Kindergarten Curriculum

I went back and forth for a long time about whether or not I would use a curriculum for Kindergarten.

I'm a fan of parts of so many different schools to thought regarding homeschooling styles.

I like letting Josie's interests guide our studies like in Unschooling.

I like the memorization and living books from Charlotte Mason.

I like themes, I like hands on, I like the arts.

I love planning out our fun extras and thinking up creative ways to show Josie about the World.

So picking a certain packaged curriculum just didn't seem like the best option for us.

On the other hand, I am also not sure how to be sure we are covering all that we need to.  I know Josie is at least on target with other kids her age, if not a bit ahead.

And I want it to stay that way.

So for this year, we are going to try a hybrid.

I'm using a curriculum for, what I consider to be, the four main subjects.  Then we are picking a different theme every month that we will learn about during our Extras.

I had a great time researching different curriculums and finally settled on what we will be using.

For math, we are using Math-U-See.

For reading, we settled on Explode The Code.

For Bible/character, we just started We Choose Virtues.

For writing we are going to continue rotating memory verse copy work and pen pal letters.

I did pick a science curriculum, but decided to wait to start that until next Fall.

We will work art into our extra themes every week too.

I am really excited about how much of my time this frees up.

For the next 6 months, these are our themes:

February - Under The Sea
March - My Body & My 5 Senses
April - A Bugs Life
May - Flowers, Plants, Trees
June - Food Groups
July - George Washington

We are officially starting Kindergarten March 1st.  I'm spending February laying it all out and planning our monthly themes for the rest of the year.

Oh, and taking the babies to Disney World!

It's Out!

Josie finally lost that tooth.

The little bugger held on for almost a month.

I was so sick of watching her play with it with her tongue that I couldn't take anymore.  So I yanked it.

First REALLY Big Girl Milestone under the bridge!

Next up, turning 5!

Spaced Out - Wrap Up

We spent the past couple weeks wrapping up our solar system theme.

We had a weird week last week where school just didn't fit in it's normal schedule.  We did a lot of night school, car school, and in between chores school.

But we got it done so that works for me.

Here's a peek at what we did.
Josie is now doing curriculum to cover reading, math, and writing.  These posts only cover the extra theme work we are doing.

Moon Surface

We looked at some pictures of the moon's surface and talked about how meteors run into the moon and give it a bumpy surface.  To illustrate, she dropped marshmallows (meteors) into a bowl of flour (our moon) to see what would happen.

Marshmallow Moon Phases

Josie remembered this from last year but she's always up for a lesson that involves eating marshmallows!  We looked at some examples of the different moon phases and then I gave her 3 marshmallows and told her to make them look like the different phases.

Reflection Experiment

I told her how the moon looks like it has it's own light but that it really just reflects the sun's light.  To illustrate, we headed into the bathroom and shut off the light.  Then Josie shined her flashlight onto the mirror.  We talked about how the mirror didn't have a light at all but that her flashlight made it look like it did.

Full Moon Observation

Pretty self explanatory.  We went outside and observed the moon.  Josie thought she was super special since she got to stay up "really late" to see the moon.

It was only 7:15.

God bless you early sunset!

Rotation Illustration

To illustrate the way the Earth orbits the sun we did a little rotation illustration.  We used a marble as our Earth and sent it spinning around a pie tin.

Planet Line Up

We colored some planets, cut them out, then glued them in order for a little art project.  Josie's coloring and scissor skills have improved dramatically in the past month.

Create A Planet

Our big art project was Josie's favorite for this theme.  We made a paper mache planet and then filled out a story book about her new planet.

To See our first two weeks of the Solar System check out Spaced Out - Week 1

For links to these projects and the ones we just didn't get to check out my Solar System PinBoard.

It was bad.

Tuesday things got ugly around here.

Really ugly.

The day started with waking Gabe up early for his monthly Synergist shots and went down hill from there.

Crabby kids, crabby mom.

An impossibly long to do list and fringed nerves.

We had a big check from DFCS delayed...AGAIN.

I worked all day but seemed to get nothing done.

Gabriel refused to nap.

I yelled.

A lot.

No really, A LOT.


And every time I yelled I thought, "Oh sweet Lord.  I'm scarring my kids for life."

But then one would sass or dump an entire bottle of baby powder on the freshly vacuumed floor and I'd lose my ever loving mind again.

I even attempted to put myself in time out back in my room but the children did not heed my warnings to please give Mommy some space.

I went to bed feeling like a contender for The Worst Mom In The World prize.

That's when I decided that Wednesday would belong to them.

No chores, no emails.

And since Gabriel is too young to state his opinion in any understandable fashion, I looked to Josie for the days plan.

It was glorious.  Perfect.  Needed.

Really needed.

I think I redeemed myself and have been eliminated from that Worst Mom In The World competition.

round and round

We are in our last week of learning about the Solar System.

We, as in, I'm learning just as much as Josie.

This has been one of those topics that I could recite facts on but didn't actually understand.  It's been awesome to get a bit of a grasp on it.

Josie was having a hard time understanding that the Earth spins full circle every day and at the same time is circling the sun every year.

So I went to my trusty Pinboard and found this little gem.

A pie tin and a marble are the only things you need.  We added a sun in the middle as a helpful visual.

I had her pretend the marble was the Earth and our tin was the orbital path around the sun.

Then I tipped the tin side to side and we watched the marble spin.

Not sure if she totally got it, but I did and they were both momentarily mesmerized so it's another winner.

Then we had our very own Space Cowboy show up!

Check back Friday for our final Solar System wrap up.

Scrap That!

I had last week's agenda all planned out.

We were going to have another awesome week covering the solar system and getting things done around the house.

Then my mom called to say she had a long layover on Tuesday, could we come hang out?

Sure!  Plans can get pushed back.

Then Tiffany invited us to spend a day at the zoo with her and her little men.

Hmm, can we push plans two days?

Can the laundry go another day in the basket?

Can school go undone again?

Can we push back naps and dinner and dusting?

I thought about it for 2 seconds and decided they could.

What's the fun in homeschooling if you can't pack up at a moments notice for a day of exploring and learning at a near empty zoo?!?!

I am SO glad we were flexible.

The weather was absolutely perfect, the kids were so well behaved, and the animals were, well, pretty lively!

This tiger spotted the kids and came right over.  

He actually played with the kids!  It was the coolest thing ever!

Josie's expressions were worth a million missed lesson plans.

And so was the huge lion that stood on top of a rock and roared for a looonngg time!

SO NEAT!

I've honestly never been to the zoo and seen the animals so active.

It had to have been the cooler but still warm weather.

Plus we were one of about 3 families there.  Every exhibit had zookeepers that were more then happy to answer the kids countless, and often strange, questions.

Gabe was obsessed with the "Mincos."

It was awesome.

And super educational!

Great day with my babies.

SO glad we ditched the preplanned schedule and had a week full of memories.

Technically His First

Today is Gabey Baby's Second Birthday.

Although, technically, it's his very first birthday ever as Gabriel Pope!

Kind of a 2 for 1 deal.

It's been a big year for my little man.

He learned to walk, started talking, developed an intense love for balloons.

Oh, and became a Pope forever and ever, amen!

Wanna take a peek at just how much he's changed this past year?

Just be warned, it's almost unbelievable how much of a baby he was a year ago. 

It's enough to make this Mama cry.

Can that first picture seriously be the same kid?!?!

As much as I miss that little toothless monster grin, I have to admit, I'm pretty smitten with the awesome, very toothy, lover boy he is now.

Oh Gabey Baby, please don't ever lose those wonky toes or dimpled hands!

Happy Birthday to the little man that holds my heart.

I love you more then I ever thought could be humanly possible.  You lighten me up and make me smile and just bring joy in general to everyone you're around.  You make me laugh a thousand times a day and I couldn't imagine a sweeter spirit in all the world.

Two is gonna ROCK!