Shining For HIS Glory

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Native American Poem By Colton Arnold

Native Americans

While they’re riding on their horses, their fluttering feathers are flapping up and down in the air.

Their eyes are carefully observing the white man as he rows his boat to the shore.

Their legs begin to burn as they tightly grip the sides of their horse.

Their arms are cautiously holding their bows to their sides.

They are whispering their observations to one another.

And now.... they prepare to greet the white men.

~ Colton Arnold

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Classical Conversations Week In Review #2!

Me and my boys! Jacob (mini-me) was busy working the room Wooing everyone.

We had a great second week of school. The boys and I are loving how God has directed our steps this year. I find my heart pulled to the throne in thanksgiving for His faithful guidance.

I love how we start our day with Praise & Worship! Terri Ulrich has such a heart for Jesus and HE shines through her as she leads us.

Foundations

I adore this brother/sister duo! Jesse made me a treasure box for our prizes.

The big hit for our Presentations was Sophie and her pet albino hedgehog Cecil!

ART

SCIENCE

This week our science experiment was learning about how the lens of our eye works. We took wire and made little loops to dip in water and then read newspaper through our man-made lens. Each week the children fill out a "Scientific Method" paper to share their hypothosis and conclusions.

ESSENTIALS

I have to say that I fought doing the Essentials portion of our Classical Conversations more than anything else. I liked what we were using and I didn't want another learning curve.

Am I glad the Lord nudged me through circumstances to go for it. My boys love their tutor and I love sitting with them and being their mom. It is an AMAZING program and covers 3 components:

Language Arts

Creative Writing

Math

Seth and Josie playing WAR!

Split the deck in half each student lays down a card and whoever finds the sum the fastest gets to keep the cards. The one with the most cards win.

Colton and Sophie

Avery and Seth were cracking Erika and I up. They were so enthusiastic! It was precious.

Colton and Sage

Sophie and Joseph

Mrs. Pierce helping the girls get going.

Christa stole my glasses and then bragged because SHE doesn't need them even though she's OLDER than me.

Friends

Monday, September 5, 2011

Homeschool Week In Review- Week ONE

Jacob working hard on his math!

Week One

This week is all about tweaking! It was hard to get a good feel on what it's going to be like because Scott was on vacation and my precious Lani flew into town for vacation. Wonderful but not typical.

The first several weeks of every school year I go in knowing there will be lots of tweaking and changing:

1- Teaching a skill set and not checking boxes.

In the beginning I found myself trying to complete assignments more than master a skill set. We were much happier when we slowed down and worked on one skill at a time for mastery. The boys began to laugh and have fun and I believe with all my heart they learned more than when we were pushing to do more problems. As they master and understand the skill they will move faster and complete more problems.

2- Scheduling my time a little better.

This week we worked on the beginning part of our I.E.W. writing assignment on Wednesday but waited until Monday to put it all together. We all were feeling the stress since they will be reading them in their Essentials class tomorrow.

What I LOVE:

1- I absolutely adore our student planner my friend Christa personalized for our CC journey.

2- I deeply appreciate that CC doesn't pile on the homework but allows us to work on skill sets instead.

3- I love the community.

4- I love that I am still the teacher of my kids.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Classical Conversations Week One!

We had our first week of Classical Conversations (Homeschool program) this past week and it was wonderful! I honestly came to this new opportunity dragging my feet. My heart was filled with many fears.

1- I wasn't sure I wanted a new learning curve.

2- I knew I would love the community but I was afraid I would die of boredom with all the memorization.

3- I had fears that my freedom and spontaneity would be taken away.

Do you know what I found instead?

It's given me back my first love of homeschooling.

I will continue to share my journey. There is no way I can tell you after one week what my final thoughts are. But so far, so good! I find myself anticipating Tuesday. The boys love the competition and I love the accountability.

Praise & Worship