Lesson Theme: Back to Homeschool and Curriculum List!

WOW!   What a couple of weeks:  back to school excitement and a new blog look that I am L-O-V-I-N-G!  

Jamie from Blood Orange Designs is wonderful and amazing to work with!  Did I mention she is patient - oooohhh so patient - she was great about explaining things that I am sure are super basic in the blogging world but completely overwhelming to NON-tech-savvy me.  :)  She has a great site (check it out), fun blog, and is incredibly talented!  If you are ever in need of some blog design help - Jamie is the person to talk to!  You'll be soooo happy you did!  :)

A few quick things to point out - I now have my very own grab button!  Isn't it pretty?  :)

There's also a menu, new "About" page, AND some great ways to "follow along" (RSS, e-mail, etc.)!  

Can you tell I am excited about my new blog look and features?  ;)  Okay, okay onward I press...

Here are a few of the fun things we did for our first two weeks of "Back to Homeschool"!

Isn't this little family of owls cute?  Inspired by the cardboard tube owls I found hopping around Pinterest, it just seemed to fit with our owl-lish back to school theme so we made some of our own.  

If you missed the post about celebrating our first day back with a special breakfast, some owl surprises, and a visit from the homeschool elf - catch up by reading about it here!  :)

One thing I did this year was to create an activity pack for our "Back to Homeschool" theme.  I wanted something more centered on homeschooling which would also be a fun review of some skills we practiced last year (counting by tens, patterns, etc.), AS WELL AS something to stretch Miss A a bit (building a story using the story spinners, puzzles, defining goals for the year, etc.).

You can see a more detailed description of what is included in the pack here in my TPT store.  For those interested, I have decided to put the pack on SALE for $1.50 the entire month of August!  :)

Wanting to encourage Miss A to begin the year thinking about what it means to be an excellent student, I came up with this activity.  She painted an empty egg carton yellow, and I added some wheels and windows to make a bus.  

We brainstormed what characteristics we thought make someone an "egg"cellent student and wrote them on little slips of paper.  We placed one each inside six eggs left from the spring.  Each egg was then decorated in order to look like a student and placed inside the "bus". :)  

If you make this craft, consider keeping it in a special place in your home where it will be handy to take down and review as needed throughout the year. 

We enjoyed playing this memory game from the Stay At Home Educator blog as well - I would place different school supplies on a tray.  Miss A would look at them, close her eyes, and then I would remove one object.  After she opened her eyes, she would have to try to figure out which item I had removed!  :)

More pictures of some of the activities we worked on from the "Back to Homeschool" activity pack.

Don't you remember when you were younger how much fun it was to "play" school?  Thus, I added some school items to a "Back to School" pretend/play bin for Miss A to use - her excitement was so cute as she lined up her dolls for "school".  

Some of the items inside were flash cards, a blackboard and chalk, ABC book, nursery rhyme book, notebook, an old reader, etc.  Here are some other suggestions for items to include if you make your own tub (and have room inside):  a pointer, dice, an educational game, whiteboard and washable dry erase marker, a small container of school supplies, back to school books from the library, an attendance chart, a pretend planner book, etc.

We also cracked open our NEW books!  Here's our current curriculum list for this year:

Bible:  The Big Book of Questions and Answers  (I also hope to add the The Big Picture Bible Time Line)

Reading/Phonics:  Veritas Press Phonics Museum  AND First Favorites (Veritas Press)

Grammar:  Shurley English

Math:  Saxon 2

Geography:  Legends & Leagues (Veritas Press) AND Beginning Geography (Evan Moor)

Character/Good Citizenship:  Daily Character Education Activities (K-1) by Carson-Dellosa Publishing

AND of course we have handwriting practice, thematic activities, and opportunities for physical ed. (starting up in September)!  

Whew!  Lots of stuff but what fun to be back into schooling once more!  :)

Hope you are having an amazing start to YOUR school year!!!  :)  If you have a back to school post, school organization/planning tip, or homeschool room you would like to share with us, I am currently hosting a linky party here (open the entire month of August) and would love to have you link up to share with the rest of us!  :)

Linking up:

www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com

www.gingersnapcrafts.com

www.printabelle.com

www.themommymess.com

www.polkadotsonparade.blogspot.com

www.milkandcuddles.com

www.momontimeout.com

www.enchantedhomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com

www.handsonaswegrow.com

www.houseofhepworths.com

www.happyhourprojects.com

www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com

www.whipperberry.com

www.homeschoolcreations.com

www.tatertotsandjello.com