Showing posts with label swim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swim. Show all posts

Curriculum 2012-2013

This year at Oak Ridge we will be using a variety of different resources for school.
Hayzel completed Kindergarten through the Time 4 Learning (T4L) program last May. Over the summer we have slowly ventured through the first grade lessons. Initially, I thought we’d be homeschooling year-round, but that changed. We had an amazing summer filled with lots of outdoor activities. We ended up taking a nice break from the normal day to day grind of lessons, organized sports, and extracurricular activities. Schoolwork ended up being put on the back burner for the summer, but now we are back at it.

Hayzel will be working on Language Arts (LA) and Math at the 1st grade level using T4L. I will also be supplementing LA with penmanship, grammar and spelling worksheets I’ve found throughout various site such as:

Math will be supplemented with worksheets from ABCTeach and manipulatives. 


Geography will be a continuation of Evan-Moor’s:
61oYu2v w-L._SS500_
followed by
RoadTripCoverWeb
courtesy of Confessions of a Homeschooler.


History for this year will be a read-aloud of E.H. Gombrich’s
101967956


In Science we will be doing monthly unit projects. In September we will be doing a unit on Ocean and Marine Animals, and in October the theme will be Weather and Seasons. I will post more details about this in a later post.


Hayzel will be continuing his Character Education studies. This year I will be going more in-depth with him about certain traits and we will continue to build upon what we learned last year. For September we will be focusing on Respect.


There are a few year round projects lined up as well. First, we have set a reading goal of 50 books for the school year. Each book will be at his reading level or above and be at least a 30 minute read.
Next, we are exploring the world through the Flat Stanley project. We made a few “flat” Hayzels and are sending them around the country and world to explore. More on that to come in a later post. 
And finally, I am hoping to come through on my promise to a couple of pen pals I set up for Hayzel. That fell through last spring, though it was no ones fault but my own. So I will try to start that up again as soon as things settle into a routine.


For PE this year, Hayzel has sign up for a second year of Soccer. He made the decision to continue even though best friend Jayden decided to pursue other avenues. His first game will take place this upcoming Sunday. He also signed up for fall t-ball which begins this Saturday. Jayden has aged out of t-ball and will most likely be in a different part of the field than us. As much as I love that the boys are close and love each other like brothers, I am very proud that both Jayden and Hayzel are confident enough in themselves to branch out and explore their options without needing each other there for support.
After soccer and t-ball end at the end of October, we will be resuming swimming lessons and picking up basketball, which will carry us through the end of December.


I’m really excited about this upcoming year. I would like to thank all my family and friends who have been loyal to this blog. I love sharing our adventures with everyone.
Red heart

Afternoon at the Beach.

The summer days are winding down Sad smile.
We made the most of it this last week.
On Wednesday, we met up with a group of friends to celebrate Vanessa’s ( from Yellow House Tales) birthday at the beach.  Because most of the kids are back in school and also because it was late in the afternoon, the beach was nice and empty. It was great. It made it very easy to keep an eye on the kids. Hayzel had a great time playing with his friends in the water and I’m hoping we can make a few more trips out there before the weather turns cold.
Check out the pics below:
DSCN4820
DSCN4828
DSCN4830
DSCN4839
DSCN4842
DSCN4852
DSCN4862
Hayzel loves the beach. He enjoys playing in the water just as much as playing with the sand.
DSCN4878
DSCN4882
DSCN4890
DSCN4903
There was even time for a bit of a tantrum,
DSCN4898
that was easily resolved by some of this:
DSCN4901
and a lot of that:
DSCN4908
DSCN4910

After cake, there was a lot of this happening:
DSCN4911
DSCN4912
DSCN4913
DSCN4922
DSCN4923
which left me with a very tired and very sleepy boy once we got home.
Thumbs up

It’s A Beautiful Life….

Here’s a glimpse into the past week of our lives.
Last Tuesday, there was an Eagle Tribune reporter at the library, and she took some pics of the kids.
It got published on the April 12th edition:
DSCN2070
Thursday morning, my little polliwog had a great swim class. He practiced his breaststroke, backstroke and tried swimming with 2 bubbles instead of 3.
DSCN1751
DSCN1752
DSCN1754
DSCN1756
DSCN1761
DSCN1763
DSCN1767
DSCN1768

Friday, we had co-op. It was my turn to host and I decided to do a Recycled Games theme. Here are a few pics.
DSCN1778
Hayzel brought his light saber for show and tell.
DSCN1796
DSCN1798
DSCN1799
DSCN1802
DSCN1804
The bowling game was a hit. So was a big empty box I brought in.

DSCN1819
My camera died shortly after this pic. What’s new?
Saturday, we had a meetup to see “Seussical the Musical” at the Northshore Theater. We were totally unprepared for the the traffic and got there after the show started, but the kids had a great time and the show was really awesome.
DSCN1823
On occasion I do get some nice pics of them….but this is not one of those time. SMH.
DSCN1849
DSCN1824
DSCN1825
DSCN1854
Singing, “Rolling in the Deep”….
Sunday was the beginning of spring season of soccer.
Hayzel and Jayden reunited with their team, the Leopards. This season started 100% better than the last one did. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful!
DSCN1861
DSCN1863 DSCN1864 DSCN1865 DSCN1866 DSCN1867 DSCN1868

Monday was another gorgeous and HOT day, so I got the brilliant beyond brilliant idea to go to the beach.
On of the first hot days of the season.
During spring vacation week.
Not mention it was Patriots Day.
I didn’t think this one through and what should only be a 35 minute ride turned into a 2 1/2 hour ride. In general the kids behaved……liked kids.
Stuck in a car.
On a hot day.
For 2 1/2 hours.

DSCN1957
DSCN1966
DSCN1967
DSCN1976
DSCN1981
^see! Aren’t they cute when they act human?
DSCN1984
DSCN1992
DSCN2025
The temperature at the beach was cold! So after about 45 minutes, we left. It only took us 75 minutes to get home, so that was a big plus!
The kids all had a great time, so to me it was all worth the hassle. Must remember this post if I get the same idea for next year though.
Tuesday was another sunny day. We just hung out in the yard and played with bubbles, chalk, and a boomerang.
DSCN2027
DSCN2031
DSCN2038

April 9th we celebrated the first year anniversary of C and J’s move from NY to NH. Since that day,these 3 stooges have been inseparable. I’m really grateful that their parents made the decision to come live near us. My dream of having them grow up together has been realized. Hayzel is a very lucky little boy to have such a great big brother in Jayden and sweet and pesky little sister in Caitlin.  DSCN2036
DSCN2048
DSCN2051

Don’t you just love them?
IMG_0600