Home-SU-Cool

I'm trying to put the different paperwork we did from the start. What we already did: 1. Sent in the Letter of Intent (LOI) 2. Got a call back saying they need the birthdate of the child (Apparently this is normal for NYC. I'm fine) 3. Got a letter from them, asking for copy of birth cert and proof of residency. Sent. What we are waiting for: 1. I'm waiting for some response from them and on Aug 15th I'll send in our Individualized Home Instruction Plan. 2. I'm also waiting for the Metro Card form (that's like the most exciting thing for Ian) This particular website helped me TONS in this process. Also groups like NYHEN, LEAH (Brooklyn/Queens).

Near the end of the 2 months summer break (before we had our last road trip), Ian said "I'm tired of summer holidays." =) Just right in time for school. 1st grade meant... ...more reading (yay! He really loves it) ...more planning and longer school hours ...beginning of paperwork here in NYC ...wonderful Exploration Day ideas almost every week. We're excited! Here are what we are using for 1st Grade (at least for now): Bible *MFW 1st Grade *We'll do some slightly different memorization of the proverbs, because I chose different translations and also different proverbs, sometimes to match the character qualities we'll be learning Character Building/Social Studies * Character 1st . I added this component, because I think it's mighty important. Also I REALLY REALLY like this material. They did such a wonderful job, kind of like an unit study that makes abstract ideas (character qualities) very concrete for children. *Little Book of Manners ...

We finally did the Butterfly garden in the summer. It was really cool. But I'm SUPER sensitive to critters. They give me LOTS of goosebumps. I'm trying to be brave for the sake of education. =) Here are the photos  journal-ling the "transformation". And here's the video of when we let the butterflies go.

Love love love S. Clarkson's books. She has so much wisdom to offer. I can't wait to read this book. Here's a giveaway. If I win it, yeah! If I don't, I think I'm buying the book anyway. =) Go now !

Yes. Summer is here. Shown by the fact we're finished with school (Kindergarten for Ian). Also shown by the rise in temperature. So what are we doing for summer besides lazing around? *Lots of playground time and outdoor time. Time to practice cycling and scootering! *Make home-made bubbles *Water play in balcony *Going to the library *READING! (yeah! I'm trying to come up with a list of fun books to read together, besides finishing up a few of Little House on the Prairie series) *Drawing *Making some crafts MAYBE (at least for the girls) *Butterfly farm!! (yeah! They are arriving end June) *Church Retreat *Visit to New Hampshire, a friend's place *Maybe visit to the city when daddy has half day Fridays off For mommy, I have my own plans too *Read and prepare for MFW 1st grade *Research and plan for Exploration Days *Research on Character Building/Bible materials *Research and make preschooler busy bags *Spring cleaning (almost done)

Cannot believe I actually MISSED the plan for the LAST unit. =) Didn't finish "that well". But I'm not a perfectionist, so I'm ok. =) So, here's the plan AND report for Y-Yellow. We had a BLAST. Colors are just so fun. We did: *Making playdoh (recipe below) in primary colors and then mixing into colors of the rainbow *Rainbow cookies. Oh my, SO PRETTY!!! It was hard work. (recipe below) I want to make this cookie again without the colors, for the more you work on it, the harder it is. It really was. AND, I really want to try it with REAL butter one day. I'm sure it's DELICIOUS. *Science Experiment (I found online here ) It was too funny. I didn't know what to expect and don't even know if this was supposed to be the result. *Mixing colors (food coloring) *Mixing colors for paints (painted mouse paint. Wksheet here *Flower color mini book (well, I made it mini) *Crayons sight words coloring *Color by numbers ( here , under "Y...

I realized I just didn't take much of Q-Quail unit! Also we didn't do much more than the curriculum, but we did go in depth of the bible story and learning to not grumble and be content! This is especially so because we had a WHOLE week of gloomy skies, grey and rainy. But Day 6 finally we had some sun and I decided to give the kids a surprise to the park. They LOVED it.