Our Calvert box arrived and I couldn’t wait to begin.  We started last Monday and it went wonderfully well.   Initially, I wanted to adhere to a very structured schedule.  However, we have quite a few activities coming up and since we are able to be flexible I thought we would ease into things and just take it a lesson at a time.  So far, so good.

This bin is from Staples and makes a wonderful spinning storage unit for our Calvert supplies.  I find it easy (yet a bit heavy) to carry around the house or outside.

Our first science lesson began with testing to see how craters were made.  Dropping marbles and smaller items into dry flour to see the differences in sizes.  However, with most science projects we do, things got pretty messy.  This is either an incredible discovery or an experiment gone horribly wrong.  Whatever it was, it kept them busy and giggling for a long time.

Third grade Calvert looks challenging and I believe we’re going to have a great year.  We are also going to dabble in a bit of preschool work for Henry.  He is very interested in school and seems to want to read.  I found alphabet stamps at Target for $1.  Henry enjoys stamping paper and trying to make words or just saying all the letters outloud.

We’re gearing up for 3rd grade.  My how time flies.  This year we decided to jump back on the Calvert boat.  I placed my order yesterday and will be anxiously waiting for our box to arrive in the mail.  This year Henry will join our lessons to do preschool work.  I’m excited to begin a new year with a new outlook and new adventures.

We love spending time outside. We pack up our books and make snacks and just enjoy the outdoors while doing schoolwork! Today we headed to our property with the intent to fly kites, but the wind didn’t cooperate. Instead we played in the stream.

In an attempt to incorporate art into our lessons, I found many interesting ideas thanks to the internet.  Henri Matisse.  We discussed his life and looked at his work online.  Then Keely worked on her own masterpiece, her own Matisse…

We’ve had a very busy, fun-filled Easter.  Dyed eggs, flew kites, egg hunt, etc., creating wonderful memories for the loves of my life!

Earned a Girl Scout sewing patch by creating this adorable pillow.

Among lots of other fun, we got to feed chickens at a friend’s birthday party.

We went to Port Discovery with our homeschool group in March.  There are so many things to do at this great hands on children’s museum.

We use the Math-U-See curriculum.  So far we are happy with it.  However, I think we are ready to move on to the next level.

In an attempt to make math fun, we try to play games such as Math Bingo, Allowance (love this one!), Math War, and Monopoly Jr.  My latest find was Frog Math.  Create either a huge sheet of paper with numbers circled (like lillypads) or use sheets of paper lying on the floor.  Call out math problems and let the kids hop to the answer.

Using Enchanted Learning’s awesome resources, we did a few different activities for Groundhog Day.  We touched on fractions.

Played with Venn Diagrams.

Worked on spelling.

And even created pop-up groundhog puppets.  No idea why they look so stunned.  They really did enjoy the projects!