Our Homeschool Day

Last year, I wrote a post about what a typical day of school looks like in our home.  We're still doing things in much the same way, with a few changes.

We still follow more of a rhythm.  We usually get started with the Morning Basket around 8:30-9 a.m.  It gives everyone time to wake up, spend some time with Dad, eat breakfast, and get ready for their day. 

Morning Basket:

This year, our Morning Basket includes prayer and a bible story, recitation of our memory verse and poem we're working on, character studies, and hymn studies. It also includes our Language Arts and Math lessons.

Table Work: 

This doesn't really have a slot on our rhythm above, but the kids usually play for a few minutes while I lay out their Language Arts and Math worksheets.

Main Lesson:

After we've finished our table work, the kids usually have a snack before we tackle the main lesson.

We don't always read from the main text every day.  Some days we may read from Story of the World, others we might be delving into a science topic.  Our Geography lessons are also included during this time.

Physical Activity:

The kids will either play outside, practice dance choreography, use our "Get Moving" cards, or some other type of exercise.



Read Aloud:

We are reading through The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, as well as reading through  living books to help our history lessons come alive. 



 Enrichment:

Here, we'll be studying art or creating our own masterpieces.  We also will include cooking lessons some days.  This time also includes handicrafts.

Book Basket:

This is something suggested in the MFW curriculum last year, and it was so great that we're going to continue using it! 

The book basket contains books that relate to any of our current lessons.  There are also a few "Kids Choice" books in the basket, depending on the kids interests that week.

The Four-Part Apology (FREE printable)

Spiritual life, character formation, and habit training are some of the most important lessons we can teach our kids IMO.  And with all the chaos from my health issues lately, it seems that we've had to take a step back from some of our other lessons for a bit to focus more on character again.

One of the things we've started implementing is the Four-Part Apology.  It's really helped Squirrely Girl and Miss Bear to really think about their actions, empathize/sympathize, and remember why said action isn't ok. 

I'll go more in depth at some point, but I wanted to go ahead and offer the sheet we've hung around the house to others! 


You can get the FREE Four-Part Apology printable by clicking here. 

Under the Sea Birthday Party

This past weekend we threw our daughter an Under the Sea birthday party!  Miss Bear absolutely loves The Little Mermaid, and she's been asking for an "Ariel birthday", so we finally gave her one!

I think the decorations turned out great. 

The Little Mermaid "Happy Birthday"  Banner and tabletop decorations, as well as the inflatable sea creatures, came from Oriental Trading Company.  Everything else we purchased at Amazon, Walmart & Dollar Tree.

Hubby and I tag teamed the streamers for the ocean on the ceiling, so it really didn't take to long.  We used a two rolls of white, two rolls of dark blue, and two rolls of light blue for the entire party.  We also used 2 1/2 rolls of green streamers for the seaweed.  The sandy ocean bottom is just some packing paper I had leftover from a gift from Amazon, and we purchased the blue paper for the back ground from Amazon as well.

Hubby and I printed some picture out to decorate Bear's gifts.  We usually try to find quotes from the movie or book when doing a themed party.  Hubby did a pretty amazing job with writing the quote in Disney font!

Who says my dreams have to stay just my dreams?

To make the mermaids tale, I simple folded the plastic tablecloth and ran in down the center of the table.  I used some leftover ribbon to tie it off before cutting the remaining end into two tails, which I tied off with ribbon as well.




If I had it to do over again, I might have purchased a darker blue for the table and just used the lighter one for the mermaids tale.  It still ended up looking pretty adorable, though! 

 

This cute little dolphin came from Oriental Trading Co.  The kids loved playing Dolphin Ring Toss!











No Little Mermaid would be complete without Dinglehoppers!  We also included some snorkels for the people.

 

 

Here's the completed layout with all the foods!  We had a blast coming up with names for some of the options!  We also had a little help from Pinterest!

 

Aren't these the cutest?  Sebastian's "Crabby"  Chicken Salad Sandwiches were a huge hit!  The eyes were a nice touch, and with a little hot glue, some toothpics, and googley eyes, they came together in a snap!

 

Flounder's Fish and Chips was cute & easy to throw together!

We also made some "Octopus" dogs with Conch Shells 'n' Cheese.
The octopus dogs were a pain to cut, but the kids thought they were hilarious--so it was worth it in the end!

 

 

 

Fruits & Veggies from Where the People Are

 

 

 

 

 

Chef Louis even traveled from Prince Eric's castle to whip up a batch of his special chips and queso blanco.

 

 

 

Sea cucumbers and Shark Teeth added a nice touch!

 

 

 

Everyone LOVED the oyster cookies, and they were so simple to make!  Just a couple of packages of swirl shortbread cookies, a tub of hot pink frosting, and white Sixlet peals!  I've seen them done with macaroons as well-this was just easier for me!

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

This birthday party was soooo much fun!  I hope you enjoyed the pictures from how we threw this party together!

I'm also planning to go back and post how we put together Squirelly Girl's 7th birthday party!  It was Alice in Wonderland!

S.O.A.P through Scripture

Today, I'd like to share a FREE printable with you that I made to help during your Bible time.  I've been using the S.O.A.P. method of studying scripture for a couple of years, and finally decided to make myself a cute page to make journaling easier. 

You can download the sheets here. 

Hope you all find the journal pages helpful as well!

God is good.

It has been FOREVER since I've posted on the blog!  We've had a LOT going on in our lives, with some major health issues making writing difficult for me.  But I'm getting back in the saddle!  I want to try to post at least once a week, although I'm not sure if I'll start the weekly wrap-ups back up. 

During the past few months, I've been dealing with not only the concerning breast changes that started December 2013, but also the eradication of h. Pylori and subsequent digestive problems.  During the past few months I have been in so much pain, and unable to keep much of anything down.  I've been worried, scared, and just pretty unhappy in general.  I've felt bad for myself. 

But enough is enough!  Just because I'm dealing with health issues doesn't mean I should mope around, all woe is me.  Of course, I am wanting God to take these things from me, but I know that even in my trials, He will be glorified.  I don't know the reasons for the illness or pain, or the emotional things we've dealt with in relation to family and friends, but I do know that His plans for me are good, and that there is something good that will come from all of it in the end.
Over the past couple of weeks, I've been feeling better than I have for the past few months.  I believe this, in large part, due to our use of doTERRA essential oils to help support my body.  I became a Wellness Advocate with doTERRA back in October, and I've been using them to help support immunity, calm occasional stomach upset, and promote overall health and wellness with fantastic results. 

I'm so thankful to God that he created this natural compounds, and I'm looking forward to where this journey leads our family.

If you'd like to learn more about essential oils, send me a message or visit my other blog Essentially Every Good Thing. 

Despite my illness,  Squirrely Girl, Miss Bear, and Bubba have been doing amazingly well with homeschool.  Squirrely Girl is reading fluently, and Miss Bear is starting to spell CVC words and sound some harder words out with minimal help.  Bubba is talking more, is able to divide things by color and shape, and loves to take things apart (for science of course!). 

I'm so looking forward to sharing our homeschool journey with you all again!

Bear Blend aka Focus Blend

Sometimes we all need something to help balance our emotions and help us focus.  This blend works well for our little Miss Bear, but Mama has been known to use it as well!

We simply roll this along the spine, the base of the head, and on the wrists whenever we're having trouble with frazzled emotions or finding it hard to concentrate.  Works like a charm, and smells pretty awesome too!

If you'd like to purchase your own oils to mix up this blend, you can visit my store here.

If you're interested in becoming a Wellness Advocate with doTERRA, contact me and I'll help you get started!  I'd love to have you on my team.

Hubtastic Hair and Beard Oil

A few months ago, I finally took the plunge and ordered a Family Physician Kit from doTERRA, along with becoming a Wellness Advocate.  I actually only did it to take advantage of the wholesale prices for my family, but now that I've been using the oils, I can't help but share them. 

For Christmas, I wanted to make something special for my hubby.  He's been wanting something to encourage beard growth as well as combat the receding hairline and thinning he's been noticing.  After searching around a bit, I finally decided on a combo that I hope works for him.

Plus, this stuff smells AMAZING!

Clary Sage helps improve circulation, helps balance hormones, and can act as an aphrodisiac.

White Fir can also help to improve poor circulation, and it also works well as an antimicrobial and antioxidant....

Cedarwood is calming and soothing, and some contemporary research indicates it can help with alopecia.

Rosemary is helpful with greasy hair, hair loss, and inflammation. It also has antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Lime revitalizes and tightens skin and connective tissue, and has antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Lavender is very soothing and healing for skin. It also helps against dandruff, with dry and fragile hair, hair loss, inflammation, and itching. Oh, and it can help you spice things up a bit by acting as an aphrodisiac. 

Want to buy your own oils to make this awesome recipe?  Click here to visit my store. 

Interested in becoming a Wellness Advocate and taking charge of your family's health?  Contact me to find out how!