HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

On Sunday we drove to a neighboring town just to go and check it out.  The drive ended up being a learning experience for us and the girls.  As we drove we discovered that they grow cotton and peanuts in this area.  It was so different seeing fields of white cotton instead of green corn and beans.  We pulled off and stopped on one of the side roads and let the girls pick a piece of cotton.  It was so cool!  Then on Monday we searched the web and read how cotton is grown.  We even found a youtube video that a cotton farmer posted that allowed us to watch the machines that they use to pick and harvest the cotton.  It was very interesting.  The girls were glued to the screen! 

On Monday we had a VERY windy day here.  So we got online and read about wind.  We watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy video about wind.  We also watched a couple of videos about wind turbines and how they work. 

We bought the girls each a cardboard heart box from Hobby Lobby.  They had fun painting those this week.

I have been having trouble with Lorel not wanting learn anything.  I noticed that she loves to be on the computer.  So I was looking around online and I found a website for homeschoolers that has online curriculum.  It teaches every subject through games, videos, and activities online.  It is called Time 4 Learning.  So I decided to give that a shot with Lorel.  Her first day with it was on Tuesday.  She seems to really like it.  She seemed to take better to their reading program then she does to me trying to teach her to read.  So I think we will try it awhile.  I am going to supplement it with activities for reading, writing, and math.

We downloaded a Nancy Drew mystery game this week for the computer.  The girls really enjoy trying to solve the mystery.  It is pretty difficult and I feel it promotes deep thinking.  It also gives us time to work together as a team!  We also got a new board game called Blokus.  It contains little shapes that are placed on the board.  Your shapes can only touch corner to corner.  Whoever places the most of their shapes on the board before it fills up, wins!  It is so neat!

Mackenzie has been working hard on memorizing her addition facts to 11.  She has the zeros through the twos down.  We are working hard with the threes this week. She did some some Mad Minutes!  She is also working hard with double digit addition, carrying and place value.  She has also been working with letter blends and ending word blends.

We found a game called What's on my head.  A picture is placed on your head that is attached to a headband. The object of the game is to guess what the picture is of on your head by asking others questions about it.  We had a good time!

We bowled this week!  Well at home anyway!  The girls needed a little activity to clear their heads!  This was one of the things that the girls bought with the Halloween money that Grandma Stewart sent!  Thanks Grandma Stewart!  They love it!

It is Mackenzie's week this Saturday to bring snacks to the soccer game.  We went to a local bakery and ordered some cupcakes for the team.  They came out so cute that I had to put a picture on here so everyone could see!  Also last week for Mack's game we sprayed her hair with green polka dots so I added that picture too!

On Friday we went to safe trick-or-treat.  It started at 3 in the afternoon.  Then tomorrow, Saturday, we are going to a Halloween carnival. Also we decorated our window for Halloween!  Thanks Grandma Diesel for the mini pumpkins!

This week was a hard week.  I really wasn't feeling well so it was hard to do a lot with the girls.  We just read, wrote, and did math all week.  We continued to read James and the Giant Peach.  The girls wrote a pretend letter to James' aunts. 

We didn't go many places.  The girls had a lot of opportunities to be creative and just play using their imaginations.  They enjoyed it!

  I don't have much to post.  Hopefully next week will be better! 

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This week was a blur to me.  It went by SO fast.  The girls did well this week. 

We studied about Africa and the human body all week.  Mackenzie has been working with Math word problems all week and she wrapped up with long vowel sounds.  Lorel is working on addition and subtraction and is working with letter blends for phonics.  We started reading James and The Giant Peach.  I love that book!  The girls seem to also! 

Monday was a simple day because of the holiday.  We read some books, did Math, and some phonics.  Then we made a tent out of blankets and chairs.  The girls played in it for the rest of the day.

On Tuesday the girls made pumpkin pictures.  It was just a fun activity for Halloween.

Today is Chad's birthday, but we celebrated it on Wednesday because that is when he was home.  We had fun! We bought him birthday hats and big glasses!  We had a nice dinner and ate cake.

On Wednesday, the girls went to art class.  They worked with chalk.

Mackenzie had soccer Tuesday and Thursday.  Her team is finally becoming a team.  They did much better this past Saturday at their game.

On Friday we went to library story hour.  We usually go 15-20 minutes early so the girls can play on the spiderweb play structure that they have out front of the library.  It is really pretty neat!

We also went to a new park today.  We had never been to this park and the waether was perfect so we went and played for a while.

It was a good week.  I may not be a perfect teacher, but I feel like I am the best teacher for my own girls! 

The girls learned about the long vowel sounds, the human body, Africa, how to add and subtract 3 numbers, and we started to read Polyanna.  It was a good week, though sometimes I have my doubts.

We learned about Albert Einstein this week.  He was a fascinating man. As a boy he hated school and didn't do well in it.  His teachers told him he would never go anywhere in life.  His passions where making towers from playing cards, compasses, and Math.  He ended up teaching himself Math from a book that was given to him.  He went on in life being one of the most intelligent men of all times.  He was a genius.  He was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize.  He sure showed his teachers, didn't he? :)  I was amazed with him and his story.  In a way, it helped me to see that maybe I am doing a better job with the girls than I give myself credit for.

After reading about Einstein and his card towers, we tried to make one of our own.  We didn't get very far with it.  My guess is it was because of the little hands and knees that kept knocking it down!  We also played Dominoes.

Mackenzie has started to read to Lorel.  It is a win /win situation.  Mackenzie practices reading while Lorel gets to hear a story!  It also gives me a little break to clean and cook.

The girls used pipe cleaner to make little pencil toppers.  Mackenzie thought of this little creative activity all on her own! 

Lorel alphabetized the magnet letters on the fridge.  She did really well!  I try to think of little activities like this all day long that are fun and promote learning. 

The girls have been helping me make their Halloween costumes.  They are going to be great!  Can't wait for everyone to see them!

Super Learners! : )

This week we had fun painting pumpkins.  We made a huge mess but it was really worth it!

We shot a ball into a hula-hoop, tried standing at the same time together with a ball behind our backs, and hula-hooped.  Just some extra fun!

We found a few online educational sites that promote and teach reading.  The girls love any time they can get on the computer.

We are going to start each week learning about an inspirational person.  This week we learned about Rosa Parks.  We read a book about her, read about her online, and found some pictures of her.

We continued with are basic reading, writing, and math.  The girls get better everyday with addition and subtraction.  We started to read James and the Giant Peach.  Mackenzie wrote a story about Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head growing in the garden and then growing ears.  It was really cute!

We finished up with Australia.  It is an amazing place.  We learned a lot.  We made a lapbook about Australia. 

This week we started studying the human body.  We started with cells, then moved to bones, muscles, skin, hair and nails.  We found a really awesome book at the library with very detailed pictures of the body.  Next week we will continue with the body.

At art class the girls used oil pastels on a canvas board to make a beautiful sunset.  They did an excellent job.  They will continue to get more artistic every time they go.

We learned some patriotic songs this week.  We also danced quite a bit.

We went to the library story hour today.  The girls listened to books, watched a puppet show, and watched a movie about frogs.  They then made a little frog for the art project.  They turned out very cute!

Overall it was a super week!  We are ready for many more great weeks to come!