Home School Workboxes

Mya starts Grade 1 this year!! Hard to believe. She's growing so fast! I am considering using a workbox system so that her schooling will be a little less teacher intensive during the school day. It will require a little more planning from me before school, but that is a good thing!
So, while we are on holiday, I am researching and planning. Don't let me fool you - I love to research!
I thought I would "gather my thoughts" on my blog, and maybe it would help someone else, too.

Right now I am looking for ideas for in the workboxes. We have our basics....

Word of Life Quiet Time
Math U See
Handwriting Without Tears
Teach Your Child to Read in Just 10 Minutes a Day
ABC Memory Verses
Little Footprints
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day


Here are some other ideas I would like to include (when not already planned for me in Little Footprints):
Calendar/Day of the Week/Weather
Fine Motor Exercises
Gross Motor Exercises
???

I have a long list of fine & gross motor exercises like painting, drawing, cutting, folding, crawling, marching, jumping, etc. I am looking for specific ideas to implement, like what to do with lego blocks, what to make out of playdough - something that she can do with simple or no instruction from me. So, stay tuned! I am going to post those ideas in separate blogs. When I finish them, I will link them up here.

And if you have ideas you'd like to share, I'm all ears! Just leave a comment!

Crocodile Crunch

Mya was THRILLED today that we finally had all the ingredients to make Crocodile Crunch for school, from the book African Animals, Rhymes & Recipes by Tracy Going.

 

African Animals, Rhymes & Recipes

I promised her we would make it while Mickey was sleeping, so the moment he hit the pillow she was ready. She loves to bake and cook! She also likes Mommy's undivided attention.

While we were making them, she brought up Nina and Switzerland. She loved going to school with Nina while we were there, and she was telling me how they got to bake and then they got to eat it, too!

I had to take a picture of the finished product, too, because she was sure Gramma and Nana would want to see it. She thinks you would like her Crocodile Crunch! They are made with cocoa, golden syrup, sugar, butter and corn flakes.

When we were finished the dishwasher was running, so Mya offered to wash the dishes. Love that she still thinks it's fun! :)

She is such a pleasure to teach as she just LOVES to learn!

Stuff

This morning we found out that the magistrate has approved Mya's adoption, and now we're just waiting for papers from Pretoria saying that Mya is officially a Hawkins. Once we receive those papers, we will have to go to Home Affairs to have her first name changed to Mya.

We also started our new school year today! It wasn't as good of a day as I had hoped, but it wasn't bad, either. We got through Math, Spelling and KONOS, and called it a day after a few interruptions stretched it out longer than I had intended. We are busily doing a week of Cowboys to finish up our study on Obedience from last year before we jump into a study on Orderliness. I am looking forward to the change, and to diving into our Apologia Science book on Astronomy.

We went out to Spur tonight for dinner with the Pages & Embrees to celebrate this step in Mya's adoption. It is such a relief to know that all the running and trying to figure out what papers we need is over!

I have been so tired the last week or two! I am trying to start going to bed no later than 10, so that I can get up in the morning and have time for my quiet time and a bit of exercise, along with my morning routine of housework before we start school. These are my first attempts at self-discipline, throwing off weights and bringing my body into subject, though I'm sure that this is just the beginning of a life-long journey!