trying to look cool...hmmm...

And here's Jared trying to look cool....I think he pulls it off better than I do!