Laid Back Learnin'

I made the executive descision a couple months back to take the whole month of December off from school. Now, that's not to say we won't be doing any work, but just that it will be more flyin' by the seat of my skirt kinda learning. Reading lots of great books, doing some crafts and projects, letting the kids guide a little more and , of course, focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. I have been up to my eyeballs in crafting for the holidays. I have so many neat projects I want to do, that I'm making a new list every day. I have finally realized that I need to stop looking, settle down and focus and get to work or I'll never get it all done.
Today, we read "Mirette on the High Wire" and I introduced the kids to their story journals. I saw a similar idea like it on a blog that I can't remember. Instead of elaborate lapbooks, this mother bought some blank scrapbook notebooks and added only a few little mini books or pictures for each story (each book got it's own page). I really liked this idea, cause , although I love to do lapbooks, until my children can be more involved in the making part, it's too overwhelming and not as much fun as it ought to be. Well, then my sister , oh wise mamma as she is, suggested doing pockets instead. So....here's the collaboration of the two ideas. Just a regular cheap composition book with some cardstock pockets taped to the pages. A pack of index cards , glue sticks and an itchy Google Image Search finger later....voila! Self-guided learning at it's finest...




The cards have information written on the back so they'll make nifty little flash cards for more advanced readers, while even the littles can use the pics to jog their memory. We had Geography of France, Niagara falls, Bellini's travels , French landmarks, and French artist cards. I also threw in a little mini book on the circus that I found and they tuck them away in their little pockets. It's a very handy and more simple alternative to lapbooking. For a craft, we made torn paper collages ala Henri Matisse, a french artist we learned about. No post would be complete without an assortment of pictures of my kids...




Here's Chloe...eating....again. I know it must seem like that's all the kid does. Well, that's about right. Here she is with Lillie and Jack's rejected bowls of soup the other night. Chloe's kinda the clean up crew around here. Everyone gives her their scraps....:) Just for the record, she only ate her bowl and some of the next in line.Here's some pictures taken at Thanksgiving...If you're a PETA supporter, you might want to look the other way...this bird's been picked!






Tanner doing what he does best...riding on Jack!
Livy Grace doin what she does best...being too darn cute!

Hunter doing what he does best...cheesin' big time for the camera.

She even looks cute when she sweeps... The next generation of Kitchen Duty...

Don't let the looks fool you...they are rotten...and adorable.

This was the before dinner pic, I didn't take an after dinner cause it wasn't pretty...neither was the clean up!

And the Journey Begins...

This is one of those catch-up posts I'm bad to do. Kinda just a summary of what we've been into this week. Lillie has officially memorized the Old Testament books of the Bible, so we were able to mark that off our goal sheet for the year. We have started our Thanksgiving unit this week, and though circumstances caused us to miss two days, we've still learned alot.

Wednesday we read Kate Water's "On the Mayflower" and talked a little about why the Pilgrims came here and discussed the book. Lillie did the virtual tour of the Mayflower off the Scholastic site.We did a coloring page and Anna did her copywork of Psalms 92:1. We decorated our family blessing box, which , I think is going to be a very special project for our family. Every night at dinner, we each put in what we are thankful for that day. Then when we have our little Thanksgiving with just us, we will "count" our blessings and read them aloud.

In this unit, I really wanted to focus, not so much on the facts of the Pilgrims journey(though they will have their place), but on the providential hand of God in their circumstances. How this country's history would be changed if the Pilgrim's had not been so brave! Some of the children on the Mayflower weren't even traveling with their parents. Other's left children and other family behind to make the dangerous journey. Though snares and difficulties , sickness and heartaches came their way, they pressed on, believing in the plan God had for them. Today I introduced the kids to a compass and the four basic directions. Captains had to chart their courses using compasses, maps and the stars. They had to be really good at math! I knew there was I reason I never was a ship captain (that and I sink better than I swim). I made a large compass out of masking tape and I told the kids to stand in the middle. Then I'd shout out directions and they'd have to turn their bodies that direction. The faster I got, the more the turning became hopping. It was quite amusing...

I drew a crude and simple map of our neighborhood and some of the places we go .(cause I can't draw all that great) and let them tell me what direction we go to go to the bank, grocery, library, etc. Lillie filled in a compass rose worksheet and then we made a puppet of the Mayflower. The ship came from the Toymaker.com site and I just attached a dowel rod to the back and made the background out of construction paper, only glueing the waves on the sides so the bottom was left free to thread the puppet through. The kids thought it was super neat...

Did a good object lesson for bible time this morning. Read in Matthew 7:13-14 where it talks about the strait and narrow way. Then read Hebrews 12:1 where the writer tells us to lay aside the weight and sin that so easily besets us. I made a line of masking tape on the floor (yes, again! It's the new duct tape!) and had the kids walk it with their arms out to the sides ala balance beam. I explained that the line is the narrow path that leads to God. Though a challenge to stay on it, it still wasn't impossible. Then, I made the kids balance a small book in each hand as they walked the line. It became a little more difficult. Then I kept adding books until they couldn't take anymore. Lillie said,"Momma! Those books are too heavy, I can't stay on the path!" I then explained that the books are like sin. They weigh us down, they separate us from God and they make it hard to stay on the path. It was a challenge to walk the line without the books, but it was easier than trying to walk it weighed down. We can walk it if it's just us and God! I then told the kids to throw down the books and walk the line again, explaining that if we repent and ask the Lord to help us get rid of those sins, he'll do it and we can once again travel the path easier.

Here are some random pics over the last week...Christmas shopping is HARD WORK!She looks real spiritual, but she's actually just asleep on the Lord!Here are two pages from our Solar System book kinda showing how we used notebooking. I created the sheets myself and we added a lapbook mini book with facts to each page. You can see, the kids had to color in the planet showing one unique characteristic of each planet to help with recollection. Here is Jupiter and the Great Red Spot...And Saturn with it's rings...Swinging on trees...

More Pilgrim excitement to follow! Have a blessed day!