Off to a Good Start

Well, Monday was the day. The dreaded day after any extended vacation--First Day Back to School. So far, any time we have taken some time off, the next day back at school is one of those days that I want to pluck my nose hairs out for fun. Sunday as I planned lessons and refamiliarized myself with curriculum I began to pray, "Dear Lord, help me to endure." We had a family pep talk Sunday night, which actually went very well. I explained that, "If you will get up, get ready for school and come with a good attitude then we can probably get done earlier than usual and we can have fun while we work. On the flip side, if we get up and you come with a bad attitude and drag your feet, the day will be torture and the length of school will be long also there will be no fun." This sounds simple enough but we have had this kind of pep talk before and to no avail. But I could tell this pep talk had not fallen on deaf ears and a pleasant, "I choose the first option." was the response. So we woke up on time Monday morning and had a great breakfast together and began. We were finished by 1:30 and we had a spectacular day! Praise the Lord!

There are a couple of things that I received for or around Christmas that I am very exctied about; things we are going to use in the classroom.

1) The Oregon Scientific Interactive Globe. This thing is coolio! My grandfather bought us this and it is going to very beneficial in the classroom. It is a globe that comes with a smart pen (kindof like a stylus) that you can use to touch different countries, cities, etc. and depending on what mode you are in it will give you the facts, info that you desire in clear spoken english or spanish! It has geography games that help students identify capitals, world leaders, currency, weather. The smart pen connects to your computer so it has the most updated and recent information. It will even tell you current events around the world! The kids love it and so do I.

2) Alabama History Curriculum State History from a Christian Perspective. I received information about this curriculum while at the Homeschool Curriculum Fair in Birmingham and I think it is going to be great. Because Andrew is in fourth grade, he needs Alabama History and so I had already decided that we would begin in January. I did not decide on this curriculum because it is from a christian perspective, however. I chose it because of its design. It is a hands on approach to history complete with a project notebook and internet research ideas. We will be gluing, cutting and coloring as we learn very interesting facts about our state. It even comes with extension ideas for field trips and research papers. They also have a workbook for Alora that coincides with Andrew's just on her level, so we are all learning about our state. I love it. There is one for every state in the U.S if you are interested. Website: http://www.statehistory.net/

Disclaimer: When I said that I did not choose it because its title claims its christian perspective I want you to understand that I am not one of those people who only buys her kids literature and curriculum if it claims its christian. I wish it wasn't so, but some things in our world that claim to be christian are not and some curriculum that claims to be christian is only slapping a random verse of scripture ripped of its context at the top of a text page and boom--its christian. I am thankful that the christian curriculum I have chosen to incorporate in the classroom is great, including this Alabama History Curriculum, but I just didnt want you to think that I grab everything that bears the label. I don't!

3) Rosetta Stone Spanish Edition Level 1- Woo hoo! This has been on my wishlist since we started school and I am pumped about having it. Thank you, Mimi and Bibi! This stuff is powerful. We are going to learn us some spanish! It comes with the software, and with its own microphone and headset. The whole teaching method is just awesome and you would just have to check out the website to understand all that it will do. Why Spanish? Well, I looked around and said, "Wow! There sure are alot of spanish speaking individuals around!" I am not one to complain about how many non-english speaking people are around these days. One of my great friends speaks spanish and teaches ESL in the public schools and has discovered that much of her job is to be an advocate on their behalf. I want my children to know about other cultures and value other societies. Learning a foreign language is just one of the ways to expose them to other peoples. It is also highly beneficial in learning our own language.