End of day 2... woohoo!

Today was MUCH better than yesterday. I am using this blog to post pics, so if you're reading this in email, click on the link at the bottom to view. :)

These are from yesterday during our Calendar time.
They each have their own.

These are from Math time. Seth was doing that number one copy work I mentioned earlier. You can tell from the 2nd pic how excited he was.

Then it was Caleb's turn. You can see one of the workbook pages he did today at the bottom of the first pic. Then he wanted to "cut with the scissors."

We did other things... read from "the Box Car Children," read about Martin Luther, practiced our name, address, and phone number, learned the grandparents' real names. Fun, huh?

Here are pics from our two science experiments.
They are both about air changing size as it warms and cools.

In the first one we dented a ping-pong ball and then watched the dent pop back out as we held the ball under warm water. It didn't work well the first time because the dent was too large. Our subsequent small dents worked perfectly.

The second experiment was about air "shrinking" as it cools. We put crushed ice in an empty pop bottle, put the lid on, shook it up, and watched the sides of the bottle collapse in. I think I liked it more than the boys did. They SAID they liked it, though.

... day 2 begins...

I feel much better today and we're having a lazy morning, which is great. Math starts at 9:30. Seth and Caleb are playing the drums right now and we're about to eat breakfast and have our Bible lesson. I have high hopes for today's success!

First day of torture... uh... I mean school.

I decided to start school today instead of waiting because the boys were bouncing off the walls and driving everyone (me) crazy. I knew it was time when I found them diving from the kitchen counter to the couch. Clear enough sign, right?

I will sum up our first day in this... we all pretty much hated it. Oh, it started off okay. I was pretty optimistic, actually. However, after the 3rd or 4th temper tantrum, I'd had it. I had a monster head/neck ache, so that wasn't helping. Also, working out first-day kinks caused some frustration, to say the least.

Here's the more positive slant on the day... Seth did really well in Math and is way ahead of the materials we have for Kindergarten level at this point. That's great. We flew thru the first 5 lessons. The only part he really hates is copy work. There isn't a lot, but he's not used to it and that in itself shakes his confidence. We'll have to break thru that pretty quickly because tomorrow he has to complete an entire page of copy work. It's only the number 1... straight lines... shouldn't be too bad. In a week or two, we'll get into some more challenging math subjects. I'll let you know how it goes.

Seth also liked coloring his Create-A-Calendar, creating his "Ff" letter sheet, and hanging them both in the school room. Plus, he can't wait to continue the story "The Boxcar Children." He was not ready to stop after chapter one. I think tomorrow we'll just keep reading until he's done listening.

Caleb [eventually] liked doing the Hokey Pokey with our Capital Letter Wood Pieces. He really didn't want to do it, but I made him. I had fun, anyway.

Although we are taking it easy and trying not to be too formal about things, the boys are REALLY not used to so much structure. I expect things to get better day-by-day. Once they know what to expect, and that Mom isn't budging with this school thing, they'll start to really enjoy it.

Prayers are needed and appreciated. :)

The sky's not always blue...

"Do not try to bend the spoon; that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth. [What truth?] There is no spoon. Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself." ~the Matrix

I'm pretty sure we won't be in here most of the time, but when we need a table for science projects or math or handwriting or art, this will be the table we use when we're at home. We may not school at home everyday, however. Our little school room feels a little stuffy compared to the thought of learning math in the park under the changing autumn leaves. When I was little, I was taught to color my pictures any color I wanted. Purple trees... pink skies... blue grass... why not? As an adult, that translates into math in the park, lunch under the table, and throwing the schedule to the wind when the occasion calls for it.

Yep, freedom goes hand-in-hand with form.... one is lost without the other. We homeschool so we can have them BOTH!

Strong's Concordance on "wisdom."

Here's more about our school's name...

Wisdom House
school for the gifted and creative

We proclaim Christ, admonishing and teaching our children with all wisdom, so that we may present all of our children perfect in Christ. To this end we labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in us, their parents. (Adaptation of Colossians 1:28-29)

Strong’s G4678
“wisdom” – sophia in Greek
wisdom, broad and full of intelligence; used of the knowledge of very diverse matters

• the wisdom which belongs to men
  • spec. the varied knowledge of things human and divine, acquired by acuteness and experience, and summed up in maxims and proverbs
  • the science and learning
  • the act of interpreting dreams and always giving the sagest advice
  • the intelligence evinced in discovering the meaning of some mysterious number or vision
  • skill in the management of affairs
  • devout and proper prudence in intercourse with men not disciples of Christ, skill and discretion in imparting Christian truth
  • the knowledge and practice of the requisites for godly and upright living

• supreme intelligence, such as belongs to God
  • to Christ
  • the wisdom of God as evinced in forming and executing counsels in the formation and government of the world and the scriptures

Sonlight

We are currently using Sonlight curriculum. We're on the back end of Core B and will start Core C w/K readers in late summer. Core B is the preschool curriculum and it's great, but not as exciting as Core C will be. In Core C we start a reading program, Handwriting w/o Tears, Horizons K Math, and Sonlight Science K... among other things.

I have three children. The two boys will be 6 and 4 in August, and our baby daughter will be 1yo in May. One of the reasons I chose Sonlight is that my two boys can be taught with the same Core. My daughter and her future younger sibling can be on the same Core if we get that far with Sonlight, so the most I'll have to teach is two Cores at a time. I know that's like reading Latin for some, but that's what we're doing. :)

Setting up a new blog... and naming our homeschool.

I've never done this before, and I'll be learning as I go. I hope to have this page completely up and running when we start our new fall semester. My goal is to post new entries every week or so that will include details and pictures of what we do as a homeschool family. My hope is that this will be a great way to keep friends and family informed and included in our lives.... and a great way to document our homeschool experience.

Just today, I named our school. According to our state's Homeschooling Handbook, it's an important thing to do. Now I just have to work on a philosophy of education.... :)

Wisdom House
school for the gifted and creative

"We proclaim Christ, admonishing and teaching our children with all wisdom, so that we may present all of our children perfect in Christ. To this end we labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in us, their parents. "(Adaptation of Colossians 1:28-29)