Workbox System

This week we have spent time recovering from the stomach virus. It was awful, every single one of us got sick, except daddy. Well, we are feeling great now and looking forward to doing some fun fall activities! Recently we started the Sue Patrick Workbox System. I got to tell you, it is awesome!! There are many blogs out there that explains what the system is and how it works. I'll just give you the link so you can get her e-book, because it's a must:) http://www.workboxsystem.com/

Why I like it:
1. It holds me accountable. I'm bad about not doing a lot of Preschool things with my Monkey, but this is a huge help. I can plan ahead easier and fill the workboxes up with all sorts of stuff.

2. My oldest, Bear, thinks it makes school more fun. I always seem to forget about all the neat manipulatives and games that I have to do with the boys. This helps me remember them and add them to their boxes.

3. It keeps my youngest, Puppy, busy!! Huge plus! Yes, I even do it for my 2 yr old. Most of his boxes are filled with manipulatives and toys, but our school day is so pleasant when Puppy Love is busy.

Here are some pictures of our school room and the boys:


Monkey was studying the letter "I". In this pic he is measuring his desk with inchworms.




The book center is a favorite:)

Our trip to the beach

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted! I so wish I could be like all those other wonderful homeschool bloggers that give their readers wonderful ideas and encouragement. Oh well, I haven't been blogging lately, because I have been on major overload!! Homeschooling, Co-op, family, illness, and life in general. I wouldn't have it any other way though:)

We went to the beach for vacation(a few weeks ago). It was absolutely wonderful! I'm becoming a beach person:) It's always a special place for our family. We go with my in-laws and have the best time. Last time we went I was feeling like our family just wasn't quite complete...two years later, Puppy Love:) He loved the sand and the older boys couldn't get enough of water and sand! We went sand crabbing, built sand castles and just had some really good quality time. Very special.

We've been back to school for a few weeks now. We started Sue Patricks Workbox system. Gotta say, LOVE IT! I have a shelf for each child, including Puppy, who is only 2. It is a huge help on keeping him busy while the other boys are doing their work. Monkey is still in Preschool, so this helps hold me accountable to plan things for him to do, instead of overlooking his "school". The boys love it! Bear says that is makes school fun instead of just work. :) You should check it out for yourselves http://www.workboxsystem.com/

Well, that's just some of the things going on with in our world. Here's some pics to share...

We officially started school last week! It was a great week. I'm happy to say all the curriculum seems to be working out. My Puppy Love enjoyed doing puzzles, playing with legos, and generally getting into everything. He really liked playing with his barrel of monkeys...

I have to admit I don't pull out the puzzles as often as I should with Puppy. He did well with the puzzles. Plus, he felt like a big boy doing them the same time his brothers were doing some written work.The sun is coming through the window, so the picture is a little foggy, but isn't he cute? :)

Anything that keeps his little hands busy is always a good idea, that's why I love sensory bags. This one just has ketchup and mustard in it. I used it to show the colors mixing to make orange. The older boys drew letters in it, while Puppy focused on the banging the colors together.

Books are a favorite at our house. Puppy loves the really busy ones.

This last picture is my favorite. We took a lunch break with papa. Puppy loved desert!

Ark Academy

This has been our first week of school! Monkey has done great with his work and is even doing some kindergarten work. Here's Monkey building an "A"

He really enjoys writing the letter in sensory bags...I got this ideas from this blog


The Counting Clothespin game is still a favorite

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Monkey did with a more structured day and loved this week! I plan on posting more about Puppy Love, Monday and Bear on Tuesday. I hope everyone enjoys the weekend :)

Buffalo and bumbs...

Well we are on the road to Wyoming! Still:) We have one day behind us and the boys are doing great. I wish I had some pictures to share, but I haven't had the time to download any. Right now I'm using my sister's iPad to blog, I like;) The first day we spent pretty much on the road, but the boys had fun at the hotel. The indoor pool had a waterside! They thought this was awesome. I enjoyed the Japanese steakhouse where we had supper and a late night trip to walmart and Brahms:) Shh! The boys don't know about Brahms;) Right now I'm listening to Bear play on his new harmonica, while Monkey plays on my iPod, and Puppy Love is snoozing. So far so good! Hopefully I can download some pics soon...

Almost forgot, we've seen a lot of mountains and hills, which Monkey refers to as "bumbs". I told them they are mountains and hills, and he replies with 'I like the name bumbs better' Bear thought it was cool to see buffalo and wondered if we would see more in Wyoming since it is the state mammal.

Expedition Australia

G'day mate! My boys and I have been on an adventure to the outback of Australia! If you love doing unit studies with your children, or even if you are a bit skeptical of them, you really should try out the download and go series. We have done the Expedition Australia and it was a blast. Each unit study is a week long(5days), but can easily be used as a 2-week study if you wanted to. The studies are suggested for grade K-4th grade. I have a 1st grader and pre-K and they both enjoyed this study. It had a variety of activites to do with the children and even videos to watch. My boys and I watch a video on The Great Barrier Reef and also one on koalas in the Australia Zoo. My sons loved learning different Australian words also. My monkey(pre-k son) has been asking for "lollies"(candy) all week.

I loved that all I had to do was print what I needed for the day and I was ready. A book list is also provided to go along with each day, which is great for library trips. This product offers many different themes. There is one on Amelia Earheart, Birthday, Winter Wonders, and more! The Download and Go series is put together by Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse. You can check all of the themes out on their website http://downloadngo.com/index.php You can pick one theme for $7.95 or choose to get a month, that's four different studies for $30. I thought the best things about this product is that first of all, my boys learned so much during this study. Secondly, it kept their attention! :)

Letter of the Week curriculum

They are running a contest to win this adorable curriculum for preschool. http://abcand123learning.blogspot.com/2010/03/letter-of-week-preschool-curriculum.html Hop on over to this blog and enter!

Wii Learn

This week has been a mixture of things for Monkey. I've spent most of our school time helping Bear with math. Bear has been learning a lot of new concepts this week. I was surprised that he is already learning how to carry in addition. Time flies.

Anyway, we have been doing a Digital Photography Unit by Amanda Bennett, this month. I'm really enjoying it and Bear has gotten a lot out of it. Although I was surprised at how much Monkey has enjoyed it also! I was able to give him our old digital camera to take some pictures of different things. One day I gave him an assignment to take a picture of something that was white. I just knew he would pick snow...

...instead he choose the Wii-mote. He even carefully laid it on the floor to make a better view. (which he learned from his big brother) Another day, we were visiting my mom and she gave the boys new legos! The boys had a lot of fun putting the Ben10 character together. Luckily I had a camera with me for Monkey to borrow :)

It has been really neat to see what the boys enjoy. This unit has helped me see things through their eyes.

Terrific "Twos"Day

Tonight we went over to a friend's house for some yummy, homemade chili. The boys enjoyed playing with her son. Of course little Puppy Love had to be right in the action :) He was a little cranky today though.

My wonderful, practically perfect husband gave me an Ipod Touch! The boys have had a lot of fun playing the apps I downloaded to it. Bear did some Math drills on it today and Monkey traced some letters. I was amazed by all the free applications for the Ipod! I've been playing Words With Friend off and on all day :)

Well not much to share in the Terrific Two department today. We didn't do any fun learning activities today. I haven't felt good all day, barely managed to get Bear's school done! The highlight of our day was definitely eating supper at our friend's house!

Snow, love, and generousity

Well, this week has been slow in the preschool department. But, we have been enjoying the snow! Yesterday we built snow castle and had a snow ball fight, but the pictures were taking with my sisters camera, so no pics. We have done a lot of fun stuff this month so I'll just give you an overview. We made winter bingo: http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/w-i-n-t-e-r-bingo-675087/ This was a lot of fun for everyone. Bear was able to spell the words and Monkey was able to search for the letter, Puppy just enjoyed eating the marshmallows. We also spelled words with Alphabet Cereal

Here's Monkey enjoying the snow.


Here's Monkey working with Bear on making a "Blessings Box". This is a craft idea I got from a family devotional book we are using. We put money in the box throughout the month and at the end of the month we choose someone we want to bless. The person receives a small token of love from the boys :)

Terrific "Twos"day

I'm going to be blogging every Tuesday about my little Puppy Love. He's not officially two yet, but since he already acts like a 'terrific two' I figured, why not? The hardest time of the day to keep him busy is when his older brothers are working on their handwriting. So, that is usually when I give him markers, play dough or anything I can think of:) One day nothing seemed to be working. In the first picture you can see the look he gave me when I gave him his markers and pencils. He played nice for the camera in the second picture:) Finally (after he made it clear he wasn't going to be satisfied with what I gave him) I gave him a pencil sharpener to go with his colored pencils. I didn't think he would even be able to turn the pencils correctly to sharpen them, but he surprised me:) He is now the official pencil sharpener, my little teacher's assistant. If there are any parents out there with terrific twos, please share some of your ideas for these little busy kiddos. I'm trying to figure out how to get it set up so you can link up.....

Ark Academy

Wow...it's been a long time since I've blogged. Life has been very busy. Plus, I have been horrible about managing my time. I love to be organized, but unfortunately The Container Store doesn't have anything to help me put all of the things that take up my time into pretty little boxes.

I have had a lot on my mind, like I said we've been pretty busy. One of the biggest things that my family has been going through is attitudes. Big, bad, ugly attitudes! Not just from the kids either:( We ended up taking a whole week off of academics and focused on Bible studies and doing things together, trying to get our focus back where it should be. I LOVE that I am able to do this! How awesome is it that we can focus a whole week on Bible, or anything for that matter. In fact, today I helped Bear with his math cuddled under a blanket, while it was sleeting outside. Home school has it's ups and downs, but I sure do love the ups! :)

I've blogged quite some time ago about naming our school. We named it Excalibur Academy. This is a great name, I think, but the boys were having trouble even saying it, plus we are just really needing a fresh start. A new beginning for our school. So *drum roll* Ark Academy it is! Ark stand for Armor of Righteous Knights. You see, my knight and I are raising little modern day knights. That is why we went with a Medieval theme to begin with, but it's not just because we think knights are cool, we want them to become righteous men. Men willing and desiring to stand firm in Christ. Plus, the name Ark is also in memory of our son Todd. We did his nursery in the Noah's Ark theme and everytime I see something Noah's ark I think of him. The past few years I've struggled with God not giving me a specific ministry, kind-of in memory of Todd or an outlet for my loss. All along my ministry was staring at me in the face. My family, my children.

I don't have any pictures to share this time...that's one of the things my knight will be doing this weekend :)But soon I'm going to be making some changes to my blog and also blogging more often :) Have a great weekend!