Family Day Out | The Sweet Life of Reagan, Emmy, & Max

August ’13 happenings…

June 23, 2014 By Rebekah Leave a Comment

I am going to be trying to do some major ‘catch up’. I don’t know how I let myself get so behind. Actually I do know- it’s called three kids, business, homeschool, and life! ha

Reagan’s art pieces from TC! Her teacher Ms. Margarat Migas is seriously the best at bringing amazing talent out of children.

Writing spelling words, letters, and shapes in shaving cream-

Our spelling curriculum “All About Spelling”. It is a very thorough program. I really like it- it just takes some extra time to complete the lessons. We just do AAS every now and then. I hope to maybe incorporate it more over the summer to help keep her on track.

My Healthy food-

TJ’s Cinnamon almonds, kiwi, blueberry yogurt with blueberries and flax seed….

And a banana/kale shake (not as bad as you might think!)…

Stamping out spelling words-

Emmy making a snake. Reagan doing her Sonlight LA copy work. Sonlight’s program believes in hearing, seeing, and modeling good literature in order to teach. Every week has a copy work section where she simply has to copy what she reads.

Dixie hanging out during home school and then helping clean up a mac n cheese fiasco.

Mommy/Emmy Thursday Zoo Trip-

Our first stop to Earthfare “The healthy supermarket” was a surprise when we walked up on the bakery! I wasn’t expecting such yummy treats to be in there! ha

Emmy always peeks in Reagan’s last class while we wait to pick her up. She cannot wait until she can go to TC.

A boy obsessed with plungers (unused, of course! ewww)-

Sunday Dinner goodness-

Journaling my calorie intake and burn-

How about the day I decided I was going to drink a whole gallon of water… Fail.

Hanging out of the sunroof of my car on a warm summer afternoon….

Thursday morning nap in the car-

Emmy/Mommy Thursday Zoo Trip-

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Filed Under: 1st grade, All Together, Curriculum, Emmy, Family Day Out, First Grade, Health, Homeschool, Kindergarten, Literacy, Math, Max, PreK, Reagan, Sight Words, Teaching God, Videos

Back To School, Back to School

October 23, 2013 By Rebekah Leave a Comment

So after spending hours and hours and hours and hours and hours (you get the idea) researching home school curriculum, I decided to go with a company called Sonlight. Sonlight Curriculum is a Christian, literature-based program. The selling point for me was that it comes with Instruction Guides that tell you everything to do. You get everything you need (pretty much) for the entire year in one box. Last year, I used a wide variety of curriculum and hands-on activities, but I wanted something with more structure this year. With my busy schedule, I needed something more planned out and “ready-to-go”. It was a more expensive choice, but seemed worth it for everything you get.

Here’s a picture from our “box day” when it arrived in the mail. I admit, opening the box and pulling out/sorting all the stuff was overwhelming. After having used the curriculum for several weeks now, I will give a more in depth review of our experience (this far) sometime soon.

1st day of home school– Pancake breakfast!

I let them choose their outfits for some quick 1st day pictures on the front porch. (It’s fun to not have a dress code to worry about!) They were sure to model their new backpacks!

Even though our routine is pretty flexible, it looks something like this-

(if time) Opening Activity on rug (shape blocks, sight word bingo, etc) with classical music playing

Play the Bible Verse of week on CD (Sing the Word: From A-Z)

Here they are saying the Pledge of Allegiance. They always want to stand on the table while they do it (they did last year, too). Not sure why they do that, but whatever….

Our curriculum came with this prayer cube. The kids each roll the cube and then tell us what they want to pray for.

Classroom Calendar on the wall

Folder activities- (calendar, 100 chart/patterns, graphing weather)

Handwriting (while I read aloud from our Sonlight bible, history, nursery rhyme/poetry, and literature books)

Math

Language Arts (journal, Sonlight LA activities, reading, spelling)

Science (sonlight)

We do not have a designated time for Social Studies/history, geography. It is integrated into the Sonlight literature!

Here’s a few pictures from our first week-

Rea writing spelling words in shaving cream at Gran’s. Emmy did letters, and well, Max just made a mess. ha

A field trip the first week of school? Why not!? I took them to the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. They loved it. We had a fantastic time!

A stop by the Apple Barn afterwards…. (my fav!) I enjoyed have a cheat meal….

Here’s Rea using our new white boards to do a spelling lesson (All About Spelling).

Emmy and her fashion ways….

They absolutely love using these shape blocks to build pictures…..

Getting Max involved a little bit…. I love the free dot letter printables available at Confessions of a Homeschooler!

Sorting meat-eaters and plant eaters…..

Max sorting by colors-

Here’s a video with some random clips from our first week of home school (bible verse, science experiments, field trip)-

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Filed Under: All Together, Back to School, Curriculum, Family Day Out, First Grade, Homeschool, Kindergarten, Literacy, Photography, PreK, Schedule & Routine, Teaching God, Videos

Beach Pictures July 2013- a SeaBrook Island sunrise…

October 23, 2013 By Rebekah Leave a Comment

We got the kids up and ready for pictures super early one morning during our vacation. I really wanted to get some pretty morning light and try out a new spot on the Island. The kids were actually really cooperative for me, and I was pretty happy with the outcome!

In a few words-

Reagan is six years old and in the first grade (home school). She is very bright and has an excellent vocabulary for a child her age. She enjoys expressing herself through art, crafts, and singing. She has an amusing sense of humor and is quick-witted. She is conscientious, and of course, an overachiever. She is a hard-worker and dependable.

Emmy is four years old and is in preschool (home school). She is very warm, loving, and kind. She loves to show affection and is thoughtful. Her smile will melt even the hardest heart! She enjoys art, cooking, and spending lots of time at her Granny and Papaw’s house. She is a “little mommy” and loves taking care of her baby dolls. She, too, is very bright and amazes me with her desire to learn and work.

Max is three years old and pretty much does his very best to interrupt any progress we have going on during our home school time. He is an uninhibited, unfiltered, active risk taker, attention seeker, rebel, tough as nails little soul. And as rotten as he can be, there is an even sweeter, fun loving side that will charm me even in his worst moments. I am still his #1 and that feels good. He wants to know all throughout the day that I love him and he shows me in return by hugs, kisses, smiles, and sweet phrases like “Mommy, I love you.” “Mommy, you’re my best friend.” “Mommy, I miss you.”

The three of them together is a dynamic blend of personalities. “There is never a dull moment.” Really. There isn’t. Ever. Just lots of fighting, competition, silliness, messes, love, and laughter! As a busy, generally overwhelmed mom, I try to take it all in stride. I am not perfect. They know that, too. We try to help each other the best we can. That’s all we can do, right!? Every morning is a new day and a new opportunity to be better than the day before. Thank goodness for that!

I lift up my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2

The three greatest blessings of my life. ..

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Filed Under: All Together, Emmy, Family Day Out, Max, Photography, Reagan, Vacation

Last days of summer…

August 18, 2013 By Rebekah Leave a Comment

As we start getting hints of fall temperatures and back into our school routine, we begin to bid summer goodbye. Summertime was good to us. We bid it a bittersweet farewell.

Here’s a video of random snippets from our summer-