Doodle's Concert

 This past school year has been a different sort of year for us. Doodle went to public school full time this year.  Overall, I think it's been a positive experience for him.  As much as I wish I could have him at home with me, and homeschool him, the Lord has other plans for him.
  His class learned to play the recorder, and had a concert last week.    sorry- the pictures aren't real great- something about a school gym, and the fact that he was on the back row.

 Here's Doodle after giving his part on the program.

Doodle is on the top row- 3rd from the right. 

I was so proud of him, and the way he worked hard to learn all of his recorder songs, and even SANG the songs that they learned too! ;) 

Happy Late B-day Doodle

Sunday was Doodle's 9th Birthday. He's grown and is such a silly, energetic kid. (sometimes I think that energy will be the death of me! lol)

HAA! Has anyone else noticed- I've been getting a bit more cooperation in the picture taking area lately- lol- Cute cute kiddo!

Doodle wanted a Kayak for his birthday- and was absolutely THRILLED to get this.  He's already used it, and loves it!

"Mom are you going to put toys on my cake for me?"  he asked- so after a quick trip to town Saturday night- I found a toy kayak- the perfect cake topper.

Showing his cousin W how to work the kayak.

 Doodle- you are sure a fun kid to be around, and bring such energy to our home! I am so grateful to have you as my son.  I have enjoying homeschooling you, and pray for you every day.  I pray that all will go smoothly as you go to public school in a few weeks, and that the teacher will be able to challenge you and help you to continue to enjoy learning!

Doodle the gymnast

Doodle has been taking Power Tumbling classes, and (proud momma boast)  He's pretty good. ;)  Here's a couple of videos of his class last week

Pretty cool! :)

Hope those worked! ;) and that you don't mind my proud momma brag post.

LOL! Doodle says "You posted it on there?! Now I'll have people calling me left and right!"  (ok- whatever!)

Time 4 Learning Review

We were able to try the online curriculum time4learning free for 1 month in exchange for a candid review of the program on the blog- so here goes. First off, a bit about time4Learning- It's an online curriculum covering math, language arts, science, and history. It covers pre-K through 8th grade. When we decided to try time4learning- I decided to only put Doodle (2nd-3rd grade) on this program. Bug (6th grade) and Roo (K) were left out. Poor Roo- he loved watching and listening in on the Time4Learning video clips and such, and was wishing he could do it too. We didn't use the math portion of the program at all- as we have a wonderful math thing going on- and ya know- if it ain't broke- don't fix it. :D Pros-

• Doodle LOVED it. He liked the fact that mom was taken out of the equation (I'm not so sure that I liked that part of it) But there was definitely less head-butting and frustration when it came to school time. Doodle liked the fun interactive Language Arts lessons.
• There were fun lessons on synonyms, antonyms, and homonymns, complete with cheesy movie clips, and quizzes for each one. There were reading comprehension activities that were great for Doodle to work on. *He never once complained about the Language Arts protion of the program. (If LA was offered seperately- I'd be SOOO tempted to get a subscription to the site.
• Site was easy for Doodle to navigate- it had "done" stamped on the lessons he'd completed, and arrows to show what he should do next.
• We had no problems at all with the connection to the site- I worried if the internet was down, what we'd do, but no worries there. :D
• Doodle Loved being able to play games in the Playground (many of the games are educational too ;)) and I liked that I could set a time limit for how long he could play the games- lol

Cons

• We found the science and Social studies sections very dry and boring. (sorry- but they were!) After the fun language arts, we were both disappointed in the other subjects. I realize that they are added as a "bonus" and not really part of the program- but that was the part of what I was most searching for something "more" for.
• I would like to be able to go in and pick and choose assignments and put them in a "folder" or something for him, and pick my own order. I guess I could pick my own order now, but I'd have to show him which ones I wanted him to do. I'd rather do a few reading comprehension at a time, a few grammar type lessons, a few lessons on different topics, rather than all one topic, then all another topic.
• cost- although it's only a small monthly fee- it adds up, especially since we would only use the LA portion. IF they were to offer just the language arts section for a reduced price I'd really be thinking seriously.
• Lots of time on the computer- Doodle learns well with the interactive type stuff on the computer- but I didn't like him being on the computer quite that much.

This review is entirely my opinion, I was offered a free month in exchange for this review. Time4Learning was a nice shake-up and change of pace in our school. Will we continue- no probably not. Though I have learned that since Doodle learns so well with this type of cirriculum, I will try and add a bit more interactive things to our homeschool.

Doodle's Baptism

Doodle has been anxiously counting the days since he turned 8 until it would be his baptism day. The day finally arrived. Doodle was Baptised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints today. It was a wonderful day as Ben was able to baptize Doodle. I am so thankful for a wonderful husband who holds and honors the priesthood, and was able to perform this sacred ordinance. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life, for the direction it gives me. I'm proud of Doodle and for the decision he made to be baptised, which is the first step in Following in Christ's footsteps. For making the covenant with the Lord to Always Remember him, and to Keep his commandments. I am so thankful for a wonderful and supportive family. We love you sweetie!

Doodle is 8!

We were on vacation at the cabin when Doodle had his birthday- but I'll not skip posting about my boy- even if it is a bit late- so here's a few reminiscing photos of Doodle- (I still can't believe he's 8!) It's SO hard to find good pics of Doodle- Here's one I took to put on his Baptism invitations-
Doodle is....well Doodle is Doodle! He IS who he IS, and there's no changing his mind. He is a leader, and likes to have people follow him. He especially loves playing with his younger cousins- because they do just that- look up to him and follow him. He is a goer, a mover and a shaker, he's not one to let life pass him by. He is always on-the-go and loves to move, go places and do things.

Big brother Bug, and Doodle just after he first came to us.

The Adoption Day! :DDoodle LOVES being outside- camping, hiking, fishing, exploring, This is what pictures of Doodle *usually* look like- The Back of his HEAD! (unless it's blurry because he was running!)
Doodle and I building a sand castle. Doodle- We love you! And are so blessed to have you in our familiy!

Planning for the new school year- 2nd grade

More planning posts- Here's Doodle's plans for next year-

Workboxes- I can't say enough about how wonderful our drawers have worked for school time. It's a visual checklist for Doodle so he can SEE when he's finished. No surprises- when he's done with #9 he's done. :D We will continue to use the workboxes- and the order may change around a bit- but it's pretty much the same in each drawer each day. So here's what will be in each drawer-

1- Math Folders- Doodle will also graph the high and low temp each day with a line graph, and count out money to show the number of school day it is- for instance day 132- he counts out $1.32.

2- Pam's Math assignments. Doodle is great at math- he'll be starting the 3rd grade mathbook when we start school up.3- School Games, art projects, nature journals, and Computer Time (cool websites I like will have to be a whole new post!)

4- Five in a Row Volume 4 We LOVE Five in a Row- and vol 4 is one of my favorites. We usually do each book for 2 weeks, as there is so much good stuff I don't wanna miss! He'll also do copywork using Startwrite, and make a lapbook/notebook using stuff from Homeschool Share and Enchanted Learning5- PE- Drawer 5 HAS to be a get up and MOVE drawer- I have index cards in there with various activities for him to do "Ride bike for 10 minutes" "Play H-O-R-S-E" or "Jump Rope for 10 minutes"
6- Explode the Code books 7, and 8 7- School Games, art projects, etc.

8- On MWF Doodle will do Growing with Grammar and on TTH we will do Apologia Astronomy with lapbook components I found on Homeschool Launch

9-Spelling workbook I'm unsure how this will work for Doodle- he may need something more hands-on for spelling- but we're going to give it a try. He didn't do well with the bigiqkids site- because he'd get mad when he spelled a word wrong, and blame the computer lol-
Extras- Gymnastics- Doodle has a real talent for gymnastics- so we'll continue this. Cub Scouts- Doodle is excited to turn 8 in a few weeks, and be able to do Cub Scouts with our local troop. Also Doodle will do Book Club with our Homeschool group.

Beatrix Potter Unit

We have been having a great time the past 2 weeks learning all about Beatrix Potter. We spent last week with The Tale of Peter Rabbit, with lesson plans from Five in a Row and this week we've explored many more Beatrix Potter stories. Using thrown together stuff, and some bits and pieces from a unit on homeschool share- We used lots of goodies from Homeschool Share in our notebooks.

(Side note- our notebooks are sort of a lapbook/notebook combined. We tried lapbooks- and they just seemed to be in the way- and I didn't know what to do with them. We've since tried this hybrid- with lapbook elements glued onto cardstock then hole punched and put in a binder. That way we can include other things like copywork and other papers that are 8x11 size together with our studies.)

After reading LOTS of Beatrix Potter Tales- Doodle decided that The Tale of Peter Rabbit is his favorite. The 3 folds that are closed - "Hpw many days in a fortnight" "Setting of the Story" and "what is a naturalist" Doodle wrote on the wrong side- and I wasn't going to make him re-write ;) Doodle did some research on Hedgehogs- since Beatrix Potter had a pet Hedgehog.

Top- venn diagram comparing frogs and toads (after reading Mr. Jeremy Fisher) bottom- graph comparing different garden vegetables, and their days to harvest.

We only have about 5 Beatrix Potter books- the rest we read online- Here's a few places we found them:

• http://www.oldpicturebooks.com/
• http://www.tcom.ohiou.edu/books/kids.htm
• http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/p#a292

A few other useful sites in our Potter study

• LOTS of fun stuff on here for the kids to explore- puppet shows, movie clips, games http://www.peterrabbit.com/us/index.asp
• Fun applied Math worksheet
• This "Planning the Garden" was a fun activity to do.
• Each day we did a "Character study sheet" and wrote about one character in a story
• For fun Doodle did a kittens maze
• We also compared 4 stories using this chart and Doodle wrote his own Animal story- This page helped him plan his story- And here's his story-

"One day in the woods there was a rabbit named Nutkin. He stole some food from Mr. Bird. One day he gives it back. He gets scared by Mr. Bird. He learns not to steal."

We had a great time with Beatrix Potter- Dh and I watched the movie Miss Potter not long ago on Netflix- but decided it wasn't a show my boys would be interested in. But we did find a stories of Beatrix Potter dvd that the kids enjoyed.

Climibng Kansas Mountains

Doodle and I have had a blast this week with School. We "rowed" Climbing Kansas Mountains from my favorite Five in a Row curriculum. The whole book is one huge metaphor- as they climb to the top of the "mountain" grain elevators, and drive home across the "table" prairie. Monday- we found Kansas on the map, did a mini book about Kansas, and read Scrambled States of America (since Kansas is the one in the story who is unhappy about being in the middle of the country) We also started on a salt dough map of Utah- In the story the boy talks about a Salt dough map of Kansas that he made for school- and there was one tiny bump on it.
Doodle also made a Sunflower out of pattern blocks- since Kansas's state flower is the Sunflower.

Tuesday- we hit on Similies and Metaphors, as this book is just rich with both of them. Doodle was excellent at determining the difference between the two of them. I typed up the similies and metaphors from the book, and doodle cut them apart and put them on the right side of the paper, similies on one side, and metaphors on the other side.

Wednesday was art day. We drew pictures with oil pastels. I am NOT an artist- but I love how I feel like I can teach a bit of art with the help of FIAR. :D
Thursday was Math day. In the book it compares the grain elevator to "8 houses stacked like blocks" So I printed off 8 clip art pics of houses for doodle to color, then made a simple applied math page to go with it- how many did you color red, how many doors in all? How many windows in all? Doodle thought it was fun.
Friday was science- So we learned about wheat. And of course- you can't learn about wheat without making some wheat bread. I didn't get a pic of him mixing it- but here's our bread in the oven. It was delicious!

Happy Birthday Doodle!!

Time goes so fast! Doodle turns 7 years old today! I can still remember the day when the social worker called me and said "We have a baby for you" and I knew in an instant that this was the Lord's way of answering my prayers. It was a long road before he was mine forever- but so worth it in the end.

Ben feeding Doodle- the first night he came to our home. Bug sitting there too. Bug was so protective of Doodle when he was younger- I remember going to a church party- just a few days after we got Doodle, and a friend asked to hold him, and I let her. Bug piped up "That's OUR baby- she can't hold our baby!"

Doodle at his first birthday party. His cake was a yellow smiley face- because his nickname was "Smiley" he was always smiling.Happy Doodle after he returned to our family-he was 18 months old.Our Family on the day the adoption was final.

Doodle at Yellowstone- one ouf our favorite places. Doodle is such an energetic, strong kid. I'm so grateful that he is in our family. We sure love him. He's so smart and fun.

Fish and Flips

Doodle has a Sweet Pickles book that he loves to read called Fish and Flips- lol- and this post just reminded me of the book. First the Fish, then the flips.

We went fishing tonight with some friends- and had a super time, and I outfished them all! :D I caught me a nice Rainbow trout, and a HUGE Cutthroat as well. Roo helped me reel in the fish- so he got to have his picture taken with it too. Doodle's friend J caught a nice size Brown trout too. The boys had fun playing in the water- Roo wading along-Ben, our friend A, and Bug fishing.Doodle, his friend J and Bug playing in the river What amazing mountains. I just LOVE the mountains. And this wonderful man in front of the mountains- I LOVE him too. Ben is such a great husband and father. I truly appreciate the way he works so hard to support our family. He's so supportive of homeschooling, and I'm so blessed to have him for a husband. Oh- and he's so wonderful to fix my pole, and bait my hook, and take the fish off the line so I don't have to touch it. (ok- but the cutthroat was big enough I had to touch it so I could get my pic with it!)Oh- and now the Flips:

Doodle is quite the gymnast- he was jumping on the trampoline the other night and wanted me to get a movie of him doing his backflip and landing it- so Nana and Bompa and Grandma and Grandpa could see it- So here's his Flip:

This is what makes a homeschool mom's day

When they make the jump from Reading cuz mom says I have to read every day....to Reading instead of eating their breakfast because they want to. Doodle has discovered chapter books. Bug told him he needed to read the A-Z mysteries because they were good books, and they were easy. He finished the first book- Absent Author at breakfast yesterday- and grabbed the second one- The Bald Bandit and finished it during quiet time.

More Math their way fun and games

We are still enjoying the Math their Way games. I like the hands-on element- it is especially important for Doodle who is ADHD to have a way to learn by DOING- I can talk my ear off- but if actually moves and figured it out on his own, he is much more likey to learn and remember it.

We are doing lots of graphing- I love all the ideas to graph everyday things- We graph the temperature each morning- (ok- so it's not scientific- as we don't necessarily do it at the same time each day- rofl- but rather whenever we get around to math) But rather than read the numbers- he measures how high on the thermometer the red line is- and cuts a piece of paper to match it. We tape it in our folder, and evaluate- "Last tuesday was the warmest day so far" etc.He also graphs the weather- you can't see it well in the picture- but the top line is "Sunny" the 2nd one says "Cloudy", then windy, rainy, snowy, then the bottom 2 are less than 50 degrees and greater than 50 degrees. He just places a paper square in the correct weather boxes each day- then we evaluate- "wow- there's been 3 more sunny days than cloudy days so far" or "there's the same number of days warmer than 50 as there are colder than 50"

For his Math "class" with Pam last week- he was given the assignment to graph how many birthdays there are in each month. So we got out the calendar- and he hooked chains on to the month cards- Then they compared the different months to see which month had the most birthdays, and added them all together to see how many total birthdays were on our calendar.

We are counting the days we've "done math" Doodle makes sure we have the same of craft sticks- 1 stick for each day we've done Math. (LOOK!! Another use for Craft sticks!) Then count out that SAME number of cubes, and determine whether it's an odd or even numberEach day we also add a number to our number line- counting the math days- odd numbers are yellow- even numbers are green. Multiples of 5 are circled in purple, and multiples of 10 have a orange square around them.Then we count out that same number (this day was 25) in change- Doodle found some different ways to make 25.Oh- and one more fun game from Math Their Way (This one is in their Newsletter- page 8- called Zurkle) We added our twist- and since Doodle had practiced counting by 10's he had a bunch of cubes already arranged in groups of 10. I would ring the bell, when I ring it- he adds a cube to the 1's side. When he gets 10- he connects them, and moves them to the 10's side. When I knock on the table, he adds a group of 10. Then he reads how many 10's and how many 1's he has on his chart. "5 tens and 6 ones- 56"

I left the camera sitting on the table- and found these pictures on it: