Littlest Cuties

August Days

 

Spending a hot Saturday afternoon at Kid's Pioneer Jobs Day at Champoeg park with the Kelly's and the Mulkeys.

 Creek walking with our friends the Mulkey's and the Morris' at Silver Falls State Park.

 

 Having a blast with the Mulkey's at the Kid's Art booth at the Silverton Art Festival.

 Canyonview day camp (Annah's First year).

Communion Bread

As part of our new church the girls and I sometimes make the bread for family communion. Here is our favorite version of communion bread (we tweaked recipes we found online, coming up with this):

  1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. butter (1/2 stick)
3/4 cup milk

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
Cut in butter.
Add milk and stir.
Knead for a few minutes.
Divide into three balls of dough.
Pat out on floured board to 1/2 " thick.
Cut shape as below
Bake at 450 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes.
* Piercing the bread must be done or the bread will puff up in the oven.

 

Score each loaf into 40 pieces (see the photos above) - cut the smallest circle first, then the larger circle, then cut two straight lines at right angles all the way across the circle, then cut each quarter of the two outer circles into thirds (two cuts in each quarter), then cut each section in the outermost circle in two. When making cuts, cut almost all the way through.

Another School Year 2011 - 2012

Last week I put the final plans and notebooks together (plans that took me a total of about 30 hours to complete this summer) for another school year. This year I'm really excited about our switch to using the Well Trained Mind as our guide for how we homeschool and many books from its authors. It's a more classical approach than Sonlight which we've used the past three years and a perfect switch for us now that the girls are getting older and can work more independently and go more in-depth on subjects like history and science. Given that we're having another baby in just a couple months I'm also excited about the fact that this will be easier for me than keeping up with all the reading and parent involvement that Sonlight requires.

We just finished up our first week of school and it was a great success. The girls loved the history readings and crafts and science was a hit too. I get lots of questions about what books and curriculm we use so here's our complete list. I also have our blog printed in a book format at the end of every year and like to have a record of what we used in our blog book.

Oh, we're also super excited about our new homeschool co-op starting in September. It's called Trivium Cooperative Academy and will be a great supplement for all the history, science and art we're doing. We have lots of friends there already and it's going to be a great way to spend our Fridays.

Mira 4th Grade

Bible

Family Devotions: Teaching Minds, Teaching Hearts Family Catechisms, Missionary Stories, the Bible

Bible Study Fellowship – Book of Acts (the girls go to BSF together with Shane on Monday nights and during the week they work on BSF together before starting school work for the day).

Personal Devotions: Reading through New Testament (1 chap per weekday - this was Mira's own idea. She wanted to try to read through the New Testament in a year so I helped her create a schedule), Faith to Grow On Tween Girls' Devotional.

Math

Teaching Textbooks Grade 5

Spelling  

Finish Phonic Zoo from Institute for Excellence in Writing Level B, Start Level C

Writing

Academic Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing, Creative Writing: Story Starters

Grammar

Rod & Staff English Grade 4

Literature/Reading

Historical fiction and non-fiction, great novels. Sonlight, Veritas Press, WTM. See Schedule.

30 Minute Daily Read-a-Louds with Mom.

Typing

BBC Online Typing Program (this is an awesome free typing program and Mira loves it)

History

Story of the World Modern Age Book/Audio, Activity Guide (maps, narration, review, crafts/projects). Using notebooking to make a history notebook.

Oregon State History Scrapbook (lots of field trips)

Science

Real Science For Kids: Physics. Knex’ Simple Machines.

Memory Work

Weekly Bible Verses, Review Times Tables, Latin, Poetry, History: Preamble to Constitution, Gettysburg Address, Review US Presidents, Review State Capitals, Major Wars from 1850-Present.

Latin

Finish Prima Latina, Start Latina Christiana Level 1

Art

Discovering Great Artists, Picture Study, Classical Music/Composer Study

Annah 1st Grade 

Bible

Family Devotions: Teaching Minds, Teaching Hearts Family Catechisms, Missionary Stories, etc.

Bible Study Fellowship – Book of Acts (the girls go to BSF together with Shane on Monday nights and during the week they work on BSF together before starting school work for the day).

Personal Devotions With Mom and West: Bible Story Book

Math

Horizons  1^st Grade

Phonics/Reading

Finish Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.

Readers – See List.

Spelling

Spelling Workout A

Grammar

First Language Lessons

Writing

Daily Copywork: Queen Copywork for Little Girls, Journal Writes, Book Summaries, Letters to Family, Copy Memory Work, Narrate Story Starters to Mom.

Literature

30 minutes Reading on Own From Book Basket (See Literature List).

30 Minute Daily Read-a-Louds with Mom.

Social Science/History

Story of the World Ancient Times Book, Activity Guide (maps, narration, review, crafts/projects).

Supplemental Books as Outlined on List.

History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations.

Using notebooking to make a history notebook.

Science

Animals, Human Body, Plants Using Well Trained Mind Schedule, Kingfisher First Encyclopedias and lots of library books. Making lapbooks of topics of special interest.

Latin

Prima Latina and Latina Christiania I video/book w/Mira

Handwriting

Queen Pictures in Cursive Primer

Art

Discovering Great Artists, Picture Study, Classical Music/Composer Study.

Literature Lists

The past few weeks  I've been busy getting ready to start another school year and as part of that I spent a lot of time and put a lot of thought into what I wanted the girls to read this year for school. Here are their reading lists for anyone looking for good book ideas. I pulled most of these ideas from Sonlight, Veritas Press, Tapestry of Grace and the Well Trained Mind. It's a combination of literature and history (non-fiction as well as historical fiction). Mira is a big reader so her list is extra long. Annah just started reading last spring and enjoys shorter chapter books. Some of the best books we read aloud together. We just finished reading Nurse Matilda and now we're reading Thimble Summer, a wonderful story about a young girl growing up on a farm during the early 1900's.

Mira - 4th Grade - Studying Modern History (1850-2000)

A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt (Great Depression)

Across Five Aprils (Civil War)

By The Great Horn Spoon (‘49ers Gold Rush)

Freedom Train: The Story of Harriett Tubman

George Washington Carver: God’s Slave Becomes God’s Scientist

Helen Keller

Hero Over Here (WW1 Flu Epidemic)

In The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (1947)

Miracles on Maple Hill (Post WWII)

Moccasin Trail

Old Yeller (Frontier Days)

Plain Girl

Diary of an Early American Boy (early 1800’s)

Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman

Arctic Explorer: A Story of Matthew Henson (1866-1955 Lerner Bio) by Jeri Ferris

The Great Adventure: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Modern America

Dear America: When Christmas Comes Again-The World 1 Diary of Simone Spencer
Dear America: Time for Courage-Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bown

Doll Shop Downstairs-MCDonough
Julia’s Story (series)

Hattie Big Sky-Lawson

Clear the Cow Pasture I'm Coming in for a Landing!: A Story of Amelia Earhart by Robert Quackenbush
Sky Pioneer: Amelia Earhart

Hard Times by Nancy Antle (Great Depression)

Blue Willow-Gates (Early 1920’s)
Nothing to Fear –Koller (Early 1920’s)

Diary of a Young Girl –Anne Frank/Picture book of Anne Frank

Anne Frank Life in Hiding

Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West
My Side of the Mountain –Jean Craighead George

Oliver Twist

The Oregon Trail

Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille

Samuel Morse and the Telegraph

Susanna of the Alamo

Trial and Triumph

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Victorian Servant

You Wouldn’t Want to Be A Civil War Solider

You Wouldn’t Want to be a WWII Pilot

You Wouldn’t Want to be an American Pioneer

You Wouldn’t Want to Live in a Wild West Town

You Wouldn’t Want to be on Apollo 13

You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Railroad

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Victorian Mill Worker

Bound for Oregon

Daily Life in a Covered Wagon

All of a Kind Family

Cheaper By the Dozen

Little Britches

Thimble Summer

Henry Huggins

Mr. Popper’s Penguins

The Year of Miss Agnes

A Little Princess

Strawberry Girl

God King – Joanne Williamson

Mara, Daughter of the Nile

Tirzah

Betsy Tacy Series

Gone Away Lake

Shades of Gray (Post Civil War)

The Great Turkey Walk (1860’s)

The Matchlock Gun – French Indian War

The Seventeenth Swap

The Story of Inventions

The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation

Turn Homeward Hannalee

Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

Little Britches Series Books on CD (early 1900’s)

Annah- 1st Grade - Studying Ancient History (Creation - Fall of Roman Empire)

General History

Archeologists’ Dig for Clues

Peoples of the World

The Usborne Book of World History

The Usborne Time Traveler

Classical Kids: Ancient Times Craft Book

Creation/Bible Times

Journey Through Bible Lands

The Very First Christians

Living in Bible Times

Exodus

Joseph – Brian Wildsmith

Noah’s Ark Noah’s Flood: Lots of Water, Lots of Mud

The Dragon and the Garden – N.D. Wilson

In The Time of Noah

Tower of Babel – Jon Taylor

Adam and His Kin

Old Testament Days (Craft Book)

Ancient Egypt

The Egyptian Cinderella

The Great Pyramid

The Great Wonder

Hieroglyphs

Mummies Made in Egypt

Tutankhamen’s Gift

Cleopatra

Egyptians – Stepanie Turnbull

Mummies

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Pyramid Builder

You Wouldn’t Want to be Cleopatra

You Wouldn’t Want to be an Egyptian Mummy

You Wouldn’t Want to be Tutankhamen

Ancient Greece

The Trojan Horse

Tut’s Mummy Lost and Found

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Greek Athlete

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Slave in Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Pompeii Buried Alive!

You Wouldn’t Want to live in Pompeii

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator

You Wouldn’t Want to be in Alexander the Great’s Army

 

Ancient China

The Great Wall of China

You Are in Ancient China

Readers:

The Long Way to a New Land

The Long Way Westward

Prairie School

Keep the Light Burning Abbie

Escape From Egypt

Little House Easy Chapter Book Series

Owl at Home

Wagon Wheels

Sarah Plain and Tall

Greek Myths for Young Children

The Aesop for Children

Favorite Poems of Childhood

Hour of the Olympics

Magic Tree House series

Box Car Children

Building a Legacy

Last week Shane and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary and on September 23rd (also our oldest daughter's 10th birthday) we'll celebrate 19 years of being together (see photo above of our first date on that night). I was just 14 and Shane just 17 in this photo. Who knew that on the very same date of our first date, 9 years later, we'd be welcoming our first child?

Although we've been through hard times and trials I am so thankful that we've always had a strong marriage and always been everything to each other. As we've grown close with the Lord together and individually our marriage has become so much more solid and wonderful. God has given us such a vision for our marriage and our family; we truly are building a  legacy for Him. I am so thankful for a husband who would lay down his life for his family, who has made his family his hobby and delights in me and the children, not making golf, fishing or other sports - things that would draw him away from us his passion. He comes home every day with a big smile, ready to play with the children or clean the kitchen - whatever we need. He loves the Lord and truly desires to raise his children to know God's peace and purpose for their lives. I began praying for a man like this when I was 12 and God certainly answered my prayers!

 Our Wedding Day - August 15, 1999

Last summer at the same place in Bend where we got married. 

Here we are with baby West between us.