We are Thankful

November was a great month for the Sanford crew.  We focused on the history of the first Thanksgiving and learned about Squanto and the Pilgrims.  We spent some time reflecting on what we were all thankful for each day in November and made a Thankful wreath to write our blessings on.

We read some fantastic books that really made the Thanksgiving story more meaningful to us this year.

One of our favorite things this month was making homemade butter just like the first Pilgrims!  We used heavy cream and a mason jar and did alot of shaking!! This was a good use of our energy!

The homemade butter was delish! We enjoyed it on a blueberry muffin!

We celebrated with our homeschool friends and had a Harvest Party!  We are so thankful for friends and it was fun being together!

On Thanksgiving day we went "over the river and through the woods" to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We enjoyed a feast with our family and Evan helped make the pumpkin pie! One of the new skills I learned this month was making homemade pie crust!

We are thankful to be able to learn and enjoy one another at our Home Sweet Home School!

Fire Station tour

The Cape Girardeau Fire Fighters gave our homeschool group an awesome tour of their station and their trucks!  Duane and David were so patient and explained everything from fire safety to their schedules and equipment to us.  The children were very interested and so excited to see the fire pole and sirens sound!  We brought them cookies as a special thank you for their time and service. The Sanford crew's batch of cookies ironically caught on fire so I was thankful that another momma picked up the slack on our part! ha!! Fun trip to the station!

Field Trip Friday to Shrek the Musical

When I was in school one of my favorite field trips was to Shawnee Community College for their fall and spring musicals.  They always do such an outstanding job on their performances.  This fall when I learned they were doing Shrek the Musical I quickly called to see if they had any tickets for the daytime show.  I was thrilled to set some seats and attend when a few of the Southern Illinois schools were also their on  a field trip. It was a sweet treat that they allowed our Class of Three home school to have the school discount!  Grandma came along which made the day even more special.
All three boys loved it! It was hilarious!  I think Donkey stole the show!  There was a great amount of music and song and lights and effects.  Great job SCC!!  Our Class of Three enjoyed it!!

A Beautiful Day for Castle Park Play!

We took a field trip on one of the prettiest autumn days of the year to Castle Park in Giant City IL with a few of our homeschool friends. Grandma came too!  The boys all loved it!  They ran around until they were worn out!! We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the park.

The dragon slayers!

Grandma peeking down!

Lane found an ugly prisoner!

It was a fun Field Trip Friday!!

Pumpkin fun

We did some fun pumpkin activities this month! We learned the scientific method and used it to do an experiment on "Will our pumpkin float?".

Evan guessed his would, Lane too! I decided mine would sink, just to add a contrasting guess. 

our pumpkin scientists

the pumpkin drop,....are they floating or sinking??

ALL pumpkins floated!!

Experiment a success! And a fun way to learn the steps in the Scientific Method!

Fun with Falling leaves

We spent the month of October studying leaves.  Lots of fall fun!!

We went on a leave hunt at our farm with the Whitaker girls and gathered up a variety of leaves.  We identified what kind of trees the different leaves came from.  There were so many different kinds of trees which made our hunt very cool!
We turned our leaves into leaf people!

We talked about the veins in the leaves and how the veins allow the water to travel up the leaf like a straw.  We used black glue and watercolors to create gorgeous leaf art.

We also did an amazing experiment that taught us that the color of the fall leaves are hidden in the green leaves all year long. In the fall the clorafil breaks down and the color of the leaves come through.  We used alcohol and a coffee filter and crushed up green leaves to do this experiment and see what color the green leaf would turn in the fall.

I love seeing God's creation and how he paints us a beautiful masterpiece each autumn!

October! The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I absolutely love October! My favorite month of the year! October is not complete until we take an annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch in search for the perfect pumpkin!  We love Eckert's in Belleville Il! It was a gorgeous fall day when we went!

I get a kick out of Lane, when he sees the one he wants his mind is set.  He goes right to it, and then heads back to the wagon.  He's a man who knows what he wants!

Lane guarding his pumpkin

Mr Jace found the one he wanted but momma's rule in the patch is that you can choose any pumpkin you want as long as you can carry it back yourself!

too heavy!!

Evan is the choosiest of all the crew. It is funny how they are all so different.  He takes his time picking the perfect pumpkin and changes his mind often.  Finally, he found "the one"!

We had a great day and found some awesome pumpkins!

Africa

This month we studied about the continent of Africa in our Expedition Earth curriculum. To add to our study we  got to experience the taste of Africa firsthand!  Our sweet friends, the Underwood's, invited us to their home for an authentic African meal.  They have a daughter, and soon to arrive home son, that are from Ethiopia.  It was such a very neat experience that they shared with our family!  We ate our first African meal of  Doro wat (chicken), shiro and injera. It had a very distinct flavor and I actually liked it!  The boys all sampled a little too!  It is a flavor that I will remember. 

 After our meal Bailey and Kabina, Noah, Luke, Roman, Becca and Nick gave us an awesome presentation on Africa and the culture.  They put a lot of thought into preparing for this and it was such a neat treat!  Bailey read us an African folktale and showed us  handmade African jewelry and scarves.  Kabina taught us some  Amharic words and a neat game they play with stones and quick hands!

 Both girls showed us an African song and dance! The Underwood boys showed us cool drums, African toys and African money.  Nick taught us about the coffee beans in Africa and how that is a lively-hood for some of the people there.  Becca shared with us about the ministry work that is done in Africa.  It was a very neat, eye opening experience that blessed us that evening!

Discovering Columbus

In celebration of Columbus day we learned about the man himself!  This was actually a learning experience for me too!  I remembered bits of a poem that I had learned in grade-school, "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue" and honestly that was about as much as I knew about Mr. Columbus! Today we read a short biography about Columbus that told about his childhood up to his discovery of America and then his other voyages until his death.  I didn't realize that he died not knowing he had actually discovered America and not Asia.  The boys learned the "In 1492" song (to the tune of Farmer in the Dell) which helps us to remember that "in 1492 in 1492Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, for 70 days he sailed, for 70 days he sailed,..... he came to a new land,.... exploring he did go,.... he sailed back home to Spain,.... Columbus sailed across the sea, then sailed back home to Spain".
We made our very own Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina ships!

My  Explorers

We had a cantaloupe ship for snack.

Later during the little boys rest time Evan did some creative writing on "If I had Discovered America,....". This was fun for him because he loves to write stories!  We learned a lot of History today about the first discovery of America and the Native Americans who were actually the first to claim this land as their own.  Happy Columbus Day!!

If I had discovered America,.........

 

 

 

All About Apples! Happy September!

We dedicated this month to Johnny Appleseed and apple studies!  It was a fun unit study.  We taste tested several varieties of apples.  I never knew there were so many different types!

my taste testers

Evan decided he liked the Golden Delicious the best, Lane liked the Honey Crisp and Jace sampled and liked them all! Mommas favorite is still the Fuji.

We learned about Johnny Appleseed, who's real name was John Chapman.  He loved nature and apples! He traveled across the land planting apple orchards. His birthday is September 26th.

We studied the life cycle of an apple tree (seed, seedling, tree, blossoms, apples, EAT!) and observed the seeds in an apple.

We enjoyed lots of apple snacks, homemade apple granola, apple chips, dried apples, apple cider, apple muffins and apple pie!

One of our favorite books this month was How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Majorie Priceman. The character wants to make an apple pie and goes to the market to get the ingredients.  The market is closed so she has to travel all around the world gathering the finest ingredients for her pie!

We ended our fun month with a trip to Eckert's Orchard in Belleville Il to go apple picking!

Hayride to the orchard! Lane is representing the Green and Yellow!

picking Red Delicious, Jonathans, and Golden Delicious

Sampling the crop

Getting a full bag!

It was a gorgeous day!  We came home with several pounds of apples that we are going to make apple butter with!  Happy Fall!

Curriculum, Curricula!!

A month in to our homeschool life and I still have to double check myself on the spelling of curriculum although I've googled it nearly 1,000 times I bet! ~ Curriculum, the subjects comprising a course of study in a school (or college).  Wikipedia. ;)

I began researching curriculum early spring of this year.  I read a zillion reviews, visited local homeschool friends to look through what they used,and attended a homeschool conference.  To say that I have invested ALOT of time in choosing our "course of studies" is an understatement.  With all that being said, I do not believe that any  curriculum is a one choice fits all, nor am I so passionate about our choices that I feel that our way is best. It really is a blend of  personal preference of teaching style and children's learning when choosing this stuff!

Our first year of homeschooling I chose an eclectic blend of material, meaning I picked and chose different publishers for different subjects.  Heres our 2013-2014 line up of curriculum-

We originally started out using Answers in Genesis Bible Curriculum.  This was one of the choices that I didn't Love, so with a suggestion from a friend we have just begun using Grapevine Bible Studies instead.  We chose level 1 Old Testament- Creation through Jacob.  I think this will be a great fit for us.  It will be something that all the boys will be able to do together.  We read the scripture and we stick figure draw the illustrations to go along with what we just learned.  I think this multilayer approach to learning will help them to retain the stories better and give them a visual timeline of the Bible history.  

Early on I really liked our math choice.  It came with great reviews and I really am happy with our choice.  We are using Math U See and its been smooth sailing.  Evan began in Alpha and he is working his way through at a great pace.  It is a mastery based approach so I know he is really understanding each concept as he moves along. Its really easy to teach and understand which is a major plus for me the "wordy" girl who cringes at math. Mr. Demme (the writer of this curriculum is very cool!) We all pop in the dvd before each lesson  and watch and learn from him then we do the workbook pages.  I am debating starting Lane in the Primer level soon.  He seems to be picking up pretty quickly by just sitting beside big brother and I think he may be my math guy!  Mr. Jace loves playing with the manipulatives right along side the older ones too!

We are using a blend of things for our Language Arts.  I feel in love with Rod and Staff English 2 as soon as I laid my eyes and hands on it.  It is such a solid English curriculum and I am an English gal!!  The lessons carry a Biblical message and promote Christian virtues.  Its awesome!  The lessons are quick and dont carry any fluff.  We do most of this orally with some whiteboard work as I see fit. 
We use All About Spelling and Explode the Code for phonics.  I like these choices but they don't "excite" me.  It works, so thats all that matters to me!  I also have Evan practice his handwriting using A Reason For Handwriting.  He works on memorizing scriptures along with neatly writing them so this is a double like in my book!

I originally planned on using Apologia Human Anatomy along with the Jr Notebook for our science this year.  After looking at the book I am realizing it is ALOT of detail and alot of reading.  I am tabling this for the time being and am just going to focus on learning about our body, organs and skeletal system on a much general level.  It is great material but a bit much for this age.  I have Answers in Genesis God's Design for Life ordered and am anxiously waiting for the package to arrive.  This will touch on The World of Plants, The World of Animals, and The Human Body. I think this will be a better fit for now.

For our Social Studies we are using Expedition Earth by Confessions of a Homeschooler.  It is so neat and I am learning just as much as Evan!  We are touring each continent and countries within and learning about their culture. We learn to say hello in the language, learn about famous landmarks, and  pray for the lost people of those regions and for the missionaries called to those lands. There are recipes and crafts and fun facts to go along with each country we "tour" and at the end of the lesson we stamp our passport with the country's flag.

For now our History is consisting of books and activities I am picking out from the library and Pinterest.  I want to touch on the major holidays throughout the year and why we celebrate them.  We have already studied the American Revolution during July around Independence Day.  I am planning to teach about Christopher Columbus in October and Native Americans during November.  We will read about Martin Luther and will study presidents for Presidents Day.  In first grade I want him to have a general idea of the most prominent events in History and will be use a more in depth curriculum in later elementary years. 

Evan also loves music and I think God has gifted him in this area.  He just recently began piano lessons once a week and also attends a music appreciation class once a month.  He is learning about composition and famous composers. Lane and Evan both attend Art class once a week at the Crisp Museum where they are learning about different artists and techniques. Soon they will both begin a Homeschool PE that is offered weekly at SouthEast Health.  Weekly Evan and Lane also attend CODA at Centenary Church where they are learning even more wonderful Biblical instruction and having a fun time with friends working on crafts, enjoying snacks and singing songs of praise and worship!  I am thankful for these classes in our community that help assist me in teaching these subjects!

Each year I plan on re evaluating our choices and tailoring them to suit their learning interests, there are so many great options available when it comes to home educating!