A few of her favourite things

At our homeschool co-op last month, I was in charge of the lapbook activities. We were studying the book 'The Night of the Moonjellies' , and in it there is a little boy who works at a foodstand with his Grandma. I decided to simulate a restaurant with the kids, and we did many activities including playing different roles in a restaurant (hostess, server, cook), and making our own menus. Can you guess what Noelle's favourite foods are? Notice the price tag as well....clearly a really classy restaurant:)

my big reader

Noelle has been keeping track of her reading on a chart and writing down the books she's read, and she finished her first chart! We are so proud of her, and are amazed at the progress she is making. Way to go sweetheart!

a great game

We just got back from a lovely holiday, and while we were at my Auntie and Uncle's house we played Bananagrams. What a fun game! The kids had fun just playing with the letters and spelling words, too. I went to Target and was going to buy it, but when I came to the till it didn't scan, so the guy gave it to me for $1.99!!! I think it should have been more like $14.99. Even at $14.99, I think it is worth the investment. We played for quite a while, and had tons of fun!

symmetry

Check out the symmetry in this building Noelle made...all on her own! She is a very good architect!

and the learning continues...

We've been having a lot of fun around here with learning...especially learning to read! Noelle is doing awesome, and gaining tons of confidence. Tonight she read me a 27 page book (which took probably 40 minutes) and she didn't give up or get frustrated! I'm so proud of her:)
Elliott is learning lots too, and continues to amaze us with what he all knows and can do. We're so proud of both of you!

My little Reader

When we first began this homeschooling journey, I think I was the most stressed about teaching Noelle to read. Somehow, that just felt like a daunting task....reading is such a big deal!
We started off the year quite structured, and have slowly found our groove in a less-structured approach. Still doing workbooks, but not focusing on that kind of learning all the time. I bought a set of very early reading books, which were at reading levels A B and C. We gave Noelle a little motivation (a new book for her Leapfrog Tag Reader) each time she would read all of the books in a level. Prior to this, she really didn't want to pay much attention to sitting down and reading, she just wanted me to read the stories.
Well, she really shocked us! I still can hardly believe it, but she is reading!!!! She finished levels A and B books, and is now working on C. She is remembering a lot of the funny things about learning the English language, like how 'y' makes an 'eee' sound at the end of a word, which letters are often silent, etc. I am amazed at what a little bit of motivation can do! What a fun feeling it is for Ty and I to have been able to be a part of this learning process...I wouldn't trade it for anything:)
We are sooooo proud of you Noelle!

Recent Creations

Noelle's drawing of 'The Cat in the Hat'.  Notice the fish in the bowl balancing on the rake in one hand and the dish and cup on his head?  She is quite the little artist, and is so detailed.  She's been saying lately that she wants to be an artist when she grows up:)

One of the things I love about homeschooling is that learning happens at any time...not at set times.  This morning all the kids were in my bed and for some reason we were talking about what 'ing' sounds like.  Noelle went to the table and came up with this!  I am starting to realize more and more that I enjoy less structure, and just going with the flow.  My kids, especially Noelle, seem to respond so much better to this approach!

 Working in our Franklin addition books, creating an addition chart. 

One evening we decided to make bird puppets...they turned out so beautiful!