2014 Year in Review

2014 was a very full year for us. We had two momentous events take place.

Baby Wheel made his arrival....

And Ceesa was baptized by Poppa...

What a wonderful year!

January, we spent time creating suncatchers and origami to brighten up our windows. We studied different animals. Jo-Jo learned about Farm Animals and Ceesa learned more about horses. We made chalk pastel's of fire places and studied the art of Thomas Cole. And we tried our hands at card making.

February brought more wintery chalk pastels of a landscape with a shed and snowmen. A tree with birds brought cheer to our windows and we spent lots of time feeding and watching birds on the deck.  We played lots of the indoor games that Poppa and I made at Christmas for the kids: hopscotch, twister, and wahoo. Valentine and box making filled our days and a few more surprises too. We worked in our Book of Centuries. Exam time came and went.

March ushered in reviews of the Talking Shapes iPad app, Amazing Science Volume 1 DVD, and Egglo Entertainment Products. We started sharing with Poppins Book Nook and shared the book Secret of the Andes. We created watercolors and beeswax sculptures. We had some fun making banana splits and snuggling together.

April brought the girls' first play and Great-Grandma made a surprise visit. Ceesa made lots of art: rainbow and a dancer. We reviewed Spelling You See, Supercharged Science, The Wise Woman Literary Analysis, and ARTistic Pursuits. We had a special Easter with Wheel. We shared our Summer Bucket List and Falcons of France with Poppins Book Nook.

May found us having birthday celebrations. I blogged about the Easter gifts that I made for the kids: homemade cereal box journals and the Entomology Kit. We reviewed Math Mammoth, Micro Business for Teens, Maestro Classics, What on Earth can I do?, Kraken mini iPad case, Heroes and Heroines, and the Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive, We shared some ideas and even did a spotlight with other bloggers: Puck of Pook's Hill, nature journals, and Family Summer Time Tradtion. The weather warmed so we could take a nature walk, dance in the rain, get out in the sprinkler, and get that stinky dog cleaned. Jo-Jo shared a poem and Ceesa drew a beautiful compass rose. And we had final exams.

June was abounding in fun. We celebrated the end of our school year with an ice cream bar. We started our summer bucket list: reading outside, watching moths, visiting a pond, building an outdoor tepee tent, climbing trees, stopping to smell the flowers, going on a town hunt, making a craft paper town, going to the arboretum, making sparkling strawberry lemonade, watching sunsets, learning a summer hymn, making fudgesicles, crafting water color spray nature prints, ring toss, gathering wildflowers, and spending evenings of the deck. We did a rock and mineral study. We reviewed Latina Christiana, Kinder Cottage Publishing Peter Rabbit books, We Choose Virtues, and Go Science. We made land art and a Handbook of Nature study. I blogged about how I made the orinthology kit and the botany kit for the kids. And then there were other summer fun times catching butterflies, fishing, playing with friends, enjoying nature, and doing some much needed remodeling.

July was full sunshine and light. We made fresh fruit pops and Ceesa made a sky person. We drew a sidewalk chalk mystery grid. On rainy days, we made pressed flower vases, put together a puzzle and  had a game day. We visited a waterfall, pond, a stream, a carving museum, the zoo, walking path, Children's garden, and the Button House and gardens. Some things were checked off from our summer bucket list: week 5, week 6, week 7 & week 8. We reviewed Flourish, HomeSchool Piano, and Moving Beyond the Page (which gave us a great opportunity to stay in a log cabin and visit a tepee). I conducted an interview with the kids and found some fun resources for Treasure Island. We went camping and did some volunteering, had a picnic and a Cooking Party for Jo-Jo.

In August, I shared my idea of Baby and Child Studies. Ceesa studied butterflies, chimps, and rattlesnakes and Jo-Jo made an ABC Fairy Tale book. We reviewed Mathletics, Visual Latin II, FarFaria App, Happy Kids Songs, and UberSmart Math Facts. We made fairy crowns and tu-to skirts. We wrapped up our summer Bucket List: Week 9, week 10, week 11, week 12, and week 13 with water balloons, homemade peanut butter cups, homemade finger paints, gigantic Ker-Plunk game, pool noodle javelin, homemade sidewalk chalk paint, pooh sticks, land art, rock climbing, make and take boats, and hide-n-seek. We played with a tornado tube, shared Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott, studied Fra Angelico, and Hildegard von Bingen. 

September ushered in the new school year. We squeezed in a last bit of summer. Li started homeschool preschool. I shared my research on retained reflexes, fun word games, the folk song: Billy Boy, Billy Boy the hymn: Just as I am, and our work on the winter sky. Ceesa did a projects on Norse Mythology, Ohio history, and bald eagles. I shared some answers to questions of first grade parents. We did studies on the Tree in the Trail, Pearl Cresent Butterfly, Crassus, Plutarch, and the painted Lady Butterfly. We did an owl craft, form art, and tested out our boats. We reviewed 7 Minute Life and Fix it! Grammar. We had an adventure day, went to the Bridge of Dreams, visited a glass museum, had a fall picnic with Poppa, went to an outdoor movie, went to the Renaissance festival, and had a Scavenger Hunt. The girls began embroidery.

In October, we baked Apple Cider Doughnuts and veggie chips. We went on a hike, to a lecture on a prairie burn, to the garden, to the library, to a pumpkin farm, and to an organic dairy farm. We reviewed Captain Bayley's Heir, God Came Near, Clued in Kids Treasure Hunt, Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls, NIV First-Century Study Bible, and iWitness books. We studied Postcards from Pluto, Robert Frost, cabbage whites, form art, and sulfurs. We made homemade travel games, altered book art, maps, shut the box, punched and pressed leaves, and glitter leaves. We shared our homeschool days and had fall fun.

November brought in some more autumn fun with autumn leaf wreath, leaf roses, leaf drawings, and caramel apples. we studied Hildegard Von Bingen cookies, Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza, Timoleon, Bee study, Hymn: Jesus Paid it all, William Blake, Story Time and Apple Pie, at the library, Hymn: Lift High the Cross of Jesus, embroidery, visited dinosaurs, and made chalk pastels. And started exams. We shared Preschool and Kindergarten Math: Capacity and attribute blocks. For a couple of extra special treats with had Li's Dragon and Knight Party complete with dragon cake and the first snow of the season (my was it beautiful). We reviewed Word Up!, Countdown to Thanksgiving, Snake Oil, Understanding the Creation, 940 Saturdays, For Such a Time as This, Shout Praises Kids, and the Jesus Calling Storybook.

December reviews were for Theo and George Washington's Secret Six. And had lots of Christmas celebrations: We learned the hymn: O Holy Night, Ceesa made an Advent calendar, went on our annual trip, worked on our homemade Christmas gifts, homemade Christmas ornaments, gingerbred men, made a gift guide and added a new Christmas tradition. We made gumdrop structures, paper making art, under the sea crafts, a clothes pin mermaid craft kit, shared preschool and kindergarten math ideas for cooking and comparison. We had exams and shared our folk song: Cherry Ripe.

Wow! What a crazy, fun, blessed year 2014 was for us. This post took a lot longer than I thought to come together. 

Wishing you homeschool blessings,


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