New Trail in Arkansas...

When we were in Little Rock, I got to jog (without even pushing the double BOB) a brand new portion of trail. They extended the trail of one of our favorite parks via a bridge over the river. Now the trail connects with miles and miles of other trails for jogging, walking, and cycling. We also met a friendly couple with a dog, and the girls were mesmerized by the doggie! That's the reaction to expect from kids that only have a couple of aloof outdoor cats at home.

It's that time of year again....

The time of year when my girls are itchin' for a new princess get-up for fall. Princess Analese, ahem I mean Cinderella, is all decked out and ready to dine with the Princesses when we go to EPCOT in October.

The Curly Girls

YAY! I finally found a product for their hair! A few months back, I had a conversation with another mother at The Little Gym about what she used in her daughter's hair. Her daughter's hair is very similar to Analese's hair. She told me that she uses "Aveda Be Curly." I made a note in my iPhone. This week I was reading Laura Case's blog about her curly hair product dilemma. Several people made comments about "Aveda Be Curly." So I decided it was time to try some. We LOVE it! I even used some today and went curly/wavy. Their hair is soft, not crunchy. So many curl enhancement products make hair crunchy. I need to buy this stuff by the jug. I know we are going to use gallons of this stuff in the future. Also, I love the way Mariele has a little curl that hangs down right in the middle of her forehead.

A Photo Documented Day in the Life of a Calvert First Grade Homeschooler

Analese and I are in the ninth week of school so far. We typically do school four days a week. Schooling year round works well for our family. We love to take vacations in off peak seasons. We are using the Calvert Homeschool curriculum. I love the way everything is so neatly and completely laid out for us. I wanted a comprehensive, complete, well-rounded curriculum, and Calvert does provide that for us. It gives me peace of mind, because I really don't want to miss anything.

Every day doing Calvert homeschool is a little different, so it is hard to document a typical day. I did document today, but in a Calvert week there is quite a good amount of variety in the lesson plans.

I wake the girls around 7 a.m. Just look at them! How tempting it is to just let them sleep! But bedtime happens much more naturally when I wake them at this time.



Then we get dressed, eat breakfast, and do miscellaneous morning tasks. That brings us to an 8:45-9:00ish start time for our school.

Our first subject is Bible. This is not part of the Calvert curriculum, but I added it in. Today they were learning about Baby Moses. We take the weekly theme and memory verse from their church class and expand it through the week.



Then they recite the books of the Bible. It's a fun little chant, and they can say all of the books through John now. We add 2-4 books a week. They are also learning The Lord's Prayer.

This may seem cheesy, but the very first Calvert social studies lesson introduced the Pledge of Allegiance. They do recite it each morning.



Mariele started out watching the Elmo's Potty Time video. When people ask if I do school with her, I can honestly say that she is in potty training academy.



Next comes math. Calvert has their very own math program, and so far it seems to be a great program. She starts with a warm-up activity. Today it was a color code addition project.



When Mariele saw that Analese was coloring, she wanted to color also.



Analese learned about how to find a missing addend from word problems using a number line.



Mariele became bored with her coloring and moved on to blocks.



Analese then cut out and pieced back together a numbers puzzle. She was quite proud of herself for solving the puzzle! This puzzle was an optional enrichment activity, but I like to do most of the enrichment activities, especially for math.





Meanwhile, Mariele had moved on to magnetic puzzles.



Analese then logged onto the computer to do her math checkpoint. This is usually a couple of problems designed to determine mastery of the concept of the day. The checkpoint is instantly graded.



Next comes Spanish. This is not part of the Calvert curriculum, but we have several resources from which to draw upon.



We are currently using Hooked on Spanish. There is a computer module associated with each lesson in the workbook. There are 3 levels each consisting of 12 modules. We are just finishing the second level today. We have a Spanish/English story book to review the Spanish words that we have learned thus far.



They get to put a sticker on their chart upon the completion of each module. We are crazy into stickers at our house.



Next comes reading, reading comprehension, phonics, and writing. This part of the curriculum can be highly variable from day to day. There are usually groups of stories to read throughout the week. One will be realistic fiction, one will be fantasy, and one will be a non-fiction "article" type of story. These articles usually link into science or social studies. Today was a science link article about insects.



Then Analese did some word building with short e words and read some word slides with short u words. This portion of the day usually goes very quickly. This is very easy for her.




She then learned all about homographs.



Then she got to choose an insect to write about. Her first choice was butterfly, but I swear....we have really overdone the whole butterfly thing lately. I steered her away from butterflies and coaxed her into thinking about some other insects. She finally decided upon a praying mantis. We looked up some information on the internet and she watched a YouTube video.



This brought us to lunchtime. We all got a little nourishment and refreshment. Then it was time for Mariele to hit the tent for a nap.



Analese then wrote and illustrated her "paragraph" about the praying mantis. She was particularly impressed that bats eat the mantis.



The last subject for today was social studies. She was learning about how common features define a region.



In the Calvert curriculum, if a family were to do school Monday through Friday, social studies would be on Tuesday and Thursday, and science would be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In other words, there are 2 social studies lessons for every 3 science lessons. Today was an unusual day since her reading lesson was also linked to science. It was a bit like doing both of those subjects on the same day.

We were finished with the school day by 1:45. I really love the economy of time and the flexibility that homeschooling provides for our family. Analese does piano lessons on Wednesdays and gymnastics on Fridays. We have more time to pursue and enjoy extra-curricular activities. Analese will also be joining the Adventurer Club (kind of like scouts) through our church this year. Our life does get busy at times, but we enjoy the bonding that occurs simply by schooling in the home. Our school is an extension of our home, and it is very enjoyable and pleasant. I feel blessed to have this responsibility.

Mariele's new napping space...

I apologize for my blog absence lately. Life has become rather busy, but I hope to find some quiet moments sometime this week to read blogs. Mariele found a new little napping spot today - the play tent! She slept for a good 2.5 hours here this afternoon. And you all know my fetish for sleeping kid photos. I mean, come on, what is cuter than a sleeping kid? OK, maybe a puppy or a kitten...NO, a sleeping kid is definitely the cutest, sweetest thing there is on this earth.

Newborn Family Photo Shoot...

I had the pleasure of photographing my sister-in-law and her beautiful family while we were in Arkansas. Now, I don't claim to be a professional photographer. I have a great camera and beautiful photo subjects. My clients get what they pay for (I don't charge anything hahaha). Here are a few of my favorites. We even threw in my girls to get some girl cousin shots. I could not resist getting the little dress for Aloe. Aloe was a trooper!

Grandma Linda's 69th Birthday...

While we were in Little Rock, we were able to be a part of Grandma Linda's birthday celebration!



Mariele does well with her potty training until the evening hours. Then I get too involved with the visiting and such to remember to take her potty. That is why she is running around half nakey here.



Then she got cold, so luckily Aunt Netty had a tee-shirt.



Uncle David is a kid magnet anyway, but add an iPad into the mix (loaded with kid apps because he is the coolest uncle ever) and he is absolutely irresistable.



Lee has always been a natural with babies. He feels like it was just yesterday....Here he is with our baby niece, Aloe.