First Day of School

Last week Angeline had her first day of Kindergarten and David had his first day of Grade 3. We have a lot of new things going on with school this year. While we are continuing to Homeschool we have changed which school we Homeschool through and with that comes a number of changes because there are many differences in how they operate. We were formally homeschooling though RCOA which is a Private Christian School. We are now currently homeschooling with HomeQuest which is part of Delta School District. HomeQuest operates out of PineWood Elementary School in Delta. So far we are really happy we made the switch.
Currently Angeline and David attend class on Tuesdays with the option of attending twice a week. We have decided to attend once a week for now and will look at attending 2 full days a week when school starts up in January.
One of the advantages of HomeQuest that we are really excited about is that they offer many field trips. We all visited Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch on Friday and are looking forward to "Learn to Fish" near the end of October. There are 1-2 field trips each week so you can pick and choose which ones to participate in (for free). The above picture was taken at the Pumpkin Patch and the kids each brought home a different colour pumpkin. We are looking forward to tasting the blue, white and red pumpkins we brought home which are supposedly much tastier then the average orange pumpkin.
I was not sure what to expect having 2 students when the last 3 years it has been 1 on 1 but much to my surprise we have transitioned very well. We are looking forward to another great year of learning, family time, and many memories made.

English Language Arts 2 (Term 1)

English Language Arts is are biggest subject. It requires the most time and it produces the most paper! We are continuing to use  the Sing, Spell, Read and Write Curriculum which we are continuing to enjoy. It is colourful, and offers a lot of variety to keep things interesting. I went through the pile and tried to list everything that we have covered this term. It also has a "Writing Connection" section which gives ideas for journaling and sometimes we come up with our own topics. Journaling is not David's favourite thing to do but he is coming along quite well with his writing and finds it easier to write longer entries then when he first started journaling in August.

SSRW also has stories for reading and comprehension. David participated in his first reading club this summer and read 2 Geronimo Stilton Chapter Books. He is independently reading so he does this throughout the day with whatever might catch his interest. He also likes to read to his sisters.

Manuscript Writing
Short a, Short e, Short i, Short o, Short u, Silent e, c=s words, ay, y=I, ge gi and gy, y=e
Sentence Scramble
Syllables
Compound Words
Root Words
Twin Consonants
Cloze
Suffixes
Verb Usage
Proof Reading
Word Clues
Rhryming
Matching (Word to Picture, Subject to Predicate)
Two Vowel Words
Literature Puzzle, Cross Words, Word Search
don't and doesn't, went and gone, came and come, did and done
Word Meanings, Word Association
Alphabetical Order
Sentence Structure, Complete and Incomplete Sentences, Subject and Predicate

Christian Foundations 2 (Term 1)

David started out first term using the same curriculum from last year for Christian Studies because we really enjoy it. After a few weeks I decided to take a break from it because I found he is learning so much just from the activities he attends. Studying God's word is a wonderful thing but we definitely don't want to overwhelm him with it!

This year David is attending BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) with his Grandpa on Monday nights. I recommend this to ALL parents who are wanting a more in depth Bible Study for themselves and their kids. It is a 2 hour program and the teachers are excellent. David has a really fun time.
During the week David completes 6 days of BSF homework. He also memorized a verse. These are NOT your typical Sunday School memory verses.
This year in BSF they are studying the book of Matthew. Here is the memory verse David learned for lesson 6.
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

David also attends Sunday School at our church. I really like the program they are using as well. He has 4 days of Bible Study homework. This is a themed study where they have been learning about Honor. He also memorizes a verse each week for Sunday School. This year he is working towards earning his second pin in a 9 year memory verse program. During Sunday School they have also begun practising for their Christmas performance. David is part of the choir so he is learning to sing as part of a group. He enjoys practising at home with the music CD.

For Bible Reading David has The Adventure Bible and The Adventure Bible Devotional. He also enjoys reading his Action Bible (which is the stories of the Bible in Comic Strip). He has memorized the names of the 66 books of the bible in order. Last week his Opa was telling a friend that David knew the Bible Books in order so the friend asked David "What comes after Ezekiel?"... David-"DANIEL!" He has also learned this term how to find the book, chapter and verse he is looking for.

As a family we enjoy watching "What's in the Bible with Buck Denver."



This year we sponsored a compassion child. Her name is Sabrina and we often pray for her before dinner. David decided it would also be good to pray for Dixon who is one of the Compassion Children our Church All Star Kids sponsor, they raise enough money during 1 week Vacation Bible School to provide for 2 sponsor kids all year long. David recently filled a shoebox for Samaritans Purse (this has been part of our Christmas traditions for many years now) then on Sunday he came home with another box so he went with me to fill it yesterday. These have been good opportunities to learn that not everyone has the same abundance we so often take for granted.

Mathematics 2 (Term 1)

Summer always goes by in a hurry. This is our 3rd year homeschooling and the school year now seems to pass just as quickly. Here I am beginning my reports for Term 1.

Math is David's favorite subject. He finds it easy and quick. It is the easiest subject for me to teach. We are continuing to use "Math U See" curriculum which I love! There is a DVD for each lesson which we watch together. If David needs more instruction we go over it further on our white board but this is seldom the case. There are also lots of online resources on the Math U See website. Each week we cover 1 lesson which consists of 12 worksheets and 1 test. There are also unit tests and each week also reviews the previous weeks so that it all stays fresh.

David is currently working on lesson 8 and will have completed 10 lessons by the end of term 1. These lessons cover the following:
1. Place Value
2. Sequencing; Word Problem Tips
3. Inequalities
4. Rounding to 10 and Estimation
5. Multiple-Digit Addition
6. Skip Counting by 2
7. Addition with Regrouping (Carrying)
8. Skip Count by 10
9. Skip Count by 5; 5 cents=1 Nickel
10. Money: Decimal Point and Dollars
Many of these lessons we covered in kindergarten and Grade 1 so they were review. David caught on to the new lessons easily. Estimation and Regrouping were both completely new to him. David does well on his tests. He completes them without help which allows him to feel confident and allows me to know if there is anything we need to work on. He often gets all the answers correct. He sometimes gets one answer wrong and the most he has gotten wrong on a test is 2. This is where we see his perfectionist side come out! He really doesn't like to make a mistake. He is learning to check his work.

A+ from Mom
Good Job David!

Pumpkin Picking

This year we tried the AppleBarn Pumpkin Patch in Abbotsford for the first time. We have been 2 or 3 times to the one in Steveston. We enjoyed it and it was nice to experience a different farm. Highlights compared to Steveston are the petting zoo, giant bouncy mat (although it was out of order) and Pony Rides (if you want to pay extra). Our kids were pretty leery about touching the animals so we ruled out Pony Rides this time. Don't get sucked in about the "Zip Line"... it is just a glorified playground pulley). A plus is the store where you can buy fresh apples and fresh apple juice (called apple cider). Downside is it was expensive... the pumpkins cost more too. But it was a really fun family day, great weather and not too crowded.

Oh Canada

Today is David's last day of Community Class until January and they are going ice skating. This term they learned many different things about Canada. David continues to enjoy going to school on Fridays. I find Friday mornings frantic trying to pack a lunch and get everyone out of the house by 9am for a 20+ minute drive there and then back. It seems that we just get home and it is time to pick him up again. But he loves it so much and I do think it is good for him to have experience in a classroom setting. It will be nice for me one I can drop all the kids off on Fridays. Angeline can't wait! They all miss their big brother on Fridays.

Term 1 - Science

 David learned all about "Life Systems" this term. He just completed the Review Test for this Unit and scored 89/100. He never likes to get a wrong answer but I was really proud because he had to remember all of what he has been learning since September. He learned about living things, non-living things and how to differentiate, as well as the needs of living things. He learned about plants and animals, different types and what they need. 

 David learned about the human body. Names and functions of different body parts and our senses.

 This is a picture of David participating in a science experiment about how our sense of smell and sense of taste are related.

Christian Foundations - Term 1

 We are beginning to wrap up term one of grade 1 for David and so I am beginning to blog some summaries and examples of the work David has completed this term. For Christian Foundations I have been working with 2 curriculum books both new to us this year. The first book is "1st Grade Enjoying God's Gifts" by Cherie Noel. There are 35 lessons in this book which makes it a good length for the school year. We will be completing the first 12 lessons for term 1, covering most of the first 3 units.
Unit 1 - God's Gift: The World - The Story of Creation
Unit 2 God's Gift: Special Promises - The Stories of Noah, Abraham, Jacob, And Joseph
Unit 3 God's Gift: Worship - The Stories of Josiah and Joash
Each lessons is different. Some involve filling in blanks, dot to dot pictures, colouring by number, match the number to the correct picture and even a poem.
The lessons are short and fun so they work well in between heavier subjects. They also supplement Language Arts and over lap with Science (learning about plants and animals) and Social Studies  (learning about family and rules). I  often remind David of the poem he completed during school time.

I do my work

With all my might;

God is pleased

When I do it right.

In all i do,

I do my best;

After I work,

Then I can rest.

 We also use "a reason for Handwriting"by Carol Ann Retzer and Eva Hoshino. This curriculum is designed to help improve writing, memorize scripture and share God's word with others. Rather then learn two memory verses each week we have coupled this curriculum with David's Sunday School programs memory verse. By the end of term 1 he will have memorized 10 verses.

 Along with his school activities and Sunday School David also attends an evening program weekly at our church which these last two pictures are from. We also have family bible time and just this week they have added a reading schedule to his Sunday School class so he is responsible for completing 2 bible readings each week. It is my prayer that all these things will help David build good character, that he will be known for his kindness and like King David that he might be remembered as a man after God's heart.

First Day of School - Grade 1

Today is David's first day of Grade 1 at his Community Class. He attends Community Class on Fridays throughout the school year and we are continuing to homeschool. We actually started school 2 weeks ago and everything is going well. Surprisingly he hasn't seemed to forget much over the summer so we have been able to skip over a lot of the review. He was excited to go to school today, although he expressed a little remorse over not being able to play with his sister. He was also a bit concerned that he might have a different teacher but he was happy to see that it was the same teacher as last year.