Colonial Girl

Last week, to end our Felicity(Colonial Times) study, we made a Colonial meal. Maddy made a straw hat with flowers and a ribbon to wear. She was reluctant to wear it to eat, but I got a picture atleast. Felicity has a horse named Penny and when we were in Rite Aid, Maddy spoted a "Penny". She looked up at me with those sad eyes and said, "Can I have this?" We really don't buy her too much throughout the year, besides candy at the check out line, and since she has to "wait a whole year which isn't fair" (her words) for her birthday, I bought it for her.
We made chicken pudding, sweet potatoes and apples, sugar cookies, and of course..tea! Our tea had a little Southern touch with a cup of sugar, but we pretended it was unsweet! ; ) Maddy helped make a good bit of the food. She's getting to be a really good cook! I might get to retire from kitchen duties early if she keeps this up! The chicken pudding was delicious! When I read the recipe, I didn't think it would be good, but it was REALLY good! Maddy and Ryan said the sweet potatoes and apples were good too! Of course the sugar cookies were good! We topped them with extra sugar and nutmeg, so who could resist that? ; )
Enjoy the picture of our "little Lady!"

An American Girl and Cake Decorating

We've been really busy lately! Maddy has dove deep into the American Girl pool! We studied Kaya last month. Kaya is the fictional character that represents the Native American tribe called the "Nimiipu" or as we know them, the "Nez Perce." We made a lapbook about Kaya and some things that happened in her time (1764).

This month, we're studying about Felicity. Felicity is a fictional character that represents the American Revolution. The stories are set in 1774. Felicity is a Patriot, and her best friend, Elizabeth is a Loyalist. Maddy's learned a lot about the Colonial Times. She is really facinated with this historical era. We plan on making some crafts from Felicity's time this week. I think we'll make a quill and some homemade walnut ink, or maybe berry ink. We'll be working on Felicity's lapbook this week as well. On Saturday, we'll have a feast! Maddy will be making all of the food, with my supervision of course! She'll make chicken pudding, green beans, sweet potatoes and apples, bread, sugar cookies, and of course....tea! All of the recipes are from the Felicity cookbook, and the dishes will represent what they ate back in her time. I'm really looking forward to it! I think we'll have Ryan clean the kitchen for us afterwards! ; )

We went to a cake decorating class through our co-op last week. Maddy did a great job! She made a Clemson Tiger cake, although the tiger paw was pink! ; ) She had a lot of fun, so that's what counts.

She's been doing really well in math, reading, and writing. She is still such a self motivated learner, and I am so thankful!
In math, she is now counting by 10's and 5's, telling time (not just on a digital clock..lol), adding, some subtracting, and counting money. We play games where I'll find things throughout the house and put a price tag on them. She will carry her money around, and buy those things from me. She loves it!
In reading, well, she's far exceeded her age in this. She has a passion for reading, and she has really taken off with it. She loves to sit and read to her little sister.
In writing, she's now learned to write all of her capital and lowercase letters in cursive. She never ceases to amaze me with her writing skills!

She got her first B about 2 weeks ago. Up until now, she has gotten A+ on everything. She was a little disappointed in herself, but I let her know that B's are good too! She didn't concentrate on one of her test, and I guess that's what happens when you don't..you miss a few. : ) I'm so proud of her and the little lady she's becomming!

Until next time....here are some pictures of her work.

Time to Update

WOW...Time has flown by us, and I haven't had much time to update this blog!

Maddy is now writing her name in cursive! YAY! I didn't know if she'd be able to do it, but now I know not to ever underestimate a child! It looks really good too! She's learned all of the cursive letters and is now working on connecting them.

In math, we're up to 100. She can count past that, but we're working on recognizing the numbers. She is working on counting by 10's this week. She knows to name all of the fathers of each family to count by 10's. She's doing really well with telling time too! I realized the other day that all but one of our clocks are digital, so I guess I need to go out and buy a good old fashioned clock for her!

Her reading is getting better by the day. She now wakes up in the morning and grabs a book off the shelf and reads it word for word. She's been reading some things in the newspaper, and she loves to read billboards. Some are better than others!! There are some that I wish she would just not see, but she doesn't miss a thing!

She's really wrapped up in this Presidential election! When I was 5, I don't think I knew who the president was! She floors me when she talks about who she is voting for, and why. I'm gonna take her to the poll with me tomorrow and let her proudly hit the McCain button that she has been anxiously awaiting to push for quite some time now.

Our Keepers Club is going great. This week we made a cobbler, and then we went out and bought the ingredients to bake another one at home with daddy! We made a strawberry cobbler and Maddy did it all by herself. The only thing we helped her with was putting it in the oven. She's working on her baking badge, and she has to bake 2 more things from scratch. She's picked a cake and cookies, so we'll be working on those soon. Lord knows my hips are gonna grow a mile wide while she works on earning those badges!! : )

Keepers Club

Today was the first day of our new Keepers Club. Basically what the Keepers Club is, is pretty much a Christian version of Girl Scouts. It teaches young girls how to be good stewards of the Lord, and how to grow up and be Godly wives, and hopefully someday, mothers.

Instead of our normal "co-op" we chose to do the Keepers Club this year, and it went very well today. They have to do different things to earn their badges, and some stuff will be done during the Club meetings, and some stuff will be done at home. For instance, Maddy has to learn to bake things such as cakes and cobblers from scratch. She's really looking forward to that, but me...um...what's a cobbler?! LOL! My goal is to take her to my grandma's house when she has to do some of the baking, and let her bake with her granny! I think it would be so special for Maddy, and for granny. It's something that she will probably remember all of her life, and I know it will bless granny in a big way to be able to be a part of this.

The kids are now working on their etiquette badges. All of the kids were given different assignments relating to etiquette to do before the next club meeting. Maddy's assignment was to learn how to use her manners while in different places, such as a restaurant and Church. At our next club meeting, she will have to demonstrate the proper manners she has learned about.

If anyone is looking for some extra things to do with their kids, this Keepers book is excellent. It's called Keepers of the Faith. http://www.keepersofthefaith.com/
I love it, because not only will she learn new things, but I think our relationship will grow stronger and we will form bonds that will last forever. I'm really looking forward to taking this journey with her!

Back from Disney, and back at it!

We're back from Disney World. If you want to read about our trip, visit my other blog at www.thekouvolohouse.blogspot.com

We started back to school on Monday, and Maddy has picked right back up where she ended. I thought we'd have a bit of a transition time, but she's doing great.

So, this week...
We've learned about David and Goliath in our Bible lessons. This is one of Maddy's favorite Bible stories.

She had another test on Tuesday in Math, and another A+ under her belt! Way to go, Maddy! Math is still a review for her, and we've been working more on the value of different coins.

In Reading and Writing, she has learned to write cursive r, and cursive f. I wish my camera wasn't broken so I could let you all see her writing. She is doing so well....probably better than her mama at cursive! LOL! Her reading is continuing to improve, and she loves to read labels at the grocery store, and billboards. She gets so happy when she can read things.

In Social Studies, we've learned about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington Carver this week, as well as the Statue of Liberty. She can tell you that George Washington led our army to fight for our freedom and became the first president of the United States. She can also tell you that Abraham Lincoln was our sixteenth president and how he worked hard, and how George Washington Carver taught people better ways to grow crops and how he made different foods and soap from peanuts, and syrup and fluor from sweet potatoes. I am learning right there beside her. I flat out stink at history, so I'm glad that I have a book to go by, and it's fun to learn new things with Maddy! Next week we'll be learning about a few countries and the children who live all over the world. I'm looking forward to that!

So, all is well on the homefront!

Week 8 almost to a close!

So this is week 8 of Kindergarten, and Maddy is doing great!
Today she had a test in reading, and made an A+! She has gotten every answer right on every test so far, and I am soooo proud of her! And just in case anyone is wondering, no, she is not allowed to cheat! LOL! I can't believe someone asked me that the other day! To let her cheat would be to cheat her, and myself. In no way shape or form will I ever let her cheat. I guess that's one misconception about homeschooling from ignorant people who know no better.
She is continuing to improve her cursive writing, and can tell you everything you need to know about Christopher Columbus. He's one historical figure that seems to have stuck in her mind so far.
Monday in Social Studies she learned about Eskimos, today we took it to a different climate and learned about Hawaii, and tomorrow we'll have a lesson on our American Flag.
We've got one more day of school and then we are Disney Bound!!! Maddy's been counting down the days every morning, and reminds me several times during the day! So this will be my last blog entry for a while, until we get back. So, I'll close with one of my favorite sayings...
*TV: If children are so entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with 26! Open your child's imagination. Open a book!*

Catching up with K5!

One part of our school room. Not quiet sure what kind of grin that is!
Her cursive s, and her first word in cursive (sit).
Her cursive h!

So today marks the first day of school for all public, and most private schooled kids. Maddy and I have been going full force with K5 for 6 full weeks and just started our 7th week yesterday. We wanted to start early and get a head start on things, but I'm not sure if we'll do that again next year. We do love our summers, and summers in our area have so much to offer (free summer movies, swim time at the Y, etc). We'll be taking all of December and all of June off this time, but we'll probably not start 1st grade until fall time next year.


So, to catch up on what we've been doing so far...
We start each day with prayer and a Bible lesson. Maddy reads the Bible story from her Bible, and I ask her questions about the story when she's done. We're doing Math, Reading/handwriting, Unit studies, Social studies, and Readiness skills.
So far, she has learned to write a,b,e,h,i,l,m,n,o,s,t, and u, all in cursive! She's doing great with cursive writing. I was a bit skeptical to teach cursive to her this early, but Maddy is a very fast learner, and can be shown something once, and then she has it! She knocked my socks off last year when she learned how to read on a 2nd grade level! I was so scared to teach her to read, because I didn't know how to approach it! I bought a book that I will be forever grateful for...*Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons*. That was my lifesaver! If anyone has a child who is struggling to read, or if you want to go ahead and teach your child before they start school, I cannot give this book enough outstanding reviews! She's also learned the vowels as well.

In Math, we have been learning about the "Teen family", and how 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18, and 19 are all members of the teen family, and 10 is the *father* of the teen family. We've also been doing some simple addition, and Maddy loves to play the game called War! It's where we both get a stack of cards and there is an addition problem on each card. Whoever has the greatest total, wins that round. We've done some work with telling time, and she can tell the "o'clocks" and the ":30" but we're waiting until we learn to count by 5's to teach the rest.

Last week we did an Olympic study, because it's Olympic time! Maddy's been able to stay up a bit later than usual and watch the Olympics with us. Our craft last week was a balance beam made from craft sticks, and the gymnast was made from a pipe cleaner! This week, we're learning about space shuttles!

In Social Studies, we've learned about different kinds of communities, and the workers of a community. Last week we did some government and she learned that the Mayor is the leader of our city, the governor is the leader of our state, and the President is the leader of our country. She also learned about North, East, South, and West. We've been talking about Christopher Columbus this week as well.

The Readiness Skills book is just simple hands-on stuff, such as mazes, cutting and pasting, drawing, and coloring. She enjoys doing things out of this book. Her favorite craze now is crossword puzzles and word searches. She still needs help with crossword puzzles, but she's getting really good at word searches!

We're leaving for Disney World next Thursday, so we'll do M-W, and then we'll be taking two weeks off! We don't take breaks for in-service days or anything else, like public schools do, so we've definitely earned our vacation time!