Bring on SUMMER!!!!

I decided I better start this blog up again. We are wrapping up our school year and getting ready for some fun summer activities.

This last school year was a frustrating one for us.  We took J in for psych testing and I feel certain that ADHD is what he has.  (Even though she can't give him an official diagnosis without a second environment.)  We ruled out any type of autism spectrum disorder.  The psychologist is kind of baffled over his speech and other delays.  She suggested I put him in public school, and I had planned to do so, but every time I looked into registering him I just felt uneasy about it.  So, after praying about it, I decided to continue homeschooling him and we will most likely do some sort of in home therapy for him.  I did a lot of research into ways to make our year more successful and less stressful than last year. Especially since L will be starting this year as well.  I think I have a pretty good game plan and can't wait to see how it works out.  I will post pictures of my planned set up when we start in a couple of months.

As for our summer activities, we decided to try out some nature studies.  We started a butterfly garden and put up a bird house and feeder.  We plan to add things throughout the summer.  We will order tad poles this fall and add frog habitats to our window wells next spring.  We got a late start hanging up our bird house, so I don't anticipate it getting used this year, but that's okay, because we have a cute swallow's nest above our front door with 4 tiny little eggs.  So far we haven't had to many issues with them.  They rarely swoop us.  I'm not a fan of the poop everywhere, but it will be worth it to watch the life cycle of these birds.

I'm most excited about our butterfly garden.  We planted mint and some other herbs. L picked out some flowers and flower seeds and I ordered some wildflower seeds.  It's been fun to watch the seeds sprouting and the kids are having fun taking care of the garden.  If you are interested in starting a butterfly garden, here is a website where you can order free milkweed.   Milkweed is the Monarch host plant.  I will post pictures of our garden soon.

I also splurged a little and decided to do Little Passports.  I am trying it on a monthly basis in case I don't like it.  But it looks really fun, and it will give us something fun to do on days that are too hot to go outside.


Anyone else have some fun summer learning planned???

Homeschool links

My computer is being sent in to get fixed, so before they wipe it clean I need to post some links I have bookmarked.  :-D  http://bubbleblowers.com/homemade.html, http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/printing.html,
http://www.ixl.com/, http://www.cde.state.co.us/choice/homeschool_law.asp,
http://wsd3.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1597569/File/District%20Map/WSD3%20School%20Boundaries%20Elem.pdf?sessionid=10f44399b624483a636189ed542ba583,
http://www.zillow.com/security-widefield-co/schools/, http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/CO/default.asp, http://www.wsd3.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1597569/File/Register%20a%20Student/12-13%20Forms/K-12%20Enrollment%202012-2013.pdf?sessionid=d3c1a66e13da9c289a00f4551b8b5a36,
http://www.wsd3.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=&pageid=170848, http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Colorado.pdf, http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.net/, https://heartsathomestore.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=110, http://www.startwrite.com/, http://www.cde.state.co.us/scripts/districtprofiles/k12schlwebsites.asp#districts, http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/homeschooling_in_colorado.shtml, http://www.hche.org/db_images/WheretosendyourNoticeofIntenttoHomeschool.pdf, http://www.homeschoolshare.com/resourcesping.php, http://www.homeschooltracker.com/download_basic.aspx, http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=11&category=2701, http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/book-of-mormon-stories?lang=eng, http://www.harmonica4kids.com/4-7.html, http://www.lovetolearn.net/catalog/detail/happy%20phonics/0, http://www.latter-dayhomeschooling.com/, https://www.khanacademy.org/, http://my.hookedonphonics.com/myhop, http://members.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html, http://www.aaamath.com/add.htm,http://mykidsweek.com/,  http://donnasdolphins.com/?page_id=14,http://www.csbsju.edu/Documents/Fine%20Arts/education/study_guides/mulligan.pdf, http://www.bookofmormondiscovery.com/homeschool.html,  http://www.first-school.ws/,   http://www.dltk-kids.com/

More Finger Puppets

I made these for a friend.  6 girls, 6 boys, 2 babies, a mom, a dad, grandpa, and grandma.  I had a lot of fun making these and I hope she really likes them.  I think the grandpa is my favorite.  :)

Felt People Finger Puppets

My friend and I decided to do a quiet book page exchange and I decided to do something similar to the barn page.  I made a doll house page with people finger puppets.  I got my inspiration for my finger puppets here: http://kimarcher.typepad.com/weblog/2009/06/its-here.html 

Here is the final result.

  

I'm getting ready to make a bunch more, including some prince, princess and dragon puppets with a castle carry case.  Stay tuned.  :)  

Quiet Book

For Christmas this year I am making some quiet books for my twin nephews and also one for JD. I found all of my ideas from Pinterest and will post links for the blogs they came from when I get a chance. I think they turned out awesome if I do say so myself. :) Here are my completed pages. I'm still working on the covers. I did a couple different variations of the tent and the barn (with the colors). Not sure which ones like best.

The apples are attached with snaps and can be put in the basket. The caterpillar segments are also attached with snaps and can go inside the cocoon.

Those are finger puppets in the barn. Totally my favorite page. :)

Faux Stained Glass

I had this idea while coloring with the kids the other day. I took a color by # picture from a coloring book we have and taped a piece of velum over it. I had the kids color the picture then when they were done, I did the black outline of the picture. I plan to do a colored frame from construction paper and hang them back up. (sorry, no more tacky looking tape. :-D) I actually want to do a bigger version of this for my kitchen window. I hate that people can see right in when they come to the door and I currently have Christmas tissue paper covering the windows. (classy, I know, but we don't believe in blinds, as the children tend to completely destroy them...and they were falling on our heads when we first moved in because they hadn't been installed correctly. Good times.)

Movin' On Up!

I will have a kindergartner starting this fall. I am going to continue to home school him, so this should be a fun challenge doing two different levels. I will still be posting mostly preschool activities with a few kindergarten activities thrown in here and there. I'm planning to purchase kindergarten curriculum, so it won't be as exciting as the stuff I put together for my 3 year old. I am planning lots of fun stuff for both kiddos though, so stay tuned.