It's been WAY too Long!! Update!!

I have been so busy lately that I took a long break from blogging. I got thinking today about how much I have missed posting and most importantly I want these pictures and memories to be here for my kids so I am going to make more of an effort to post again!

Now that I have that out of the way here is an update on the kids:

Little M is now 3 years old!

She had an awesome Princess party and Rapunzel came. She was so smitten!  Her Mamma and Aunt Lor showed up to her party with the surprise of being dressed up as princesses as well!

Little M is a bright little girl. She is a firecracker, a sneaky little monkey, a drama queen and a real sweet heart all wrapped in a dainty little package! 

She is very smart....she can speak in long fluent sentences....much clearer then most her age and the things that come out of her mouth are hilarious. She uses words like "actually, essentially & seriously" on a constant basis and she has her dad and I howling all the time with the things she says and comes up with out of nowhere. I need to start writing them down so I can share!

Mr. K is in grade 2 but I am proud to say that he has advanced ahead to grade 3 math!

This kid is super smart! Everything we are learning he is absorbing like a sponge and he is constantly amazing me with how well he is learning!
His behaviour has improved greatly as well. We are still dealing with the same underlying issues (social anxiety, adhd, anger issues etc.) but he is controlling himself much better these days and I feel as parents we are learning to help him a little better.
Family gatherings are always a disaster but we get through them!  K has a hard time handling himself in social situations and that makes it hard for everyone.....it is hard for people to understand why he is acting the way he is (running around like a crazy man one minute, having hands-on the next minute and throwing a temper tantrum the next) but family members try to understand his "issues" and for the most part we are very lucky for the support we have.

Schooling wise K is advanced in math (his tests and quizzes are in the 80-90% range in grade 3 math right now) Reading we are definitely still struggling with. He loathes reading with a passion but we are pushing through it and my main focus has been to keep reading fun and interesting because I really want him to have a  lifetime love of reading like I do!

K loves anything science. Last week we studied earthquakes and did a unit study on the earthquake in Haiti (2010). This was brought on by K listening to the song "Wavin' flag" one day and the idea grew from there. He watched a few videos,  made a lapbook and studied a bit about earthquakes (I should take some pics to share here).

This week we studied Plant cells because his big brother brought home science homework (which he helped with) and he asked me if he could learn about it as well. I was thrilled when he took the paper with the diagram of the labelled plant cell and put it into his homeschooling pile and said we needed to work on it this week!  So he watched an episode of Bill Nye, we discussed and then we made our own diagram.  I did not expect for him to remember so much of it! (afterall it was grade 7 work!) but he GOT it. He understood the concept and we was able to discuss it over dinner with his dad and I... proud mommy moment!

Anyway, this post is long enough now so I will share a couple more pics and then try to keep things updated on a more regular basis :)

Here is one of our family photos from a few weeks ago!
(Photo courtesy of www.sweetspotphotography.com)

 Lastly I want to remind myself why we choose to homeschool our children and that is because our kids have built such a great bond with eachother! I love that they learn everything together and that he is there for her everyday <3

Discussing Groundhog Day--Making a Venn Diagram to compare groundhogs with beavers

Today we discussed the meaning of groundhog day and made this cute craft. Mr. K actually helped the little ones make it rather then making his own...he is so great with them.
 

 

 The picture below is what happens when my 2.5 year old daughter makes a craft.

She has a bit of a "cutting" obsession right now! LOL
 

 

During our discussion Mr. K asked what the difference was between a ground hog & a beaver.  We both discussed the obvious differences (beavers live in water, ground hogs live in burrows etc.)  He wanted to draw a picture of a groundhog for his unit study book but wasn't sure what one looks like so he asked me to google it.

I googled an image and while he was drawing googled and found this page:

http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-woodchuck-and-vs-beaver/

 

While he drew I read the page to him and at the bottom there is a chart for comparing the two.

Something really cool happened next!  I took out a piece of lined paper & made a little chart the same as the one on the internet. Mr. K grabbed a piece of paper & said "mom lets do one of these!" excitedly.

 

 

I was very surprised & said "do you know what that's called?"  he said no and I said "it's a Venn diagram".  I know it's really not THAT exciting but I was very excited he thought to make one & that he was so excited to get filling it in.

 

 

 

 

I am so proud of Mr. K today! He has come so far lately in his spelling & in his reading....before homeschooling he struggled so much with it. What I am most proud about him though is that he is really starting to develop a love for learning new things :) 

Mini Unit Study on Coral Reefs

Yesterday Mamma returned from her week long trip to Aruba. The kids were so happy to see her! 

She was awesome enough to bring the kids back some really cool sea shells, some lava rock, crab claws and a piece of coral.

 

Mr. K was so excited when I told him this morning that we would be doing a small unit study on coral reefs!

 

First we watched some of this documentary on Youtube: 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncUVddkK3Q&list=PL8UxdPqZt7EUSYh8pldrKMapABzXDAJ6m&index=20

 

 I myself was unable to see all of it (having a 2.5 yr. old & three 2 yr. old daycare kiddos will do that!)  but he watched about 30 mins.  of it & he also paused the movie a couple times to talk with me about what he had learned. I love when he does this because I know he is paying attention!

 

After the video we read the info. on this page:

http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/coralreef.html

 

We also googled images for sea urchins. We noticed that sea urchins come in all shapes and sizes and noted that their spikes are all different lengths. We also discussed the fact that if  you step on a sea urchin they sting (there were some images of people having stepped on them)

 

We also google images for star fish because Mr. K wanted to draw one.

 

While I was reading K was drawing and colouring the picture below for his unit study book 

 

*Note the starfish and sea urchins on the coral.

 

The writing portion was done after while we were reflecting on things we could do as humans to help the coral reef (there is a written section about this in the article above)

Mr. K said that we need to stop pouring chemicals down the drain and he asked me about what I use to wash the floors (Lysol).  I also have biodegradable cleaner and vinegar that I use most of the time.

Mr. K  checked all the labels and informed me that the cleaner that is harmful to the environment should not be used anymore & I should only buy the vinegar & biodegradable cleaner. I told him we would now do that & we also discussed different ways we can conserve water. We already do that but it was nice to review it anyway.

If you can see Mr. K's last sentence it says "my piece of coral stinks".  He cannot get over the "fishy" smell of his coral ...LOL

 

It was a great unit study and a great day full of learning!

Setting up a "snack bin"!

When my 7 year old son was younger I saw a Pin about a snack bin on Pinterest & I made one for him but he kind of grew out of it when he was around 5 or so. He just kind of started getting snacks on his own & no longer needed/wanted me to prep. things for him.

Now that Little M is 2.5 years old she is growing like a weed and constantly asking me for snacks throughout the day!

  

 

 I thought I would try setting up a "snack bin" for her last week and she LOVES it! When she asks me for a snack now I just tell her yes or no and then she is able to run and grab it herself because it is kept within reach for her (it is in a bottom drawer in our kitchen)  

 Its so simple! Just prep. the bin a couple times per week with healthy snacks and that's it!

 

There are plenty of different snacks I put it in the bin:

 

crackers

apples

clementines

grapes

blueberries

bananas

pretzels

raisins

fruit cups

apple sauce

cookies

 

I would love to include cut up veggies but unfortunately Little M won't eat any right now unless they are cooked :( 

There are so many things you can add and I love the fact that Little M feels so proud that she is able to go and grab a snack for herself...it makes her feel like such a big girl!

 

Do you use a snack bin in your home?

 

 

The Cutting Bin

 

The cutting bin is such a hit with my kids!

 

This bin is super easy to set up and keeps the kids busy for at least 20-30 minutes!

It is so flexible because you can add just about anything. Here is a list of materials I add (I alternate what I include to keep it different and exciting each time I bring it out)

 

Safety scissors

hole puncher

paint swatches

scrapbooking paper

ribbon

paper bags

foam sheets

strips of construction paper

tissue paper

 

 

Here are some action shots.

 

 

 I hope this inspires you to make your own cutting bin!

 

 

 

 

Bringing Snow Inside!

 

I set this up for the kids this morning and they were SO excited to play with it!

 Here is Little M the first time she realized she could change the colour of the snow :)

 

This activity was so simple to set up and they played with it for over an hour.  So worth it!

If you would like to set it up for your little ones all you need is:

A Rubbermaid full of snow
some syringes/paint brushes (we used both)
some small bowl with water mixed with food colouring
plastic spoons
small containers they can fill with snow

B is for Baking Blueberry Banana Bread!

Say that 3 times fast!

 

Little M was so excited to bake with mommy today. I found this recipe on Pinterest yesterday and knew we had to give it a try. Doesn't it look so good?!  It was super easy to make too!

 

Click on the picture for the full recipe:

 

photo from http://damndelicious.net

 

The only thing I would do differently is use mini loaf pans (like the recipe suggests) I just didn't have any so it made baking time longer but it turned out SO good!

 

Here is Little M baking with mommy:

 

 

 

She kept saying after each step "I need to write this down mom" & would scribble in her little book.

 

 

Here it is out of the oven. It smells wonderful!

 

Here she is taste testing it. She loves it!