Square Foot Garden Update ~ July

 

My husband and I put in 6 Square Foot Gardens this year.  They look okay but I realized they would produce a lot more veggies if I have put in different kinds of compost. Instead I just used leaf compost and the soil is lacking ……… nitrogen (I think)! 

I dropped by the Farmer’s Market and got a few bags of mushroom compost to enrich the soil.  Boy is that some stinky stuff! 

Check back soon for a garden update!

I am now working on filling a compost bin to enrich the soil for next year’s crops!

Planning Our School Year: 2011-2012

 

This is my favorite time of the year……. planning the school year!  There are a few preparations prior to schooling that help our year go smooth!

 

File System for each week of school:

What you need:

1. Hanging file folders – one for each week you do school in a year
2. Label maker – Label each file folder with a number (I do 34 weeks)
3. Colored file folders – Place one for each child in each hanging file folder
4. Stuff your folders with EVERY lesson - for each week for the WHOLE year!

I bought a file folder box with a lid. 

This is the hanging file folder with the colored folders ~ one for each child.

Here’s a few items I placed in the folder.  I will then put these in the appropriate workbox.

This planning process will help your year go super smooth.  

I just pull out the file folder for one child on Sunday evening and place just the papers in the appropriate work box.  You can stuff them each night with one day’s worth of work or you can pull out a week’s worth of work and place it in the workbox. 

Workbox System:

I use 12’x12’ scrapbooking drawers – 9 drawers for each child.  I got them for $9 for each 3-drawer section from Hobby Lobby.

Workbox cards and grids for each day of the week (details are from Jolanthe’s blog Homeschool Creations).  I still need to update the cards for the changes I made in our curriculum this year.   The new cards will be generic subject pictures, so I do not have to change them each year!

I added P.E. activity cards from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Go check them out… fun fun fun!  I will put several in the girls boxes each day to add fun!

I keep a few items in the boxes all the time like: Explode the code workbook,  spelling notebook, latin workbook, etc.

 

Morning Board: (update weekly ~ no photo yet because I am still working on it)

1. Bible memory verse
2. Latin words of the week (Song School Latin)
3. Make the date with Money
4. What time is it? digital and analog
5. Calendar time
6. Sowing seeds of __________ (Character)
7. Prayer card – People group we are studying in ECC

Planner:

I use the The Well Planned Day in a binder for my planning pages.

 

 

 

I am using MFW Countries and Cultures for our lessons this year ~ they have done the planning for me.

 

 Check out the details of my Curriculum Choices for 2011-2012.

Curriculum Choices: 2011-2012

 

It’s been a great summer for our family! 

Swimming with daddy.  The girls had their first sleep over … 8 girlies!

My girls turned 6 and 8 years old!  We also had lots of play dates with friends!

 

….On with our curriculum choices for 1st and 3rd grade!

The new school year is just around the corner so I thought it would be a great time to let you know what curriculum we will be using this year.

Bible, Geography, Science, Read-Alouds, Art and Music

Last year was our first year using My Father’s World.  It was our best year.  MFW does the lesson planning for me!

We will be using MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures this year.  It is a unit study designed for students grades 3-8th.  It includes lessons for Bible, history, geography, science, read alouds, art, cooking, nature study, and music!

 

Why do I love MFW? 

1. The lessons plans are created for me and I have all the resources I need except a few library books to add to our reading. 
2. My girls work together on all their subjects except math, language arts and reading … so I only have to teach the subjects just once. 
3. It’s economical especially since I will reuse the same curriculum again in 5 years but at a more advanced level of study.
4. It is easy to do with a co-op group.  We have 5 families in our ECC co-op this year! 
5. Just plain fun. My kids loved doing their MFW science and history last year!

What we will be studying in MFW ECC this year?

Check out their website  Exploring Countries and Cultures with MFW

 

How often are we planning to do each ECC subjects?

Bible  ~ daily;  Geography ~ 2x/ week;  Science ~ 2x/ week;  Art ~ 2x/ week; Reading ~ daily;  Music ~ 2x/ week;  Nature Walk ~ 1x/ week

Our co-op will meet each Thursday morning for 3 hours during which time we will complete ECC projects like crafts, cooking, geography games, missionary/ character lessons, memory verse games, hands-on science projects, and/ or a nature walk lesson.  The goal of our ECC co-op is to complete projects and lessons assigned in our ECC curriculum lesson plans.

I will also be adding a few supplements to our year:

 

1. Expedition Earth Curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler
2. Heaven’s Heroes by Shibley
3. Children Just Like Me by Kindersley
4. 10 Girls / 10 Boys Who Changed The World by Howat

 

Math

Math U See has been our best choice for math curriculum.  It teaches mastery without the busy work.  The girls are working on MUS Alpha and Beta.

For math drill, we will be using a program I reviewed (and the girls enjoyed) called Mad Dog Math. Check out my review here

The girls will do math lessons and drill 4 times a week.

 

 

Language Arts

In January, I starting using the Barton Reading and Spelling program with my older daughter.  It is my third and final curriculum purchase to teach her how to read.  It has been the BEST program EVER for teaching a dyslexic child how to learn to read.  It is an Orton-Gillingham based program so it’s multi-sensory.  She will be finishing level 3 soon!

The Barton program teaches: reading, spelling, dictation, fluency, games and phonics.  It is expensive and worth every penny.  The re-sale value is high!

Check out Susan Barton’s Reading and Spelling programs here:

Barton reading

Bright Solutions For Dyslexia

 

 

If you have a child you suspect with dyslexia or reading delay listen to Susan Barton’s webinars for more details!  Click the Bright Solutions link above or email me @ m_wharton@yahoo.com

 

My younger daughter, Marissa, will be using Learning Language Arts through Literature Blue, All About Spelling Level 1, and the Explode the Code workbooks.

Both girls will be doing Language Arts 4 times a week.  Spelling will be 2-3 times a week.  Reading will be daily.

 

Foreign Language

I reviewed a product called Song School Latin as part of This Old Schoolhouse CREW last year. 

My girls loved the program so much that I plan to complete it this school year.  Read my review here

 

More details on my homeschool planning for the year to come soon!  It will be similar to what I did last year with a few updates – click here!

Check our what others are doing this year at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers blog.

Also join me for a blog hop @ Heart of the Matter – Curriculum choices week one

 

 

 

Review: Considering God’s Creation

I have had the opportunity to review a wonderful natural science curriculum written from a biblical perspective.

Grade: Adaptable for grades 2nd – 7th

The program is set up with lots of fun learning through games, experiments, poems, songs, crafts and notebook pages.

 

Cost: Only  $29.95 – includes Teacher’s manual, student book and audio CD for a year’s worth of science (or more). 

For ease of use, buy an additional student book packed full of 272 pages for only $13.95.  You may copy the student book for each of your kids, but having the second book for such a cheap price is much easier than copying so many pages.

Topics:

• Universe
• Stars
• Solar System
• Earth
• Light
• Sound
• Wind
• Weather
• Clouds
• Rocks
• Plants
• Insects
• Mammals
• Reptiles
• Birds
• Fish
• Amphibians
• Food Chains
• Reproduction and Genetics
• Human
• Animal Anatomy
• Physiology

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed the hands-on approach to Considering God’s Creation.  It’s adaptable to multi-age children. The projects keep the family learning together.  I enjoyed the author’s biblical approach to science as well.  CGC is a very affordable, family-friendly, natural science program that takes a year to complete if you do one lesson per week.

My girls loved the songs and experiments best.  I enjoyed how the Christian author’s, Sue and Betty, did all the research for me and filled the program with lots of prepared notebook pages.  The projects are simple too - for both the kids and mom! 

What other supplies do you need besides the CGC books? A three-ring binder, student pages, scissors, glue, crayons and a few easy-to-find household items.

How do you teach the lessons?  There are 36 lessons.  Each lesson can be taught in one week for an entire school year.  If you children are younger,  you may take several weeks for some lessons and the program can take 2 or 3 years to complete.  I did several lessons that took two weeks each.

If you children are older, you can use the DIGGING DEEPER for ideas to keep them challenged.  There are also 12 crosswords for review or testing older children. 

More details about Eagle’s Wings curriculum Considering God’s Creation on their website here.

Eagle’s Wings also has other homeschool curriculum – Science, History, Bible, Phonics, Geography and Math.

Do you want to see how other mom’s use Considering God’s Creation? Check out Kattie’s blog - 2 Ladybugs and a Lizard – Tree Study and Flower/Plant Study and the TOS Crew’s Reviews.

 

Blog Makeover!

I am so excited to share with you that my blog Discover Their Gifts has just undergone a blog makeover!!! woo hooo!

I asked Jolanthe from Relevant Designs to redesign the look and feel of my blog.  Can I just say… I am so delighted and pleased with her work!

Since I primarily blog about my family and homeschooling, I wanted the blog theme to feature the look and style of each of my girls next to their pet buddies. 

My blog tag line is .. “homeschooling adventures in the country’.  I derive most of my blogging ideas from our adventures in the country around our own home. Our curriculum, My Father’s World, assigns nature walks each week. 

The girls spend a lot of time outdoors riding their 4-wheeler, jeep car, swinging with friends and chasing run away pets.  This is one of the greatest benefits of homeschooling: my kids get to spend a lot of time playing with their toys, enjoying their siblings and friends, and exercising outdoors in our wooded acreage.

Back to my blog header …

My oldest daughter, Arianna, is featured in pink. She stands along side her sweet dachshund, Lola.  Her puppy has been her best buddy and companion.  Lola loves to go on walks, chase the neighborhood cats and deer, and sit in the kid’s wagon and jeep car.

Arianna will soon be 8 years old.  She is shy, intelligent, discerning of people, nurturing, gifted in organization, and asks a million questions in any given hour!  She is a joyful gift from our Lord!

Check out her earrings.  She saved her own money to get them pierced.  I cringed but she’s been a trooper at caring for them!

 

 My youngest daughter, Marissa, will soon be 6 years old.  I told her we were not going to celebrate her birthday so she would remain 5.. not sure she agreed with me.

Marissa loves glitter, sparkle, high heal shoes, and dressing as a princess.  She is standing next to her rotten main coon cat, Gilbert.  His job is to catch moles from our yard, but instead he must just hang out with them. 

Marissa is free spirited, impulsive, single focused, charming with two big dimples, sensitive, intelligent and very confident.  Also, she can’t seem to keep her shoes on outdoors not matter what the weather conditions are for the day.

Well ~ that’s a little bit about why I chose the look and feel of my new blog!

 

Don’t forget to grab my button for your blog

 

<a href="http://discovertheirgifts.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g421/m_wharton/DiscoverTheirGiftsButtoncopy.jpg" alt="Discover Their Gifts" /></a>

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Drop by Jolanthe blog Relevant Designs blog                                

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Review: Mad Dog Math

Mad Dog Math was developed by a third grade teacher, Julie Kotoff, to help her students with multiplication and division facts.  The ‘pencil – paper’ program soon evolved into computer software enhanced with all four math facts, including addition and subtraction.
It is designed as a supplement for grade K – 5th and students older who struggle with their math facts.  Mad Dog Math has taken the basic math facts and broken them down into bite-size pieces for mastery.

1. All four math operations (- + x /) – just chose what your student needs
2. Bite-size pieces of facts for mastery – less frustrated kids!
3. Progress through a series of timed practice sheets at the child’s pace
4. Tracks the progress of multiple students through all levels
5. Allows students to earn ‘Student Club Stickers’ as they pass levels
6. Brief, timed lessons – only 5-10 minutes each day

Mad Dog Math levels: There are three levels and a challenge level.  The student can take the school year to progress through one level. 

My thoughts:  My girls used Level One which is broken down by ‘fact family’ – addition or subtraction. There are about 20 problems in each lesson.  The lessons are brief and fun for them.  I had them do 3 of the “2 Minute Club” lessons.  They enjoyed being timed and we motivated to try and beat their time next round.  Mad Dog Math is the first and only math drill program my girls have enjoyed.

1. Brief lessons that are fun
2. Simple program and easy for the kids to use
3. Easy key strokes – key the answer and the tab moves to the next fact
4. Super for kids who are competitive   

I enjoyed that I could check their progress by clicking the ‘progress’ button.

Mad Dog Math at Home – click here for more details
Watch a video about the program on their website here

• 1 year license download for ALL levels – $19.99
• 2 year license download for ALL levels – $29.99
• Perpetual license download for ALL levels – $39.99
• (available in both a 32-bit and 64-bit format)

Check out the Mad Dog Math website  - http://www.maddogmath.com/

Don’t forget to check out what others on the TOS Crew had to say about Mad Dog Math over here!