Another Year to Look Forward To

I love everything about the new year. I'm one of those people who thrive on change, love a chance to make goals and look forward to seeing what can happen over a year.






I realized I was pretty much absent for half of November and the whole month of December. Oops. Life was busy, hectic and full of good things. We enjoyed a wonderful holiday together as family and were able to relax from a busy month. Beau was on a deadline to finish up a journal paper that he needed to finish before Christmas. He almost made it, but decided to relax and spend Christmas Eve, Christmas and a few days after with us. It's a good thing too or Santa might have just left him a hunk of coal. We had a great time, and he was able to finish it up before the new year.






We are now on the countdown to writing the final dissertation and finishing up the last of the research by mid February so he can graduate come April. I think we see an end in sight. Our first 10 years of marriage to complete his education. Would I have done it differently? Never. He has grown so much in these years. The things he is now capable of doing, and the things he has learned have been amazing. To see him develop talents and abilities, along with watching him grow as a person has been worth it all. There have been hard times, frustration, late hours, stress and tight finances that we have experienced here and there through this road of getting a higher education while choosing to have a family, but the Lord has truly blessed us for that choice. It doesn't add up by the world's ways or on paper, but it has added up in our lives in blessings more numerous to count, happiness that is we could never imagine, and experiences we would never want to pass up.










It is going to be a good year. We can both feel it. Change is in the air and I love it's feeling. Here's to another new year of joy, growth, trials, love, new people, learning and fun.

October in Review

October was a busy month, and I know I wasn't able to get everything posted on here that I would have liked to.  So I thought I'd share a month in review with you. 

 


 
 
 

Graphing Exercises

Mirian had a science lesson on how scientists sort their data, as part of the scientific method. The lesson taught various methods, one being making graphs and charts to compare the results.  So we did some exercises in graphing. This is also a great math activity too. We first sorted stuffed animals by types and graphed it. We then had Mirian go outside and tally how many trucks, vans or cars drove in front of our house over a period of time. We then did the exercise the kids enjoyed the most because it allowed for a snack afterwards - sorting Fruit Loops by color. 

Isaac loved this activity and joined in the fun as well. In fact Isaac spends most of the time doing lessons right along with Mirian as well as Caitlyn.

They both graphed their numbers and looked at the results.  Orange was the main color for both of them. So  there's a good chance that your Malt O Meal bag of Fruit Loops is mostly orange.

Another graphing exercise Isaac really enjoys comes from a preschool pack. There is a dice that has a different picture on each side that he roles, and then a graphing chart to color in. To him it feels like a game, and yet he's learning graphing skills and how to record results in an organized manner.

Another things I've made is these learning to write books.  You can find all of them under the printables section.  She has a category of them called sticky learnings.  They are cute!  I printed out the number book and the letters upper and lower case. I then laminated them and created little books with rings. Now when Mirian is doing Phonics and Issac wants to join her, I can pull out one of these books and have him practice writing with a dry erase marker. She also has another cool book called, "About Me" that I created for him too.  It has things like my home, phone number, address, birthday and pages of "my favorite...."  I then used the Dashed font to write his answers he gave me. He can then copy over them to practice writing and learning important info like his phone number and address.  

This homeschooling hasn't just been for Savannah and Mirian, it truly is a family affair with everyone involved. Isaac gets excited about what they do too. By the time he is in Kindergarten next year, he'll be flying through it.