Weeks 3 & 4 of the Bauslaugh academy.

Weeks 3 & 4 were spent studying the geography of the United States. The girls worked on becoming familiar with all 50 states. Leslie's goal was to get a basic understanding and just to be able to name a few states. She had about 25 states memorized by the time we finished. Lindsay's goal was to memorize every state and be able to locate as many as possible. Both did very well. In art, we made sand art like the Navajo Native Americans and quilt patterns like early pioneers. We had a field trip planned for after baby Walker's arrival to a museum at Lake Chelan that has artifacts from our pioneer ancestors. Kind of fun for the girls to explore. I would have loved to dig deeper into US history- but this year is more about geography- the history element comes in following years of the curriculum.

In science, the girls learned about forests. This made for some fun nature walks since we live in this particular biome. On our favorite walk, we used a tree id app to identify the trees in a park near my parents' house that has some great trees. Lindsay was excited to identify a western red cedar. They also had a field trip with their grand parents to Northwest Trek, a local wildlife preserve. Complete with a trip through old-growth Forrest. I don't have pictures of the trip though. :-(

Both girls finished up a unit in both English and Math. And we began spelling and reading curriculum.

I really enjoy how homeschooling has made me more aware of my children's strengths and weaknesses. I'm hoping to be able to give them the attention they need to turn their weaknesses into strengths!

After these two weeks, we had a planned 4 week break for the arrival of Baby walker.
Here are some pictures from weeks 3&4:

Our school, week 2.

This week we spent more time on maps. The girls learned about many different uses for and types of maps. They learned about scale and measurement on maps and even made a scale map of their rooms (1in=1ft). We ended the week making two cakes depicting the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. In science we covered biomes, located the tropics, temperate and arctic zones of the globe. We also went on a nature walk and took leaves (from the ground) and made bark rubbings to identify what kind of trees grow in our "biome."they seemed to enjoy being little scientists exploring their world. We ended the week with water and oxygen cycles.
Leslie (2nd grade) is working on ar words in spelling, learning about types of sentences in English, and reviewing basic addition and subtraction in math.
Lindsay starts spelling next week. She is also learning about different kinds of sentences as well as sentence diagramming in English. In Math, Lindsay is reviewing place value and regrouping.
In Bible we have been talking about how Jesus came and died for everyone, not just Christians. Each day has started with rich discussion about this topic- it has been fun to hear these girls grow in wisdom, as well as their faith.
One struggle we have had is with our read aloud time- the book selected by My Father's world is a classical allegory. It is a bit dark and not suitable for my girls at this time. So we decided to shelf it until they are older. So for now, we are reading some of their favorite chapter books instead. The girls are also reading books on their own, as well as reading to their little sister. It was a joy to hear Leslie very expressively read Green Eggs and Ham to Lucy this week, I wish I had recorded it.
I learned a couple of thugs this week, myself. I learned that making a checklist for each girl of what they needed to get done that day was really effective. I also included things that they needed to do sometime before bed that night. Things on the list are generally things that help me out (play with Lucy, take laundry upstairs, read to Lucy, etc.). The list helps the girls stay a little more focused.
I also learned that we need a more specific time limit to some tasks. One of the girls would take all day to finish her work if given the chance! So now we set a timer and whatever isn't done will become 'roomwork,' or work they have to do in their room after school time (we can't really call it homework can we?).
Lastly, I learned that my oldest needs to have her math lesson at the end of the day. For whatever reason, she has been unable to focus during the mid morning math session. But after lunch she can sit and focus on it much better.

It has been great getting to know both girls' learning strengths and weaknesses. I won't lie and say it has been the picture of a perfect homeschool, but we are working toward a school that works for my girls. My goal this year is to not quit! No matter how hard things seem. Here are some pictures of our second week:

Home School, week 1!

So we jumped into our curriculum this week. We are using a unit study from My Father's World called Exploring Countries and Cultures (ECC). This allows me to do several subjects integrated and teach both girls at the same time. They work on math, reading, and English on their own level. Working with my girls in this way has already given me some insight into how each of them learns and what they struggle with. I also have been working with Lucy on pre-school concepts (to her we are playing games).
We are really enjoying the curriculum so far. The first two weeks are an intro to the year in which we will be traveling all over the world. This week the girls learned about maps in geography, habitats in science, and our study verse for Bible was John 3:16. In art we created a collage of beautiful faces from all over the world, and listened to traditional songs from all over the world. In math, as the beginning of the school year usually consists of review, both girls are reviewing concepts. In English, both girls are learning about sentences at their grade level. We also work on handwriting, spelling, and reading. I'm sure I am forgetting something!!
Here are some picture highlights from our week: we discovered how difficult it is to map a round world on a flat piece of paper, we observed the habitat in our backyard.

Our life, no longer in Texas.

It has been over a year since we moved back to Washington.  We miss Texas terribly but had many reasons for moving back here.  Some we knew about, some God has revealed to us in amazing ways this last 14 months.  And since we still own our house in Texas (it is being rented out), we always say there is a possibility that we will end up back in our little town once again.  We are always open to whatever God has for us, wherever he puts us.  That being said, looking back at this blog and the fun we had in Texas sure makes us miss it more!! 

So now on to our next adventure!  (Well there are a couple of them) 1) We are starting home school this year.  It is something I actually always wanted to do but didn't have the confidence.  I started looking into homeschooling last year, knowing we were moving once again (to be closer to Lance's work, going from a 2 hour commute to a 25 min commute), I wanted to see if home schooling might work for us.  I always thought that people chose home school out of fear, but in my research I quickly learned that that was not the reason for a majority of home schooling families.  I also found that all of the fears that I had about home schooling were unfounded, mostly because of my background and education as an educator.  Time and time again, books were addressing the common fears and worries of a home schooling parent- and I did not fit into any of these categories.  Most home schooling parents worry that they don't have what it takes to teach their children- I have a degree that says I have what it takes.  Many home schooling parents face challenges from their own parents and others questioning their ability to teach their children- if our parents have any doubt, they probably wouldn't express it due to the fact that they know I can teach other peoples' children.  I still struggle with my own lack of confidence, but I dealt with that when I was teaching 7th and 8th graders too, it's just part of my personality.  But I draw from my experience in public schools both good and bad to help me feel confidently that we are making the right decision for our girls.  When I started to really research our options for home schooling, I got really excited.  I get to teach the way I was taught to teach in the PLU Master's in Education program.  Something that is seemingly impossible (especially in Washington) with the mess that public schools are in trying to please everyone, being limited by an impossible budget, and increasingly strained by the number of students they have to educate.  I get to teach my kids in a way I always wanted to teach, and in the comfort of our own home.  I get to do what I love, and not feel defeated before I start.  The girls are excited too, hopefully this will continue as we get going.  The other day Lindsay (9) told us that it was the first time she was excited to start school.  She has been asking me to home school her every year since Kindergarten.  We hope to use this blog as part of our record keeping and communicating what the girls are learning.  Hopefully the girls will start making some of the posts so you can hear from them first-hand about how this adventure is going,.

Our second new adventure should arrive around the end of September.  We are currently expecting our 4th child.  And this time, its a boy!  So all of us have some learning to do this year as mom learns about being a boy mommy and sisters learn all about having a little brother.  We are all excited for the adventures coming our way this year!