Week in Review

I meant to post this last weekend, but it got extremely busy!!  I am telling you soccer is going to be the end of me!!  Thankfully this is the last week for soccer and hopefully our lives can get back some more rest!  Anyway here is what we have been working on over the past few weeks.


In Second grade we have been working with time and money in math. We finished up talking about Day 2 of creation for Science.  In History we have been talking about the settling of America, which has lead us to read some amazing books about Pocahontas and the Pilgrims.  You can find the books we read here , here and here.  For reading Elijah has been going through Robinson Crusoe and he is really enjoying it, we should be finishing up that book in the next few weeks and moving on to something else.

Reading  Robinson Crusoe

Snack and school work, a good combination.

Big brother, little brother playing together.

A rare brotherly love moment, reading together!

A little Math on the floor, we love homeschooling!

Playdough mat time!

He was so proud of his word he made!

In Pre-K 4 we have been working on "Unit Studies" more like "packet work".  I had hopes that workbooks would be the way to go with Noah but he just isn't into it as much as Elijah was.  So we changed course and are taking on a more hands on approach to our learning.  Last week we did a unit on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  I got the pack from 1+1+1=1, she is AMAZING!!  I love the way she puts stuff together.  Noah really took to it and had so much fun with all the activities.  This week we are doing a Fall Unit which I also got from 1+1+1=1.  Along with those units we are adding lots of find motor activities, such as button threading, bean scooping, and Lego play time!

Working on his 3 Part Cards

He made a Caterpillar

I made this cool mat with our names on it for him to use.  

Having a little iPad time, one of his favorite apps is Rocket Speller!

Write the room cards, he was so cute walking around with that clipboard!

Playdough mats, another new favorite!

For our Tot, Zach, who is 13 months, its all about what he can get into!  This is a new challenge that we are facing, as he is really fighting the morning nap. So what used to be a good 2 hours is now about half an hour or 45 minutes if we are lucky!  So trying to keep him busy with activities and not grabbing at things the other two are doing is getting very tiring.  Yet he is not quite at the age where I can sit him down and he will do an activity for an extended period of time.  This has lead to us extending our school day into the afternoon a little.

Playing with letter magnets.

"Picking up the letter magnets.

Marble tower, a favorite toy with him!

Barrel of Monkeys, he loves them!

His first experience with dried beans, he had a lot of fun!

Ahh, yes the angst of a toddler!


That sums up our week last week.  

Week in Review

Last week was our first week in the new schoolroom, it went really well!!  We actually began to spend a lot of time in there in the evenings as a family.  So here a few photos that I captured this week in our homeschool:

Z helping E with the laundry

Zach helping with our calendar time.

Stamping time

Using our new file folder games from Mama's Learning Corner

Playing How Many moves using tally marks.

Trying to catch a sweet moment of big brother reading to little brother, but I wasn't fast enough!

Zach reading his Bible.

And a few extra:

Baby Zach watching big brother play his first soccer game.

Such a cool moon shot, the morning of soccer.

Our New Schoolroom

Yes I know we have only been in school for a month but we already have a "new" school room.  This was something that had been discussed in my house for a while, but with the baby being little we didn't want to put him with the two older children.  But over the weekend and after being so inspired by the School Room Blog Hop a few weeks ago, I finally convinced my dear precious hubby that it was going to be ok!

We took advantage of Labor Day weekend combined with Elijah and Noah spending Friday afternoon and all day Saturday with their grandparents.  In order for a school room to happen there was a list of "To Do's" that needed to get done first.  So as soon as the older boys left I got to work!  (I have to add that we have the best baby in the world!  Zach was such a trooper through this whole process, since he was still here with us!)  I began cleaning out the older boys room by getting rid of toys they don't play with, games that were beyond repair, and those fun little toys that come in meals!  

Hubby brought dinner home and after eating we had to get right to work replacing a ceiling fan with a regular light.  The room that we were moving the boys into (which was the baby's current room) had a ceiling fan was going to interfere with the bunk beds, so it had to go.  Now you have to understand that my hubby is not the handiest guy, not for lack of trying, but he was never taught as a kid/teen.  So we consulted eHow (of course!) before dismantling the fan.  Needing to only make one phone call to my dad (who is an electrician) we got it done before it got dark!  Phase 1 complete!

After the light was finished we set to work rearranging their new bedroom and getting it ready for the bunk beds which we were going to move in the morning.  After putting Zach to bed, we took apart the bunk beds and then called it a night!!

Here is a peek inside their new bedroom:

The next morning after breakfast we moved the bunk beds into their new room, which was not an easy task!  We were trying our hardest to take them apart as little as possible, but with two narrow doorways and a narrow hallway, that didn't happen!  Oh well, we got them in and put together!!  Phase 2 complete!

Next was moving computers, desks, tables, workboxes, etc!  Finally came the fun part, putting it all together!  I really like organizing but this was a little overwhelming!  I just wasn't sure what to put in the school room, what to leave in other places, and what we just didn't need!!  The one thing I wanted to put in our school room was the huge bookcase that is located in our living room, but after careful measuring I realized it just wasn't going to happen.  So that put a big damper on how I was going to organize.  What we decided on was to buy a cheapo smaller bookcase from Target, which meant an afternoon trip to Target!  :)  Thankfully most of the back to school items were still on clearance we got one for about $16, cheaper than we originally thought we could get one for!

It took most of the rest of the weekend to get the room organized and ready but we are finally settled in it, I think!  The boys are quite happy with the new arrangement, although Noah keeps saying he likes his blue room better.

So with out further ado, here it is, our new school room:

Looking in from the hallway.

Elijah's desk, workboxes, and book case.

This bookcase holds some of Zach's books and toys, and some story books for the older boys.

Our calendar board.  Most of the calendar items I printed from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

My file cabinet, with teaching manuals, my binder and basket for my camera.

My desk with computer, the boys computer on the white desk and the cheapo book case from Target!

The cheapo Target book case which holds some of Zach's toys, calendar notebooks, and other extra teaching supplies.

Inside the closet I have our art supplies, games and manipulative's.

The other side of the closet are more games and puzzles, along with the boys Legos, (which need to be behind doors because of the 1 year old!).