Thursday 10 th

Today we worked on real science for kids biology 1 chapter 1.  It was on taxonomy.  The kids enjoyed it.  I then grabbed the Lego bin and got them to classify Lego.  They both came up with different ways to classify. 

We worked on a few games as well.  They are excited to do more of them in the next few days.  

Both practiced piano as well. 

And Nathan had 1.5 hr soccer practice and Gigi had 1.5 hr cheer practice.  

Wednesday!!!

Wow was today busy. 

Started with piano, and mommy sleeping in, fighting this flu.  

1030-11:30 Nathan had physio, it was a great appointment.  Nathan was very excited to get back at it.  I was concerned Nathan had set himself back a lot taking the summer off, but he lost very little muscle tone.  His pain he is experiencing is because of a few things, she confirmed what I was suspecting that his shoulder is subluxating (dislocating).  This is happening up to 20x a day, as you can imagine this is painful.  This is causes some muscle spasms and painful trapezius muscle.  Hopefully he will start to feel better soon. 

Today was the first hockey and skating lessons, Nathan loved it!  Genevieve had fun too.  It was from 1-3. 

We then came home did some more piano and supper and off to soccer!   September is going to be busy as Nate has soccer 3 times a week, 2 games and a practice each week, thankfully he only has 1 other game that lands on a Wednesday.  

So we got home at 7:30, gave Nathan some Tylenol and his aspirin, and I hope he is not too sore tomorrow ;)

Day 11

Hmm I think I'm getting sick, or I'm still fighting Gigi's flu.

Point form today

Art class- drawing horses

Trip to library and bookstore

(Genevieve already finished a rainbow fairy book that she bought at nuggets)

Piano lessons

Science- classification of living things just started talking about it and explaining why and how things are classified.  We have been playing linkology and this game is all about classifying animalia.  

Gym- spent 2 hrs playing outside with friends at Greendale elementary and then at our friends barn. 

Kids made some cards this evening, they said they were Halloween cards for their friends. 

Tomorrow is a busy day, lets hope I make it thru!

And no pictures today!

Day 10

We dropped Jeff off at the airport today.  It is our tradition now to stop at abc restaurant to eat after.  I brought with us a book on small machines.  The neat thing about this book is that you actually get to build the small machines.

So we learned about simple machines in a fun way, the kids were surprised when I told them we were learning science.  

When we got home, the kids watched a video from discovery channel on china.  It  was about the culture of children now. 

We then attempted math.  Nathan was not doing so good today pain wise so I asked him 10+10 and he couldn't answer.  I have him some Tylenol and a break. Genevieve completed reading comprehension card 3b and 5b.  

I am lucky enough to have a very talented house cleaner who helped the kids for about an hour today with piano lessons.  I find Nathan really needs this encouragement at this time.  And Genevieve loves it!

Genevieve put together the geo puzzle North America while Nate was practising.

 

Both Nathan and Genevieve did about an hour of fun math games on the computer.  When I say fun math games I think they are more fun and games then math:). But I'm guessing they are helping with orderly thinking, problem solving.  As I write this I can hear them playing together, Nathan giving Genevieve directions. 

Day 9

Yup it's Sunday but we did do some school work So I'm saying this is day 9.  

First off we did a trial run of getting dressed for hockey, as Jeff won't be here and I've never played hockey, grass hockey were tougher we only wear shin pads :)

So we managed to figure it out.  We also found a pair of skates for Gigi.  We found that Nathan's old helmet fit Genevieve, but she said she would refuse to wear it, it was a black hockey helmet.  So we gigized it!  Silver spray paint, markers, and stickers, that saved us $50.  

Next we watched some movies on china from national geographic.  Then we did a page in top secret adventures.  

Nathan is now playing fun math games on his laptop.  

And after we watched a movie together as a family.  And while we were settling in Nathan used the word vanquished correctly in a sentence.  Lol.  Jeff and I just looked at him umm okay lol.  Then we explained it was good for him to use those types of words, we were just surprised.  At the age of two he spoke like a typical 6 year old :)

Day 8

Well today was Nate and Gigi's first day of school at tla.  They will be going every Friday for 3 hours.  Nathan did not want to go at all.  He is so shy!  Genevieve spent extra time making sure she looked extra beautiful, she was excited!  I was wondering why I signed them up as we have to have morning rush to get them to school on time, and well Nathan was being a pain since he was nervous.  I dropped them off, I tried to wave goodbye to Nathan he gave me the mom your so embarrassing look!  Ha ha!   I left managed to spend $500 in three hours.  Nathan was super excited when I picked him up, he said his teacher was awesome!  The best teacher ever!   I think the obstacle course may have pushed his teacher over the edge on her awesomeness!   Genevieve had a good time too although, she did say it was a little little Kidish:), I'm sure it will improve for her, they did some singing writting and reading all of which she loves!

Here is a before school pick, you can see Gigi's excitement and Nathan's dread!

So we are all liking forward to next week, except perhaps Jeff and our bank account ;)

We then came home and the kids played stratego for a while.  A game similar to chess in that all the pieces move a certain way, except the point is to capture the opponents flag, and there is bombs involved!

 

Day 7

AEach day is getting a little easier getting back into routine.  I realize everyday how much more they are probably learning at home especially Nathan.  He has been in a lot of pain the last four weeks since we got back from holidays.  His physiotherapy starts on the 18th which will hopefully help alleviate some of his pain.  I can see when he is in pain how difficult it is for him to learn, he gets frustrated very easily.  He is also a perfectionist which makes learning difficult as he tends to give up before he tries.  At least at home I can monitor this, I can see when I need to push him a little to try new things, and hopefully find a way to teach him that its okay to not succeed. 

Today we started off with Latin worksheets, and then a cute game with family members on sticks.  I called out different names and they held up the sticks.  We have learned for different names for each of us.  Piano was next and we ended with math.  We have not completed any math in over a month so it was a little difficult to get back into the swing of things.  We are working on math u see alpha chapter 22.  The concept we learned today was the mental math trunk involved in double digit subtracting 9and 8.  This was a little bit difficult for Nathan to get, he just wanted to memorize.  I had to remind him we can work at his pace until we get it.  He said yes but we can't take all year.  I assured him we would get the concept that afternoon.  Sure enough 20 minutes later and no tears, we had learned the concept.  The difference with Nathan is he truly understands this concept now.  Genevieve caught on quicker but I suspect she memorized the trick and does not think as deeply about why this trick works.  I got her to explain the concept to Jeff.  He was impressed as the equation was x +8=11.  And I got her to compare that with x+8=10.  I got her to explain her answers to Jeff and how she would figure it out using mental math.  

Nathan and Genevieve then played a few games of swipe (a card game)with Jeff.   I would like to encourage the kids to play some kind of card or board game everyday, and they love playing with us so much!   I have to make more of an effort to join in on the fun!

Then we took Genevieve to cheer from 4-6, while Nathan Jeff and I went shopping at Costco.   

Oh here's a picture of Genevieve playing another game today, but this game encourages spatial understanding 

And yes she was in her pjs until we went to cheer:)

Day 6

Point form today

Top secret adventures

Geo puzzles

Nate- vocab

Genevieve- finished her story

Piano practice

Linkology

Piano lessons

Bought hockey gear for Nate!

Day 5

Well Genevieve was up all Monday night throwing up.  Thankfully daddy is home so he took nighttime duty.  We still managed to get some schoolwork done, even with Gigi sick and Jeff's first day back. 

The kids started off with piano and top secret adventures china.  Jeff then took Nathan to try out some hockey, I have signed up Nathan for homeschool hockey, even though he says he doesn't want to.  No I'm not a really bad mommy, but I know Nathan will love it, but he's nervous that he hasn't played before and that he will get hurt.  It is no intentional contact, so I'm sure Nate will be okay. We didn't think Nathan would ever play hockey as his drs have said no contact sports, so we are really excited about homeschool hockey.  Thankfully he was able to wear my skates and we found a helmet that is comfortable for him, he hates anything uncomfortable.  So Jeff and Nate went to a dad and kid open hockey skate and they had a great time!   Huge success!

While Nathan and Jeff were gone, Genevieve and I played linkology (kids love this game).

 She also assembled the world geo puzzle, i love these puzzles too!  

Then Genevieve wrote a story for daddy. She didn't quite finish her story but I'm sure she will today. 

Day 4

Well, I'm late posting!

Genevieve has the flu so I'm tired.  We started off with top secret adventures again.  The kids are enjoying it!  One of the kids most favorite subjects is Latin, I think they like having a secret language only we can understand.  Unit 5 and 6 were completed today, I was only going to do unit 5 but the kids begged me to do 1 more unit.   We did some reading and we then cleaned the house.  We had to go buy Nate some new cleats and shin pads as his feet are huge!   Then we had his first game of the season.  It was a great to see him playing again.  

Day3

Well kids are in bed, who hoo back on regular bedtime schedule after our summer holiday.  

So today we carried on with an easing into school.  Genevieve played piano for about 1/2 hour, Nathan 5 minutes.  We worked on world geography with top secret adventures china.  Kids did a little reading.  Then we had a play date with our friend M who is new to homeschooling this year too. we decided to go to their old school after school to check out the new park, and play with some missed friends. They spent about an hour running around and playing.  We were then invited to our neighbours for dinner.  The kids put on a play for us.  And now it's bedtime. It was another good day. 

Day 2

Well today was a little better for Nathan, he is still highly anxious, but he is able to see how he's feeling and why.  

Started off the day with Nathan playing piano, then they helped organize the playroom and doing a few crafts. 

Nathan startled me today as I thought he was playing a game downstairs and I went into his room to get something.  There he was laying on his bed looking happy and relaxed reading a new book.  We had just gone to the used book store yesterday

Genevieve practiced piano for over an hour today.  She also found a cozy spot to read on our landing.  Our house cleaner Yoka is a very accomplished musician and she was helping Genevieve with her piano practice.  (Yes I know she's more of a nanny, but I call her our house cleaner even though she seems a part if our family now)

So far so good, we are easing into the homeschool routine very slowly.   I love that they picked things to do, and I never once had to nag them to do it, they chose to read and play piano.  Lets hope tomorrow is even better.  

One day!

Well, this is day two of the official start to homeschooling. I have decided to go with a gradual approach to starting this September. N (9) does not do well with change.  He was missing a few things from school, mainly his friends, he does not want to meet new friends.  I could tell he was agitated all morning. I broke out the knex this morning and told them it was school, but N could not find anything he wanted to build.  We helped get the parts for his sister G (7), and helped her with the parts that were difficult to put together.  I discovered G is excellent at following knex directions (or lack of directions).  We read a little and then it was time to go to piano. N did not want to go at all.  "I hate piano".  I told him he had no choice it was part if his occupational therapy. We arrived G played first.  I played a game with Nathan called linkology <ahref="http://www.learningresources.com/product/linkology--8482+animal+card+game.do"></a>

It was a great game and we had a lot of fun in that half an hour.  Next it was N turn to play, you would not even know he said he was unhappy about going.  After we had finished he said I love piano, I forgot how much fun it is. We then made a trip to the used bookstore for some new to us books.