A place for LadyJ

Friday, June 10, 2011

When?

Joining my sister again! Second Star to the Right

Today we are supposed to discuss the when of our Yearly schedule.

Just the term Yearly schedule seems to imply a much more organized and tidy individual than I find myself to be. :)

Intending to or not, we seem to be year round schoolers. We take a break for Christmas which is always at least 2 weeks, a break for Easter of about a week, a break for Thanksgiving of about a week, and we go slower in summer usually just doing math, grammar, reading and extras. We also break for birthdays if they are midweek, vacations (if we have one), and when we are just cranky. hehehe Then again we school some Saturdays if daddy works. So it all works out in the end.

Join us over at

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

At the park

Peaceful playtime at the park was just the way to spend our last night as a family until Daddy gets back from his trip.

Playing some catch

Sliding Oso down the slide. (Poor doggy)

My 2 men

Just look at how handsome they both are.

Bubble time

God blessed us with beautiful weather and glorious clouds to watch.

We dropped Justin off this morning and the team is headed to the airport as I type. For those who may not know he will be with an MBS team in India for nearly 3 weeks. Please keep the team in your prayers and I also ask prayer for the families. This will be by far the longest we have been apart since we got married and although I feel a peace about it I know that we all will miss him.

Monday, June 6, 2011

What!

Joining my sister at Second Star to the Right again for her Who! What! When! Where! How! Why! Blog hop.

This week we get to blog chat about the what of our home school curriculum.

My oldest Evangeline will be using the Creation to Christ Curriculum from Heart of Dakota this year. She is in love with it even though we have not started. The idea of having a lot more independent work is really a big deal for her. We are still on the lookout for a few of the books but we ave a great start and should be ready to start by June or July

She is already started on the Drawn into the Heart of Reading curriculum you see here on the right. So far we are loving it and really finding it to be an enjoyable yet flexible reading program.

My oldest son Timothy will be using the Bigger Hearts for his Glory curriculum this year. I have everything he needs minus one last book. :) On the right you see his emergent readers we are still working our way through and I hope we can be finished with them by June/July so he can move into the same reading program as his sister at the lowest level.

The two youngest boys will be going through Little Hands to Heaven together.

We use Math U See for as our Main math with Math Mammoth as a printable supplement. We will have our 10 year old in Delta at the beginning of the year, 8 year old will be finishing up Alpha, and 5 year old will start Primer. My 4 year old will not be starting just yet.

We will be using Song School Greek for the 3 boys and Greek for Children with Evangeline.

We will use Rod and Staff English for the 2 oldest and add daily grams to that for Evangeline.

I think that seems to be the core of our curriculum but I am sure we will do a few extras or additions here and there. I pretty much go with the flow around here. :) I am so excited to be trying out Heart of Dakota and really praying it is the perfect fit for me and the kids. I need the schedule as that is the one thing I really see lacking this last year and I love how the Bible is so integrated into the entire curriculum.

Join us or check out other What! Posters here -

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Who?

Evangeline is 10 and will be going into the 5th grade this coming school year. She is Caring, Protective, Thoughtful of others, Organized, Independent
Favorites -
School Subject: Reading
Color: Purple
Book: Little Woman
Sport: Skating
Activity: Wii games
Game: Chinese Checkers
T.V. Show: Amazing Race
Movie: Tangled

Timothy is 8 and will be going into the 3rd grade this coming school year. He is Quiet, Gentle, Artistic, Happy, Inventive
Favorites -
School Subject: Science
Color: Blue
Book: Sir Small and the Dragonfly
Sport: Softball
Activity: Drawing
Game: Uno
T.V. Show: Rescue Rangers
Movie: Curious George

Caleb will be 5 in July and will be going into Kindergarten this coming school year. He is Loud, Energetic, Outgoing, Friendly, Determined
Favorites -
School Subject: Watch Leap frog videos
Color: Orange
Book: There's a Monster Eating my house
Sport: Racing
Activity: Playing outside
Game: Donkey Kong
T.V. Show: Superman
Movie: Star Wars

Haven will be 4 in December and he will be going into Preschool this coming school year. He is Affectionate, Shy, Playful, Helpful, Inquisitive

Favorites -
School Subject: Woody
Color: Green
Book: Woody easy reader

Sport: Pencils
Activity: Lacing Beads

Game: Cootie bugs

T.V. Show: Diego
Movie: Toy Story

To check out other Home Schoolers Who? posts or to join in visit:

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Mixed Up Garden of Mrs Ballenger

Today I am Thankful for the sunshine, my garden is loving it and soaking it up. My kids are also loving and soaking it up!

This is my left garden bed - Zucchini, Acorn Squash (a bit nibbled on pre fence), Lemon Cucumbers (A tad droopy), carrot seeds (not sprouted so we shall see), Cauliflower, Pumpkins (Also droopy) and some herbs and a few marigolds.

Right side bed - Basil, lemon balm, Tomato plants, and some other herbs. 2 pots in the middle with radish and green bean seeded but not sprouted.

Some herb can't remember what I planted here. :)

My Strawberries are doing well!

Each of the kids picked a pansy plant awhile back and they adore this weather. :) Love the variety reminds me of my amazing little ones and how different they each are every time I see it.

Remember the Easter morning Garden? It has gone wild. Whatever the white one on the right is I need to transplant it soon.

Pretty pop of blue against the Orange pot.

Haven loves the Garden and will help me every time I head out there.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Weekly Wrap Up (Yes we are still schooling)

So I realized today it has been a very long while since I did a weekly wrap up. Yes we are still doing school, I just have not taken as many pics or gotten around to posting the last few months.

Evangeline started Heart of Dakota - Drawn into the Heart of Reading program awhile back and she is really enjoying it. It has been a really good way for me to offer her a chance to think about what she reads and offers her something mostly independent to do. This is something she really needed and so far is really enjoying.

Timothy is still working his way through Heart of Dakota's Emergent Reader books. Slow and Steady and I pray that he catches a fire for reading this summer.
He is also still working through a mixture of explode the code, beyond the code, and a little phonics pathways.

Math has been going slow for a few months but just in the last two weeks both kids have started to really speed through it again. Finally getting concepts that have been rattling around in there heads for awhile. :) We will be doing Math and Reading throughout the summer with both of them.

Evangeline completely finished her Reason for Handwriting cursive book this week. She will not be doing any more formal cursive but instead will just be using cursive for any copy work she may have to do. This program worked perfect for her and we did not even use the teachers guide. She simply did it anywhere from 2 to 4 days a week and we stretched it over 2 school years.

I have more than half of next years school books and will be keeping my eyes open for the rest used as I can find them. We are all really excited to be starting HOD and I pray it is the perfect fit.

The little guys have been doing a Toy Story preschool Pack only when they ask for school. So maybe 2 days a week. http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2011/05/toy-story-preschool-pack-free.html
Not surprisingly Haven has been more patient with it than Caleb. I am praying they will slowly grow into doing a bit more school work as I plan to start a gentle curriculum next year.