homeschoolers and college

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free books to download

Progressive Phonics

update

Well...we are sill waiting for Roy to finish with our class room, so we've been sort of winging it around here lately. It's a bit more frustrating, to not have things in their places and so forth...but we are reading our books and just having fun playing.

The kids started at Litle Gym last week and had their second class this week already and are loving it. It is such a great program. They work on different age appropriate tasks, like taking turns, sharing, following directions and so forth as they learn their cartwheels and handstands. If you want to check them out, don't forget to tell them that I sent you...lol.

food for the journey

"Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my joy and my delight."
--Psalms 43: 3-4

Everywhere I turn I hear kids grumbling about going back to school and parents excited about getting them out of the house.

Lord, may we all embrace our calling today and delight fully in the joy of God.

dance and gymnastics

Little Gym in Woburn

We started dance class on Saturday and will be starting gymnastics tomorrow...ok...is this 'overkill'? I guess we'll wait and see...if anything, we might end up dropping the Saturday morning dance class since that takes quite a chunk of time from the family (they are each in seperate classes).

first day of school

It was a few weeks ago...but I didn't have a chance to post until now.

classroom renovation

Roy is finally finishing up the room downstairs that we have been using for our classroom. Here is a 'before' picture.

Happy Birthday Mary!

"Mary's Birthday Cake

All children love birthday cakes -- so today, let's make a birthday cake for the Blessed Virgin Mary. A white layer cake or angel food cake would be appropriate, with white icing and blue icing for trim (white is a symbol of purity; blue symbolizes fidelity, and is a color especially used for Mary). We suggest letting the children help with the decorations, if possible. If you have a small statue of Mary, it could be placed in the center of the cake, which can be surrounded by 10 candles -- one for each "Hail Mary" prayer in a decade of the Rosary. (If you don't have a little statue, you can write Mary's name on the cake in blue icing.)

At the end of the evening meal, each child could take turns lighting the 10 candles as the whole family prays together a "Hail Mary" for each candle, ending with the Lord's Prayer.

If the children are too young to light candles, mother could light the candles, then the adults could pray one Hail Mary at the end, just before the cake is cut. After eating the birthday cake, the prayer below could be said (this prayer, the concluding prayer from "Matins" of the Divine Office, could also be said with the children at bedtime).

Lord God,
the day of our salvation dawned
when the Blessed Virgin gave birth to your Son.
As we celebrate her nativity
grant us your grace and your peace.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen."

Birth of Mary

A Prayer for a New School Year

"Spirit of God, fill our hearts with a desire to seek truth and rejoice in beauty. Help us to know what is pleasing to you and to understand what is right and good in your sight. Give us the spirit of learning that we may please you by our thoughts and love you in your creation. Give all teachers your constant encouragement and guide them in their good work. Spirit of God, make us effective witnesses of your truth to all whose lives we touch. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen."

Legacy of an Adopted Child

Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.

Two different lives shaped to make you one. One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it. The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name. One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears. One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.

One sought for you a home that she could not provide. The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.

And now you ask me, through your tears, the age-old question unanswered through the years. Heredity or environment, which are you a product of? Neither, my darling. Neither. Just two different kinds of Love.

© Author Unknown

God's co workers

Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

http://www.usccb.org/nab/090606.shtml

As an adoptive mother I often wonder...which matters most...nature or nurture. We are put straight in the above passage...neither and both. As birth parents and adoptive parents, one merely did the planting and the other the watering...it is God however that causes the growth.

piety in the home

Reflections from the Saints

The home must be in accord with the Church, that all harmful influences be withheld from the souls of children. Where there is true piety in the home, purity of morals reigns supreme.
– St. John Vianney

Field Trip

This week's theme deals with farm animals...so we took a fieldtrip to 'Davis Farmland' in Sterling to kick it off.

The favorite spots were the water park, the sand play area and for Christian the reptile section...I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised that he likes snakes...he's such a boy afterall...lol. But his reaction was hillarious...'a snake...wow...I can't believe it'.

kids crafts and lesson plans

DLT-Kids
One of my favorite sites for kids crafts.

Saints Calendar and Index

Roman Catholic Saints Calendar and Index

Museums: Sept. 30

I just got the following information from my homeschooling group...

On September 30th, museums around the country are having free admission day. You can find participating museums at Smithsonian. This includes Plimoth Plantation, which is normally about $22 for adults, The Museum of Fine Arts, and other great ones. You need to go to the Smithsonian website at the above web address and download the passes.

Typing for Tots

Learn2Type.com - learn to type online FREE typing exercises and typing tests - Typing for Tots

this is cute

computers

Ok...how does this computer stuff work anyway? LOL. Sarah is into typing (anyone know a good program for kids?)and wanted to send daddy an E-Mail. So I showed her what to do and after typing her name, she sent it off. Then the questions started coming...how will he get it? and on and on. I said that it got sent out through the cables and went all the way to daddy's job and he'll pick it up there...yikes...thank goodness my lap top was plugged in at the moment, didn't have to get into 'cordless'. I'm going to have to read up on this stuff a bit more pretty soon, don't you think? LOL.