Caleb’s Bedroom Makeover

Back over the summer, Brian and I had a “duh parenting” moment.  We realized that while we had spent time reducing the use of chemicals in our home and cleaning up our diets, we had overlooked one area.  Caleb’s bedroom was decorated with taxidermy animals.  Yep…lots of once living animals were hanging on the walls.  What we didn’t think about at the time was how all of the chemicals used in the taxidermy process were seeping into Caleb’s bedroom and in essence, his system.  So, we came to our senses and realized that it was time for a bedroom makeover.  We promised Caleb that we would use the money we received from selling all of his taxidermy animals to decorate his room in the décor of his choice.  After much back and forth, he finally settled on a COWBOY room. 
Brian and I went to Hobby Lobby and bought lots of COWBOY décor to bring life into Caleb’s bedroom.  We also purchased him a bunk bed loft system (again, his choice).  We were in the process of removing carpet from the living room, and Caleb wanted his carpet gone, too.  So, we hired a crew to put in laminate floors.  Since the room was going to be made over, it made sense to have the walls painted/repaired, too.  So, we hired a painting crew to come in and paint his room (and some other rooms).   Once his room was painted and the bedroom furniture was built, it was time to start decorating.  Caleb got to choose what was put on each wall, and I must say…the finished project is GREAT!  I LOVE his room, and I think he does.  I also love that it’s one that can grow with him…even if he chooses to dismiss the COWBOY theme, his bedding will work with something else.  Or – he can keep the COWBOY theme until he moves out…either way, it works, and we’re all in love! 

The view of Caleb’s room from the hallway

Caleb’s bedroom door

Wall right of his closet

Wall left of his closet

Right of his bed

Boot hooks

Cross

Wagon wheel above his bed

Wall across from his bed

Cowboy

Praying cowboy

Roping cowboy

Wall left of his window

Western themed shadow box

Smith & Wesson gun chart

Bunk bed loft system…steps/drawers on the left, desk on the right

Close-up of his bedding

Now, Micah wants his room re-decorated.  However, the deal is…he MUST sleep in his own big boy bed before that happens.  LOL!    I’m sure it won’t happen any time soon.

Third Grade Week 19 in Review

It seems like forever since I’ve posted a review of our schooling.  Omi and Opa came into town last weekend, so we postponed our lessons for a few days in order to spend time with them.  We finished up week 19, and here’s how it went…
Bible – Our lessons were on “Jesus Controlled the Wind and the Sea” and “Jesus Commanded Sickness and Death.”  We read Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:49-56.  Caleb’s memory verse was Mark 4:41c.
Math – NEW CONCEPTS:  Put Hands on a Clock.  REVIEW CONCEPTS:  There weren’t any.  Caleb did his review work, and then he took his LightUnit Test and scored 100%.  He’s doing really well in math using the CLE curriculum.
English – This week Caleb learned about action words…aka verbs. 
FUN SCHOOL – For Math, Caleb did some work with the money jar.  We also played some games using playing cards…Sum 10, Sum 11, and Sum 12.  Caleb really enjoyed these games, and I see us playing them a lot in the future.  For English, he worked on writing letters.  He wrote a letter to his friends Will and Ethan (brothers), and he also wrote a letter to his Omi and Opa.  He also read Mom and Dad Are Palindromes by Mark Shulman & Adam McCauley.  In Science, he read about bones, rocks & minerals, cats & dogs, and he also read from Every Day on Earth – Fun Facts That Happen Every 24 Hours by Steve Murrie & Matthew Murrie.  We also spent some time going over some of the Brain Quest Questions & Answers.  In social studies, he read from 100 Facts – Explorers by Miles Kelly.  We also went to see Alice in Wonderland at The Grand Opera House in Macon. 
Our “FUN SCHOOL” experiment is still going well; however, life has happened so much that we haven’t gotten to it as much as I would like.  We spent a good part of October having new flooring put in and having walls painted.  So, that took up a good part of our “fun school” time.  We also spent the past 8 weeks participating in a “new to us” Co-Op.  Now that the Co-Op is over, I’m hoping our schedule will lighten, and we can focus on more fun school activities/learning.  It’s a learning process for me, and I’m slowly figuring out how to best help Caleb achieve success during FUN SCHOOL. 

Artwork

Caleb has been taking an art class in Macon, and he is LOVING it.  It’s a drive, but a fellow homeschool mommy friend and I have been taking the turns with the driving.  She drove all of September, and I picked up the drive in October since she was due with a little girl.    It’s worked out well, and Micah and I typically enjoy some time at Starbucks and the shops in Macon. 
Here are some of the projects that Caleb has brought home from the art class, and I’m throwing in some others that Micah has done in his Co-Op class this session. 

Caleb’s Ice cream cone…they created the paper, too.

Caleb’s…not sure what this is…

Caleb’s Tree painting

Caleb’s Pinch pots

Caleb’s Pumpkin

Caleb’s Halloween bag

Micah’s apple pie

Micah’s scarecrow frame

Micah’s Johnny Appleseed

Close-up of the little poem

Micah’s Apple Window Decoration

Third Grade Week 18 in Review

Another week at Childress Academy is complete.  Here’s how the week went for us…
Bible – Our Bible lessons this week focused on “Jesus Obeyed God” and “Jesus Was a Teacher.”  We read Matthew 4:1-11 and Matthew 5:1-8.  Caleb’s Bible verse for the week was Philippians 2:8b.
English – This week Caleb finished up his ACE Pace by practicing more words in cursive (note to self – I really can omit this from here on out b/c he’s got cursive down, and we do handwriting daily).  He did his review work, and then he took his test.  He scored 100% on his test.
Math – This was another good week in math.  NEW Concepts:  Cups, Pints, Quarts; One Day is 24 Hours; A.M. and P.M.; 12 Months in a Year; and Writing the Date.  REVIEW Concepts:  Fact Focus:  11, 7, 4 and 11, 6, 5.
FUN SCHOOL – This week Caleb read about different animals (tigers, wolves, monkey, and lions), and he read in his young naturalist book (nature if you’re wondering).  He also read about Alaska, horses, and endangered animals.  He worked on the states of Alaska, Georgia, and Florida in his Stuck on the USA workbook.  He used the play money to count money and show different amounts of money (using different coins each time) and played his addition dot cards.  He used letter tiles to spell random words.  For reading, he began reading Little House In the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  For Bible, he read a devotion that focused on “snearing from the inside.”  Art consisted of using oil pastels to make leaves and apples, and he also built a model airplane.  For PE, he played Wii Fit, and we also had a fun day at the park with homeschool friends. 
***I had to come up with a system to give Caleb some structure during FUN SCHOOL.  So, I created a chart that has all of the different subjects…Math, English/Brain, Reading/Magazine, Science, Social Studies, Bible, Art, and Physical Education along with 4 boxes next to each one.  Each day he has to choose 4 of those areas to focus on for his FUN School.  The ideal is that he would choose each subject at least 2x during the course of the week, but we’re going to see how he does on his own.  ***

Caleb drawing his leaf for the oil pastel project

My leaf ready to be colored

Caleb’s leaf ready to be colored

My completed leaf

Caleb’s completed leaf

Both leaves together

My apple

Caleb’s apple

Caleb painting the pieces to his model airplane

Whew, what a mess…LOL!

Still painting (and like a bad mommy, I failed to take a picture of the completed project…sorry…if I can find it, I’ll snap a picture).

Now, if you have any good ideas for using oil pastels, PLEASE send them my way.  I’m not familiar with them AT ALL, and being as I’m not craft, I haven’t a clue where to start.  LOL!  I tried finding idea on the Internet, but…

Third Grade Week 17 in Review

We are done with another week at Childress Academy (note to self…work on a “cooler” name).    Here’s how week 17 went for us…
Bible – Our Bible stories focused on “God Wants Us To Be Happy” and “Jesus Came from Heaven.”  We read Psalm 100 and John 3:16-17.  Caleb’s memory verse for the week was Psalm 9:2.
English – This week Caleb worked on more adjectives, a/an/the as adjectives, and writing words in cursive.
Math – NEW CONCEPTS:  Copy problems with uneven digits; zero is a place holder; difference; and writing a solution.  REVIEW CONCEPTS:  carrying to the hundreds place; fact focus:  10, 6, 4; and fact focus:  8, 3, 11.  The only complaint I’m really hearing about math is that it is a lot of work, and I’ll agree…it’s MORE than what he’s used to.  However, I’m fine with that fact. 
FUN SCHOOL – Due to scheduling conflicts, there wasn’t much opportunity for a whole lot of fun school.  We went to The Grand Opera House in Macon to watch a performance of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We also went skating with our homeschool group.  Caleb worked on the 50 states flash cards, played with the tangram pieces, and read about rocks & minerals while studying his rock collection (one that was passed down from his uncles and cousin).  We also spent some time with Brian learning about the story of Caleb from the Bible.  Caleb also worked on one of his scavenger hunts which allowed him to work on time, read about wolves, study knights, review dictionary skills, complete some brain busters, make shapes with tangram pieces, review polygons, use magnetic English tiles to make questions, and review math facts. 
Stay tuned to see what all is explored and learned next week.

Third Grade Week 16 in Review

This week we began our new schooling adventure.  If you remember from this post, Caleb will have a small bit of formal schooling, and then he has the remainder of time to use for free learning and exploration.  Considering this was a new experience for him and me, he did fairly well.  There were a few times when he seemed to have no direction, so I gently guided him towards an activity.  Overall, it was a great week, and I think he enjoyed the change.  He’s now referring to this new form of schooling as “Fun School”, so that’s what we’ll call it.  LOL!  Here’s how this week went for us:
Bible – Our Bible lessons this week focused on “God Turns Our Troubles Into Good” and “God’s Angels Watch Over Us.”  We read from Genesis 45:1-8 and Daniel 6:16-23.  Caleb’s memory verse was Romans 8:28a.
Math – Caleb started a new LightUnit this week.  NEW CONCEPTS:  Writing Fractions; Freezing Temperatures; One Half of a Group; More About Equal Parts; Tally Marks; and Expanding Numbers to 100’s.  REVIEW CONCEPTS:  Fact Focus:  9, 5, 4; Fact Focus:  10, 7, 3.  Caleb still seems to be enjoying this math curriculum.  If I had to guess, I’d say that the timed drill is his favorite part.  He likes being challenged with only two minutes to see how many he gets right.  So far, he’s doing really well.
FUN SCHOOL – Each week I hope to keep a record of what Caleb reads about or does during his “fun school.”  Micah has joined in on some of the learning, too, so that’s always a plus.  This week Caleb read about Knights, landscaping, the first North Americans, pet birds, cowboys & Indians, the story of exploration, and mummies & pyramids.  He watched National Geographic Forces of Nature on Netflix.  We played “bank” by using play money.  I would give him a certain amount, and he had to count it.  He then had to give me a certain amount.  Both boys enjoyed creating several art projects…some pictures using different objects (noodles, beans, etc) and paper bag and stick puppets.  They then proceeded to put on a puppet show.  Caleb used my iPad to learn German colors, practice piano, study dinosaurs, and learn more about Columbus Day.  ***Speaking of the iPad, Micah LOVES the thing.  I’m afraid he’s using it more than I am.   LOL!  However, I’m thinking he’ll learn quite a bit by playing with all of the free apps I’ve downloaded.  It’s proving to be a great investment.***
Here are some pictures of this week’s Fun School…

Micah created a pattern using his manipulatives

Micah creating his art picture

Adding some color

Caleb working on his picture

Caleb’s bird

Concentrating (note the tongue)

Note the tongue here…LOL!

Caleb’s completed picture

Caleb’s paper bag puppet

Micah working on his bag puppet

Micah’s completed puppet

Micah working on his stick puppet

Caleb working on his stick puppet

Adding more features

Caleb’s completed stick puppet

Micah’s stick puppet…aka Buzz Lightyear according to him

Puppet show

And another…

Caleb & Micah’s puppet show

As you can tell, it was a GREAT week.  I think once we get into more of a routine, Caleb will adjust better to the “Fun School.”  I created some “Fun School Scavenger Hunts” that he can use if he’s ever lacking ideas of where to begin…he didn’t seem too thrilled with them once I made them (although it was his idea).  LOL!  Join us next week to see what else we learn!

Testing

This is a test from my iPad.