2018 year end review

As 2018 was winding down, I realized that the plans I had for blog posts never panned out and I just hadn't done ANY blogging in 2018.  As with most years, there were good and bad things, but while I tend to focus on the negative too easily I want to focus on all the good things we did this last year!

I did keep up with instagram though so there is that, but that is more for the moment and not for reflection.

January--
January started with a bang when we did a "Dr Who" themed new years party!  I posted lots of pictures on our instagram account @Sleimaniacs.

The Snow Queen : Fairy tale project

The original - "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson can be read online for free!  I usually read everything aloud so we can share this whole experience.  If your kids are younger though, you can start with one of the adaptations and adjust which resources to use.  (We did this project and took the pictures in July/August 2018)

How you can do a "Fairy tale project"--
Each day read a chapter from one of the novels (In this case "Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy" or the original fairy tale.)
Watch one of the movies (alternate long and short or go in order of oldest to newest) and read a picture book about snow every so often.  Have a party when you are almost done with all the movies and books.  Save your favorite for last or watch/read the favorite again if people want to! 
This rhythm lasts us about a month usually.  We have done it in a shorter amount of time, but it kind of burns people out so it seems to be better for us to enjoy at whatever pace everyone is wanting to enjoy it.

Christmas 2017

It's been a while since I've written a “Christmas Letter” of any kind. Actually, I can't remember when I did this last, so if this is a bit long-winded, you will understand why.

Fairy Tales - Beauty and the Beast

In 2017 we have had several fairy tale project themes!  The first was in the spring (and I am only now putting up the pictures) and it was all "Beauty and the Beast"!!!

Click the "see more" if you want to know how we created a fairy tale project in our home (this can be for homeschoolers or just a fun family activity!)

Bunny School - Education Tailored to Delight

I have shared before about the books we have used and projects we have done and so forth, but this blog post is more about how you could bring a theme or specific interest that your child has all together to build a full curriculum based on that.  My child's special interest is rabbits-- how can that be enough to cover all the subjects?  We have covered (with bunnies!) reading, writing, math, history, science, good citizenship, geography, art and some practical life skills.

"Follow the Child, but follow the child as their  ."  -- Maria Montessori

Three thinking tree books that are quite rabbit themed!  

The two on the left are basically the same style inside "core journal" type that you can use many books with and they could easily be used one after the other if your child goes through it more quickly.  The core funschool books are how they can practice writing and art and keep some variety and surprise in the "work book" part of school.  I like having something to look back at and see what they were learning and each stage.  The Bible verse one on the right is learning spelling of course, but in the context of Bible verses!  You can see a video showing the inside of the Bible verse books here. and to see the insides of the two core journals (along with some others to compare) the video to see inside those two is here.