Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum

I'm getting there... our curriculum is almost set for my son's first year of kindergarten. Most of our materials are coming from Our Lady of Victory, living books (library picture books), and various materials that I've collected over the years. Here is the process I've followed to decide a curriculum. 

1. Decide what I wanted my children to learn in each subject. Label each page with a subject and write these     things down under each subject heading. For example, under RELIGION I wrote down The Ten Commandments and under SCIENCE I wrote down seasons.

2. Print off a calendar for each month of the school year. Write down basics for each week according to each subject. And then, print off weekly planner sheets to specifically plan for subjects each day.

3. Once your first week approaches, gather materials for first week of subjects. Make sure your weekly planner sheet is finalized and set for the week.

4. Have fun on your beautiful homeschool journey :)

Letter of the Week Craft; A is for Angel

Yay! Our first letter of the week religious craft is completed :)  The kids had a blast putting this together; they love any craft that deals with toilet paper rolls or pipe cleaner! Each week we will have a religious craft pertaining to the letter we are learning. Enjoy!

This craft is super easy, even for a 2 and 4 year old. Here is what you need:

*Toilet-paper roll
*5 pipe-cleaners (2 one color, 2 another color, and another yellow/white for halo)
*Yellow & white construction paper
*Christmas tinsel 
*Clear packaging tape
*Black marker

First, twist 1 piece of the same colored pipe cleaner to the other piece to form the angel's wings (butterfly shape). 

Next, once you have formed the wings, twist 2 pipe cleaners of a different color around them (this will give them a multi-colored look). Tape the wings on back of the toilet-paper roll.

Then, once the wings are intact, cute out a circle from your white construction paper and some hair from the yellow paper. Draw a cute face on the circle. Tape the hair to the face, and then tape them to the inside-front of the toilet paper roll.

Last, take your final pipe cleaner and twist it into a circle leaving a few inches sticking out on the bottom (so that you can tape it to the back-inside of the toilet paper roll). Then, twist the tinsel around the halo! Finished!

                                  

Letter Recognition Using an Alphabet Bag :)

Learning letters can be fun, especially with an alphabet bag :) Our letter of the week is A, so I filled our fun polka-dotted bag full of "A" things. This sounds simple, but it ended up being a little tricky. In the mounds of toys, I found a plastic apple, a toy ambulance, a glass angel, and an alligator slipper. 

When beginning the lesson, I explained to my kids what we were going to do with the alphabet bag. I then proceeded to tell them what the letter of the week was going to be and to think of some things that started with "A." If they guessed the word, I pulled the item out of the bag. If there was any items left, I had them take turns picking an item out :)

This activity is great because the kids love the suspense of "what's in the bag?" It also builds their vocabulary and helps them associate your "letter of the week" with real life items. 

After we pulled all the items out of the bag, I write the mommy (capital) "A" and baby "a" (lowercase) on my whiteboard and then write out all the words that were in our bag (alligator, ambulance, angel, and apple). 

The rest of the week, we will continue with the bag and maybe add a few items. We will also practice writing mommy "A's" and baby "a's." We also have a religious craft that goes with this....which I'll post later on (it's an angel) :) 

All Saints Day Matching Game

With All Saints Day around the corner, I thought it would be fun to make a Saint's matching game for either your child or your All Saint's Day celebration :) Enjoy :)

Our Newest Purchase...Antique Desks for Homeschooling

Yay! I've always wanted antique school desks....thank you Saint Anthony for helping us find some :) And at an amazing price.....three for $27.00. Can't wait to rearrange our front porch into a schoolroom :)

We're Going on a Leaf Hunt

Oh what to do with the over abundance of leaves? Our family has thought of a couple of things to do on this beautiful fall day :)

This lesson that I created, not only promotes family togetherness, but educates your young child about the changing seasons. 

Today we started our lesson reading the book "We're going on a Leaf Hunt," by Steve Metzger

After we read our book, my kids were excited to go outside and find some leaves. I recommend the app from Leafsnap  to help you ID unknown species. Just take a picture with your phone and it recognizes the leaf like magic :)

As you look at the leaves, emphasize the beauty of the trees and leaves and talk to them about how God created all the beautiful species. 

After jumping in our leaf pile and snapping a few photos, we gathered our collection and brought them inside to make a leaf collage.

                                                 Hard at work on her collage :)

        The completed masterpiece :) Verse taken from Ecclesiastes 3

                           Another completed masterpiece :)

Jesus Loves Me So Much He Gave Me....

Jesus Loves Me So Much He Gave Me....

This morning, we decided to make hearts dedicated to Jesus. We wrote His name in the middle of the heart and came up with things that He has given to us that we enjoy. I bet you can guess if this heart is my daughter's or son's? Anyways, it was a nice reminder of the things that we take for granted. 

The Creation Song

This is a cute song that I made up to teach my kids about creation :) Enjoy!

To the tune of Old McDonald had a Farm 

There is a Creator, his name is God

Yes there, yes there is

In six days He created the universe

Yes He, yes He did

And in this universe he created the earth

yes He, yes He did

And on this earth, He created the ocean 

yes He, yes He did

( fold your hands together and sway them back and forth)

with a whoosh whoosh here and a whoosh whoosh there, here a whoosh, there a whoosh, everywhere a whoosh whoosh

There is a Creator, His name is God 

Yes there, yes there is 

And beside this ocean, he created the trees

yes He, yes He did

(raise arms and sway from side to side)

with a swish swish here and a swish swish there, here a swish, there a swish, everywhere a swish swish

There is a creator, His name is God

Yes there, yes there is

And above the trees, He created the birds

yes He, yes He did 

(flap arms up and down)

with a chirp chirp here and a chirp chirp there, here a chirp, there a chirp, everywhere a chirp chirp

There is a creator, His name is God

Yes there, yes there is 

And alongside this bird, He created humans

Yes He, yes He did 

(point to yourself)

with a blessing here, and a blessing there, here a blessing, there a blessing, everywhere a blessing. 

There is a Creator, his name is God

Yes there, yes there is