TIME 4 LEARNING REVIEW!

I have been using Time 4 Learning as a homeschool curriculum since Joshua was in pre k. He is now almost finished with 2nd grade. I have nothing but good things to say about Time 4 Learning. They have worksheets that you can print out for the lessons. Joshua has learned so much while we have been using this curriculum. He loves the characters on the lessons. He has favorites that he likes to see. Every lesson is set up in a way that it holds the child's attention. Joshua is learning as well as having fun. He loves it. The price is also a big plus! It is very inexpensive. They also have a parent forum that allows you to connect with other parents who are using Time 4 Learning. Another feature that I like is that your child's student records and attendance records are saved and you can print them out any time. There is also a activity scheduler to use so you can schedule each lesson in advance. You can check out the website at www.time4learning.com

Is it over yet?

I am so ready for this school year to be over! I really wish we hadn't enrolled Joshua in the private school last year. But, at the time...it seemed like a good idea. I am just ready for it to be over so I can take over and teach my child. It just feels right. And, of course the school has a bad opinion of homeschooling. Joshua's teacher told me that she was the teacher and I was JUST the parent! She said she can teach him things that I can't. That was at our first meeting with her. I should have followed my instinct and not enrolled him then. But, you know what they say about hindsight.

Can't wait for next year!

Sherry

Time to Get Ready for Next Year...

Hi,
I am starting to get some ideas for next year.  Joshua ended up attending a private Christian school this past year.  I was too busy to homeschool him.  I am still working 2 jobs..but, I have cut my hours down at both of them.  Joshua's last day of school is May 30th.  I am planning on using Time4Learning again next year as well as paces from A.C.E.  Which is the curriculum his school uses.  I like it..but, he isn't too fond of all of the workbooks.  So, we are going to add some computer time for him with Time4Learning.  He will be in 2nd grade next year.  Wow, time is going by so fast.  I hope to be able to keep posting on this blog every week.  I really enjoyed it last time.

Have a great Easter.  HE IS RISEN!

Sherry

Daddy's Turn....

Due to Mommy working a full time job at night... it is now Daddy's turn to homeschool Joshua.   I doubt he will be blogging about it.  lol.  I hope to be back as the homeschool mommy next year, if not sooner.  I hope you all have a great year.  I will be checking back on occasion for ideas and tips.

Sherry

Can't Wait...

I am so looking forward to starting school.  I have been getting my lessons organized.  Now all I need is for Joshua to be as excited as I am.  lol.  He will come around.  Hopefully.   Right now...he doesn't even want to "talk" about school.  I am going to use  Time for Learning  again this year.  But, I am going to spend a few weeks reviewing what we learned last year before moving on.  We moved kinda fast at the end of the school year.  I want to make sure that he "got" it all before I start throwing more lessons at him. 

I hope to be back to posting more frequently in a month or so.  We are still enjoying our summer!

Book It!

I just signed Joshua up for pizza hut's "book it" program.  I have been wanting to do it since he as 3...but, I had to wait until he was in Kindergarten.  The deadline for signing up is June 30.  We should receive our materials in Sept.   The program begins in Oct.  If anyone is interested.... go to http://www.bookitprogram.com/ .  

I am trying to decide what direction I want to go in for Kindergarten.  I liked the online program...but, I need to add more stuff to it if I continue to use it next year.  Still researching....

Summer Break

We are taking a couple of months off for summer.   I hope everyone has a good vacation!

Still Here...

It's been awhile. I am just not a good blogger. :(   We are starting to wind down our school year here.  We have finished math and are almost done with language arts.  So, our days lately have been spent reviewing.  And also goofing off a bit.  Today we went outside after a rain storm and Joshua jumped in all of the puddles.  lol.  He had a blast.  Things like that are priceless.

I will update next week.

Sorry...

Sorry we have been MIA lately.  We are still homeschooling.  But, I am working a bit more often.  So, it has been hard to find time to blog about our days.  Joshua has been learning about probability and chance in math.  And in Language Arts he is learning about letter sounds and blending them together to make words.  He is doing really good. 

We are going to be studying ants in the next few weeks.  Joshua is interested in them.  So, I am in the process of finding anything and everything that the internet has to offer on the subject.  We are also going to either start or buy an ant farm.  Not sure which way we are going to go on that yet. 

Joshua has been riding his bike a lot lately.  The weather has been pretty good the last couple of weeks.  But, we got rain today and it's in the forcast for the next few days.  So, our outside nature walks have been put on hold.  I am planning on finding a catapillar and putting it in a jar...so Joshua can watch it build a cacoon.  I did that with my niece a few years ago.  She loved it.  She got to let it go when it came out of the cacoon.

Joshua finally mastered identifying coins.  He struggled with that for a while and then one day it just "clicked." 

I will be sharing pics of our ant farm soon.  So, check back.

Feeling Crafty...

Today Joshua and I went on a long walk.  The weather is so nice today.  We looked for signs of Spring and collected various things from a scavenger hunt list that we made.  Joshua loves doing this.   While we were out walking...we found a big rock.  I suggested that Joshua draw on it.  He said he wanted to draw himself on the rock.  So, this pic is the finished product. :)

Joshua is getting excited about going fishing soon.  He has been practicing casting with his Transformer fishing pole.  So, keeping with the theme...I decided to let Joshua do a "FISH" picture from pictures I cut out of a fishing magazine.  He loved it.  And insisted that I take a picture of it for our homeschool blog.


We didn't get to do any computer or worksheets today.  But, he learned things today.  So, as far as I'm concerned that is what is most important.

Wordless Wednesday

Joshua~ 3 years old. Memories...

Resurrection Rolls

I found this recipe on ABC Jesus Loves Me.  I love that website.  Check it out if you get a chance.  It is for 3 and 4 year olds.  But, I have found some things that I am using in Kindergarten.  I haven't made these rolls yet.  I hope I get a chance to make them.  They are so clever.  And a great learning tool.



Resurrection Rolls

Ingredients:

1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough

8 large marshmallows

Melted butter

Cinnamon

Sugar

Directions:

Give each child one triangle shaped section of crescent roll. This represents the tomb.

Each child takes one marshmallow which represents the body of Christ.

Dip the marshmallow in the butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. This represents the oils and spices the body was anointed with upon burial.

Lay the marshmallow on the dough and carefully wrap it around the marshmallow.

Make sure all seams are pinched together well. (Otherwise the marshmallow will "ooze" out of the seams)

Bake according to package directions.

Cool.


Break open the tomb and the body of Christ is no longer there!!

Celebrate God's love!

We Are Back At It...

We took Friday and Monday off for Spring Break.  And got back to our lessons today.  It seemed like we had been off longer.  But, Joshua didn't have any trouble getting back into the swing of things.

We made shapes today out of popsicle sticks.  I took some pics:

Then since we couldn't make a circle out of the sticks...we used little pom poms:

Joshua knows all of his shapes.  I just wanted to review them.  He had fun. 

I was planning on having Tuesdays and Thursdays be computer free...but, that isn't working out.  SO, we are back to online homeschooling 5 days a week.  On the days that I am off work...we spend more time on actual "book work" after his online curriculum.  Today worked out really good.  He spend an hour online and then 2 hours doing writing, worksheets and crafts.  I am just trying to fit homeschooling in around my job.  It's hard some days...but, so worth it.  :)

On his online program, he was introduced to  whole pizzas and pizzas that were cut into 2, 3 and 4 pieces.  He also learned about cutting things into equal sizes.  This is his introduction to fractions.  In Language Arts he learned about the letters L and N.  Then, he did his online phonics program. 

SPRING BREAK!

We are taking a couple of days off.  Will be back soon! 

To Break or Not To Break...

I am trying to decide if we should have a Spring break this year.  Of course, I could use the break...but, I am concerned that Joshua would be hard to get back on track after a whole week w/out school.  Some of the alternative options that I am considering are to just take a Friday and the weekend off or to have Tues and Thursday off next week. 

Do any of you homeschool moms NOT do Spring break?  And if no, did you ever look back and think your kids might have needed it?  I don't want to overwork Joshua...but, I am still worried about taking a whole week off. 

Any advice would be appreciated  ;)

Computer Free Thursday

We didn't have school yesterday due to sickness.

For Math today, Joshua and I played "store".  I put price tags on his toys and he "bought" them with coins.  It was a lot of fun.  He is still trying to learn the names of the coins.  But, this game seemed to help.  So, we will be playing it again.  We also started talking about measuring.  I introduced a ruler.  He measured things around the house.  We also did estimations about how long things were.  Then, he measured to see how close his estimations were.  

In language Arts, we worked on sequencing and order.  He put pictures in order.  Like pictures of putting on your shoes.  1) find shoes and socks. 2) put socks on.  3) put shoes on.   He read his sight words.  We checked the weather and he put a picture of "sunny" under Thursday on the learning wall
Then, we used magnetic letters and made words on the fridge.   He loves this!

In Bible, he recited his memory verse for the week.  (Luke 1:37)  Later today we are going to read a Bible story from his children's bible.  I usually save that for a bedtime story.  We basically have school all day long.  lol.  I try to not let a learning opportunity pass.  I talk to him about measuring when I am cooking.   We talk about things that float and don't float when he is taking a bath.  And when we go outside I always point out nature to him and give him some facts about it.  He is like a sponge at this age.  He's a lot of fun and hungry for knowledge.  I am so blessed to be able to homeschool him. 

Computer Free Tuesday

I have decided to start making 2 days a week computer free for homeschool.  We have been doing computer for the first part of the day and then adding worksheets and reading the rest of the day.  I will still continue that schedule for the remaining 3 days of the week.  But, for Tuesday and Thursday (my days off)... we will be spending lots of time on handwriting and worksheets to reinforce what he is learning on his online curriculum.

Since today was the first "no computer" day... Joshua was a bit wound up and didn't want to pay attention for very long.  I had to keep stopping and calming him down.  This is why I need this one on one time with him.  He is learning how to sit and listen...but, we need to work on it a bit more.  I love the online curriculum.  But, I don't want to rely on it alone.  

Here are some of the worksheets we did today...

It is raining here today...so, no outside time.   I am going to put price tags on things around the house and let Joshua "buy" them with coins to practice recognizing and combining coins.  Should be fun.

Have a great day!

What We Are Learning This Week

We went crazy with the little pom poms we got from the dollar tree.  We outlined our #4 and made catapillars.   This week, Joshua is learning about telling time, calenders, thermometers and coins.  Busy week in math.  In language arts, he is studying letter sounds and short vowel sounds.

Joshua got a haircut... so, I had to share.  lol.  He  is a ham.

Comments Fixed!

To anyone who tried to leave a comment on this blog...I have fixed the settings and the comments should show up now.  Sorry for the confusion on my part.  ;)

Stocking Up...

We went shopping at the Dollar Tree yesterday. I have to share a pic of all that we got.. I love that store!

I will be posting crafts that we make with all of this stuff.  I could have spent lots of money in there...but, I was running short on time.  I got all of this for $15.  Including the puzzle.  Oh, and Joshua got a kite that isn't pictured here.  The total was $16.80.  You can 't beat that!

Joshua and I put this puzzle together.  I'm gonna have to go back and get some more of these.  It was fun.