Where happy little Bluebirds Fly...♥ and so can I ♥

Remember this book from last weeks read alouds? Well we read it but didn't get a chance to do much with it, so I kept it for this week. We re-read the book and studied the amazing illustrations. While listening to the cd of music included with the book, the kids painted rainbows. They were told to mimic the painting style used in the book, I think they did a great job! 

The Art Gallery

by S

by B

by C

by T

by L

they all picked out their favorite aspects of the illustrations to use.  Bright bold rainbows on teal skys, glittery stars, smiling moons, soaring bluebirds and wispy clouds.

the Artists hard at work:

if we have time later today we will be painting with watercolors, for our book The Odious Ogre

Cuneiform

I am back from an amazing womens retreat and feeling great! (wish I could say the same about my hubby who has a cold and my kiddos who are not listening well today...)
Today we studied Mesopotamia, the Sumerians,  and Cuneiform. Some times I wonder if the kids are really listening to me when I read our history book??? They have a hard time sitting still and never seem to be paying attention, but they can always answer my questions at the end.

So AnyWho...being  wedFUNday we had to do something fun with our history, so cuneiform tablets it was :)
I couldn't find any real cuneiform letters that were translated from us to copy, so we made our own!

a real cuneiform tablet

Our tablets:

autumn fun

After enjoying one of our read alouds on fall leaves we went on a nature walk.

 Our book talked about different shaped leaves, above the kids found "spiky" leaves 

L found a leaf made up of 5 leaflets 

Picking out the best leaves to do some leaf rubbings :) 

And the art showcase.......

I remember doing rubbings like this in school when I was a kid, always a fun break from math or english :) 

the kiddos seemed to really enjoy the time to be artistic! 

where in the world are the matz monkeys?

Ah, the hectic joys of being a homeschooler :) So where in the world (school) have we been? We have been studying the Sun, Noah and the flood, making art collages, watching fiddler on the roof, with a little math, grammar and phonics thrown in.
I have been researching how to teach a right-brained thinker....this year is full of new experiences. The world of APD (audio processing disorder) Dyslexia and Dysgraphia is cloudy and hard to grasp. So many claim to have just the right program to help my kids.... How do I know which really is the right one? Well, it will be through trail and error, with lots of prayer. We are starting HERE .  Hopefully our new reading program will be here soon. At this point I am totally up for suggestions, does anyone know what I should be doing???

Well, in the mean time, we have been learning! The boys just mastered the first level of Hooked on Phonics for this year, L just mastered a whole grade level of math and is excited to move on, She also decoded and read a book for her ES yesterday.....a tough feat for a kids with APD, she is SOOO proud :)

S had a sick day yesterday and in between naps had fun making collages with found objects.

T is working on a timeline of Noah and the flood

we started a timeline for this years Mystery of History, not quite a masterpiece, but we are having fun :)

We are enjoying the solar system with Apologia, currently we are studying the Sun

I am determined to make this year fun for all of the kids. I cried for 2 days after getting L and S tested for learning disabilities, then I woke up and realized that God didn't make a mistake on either of them, the are perfectly how he created them, and just how I love them! I never want them to feel dumb or behind, just loved, nurtured and creative. Seriously what could be better than being a right-brained thinker :) 

Moon Sand in the Garden of Eden

I went to the store to buy some play-dough for our history project {making Adam, and then using his side to make Eve} I had the play-dough in my cart....and then I spied moon sand! I thought...."how cool, sand! Just like "the dust of the earth" that Adam was formed from......" and the package claimed..."no mess, easy to clean up, tons of fun" I was hooked :) 

Well, its not as mess free as it claims, and its crazy hard to form {which in itself went well with the lesson, we are not God, so forming a man from sand should be hard for us :)} 

So the kiddos had a blast.... and the mess cleaned up fairly fast! While, if given the choice of moon sand or play-dough on my next shopping spree I would go with the latter, though moon sand was a great choice for todays lesson!

Here's Dad reading to us Genesis 2-3 while the kiddos make man

Taylor and her People

Benny's people and their garden (see the flowers)

CJs people

Grace's people, and her messy hands :)

Lizzie's people, standing on the serpent :)

Go buy your kids some moon sand!