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!!