LOVING THESE LETTERS!

So, the other day I was in the local educational supply store, and I picked up these letter tiles. I didn't even really have a very good idea of how to use them, but I thought they looked fun. I pulled them out today during the younger girls spelling time and WOW!!! I think we have found the PERFECT learning tool for my spellingly-challenged (?) child. I'm always trying to think of multi-sensory ways to work on spelling - I have gone to great lengths such as dumping flour or applesauce on the counter and letting her spell with her fingers like fingerpaint.... (what was I thinking?) This was the absolute perfect way to incorporate multi-sensory options into her spelling lessons.

She can SEE the letters, she HEARS me spell the word, she TOUCHES the letter tiles as she arranges them, and she REPEATS the spelling of the word. But best of all - it was FUN!!

This set of tiles is perfect for Boo - they have a small picture of an object and she needs to figure out the first letter of each object and snap them together. This kept her busy for as long as our spelling lesson lasted!

Even biggest sister had to join the fun! After sending her back to her work a few times, I decided to let her join us - it was great! She is working on the 500 Most Commonly Misspelled Words in the English Language - and she loved the letter tiles as well!

This is one word I will ALWAYS remember how to spell because it was the word that knocked me out of the Regional Spelling Bee when I was younger. :)

My smart little Poopsie-Loo!

SATURDAY MORNINGNESS

A COLD RAINY HOMESCHOOL DAY

This is my favorite way to start each day when it's chilly outside. The fireplace, hot tea and my Bible.

From that peacefulness - we move on to ...

JumpStart!! The time we start our day together. The big girls are working on mind-bending puzzles to get their brains in gear for the day and Boo is working on her counting frogs.

Sometimes those frogs jump right on her nose!

Silly frogs!

This morning Banana took her spelling test on the sliding glass door with window markers - who says spelling can't be fun?

Miss Boo joins us everyday for spelling, she absolutely loves learning about all the sounds the letters make. I usually give her letters or words to copy down, but since we were at the window today, I decided to just give her words to try to spell - this little girl shocked me! I gave her 13 different words to spell - mostly words like cat, hat, dog, go - she spelled EVERY word right! Her little brain just amazes me every day! She even spelled her own full name and her sister's names too! She is a smart little cookie.

Today we are reading "Harold and the Purple Crayon".

Miss Boo is drawing her own adventures with her purple marker - just like Harold!

And tonight our family is going to see "Harold and the Purple Crayon", the play at our local community college. I'm very curious to see how this little story can be made into a show!

Happy Friday!

HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY HOW MUCH I LOVE MY JOB!!???

I just can't think of anything I would rather do with the little spare time that I have, than to be able to be creative, capturing God's creations, and meeting incredible people! I feel so blessed to be able to do what I do! This BEAUTIFUL senior girl was a photographer's dream. She was up for anything! We climbed up hay lofts, drove tractors, motorcyles, tromped through fields of soybeans ready for harvest, ducked through chicken coops, and even enjoyed a rope swing! She has lived her whole life on this several hundred acre farm that has been in her family for generations - her father actually has lived his whole life there as well. Their farmhouse was built in the mid 1700's, and is simply timeless. Miss "M" is just as beautiful on the inside - she is a sweet christian girl, homeschooled her whole life - she even has her bible study girls over to meet in her hay loft - how cool would that be??? I had a great time with you "A" family - enjoy your sneak peek! And thanks for the farm fresh eggs! :)

A tender moment with Dad (who happens to have the coolest mustache ever).

FALL DETAILS

You can see the leaves just starting to change colors outside my kitchen window - maybe next week I will have some fall detail pictures of outside my house.... the colors should turn quickly now - the rest of this week we have high temperatures in the 40's with rain!

As I was walking around my house snapping pictures of all the pretty fall things...I walk into the learning room and just have to giggle. This is usually what it looks like! Even the curtains are disheveled! But I love this look - it's the look of learning and love and being together.....