A Year Complete of Home Schooling

I'm a bit behind in my posts and since school already ended for us last week, I decided to compile them all into one.  So, here's our last bit of June.  

Madame Rachelle came over to do cooking with the boys.  She just happened to come on Abishai's actual birthday so it ended up being a great birthday meal.  It was delicious.

Chicken, potatoes, peas and chocolate cake!

Here the boys are helping to clean our church on our annual spring cleaning day.

 

All dressed and ready to go to the Swords and Sabres festival, full of pirates, fantasy, and steampunk-costumed kids and adults!  With the sun in their eyes, it was hard for the boys to look at the camera.  Asher refused to even try to look up.  Earlier this year we did a unit study on the Renaissance, which you can look at here.  When I found out about Sword and Sabres I thought it would be a great extension of that unit.  The boys had a blast! 

Asher didn't have a costume that fit into the theme of the festival, but he dressed up anyways. He really liked wearing his costume and kept it on the whole time.

They got to see a real blacksmith at work. 

Felt real chain mail.  Very oily.  Some children actually got to try it on, as well as other articles of knightly garb.

Abishai amidst the pirating displays.

Pirate face on!

The boys entered a costume contest where they were judged according to category and age.

Getting "judged" by the judges.

The prizes they won.

Pirate ship bouncer. 

There was a battle ring where kids could battle it out with nerf swords.

They had so much fun!

 

Then there's our morning backyard play after homeschooling is done.  Asher is all for dump trucks and sand...

...and Abishai enjoying his Tin Tin book under the shade of our Maple tree.   We planted it a few years ago on Earth Day and it has grown so fast that it is now taller than the hydro lines. It's a beautiful tree.

Our last day of homeschooling.  The boys around the table; Abishai doing math and Micaiah and Asher playing with math manipulatives.  Micaiah was busy counting and Asher...well he was just being Asher.

Picking them all up.

And of course reading lesson and cuddle time with Micaiah.  If you're wondering, yes, I am pregnant.  Baby arrives this December!  Oh, and we're moving.  More to come on that.

It was a great first year of homeschooling!  I loved it, it's a perfect fit for me and the boys.  I look forward to next year.

Building Bird Nests

"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Matthew 8:18-22.  

The boys learned that we're following Jesus not just because he's exciting and famous.  We're following Jesus because our hearts desire to know more about God even when it's hard and difficult.  Life with Jesus isn't just a matter of the heart and mind, but actions and life habits as well. 

What I love about our bible curriculum is that it covers the stories that none of our other children's bibles do. And with my husband being a pastor, I can tell you that we own a lot of different children's bibles.  In early spring we set out to do a science activity: building a bird's nest.  Even though our nest, once dry, crumbled and fell apart when we tried to put it in our backyard tree, we still got the idea of the work and materials it takes for the "bird's of the air" to build one.  We had a mucky fun time.

Abishai forming and shaping the nest with wet mud.

Fortifying materials to make the nest strong: sticks, leaves, grass.

My serious, diligent workers.  Birds are more skilled at this than we are, lol, but it was fun none-the-less.

Sk8 Park Party!

Abishai asked to have his 6th birthday party at our local sk8 park.  We invited 18 guests and had a wonderful, accident free, sunny day BMXing on the ramps, running around and playing on the play structure.  There was food, cake and presents. Abishai had a great morning!  The best part for me was that there was absolutely no clean up, just a fun time socializing with friends.

Abishai picked Ninja Turtles for his 6th chalk board sign.

Playing on the playground waiting for party guests to arrive.

Picnic time! 

Party food! 

Asher waiting for his food in a sleepy daze.

Trying new ramps. 

Riding the wave. 

Some of Abishai's birthday guests riding around the sk8 park.

Present opening. 

Anticipating the cake. 

Transformer cupcakes!

Happy 6th Birthday Abishai

When the Cat's Away...

Asher is beginning his independent stage.  He can safely go up and down the stairs on his own, which gives him a newfound freedom.  He ventures upstairs to his brothers' rooms, and quietly plays in the toy drawers for long periods of time, or goes down to the basement to play with the train table. He even turns the lights off when he leaves the room, if he can reach them. When I've gone to check on him to make sure he's safe, here's what I've found...

The vacuum was actually on! And then in the basement...

Pants missing and sitting in the doll's high chair. Micaiah called me down because Asher couldn't get out on his own.

Firsts

Micaiah reading his first book!  
My second son has known the sounds to all the letters of the alphabet for quite some time and has just now asked me to teach him to read.  It's been fun to sit down with him and watch him progress.  I'm curious to see where he'll be when he starts Kindergarten in the fall of 2014!