Our first unit study is finished!

We just wrapped up our Home and Family unit study. I can't believe this month has already passed and I'm just so excited about what we have ALL learned in this first month of "school".

Kids:

Topical Learning:
- Relationship between Mommy/Daddy, Child/Parents, Parents/Grandparents, Child/Child, etc.
- Other familial relationships
- We have another brother who's coming very soon!
- Jesus is God's Son. We can be children of God through believing in Jesus.
- Our address
- Details about our home
- Our heart is Jesus' home when we believe in Him
- Being good stewards of our home and things
- We need to be thankful and kind to our neighbors

Practical Learning:
- Sitting and listening
- Cutting (greatly improved Mal's Fine Motor Skills!)
- Gluing
- Following a pattern/instruction
- Following a schedule
- Creating art

Me (and Patrick)
- Patience!
- Schedules cannot always be adhered to, but are very, very useful
- Little things can make a BIG difference
- Persistence is key

There are definitely more things I can add to this list!!! This week, we're going over the days of the week, calendars, seasons, etc. in preparation in talking about our unit study in October of Fall and Harvest. We'll have lots of hands on activities this month, like looking at apples and pumpkins, disecting both, how things grow, how leaves change, etc. I'd like to do more nature stuff, but we'll see how much my overly-large-and-pregnant self can take. We're all having a great time and I'm thankful that God has given me the desire to do this...and Patrick the desire to support me and be interested in what we're doing. There's little else more beautful than watching the mind of a child learn.

Pictures from September:

Some preschool stuff.

I've really enjoyed doing some preschool work with the kids. It's really not that hard; it just takes a little forthought and planning. My plan is to do preschool 3 days a week and the other 2 are meant for errands, storytime (at library...or Barnes and Noble if the library doesn't start up soon!), and dr appts. So far, we've had 2 days and the kids really liked having my undivided attention, more than anything, I think.

I've broken our "schooling" into 3, 20-30 minute timeframes. The first is a lesson/book time, where we'll talk about things that we're learning and read stories to reiterate my point. Next is a video (30 minutes) and then we do a project that incorporates math, phonics that supports what we've learned. If I can, I'll add some FMS (fine motor skills) activities in the project to help Mallory, who I think has weak FMS. She's already greatly improved in cutting in the two days we've worked on it! The last 30 minutes will be a craft/activity that is more fun than anything...and doesn't require my assistance, like coloring, stickers, puzzles, additional FMS work, etc. The first day, our project lasted an hour, but the kids sat there and were GREAT! I was very impressed!

The first day, we read Col. 3:20 (one of our Sept theme verses), talked about who their parents are (mommy/daddy, mother/father, full names, etc) and that God called parents to be an authority over them. We read books about mommies and daddies. Our project included cutting, gluing, counting, color sorting, and reading. They also matched activities that mommy/daddy do to the appropriate role (Daddy - office, tractor, plays, bible, etc; Mommy - cooks, laundry, play, pray, etc). The second day, we read Col 3:20 again, talked about who children were (Mallory/Ethan, son/daughter, child/children, brother/sister) and that God called children to obey mommy and daddy in order to please Jesus. We read books about children and brothers/sisters. Our project was similar to day #1, but included matching roles to the appropriate child (Mallory - girl, sister, daughter, child, obey; Ethan - boy, brother, son, child, obey). Their projects are on our pantry door (for now) and they both look at them often and talk about what they've learned.

We're also reading out loud at the breakfast table each morning. After I read, I ask them what they hear (without prompting them to the WHAT) and it's so cool for me to hear what they glean. I'm reading each book/reading at least 2 days in a row. So far, we've read "The Little Engine that Could" and the Westminster Shorter Catechism for Children (Questions 1-20).

Anyway, that's a brief summary. We take Wed and Thurs off and start again on Fri. We'll be learning about the baby in mommy's belly, looking at ultrasound pics, and creating finger-paint art to hang in his room. Should be fun!

Pics: