May's Monthly Goals

Monthly Goals

One of my goals is to create a monthly goals list! I always write down items as I go throughout my day but I desired to organize it monthly at the beginning of each month and on purpose think about what I needed, what I needed to do, and what my family and community needed from me. In an effort, to at last set that goal, I have begun with May! In order to keep myself accountable, I will update this post in June on what I have accomplished in May. ~~~Be Inspired~~~

May

Personal:

·         Confirm a plan to daily (and throughout the day) meditate on the Word/become closer to God

·         Laminate and hang important scriptures and prayers in our new place

·         Exercise daily…even if it is only running around with my boys

Marriage:

·         Plan 2 date nights

·         Flirt (daily) with my husband, on purpose

Parenting:

·         Speak nicer to my kids (not always in “mommy mode”)

·         Go back to my “mommy morning song” when waking up the boys

·         Plan intentional daily fun for the boys and I (even if it only means a random pillow fight or jam session with the Fish)

·         Host some type of weekly family fun inside the house

·         Create a plan from “Bringing up Boys with Character” to institute in our daily lives

Homeschooling:

·         Come up with a new way for our “prayer circle”

·         Finishing creating Aesop units

·         Continue planning our summer studies

·         Introduce Chipmunk to the following: spelling of his last name, coin money, vowels, and long and short sounds

·         Re-create our “Morning Board” (it was ruined in our recent move) ;-(

·         Place my BJU order

·         Create a list of Scholastic books I need for our homeschool in preparation for their sale

Homemaking:

·         Create a schedule for my husband in the morning

·         Create a bathroom chart for Peanut (since he has his own bathroom now, we are stepping him up in the responsibility department)

·         Meal planning

·         Purchase some bath mats, for crying out loud

Finance:

·         Create a new budget to include summer activities, new monthly income and outgo

·         Create a plan to institute our “10-70-10-10” plan”

·         Consolidate student loans

Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family:

·         Send an email to check on my homeschool mom, friends

·         Create e-cards for the important moms in my life

·         Create a schedule for tutoring one of my friend’s daughter

·         Speak to my first lady about a homeschool ministry, maybe

Blogging/Online:

·         Update my blog and my site

·         Update my social media pages (still pondering about Twitter)

·         Write my guest post for HHSM

Consulting:

·         Update my site

·         Order my new materials

·         Enter my customer’s order

·         Update my senior consultant for May & July conventions

Blessings, Joyice, The Writing Enhancer

Lowercase Alphabet Tracing

 Hi Readers,

I have searched high and low to find a fun printable where my son could sharpen his lowercase letter formation. I desired to find something that helped him group similar letters together (since that is how he learned his uppercase letters), but there was NOTHING (I could find.)

 

Then, as I was at my girlfriend's house she said to me, "you know, you could just create what you are looking for!" Um, DUH! So, I did!  

So, if you have a learner like mine or you just desire lowercase practice only, you have come to the right place. Please download, print, and being tracing with your preschooler/kindergartener!

Please click HERE to download!

 Blessings,
Joyice
The Writing Enhancer

Honesty w/ Aesop!

Hi Readers,

I am a fan of  “A Well-TrainedMind" by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. After reading the book, I decided to remix the way I taught reading to my first grader, Peanut. Since everything is (or can be) centered around reading, I wanted him to learn more than just a story or how to summarize. I wanted to add reading fluency, comprehension, lessons, Christian principles, illustrations, imagination, ideas, and create a love for reading.

I know that sounds like a heavy-duty list--but it worked!

My son and I were conversing more, he was using his imagination, applying his character and Scripture to every day life, and especially during our reading time. He thrived in reading and he was anxious to see what the next fable was about and figure out the moral..

As a homeschool mom, I am constantly searching for ways to combine two (or more) subjects together. In my quest to teach character, I discovered that Aesop covered many values I desired for my son to study and we could read at the same time! And thus, "Character w/ Aesop" was born! I am working behind the scenes to compile more studies together, but in the mean time I have one ready for you to download for free today!

I am not a theme-based guru, but I do appreciate them and they seem to work well with elementary-aged children, so I welcome them. A few weeks ago, we began the series with a unit in Honesty. We kicked the “reading text” to the curb and we started with some awesome fables from Aesop that, in my opinion, spoke well of being honest and expecting honesty from others. I added in some Scripture copywork so we could discuss what God expects from us in the area of honesty. It was very important for me to teach my son just how consistent God is. So, I added stories and Scriptures that taught Peanut how to be honest but also how to protect against being deceived.
​
The "Character with Aesop" unit study is designed for homeschoolers 1st-3rd grade in mind, but children K-5th could easily benefit. The series will teach students about character through the famous morals of Aesop, reading, and Scripture copywork. (Note: There is a non-Biblical version if you desire the study without the Scriptures.) 

How we did it: (This is listed on the "Directions" page of the unit download.)

Length: 2 weeks (1 fable per day, Monday-Thursday)

1. Read the Story

We alternated reading stories, so sometimes he read to me and I read to him. In the “You Read to Me…” book we always took turns with the colored paragraphs. P.S. I normally read the stories from “Aesop’s Fables” because the language is a bit harder.

2. Discuss the Moral or Lesson

This was a basic discussion about what the lesson meant. I wanted to see if he could figure out the lesson before we read it together at the bottom of the page. Then, I had him explain why the lesson shows honesty and how could it help/hurt others.

3. Narration

I had Peanut retell me the story in his own words. I prompted him with questions to assist in reinforcement. As he retold, I wrote down what he said I my “best handwriting” on handwriting paper. Then, I gave it to him and he read his narration. (I made sure he was satisfied with his summary.)

Peanut's retelling: Th Boy Who Cried Wolf

Peanut's retelling: Rooster and the Fox

4. Illustration 

Peanut drew and colored a picture of what the fable was about. He had to include the title of the story and the moral somewhere on his illustration. (We glued his illustration to the back of his handwriting paper and stored it in his Reading Notebook.)

This is one of my favorites of his! A perfect illustration of "The Rooster and the Fox!"



Peanut's version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf!"

5. Record

Peanut recorded the fable, its author, and the date read of each fable after reading it.

6. Copywork (They are a part of the download!)

This was such an exciting way to teach reading.  He thought it as “so cool” to see the Bible applied to a simple story and he feel in love with ME doing the writing portion of his narrating. (Little does he know, I am merely modeling for him. He will have to do his own narration next year!)

Click HERE to download!

Stay Tuned!

I have more character w/ Aesop units coming on:  

• Being a Good Worker
• Friendship
• Safety
• Pride 

…And More!

Joyice Harris
"The Writing Enhancer"

Black History 2013

February is Black History Month! I love this time of year because it gives us an on purpose time to study the history and heritage of our ancestors. Because two of the children that I homeschool are pre-schoolers I chose a very light approach to introducing this topic. My other schooler, is a 1^st-2^nd grader so this is not his first time learning about Black History, so we went a bit deeper.

For my preschoolers I divided some of our history in four sections:

·          Civil Rights (Dr. Martin Luther King & Rosa Parks)

·         The White House (Barack Obama & Michelle Obama)

·         Slavery (Fredrick Douglas & Harriett Tubman)

·         Athletes (Michael Jordan & Williams Sisters)

It was important for me to introduce them to both historical and modern figures as well as male and female figures. They are too young to delve deep but I have decided to give them one fact of each person daily. We have added coloring pages, activity pages, songs, and books!

For my 1^st-2^nd grader, we are using the same plan except I added one more area of focus (Inventors) and he has three people to learn about a week instead of two. His plan looks like this:

·         Civil Rights (Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, & Rosa Parks)

·         The White House (Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, & Condoleeza Rice)

·         Slavery (Fredrick Douglas, Benjamin Banneker & Harriett Tubman)

·         Athletes (Michael Jordan, Jesse Owens, & Williams Sisters)

·         Inventors (George Washington Carver & Garrett Morgan)

I downloaded a Black History Bio Sheet from TpT to assist us. He will record the name, draw (or paste) a picture, birth date, city and state of birth, and why this person is famous or celebrated.  Again, we will supplement with books and crafts! For the Bio Sheet, please visit Mrs. Tabb store here!

Books:

·         ABCs of Black History

·         Seed of Change by Jen Johnson

·         Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby by Charles Hubbard

·         More Than Anything Else by Marie Bradbury

·         Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport

·         This is the Dream by Diane Shore

·         Boycott Blues by Andrea Pinkney

·         We March by Shane Evans

·         Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson

·         Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds

·         The Bus Ride that Changed History: the story of Rosa Parks by Pamela Duncan Edwards

·         X: A Biography of Malcolm X by Jessica Gunderson

·         Barack by Jonah Winter

Websites:

·         http://www.nickjr.com/printables/black-history-athletes.jhtml

·         http://www.kidzworld.com/article/3081-sports-moments-in-black-history

·         http://www.timeforkids.com/minisite/black-history-month

·         http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/history/spotlight_september.html

·         http://www.factmonster.com/black-history-month/

·         http://holidays.pppst.com/blackhistorymonth.html

Resources:

·         http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/MLK-Rainbow-Coloring-Page-for-Younger-Children

·         http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Black-History-Coloring-Pages-w-Biographies-Activities-71-slides

·         http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FreebieFamous-Folks-of-Black-History

·         http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Black-History-Mini-Bio-Sheet

Anything new in 2013?

We had a wonderful Christmas Break! We hope you did too! Now that the 2013 is upon us and we are all settled in it's time to get back to school!

Are you adding (or subtracting) anything mid-school year? (Please comment for me!)

We are!

• I am adding Mad About Jesus Laboratories to supplement with Science and Christian Teachings.
• I also re-did our Homeschool Schedule. My son is not too interested in History right now so I docked it down to 2 days per week. He loves his Geography so I threw it in but I still cannot seem to find a great time for it. We will see how this week goes.
• I also re-did the way in which I will be teaching Spelling/Writing/Grammar/Reading.
• I finally purchased an art curriculum.I went with See the Light. My son enjoyed the demo lesson online (+ the reviews were all great) so it is sure to be a hit in our home.
• PE! I finally incorporated some structured, scheduled physical education time. Both of my boys enjoy working out, soccer, and basketball. So we will get our feet wet with those on Mondays & Thursdays.
• Last but not least....I joined a local homeschool group! I am already please with the calendar and types of events we will attend with other homeschoolers.
• Over break, I created a simple Books of the Bible chart. Feel free to use, share, or print! 

                        Let's get ready to kick-start the second half of the year!