Seen, not heard: Riley

She's got a new thing.  She comes out of her bedroom, after we put her to bed for the night, with her unicorn pillow pet covering her face.  She walks into the living room, looks around (with the pillow still covering her face) for a few minutes.  Then she turns around and walks back to her bedroom.  She never says a word.  I'd love to get it on video because it is hilarious!  She's also started blaming Joshua.  For everything, to include lots of things that have nothing to do with Joshua, like going to bed.  

Heard Today: Hannah

Hannah made a family coat of arms.  She was telling me what each of the symbols mean.  Then she asked if I thought that sounded like our family.  Then she said "I was going to put stubborn but I don't think they have a symbol for that."

Hannah completed 2.  She prefers the lower one.  

Without any further delay, here is our Coat of Arms, as designed by Hannah.

The blue stands for loyalty and truthfulness.

Green stands for hope, joy and loyalty.

Dog stands for loyalty.

The lion stands for courage.

The cross stands for Christian sentiments.

The sun stands for glory.  

I'll take that.  

Build A Bear

Heard today: Riley

It was a whopping 70 degrees today. I know, amazing. So amazing that we ditched school early to ride bikes and stroll. Hannah rode and I pushed Riley and Joshua. While we were out, Riley was very concerned about Hannah's safety. At one point, she yelled out "be careful Hannah.  Don't get dead!"  

School day: just a Friday

I fully believe that elementary aged children need lots of play.  I think that play is vital for teaching many things.  You can read more about those thoughts here: The Crucial Role of Recess in Schools.

A large part of our day allows for play; play with a parent and play without a parent.  And chores.  Hannah and Riley have daily chores.  That being said, we have a fair amount of structure as well.  

Just some photo's from our regular school day.  

The above photo is actually from yesterday.  Can I just say that I love Highlights.  And so does Hannah.  This is a special packet I bought her.  She'll explore 6 different countries, with a secret mission.  She must find clues, through geographic puzzles and reading, then solve the mystery.  Her first mystery takes place in Italy.  

The rest of the pictures are from today.  Hannah is working on a Communities and Culture chart, placing items in the proper country category.  Riley is doing a chart as well, comparing night and day.  

This is a sequencing math sheet Riley completed.  This is the first time she's done any work like this, and I circled the answer she gave me.  Out of the 6, she got 2 wrong, which is fantastic!  I was pleasantly surprised.  

Then Hannah moved on to some Valentine's Day worksheets, which is just something fun I printed out her to do this week.  

As I'm typing this, I hear Hannah saying, in a pretend voice, "I've got to turn in this homework by tomorrow."  She's involved in pretend play while she's doing her school work.  I couldn't be happier about the freedom that homeschool gives my young children.