Camping

This past weekend we all went camping! It was a family camp ground with both trailer and tent camping. There was a splash pad, pool and water slide! The playground equipment was well kept and the kids could move from the park to the water activities easily. Also the washroom and shower facilities were so clean and in fantastic shape. Always an added bonus. :) The camp site we had the first night wasn't as good as the one we moved to the following night. We moved to help us find a lost set of keys (that's a whole other story!) and also to be next to some friends who were camping. The site the second night was right beside an inlet with a road behind us; there weren't many camping so it felt secluded there. The view was lovely. The fire pit had been set up so we could look over the water as we sat by the fire. The kids had a fantastic time with all the activities and the two other families we were visiting with who were camping there. This was our first time camping with the kids so it was exciting for them, although tiring for us. :) The weekend was truly amazing though, lots of memories for us all to treasure. My husband and I were talking yesterday and we think we would like to take the kids to a forested park for some camping next summer. There was a really nice park we went camping at when we were first married. The trails are beautiful and there is canoeing, biking (there were several different trails and our family loves to bike, both the kids and us), hiking and beach available. We're going to look around for camping gear on sale this coming month and add what we will need so we can take the kids to a nice forested park area on our next camping experience. The kids love to bike and they've been wanting to canoe for a while as well. Now that our little one is getting older, it will be easier to do this sort of thing!

This weekend got us thinking about different options for family holiday and things to do as a family, new experience for the kids to learn and grow from. Incentive for my husband and I to shed some weight over the winter months and get into shape. And it was a lot of fun to spend time with a couple of families we'd been meaning to for a while now. I'm always mindful that on these occasions we are building memories for our children to cherish (well each day are as well:). Love this quote, I can not remember where I saw it. "We remember moments, not days." ~Uknown

Our School Year Kick Off!

Our official school year kick off is in October. We start a month later because September is a holiday month for us. We HS throughout the summer and I am pleased to report that we had a great school year. I have almost all my materials for the next year with the exception of a few consumable workbooks. I've created a mish mash of curricula that works well for each child and our family situation. It's always fun for me to research and pour through curriculum catalogs to come up with next year's goodies. And the kids love to open their box of books from Sonlight to discover what literature they'll be reading next. :)

Gates - 9 years old!

Bible - A reading from Jesus' life/or a parable along with The Jesus Encyclopedia, Memory Work

History, Geography, Read Alouds - Sonlight Core 3/4 (American History)

Science - Sonlight 4

Language Arts - Spelling Wisdom, Abeka Grade 4, copy work, Creative Writing (Sonlight), readers

Math - Finish up Right Start Level C (3/4 way through) and then onto Level D, Zillio Math Mountain

Handwriting: Hand Writing Without Tears - Cursive

French - L'Art de Dire

Electives - piano, Art

Extra Curricular Activities - Girls Club, Skating, Swimming

Shakespeare - We will be studying Twelfth Night - the play, No Fear Shakespeare, Stories from Shakespeare etc and take in the play at the Stradford Theatre

Grey - 7 years old and in grade 2

Bible - A reading from Jesus' life/or a parable along with The Jesus Encyclopedia, Memory Work

History, Geography, Read Alouds - Sonlight Core 3/4 (American History)

Science - Sonlight 4

Language Arts - Explode the Code, Readers, Abeka Grade 1

Math - Finish up Right Start Level B and then onto Level C, Zillio Math Mountain

Handwriting: Hand Writing Without Tears - Cursive

French: L'Art de Dire

Electives - Art, Music Appreciation

Extra Curricular - Boys Club, Skating, Swimming

Shakespeare - We will be studying Twelfth Night - the play, No Fear Shakespeare, Stories from Shakespeare etc and take in the play at the Stradford Theatre

Grace : 3 years old - just little no grade! :)

Bible - She sits in with us but I'll give her a Bible Story Book to look at and she'll have some memory work.

Books, Books and BOOKS - Sonlight's P3/4 - just literature, some puzzles, mighty mind

Preschool Activity Bags - I have about 40 of them now.

Math - she likes playing with her junior abacus and number cards, the Right Start counting sticks.

Other - Crafts, Music Appreciation, Swimming Lessons

I have my first two in the same Core, it makes it considerably easier for all of us. They have separate seat work though. I'll take books from the core Grey is suppose to be in and read them now and again. But honestly, the kid has a fantastic memory and he loves to discuss the books.

They will each have a schedule, color coded and I have even included Grace in the schedule but I won't enforce it, when she comes and asks me for her school or needs something to do I'll just refer to it to see what she'd be doing during that time slot and set her up with it. She likes to copy whatever her brother and sister are doing so I let her have at it. But I'm not insistent she have a program, it's mostly to make her happy and feel like she's schooling. Also I've scheduled in some time for Gates to read with her. Grace loves to be read to by her older sister, and Gates loves doing it, plus it's good for Gates to practice. I love listening to her read to Grace because she has the voice inflections going on. It's good for her to learn to read an engaging story as well as her reading skills.



I have to tweek my Blog

I created this Blog a year or so ago. I love blogs but I'm not all that computer savy so I'm not sure how to add pics and make it look prettier. The idea of a blog fascinates me. So I am wondering for those of you who blog, do you update it a couple of times a week? Is it more like a journal?? And how do you make it look so pretty??? :) I'd love to hear ideas.