TreasuresInTerraCotta

A post on January 1st and here it is February 28th.  I think, perhaps, I am not a blogger at heart.   In my defense, I have four posts in my draft folder (some of which are now irrelevant), I spent some time writing a short devotional for a mission trip, and I am ever aware how the computer is a colossal time-sucker.  Never-the-less, I can not possibly let the calendar flip to March without posting something here in the blog world. People sometimes ask how we "do" school, what I do with the little one while the others are working, where we do our work, and on-and-on.  Many of our 2014 photos seem to chronicle some of the answers to those questions.  So here are a few homeschool snap-shots from January and February. Calvin is learning and practicing cursive. Andrew is learning to read and follow instructions.  Truman occupies himself with Lego trucks.   Calvin scratches his head about math.  Andrew plays dinosaur go-fish....

Early in November we put some of our Halloween candy to use doing math projects. 

Kindergarten is fun!  Andrew is fun! And "Aa is for Apple" week is fun, too! We did a little apple comparison.  It was a lot like the one we did when Calvin was in Kindergarten ...except I was a lot more relaxed.  Which, unfortunately, seems to be the way all things go between the First Born and the Second Born.     America's Test Kitchen Apple Crisp was a winner (at least with the nut loving people in the family).   This week we move on to "Nn is for Nest."  And our lesson to learn is "God Takes Good Care of Me."  Indeed!

This is what a homeschool kid gets to do on his first day of Summer Vacation.  Egg Contraption ready for an Egg-Drop Calvin engineered a styrofoam Eegee's cup tied to a plastic bag parachute.  Packing peanuts were added to the cup and then the egg was placed inside.  A second cup with more peanuts was taped on top to prevent the egg from dropping out or bouncing out upon impact. A few homeschooled kids enjoying summer vacation! Up, up, up... and up, up, up... 75-85 feet up Here comes Calvin's egg. Nice and slow It made a nice soft landing The egg survived! Do you think we should tell Eegee's that thier cups helped to save the egg?  Maybe we could get some flavor-of-the-month out of the deal! We don't have any big plans for the summer, but we have a running list of things to do at home and around town, including: throwing water balloons, swimming, planting a butterfly garden, taking treats to the p...

We're rapidly approaching the end of our school year and I wanted to post a few of our art projects.  Our homeschool curriculum includes art books and instructions in the lesson plans a few times a week.  I have to admit that I am not very rigorous about ensuring we complete the art unit each day.  We do however, do art and other crafty activities regularly.  In addition to the curriculum, I've also found a couple wonderful art blogs with many great ideas for kids.  One of my favorite inspiring places is Deep Space Sparkle .  As an art teacher in a public school she includes a lot of age specific projects, lesson plans, supply list recommendations, and lots of samples from real kids.      This year we've studied many birds in our overview of United States history and introduction to the states.  We made a textured owl craft.  We made these pretty cardinals...