Math in Focus

Well, after doing much researching on the internet, I decided to go with Math in Focus.  It's done by Houghton Mifflin but it is the Singapore Method. I really liked the look of the textbooks: very colorful, with lots of explanation and activities.  Each book has guided practice, practice, and tests.  Answers are in the back of the book.  I read that the teacher's manual isn't necessary.

The only catch is that it is quite expensive, but thanks to Ebay I got each book for around $10 to $15, which is great.  There are two textbooks per year and two workbooks per year, although I didn't see any workbooks for grades 6 and up.  There are extra practice books instead.  This curriculum is used in schools in the U.S. and it goes up to 8th grade.
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Another option I looked at was Primary Mathematics (Singapore Math) Standards edition.  The books have more practice and have a little more explanation than the U.S. edition.  It is slightly more expensive than the U.S. version but is less than Math in Focus.  However, it only goes to 6th grade, which is a disadvantage.

Bible Town Craft

My daughter loves to keep busy with projects and crafts.  When she saw this on pinterest, she told me she had to do it.  We probably won't make all the pieces or make them slowly.  Fun!

http://www.mylittlehouse.org/images/bible-paper-toys/bible-town

World War I and World War II lapbooks/notebooks

We finished studying about the industrial revolution.  We are studying about the progressive era now and are getting ready to study about world war 1 and 2.  I do like my children to write about what they learn instead of just reading to them. Lapbooks and notebooking are great for this.

Here were some websites that I found that have good lapbook/notebooking material.  I haven't printed out anything yet and I probably need to take some time to look through everything.  Since it was so hard to find these sites, I thought I would share the information with you.  The first website has a lot of resources as well.

Although we don't have a library here, you may be able to buy a few of the books on Kindle.

http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/history/americanhistory2/books_worldwar1.html

http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/free-pages/free-sonlight-world-history-pages/

This last page was intriguing.  The mom did a lapbook on the FBI during the 20th century.  I may not do the exact same thing, but I think I may copy off a few pages of it (i.e. the presidents, etc.)

http://www.dynamic2moms.com/fbi-american-history

I am learning that there are some moms out there with a lot of time.  I am thankful that they are so willing to share so that we don't have to put together things ourselves!  Check out their other ideas for lapbooks!

Christmas Ideas...Getting Kids Ready for It

I wanted to prepare my kids for Christmas and really have them meditate on the meaning of it.  I found this website:

http://www.biblestoryprintables.com/Pages/BibleCrafts/NamesofJesus.html

There is an advent activity to do with your kids every day for the month of December.  We started today.  Actually, we did not print out the Names of Jesus ornaments but rather we drew them and decorated themselves.  My kids like to be creative.  My son dislikes just coloring something.  He'd rather come up with things on his own.  :)  You can either hang these on your tree or my kids decided they wanted to string them along the wall.

We also are going to read through the following passages that deal with the coming and birth of Jesus.

Sun. Is. 40:1-5
Mon. Is. 52:7-10
Tue. Is. 40:9-11
Wed. Gen. 3:8-15
Thu. Gen. 15:1-6
Fri. Deut. 18:15-19
Sat. Ps. 89:1-4

Second Week

Sun. Is. 11:1-10
Mon. Zech. 6:12-13
Tue. Mic. 5:2-4
Wed. Mal. 3:1-6
Thu. John 1:1-8
Fri. John 1:9-18
Sat. Mark 1:1-3

Third Week

Sun. Luke 1:5-13
Mon. Luke 1:14-17
Tue. Luke 1:18-25
Wed. Luke 1:39-45
Thu. Luke 1:46-56
Fri. Luke 1:57-66
Sat. Luke 1:67-80

Fourth Week

Sun. Is. 7:10-14
Mon. Luke 1:26-35
Tue. Is. 9:2-7
Wed. Mt. 1:18-25
Thu. Luke 2:1-20
Fri. Mt. 2:1-2
Sat. Luke 2:21-35

Any traditions or crafts that you will do or have done with your kids that have been really meaningful?