MFW: Creation to Leaf

I'm going to start documenting all the neat stuff we are doing with MFW. Most of the fun ideas already come in the Teacher's Manual, so if you never had time to look up extra activities, you would already have the basics set up for you! My kids thrive on always staying busy and they love crafts, so I try and add to the lessons in order to extend the fun. I will take note of any extra books that we read, although I tend to forget to write them down!

Please note that many ideas can be found on the MFW boards at: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?t=50

CREATION
We read "God's Love Story" from Catholic Heritage Curricula to go along with this unit. We kept this time nice and simple and the activities from MFW were enough to introduce us to the curriculum.

SUN

• Go outside every couple of hours and trace your shadow.
• Make shadow art. If going outside, find different objects and place them somewhere above the ground (we used a clothes line and put leaves, a t-shirt, and some toys on it). Trace their shadows onto paper. Same idea for indoors. Just use a light bulb and get creative!

MOON

• Make a clay mobile featuring a sun, moon, and star.
• Make a paper mobile of the different phases of the moon.

LEAF

• Go on a leaf & tree hunt. Find some leaves and try to indentify the type of tree they come from.
• We used the posters from International Paper to learn about leaves and tree. You can get the classroom kit for FREE. http://www.internationalpaper.com/Our%20Company/Learning%20Center/Life%20Of%20The%20Forest/index.html
• Leaf rubbings!

MFW

As we continue with our kindergarten curriculum, MFW, I'm beginning to add more and more to our list of things to do. It seems like the kids can never get enough of the activities that are provided and recommended within MFW, so now I spend some time printing new activities out. I love the Evan Moore Teachers Box website and Enchanted Learning. They both require a paid subscription, but you can get free stuff from Enchanted Learning. My favorite, however, is the Teachers Box.

Since I'm always looking for ideas to do for our weekly themes, I will start posting all the activities that we'll be doing for the week.

My Baby Turns 2 Years Old Today!

It's amazing how fast time goes with kids and how much they grow! Today, Anthony turned 2 years old and we spent the day at a farm. I felt horrible due to the weather being so hot and the kids didn't enjoy themselves as much as they could have because of it. We still ended the day on a happy note, however, as we had some friends come over for pizza and dessert. Anthony got to play with his friends and everyone had lots of fun.


Here is a picture of my little guy. He's looking so serious as we take a hayride on the farm to the playground area. Happy Birthday!!

Fun Video.

I came across this video from YouTube on the WTM boards. I thought it was great! Reminds me of life with children. Something all parents can relate to.

Our Family.

I thought this was fun! Here is our stick family picture.

New Baby, New Schedule? Not Yet.

Things have been going so well with homeschooling and the new baby. If anything, it's Anthony who makes homeschooling a little difficult. Having to keep him entertained while we do our lessons is quite a challenge and I find myself having to rotate toys a little more frequently than before.

So we are not on any new schedule for schooling. I'm glad since I'm not sure I could handle having to turn things upside down to accommodate a new way of doing school, housework, and everything else. Thankfully, we are moving right along! The only thing that has changed is my sleep schedule. But now that the baby is sleeping for about 4 hours straight during the night, I'm kind of awake in the morning. So I'm definitely looking forward to more sleep hours at night!

Grocery Game Update.

It seems that my game is off. After trying the Grocery Game for a couple of months, I have decided to finally give it up. It is definitely a great idea and well worth it in savings. My problem with it? The list only gives you 3 days to shop. It comes up on Sunday and you have until Tuesday to purchase the items before the stores change their prices on Wednesday.

I did do it for the first month and I saved SO MUCH money!! But I also had to work hard to save that money! Planning my week around grocery shopping is not the ideal way for me to run things around here. Add on top of that, having to go around town with 3 kids within a limited amount of time (have to be home for lunch and nap time!). It just didn't work. But I did learn lots and it was worth it to try it out.

Now I make my own list. Every Wednesday I check out the ads, list what I need for the week and what I need to stock up on. Then I just cross reference my list with the coupons I have available. I still work a little, but I have a whole week to do my shopping. In reality, I just never have been good with coupons and sales. I'm not good at waiting for things to go on sale and having to look around and scavenge drives me nuts! So, although I am using the sales and coupons, I still just buy what I need regardless. I figure I can save money in other ways.

Do I recommend the Grocery Game? Certainly! If you have more time and patience than I do, it will keep that money in your pocket!! Here are some of the things I was able to purchase and stock up on during my time with the Game.

• Toothpaste purchased for about $0.33
• Venus razors purchased for FREE
• Several food items (veggie dips, milk, etc.) purchased for FREE
• Mouthwash purchased for about $1

I made several other great savings on shampoos, hair products, and other toiletries. So I'm set for a good 8 months!! From here on, I just need to keep my eyes open and keep matching those sales to coupons (if I have time!).

An Update on My "To Do List"

Since Christian has arrived, I'm proud to say that I accomplished so much more than I expected. I'm glad that my nesting syndrome gave me the energy to reorganize and declutter. Here is an updated list on the things I have left to do.

* Organize upstairs school room (bookshelves, school supplies, drawers)
• Furnish school room with new bulletin board & supplies cart
• Rearrange school room to better hold our flip chart, book basket, MFW files, etc.
* Organize downstairs school room/play room
• Get rid of couch
• Organize bookshelves and desk
• Arrange toys in baskets/bins
• Create easier to use arts & crafts center
• Create reading corner to replace the couch area (new floor pillows, book basket)
• Reorganize bathroom storage
• Clean up outdoor toy bin (get rid of unused toys, balls, etc.)
• Finish with decluttering and donating of items
* Reorganize master bedroom closet

Since posting pictures of school rooms is a much requested thing; I will post the pics of our upstairs school room by the end of the week. As for pics of the downstairs school/play room...I won't be doing that until all the organizing and cleaning has been taken care of!