The Natural Homeschool: Homeschooling November 2013 Part 3

This year, my father will be celebrating 40 years of working for the same company (he's moved around in different division within the company, but he has had the tenacity, diligence and discipline to work with the same company for that long. What an accomplishment! We are so proud of him! We couldn't be there for his celebration/ceremony, but we sent this video to him. :)

Music: Review and Tempo

Today in music we reviewed note values. We pulled out the note trees we made, to show how we start with the whole note and work all the way down to eighth notes. We had note cards spread throughout the kitchen, and as I sang out beats they had to walk in tempo to the appropriate card. Then we did dances and songs centered around counting the beats.
The grand old duke of York
The grand old duke of York (start sitting down)
He had 10,000 men
First he marched them UP the hill (stand up)
Then he marched them DOWN again (crouch down)
And when you’re UP you’re up (stand up)
And when you’re DOWN you’re down (crouch down)
And when you’re only half-way UP (crouch half-way)
You’re neither UP nor DOWN (stand up then sit down)

Open Shut ThemOpen shut them, open shut them
Give a little pat, pat, pat.
Open shut them, open shut them
Put them in your lap
Creep them, creep them
Creep them, creep them
Right up to your chin
Open up your little mouth
But do not let them in!

This song was the kids favorite.

French and Kidz Klub: Christmas Letters for Deployed Soldiers

I am posting two posts in one: French and Kidz Klub. In both, we made Christmas cards to mail to deployed soldiers who won't be home for Christmas. We had fun talking about Christmas, how to say Merry Christmas in French (Joyeux Noël), etc.

Language Arts (Reading): McGuffey's Eclectic Readers

These readers date back to the 1800s! They are so awesome and old-fashioned and very much what we love. We are an eclectic homeschool. We love modern commodities like iPads and educational videos, but we lean a lot more towards classical (back to basics, book over Kindle, etc) educational approaches. I got these on Etsy and the price was wonderful. The quality is amazing, too.

Art: Thanksgiving Texture Art

We made our own Indian Corn using lentils, beans and wild rice today in Art. We talked about how Indian Corn (also know as Flint Corn and of course, maize) is one of the oldest varieties of corn. We also talked about the story of the "Five Kernels" where the Pilgrims only had five kernels per day to eat during the winter famine. When spring rolled around, they planted the remaining kernels. We talked about how blessed we are with plenty to eat, and so many things to be thankful for in our lives. Each ear of corn the kids made contains Five Kernels amongst the the other dry goods.

A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education) Time

K and I have been working on his A.C.E. PACEs during A's nap. It. Has. Been. Wonderful.

He is such a good student and he loves this work!

When he did the online assessment to tell us what grade he is in, he totally floored me when I saw that in reading he is past 3rd grade, in Math he is in the middle of 1st grade and in English Grammar he is in the middle of 2nd grade. Wow! And here I am, sitting with the Kindergarten curriculum that I ordered, not sure if he'd be ready for it. I just had to laugh out loud.

I decided to not return it or resell it or save it until A is of age to use it. I am still doing it with K and, even though most of the material covered is past his level, he is still getting a lot out of it and I am excited to see that many of the things he still needs to practice (mainly fine motor skills) are very prominent throughout this curriculum. Great!

He is so proud!

Montessori Culture (Geography): The Continents

We only had a chance to review North America, South America and Europe today. K was tired and a nap was in order. So we all napped. Sigh...the beauty of homeschooling!

Art: Tracing Leaves and Twigs

Ballet: The Five Basic Positions

I have had this page saved for a loooooong time on my computer, in hopes to one day teach ballet and use it. Well, that day has come and I am so happy about that. I am working on a special Christmas gift for my girls and I'll be using this. They will love it.