Counting lapbook and getting school done

So sorry not to get a chance to update this week . The batteries to our camera went on the fritz so I had to go get some more . We finished up Hannah's counting Lapbook . It turned out really nice . I got mighty creative this time and used VELCRO ! LOL . I was able to get just about everything for this Lapbook from Homeschoolshare.com The Flash cards I had gotten from First-School.ws
This was fun to make as I wanted it to be a learning tool for Hannah as well . Something she could use to practice her number recognition since she's been having issues with this concept along with remembering her colors .
Of course we haven't forgotten about posting our Writing Tales experience . We finished the story of Androcles and I really enjoyed reading the girls' finished stories . It definitely is wonderful to see them be able to take what they have learned from this program and move it over to their own writing ,both personal and for their school work .
Working on getting school done here . Its hard because we'll be moving soon so that's a task in itself and I have another mission as to getting my youngest over to another Children's Hospital for better care ... that's a whole other story that you can see on her webpage www.caringbridge.org/visit/margaretreed1

So we've been working very diligently on getting our schoolwork done so we can have some semblence of a summer this year . I don't mind working on things throughout the summer but I don't want to be working through the summer . Its had its ups and downs but since after the birth of my 4th daughter this momma is getting burnt out from the demands of cyberschooling . And we are not enjoying the curriculum very much anymore either. There has been too much of the Calvert curriculum that I've had to replace with this or that and the higher up the level we go the less time I have to replace things to make them work for the girls . So we shall see what our choice will be for the upcoming school year .

As you can see with our Read Alouds we are finished with the Swiss Family Robinson and are moving on to Detectives with Togas which sure looks like its going to be a fun read . Katie was sad to see we were done with Swiss Family Robinson but she's happy to hear this story as well .

I've also been going through things that I am wanting to use with the girls for the upcoming school year . I've decided that we are going to tackle Latin . Latin you say ? Why Latin ? Well about 50% of the English language comes from Latin sometimes directly from Latin but often through French .Many professionals get their terminology from Latin - especially law , science , medicine, music ,philosophy and theology . Plus alot of Latin quotes are in English Literature . If you can master Latin you can also master, Spanish , French , Romanian , Italian , and Portugese .
So I believe if we can start with this the girls can easily grasp other languages the older they get .
I know sounds crazy . One would say why would you want to study a dead langauge ? My question to you is : If 50% of our language comes from this dead langauge isn't it worth studying ?
We will be starting with Prima Latina . There are several things I like about the program . One it is a Christian program . The girls can learn the prayers such as the Our Father , The Sanctus , The Doxology , and The Table Blessing ( Bless us O Lord ) all in Latin . Will it stick ? Will it work with the girls ? I can only hope . Another thing that I like alot about this program is it has a DVD program along with a pronunciation CD . Which is a good thing for me . I have never taken Latin . I like everyone else know those few Latin phrases that most people know . " Veni , Vidi , Vici ( I came , I saw , I conquered ) . Alma Mater ( nurturing mother ), Semper Fidelis ( Always Faithful the Marine Corps motto ) . But I don't know much about the language. Of course I know my Latin roots , aqua ( water ) , vita ( life ) and so on . But to knwo the Latin word for I , he , she , it and so on . Well all I can say is I'm going to learn right along with them . Thank God for DVD programs :>) I also like that I can use this with all three of the girls at different levels . Marilyn make work pretty fast through this , This maybe the perfect level for Katie , and Hannah can tag along and do this program orally if she is interested .

I've looked at other programs but right now we are going to start with this . I am tempted to give Song School Latin a try with Hannah . It looks very interesting and is geared toward K-2nd graders. It includes cute songs to get them to remember the words . I may not have the time to do two programs though so we'll play this all by ear for now .
So now that you've gotten this far here is our Counting lapbook :