Cool things I have learned from Homeschooling

I know I am pretty new to homeschooling and it has been a huge life style change for me, but I have loved doing it. I love having Addie home with me all day long. She is such a good helper to me and it is fun watching her grow. Having said that we are probably sending Brookie to Kindergarten. I think it will be fun for her and she really wants to go.

I have come across a lot of free sites and interesting things from homeschooling that can be used even if your child is not being home schooled.

A friend recommended to me using fact families which are flash cards uses numbers like 4 + 3= 7 you can also reverse it to be 7-3= 4 There is the multiplication fact families like 3X5=15 or 15/3=5. I use them by covering up a number and have Addie tell me what the missing number is. This is one of my favorite tools for her math. She loves it because I am sitting with her helping her. I love it because I really want her to have her basics memorized.

http://www.mathcats.com/explore/factfamilycards.html

Star fall is a fun way to practice reading and practice her phonics. It is a good site for pre schoolers through probably 1 or 2nd grade.

http://www.starfall.com/

We are using South Sutter Charter school who has the largest amount of money available which is around 1800 dollars/ school year. Through them I come up with what I want Addie to learn and then I look at a website that has a lot of vendors to choose from and I have the teacher that I am working with buy the items or lessons (like gymnastics, swim, art, piano, violin...) that I want Addie to participate in and the teacher gets it paid for me. During the Summer I can have her go to summer school and take swim lessons if I choose to.


http://www.sscs.cc/

I love this book. When we first decided to home school I saw this book at Borders. I have since borrowed it from the library and may buy it some day. I love free sites.

http://www.amazon.com/Homeschool-Your-Child-Free-Effective/dp/0307451631

I love taking her to the library. By being at home we have been reading more challenging books that are actually interesting to her. She was a pretty good reader when she was in school, but now she really loves to read things and is more sure of her reading.

I love going to Goodwill and other second hand stores. I have found hooked on phonics, teacher manuals, crafts, workbooks and all sorts of interesting things there for 1-2 dollars/ items.

I have signed her up for 4-h where they do craft, sewing, cooking, raising animals where she is with other kids doing it.

She is also in Brownies where she is loving that too!

I am working on getting her in to gymnastics right now.

I know there is a lot that I do not know, but these things have been really nice!

Willy Wonka Party

This year we had a Willy Wonka Party as a siblings birthday party to each other. Last year it was a Chinese new years party.

For the party we decorated with a Candy wall and in the kitchen we had a bunch of candy jars with Windmills in them. We had a Chocolate fondue set with a chocloate river flowing from it. For the party we watched the movie and did exciting things during it.

During the movie we had my mom open a golden ticket (which was a huge chocolate bar with a golden ticket that she passed out to every one) to announce my parents Christmas present the next day which was a family portrait.

When they licked the wall paper we got to eat candy off of the candy wall. We made it by putting up butcher paper and using frosting to glue up the candy up to the wall. Very Yummy!

During the chocolate fountain part we had a chocolate fondue set out and we enjoyed dipping things into it.

During the blue berry ever lasting gobstopper we all got to enjoy an authentic Willy Wonka gobstopper!

During the part when Charley and his Grandfather drank the bubbles we all got sparkling apple cider and had the bubble machine going.

When the spoiled brat wanted the golden goose we all got to have a golden egg to eat.

When the boy who loved tv got shrunk we all ate sour patch kids.

When they went through the bubble cleaning machine and were covered with bubbles I got to spray silly string on everyone!

I made these costumes. Yes those are pom poms on their heads! Notice the candy wall with candy stuck on my frosting in the back ground? Here are our lovely Grandparents. I know they worked for days on their costumes. My Grandma in the white had never seen the movie. She seemed a little nervous when I told her to wear her pj's to the party. She really enjoyed the movie.

Isn't she a cute ompa lompa?

I think Mr. Slugsworth has gotten a lot cuter over the year! He is holding the beloved meat loaf cake. It is meat loaf with blue mashed potatoes and peas as the polk a dots.

Here is Charley and the Golden Ticket.

The whole gang!

Gettys Family Portraits!

For my parents this year, we surprised them with family photos!

Addie is decorating!

This year I set up the Christmas tree and lights and was going to decorate a little later... But Addie had other things on her mind. She decorated the whole tree!

Dutch Christmas

Okay I know this is late, but we celebrated Dutch Christmas a few weeks a go. Sinterclause came and put candy in out shoes at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Thanksgiving photos

Here we are on Thanksgiving!

I can't believe how big Spencer is getting. He loves to push things and figure things out.

Our November Update....

I have been behind on blogging recently. I really have not been up to anything too exciting. Home schooling has really taken over the extra part of my day. It has been a lot for me to wrap my mind around and has been really intimidating. But Addie seems to be learning a lot and has really started to excel in her math and reading. She has also a Brownie in girls scouts and is in 4-h. We are trying to decide what animal she should buy and take care of so she can show it off in May at the Sacramento County fair. In Brownies she did scouting for food a few weeks ago.

We had a great time for Thanksgiving week. Alicia came down and we went and got pedicures. Cindy did an amazing job on my hair as usual! Dad made a great turkey. I had a great time visiting with my cousin and his wife.

Alicia and Ricky both went through the temple for the first time last Friday and it was really special to be there for that. I got to go to a rabbit and Ginny pig show with Addie and the 4-h club. I missed Hmong New Years because I started to get sick on Saturday but I think my family had a lot of fun. Today my family missed the annual cleaning our family friend’s lights.

Earlier this month one of my cousins got married. We ditched the kids for the day and went to all of the wedding festivities. We had a great time being with my family that day and seeing so many relatives. She had a delicious cake. It was a chocolate cake that looked like it was going to be too rich but it was not. It had a layer of pudding in it. She also had a delicious salad at the luncheon. Tevan and I have been having more salads since that day.

A few weeks ago Tevan's aunt died after being in the hospital for 1 year and 2 months. We got to see all of his aunts and Uncles and a lot of his cousins for the funeral.

Today I took Spencer into the Dr's. Today was the first time the Dr said anything about Asthma. I think he will outgrow it and really only wheezes from September until January. Both of his tubes were clogged up and I had to take him to the Ear Nose and Throat Specialist who said his ears were finally draining properly and that he did not need his tubes! Both Brookie and Spencer got the H1N1 shot and the flu shot. Tevan and I have been hit hard with a flu/ cold this week and do not want our kids getting it if we can prevent it in any way.

Now to our personal updates...

Tevan has been taking the computer into work because he is doing Auto Cad drawings for his boss and we happen to have different kinds of CADD software.

I have been teaching and juggling the other kids. I love having the extra time every day with Addie. I finished a huge tax project with a friend that we had been working off and on for month! Now we are going to work on a family history project.

Addie has been reading Way Side Stories and Fancy Nancy books. She has been figuring out songs on the piano. She is learning how to add numbers like 9+9 and how to subtract numbers like 18-9.

Brookie has been trying to learn like Addie. She means what she says and she says what she means. Yesterday I told her of my plan to make soup. She said she wanted me to put Apples, Bananas, oatmeal, crackers, bread, noodles, and meat into the soup. Those foods make up 90 % of her body. She was upset with me later when I just made a plain chicken noodle soup.

Spencer is just adorable. I just can't get enough of him. He loves to go outside. Whenever he sees me putting on my shoes he insists on being picked up. He is also in the stage of no liking to look at any potential babysitters. He is a Mommy/ Daddies boy. He makes truck noises and likes to press buttons and turn things on and off (like the TV).