Our Learning Area

This year we have been blessed with a separate schooling space!  Everyone has their own desk area, instead of the kitchen table.  Don’t get me wrong, we have many wonderful memories schooling around our table, and we still do at times, but it’s nice they all have their own space when needed too :)

Here is Big Ladybug’s desk…….$15 yard sale find! We use the red hanging pockets on the left as her workboxes.  I purchased them off Amazon.com. 

This is little ladybug’s desk that Big Ladybug out grew.

 

And this is Little Lizard’s area.  I added a letter apple tree for the preschoolers.  I purchased it for $12 from Creative Teaching Press.

I laminated the apples and made the yellow circles and the letters in them with my Cricut.  I attached them to the apples with Velcro, so we could change them in the future as needed.  Every letter Little Ladybug learns gets added to the tree.

I have a desk in the school area too…..but bypassed taking a picture because it was a mess :)

Learning Alongside My Children

 

Before having children I would have probably just said “eeewww,” and wouldn’t have paid much attention to this spider if I came across in my yard.

But now that I school my children, I can honestly say, I am learning right along with them…..and loving it! 

I am learning to…organize my time and use it more wisely.

I am learning to… stop what I am doing and observe.

I am learning to…take advantage of a teaching moment.  I love the excitement and joy on their faces when they see something new, and their curiosity to learn about it.

I am learning to… realize how blessed I am to be given this opportunity to school my children.  It is the hardest, but most wonderful job I have ever been given.

I am learning to… take in the beauty of this world that God has created for us……and yes, that even includes this Black and Yellow Garden Spider.

My Lovely Students 2011-2012

 

 

 

Big Ladybug, 7

Second Grade

 

 

 

 

Little Ladybug, 3

Preschool

 

 

 

Little Lizard, 20 months

Tot School

 

 

 

Check out more student photos at Heart of the Matter, “Not” Back to School Blog Hop!

Our School Table

So I was looking forward to being a part of the Not Back to School Blog Hop this year.  However, I am running about 2 weeks a bit behind :0)

The majority of our schooling happens…..

… at the kitchen table.

This is the computer stand, in the kitchen, by the beloved table……where the schooling happens.

It stores the art supplies, school books, printer paper, printer, and junk that I need a quick place to hide from company …….so pretty much everything.

We don’t have much wall space, so this year the morning board was replaced with a map of the world……we are exploring countries this year.  Below the map is Big Ladybug’s schedule, weekly Bible verse, and books of the Bible she is memorizing.

This is our version of workboxes, it is new to our school this year and so far I love it! 

Educational Insights the Space Place Classroom Organization Center

Each slot holds a different subject.  Every Monday I fill it all the work we need to do for the week.  This way I don’t have to waste time fumbling through books and searching for papers.  (I just hope those little hooks hold up all year :0)

So this is the heart of our little house…….

……where we learn together, eat together, play together, pray together, and love together. 

Now if I could just keep it this clean……

 

Want to check out more school rooms? Head on over to the Blog Hop hosted by Heart of the Matter

Homeschool Highlights in MFW: 2011-2012 Info and Guidelines

Last year Kathi at A Heart Like Water had a brilliant idea to host Homeschool Highlights in My Father’s World.  But due to her busy schedule this year she has decided to step back, so myself and Monica at Discover Their Gifts will now host it together.  Thank you so much Kathi for launching the MFW Highlights!

Check out the new spiffy button that Amber at Refined Metals Academy created for us!!!  Thanks Amber, you rock!!!

 

 

So What is Homeschool Highlights in My Father's World?? 

Its a weekly link-up hosted alternately by myself and by Monica @ Discover Their Gifts, for families using the My Father's World homeschool curriculum.

It's a way for us to connect and share with other MFW families.

What are the guidelines??

. Only family-friendly posts, from family-friendly blogs :)

. This link-up was created for inspiration and encouragement …... so try to visit a few of the other links, and leave at least one thoughtful, encouraging comment.  If you come across someone's simply amazing idea, please come back here and share it with the rest of us in the comments, so we can all be sure to be inspired!

. If, for some reason, you're not able to pull a great post together, may we suggest you at least share something...one tidbit about your week...one picture. Please don't feel like just because you had an 'off' week, you can't participate...seeing that other families actually have 'off' weeks too, may be the most inspirational post from the entire link-up!

. Sign up on the Linky. We've gotten the most emails/comments on this one. We realize a lot of homeschool moms have just started blogging, so here are our simple instructions for linking-up:
1. right click on the title of your post, copy shortcut
2. click on 'enter link' at Discover Their Gifts or 2 ladybugs and a lizard
3. paste shortcut in link, add your name, leave your email
If you don't understand, or if we run into any problems, we'll try to work them out...feel free to email one of us, and we can try to walk you through it.

. Please link back to the current Homeschool Highlights in MFW post here at 2 ladybugs and a lizard or at Discover Their Gifts, somewhere in the body of your post so that other MFW readers will know where to go to join in the fun.
We usually put this at the end of our posts like this:
" this post is linked to Homeschool Highlights in MFW at Discover Their Gifts or 2 ladybugs and a lizard "

. You can also add the new graphic (at the top of the page and in our sidebars) to your post and in your sidebar if you'd like.

We are excited for the new school year and to get the weekly posts back up and running!!!  We are also in the process of contacting each family that is signed up on Lainie's 2011 - 2012 My Father's World Blogroll.  Still, please help spread the word in case there are any other MFW families out there that would like to participate.

Where and When Does it Start??

The first link up starts August 26th here at 2 ladybugs and a lizard!

I am looking forward to seeing and being inspired by what everyone is doing in their own little homeschools.   May you all have a wonderful and blessed school year!!

Lapbook Storage: Lap-n-Scrap

This year I have many lapbooks planned for Big Ladybug as we travel the world exploring countries and cultures.  We plan to lapbook biomes, animals, some FIAR that coincide with the countries as we go, etc.

However……………

Storage space is very limited in my home.  Our home was built in 1925, and back then they obviously didn’t have as much crap personal belongings as we do today………we have VERY limited closet space.

So how was I going to store these beautiful works that my daughter is going to make???

I researched many other wonderful ideas out there in the blogging world…..binders with page protectors, using sketch books to put the pieces in, and even adding duct tape the edge of the lapbook folder, punching 3 holes in it, and putting it in a binder.

So what did I decide??

We are going to scrapbook our lapbooks. 

Before God blessed me with 3 wonderful children, I was an avid scrapbooker. But as my duties of motherhood have grown and my personal “me” time has dwindled, I have put my scrapbooks away and plan to get to them some time in the future.  By no means was I a marvelous scrapbooker, or did I get all fancy, but I really enjoyed it.

So instead of letting all of my supplies continue to collect dust, we will scrapbook our lapbooks.  Big Ladybug was thrilled with this idea!  She enjoys looking at her scrapbooks and has always wanted to help me, and learn how to.  So I figured this was a great opportunity to teach her, plus the 12x12 book is a wonderful size to fit it all on.

Here are a couple she has done so far this school year.  You can’t beat having fun while you are learning!

Printing Tip:  To help to fit everything we want to on 2 pages, on larger items I sometimes change the print page scaling to “print multiple pages per sheet”.  This way they are smaller and we can fit more in our book. :0)

Our Curriculum 2011-2012

Well we have successfully completed our first official year of homeschooling.  Now it’s time to plan the next!  So here are our choices:

                                                                                          

As our core we will be Exploring Countries and Cultures with My Father’s World.  Typically we would be doing Adventures with My Father’s World for 2nd grade, but we have the opportunity to continue our co-op with my sister and some dear friends. So we are choosing ECC this year and looking forward to it!

 

We will be traveling the world exploring different countries and their cultures!!!

ECC includes lessons for Bible, history, geography, science, read alouds, art/crafts, cooking, nature study, and music!

Every Thursday our co-op will meet to complete ECC projects, crafts, cooking, geography games, memory verse games, science projects, etc.

 

Geography supplements we are using: (Since some of the books that came with ECC seem to be to advanced for a second grader, we will be supplementing with more age appropriate books.  We will use the other items in 5 years when we travel with ECC again.)

 

Some added read aloud resources:

Other supplements:

Math-U-See Beta and Gamma

Learning Language Arts Through Literature Red Book and Readers

All About Spelling Level 2

Harmony Fine Arts Grade 1 Overview Year in addition to I Can Do All Things art book and paint cards.

American Sign Language-  I took 7 classes of ASL in college (which was a VERY long time ago). I pulled out my old resources and am working on word cards to add to our morning board.

 

So what will little ladybug be working on? 

Well I am throwing a few things together to keep her busy.  She wants to do “school work” and coloring just doesn’t cut it!  If she is not cutting and pasting, then she thinks she isn’t doing “school work!”  So we will be using:

Before Five in A Row-  We will be reading age appropriate books and adding hands on activities that go with the book, such as, lapbooks, cooking, crafts, and games.  Check out Delightful Learning’s great rowing posts!

Learning the letters of the alphabet.  Little Ladybug is working on learning the alphabet song, but that’s as far as we have gotten in this area.  So she will be learning a letter a week, or every two, depending on her readiness to learn.

To do this we will be using Teach Me Joy Animal Play downloadable preschool curriculum.  It is described nicely in this blog post. 

 

 

Added resources: 

And Little Lizard will be joining in as we go. 

So for now I am busy planning and setting up a file workbox system.  I am excited that all the planning will be done in advance and everything will be printed and ready to go, week by week.

Check out the details for setting up this great system at Discover Their Gifts. 

You can also check out what others are planning for their 2011-2012 school year here!

Our Prairie Primer Co-op

This year we have really enjoyed our Prairie Primer co-op.  We read Little House on the Prairie and we just finished Little House in the Big Woods.  The kids learned a lot, but most importantly they (and us moms) made new friendships!

Here’s a look at some of the fun stuff they completed since Christmas.  The focus was mostly on Indians. 

Here they are making some wigwams.

 

 

 

 

 

Our little guys hanging out :)

  

They made some Indian jewelry and head dresses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also had fun making teepees.

Each child picked a tribe and put together a project to present at the final class.  Big Ladybug chose the Sioux Indians and we completed our first lapbook.  We used some printable resources from Dynamic 2 Moms.

Thank you Miss. Eydie for volunteering your time to teach our co-op class!  We all really enjoyed ourselves!

We are sad to see it end, but our co-op will be continuing for some FUN summer science and then in the fall with My Father’s World Exploring Countries and Cultures!