The Letter, "b," brought to you by Reese!

Look at my 3-year-old! Isn't she doing a WONDERFUL job writing her letters? I am so proud of her!

Another Day of Homeschool!

Wow! The girls are really loving school. Both are very cooperative, engaged, and excited about their lessons. I am very proud of them. It works well, because Meleah lays down for her morning nap, and gives us quiet time to focus on our lessons. We do our reading and quiet time in the afternoon while Meleah takes her second nap.

Here are a few pictures from our day! Enjoy!

Homeschool Time!

We are proud to announce that the decision has been made!  We will be homeschooling Abby Grace for her Kindergarten year!

We cannot wait to share with you all of the awesome things we will be doing this school year.  Thanks to all for your love and support in this decision.

And, while we're at it, check out the Homeschooler's Wish List, posted on my blog site.

Rainforest unit

We finished up our unit on the Rainforest, and here is the finished product:

Homeschool Corner

We took a small break last week and now we are back! We are still in our Rainforest unit, and the girls are loving it. We have added three animals to our Rainforest. On Tuesday we learned about birds, specifically the Toucan and the Macaw. Abby Grace also reviewed writing her letters R and T. She is doing so well writing her letters.

On Wednesday, we added the Boa Constrictor to our Rainforest. Abby Grace already knew quite a bit about the Boa Constrictor. She proceeded to tell me that it is smaller than the Anaconda; it squeezed other animals so it can eat; and that it did not chew its food but, swallowed it whole. Thank you, Man vs Wild and Daddy!

Reese told us that snakes make a "hiss" sound. She also thought it was really funny when Abby Grace dropped to the ground and "slithered" just like a snake. (She did a good job, but it really brought on images of her Daddy doing the Worm).

Abby Grace can name all of the layers in the Rainforest by name, and in order from top layer to bottom layer. She can also describe the details of each layer.

Homeschool Corner

We are starting a new unit on the Rainforest. It stems from Abby Grace's new found love for the television show, Man vs Wild. We learned the letter R. If you look at the slideshow, you will see pictures of our Rainforest (so far) and Abby's letter R's.

Fun Facts about the Rainforest
*There are 4 layers in the rainforest:
*Emergent - the top layer
*Canopy - the second layer from the top
*Understory - the third layer
*Forest Floor - the bottom layer

In the next several days, we will learn about the different animals that live in the Rainforest. We will put the animals in their corresponding layer in our Rainforest. Both girls are really excited, and as you can see, they already know quite a bit about the Rainforest.

They also posed some great questions.

Thank you for joining us on our excursion through the Rainforest!

Abby can write her name!

Well, it has been awhile since I've blogged. I miss it! It has actually been awhile since I've been able to type with both hands (in case you don't get it, Meleah is sleeping on the floor next to me instead of in my arms!). Anyway, the main reason for this blog is to show all of you Abby's new ability... well, it was new in September. She's an old hand at it, now! She can write her name very well. She can also write the names, "Tabby," (as in, Aunt Tabby), and "Daddy." She has mastered the capital 'A', capital 'T', and the lowercase letters 'b', 'd', and 'y'. I am really proud of her.

The letter B

This week, we are learning the letter B. It started out being exciting because it is the next letter in Abby's name, which means that by the end of next week, she will be able to write her name. I don't know if I am teaching her wrong or what, but getting Abby Grace to make a line and two bubbles seems really difficult! Not to mention, the poor kid makes a line like her DADDY: from the bottom, up! I have *tiny* (see, tiny!) issues with this, but I won't get into them now. Shane DOES have perfect (really...) penmanship, so may-be Abby Grace will pick that up, too. Anyway, Abby got frustrated really quickly and kept telling me, "I can't do it!" and "I need you Mommy. Please help me." The truth is, she did a few really great B's, but as soon as she accomplished it, she went backwards and acted like she couldn't. So, we took a break from writing to paint birdhouses (as birdhouse begins with B). We will finish painting them tomorrow. Then, we worked on patterns with shapes and colors (a little harder than the fruit we patterned last week). She did a great job! The patterning really clicks with her. Next, we had "bears" served in a "bear" bowl with "bear" juice. AKA, Teddy Grahams in a Pooh Bear-shaped bowl and grape juice. After that, we were to try writing again. Let's just say she didn't really try at all. She just gave up. I am REALLY trying to be patient, as I'm sure a line and two bubbles are hard to connect to one another, but she did it earlier! What is so frustrating is that she gives up so easily, even after she has accomplished the goal! But, I'm no longer frustrated about it. She knows exactly what tomorrow will bring: more writing the letter B.

Homeschooling...

I have been homeschooling both girls (mainly Abby Grace) since 12 August 08. Shane and I prayed really hard about whether or not to send Abby Grace to Preschool, or to home school her. Shane decided that I needed to home school the girls so they would receive the one-on-one instruction, as well as, Bible instruction. We also felt that Abby Grace was not ready for Preschool. So, Shane works on Mondays with both girls on Bible stories and with Abby Grace on astronomy. Abby is really loving the astronomy/Creation instruction. She has become very proficient in this area in only two weeks.

Last week, Abby learned the letter A, and did very well. We made craft aprons and learned several words (including "Abby") that begin with the letter A. She also worked on matching patterns, the Creation story, and did very well writing the letter A. She is also learning the proper way to hold a pencil (taught by a person... me!... who does NOT hold her pencil properly); this has been a real challenge! We will see how this homeschooling thing goes; we are certainly stuck or blessed (depending on the day!) with it for the next year!