Random Update

We begin school on the 28th with a field trip to a water park. Perfect way to kick off the year! I've been re-organzing the school room and putting stuff together that we are going to use regularly. Squeak asked last week if we could end summer break early to work on math! LOL!

This past weekend at a family picnic, Packy just decided she could swim! And she swam all over the pool including the deep end and actually jumped off the edge into the deep...all by herself!

Next weekend, we are headed out on another family camping trip. This one is for two nights. I will post pictures!!

Family Camping Trip

We went on our first overnight tent camping trip this past weekend on August 4th! The girls had a blast and we loved the isolated, wooded area that was for the tent campers (and we were the only ones!). Here are some pictures from the trip:

Our setup

The girls' tent

Daddy and Packy in the pool

Stuffed from smores!

Breakfast in the gazebo

Starting a morning fire

 The girls took great care of the fire



They have it really going!

Our next trip is August 25th - 27th. We are also looking for a place to go in early September!



Our 2012-2013 Curriculum

This year is our first "official" year since we need to begin reporting to the state. I am in the process of filling out Squeak's curricula choices for the school. Here are a few highlights of what I plan to use this coming year:

Bible: BJU Truths, devotional readings
Math: Singapore Primary Math, Beast Academy
LA: BJU English & Spelling, various readers and books
Handwriting: I will print off stuff online, Squeak has a pen pal
Science: Christian Kids Explore Earth Science & Astonomy
US History/Geography: BJU Heritage Studies
Music & Art: Various CDs and a storage bin full of art supplies

Those are the highlights though I have more materials and resources available.

Grassroots Festival

We attended a portion of the Grassroots Festival last weekend and the girls had a blast! They played in the Kid's Area and:

Squeak:
-worked with clay
-had a fiddle lesson
-tried to start a kindle fire like the Indians
-made "war" paint and painted her arm
-had her face painted
-used the "makeshift" drum set and dress up clothes

Packy:
-worked with clay
-watched the juggling performance
-played in the playhouse with a lamb and stroller she found (this took up about 85% of her time!)
-used the "makeshift" drum set

I didn't count this towards school but they easily had a 6 hour credit in that Kid's Area!!

No school in June...

Enough said!

It was on May 25th when...

I officially had Squeak complete 1st grade! Normally we end on May 31st but I was getting a bit burned out so I decided that we were going to end slighly early. Our family has been on several adventures since from hiking, walking, a park with unique rocks and rock formations, museums, historical locations and more! Squeak has also been using Rocket Math on the iPad as well as various other "unschooling" activites. So she is still learning along with Packy!

Packy's latest activity is making designs on the Lite Bright. She also made a huge castle with our two block sets...very cute!

I am undecided in regards to our summer plans. Orignally, I was going to begin Sonlight P4/5 and work on that about 2 or 3 days a week. Now, I'm thinking of just starting that in the fall and do a unit study based on The Magic Treehouse books. Whatever the book is about, we will work on projects and such on that topic. I have time to decide since we are going to start summer school around June 18th. Even if I decide on P4/5 and order later on, I can keep them busy until it arrives!

Wellllllll......HAPPY SUMMER!!! AND MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!!

Summer Plans 2012

I already have changed my mind on some things! I was going to use Sonlight P4/5 in the fall for Packy but decided to start it for summer fun school. Normally I use completely different materials for Squeak over the summer to break things up and give her something else to work on. Well, instead of buying something for the summer THEN buying SL, why not just use P4/5 for the summer for both girl?!? We would end school as usual at the end of May, take a couple weeks off then combine both with P4/5 except they would have separate math (Squeak continue in Beast Academy and Packy would begin Singapore Earlybird Activity Book A). I haven't taken the plunge and ordered anything yet except I put in a bid for an EB Activity book on eBay....