iPhone for Homeschoolers

I am the proud owner of an iPhone 3gs.  I know, I know, I am so behind on technology.  Probably most of you have had one for a while.  But since the new release of the iPhone4, the 3g and 3gs versions have really come down in price and we were finally able to afford a 3gs. (being a one income family, we have to fore-go some things and the latest in technology is most usually it.)  Anyway, I have been blown away by the wonderful educational apps that are available.  I've only had my new phone for 3 weeks, but I have already discovered many things that is helpful in teaching my daughter in a fun way at home, or when we need to fill some time in the car, at a restaurant or the doctors office.  The following is great for beginning math and word recognition.  It is called  "Teach me kindergarten."  Another App that I downloaded is "Sight Words".  This is 300 of the most frequently used words in the English language.  You can flag which words you want your child to study.  There are one letter, two letter, three letter and four letter words.  Also if you are just now teaching your child to tell time, I found a wonderful app called "Jungle Time".  It is a cute little animal face clock that starts with hourly increments and then goes to half hours and quarter hours when you tell it you are ready.  These are just a few that I have found really helpful with a kindergartner and I have seen many more apps for the more advanced student.  I can't wait to see what else there is to help me bring in some fun to our homeschool.

Backyard Nature Walk

A few days ago my daughter and I went on a morning nature walk in our yard. (we live out in a very rural area.) We spied a wild rabbit nibbling on grass in our backyard. So, we sat down and was very quiet and watched it for a long time, and I was able to snap a few pictures.

 Then about a week later we were walking on another morning nature walk in our yard and we saw a beautiful hawk in a pine tree in our front yard.  I snapped a picture of the hawk before it flew away. (I guess it was camera shy.) Then I immediately reviewed the picture on my camera and zoomed in on the hawk and to my surprise he had breakfast clutched in his talons. (possibly our little rabbit that we saw the week before.)

 Before we started doing our nature walks as part of our homeschool I would have never believed all of the activity that goes on in our own yard!

It's Been Awhile!

I have slacked off on my blogging for about a month or so and I think it's time to get back to it. My daughter was sick for a week, then I was sick for a while. It took me nearly a month to feel back to normal.
Anyway, The end of the school year is upon us and I am in the process of trying to evaluate my 5 year old to see where we stand after our first year of homeschool. Luckily I have a homeschool supply store, Rock Solid about 20 miles away, so I will be taking a trip tomorrow to pick up a Kindergarten Diagnostic Prescriptive Assessment packet. I think we have done pretty well, however we may need to do some work through the Summer. Although she officially isn't supposed to start Kindergarten until this next school year. I felt she was ready and so we started slow, but she has really done well. (the evaluation will tell us for sure where we stand.)
Now I get to start the fun of searching for the curriculum that we will be using for next school year. I already have so many ideas about what I want to use. But I don't have enough money to get all the things I want. A good site that has some wonderful curriculum is Queen Homeschool Supplies. I could spend a lot of money on this site, but of course I have to stick to a budget.
I have heard wonderful things about "The Story of the World", so I think I may get it. I found a wonderful deal at a local used book store, Chamblin BookMine, of the Activity workbook for "The Story of the World". I couldn't pass it up at 1/2 price. I will keep you updated with what curriculum I end up using for next year.

Tomorrow will be a better day

It is 11:00PM and I have been sitting here praying and crying, asking God to PLEASE help me with my 5 1/2 year old daughter. Today, we have been butting heads. She has become so disrespectful towards me. She actually told me "NO" several times today and has tried to tell me what to do all day long. Today, in anger I told her "I guess you don't need a Mommy anymore because you have all the answers!" Which then she proceeded to cry and I felt like doo doo. I need to learn to send myself for a time-out and just get control of myself before I talk to my child who is making me angry.
I would say this is a stage, except she’s been battling me since the day she could talk. But I think I asked for it…when I found out I was having a girl, I asked God to give me a strong, independent daughter, who never doubted herself, and could stand on her own two feet. Some say God has a sense of humor! *wink* Although we battle from time to time, I love her so much and thank God daily for the gifts he has given me.
When I first made the decision to home school I knew we were going to have bad days occasionally, but today was an all day event. From the moment we woke up to the time my daughter went to bed we have been going at it. After my daughter went to bed I sat on the couch and prayed and cried and felt lead to go to my daughter's room and comfort her and let her know that I love her and that tomorrow will be a better day. She hugged me and told me that she loved me and I cried a little more while we snuggled for a few minutes. I can definitely say that while I am schooling my daughter, God is also schooling me. He is trying to teach me patience, unselfishness and understanding, but at the same time to stand firm on what I know that he has called me to do, and that is love her and bring her up in His ways. And yes, tomorrow WILL BE a better day.

Pure Imagination

This song just makes me want to be a kid again and the images are just beautiful. The new commercial that has this song in it prompted me to look it up on youtube. Just sit back, turn up your speakers, relax and enjoy it. :)

Fingerprint Art

About 2 weeks ago I saw that the by Little Hands blog was using Ed Emberly's Complete funprint Drawing Book.
I am always looking for fun art or craft ideas to try out with my daughter. So I clicked on over to Amazon.com and found a used one for around $4.00.  I received the book last week and I decided to use it on Friday as my daughter's Art/Craft time.  We had SOOO much fun!

This is my five year old's fingerprint artwork.

 

Even Mama got in on the action. I think I had more fun with it then she did.

This is the cover of the book. He also has other Fingerprint books that are a little more advanced.

Mommytography

Woohoo!!  I am the winner of a free "Mommytography 101" online class from the Work of HeART and Soul blog.  I am so excited! I love taking pictures of my family and our homeschooling life but I would love to have more of a professional look to them. If you are interested in taking a Mommytography class, just click on the button below.