"The Tale Of Peter Rabbit"

This week to drive home the spring theme, I thought it would be fitting to row, "The Tale of Peter Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter. We will discuss the Author of this title and read other stories from her as well. We will discover many new words this week such as, implored, exert, and sieve. We will listen for the onomatopoeia's throughout the story. We will also write an animal fantasy story of our own. For our social studies and Bible lesson we will review trust, setting rules, consequences when they are not followed and obedience. We will also revisit the 10 commandments. During art we will dramatize the story and discuss what a "naturalist" is. During math we do grouping and mutiplicationwith the bunnies and berries throughout the story. We will do a science study on rabbits and also gardening. We will be planting our very own wild flower garden. On Friday of this week we will take a field trip to the Hughe's at our church where they have many bunnies who know how to multiply!! LOL! It should be a fun filled week of SPRINGY TIME fun! Pictures to follow! :)

http://www.peterrabbit.com/index.asp

Catch Up Post..................

Well here it is April 19Th! I can not believe our K5 year is almost over! It has been an enlightening year for us all. Our family has grown closer and learned so much. One thing is confirmed now, we are a homeschooling family. It suits our lifestyle and we are enjoying the many benefits of the homeschooling experience. Especially being able to vacation when we want to. :) Yes, there are many many more benefits and I am sure Luke would have a list all his own if he were asked. God has blessed our family with stronger bonds and the joy of being together as a family. Also in watching Luke grow and learn daily.

I have had many valley's this winter and am glad to see spring slowly pressing through with beams of sunshine. I have reevaluated many areas of my life and as I stated in the Jan. post I have worked on simplifying my life and schedule. This month this will come together in many areas. I will work my final day at AnMed Health on Sat. April 25Th. after 10 years and 7 months on the payroll there. It is bitter sweet. I love that place, it is comfortable like your favorite pair of jeans. It has afforded me many benefits in my career and I have learned so much there and made many life long friends. I little piece of me will always be there. I have moved on now to an amazing place that will serve my needs in this area now, it is St. Francis. I thank God every time I leave there for this opportunity. I am loving it there and the staff is so kind, caring, and patient oriented! WOW! I have also removed myself from the schedule at Easley Baptist. So, my PT focus will now be at St. Francis Downtown Greenville, the place where my life began. And in a weird way I do feel I have come full circle So, in the years to come I will receive 2 W2's at the end of the year 1 form St Francis and one from the Pickens County YMCA. The is also an extended part of my family and organization I am proud to be a part of. This is a blessing to me and I do not take it for granted!! Thank you Lord for your blessings on me in this area.

As far as homeschooling goes we took some time in March to just cover what I have called K5 basics. We have read, sang, and done many fun educational things. Mostly we have learned the basics about life and the tools we need to do this thing called life. Some of the other topics we have explored are; space, the calendar, water colors, creation, fight, St. Patrick and his day. We continued working through the Math U See curriculum with skip counting and solving for the unknown. We are slowly making our way through Reading Made Easy. Math is coming much faster for Luke than reading, but we are still plugging away.

During April we have invited in the new Season and seen a lot of rain. The week of Easter we learned about the Passover and it's many significant symbols to our Christian faith and how Christ coming and dying on the cross is beautifully told through the Jewish celebration called Passover. We also spent a lot of time reading about and discussing the Easter story. Luke was very in tune to the aspects of what Jesus did for us on the cross. It was amazing to see his eyes be opened to the sacrifice and the triumph of the Resurrection story! It is called the greatest story ever told for a reason. This to me is the most important lesson we can teach him. Every Easter activity we used to point back to Jesus. It was a blessed time here in the McAtee home that week. A week of renewing and remembering.

Last week we rowed "The Rag Coat". It is the sweetest story of an Appalachian girl who has no coast so she can't go to school. When she does the children make fun of her pieced together coat made of scraps. When the children realize the significance of each scrap of cloth they all change their tune and welcome her! It is a sweet story that I will soon look for to purchase on Amazon. We discovered the art of quilting and how different quilt patterns can tell a story or share a bit of history. Luke created his own quilt pattern out of his pattern blocks. We reviewed geometric shapes with this lesson as well. We listed the elements of a story and pointed out what each one was in this story. We located the Appalachian Mountains on the map and researched the culture there. It was a fascinating study. We continued with Math U See and are working on telling time. We will continue this into this week putting the hours and minn. together.

Probably the most favorite teaching times for Luke was the weekend I worked and Travis taught him how to saw, hammer, build, construct small things from wood. He also taught him how to steer the lawn mower alone! I cried as I watched my son drive the mower around in the back yard like a young man! After he was finished had a cold bottle of root "beard". What a blessing it is to watch him learn and grow.

We have 3 weeks left at K5 in our Cozies! I can not believe it is coming to a close! I will forever cherish the memories we have shared this school year!! AMEN.