December Homeschooling

December was a little shorter for us than the previous months as far as homeschooling goes because we took the 22nd-30th off for Christmas break, but we still got in quite a bit of learning. 

With Hadley, I actually stepped up my game a bit. We started out the school year pretty strong with the Horizons curriculum, which was chock full with great activities for preschoolers. The problem was it was a bit overwhelming for me to keep up with in addition to Caleb's school work and being pregnant. Since I'm an all or nothing type of person, eventually we just tapered off until we stopped all together. Though I had great hopes of going back to it, it just wasn't happening. About Mid November, I decided to just start using some of the many many workbooks we have laying around the house and get back to the grind. Hadley loves doing school work and she needed more than what our co-ops had to offer just once a week. Once I started the workbooks with her, there were a lot of times when it was hard to get her to take a break. "Can we do another page, Mommy?" Unlike her brother at that age, she enjoys worksheets and writing. Even when we're not doing real school work, she's often at her desk drawing away. 

Here's a picture of Hadley and I with her cousins Anabella and Peyton, including puff sleeves for all of us which she was particularly proud of.

Aside from the workbooks we already had, I also ordered the preschool set for reading from McRuffy Press. Though I debated spending the extra money for another set of curriculum when I already had perfectly good materials, I know that the McRuffy format has worked really well for Caleb both this year and last and thought I would be more comfortable and consistent using it. 

(Pic of curriculum)

With Caleb I started a new textbook in December as well - Apologia's Land Animals of the Sixth Day. I thought we would have finished up with Astronomy a lot faster than we did, but we explored a few other science topics through our co-op, the Magic School bus videos, PBS shows like the Wild Kratts, field trips, or just journaling what we've found outside on nature walks. Although Botany would have been the next text for us to explore in the series if we went in order, I knew with Caleb's love of animals he'd be much more enthusiastic about studying one of the three texts Apologia offers in the wildlife arena. I gave him the choice at the beginning of the school year of which direction he wanted to go, knowing we plan to get to them all eventually. He's been anxious to hop to it too and has questioned time and again when we are were going to get started. Finally, he got his wish! In the pictures below he is working with Dave on the project that goes along with the first chapter - learning all about survival of the fittest. 

First, they counted out an equal number of each color of pattern blocks. 

Next, Caleb tore construction paper and created a habitat inside a clothes basket.

Recording each step of the process in his journal

After mixing the pattern blocks in, the goal was to see which pattern blocks he could find quickly. He then recorded the results and considered why some were easier to spot than others. We talked about which animals/pattern blocks would have survived best in this habitat based on camouflage.

He loved it. :)

Another set of new books that have been making their way into our home are cooking magazines. Caleb loves food and has pretty mature tastes for a kid. Whether he's coming up with some type of recipe, planning out a restaurant he plans to build when he grows up, or looking through cookbooks, he's very enthusiastic about it. When we go on outings, his favorite part of the day usually revolves around the meal or snacks we had, and if we ask him what he'd like to do for a special treat, typically he'll pick some type of restaurant rather than an activity. He just loves food...and his NaNa knows it! She shares his love of cookbooks and recently decided to get him a subscription to a magazine she enjoys. Kindred spirits...

No curriculum to follow for little Reid yet! We're still just taking the learning opportunities as they come. He loves to play with small things, which is wonderful fine motor practice on its own. I have a bunch of resources tucked away in the basement that are fun to pull out from time to time to give the kids a little something fresh to play with that otherwise they might not go to often of it was out on the shelf all the time. I was impressed with how much better his skills were at putting this puzzle together than they were the last time we had it out to try.

One new learning toy I bought for him this Christmas though was a set of robot numbers. Knowing he liked some of the traditional Transformer toys, I thought these would be fun for him, and I was surprised just how much he loves them. "Will you play robots with me?" he asks daily. It opens up all kinds of learning as we play and talk about the numbers. "Hi, I'm number five. What's your name?"

Since I always remember doing lots of Christmasy activities in school right before our break, I wanted my kids to have some of that too. One of the homeschooling lists I subscribe to that sends emails regularly had a set of handouts just perfect for us - with pages that fit each of my kids in some way. 

From practicing with scissors

...to writing a Christmas list...

....to coloring, they had a blast.

Caleb usually never wants to color, but that day was different.

They loved using the Bingo Marker to make dots.

They practiced writing...

...cut out ornaments to decorate Christmas trees...

...colored by number...

...and learned "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song.  It was a welcome break from the same old, same old, and they completed their pages with enthusiasm.

Our small co-op only met only once since several members were traveling. We did a pajama day and lots of Christmasy activities.

The Nativity Story for Bible time

A bit of fine motor practice with clothes pins and poms/poms or cotton balls

Another game with the pom poms. Who can get the most in the cups?

Making Christmas cards

HEARTH had two activities for the month. We skipped the first week, which was focused on Pearl Harbor. The kids were supposed to each do a presentation, but with all we had going on that month, I thought it was a little much for us to get together, especially with my kids being so young. We made it the following week though for the movie The Grinch. Popcorn, hot chocolate, and a little time for drawing afterwards...it was a good break from the routine.

Aside from on Christmas Day itself, Awana met every week though. If we gave up every other activity we are involved in, this would probably be the one we'd keep. The kids love it and learn so much. I'm so glad they get to participate. 

God made the sun

God made the moon and stars

One week they even took the kids to a nursing home to sing. I don't know how much the residents liked our singing, but I really think things like this are important for the way they open the children's eyes to the fact that there are people out there that we should be serving. Much like the Operation Christmas Child shoe box activity we did the month before at HEARTH, participating in even this small mission project to encourage others opens their worldview and teaches them to think of others.

Before caroling, the kids were allowed to visit the Awana store with the Awana dollars they'd earned over the past few months, and when we came back we had a small party with cupcakes and hot chocolate to get everyone good and sugared up for bed. 

For specials, we got to go to the library for story time at the beginning of the month, which was the first time we'd been in a while since we typically check out the library after our HEARTH meetings. Since we missed the Pearl Harbor session though, I was motivated to get out the next day to make it to story time, which the younger kids really enjoyed. The theme was bearsm and we made an edible craft to go along with the stories.

Caleb wasn't much on craft time, but he was excited to check out the nonfiction section once we got out into the main library. 

He decided to move up to the regular children's nonfiction section versus the easy readers to try to find some books he hadn't checked out before. (I love this picture because it shows off Reid's latest fashion statement - cowboy boots. He loves them and can get them on by himself, so he's donning them quite a bit lately.)

As we were checking out, Caleb noticed hearts where you could write what you like best about the library and stick them to the Grinch. He, of course, wrote animal books. Hadley and Reid picked  books too to write on their hearts.

Ready to read as soon as we got home!

The biggest hit for art that month were some spiral snakes that just happened to pop on on Pinterest one day. I had to work on something so I printed them out and gave them to the kids to keep them entertained while Dave watched them one evening. Little did I know that they'd become completely consumed with the project and ask me to print copy after copy so they could make more over the course of the next couple days. What I thought was just going to be a little fine motor practice turned in to a great game as they pretended to sneak up on me with their paper snakes and throw them over the upstairs banisters into the foyer. It was great fun for all. 

Caleb got in an art class at The Studio one week to do a little Christmas painting too. His interest is started to wane so I'm not sure if we'll stick with this long term, but I've enjoyed what he's turned out so far. Most of the time the kids don't really need an art lesson though. A stack of paper, markers, crayons, scissors, glue, and maybe a stapler are all they need to be in creative paradise.

The first half of the year we've found so much more to get into than last year, and I finally feel like we're getting into a good balance rather than being so focused on just book work. I'm excited to see what new things we'll get into as 2017 unfolds.