Five on Friday

Happy Friday to you all!

We've had a pretty good week here at GPE, sans a bump in the road in the form of a fever on Thursday. But we're bouncing back and (hopefully) going to dodge a full-on household of sickness. YAH!

"Five on Friday" is intended to help me from writing such looooong posts once a month, and instead capture five highlights from our week to share with our friends and family! So here it goes ... a little about what's been going on here this week.

In the past 2 weeks I've been on the hunt for new hands-on activities that the girls would enjoy, and even Ben can use. So as a result of my searching and shopping, I've added some additional fun to our schoolroom. We got some lacing buttons and beads, some pom-poms and ice trays, geo-boards with rubberbands, poetry books with CDs, new puzzles to add to the collection, and more to come (some on our Christmas wish-list : ).

The kids working on the lacing buttons. 

Ellie is on lesson 53 of her "100 Reading Lessons" and is doing very well! It's such a huge blessing to teach my own child how to read. She loves to get up early each morning, find a book, and see how many words she can read on her own. Makes my heart smile!

Abbie's working on a 2-point paragraph. This week's topic was "My Favorite Places" which turn out to be the swimming pool and her friend Kody's house : ) 

And this is how we ended our week ... a high fever and lunch in bed (per her request)! Sweet girl. 

My last post highlighted 5 of my favorite sites for homeschooling ideas, toddler activities, and crafts. I'll add to that list here:

http://totallytots.blogspot.com/

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/

http://www.littlegiraffes.com/

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/

http://www.thevirtualvine.com/

And one last thing ... although I'm quite certain I've exceeded my "five" for Friday!  I stumbled across this amazing Advent calendar idea called "Jesse Tree Ornaments" for kids and families as we prepare our hearts for Christmas. It comes with a daily Scripture reading and coloring squares to be colored and hung where they can be seen throughout the Advent season. We're eager to do this starting in only 13 days!

http://yourway.net/printables/jesse-tree-ornaments.pdf

May blessings abound,
Jenn