Sunday, August 28, 2016

It is Well




When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;


Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,


It is well, it is well, with my soul.


It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,


It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Week Favorites


“Thunderstorms are as much our friends as the sunshine.” 
― Criss JamiKillosophy


He has made everything beautiful in it's time
- Ecclesiastes 3:11a



The little birds have found a new feeder - it's apple pie for all.
Aren't they sweet?
Today the kids and I enjoyed watching The Flight of the Butterflies on Netflix - if you haven't seen it ... you're missing out! In all seriousness, it was the best 45 minutes of my week. 



Also this week we tried overnight salt crystals ... somehow it actually worked.
Aren't they so "snowflake" like? 
We used thisTUTORIAL
All you need is Epsom salts, some liquid watercolor (food dye might work) and a jar ...


We also experimented with homemade play dough - we weren't too successful. Next time I think we will go the kool aid route but I didn't have any artificial colored diabetic drink packets in my cupboards - I guess a trip to the store will be needed!


We also finished our Maya Angelou chapter book - her life was such an inspiration and we enjoyed reading a bit of her poetry and also looking up videos on youtube of her singing - I had no idea that Maya was a singer and a dancer as well a civil rights activist and amazing author. We completed our unit study on Brazil (I chose Brazil without even realizing that the Olympics were going to be there...it was amazing watching the opening ceremony and actually understanding some of the local history.) So... there are new lesson plans to be made and projects to conjure and a field trip in the near future (Pike's Peak anyone?) and I'm pretty excited. Our homeschool journey this year has already needed some flexibility - a totaled vehicle and fevers and bad weather oh my. All in all though, it's gone rather smoothly and I think the kids are enjoying learning and have had some pretty joy filled experiences. I hope that you all have a good weekend.
 You are loved beyond measure,
Beautifully and wonderfully made.

~Alyssa

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The School Year


Our school year officially began yesterday. 
I'm excited.

The last two school years we had a lot of hiccups....winding roads...mountains to climb...
chaos...if you will. 
This year I feel like I have a plan, I have the space, and my heart is in it. 

I will try and put up a blog post at least once a week to share what we are up to in the world of homeschool. Without further ado :


SLIME. 
We made it, it was a hit.
Making a gooey concoction like this is a great hands on science experiment....
the conversation can be about formulas, polymers, how to follow a recipe...the list goes on. 
 We used this recipe! Give it a whirl...it only calls for water, glue, and a little borax.


We are going to learn more about Mr. Edgar Degas for our artist unit study this week.
I found a nice book at the library and also some youtube videos. 
Have you heard of the Who Was series of children's books?
My kids LOVE them. This week we are reading aloud Who Was Maya Angelou, 
my two older kids have a chapter book that they read from every night before bed.

We are going to focus most of our attention on South America in geography this year. We usually choose a country (this week is Brazil) and we find a book about the culture, history, economics, that kind of stuff. Then we may do a craft like create a flag for their notebooks, maybe cut out foods from a magazine or pictures of plants and create a collage for the country. I LOVE the Expedia Travel Guides on youtube - they are anywhere from 2 minutes long to 7 minutes and they are colorful and bright and interesting. Yesterday we watched about Rio along with reading about Brazil. It's fun traveling the world right in your living room. 



One of the biggest blessings of homeschool is being able to create a beautiful environment for the kids while they work on workbooks - classical music in the background, a cup of tea...maybe some cinnamon honey toast. I found some black masking tape at the store that I'm going to use to hang their art projects on our library door - I think that will serve MUCH better then our kitchen refrigerator. What are some of your plans for this school year? 


"What we learn with pleasure we never forget."
- Alfred Mercier