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!

Rebekah's 1st Year

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly baby photo books are the perfect way to preserve your baby's precious moments.

I just finished and ordered Rebekah's Baby Book. I've used Shutterfly before and I have been happy with them. Because life is busy with 4 I worked on Rebekah's book online, one month at a time. I would recommend this method to all busy Moms. You can journal while it's fresh in your mind and if you dedicate one page per month it is easy to just add your favourite pictures at the end of each month. Here it is for anyone who wants to view it online. I should have the hard copy in my hot little hands in a few weeks time. "The days are long but the years are short."

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.

Tad Lake - Thanksgiving 2013

This year we were able to make a second trip to Tad Lake for our 2nd annual early Thanksgiving. It was a lot colder then last year but that made for a new kind of fun. The kids did well and are really settling in to the cabin and camper being home away from home. The new family picture isn't the best shot we got but I will likely be using it for Christmas cards so I thought I would save it for now.
It was nice to see Fall settling into the Caribo. It's much different then our fall... no reds... just greens and golds. We were fortunate to see some different animals this year. A hare, 2 swans, cows and squirrels (okay cows and squirrels we see here). Jonathan also got to see a Doe and her Fawn when he was out hunting... two bad it wasn't a Buck! Oh well, maybe next year Honey! The week went by so fast. I didn't even manage a quad ride this time around but we were blessed to be surrounded by nature, fresh air, family and lots of yummy food... who could ask for more?

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September Kids Update

David lost his 3rd tooth this month (with a little help from me). His adult tooth was growing in behind it but the baby tooth was holding on tight. A few weeks after the dentist said it would be out in a matter of days I took matters into my own hands. He will probably loose his 4th tooth next month as it is wiggly as well and the adult tooth is growing in. His front adult teeth are growing in a little farther back then I would like but I am hoping they come forward on their own. Apart from that he has started Grade 2 (at home) and is doing well. He has days where he wishes he could do away with school altogether but when he has his mind set he gets his work done very quickly. He would much rather occupy his time building Lego and K'nex. Mondays and Fridays are very busy. He starts his week with swimming lessons and Bible Study Fellowship (with Grandpa Rob) and finishes off with Community Class (had decided not to do this but changed my mind again) and Friday Night Friends, Sports Camp.

Angeline is now 4 1/2. She has been waiting anxiously to reach this stage since she turned 4. Next on the list is turning 5. She is eager to learn to read but not so eager to take directions from Mommy or anyone else. (Might have "fun" homeschooling her when she starts kindergarten next September). She knows what she wants and when she wants it. She likes to tell everyone what to do. She wants to be older so much that she is always trying to do grown up things which has been getting her into a lot of trouble. All in one week she cut Samara's hair, filled the laundry machine soap dispenser, filled the tub with Johnson & Johnson (2 minutes after I lectured her about the laundry soap), added oats to our porridge that had already been cooking and shampooed Samara's hair (what's left of it) with my face wash (that's jus what I remember... the rest of it is a bit of a daze). She often means well and can be very helpful looking out for her siblings, helping with chores and she keeps us all on our toes!

Samara bounces back and forth between Angeline's sidekick or victim :) I can see how she gets stuck in the middle not being big enough for some things and being too big for others. She is potty trained which helps a ton but bed time is still a bit of a struggle. She recently saw a paediatric ear, nose, and throat specialist because of her LARGE tonsils and has been put on a waiting list to have them removed. He surgery won't likely take place until she is between the age of 3 1/2 - 4. Her talking has really picked up since June... sometimes we can't get her to stop! Her favourite shows are "Dora" and the "Lego Batman" movie. She likes to sing and is looking forward to "Moms & Tots" starting up this week.

Rebekah. I can't quite decide what my bigger challenge is right now. 1)Angeline's Experiments or 2)Weaning Rebekah. We thought we were weaning Rebekah in August but it didn't work out like we had planned. I don't mind that she is still nursing (she is only 13.5 months) but she is getting up about 4 times a night and I am tired! It's hard to come up with a game plan with her. I think our next step is to sleep train her, just not sure when or how we are going to do that. Her walking has gotten much faster over the last month and she has also discovered climbing. She got onto our white kitchen garbage can without standing on anything else. She is often up on a stool peeking on the counter and has also climbed into our cupboard, toy bin and onto our white cabinet. She LOVES music... particularly the first song on the kids VBS CD from this year. As soon as it comes on she stopes what she is doing, gets a huge smile on her face and starts dancing and clapping.

Jonathan and I are doing well. We recently discovered a dating journal we kept so that was a lot of fun to read through and we are looking forward to celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary next month. Sorry... no pictures for now but I may try to do a picture post soon now that I've got the writing complete.

Cousin Freya

On Thursday we said good-bye to cousin Freya and Aunty Lauren who were visiting us from England this last month. Uncle Brent went home 2 weeks ago but we enjoyed our visit with him as well. Jonathan and I both had lots of cousins growing up so it is a bit sad for us that our kids don't have the same novelty. Your cousins are your first best friends.
Here are a few pictures from our visit. We miss you already and we look forward to the next time we can all be together. Thank you for making the long trip to come spend time with us.

Tad Lake July-August 2013

It has been almost 2 weeks since we retuned from a wonderful week at Tad Lake. I have a whole album worth of favourite memories that I could post so it was hard to narrow it down to a select few. The first is one of my absolute favourites... David catching his first frog. To me this is a classic boy milestone which both warms and tears at a mothers heart. My son is growing up so fast. Also love the picture of him with Daddy when they've just got back from "playing" in the mud. He was so proud of how dirty he managed to get.
Angeline loved spending time with cousin Freya and we've collected lots of cute photos of them together. By the end of the trip she was also driving the kids car on her own.
Samara enjoyed spending time in the play house, going for walks and riding her run-bike. She isn't as fond of large groups as the older two but she soaked up lots of one on one.
Rebekah really enjoyed all the time outside, and many naps in the comfort of grandparents arms. She spent lost of time practicing walking and enjoyed all the praise she received.
We all enjoy the quality individual and group time spent with family.