“Not” Back to School Blog Hop: Student Photo Week

Madeline, age 10, 5th grade

She loves to read, dance, sing, shop, and spend time with family.

Amelia, age 8, 4th grade

She loves to sing, draw, read, walk on her tippy toes, and spend time together.

They are the sweetest of friends and get along most of the time. Most of what they do involves being together by choice. Swimming, riding bikes, playing with Littlest Pet Shop, Lego building, artistic creations, and their love of horses strengthens their bond with each other.

We are looking forward to starting our 6th year of homeschooling soon!

Update: Here is our First Day...

Please join us in the "Not" Back to School Blog HOP at Heart of the Matter Online.

"Not" Back to School Blog Hop: School Room

Welcome to Cornett Academy! 

We are very blessed to have a room devoted in our home to school in. When we built this house several years back, this layout really caught our eye. It was all about having a playroom for our kiddos back then during the toddler/ preschool years. That all changed though when the Lord was leading me to seriously look at homeschooling our young girls. Over the past few years we have been clearing the room out of  toys, etc., and it is officially our school room now. It is beginning to have the feel that I initially envisioned when we  began this adventure. 

We also school at the bar stools in the kitchen, table (on occasion), and reading on our couch in the family room. When we get a bit stir crazy we pick up the table and move it out into the family room so that we can enjoy the natural light from the windows. It is way too hot here to attempt this in the summer though. In fact, the school room is the coolest spot in the whole house during summer. Field Trips are the ideal learning environment for us and we like to scatter them throughout the year.

This past year my sister donated her old sewing table to us that has now become the teacher's desk. :)

Here is a closer view of the left side of the room. This table that the girls school at has been with us since our oldest was about 18 months old. My mom got it on clearance at Pottery Barn Kids. We still love it!

Here is a closer view of the right side of the room. The white & blue table holds all our supplies/ manipulatives.

In the far right corner as you walk in is our music area. My parents bought this awesome karaoke machine for Christmas last year. Our girls both love to sing. :)

In the far left corner as you walk in is our cozy little bookshelf that originally came from a public library when we picked it up at a garage sale. We also have the singing Audubon clock above it.

Here is a close up of our curriculum shelf. Unfortunately it is still set up with last year's books. I haven't ordered all our things for this next year yet. We start school the day after Labor Day.

Here is our art wall and where the last bit of toys are hidden. SSShhh... we like to keep that quiet! :)

This is our Missionary wall. We hope to add much more to this soon.

These have been hanging in our schoolroom for some time now. This will be the sixth year we are entering into solely by the Grace of God.

This is one of my favorite accessories in the entire room... the Crayola light switch cover. We bought this shortly after moving into our home several years ago at an arts & craft show. Such sweet memories!

Hope you enjoyed your visit into our little school room. I have really enjoyed seeing/meeting all of you and the beautiful & creative spaces that you school in. What a blessing it is to do what we do! Nothing quite compares to pouring into our kids and witnessing their growth and maturity. What an awesome sight... when they allow the Lord to mold and shape them during their years at home.


Have a wonderful year, ladies!


Please join us in the "Not" Back to School Blog HOP at Heart of the Matter Online.

VBS: Kingdom Spies vs. Enemy Lies

The girls are having a blast at VBS this year. The dress up themes have been so much fun too.

Crazy Hat Day

Nerd Day

our Nerdy girls :)

Mia was one of the winners for this day. :)

Sports Day

 soccer player & a cyclist

Spy Day

Agent Madeline

Agent Mia

This was the last night!

Molly had to join them in this pic :)

"Not" Back to School Blog Hop: Curriculum 2011- 2012

This is my first attempt at participating in a Hop. I am very excited to visit everyone's blog and learn a lot more about all the curriculum that is offered out there.

By the grace of God this will be our sixth year of homeschooling. The first three years we exclusively used Abeka and the structured approach worked well for us. Last year I switched our oldest daughter to Rod & Staff in order to cut down on our costs, yet maintain a similar teaching method. It was a great fit for us and we will stay with R & S for both of our girls in Math, English, Reading, and Spelling. We are going to branch out a bit this year though in Science & History.

Here is a list of what we will do together for 4th and 5th grade.

Bible

Grapevine Studies- New Testament Overview, Stick Figuring through the Bible

We did the Old Testament version a couple years ago and our girls loved it.They love to draw, color, and create. What better way to learn God's Word than to draw their way through it!







Health

Rod and Staff Health 4/5

We didn't use this last year, so we will make use of  it together this year.




Science

Exploring Creation with Astronomy

We are very excited to be doing this together and have heard so many great things about Apologia. I am also looking forward to just having to teach from one book. We will be covering two of their topics this year to stay on track in completing all of them by 7th grade.

Astronomy Notebooking Journal

What a great addition these notebooking journals are! We will do Astronomy in Semester One.

Exploring Creation with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day

This will begin in Semester Two.

Zoology 2 Notebooking Journal

The field trips for this one will be a highlight for sure.

History

TruthQuest History: American History for Young 
Students I

This is brand new to us this year. This is getting me out of my comfort zone as far as structure goes. Although visiting the library will be a welcome change in routine. Reading aloud with more discussion is what lead me to this choice. The reviews were outstanding too. We will be doing this first one during Semester One.

TruthQuest History: American History for Young 
Students II

This will be the material we cover in the second semester. I would love feedback from anyone who has already used this program. Any pointers that you can share on planning it out?






5th Grade

Rod and Staff Arithmetic 5

I love the simplicity of this teaching method. Last year it helped our daughter become more of an independent learner too. It is very well laid out, easy to understand, and it is a hardcover book.

 Rod and Staff English 5

Again, the simple layout of this and the way it flows is such a blessing. There is plenty of review and just enough oral and written practice on the new concepts that are covered each day.

 Rod and Staff Spelling 5

A much more thorough approach than Abeka. We were used to just memorization for the first three years. This covers so much more than that.

Rod and Staff Reading 5

Our fifth grader loves to read and flies through the pages. In fourth grade
R & S uses the Bible readers and does a great job with the paired workbooks that aid in comprehension and vocabulary. Beginning in fifth grade they transition into the upper- grade reading series containing 40 prose works, 15 poems, and 5 composition themes. There is also a workbook that goes with it.

Abeka Art Projects

We never used this so I couldn't spend the money on anything else. Most of what you need for supplies is already in this book.








4th Grade

Rod and Staff Arithmetic 4

I am believing this will be a good transition for our youngest daughter from Abeka. Another thing that I adore about Rod and Staff are the old fashioned pictures throughout the book of classrooms, simple moments of old time fun, etc.

Rod and Staff English 4

Another great tool is that you only have one book for the teachers manual. Each page has a reduced snapshot of the students text in your book and has the points to cover in teaching, as well as, the answers to the worksheets and tests all in one book.
The instructions for what will be taught are very clear and easy to follow.

Rod and Staff Spelling 4

This really challenged our fifth grader last year. I am hoping it will do the same for our fourth grader this year coming from Abeka.

 Rod and Staff Reading 4

The biblical content of the reading material is what sets this program apart. The workbooks are great to strengthen their comprehension and vocabulary.

Abeka Art Projects

Again, these were not used so we will save the money and make use of them this year. Most of what you need for supplies is already in this book.








Extra Curricular

Our church offers our girls amazing opportunities in the Arts. They have been in several plays with a church wide cast at Christmas and Easter. They have also been a part of the annual children's play where they have sung solos and had speaking parts.

This year they are going to be taking a dance class with Ballet, Jazz, and Lyrical.

On Valentine's Day we plan to host a craft & cookie exchange.

Field Trips

Our family really enjoys learning through field trips. We started off the year in 2010- 2011 by going to Kennedy Space Center. That was one of the neatest ever and we all had such a great time. It was an awesome value on Homeschool Day and they even gave you a ticket to come back a second day. You will need it-  there is so much to see and do there. This year we already have a big science center and aquarium on the calendar to visit this fall.

We will begin schooling the day after Labor Day this year.

Hope you all have a wonderful year teaching, learning, and pouring into your kids. What a blessing it is for us  all to have this opportunity to spend such precious time with our children! May the Lord bless and guide us throughout the year!

Come and join us in the Hop...