Sunday Snapshot

JD rides the "tractor" his Daddy had when he was a little boy.  He loves it!  Can you tell?  And he is definitely wearing Daddy's hat too!

AN4 with her best bud K at today's dance photo shoot.  Friends since they were baby-babies!

Sisters getting ready for dance photo day.

Truly loving every stage that our children go through.  Some seem much harder than others but then, the more difficult the stages are, the more rewarding they seem to be as they pass.

Blog Hop: The "What" in our Homeschool

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The "What"

In Our Family Forest Academy we use a variety things to make up our school days.

-Co-op (studies the sciences)
-Field Trips
-Local Museum Classes
-AWANA Bible program
-Dance Classes
-MOPPETS


Our Book-Work

For 1st Grade, JB6 used:

Alpha Omega's Horizon's Math

Alpha Omega's Horizon's Reading and Phonics


Alpha Omega's Horizons' Spelling  


Alpha Omega's Horizons Penmanship


AWANA's Sparkies Book #2 for Bible lessons, JB6 completed both books and the Frequent Flyer Cards, learning all the books of the Bible along with many verses.  We were very proud of her accomplishments!


Our Outloud Reading choices usually come from the Sonlight reading list, as we love and trust their selections.


We also purchased Alpha Omega's Heath and Physical Education but would have to say that we really didn't use them very often.

For 2nd Grade next year, we plan to use the following:

Reading & Phonics: We have been very please with Alpha Omega's Reading and Phonics program and so we plan to use that again for grade 2.

Math: We have used Horizon's in the past and have been very happy with it.  For this year, we are deciding between Horizons Grade 2 Math and Math-U-See.  So glad to see that Math-U-See has a placement test to find out where to begin! Math-U-See also offers video teaching lessons where Horizons does not. 

Spelling: We will again use Alpha and Omega: Spelling and Vocabulary, Grade 2


Penmanship: We will use Alpha Omega Penmanship which begins cursive writing. 

For our out-loud reading list, we use this Sonlight Reader List for Grade 2 list to select some of our books; we then either purchase them through Amazon or we will order them through our state's "Books by Mail" program.

History: We are still deciding between Mystery of History and The Story of the World.  Whichever we choose, we will be getting the audio cds so that we can still do school when we need to be on the road!

For Science, both girls use InquisiKids

AN4 Officially begins Pre-K! Or Kindergarten?
I used to have a difficult time understanding how parents could "not know" which grade their homeschool student was in.  Now, I totally get it.  AN4 has been doing Horizons Kindergarten Math for months now (at a very moderate pace), we've been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for reading, and we've been doing The Code Series for writing and phonics.  So technically, we have been doing school for a year already but if we were to put her in a classroom setting, we would not be putting her in officially kindergarten until the fall of 2012.  She is one of those late summer children who are right on the fence.  However we are already doing Kindergarten work with her.  So call it whatever you want!  Age wise, she would be Pre-K but academically, she is Kindergarten... I guess?  







We have also used School in a Box with both girls as well and love it for an alternative hands-on school day.

There are lots of things we love at www.classicalconversations.com as well. 

Bible Flash Cards 
 


As well as the Memory Song CDs that accompany these cards... but these are more of a wish list!

Should be another great year!

Follow this Hop HERE
   

The Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of Homeschooling: Who

A new homeschool blog hop HERE on Thursdays, upcoming topics are:

Who: Share about who you homeschool. Their ages, grades, and a little about their personalities.

What: What do you use in your homeschool. Curriculums, games, educational shows etc. 

When: What time of day, how many days a week, yearly schedules.

Where: What parts of your home do you use for school time. Please post pictures of where you school, and of your organization(shelves, boxes, etc.)

Why: Tell us all why you homeschool, and what led you to it.

How: Share what styles of homeschooling you incorporate, your daily schedule, and your favorite homeschooling books.

I am little behind, so I am catching up from last Thursday.  Stop by and join in on the fun!

Who we homeschool:

JB6 will soon be JB7 in the end of June.  She is finishing the 1st grade and will be going into the 2nd grade this fall at Our Family Forest Academy (our un-official homeschool name!).  JB6 is a extremely self-motivated and independent with her school work and has really been a joy to work with.  Words that best describe JB6: organized, a planner, loyal friend, forgiving, sensitive, a dancer, detailed oriented, decorative, and soft spoken.

JB6's favorites:

School subjects: Math and Bible

Colors: purple and pink

Book: The Box Car Children Series

Sport: Swimming and Basketball

Activity: Coloring, making cards and dance 

Game: Connect Four

TV Show: Wild Kratts on PBS

Movie: Kung Fu Panda

AN4 will be 5 this August. When people try to guess her age, we rarely hear anything under 6.  She is very tall, very fast, and very strong!  God has gifted her with great physical abilities.  She dribbles a basketball while walking around the house, without looking at her hands, and thinks that is normal for a 4 year old!  We dont tell her otherwise. AN4 loves art and music as well.  Words that describe AN4: Sweet, affectionate, energetic, friendly, hilarious, light-hearted, go-with-the-flow, resilient, and a daddy's girl.

AN4's favorites:  I am waiting to ask her to answer these for herself.  Since she is out with Daddy at the moment, will have to fill them in later!

Ok... Allie has her answers!
School subjects: Reading, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is her favorite.

Color: Pink 

Book: Clifford Books

Sport: Baseball (especially the Red Sox, she tells me)

Activity:  Art

Game: Wii Fit, "jogging with the kitty"

TV Show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Movie: Barbie Swan Lake
...So glad that I didnt guess at her answers, it was fun to listen to hear think these things through!

JD1 is our 18 month old little man. He has been laid-back since he was in the womb.  He loves to follow his sisters around and laughs at their antics.  While he has brought fear into the hearts of his family with his bouts with serious food allergies and febrile seizures, his overwhelmingly joyous personality brings nothing but happiness to our home! Words that describe JD: silly, busy, car lover, farm lover, and a ball player!

JD1's favorites:

Book: Animal Sounds and 5 Little Monkeys

Songs: ABC's, My God is So Big, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Activity: Feeding the pigs tomatoes, throwing a ball back and forth with someone

Game: peek-a-boo

TV Show: Bob the Builder, Little Einsteins, Sesame Street

Movie: Cedar Mount Kids and Elmo movies

Now, onto "What!"

Black Flies in Maine: Its Time for a New State Bird

A granola recipe from the Peanut Allergy Kid

Just came across an excellent allergy blog called the Peanut Allergy Kid.  One particularly helpful post included a recipe for homemade peanut-free granola.  Yum!  Thank you Peanut Allergy Kid for sharing this recipe!  Check it out HERE


"Safe" Stovetop Granola

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups old fashioned oats (whole oats)
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1-2 T wheat germ (optional)
• 1-2 T flax seed meal (optional)

Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oats and stir until they start browning and getting crisp, about 5 minutes. Towards the end of cooking time, add wheat germ and flax seed meal (Be careful not to burn oats! It happens quickly!) Remove from heat and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool.

Melt the butter in the same pan over medium heat. Stir in the honey and brown sugar; cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Return the oats to the pan. Cook and stir for another 5 minutes or so. Pour out onto the cookie sheet and spread to cool.

Once cool, transfer to an airtight container. You can also add dried fruit (raisins, Craisins, etc) at this time, too.

Periwinkle Waffles: Egg and Peanut Allergy Safe!

Periwinkle Waffles

...because the word "periwinkle" appeals to my children

more than the word "blueberry"

Sift together:

2 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

Combine and then stir into dry ingredients:

1-2 mashed bananas

1/4 cup oil or applesauce

1 3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1 cup pureed blueberries

Bake in a hot waffle iron until lightly browned. 

Yields: 12 to 14 waffles





Thursdays: Tied with Love and Laughter

Thursdays: Tied with Love and Laughter, a little perspective.

Last week, my husband worked four 12 hours shifts, changed the oil in our vehicles, rota tilled the garden, mowed the lawn, took the trash to the dump, fixed a plumbing issue, fed the pigs, cows, and chickens, plus much, much more... These are all things that I CAN do if I have to, but I am extremely thankful this week that he is the one who did and that I didn't have to.

What "simple" things did your spouse do this week that maybe worth noting?  Please leave the link to your post in the comments below.

 

The Best Baby Shower Gift

My new favorite baby shower gift is the Tiny Bear's Bible. 

Our son recieved the "boy" version of this at his baby shower and it is now one of his most prized possessions. So I have decided to start sharing the love with others by giving this as a gift as well.  The cover is fuzzy to the touch and the Bible story characters are adorable little bears.  It's sweet, it's practical and it's sentimental... what more could you want from a baby shower gift?!

Two thumbs up!

So strong and so mighty...

Do you remember the sweet little sunday school song, My God is so Big?

"My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do
The Mountains are His
The Rivers are His
The Stars are His handwork too
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do"

There is nothing my God cannot do. 

Even when mulitple doctors believed that my husband was dealing with lymphoma and when his situation looking quite scary, we prayed.  Why pray?  Because we believe there is nothing our God cannot do.  Today, a second scan confirmed that, despite what doctors may have thought, my husband is NOT dealing with a lymphoma or a mass at all!  He still has swelling behind his eye but no mass!  The God who made the stars hold us in the palm of His hand and I am thankful to know the creator in times such as these.  Thank you Jesus! 

And thank you to everyone who has prayed!

"My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do...

for you!"

Happy Nurse's Day!

Having had recent experiences on the "patient end" of nursing care, I have a renewed sense of the importance in truly caring for patients... not just getting through the care, but truly caring. Thank you to all the exceptional nurses out there, who understand the difference!

Happy Nurse's Day to all my fellow nurses!

Fascinator, Hat or Hair Accessory?

Did you see the Fascinators worn at the royal wedding? I had no idea what a Fascinator  actually was so I checked it out.  I learned something new today and I think I just might like them!  Maybe its time for a new trend here in America?!

What is a Fascinator?

A Fascinator is a fashionable hair accessory worn on the head. It may resemble a small hat but is held in place by a band, clip, pin or comb. Fascinators are usually worn by women, along with formal attire. Fascinators may be made from a variety of materials including sinamay, feathers, grosgrain, swarovski crystals, satin, silk, and tulle.

TTLL: What if Blessings Come through Raindrops?

Thursdays: Tied with Love and Laughter

When my husband and I were planning our wedding, we couldn't think of a good song to play during the ceremony.  So, my dad recommended one that he liked.  We listened to it, loved it, and decided to have it play during the lighting of our unity candle.  It still makes me smile today.

Edwin McCain's, I Could Not Ask for More

That was nearly 9 years ago now.  Today, we seem to be walking through a much less celebratory phase of our lives.  We are blessed, so very blessed and so very grateful.  But this is a hard time for us right now.  The other day, my dad recommended another song to us.  Since then, several friends have recommended the same song as well.  I think its worth taking the time to listen to; this song speaks a truth that stirs both painful and joyful tears. 

Laura Story's, Blessings

Do you and your loved one share a special song?  Share the link to your blog in the comments below if you would like.

 

Sunday Snapshot

There is no place like Daddy's lap!