For the Love of Horses

We have been studying different types of animals for a couple of weeks. I had the kids pick one animal to study more in-depth and horse was the winner! We spent one week learning about body language, body parts, feeding..you name it, we learned it. We finished it off with a visit to a local horse ranch. The woman who runs the lessons spent 2 hours with the kids going over all the care that is involved with a horse. She finished it off with each of them getting time riding. She had the sweetest horse named Argo, the kids can't wait to go back and see him. That same weekend we were able to visit some friends who own a horse. The kids took turns riding "Baby" and we went to an english horseriding lesson. The kids have loved every minute of this lesson. Now there is only one problem with this, every couple of days I hear, "Mom, why can't we have a horse???" Ugh...
*Pictures to come whenever Blogger decides to let me load them :/

Something to Chew On...

This was an article shared by the President of our homeschool group CHEVA. It brought tears of relief and frustration all at the same time. I think any mother can relate, homeschooling or not.

Empty Cisterns and Real Refreshment

School Days

School has been interesting with the holidays but big progress has been made. Matthew is officially reading! I wasn't really expecting it to click until next year...such a smart boy! We are doing a study on animals and took a trip to the zoo with friends. Now we are specifically studying horses. This weekend the kids get to take a visit to a ranch. They are going to have a 2 hour lesson on the care of horses and how to ride. They are so excited! More pics to come...

Christmas and New Years and Valentine's...Oh My!

Where does the time go?? Christmas came and went with the blink of an eye! The "big" gift for all of us was a 4 day vacation to Disneyland. We went the end of January. The kids ran in Tinkerbell Kid Races and I did the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. Topped it off with 2 days at the park and dinner at Medieval Times. Our best vacation as of yet! Now here we are at Valentine's Day already?? The kids had a great time at our homeschool group's Valentine Celebration. So much fun crammed into such a short amount of time!

Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is less than a week away! The stockings are hung, tree is decorated, presents are wrapped and we are enjoying this season to the fullest. The kids were able to go caroling with the CHEVA Choir in Exeter to kick off the month. Then Sami had her first choir performance with CHEVA just last week. She has loved every minute meeting new friends and learning more about music. To add to it, she recently started back up her piano lessons with a new teacher. Matthew can't wait to be able to join choir too, we just snuck him in for the caroling! This week will be full of festivities, ending with a birthday party for Jesus on Friday night with friends! We are all excited for Christmas and enjoying some quality time together. School has still been going well...I think the kids enjoyed our Thanksgiving lessons the best so far. We have just started doing a review of the 5o states and formation of the US. We have all decided that we want to take a trip to Pennsylvania for all the history to be absorbed! So here are some pics of our recent adventures!

Livin' & Learnin'

I can't believe so much time has past since my last post! Although, when I take inventory of all that has happened these past 3 months, it's easy to see why. We started school with a bang on Labor Day. In a single day we lost our dog, electricity went out on the property, called an ambulance for Sami who had a seizure, got a new dog, new dog gets skunked and in the midst of it all we DID get through our very first day of homeschool! Sami said it best, "The devil really doesn't want us to obey God and homeschool does he?!" Even 2 days later, when I was hit with a nasty stomach flu, Sami kept telling me we couldn't let the enemy win and needed to do school anyway. I love her spirit and deep love for the Lord!

About the same time, both kids started soccer season. Sami liked it, but there was no love lost when the season ended last week. She did agree to play one more year, but on the condition that she got a hair feather?! Matthew, on the other hand, ate up every minute he was on the field! He hasn't met a sport yet that he doesn't love. I'm starting to see that Sami's niche is really in music. She is blossoming in choir and just about to start back up her piano lessons. Might have a musician on our hands! The remodel on the house was done much sooner than anticipated. We were able to move into the home on October 1st. We couldn't move in quick enough!! I appreciate every square inch of this small, cozy home. I don't want to step foot in another trailer for a very long time. We are especially enjoying all the room the kids have to explore and roam. From treehouses to digging up coyote bones, these kids have no reason to be bored!

And lastly, homeschooling continues to be a huge blessing and answer to prayer for our family. I wish I had listened to the Lord's calling years ago! Sure, there are days when I want to pull my hair out. But most day, I am grateful for the peace it brings to our home. My plan was to have Matthew do PreK this year, but that little booger is smarter than he lets on! He had his first day of Kindergarten on Halloween...which he thought was very cool! I love seeing them learn and grow, but most of all I love seeing their love for the Lord grow!

Risen Son Christian Academy

Well, the countdown is on. Only 2 weeks left until we kick off our 2011-2012 school year. I can't believe it's here! For those who homeschool (or who don't), I wanted to share my curriculum choices and see what ya think!


Sami ~ 3rd Grade

We are using Adventures in My Father's World for Geography & History, Bible, Art and Science. We decided to not use the music recommended.

We will be studying US History as our core subject. We will go over history of how the country was founded and dive into each state individually. I'm thinking we will slow down and take a couple weeks on California. We have so many cool resources at our fingertips with museums and libraries.

With Bible, we will be pulling in our AWANA's lessons and memory scripture. Also adding in daily family devotionals with Leading Little Ones to God by Marian M. Schoolland.

For English/Language Lessons, we are using the recommended Primary Language Lessons. I really like the simple and straight forward format.

For Math, we are using Singapore Mathematics. This is the one I am most intimidated by...likely because it is also my least favorite subject. I have scoured the Manual and pulled together all the manipulative's. But I am afraid..very afraid!

We are adding in additional science with Apologia's Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures. I love digging into one topic all year long. It helps that all of us LOVE the sea and are intrigued by all its creatures.

Building Spelling Skills and Writing with Prayer by Christian Liberty Press will round out Sami's curriculum. I am hoping to incorporate Spanish but I want to be realistic too. With this being our first year homeschooling, I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. We will just get the school year going and see how it works out.

Matthew ~ PreK

Matthew will be joining in with many of Sami's lessons. Geography/History, Bible and Science (including Apologia) will all be done together.

Then he will have Rod & Staff 4-5 year old program for more age specific lessons. I was torn on which route to go for him. He went to preschool last year at St. Paul's School. So he knows the letters, colors, cutting, pasting..all the basics. But he is just turning 5 this month and I don't know if his attention span is ready for a full Kindergarten program. I went with this one and I think it will work out...but I am still hesitant if it will bore him.

We are going to add in BOB Phonics books for reading skills and basic counting/math skills to beef up the Rod & Staff.

I have a proposed schedule made up but still haven't found a way to make it attach to my post :( Once I get it figured out, I'll add that too! So there it is...this is our plan. Let me know what you think or any tips you might have for a green newbie!