Dad reading with Cohen

My Loves

Our Math Lesson

We are jumping back into our Right Start Math lessons. We are learning Odds and Evens, what a quantity of ten looks like and how to count backwards. Oh they love Math. Amelie said.."This sure is fun!"
I like how we can include Ricky using smaller numbers. If Amelie has the Abacus Ricky can be building triangles or little houses with our colored counters.

I tried to read from The Apple and the Arrow today but the tickle in my throat but a stop to that.

Time to do some more laundry. Yay!

Sleep? What is sleep?

Last night Ron went for video game night and my BIL's. I literally got ZERO sleep last night. Thank goodness Ron let me sleep until the afternoon!
In our Math program there is little workbook work. It is taught through games and manipulatives. I buy dollar store workbooks for Amelie and leave them out. Whenever she feels like it she grabs one and sits down with it. It is amazing how easily she learns. I know that I have a mental block when it comes to Math and to see her just get it is WOW! She learned a bit about fractions today. There would be a picture of a pie cut in 4 sections. One was shaded. She had to know if it was 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4. She got them all right! She clearly understands the concept. She also learned how to tell time. Well half of it. We will work on this this wk.
I then sat with Ricky and did A-I in her workbook. Just for fun. There was an exercise for each letter that she enjoyed. I have decided to read younger age books for bedtime to keep Ricky interested in books and set aside time to read school books with Amelie. I want Ricky to love books and she will quickly lose interest if the books are boring for her.
I am going to try to spend atleast 1/2 hr with Cohen every night when the girls are in bed. It is usually spent with his Thomas book. I have realized I can slip learning into it. His attention span is next to nothing unless it involves trains. We count the wheels and say the colors. Well I do.
Ron and I are going to watch a movie tonight together and I am looking forward to that. By the end we will have passed out on the couch but oh well..lol.
Well. Reagan has been VERY fussy tonight so I must go and soothe her.

My children meet Lasta and Dorci from Indonesia

Tonight we were delighted to have some visitors! Our friends for many years work with Teen Missions Canada to help in other countries. They have two women from Indonesia (Lasta and Dorci) living with them for 3 years. This is a great opportunity for our children to learn about Indonesia. I am putting together a field trip with my local homeschool group to help out at the Charron's home. We are lucky enough to have Lasta and Dorci help us make bracelets that Teen Missions hand out all over the world. When we have some made I will post a picture with each bead's representation. The girls thoroughly enjoyed our company tonight (maybe enjoyed it a bit too much..hehe)

Dorci shared a story with me tonight that I would like to share with you.

A lot of people in Banda Aceh do not celebrate Christmas. Christians are not allowed to celebrate Christmas so are sent to the mountains during Christmas time. In 2004 the Tsunami hit and I believe most people were killed there. Her friends survived because they were up in the mountains.

We are going to be learning about Indonesia for a while now. This will be fun!

What do your children do when they are supposed to be sleeping?

Amelie's GROWING mind

Amelie went missing. Where could she have gone? She suddenly appears and all is well. I go into the washroom and see tiny bits of black all over the sink. Then I look and see a cup full of water with these mysterious black things floating in it. What is this? I then look and see a package. Ah ha! Amelie doesn't want to wait for spring for our flowers to grow. She loves planting things and watching them grow. Nevermind the sun and soil. Hehe. Next week we are growing beans so this will fit in nicely with that.

We went out to eat last night. As we walked in the room of 6 tables of people stopped eating and stared at the freakshow family. Everything was silent as we found our seats. I can't imagine why they put the Savard family in the back corner..giggle. Ron and I had a little giggle ourselves once we were seated. I love our family!

I was talking on the phone last night with a friend and he said something that hit home. I was standing in our livingroom looking at the rest of my house. Our house is open concept so you see most of the house in one glance. I told him..OH MY you should see my house right now. There were Christmas presents everywhere. We have added to our house 25%. What to do with all of this stuff?? So he replies.."Isn't it nice to have a house to clean!" Thank you for that Dave! It helped to keep things in perspective and just enjoy our holidays and not worry so much with things less important.

Some interesting links I enjoy

Here are some links I would like to put up on our page. We are having a hard time figuring out how so if anyone knows how to do this feel free to let us know.
Also, the pictures in the Dec 25 post are backwards. Ron thought that was how we were supposed to add them for them to go in order. Cohen's train set BEFORE picture is posted on the bottom. It should have been on the top.
Here are some links that we have come accross that we like. THere will be many more to follow.

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/042998a.htm

www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2000/novdec/articles/homeschooling.html

http://oncampus.richmond.edu/news/press/dec05/homeschooled.html

www.crosswalk.com/13736521

www.homeedmag.com/INF/OH/oh_tal.opdr.html

http://learninfreedom.org/colleges_4_hmsc.html

www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=132239

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Today was a nice family day. We woke up at 5:30AM AHHHH!! Amelie and Cohen were jumping on me so it was time to start our day. First Cohen saw his new train table set. I have maybe seen him 5 minutes today..lol. It took Santa until 3am to put the stinking thing together. And only after 2 min of play it looked like a tornado had gone through the town..hehe. Ricky got a stuffed doll that she so desperately wanted from Scholars Choice. As soon as she saw it she remembered crying for it. She hasn't put it down all day. Amelie is in love with her new spiderman laptop! She has been playing games on it all day. I think I may have lost my children.
This morning Ron and Cohen got out of going to church the bums. The girls and I made it and prayed for the heathens at home and in bed. Then we went to Great Grandma's house for a bit. The girls had a lot of fun with Grandpa Dom and Cohen enjoyed getting into everything that he could. Then we came home and I left with my mom to do some visiting of our own. Then Shane came over with his sons and the kids had a great time together. My house survived the attack. Hehe. Now the girls are exhausted and in bed, Cohen is GUESS WHERE!! You guessed it! At his train table. Reagan is sleeping in her swing. Our little angel got a tangerine and some diapers in her stocking.
We had a really warm and cozy Christmas. I wish everyone were so lucky!

Cookie Day

Today was cookie day. We made Coconut Drops. 2 Cups of Coconut and 1 Cup of Cream Cheese. We added green and red food coloring of course! Next we made ginger cookies. Well they are in the process of being made. The dough had to sit in the fridge for 3 hours. I think the ingredients ended up more in Ricky's stomach than they did in the recipe..lol.
Today Amelie was commenting on the clouds. I asked her what clouds are made of. (This was a lesson from last week) She remembered that it is water and eventually it will fall when it gets heavy enough. Cohen got a Dollar Store train set yesterday to keep him occupied. He was so intent on that little train! It is now broken of course but while it lasted it was great.
Ricky snuck some gum into the living room today..hehe. AND we had a little fiasco in the washroom while washing her hands. Oh the stories we will have on her wedding day!
Ron is out buying my Christmas gift. (As if a fridge wasn't more than enough!!) Today I got some much needed support from my internet mom group...THANK YOU!!!
Well time to put this laundry away or it will be all over the house in minutes!

Amelie is 5

Amelie is growing up. How cruel it is that children grow up! Why can't they still little and dependant?
We had Amelie's birthday party last night. It seems people are coming over at different times throughout the week. Amelie got a Solar System reading package from Aunt Lanie (which she loves!!) and a Shirley Temple movie from Grandma and Papa. Today is her actual birthday.
Today is laundry day so the kids can help fold laundry and put it away. I taught Ricky how to fold her shirts the other day so she can practice folding all of her shirts. The reason for the lesson was because Ricky has a fascination with fashion. She loves to layer her clothes. On any given day you will see Ricky with a shirt, pants, different color socks, a sun dress and a sun hat. Unbelievably it looks great!
I would like to do some school today. Not sure what is on the schedule yet. We will read a chapter from The Boxcar Children together but not sure what else. Every day there is a lesson in Science, LA, Bible, History and Geography. We are doing a 1 year course in 2 years considering they are so young. It works because I don't believe in just trying to fit it into our time. I want learning to be relaxing and fun. So far they love to learn!
Here are the subjects in more detail...
Bible - In the program we are following there is a memorization verse to go along with the bible stories. I will not be doing this. We have a CD with songs that have the verses on them. We will listen to this throughout the wk. We are reading Bible whenever we feel like it. Amelie has said in the past that this is her favorite book and wanted to take it everywhere. Cute.
History - Our curriculum is based around History. Right now we are learning about people from around the world from the early years. In this curriculum we learn a bit about every place (like Rome and Egypt that we have studied) and every year it gets more in depth. No need to drill facts because it will be reinforced throughout the years.
Geography - Oh we like Geography! Whenever we learn about a place we find it on our soft ball globe. Amelie practices our provinces and their capitals on a computer puzzle. I would like the kids to learn about Canada first and then we will venture out into other continents. Every Wednesday is International night. One of the girls will choose a country and I will find recipes on the net for that country. We talk about the country and see if we like their food. Ricky chose Antarctica..OY! Seal brains and Penguin were on the menu so instead we are going to have a food shaped like a penguin and ice cream for dessert.
Math - We chose Right Start Math. This program has a lot of manipulatives. They learn about numbers and how they work instead of the plain old memorization. There are card games to help them remember rules. To seem more about this program they have a website.
Language Arts - Not too much emphasis is put on this subject. Amelie is reading whatever she feels at the time. I did get a set of books called BOB books and that helped her learn. She doesn't like to be told what to read. She is reading past a grade 2 level so I will let her lead this one. She is still young to be learning all of the rules. We have learned what a Simile is this past wk.
"School" is going well and everyday I thank God that we have this choice!!

Tree is finally decorated

Last night we decorated our Christmas tree. We parents deserve a reward! There was Amelie and Ricky going through the boxes for ornaments and Cohen is grabbing at the lights saying WOW!! Reagan was being a grumpy gus and Tyson was jumping on us. Finally I said..HOLD IT! Put Tyson in his bed..I will feed Reagan and we handed out ornaments. It can get a bit hectic in our house! The tree looks perfect.
Yesterday we read about Ancient Rome. Amelie loved the part about the fighting. I had no idea that the movie The Gladiator was real! Back then they did put their thumbs up or down to decide who died in the pit. How awful!
When Ron got home last night he told me he got my Christmas present. Guess what it is!
A brand new fridge!!! It is being delivered on Wednesday. Now I can fit our food.
Reagan is just waking up now. Why is she still sleeping you ask?? Because she graced us with her presence all night. Today is Amelie's birthday party so I have some cleaning to do.

Dancing Ballerina's

The girls had their ballet receital. Ricky made sure she was by her sister at all times! Even Cohen got in on the action. Grandma and Grandpa came to see the show.
Yesterday we disected a rose and got to explore all of its parts.
Cohen had his birthday on the 3rd. My little boy is now 2 years old! STOP GROWING!!!
We got a new puppy named Tyson. We will put pictures of him soon.

Christmas

Right now the girls and Ron are putting up their Christmas decoration they made. Christmas music is on and the girls are pretty excited about it. We had a nice relaxing day today. We didn't do any formal education but as we know they are always learning!
We tried sneaking chicken into Cohen's grilled cheese tonight but it didn't work. Peanut butter AGAIN it was!
Tomorrow they go and get the Christmas tree so we can decorate it tomorrow.

Relaxing day

Today was a lazy day! We went to the chiropractor again today (only to see the HOT guy who works there..kidding) We all got adjusted again. We didn't do much school today. Amelie read to me and it is incredible how well she is reading!!! She has no problem with words like disappointed. She is becoming more fluent which is nice to see. We still have to work on her lower case letters. Her capitals she has done easily for a while now.
We are doing well with the no TV all afternoon rule. Except when Aunt Lanie brings out Frosty!! lol. We had cousin Sawyer and Aunt Lanie over for dinner tonight. Then we tossed them all in the tub. It was a nice little visit.
I am still working on letters and their sounds with Ricky. It is amazing how much she has picked up here and there! Today she woke up and Amelie was across the street playing with Jeannette. Ricky was pretty upset! They don't usually separate. This was Amelie's first time playing at a friends house without me. (Aunt Lanie was there)
Tomorrow morning the girls have ballet and jazz. They look adorable in their little suits!
The girls are both in bed, Reagan is sleeping in her swing and Cohen is watching The Polar Express. He gets TV while the girls are falling asleep or he would play with them. Ron has the weekend off so it should be a nice family weekend.

Clever comment

Last night Ricky was up pretty much all night. This woke Amelie up. I told them to not get up until the sun has come up. Amelie said.." It is up!" I told her NO that is the moonlight. She then said " The moon doesn't have any light. It is the sun that is shining on the moon. So the sun is shining!" How do you not smile at that?? So I told her when the DIRECT sunlight is out you can get up..lol.
We all got adjusted at the chiropractor today. Ron hurt his back yesterday so he really needed it! They said it looked pretty bad.
All of the kids are sleeping right now. Phew! I needed the break!
I decided last night that the TV is to be off all day now. I don't mind cartoons in the morning but other than that they can be doing something more creative with their time or helping me around the house.

Our day so far

Well right now Cohen is sleeping STILL. The girls are in the washroom washing spaghetti off of their hands and I am sure it will be all over the place. Reagan is asleep in her swing.
Today I sent a bunch of helium balloons to Ron at work. He was incredibly embarrassed!
So for school today so far the girls went to the library for library time. We read about ancient Egypt and how kings where mummified when they died. I plan on wrapping their arms up with toilet paper to have some fun with it. We are about to learn about the layers of the Earth. I am going to boil an egg and show the different layers. They will enjoy this.
Today Ricky put a piece of tape across the living room and balanced the phone on it. She wanted to see if she blew on it if it would fall off. It didn't but she enjoyed the little experiment. Well I am off to clean up the girls and the mess they surely made!

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

Hello all,
I am starting this blog to share our homeschooling days with everyone. It is also a way for me to see the progress we are making. Feel free to comment.

I would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ron!!!!! He is 31 today. Right now the girls are making cards for him and he is sleeping. We are watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. *Gasp* we aren't sitting at the table learning...HEHE. They are learning where chocolate comes from..lol.

I guess I will write a bit about ourselves for people who do not know us.

Ron and I have been married for 6 yrs now and have 4 beautiful children. Hoping to have more. We would like to adopt 2 or more in the future.
We obviously homeschool. It is going well. You will learn more about our homeschooling adventures as time goes on.

Have a nice day everyone!