Homeschooling While Living the Life of Easier

Week 16 and 17

2012-01-28T20:26:00.001-08:00

Not a lot different has happened these past two weeks. It seems like same old, same old.   Which is good because it means we have our routine down pat and things are chugging along.   But it doesn’t make for a super interesting blog post.

We have added history back into our routine this past week.    Covering the Counter Reformation, our writing skills practiced in history focused on taking notes and organizing those notes.    E-R and I-E also wrote two paragraphs about the founding of the Jesuit order and the Jesuits today.   Then we came up with sentences that would help connect the two paragraphs in an coherent manner which reinforced our writing lesson from Essay Voyage. Our history literature reading was a retelling of Pilgrims Progress.   At first, E-R and I-E complained about “the dullness and longness” of the text, but after discussing what an allegory is and taking some time to find the symbols hidden in the text their reading took on new meaning and we found it quite enjoyable.

Here are several neat websites I found that helped in our research this week.
Counter Reformation from a Catholic viewpoint.
The Counter Reformation broken down into easily understood sections
Jesuits Today in the United Kingdom

We’ve continued focusing on writing.   One of the assignments in Essay Voyage last week was to write a five paragraph essay.   The assignment took longer than I had planned, so we worked on perfecting those essays this week instead of moving on to the next chapter. The real challenge has been moving from a report to an essay as coming up with a thesis statement was a real killer for E-R and I-E.

In math, we have finished the first half of Singapore 6.   I will be ordering the second half of Singapore in another week or two. In the meantime, we have been working on our Key to Algebra and Key to Percent books.   We are also working with our Hands On Equation program.

So although we don’t have anything super exciting to share, I am super excited about the groove we’ve hit and the progress we’re making.

How is school time moving along in your home?

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T09:07:00.001-08:00

Yup, we visited a wax museum and shameless mugged it up with our favorite stars!

Why History?

2012-01-16T21:30:00.001-08:00

Why history?   Why spend time on a subject I hated so much in school?   Why spend time on a subject that my child won’t retain anyway?   Why torture myself and my kids? How is it really important in the world based on technology?

I could tell you without a past there is no present.    Or that to be a good citizen one must know one’s history.    Or maybe that one must learn history and memorize those dreaded dates to prove one is educated.

But let me tell you why my family studies history.     JOY!   Yep, we find joy in studying history.    History is a subject we study all together.   Starting in first grade, history is comprised of mom reading aloud stories.    Yup, history starts as simply as telling stories.

Think about it.   When you get to know someone, you don’t just memorize their place of birth, birthdate, and names of parents, kids, and siblings.   You get to know them by spending time with them, hearing funny stories about their lives, and listening to their hopes and disappointments.    History is the same way---it is getting to know people—not just their dates and vitals, but their stories, dreams, and mistakes.

So we start with stories.   Snuggled up on the couch, often with snacks in the afternoon or just before bedtime, we start to learn about people of the past.   Scripture stories, American heroes, Ancient cultures around the world, all are excellent starting points. Mythology of other peoples are also a valuable starting point for these myths share the values of a culture.

As my children learned to read, they would take a turn in reading history aloud to the family.   Important reading practice was taking place as well as honing public speaking skills. Comprehension was also tested as we discussed our stories.    And often during play time these stories popped back up as the center of creative play.

Around 2nd grade, my children started narrating these stories back to me.    This first involved drawing a picture and writing a few words or a sentence or two about the story. Help was always offered for spelling and punctuation, if needed. Perfection was not expected. I also tried to add in crafts, cooking, or games that pertained to the history we were studying.    We now had snuggly read aloud time, play time, and art time.    Nothing stressful here --Just plain old fun!

By 5th-grade, my kids worked their way up to writing a whole paragraph about our history reading.    Some kids choose to drop drawing pictures by this age, other children diligently spent hours drawing weapons or political cartoons.   I also would start to see a style for learning develop for each child.   One child might love to make lists of facts and dates while another loves to make scrapbook pages with elaborate pictures.   So another benefit of history is recognizing learning styles for each individual child.

In addition to narrations and pictures, we utilize timelines.   A large family timeline hangs up for all to add dates.    On this timeline, one might find family birthdays and anniversaries as well as the date Shakespeare’s first play is performed. Any date is allowed, and anyone is allowed to add to it at anytime. Around 6th-grade I buy each child their own timeline book. This is a rite of passage each child looks forward to.   Now dates are added to individual timeline books as well as the family timeline.   These books really do become keepsakes as each child takes ownership in their individual content.

Disclaimer: Our timeline is not used to memorize dates!   Rather it is used to keep track of what is happening when.   Our history studies are not always chronological, so the timeline dates help us to realize that about the time the Gutenberg Bible was being published in Germany the Byzantine Empire was conquered by Mehmet II. They help us connect the history happening around the world.

So by the time middle school rolls around, we are reading history, talking about history, and writing about history. And it has all been done together as a family.    But now we begin branching out—while still keeping our family read aloud time.   At this time I begin teaching writing and research skills through our history studies.   I have my child learn to outline and take notes from encyclopedias, magazines, and other history texts.   I’ve found that this isn’t as mind-numbing as one might think because as they are working with the history text, they are connecting it to the stories we’ve read.    As they outline the facts of The Thirty Year War, they remember the story we read about Emperor Frederick as a child, they remember the Austrian folktales, and they start to connect those stories with the people who lived during this war.   They start to think what the values and ideals of the leaders and people and connect those with the facts they learn about the conflict.

Research skills are taught as each child takes ownership in what they study about a particular time period.   After read aloud time and reading their assigned history articles each child decides on what they would like to research in depth.   A trip to the library ensues, notes are taken, and a paper is produced—1 page to begin with, but soon enough the papers become not only lengthener, but also more in-depth and thoughtful. Ok, I must admit that the process of creating these papers are not always enJOYable!   Every child has complained here or there about this particular process.   But the skills we’ve learned getting to this point, have paved the way for success in writing a history paper.   And that success is what marks the JOY!      To have the skills to create something of their own making is joyful!

And these papers are shared and discussed with the family –often at the supper table.   All have the opportunity not only to learn, but also to teach.   JOY is found in having the opportunity to impart knowledge to others.   As mothers we’ve all felt the joy of imparting knowledge to our children---imagine your children having that same kind of JOY.

So while scholars have their reasons the study of history is important, my family has its own reason to study history!

To see some of the specific resources I use, be sure to look at Ancient History, Middle Ages, History Portfolio, and my History Planning Post

I wrote this post as part of Susan's awesome virtual curriculum fair.

Now you have the chance to get up close and personal and check out what other moms are using for history and science.

Scienceand Worldview by Beth @ Ozark Ramblings

NatureStudy as Science by Christine @ Crunchy Country Catholic

VirtualCurriculum Fair Week 3- Social Studies and more Science by LeahCourtney @ The Courtney Six Homeschool Family

CurriculumFair–Exploring Our World by Angie @ Petra School

Pathsof Exploration by Jen @ Forever, For Always

LearningGeography at Our House by Jessica @ Modest Mama

TheFascinating World Around Us by Cindy Horton @ Fenced in Family

MoreHeart of Dakota Praises by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun

OurHistory by Melissa @ Grace Christian Homeschool

PlayfulUS Geography for First Grade by Pam @ Everyday Snapshots

Heartof Dakota-The Fine Details-Part 3 History by Lynn @ LadybugChronicles

ExploringOur World Through History & Science by Brenda Emmett @ Gardenof Learning

TwoHistory Must-haves by Letha @ justpitchingmytent

LearningAbout The World Around Us by Laura O from AK

SocialStudies and Science - What do we do? by Joelle @ Homechooling forHis Glory

HistoryChronologically and with Living Books by Debbie @ Debbie's Digest

ExploringOur World by Christa Darr @ Fairfield Corner Academy

I am also participating in

Week 15

2012-01-13T18:31:00.001-08:00

We had a pretty productive week—even after a Mommy Meltdown!
This month our focus is on all things Language Arts. We’ve started studying verbs in our Rod and Staff English. So far it has been mostly review.

I teach.

You teach.

He teaches

. I taught.

You taught.

He taught.

I shall teach.

You will teach.

He will teach.

In MegaWords we finished our Cv/VCe words.

inquire

illustrate

membrane

And have started on r controlled syllables

perturb

sherbet

whisper

abnormal

In Grammar for Middle School: A Sentence Composing Approach, we kinda went wild and covered several sections. E-R and I-E have really loved modeling sentences, and they look forward to reading the sentences and remembering the books they’ve come from or asking about the books they haven’t read yet. E-R was very excited about this paragraph she embellished. It started as

Rachel stared at her ruined doll. She had played with that toy every day. Her parents had given her other toys, but she always loved this doll the most. She looked down at the broken doll. The doll lay there, and she wiped her tears away. Rachel knew that birthdays would bring her more presents, and new toys to play with, but none could replace her doll.

And after E-R got her hands on it

Rachel stared at her ruined doll, headless and cracked. Throughout every year, she had played with that toy every day. Her parents had given her other toys with lots of moveable parts, but she always loved this doll the most. Crying, she looked down at the broken doll. Always ready to play, the doll lay there, still wanting to play. She wiped her tears away, frowning. Rachel knew that birthdays would bring her more presents, and more movable parts and new toys to play with everyday, but none could replace her doll.

We’ve also worked in Essay Voyage. I’m pretty impressed with the program. At first I thought the classic essays were expecting a bit much, but now I appreciate the mind stretching and discussion. I-E produced an awesome paragraph for her end of chapter assignment. I am especially happy with her sentence variety, something we’ve been working on improving.

What is a Red Panda? A red panda is a small cat-sized panda. This panda lives in mountain bamboo forests. It’s sharp claws help it climb trees while looking for food such as fruit, birds, eggs,and small animals. For hunting at night the red panda has large whiskers.

We’ve also fit in our Shakespeare studies as well as math and geography. But they seem almost an after thought with the progress we’ve been making in language arts. It’s good to see progress!

What has been working out in your homeschool?

Mommy Melt Down!

2012-01-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

I' admitting to a mommy melt down!   Yup, the same week that I posted about how to avoid The Homeschool Slump. Mommy Melt Down is a bit different then The Slump.   Mine occurred after frustration upon frustration piled up and without any slow release valve---she blew!   My frustration was due to some choices my children made, and some feelings of lack of appreciation, but if I’m going to be honest mostly the frustration could be traced to me.

I haven’t been doing the things I need to do.   I haven’t been physically taking care of myself.   I haven’t been following through with children.   I haven’t been taking care of my home.

But it’s easier to get grumpy, and have a bit of a tantrum and express that frustration with everyone else than to face the facts that I need to do more.   I have goals I don’t meet.   Things I want to do, but never get to.   I need to learn to prioritize the things that really matter to me.

In order to do that I need to spend less time on the computer, determine a motivation, and start taking time to journal and organize my thoughts.

How do you avoid The Mommy Melt-Down!?

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-10T22:22:00.001-08:00

Our Kitty Baby!

Homeschool Slump

2012-01-09T20:40:00.001-08:00

It’s that time of the year Time for the Homeschool Slump, the Homeschool Blues, the I Just Can’t Get Out of Bed and Do the Same Thing Over and Over Every Day Forever Feeling!

The newness and excitement of the school year from August and September have passed us by. The candy high from October is gone. The breaks that came every three weeks in November and December have vanished. Now we have long months ahead with nothing but a three day weekend here and there. For most of us, the weather is cold and the day is short and dreary.

What’s a mom to do when the homeschool blues come for a visit?

First: Plan for them. After homeschooling for 12 years, I know with certainty that the doldrums will come. Looking at my calendar this year, shows me that there are 13 long weeks between the start of school after Christmas break and our scheduled spring break! That’s a long time. So I plan several short weeks to break up the monotony. A three or four day weekend to look forward to makes the week go much faster.

Second: Change things up. Take a week and set your normal curriculum aside. A short unit study is a good way to break things up. Or perhaps focusing on just one subject for the week might brighten things up—poetry week, writing week, or everyday math would work well for a week long focus.

Third: Get out. Work exercise and fresh air into your weekly routine. Getting out into the fresh cold air always leaves me feeling invigorated and ready to get to work when coming back inside. Get out into your community for a field trip or two. Adding field trips into your routine changes things up a bit as well as gets you out of the house.

The doldrums and blues hit all of us at one time or another. Understand that’s okay and they will pass.

Week 14

2012-01-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

We are back! But not quite with a vengeance! Breaks are hard to come back from.

This month we are working on diligence. Our working definition:

Diligence does not rely on talent, but employs commitment, industry, and perseverance to transform vision into reality.

And our favorite diligence quote so far—Diligence is the mother of Good Luck! Benjamin Franklin.

As a family we took this quiz:

True False

I always do my best; I strive for excellence.

I am willing to risk failure for a worthy goal.

I am self-disciplined.

I make sure to learn from my mistakes and failures.

I try to see the big picture and think long term.

I set goals and stay focused.

I don't give up just because things seem difficult.

I don't procrastinate.

After taking the quiz, we decided procrastination is really something we all struggle with.   Procrastination is something we are all working on.    Self motivation was also discussed and is something we are working on individually.

And I did see that diligence translate into our school work. And I worked hard on overcoming procrastination when it came to putting away laundry!

I-E and E-R reviewed the chapter on nouns this week before taking the chapter test.   In Mega words they covered closed and silent-e syllables.   For literature, they read through I Am David, so we can start analyzing this coming week.   For writing, we started Essay Voyage.   And in math, review of rates was on the schedule.

E-R and I-E applied and were accepted to produce, direct, and preform a preshow scene.   Although not a huge deal, it has caused me to really think about our goals and adjust our schedules.

Merry’s excellent post at Hope for Homeschool about prioritizing for passions has given me a lot to think about.   I-E has expressed a desire to pursue a career in the movies—specially screenwriting.   I know next to nothing about preparing for anything like this.   So for now, I have lots to think about and no quick answers.

But for now, I’ve decided to forego history this month.   Instead, our afternoons will be filled with Shakespeare.

Not a bad trade-off over-all.

What changes are happening in your homeschool?

Guest Post

2011-12-24T00:25:00.000-08:00

Be sure to check out my Christmas Eve post over at Latter-day Homeschooling.

Merry Christmas All!

Christmas Break!

2011-12-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas is but a week away! I am taking a blogging break for the next three weeks. I look forwarding to spending time with family celebrating Christ's birth. Have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season--and see you next year!

Week 13

2011-12-17T12:16:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday we got to watch the lunar eclispe. It was pretty awesome and a great start to our weekend.

My photog skills aren't up to the task of documenting this awesome event.

Our school week was spent wrapping up lose ends before our Christmas break.

We worked through chapter 3 of Rod and Staff 7 which covered verbals and substantives. After break we’ll cover the writing from that chapter and review before taking the chapter test. Ideally we could have covered the entire chapter, but it didn’t work out that way this time.   We’ll make sure to take lots of time to review before taking the chapter test.

Mapping the World with Art covered the voyages of Christopher Columbus. I-E and E-R learned to draw The Greater Antilles and The Lesser Antilles Islands.   They then combined them together in an antique style map.

In Math we covered proportions and rates.   In addition to our Singapore work, we had fun realizing how important proportion is when working with photos.

I-E also used proportion to enlarge our template for gingerbread houses. She had to scale back her original creation so it could fit in the oven to bake!   We’re looking forward to decorating our gingerbread house with cousins during break.

Spelling took more work than planned.   After flying through the first word list in Mega Words, I expected the second lesson to be just as easy for I-E and E-R.   Turned out not to be the case!    Those schwa sounds at ends of words were killers for my girls.   We added some neat activities from our new box of Spelling Power task cards.

E-R chose to spell out her words on the keypad of my phone, while I-R used toothpicks to spell out her words.   And the test was finally passed!   We will move onto the third word list after break.

In history we learned about Renaissance music in Rats, Bulls, and Flying Machines.

    We also took an unplanned detour to the holocaust.   While scrolling through our TIVOed shows, I found two show that recorded in 2009!    Who Do You Think You Are which aired on NBC showed the journey a celebrity took in tracing their genealogy.   Lisa Kudrow’s father’s family were Eastern European Jews.   Her journey back to the village of Ilia in Belarus told the story of how all the Jews in the village—including her Grandmother—were shot and burned.   The story ends happily though when she finds her father’s cousin, who was believed to have been dead, alive and well in Poland. Before watching the show, we looked up Hitler and the Holocaust in our history encyclopedia. E-R remembered Number the Stars which we read two years ago and made the connection between that book and our new information.   I highly recommend the show.   It was a great way to show how “ancient” history affects us today.   After further investigation I’ve found that a new season of this show will air in February of 2012.   And the episode we watched along with others are available to watch on NBC’s website.

A great week and the perfect ending to our second term.   Happy Holidays everyone!

Week 12 Is it Christmas Break Yet?

2011-12-09T19:26:00.001-08:00

A lot of our time this week was spent on memorizing Winter Tale’s lines for Shakespeare.

“One that gives our himself Prince

Florizel, Son of Polixenes, with his princess,---she

The fairest I have yet beheld, ---desires access

To your high presence.”

In Geography we learned about Spice Wars and the Barbary pirates. Taking the role as sailor or pirate E-R and I-E

sailed around the Mediterranean, Northern Africa, all the way to Constantinople.

We continued on with studying the Reformation for History.

I also had the girls use their timelines to make mini timelines of what was happening during Martin Luther’s lifetime.

It was a great way to review our past studies and put into perspective all the different people and events we’ve studied.

Wednesday, A-M had a performance for her drama class which we had a lot of fun watching.

We’ve also been busy getting ready for Christmas—my favorite holiday! I’ve finally figured out out how to have the advent calendar I’ve been thinking about for 18+ years

Are you still working on school or has your Christmas break begun?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-06T21:52:00.001-08:00

Christmas Advent Count Down

2011-12-06T10:26:00.001-08:00

I always hope to get an advent calendar ready to use for Christmas, but so far in my 18+ years of being a mom, I haven’t gotten it together to do so.
This year I decided to let go of the perfect picture in my head and make an advent calendar as we go.
Each night in December our Christmas devotional is comprised of a Christmas scripture, story, and song.   The scriptures start with Isaiah prophesying of Jesus’ birth and move through the story of his birth in the Gospels.
We have strung a ribbon across our window with other Christmas decorations.   As we read each scripture, we write it on a Christmas shape the kids cut out, and hang it on our ribbon. (I picture hanging the scriptures up with cute little decorated clothespins, but since I’m letting go of perfect, we’re using binder clips!—maybe next year!)

By Christmas, we will have the Christmas Story written out across the top of our window.   Not quite Pinterest worthy, but special in its own way.

ETA: My dear friend Lennie read my post and made these marvelous clothespins for my Advent!

Don't they snazz up my Advent?! I'm am blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

I’ve written this in response to Savannah’s Homeschool Writing Prompts. Be sure to check out her other prompts for this week and join in the fun at Hammock Homeschool. I have also linked up to Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

We Got to See the Gutenberg Bible

2011-12-05T19:16:00.001-08:00

Turns out we didn’t see THE Gutenberg Bible, but rather one of the 47 remaining copies of a Gutenberg Bible. After studying Johannes Gutenberg and learning about the religious wars taking place during the Reformation, it is pretty amazing that any copies still remain 500 years after their creation.

We were also surprised by the largeness of the book! About three feet by two feet closed, it is a hefty book. The copy at the Huntington Library was purchased in 1911 for $50,000—an unheard of amount for a book at the time.

Johannes Gutenberg had art added to all of his books because he didn’t feel anyone would want to buy a book without handwork. All of the artwork is still colorful and beautiful.

To prevent damage to the book from sitting in the same position, the pages are turned once a week. How cool would that job be?

Just as impressive as the Gutenberg Bible is the copy of the Ellemeres Chaucer Manuscript. An early 1500s illuminated manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, it was gorgeous!

This book was also huge! And the art work—unbelievable!

Another book that caught our eye was the first edition of Micrographia by Robert Hooke.

This book was the first presentation of the microscopic world to the general public. There is so much we take for granted now days. It takes us seconds to look up a microscopic picture of anything online. Many people own microscopes. Imagine the brand-new world that opened up to after books like these were published.

In addition to the wonderful library at The Huntington Library the property houses some amazing art work.

We were able to view the charming Blue Boy

and the lovely Pinkie.

This gentleman gave us a little smile.

And we all agreed we secretly wanted to be this lady.

The Huntington Library was pretty amazing. We also enjoyed ourselves in the gardens and can’t wait to return to see some more of this impressive place!

Week 11

2011-12-03T18:04:00.001-08:00

We’ve hit the books hard though our focus has been a bit swayed

by sorting through Christmas boxes to get ready for Christmas.

In Language Arts we started a new spelling program, Mega Words.

I’m impressed with the program and thrilled with the reading help that comes with it. Both E-R and I-E have struggled with reading accuracy when it comes to multi-syllable words. Addressing both spelling and reading, Mega Words seems to be a good fit for us. This week we sped through the first word list and have moved onto the second list. In our grammar studies, we covered common and proper nouns, irregular plural nouns, and writing with specific details. Practicing our vocabulary skills at MyVocabulary.com stretched our minds. This link has a neat crossword puzzle that can be completed online or as a printout. Another activity that is offered tests your knowledge of Latin and Greek roots of holiday words—both Christmas and Hanukkah.
Geography kept us in Europe. We learned about the changes the printing press brought to map making, as well as how to draw France. Next we added France to the Iberian peninsula.

E-R’s map of France

I-E’s map of France

The Reformation is what we are studying in History. We read these books in addition to our history spines..

Dates were added to timeline books.

Winter’s Tale will be set in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, and all the actors are required to take their characters out of the script and create lives for them, so off to the land of poodle skirts, drive-in dinners, and the beginning of the Cold War as well as the land of hippies and tie-dye we went for our Shakespeare studies.

Singapore Math covered ratios and proportions this week. In the real world of math, I-E wondered how long people live. So after careful research about life expectancy around the world, she created this graph. She was a little sad to see how low life expectancy is in South Africa and India.

Over-all a great week, but we are looking forward to Christmas break. Only two more weeks!

Nature Study at the Huntington Gardens

2011-11-30T22:39:00.001-08:00

We recently visited the Huntington Library to see the Gutenberg Bible and were pleasantly surprised to find grounds covered with fascinating gardens.
The first garden we happened upon were the rose gardens.   The R in E-R stands for these:

She took lots of pictures of roses when we visited Gardens of the World in October, but afterwards when looking at the pictures, we had no way of identifying the roses. This time she made sure to take a picture of the name plates after taking pictures of each type of rose.   She is excited to put her rose pictures together into a calendar to share with relatives this Christmas.
We happened upon this beautiful tree with those unusual flowers.

Such a pretty little tree—I think I could easily find a spot for it in our back yard.

Next we visited the Cloud Forest Exhibit. Not being too familiar with cloud forests, we didn’t expect to walk right into a cloud!

Throughout the exhibit were cards that opened up showing what the inside of the plants looked like.   We were than able to find those plants and look at them up close.

Right inside the pitcher plant were several insects in various stages of digestion.

E-R also found a butterwort plant with several small gnats stuck on its leaves.

Texture was everywhere—both rigid and soft, smooth and fuzzy.

We enjoyed learning about cloud forest and the plants that grow there, but most of all we enjoyed spending time together!

This post is linked up to Anna-Marie’s Field Trip Blog Hop.

Be sure to hop on over and be inspired by all the wonderful field trip ideas!

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-29T21:13:00.001-08:00

New Shoes

Art Activity

2011-11-26T12:25:00.001-08:00

Check out this ingenious art project from our Atelier Art program.

Egyptian Art is known for its black outlines. To produce that black outline in this project, first pencil in your design on a large piece of black construction paper. Next outline that design with white school glue.

After letting the glue dry overnight,

I-E used chalk to fill in each space.

She than blended the chalk to completely fill in each space.

E-R used pastels and had great results as well.

Completed project!

This was a new technique for us and we were quite pleased with the results.

What new art projects have you tried out lately?

Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection

Tomorrow I will celebrate Thanksgiving with extended family, friends, and strangers. Most likely our feast will start tonight as we finish cooking, meander through Thursday, and end sometime on Friday. There will be no formal table set, instead we will browse the buffet filling our plates several times throughout each day and sit where ever there is room-inside or out. My plates will hold turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potato, gravy, and pumpkin pie as well as lumpia, pancit, ham, turducken, tamales, and candy pie.

It won’t have the Normal Rockwell vibe so many associate with Thanksgiving. There will not be a formal table set, instead I will eat off of paper plates and sit in a folding chair that sinks into the damp ground in a slightly catawampus way.. The table will have a plastic tablecloth, and the person I sit next to could be a distant cousin-in-law or a complete stranger to me. By the time the prayer is said, many will have already eaten, and many more will have not yet arrived. .

As I sit outside eating my Mexican, Cajun, Filipino, American mix of food, I’ll take some time to think of the first Thanksgiving, of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians eating outdoors,and of the mix of English style foods and Wampanoag style foods. I’ll think of the Pilgrims sitting next to strangers that didn’t share a common language, eating mostly foods that were new to them, but thankful for having any food to help them survive in their new world. I’ll think of the Wampanoag Indians willing to embrace a new people, willing to share their knowledge and their foods to a people so different than themselves.

I’ll think of Abraham Lincoln who felt our nation as a whole needed to sit down together and be thankful. I’ll think of those who have served overseas on Thanksgiving, and of those who ration and do without on a regular basis, but are still thankful for the blessings they do have. I’ll think of the blessings I enjoy and those who showed me how to be grateful for those blessings.

So this Thanksgiving let’s remember it is not whether or not we eat turkey or gravy that is important, but rather the spirit that we eat it in.

Week 10

2011-11-17T18:14:00.001-08:00

This about sums up our week!

We had lots planned.

We didn’t follow the plan.

We kinda took it easy.

We read lots of books, watched lots of educational DVDS, followed some bunny trails, and built a windmill or two.

And that’s all, folks!

Nature Study: Lizard and Dragon Fly

2011-11-16T20:59:00.001-08:00

This week our nature study was pretty free form. E-R headed off with the camera in search of a lizard.

and found this little guy.

I-E and I happened upon this guy.

I never realized how well dragon flies camouflage themselves.

I was also able to identify this guy as a dragonfly instead of a damselfly

because of the way it is holding its wings. Dragonflies hold their wings horizontal while at rest. Damselflies hold their wings vertical to their bodies while at rest.

After going home we researched dragonflies and damselflies, but were unable to identify this guy

though we learned a ton from our research.

Two excellent websites we used for research.

California Damselfly Guide

California Dragonfly Guide

What have you found in your neck of the woods lately?

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T08:26:00.001-08:00

Little sisters helping big sister stay upright. I loved that my two little (okay, I know they aren't so little) girls hurried out to help their big sister.

The Worst Case Scenario Survive-O-Pedia

2011-11-14T16:51:00.001-08:00

When Timberdoodle asked me to review The Worst Case Scenario Survive-O-Pedia Junior Edition, I expected the book to be a bit young for my 12-15 year-old kids, but an excellent gift for my 8 year-old nephew, Merek. Well, I’ll be buying Merek his own copy because our copy has been thoroughly claimed!

It’s been enjoyed at the dining room table,

in the car,

on the stairs,

in bed,

(and since we’re being real here) in the bathroom.

If you want to know how to survive amnesia, a deserted island, flu pandemics, quicksand, riptides, the woods, a lion attack, or, sharks, The Worst Case Scenario Survive-O-Pedia will come in handy. And even if you never find yourself in any of the 65 life threatening situations covered in this book, you’ll have a lot of fun discovering interesting facts such as:

Visual agnesia is when people mistake objects such as parking meters for people

Surfing the mud in a mudslide is not recommended.

The oil from poison ivy will not affect your pet, but may be passed on to you.

If a komodo dragon’s deadly teeth don’t kill you, it’s drool will.

The facts in this book inspired tons of conversation, as well as some interesting reenactments

If buying this book from Timberdoodle’s Holiday Guide for a gift, you’ll want to be sure to pick one up for yourself!

In exchange for a frank and unbiased review, I received compensation for this review.

Obsurity Arts

2011-11-12T21:19:00.001-08:00

http://www.obscurityarts.com/

I was privileged to be able to meet the owner and founder of Obscurity Arts , Josif Palmoulsos, on a recent tour of his live/work space.

This plain white warehouse hides a lot of treasures.

Upon entering the building I was greeted not only by this awesome guy,

photo courtesy of Obsurity Arts

but also by this guy!

Josif bought this warehouse with the idea of providing artists not only with a place to work and live, but also as a place to share information and work together with other artists and was kind enough to share a tour of this space with my friend, Lennie, and me.
Some of his larger than life artwork

The most interesting part of the tour was seeing how Josif created his sculptures.

Turns out that Josiph is also an amazing painter

Working away in the back studio of the warehouse,

Kim Myhre Clarke

happily let us invade her studio space.

A few of her whimsical pieces.

Even the bathroom was delightful!

Soon this warehouse will no longer be bare and hard to find

For soon

Trader Joe bags, cardboard tubes, and pizza boxes

Will soon scream out ART for all to see.

It was a wonderful privilege visiting Obsurity Arts.

And just in case you know of an artist looking for a home

Josif has an empty studio!

Week 9

2011-11-11T15:54:00.001-08:00

A short week of wrapping-up loose ends before we work on a week of science and have our Thanksgiving Break.

The highlight of the week:

The big balls for the girls to sit on while working on school work. You can read here. about why we are adding action to our days.

Math for the Week:

We started Hands-On Equations this week and love it! I’ll write about it more in-depth after we’ve used it more extensively, but so far it’s a keeper!

English This Week

We did end up dropping Sequential Spelling. Thanks everyone for the comments last week suggesting spelling programs. I decided to go with MegaWords and am awaiting its arrival. I’ll write more about it once we get our hands on it.

Art this Week

History this Week

Nature Study: Thistles

2011-11-09T23:51:00.000-08:00

Following The Handbook of Nature Blog's Outdoor Challange to look for thistles we headed to our garden at the community garden to see what we could find.

On the way we found this lovely ladybug.

which we looked at carefully with our magnify glass.

We also studied these weeds. We're not sure what they are, but noticed that like the description of burdock in The Handbook of Nature the leaves grow in a pyramid shape as to shade out any plants underneath while providing sunlight to all its leaves. It appears to work, because this particular plant is everywhere.

We didn't run into any wild thistle, but found several artichoke plants in nearby garden plots.

We found a plant that had gone to seed

That we were able to pick some seeds from.

The seeds were so light we had a hard time holding on to them.

Later on during our time at the garden, I-E found these seeds

They were growing on a plant which looked like it grew from a bulb. I-E was convinced they were some kind of onion plant, so promptly put a few of the seeds down a gopher hole to encourage the gophers to go elsewhere.

We then went home and journaled our finds.

I-E's lady bug

E-R's lady bug page

I-E added a picture of some cosmos

Using this field guide, we discovered a lot of interesting facts about artichokes.

Artichokes need frost-free area with cool foggy summers,

which would be why they thrive here.

Artichokes are found in literature as far back as 300 BC.

Artichokes first came to the Americas with French immigrants to Louisiana

and then traveled to California with Catholic priests.

Each artichoke plant produces for about ten years.

All in all a wonderful hour outdoors in nature.

Wordless Wednesday 11.8.2011

2011-11-08T21:25:00.000-08:00

Then

And Now!

The Homeschool Post

2011-11-08T07:24:00.000-08:00

I've been nominated for The Homeschool Post's Annual Homeschool Blog Awards!

Be sure to click on over and vote for your favorite homeschool blog.

I'm listed in The Super Homeschool Category and would be honored if you voted for me!

Memory Work 11.7.2011

2011-11-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

Food for thought this week...

Over on the Well Trained Mind Forums, rgrin mentioned that her child memorizes best while in motion. Others agreed, and several posters pointed out the Jewish tradition of shuckling while praying. Of course, as things go at these forums, this discussion led to another excellent discussion where OrdinaryTime mentioned this article , So Will Kids Become Smarter If They Gesture. Turns out that studies have shown people who learn while engaging in some kind of motion learn more easily, and the learning tends to stick for longer.

So, I believe we will start adding motion to our memory time. As well, I believe we are going to invest in some exercise balls to sit on during school time.

Our Memory Work this Week:

Next section of The Living Christ

“He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of God in the life to come. He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice.”

Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare

Everyone is expected to be offline for the first half of their lines this Friday.

Math

We almost have those prime numbers learned

Grammar

We continue working on memorizing The Grammar Catechism. Parts of Speech, Common Nouns, Proper Nouns, Concrete Nouns, and Abstract Nouns have been throughly learned, so onto Gender, number, and case we go.

How goes your memory time?

Latest Pinterest Finds

2011-11-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

Pinterest is my newest homeschool tool. So many creative people are willing to share their ideas on the internet. Mindshare at its best!

Here are some of the pins currently on my homeschool art idea board:

SmArt Class

written by Natalie, an art teacher, is full of awesome art ideas

Over at TigerChonicles

is an awesome Degas Study

At Child Central Station

crayon melting is taking on a new flavor.

and

The National Art Gallery

has an awesome kids website.

What have you pinned lately?

Week 8

2011-11-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

We had the kind of week a homeschool mom dreams all her weeks will be! And I attribute it to ME! Me finally focusing on school first! Me getting up and insisting our day start at 8 AM sharp! It's amazing what can be accomplished when mom is on board and raring to go! I'm going to continue working on my motivation levels in the mornings and try to keep up the momentum.

Our days started with history covering Gutenberg, the House of Hapsburg, Machiavelli, and the Songhay Empire. We made list, wrote paragraphs, expressed opinions in editorials, colored maps, and added to our time lines.

I-E's history portfolio pages this week

And E-R's pages this week.

I-E's timeline book--pages are filling up.

E-R's timeline page.

In Mapping the World Through Art, we reviewed lesson six in geography---Aral Sea, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea. As well as putting them into the proper place in the world along with the other maps we've completed.

I-E's map of the Caspian Sea

And actually getting to nature study was another accomplishment this week. I figured it's been 8 weeks--am I on board with it or not? So, I decided to make it happen. We found lots to look at and even journaled a bit about it. I will be sure to have a post just about that next week.

We practiced our memory work which is covered at Memory Monday (which is still open to link up, if you would like to join in)

Math time found us engaged in figuring out percentages as they pertain to tips, interest, discounts, and sales tax.

In grammar, we studied clauses, independent and dependent, and topic sentences. For literature the girls are reading The White Stallion of Lipizza. Spelling is one area that we are struggling. I have used Sequential Spelling with my older children, and they all did well with the program. It is not working for E-R and I-E. We cover the same lesson over and over again without them catching on. So, I am on the look out for a new spelling program. I've looked at SpellingCity, but hesitate to use something computer based though I like the free aspect to it. Our vocabulary study is already online, and I think that is enough online work for now. Any suggestions would be great! I'm not too excited about workbooks, but perhaps this is the time and the place for one.

In Atelier Art this week we studied and practiced creating American Primitive Painting. I love this style of painting and am excited to have my girls join in this love.

E-R's painting

I-E's painting

We also read The Essential Grandma Moses, a great little book about one of my favorite artist.

And the last two weeks of Shakespeare have been spent blocking the play and memorizing lines.

I am hoping to keep the momentum rolling with school. I think it helps to know I have a week break coming up in two weeks. How did your week work out?

docs.google.com

2011-10-31T20:14:00.000-07:00

https://docs.google.com

Best tool for writing ever!

Gone are the days of printing out the writing assignment.

Gone are the days of cross-outs, red pens, and scribbled out mistakes.

Gone are the days of hurt and overwhelmed feelings.

Instead my daughter shares her work with me.

I sit on one couch and she sits on the other.

Opening the document, I spy her green cursor, and she is delighted by my pink one.

We are able to discuss the writing and fix any problems immediately.

Either she or I can fix those problems on our computer.

Google Docs has changed our homeschool for the better.

How has technology changed the way you do things in your homeschool?

Be sure to check out other cheap homeschooling tips at

Homeschooling on the Cheap at 3 Boys and a Dog

Memory Monday 10.31.2011

2011-10-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

We are behind according to my lovely list I put together this past summer. Oh, how that hurts! But in my on-going struggle to go with the flow of life and learn not to control everything I am realizing the learning process is just as important as the actual end product. Even though we are not moving on to week five of The Living Christ project, I realize how much we are learning about Christ in the process of memorizing.

Parts were assigned for The Winter's Tale and memorizing of lines has begun. Our lunch time is filled with Mamillius and Archidamus lines.

In Math we are working on memorizing the prime numbers under 100.

2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37,41,43,47,53,59,61,67,71,73,79,83,89

And we continue working on memorizing A Grammar Catechism.

What are you working on memorizing this week?

The linky will be open for the week, so feel free to add your post anytime this week.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Neatest and Saddest Nature Study Find

This poor guy appeared to be lost in downtown Saint Louis

But

We were able to see a coyote up close.

The Versatile Blogger Award

2011-10-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

I have been nominated by the Lovely Latasha for the Versatile Blogger Award.

Here are the guidelines to accept the award:

1. Link back to the blogger who nominated me.
2. Share 7 things about myself.
3. Nominate 15 other blogs.

So here are seven amazing (or slightly odd) things about me:

1. I had five wonderful kids in five years, and now I am less than one year away from having five teenagers.

2. Life without bacon and dark chocolate would be a prison for me.

3. I have 9 fingers.

4. I love cheese as much as bacon and dark chocolate.

5. All my friends must have a sense of humor.

6. I love to write

7. Gardening is how I relax.

My Fifteen Nominees

He Sows and She Sews
is all about the days on the farm that include raising a family, homeschooling, and sewing.

Union Vale Home
features lots of neat activities and ideas each week.

Suitcases and Sippy Cups
showcases any and all topics related to travel

My Blessed Life
presents book reviews, weekly wrap-ups, field trips, craft ideas, and fab updates on her kitchen project

Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
celebrates all things homemaking from crockpotting to the history of aprons

Our Creative Day
is a fab blog with lots of craft ideas for young and old alike

Learning Ideas
shares all kinds of nifty ideas for teaching math, science, and the alphabet

Krazy Kuehner Days
shares their krazy days of homeschooling a family of six

At Home with Michelle
is a friendly blog with crafts, yummy recipes (I tried the stuffed pepper soup tonight--it was great), and the occasional give away.

Melissas Homeschool Blog
is full of reviews, neat resources, craft ideas, as well as post sharing her family's journey through homeschooling

Harvest Moon by Hand
is an awesome blog full of book reviews, tales of service, and thoughts on life I always look forward to reading.

I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
is always enjoyable with its thoughts on theology, homemaking, and homeschooling

Faith, Family, and Fun
featuring product reviews, homeschooling, recipes, book reviews, articles on social issues is about as varied as one can get.

Raising Arrows
shares her families journey through life encouraging others.

Homeschooling Just Next Door
is just like visiting a neighbor and sharing the joy of the everyday.

Latisha thanks so much for this award. It was great fun to have the opportunity to highlight some of the blogs I enjoy on a regular basis.

And as always, I'm linking up with my Tuesday Hip Homeschooling Pals for the

Memory Monday 10.24.2011

2011-10-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

We are on fall break this week, but continue on with memorizing The Living Christ using Discover the Scriptures free helps. We are a bit behind on our goal to memorize it before Christmas , so we will work on two sections this week. I wouldn't normally try to catch up on something like this, but instead work from where we are. But since we are on break and won't have other school work to do, I think this is achievable. These sections also have easier vocabulary than the past two.

“Though sinless, He was

baptized to fulfill all

righteousness. He ‘went

about doing good’ (Acts 10:38),

yet was despised for it. His

gospel was a message of

peace and goodwill. He

entreated all to follow His example. "

“He walked the roads of

Palestine, healing the sick,

causing the blind to see, and

raising the dead. He taught the

truths of eternity, the reality of

our premortal existence, the

purpose of our life on earth,

and the potential for the sons

and daughters of God in the life

to come. He instituted the

sacrament as a reminder of His

great atoning sacrifice.”

What's going on with memory work in your home?

Feel free to link up your memory work this week.

Blog Award!

2011-10-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

Little Badgers Academy Blog has awarded me the

The Liebster Blog Award is an award intended to drive traffic to blogs with less than 300 followers.

The rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger that gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your 5 picks by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Enjoy spreading the love.

Molding Minds Homeschool Blog

Anna shares her homeschool journey in a joyous humorous way. I look forward to each new post.

Storybook Science Blog

is a new blog crammed full of neat resources. I love the science ideas and activities posted regularly by Tasha

Babes in School Land Blog

has a bit of everything--neat lesson ideas, reviews, and giveaways

Journey into Unschooling Blog

is one of the neatest designed blogs out in blogland, and the art projects featured leave me drooling.

Grateful for Grace Blog

shares family life, homeschooling, and faith in an you've dropped by for a chat kind of way.

Thanks so much for the award, Elena. I am honored and thoroughly enjoyed sharing the love with fellow homeschool bloggers.

Guest Post

2011-10-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Feel free to read my guest post

at Latter Day Homeschooling

about how to be a good friend.

Solar Science Week Day Four

2011-10-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Our final day of Solar Science Week again brought fog. I had planned to drive inland to find sunny weather for our final project, using our solar ovens. Alas, it was not to be. I would have had to drive for a long time to find some sunny weather. So, when that works out, I'll be sure to add it to our Solar Science Week.

We finished out our week continuing on the mosaic sundials. Nipping the tiles into tiny pieces is hard on one's hands, and both E-R and I-E have decided they are glad not to be employed as tile workers in a cathedral.

Turns out I-E feel in love with building the different models included in our Thames and Kosmos Solar Power kit. I required the girls to build two models each, and she went on to try her hand at all of them. I'm thinking this kit will be in use for a while longer.

Planning supper took on a different meaning, after we learned how many sun days are in our different food choices. Although I knew how much energy is used to raise beef, I never considered how much energy goes into dairy products. Quite an eye-opener.

Searching around the neighborhood in the fog, we found several different places nearby utilizing solar power. The pool we swim at has solar panels atop the club house. Another neighborhood pool implements a solar water heater. This led to further research on our part, and we learned solar pool services abound in our area. Both solar heating and solar power to run the electrical parts of pools.

E-R and I-E both played on this neat interactive UK Energy website. They played several different games--involving renewable energy. I'm not sure how educational it was, but was a fun way to end our Solar Science Week.

Here are some more awesome sites with lots of wonderful resources in case you would like to plan your own Solar Energy Study.

Infinite Power

United States Department of Energy

The Secret Lives of Energy

Be sure to check out Days One, Two, and Three of our Solar Science Week.

Garden Then and Now

2011-10-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

In May I planted this lavender plant.

I had a pot that needed a plant. I ran into this lavender plant on sale at the nursery, so into the pot it went.

In late June I planted this butterfly garden.

At the time I was having a massive animal infestation problem. And was feeling a big down and frustrated about my garden. I was hoping these plants would survive.

Four months later! I love to see the insects buzzing around every time I visit my garden.

And now I receive daily visits from this guy.

Joy

Solar Science Week, Day Three

2011-10-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

It appears the fog is here to stay

So the solar ovens had to wait.

If it is foggy tomorrow, we plan to drive to the sun!

Edited: Comparison paragraphs.

I-E's paragraph:

Many people use solar energy today. There are two kinds of ways to heat houses with solar power, active and passive solar systems. Active solar system heat houses using solar collectors that are flat black boxes that act like a greenhouse. The sun light gathers into heat then it heats the water. Then the water heats the air which is pushed into the house. Passive solar systems heat house using non- moving parts such as windows that face south, so they catch the sunlight that heats walls or rocks in bins or pillars of water. Some differences of active and passive solar systems are that active solar system can be put in every house, but passive solar systems can only be put in when you a are building the house. Some similarities are they both use sun light to heat houses, and they both release heat when it gets cold. Both active and passive solar systems are efficient and don’t pollute the earth.

Designed: Houses with both Passive and Active Solar Heating Systems.

Researched: the cost and value of home solar system. A system for our home (which we couldn't technically install because of our shared roof) would cost $35,000. Currently we would qualify for a federal tax credit of about $9400 and a state refund of $2900, bringing the price of the system down to $22,700. At the level of usage we are currently utilizing, it would take 24 years for us to realize the cost of the system. So although the value of solar energy is high, the cost keeps most people from investing in it.

We also found this company, Sungevity, which leases solar systems so the upfront cost is not a prohibitive. We are waiting to hear back about the cost of leasing.

Creating: Started a Mosaic sundial.

Solar Science Week, Day 1

Solar Science Week, Day 2

Solar Science Week, Day 4

Day Two of Solar Science Week

2011-10-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke to this:

Lots of fog.

Although we are in a coastal area prone to fog, this is usually our sunniest time of the year.

So book work it was-- at least for the morning time until that fog burned off.

Graphing: We worked on graphing the average temperature's and distances of the planets in our solar systems. Not surprising the further away the planets are from the sun the cooler they get. Except for Venus and the furthest planets Uranus and Neptune, Venus suffers from a bad case of greenhouse effect bringing its average temperature to 482 degrees Celsius. Temperatures level off around Uranus and Neptune at -193 degrees Celsius because the sun's heat is no longer affecting their temperature.

Hands On: Next we moved on to learning about how to read an utility bill and figure out the different calculations one finds on their bill. Comparing our water bill to an average home of six, we found we love our hot baths and showers.

Experiment! Using these nifty little beads:

That change from white to colors in the sun

we tested the validity of waiting for waterproof sunscreen to dry before getting in the water.

First we applied sunscreen and let dry 15 minutes as instructed on the back of the bottle.

Beads with freshly applied sunscreen.

Next our beads took a 30 second swim.

Fifteen and Thirty minutes later we compared our sun-screened beads to beads without any sunscreen.

Turns out sunscreen doesn't stay put--waterproof or not.

Reading: While we were waiting for our experiment, we finished reading The Kids' Solar Energy Book learning about Active and Passive Solar Systems as well as Solar Cells.

Construction: Wanting to build something new with their Solar Power Kits, E-R and I-E went to work.

The models they built yesterday didn't move very quickly so they hoped that building one model and using two solar cells with it would speed things up.

Mission Accomplished.

Writing: Compare Active Solar Systems to Passive Solar Systems

Be sure to check out Day One of Solar Science Week as well as Day Three and Day Four

and cross your fingers that tomorrow will bring sunny weather our way.

Introducing Solar Science Week, Day One

2011-10-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

This school year we have decided to complete our science in one week blocks throughout the year. I've divided the school year up into seven terms according to when we have breaks planned. Each term except the last one ends with a science week.

Our first science week kicked off today!

If you've read my recent article, How to Create a Science Course from a Science Kit, than you know our science studies are planned around a science kit (or two).

Our main kit for this study is

Picture courtesy of Thames and Kosmos

We will also utilize some smaller kits throughout the week.

The topics to be studied this week include:

Energy,

Law of Conservation

Active Solar Energy

Passive Solar Energy

Solar Cells

Solar Collectors

Heat

Non-Renewable Energy Sources

Renewable Energy Sources

We started off reading pg 106-109 in the Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia.

This gave us an overview of energy.

Next we read about Solar Energy and Solar Cells on pages 629- 630 of the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia.

More reading in The Kids' Solar Energy Book by Tilly Spetgang and Malcolm Wells on How it All Began.

Enlightening even for this adult, this book is crammed full of interesting information. For instance, I didn't know the first mechanized use of solar power was demonstrated at the World's Exposition in France during the late 1890s with a printing press that printed leaflets about the virtues of solar power! And that soon afterwards roof mounted solar collectors became all the rage in the American Southwest for heating water. Unfortunately, these inventions were put aside when the ease of oil and gas energy were brought to the forefront in the first decade of the 1900s.

Next we watched Basics of Physics: Exploring Energy on the Discovery Education Site, which covered more info on energy, renewable and non-renewable resources, and had a particularly good explanation of potential and kinetic energy.

The best part of the day came when we got to pull out our Solar Power Kits.

Sorting all our parts.

I-E created a helicopter

and was a bit disappointed it didn't fly, but the rotor turned

A bulldozer caught E-R's eye

and

moved around some mulch.

Finishing off the day was an assignment to write a paragraph about a topic discussed today.

E-R's paragraph

The law of Conservation is “energy can never be destroyed or made, however energy reforms itself.” There are different forms of energy such as: heat, chemical, light, kinetic, potential, sound, and mechanical energy. Scientist show how energy is reformed though energy chains. One energy chain from the book, The Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia, says that coal is fossilized plants. When the coal is burned, and turns into heat energy to heat water and makes steam. The steam turns turbines and this produces kinetic energy. The kinetic energy is turned into electrical energy in a generator. Then the electrical energy is used to power things. The Bulldozer I made moves by sun light so that is called solar energy. The solar energy turns into electrical energy to move the Bulldozer. Energy can never be destroyed or made, but it can be reformed.

Be sure to check out throughout the week to see more happening from Solar Science Week.

Day Two

Day Three,

Day Four

It's That Time of Year

2011-10-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

Time to nominate your favorite homeschooling bloggers

for

the 7th Annual Homeschool Blog Awards!

What is your favorite

Homeschool Dad Blog

Blog Design

Photo Blog

Crafts, Plans & Projects Blog

Family or Group Blog

Best Encourager

Current Events, Opinions or Politics Blog

Homemaking or Recipes Blog

Teen Blog

Funniest Homeschool Blog

Special Needs Blogger

Homeschool Vlogger

Variety

Thrifty Homeschooler

Super-Homeschooler

Nitty-Gritty Homeschool Blog

New Homeschool Blog

Homeschooling Methods Blog

Homeschooling Nature/Field Trip Blog

Homeschool Mom Blog?

Don't hold back.

Click on over to the Homeschool Post

and show some love for your fellow homeschool bloggers.

Almost Wordless Wednesday and Why I Homeschool

2011-10-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

I homeschool so I can provide hands-on learning that is multi-faceted.

Art, Art, Art Everywhere--Our Visit to the Getty

2011-10-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

The J. Paul Getty Museum

known as just The Getty by the locals

Is Awesome!

Most of the awesomeness of the Getty is the building itself.

The grounds and gardens are also striking

From the floor to the heights of the ceiling

We love the Getty

Our two favorite pieces of art work

Specimen (After Durer)

Standing Women I

Standing Women I is one of my all time favorite sculptures. The use of negative space just takes my breath away.

Which beautiful spaces have you visited lately?

Memory Monday 10.8.2011

2011-10-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

I feel like we are finally in the swing of things school-wise, and therefore memory time doesn't tend to get pushed to the side because we are struggling to fit it all in!

The Discover the Scriptures Newsletter

shared their family's experience with memorizing The Living Christ as a Christmas Project. So we are using their awesome memory helps, to memorize this by Christmas. This past week we memorized the first paragraph.

As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.

This week we will be memorizing this portion of the next paragraph.

He was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction of His Father, He was the creator of the earth. "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3).

We would love for you to join our family in bringing Christ into your home to prepare for Christmas this year by memorizing The Living Christ.

For math we continue memorizing our fraction and decimal equivalents.

1/6 = 0.16

5/6 = 0.83

1/8 = 0.125

3/8 = 0.375

5/8 = 0.625

7/8 = 0.875

1/16 = 0.0625

3/16 = 0.1875

1/32 = 0.03125

We also continue working on A Grammar Catechism

by Andrew A. Campbell.

What are you memorizing this week?

Do you have any tips that have helped with memorization in your home?

Be sure to link-up to your memory time work and tips.

Week 5

2011-10-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

A few highlights from our school week at home:

Math: As if my kids don't have enough math in their lives, we've started reading Exploring the World of Mathematics: From Ancient Record Keeping to the Latest Advances in Computers.

After reading the first chapter, Counting the Years, I know why February is the shortest month of the year, and September is not the seventh month (something I've been wondering forever--or at least since I started studying Latin). In Singapore Math, we skipped all of the fraction lessons and just completed the practices and reviews, since Key to Fractions has plenty of fraction work. I-E is cruising along in her Key to Fractions and is close to completely Book 3. E-R is working on completing Book 2.

Geography: Putting together everything we've studied so far, the girls drew The Arabian Peninsula. (Sorry no pictures--my camera is MIA) Next was a map of the Mediterranean area with blanks to fill in. This map was on a different scale and required a bit of thinking to complete.

English: We wrestled with object complements, objective complements, and subjective complements. No matter how many times I teach these I end up needing to relearn them myself. Perhaps four times the charm?

Literature: E-R and I-E are finishing up Black Beauty today. The plan was to pick vocabulary words from the books to study and learn. Turns out they had to dive real deep to find any new words to learn. So, we've taken words from any reading that produces unknown words. Their vocab words this week are from The Living Christ and are commemorate, millennia, virtue, indefinite, associate,and frisky. We've also started using Vocabulary.com This website is quite fun and has been a great motivator for all in the house to improve their knowledge of the English language.

Shakespeare:

Big Announcement! Winter's Tale is the play the Shakespeare Class will produce. It's a comedy. It's a tragidy. It has a bear. How awesome is that! Assignment for this week--read and cast the play.

Our biggest accomplishment for the week was time management. We've decided to go to bed earlier and the girls are getting up earlier. Our school days are starting promptly at 8:00 at the dining room table. We are accomplishing more, and work hasn't stretched so far into the evenings.

How was your week?

Free Nature Study Resources

2011-10-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

ArtbyJean

Nature Study has become my new passion. And as always my passions has to start with lots of research. What's the best way to start? How should I introduce it to my kids? Do I need to be an expert?

Of course, I'm sure anyone could answer my ?s--experts in nature study or not!

Just start by doing something!

Say, Hey let's go outside and look at some nature!

No need for an expert--learn with the kids!

How about resources? Do I need to spend a hefty sum on my new hobby?

Turns out that answer was also easy to find.

No money (other than for ink and paper) needed.

An awesome resource to get one started is Anna Botsford Comstock's Hand Book of Nature Study.

Written in 1911, it is available as a free download.

As a full 900 + page download, I have not printed out all the pages, but rather read some of it online and printed out specific sections to take outside with us during Nature Study time.

And at 900+ pages, this book is overwhelming!

So to the rescue is

http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

by Barb-Harmony Art Mom.

Guiding step-by-step, page-by-page through nature study challenges

this blog

provides specific pages numbers, additional printables, and numerous examples of actual studies by lots of different families

making nature study possible for anyone,

All for Free!

In the spirit of free

I went searching in my favorite library,

Google Books.

and discovered Nature Study books galore!

Want something a wee bit less intimidating than Anna Botsford Comstock's book?

How about

Nature Study by Months?

Written directly to the teacher, it takes one through four full years of nature study that builds year upon year on the knowledge studied the year before. Leaves, insects, minerals, weather are just a few of the topics covered. Poems are suggested. And (my favorite part) numerous line drawings are incorporated throughout the text. These line drawings would be easy to follow and teach ones self how to sketch or even could be traced.

This book is labeled as Part 1. I haven't found Part 2 yet. Let me know if you happen upon it!

Nature Study by Grades

follows the same idea as Nature Study by the Month, but has a specific course of study set-up for grades 4 and 5. Again this book is marked as a first in a series. And again I haven't found the remaining parts of the series. Do let me know if you find more of these awesome books.

Outdoor Studies

is a bit different as it is written to for the student and not as a teaching guide.

James George Needham writes, "I have written of things I would have the pupils see and do and think about, and I trust no teacher will undertake to do all the seeing and doing and thinking for them."

Well Mr. Needham--if I must, I will let the pupils do their own seeing and doing and thinking! I suppose I will just need to become a pupil myself!

I really like this book because it is written to the older student. I have noticed that many nature study readers tend to be geared towards younger students. So this is a great find.

Animals at Home

is a wonderful book all about animals written for the mid-grammar aged child. Each chapter focuses on a different animal, their habitat, and habits. This book has charming illustrations and innumerable facts that any young animal lover will enjoy.

Plants and Their Children is another charmer. Frances Theodore Parsons claims to write directly to children in order to secure three things, "practice in the art of reading, amusement, and instruction." She does all three things beautifully in this book. Composed to follow the seasons, Ms. Parsons' wit shines throughout this book providing an enjoyable read for young and old alike.

Our Birds and Their Nestlings

Is written directly to younger students and includes much to capture their attention and foster a love of the birds that are around us every day. Filled with stories, legends from different cultures, illustrations, poetry, and countless facts about birds, it delighted the socks off this adult. I can't wait to share it with my almost teenagers as I'm sure they will enjoy it as much as any fresh reader is sure too.

Enjoy these finds and your time outside learning about nature

And

Be sure to let me know of other free Nature Study resources you utilize!

Gardens of the World Field Trip

2011-09-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

This week we got a chance to visit a charming little botanical garden called Gardens of the World.

Featuring six separate garden areas on four and a half acres, it was the perfect size for a beautiful morning walk.

While gathering everybody and everything we needed to get out the door, I noticed E-R dragging. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that she hated going to museums and gardens. She expressed just how boring they are to her quite well! I told her that this was my choice and she could make the choice for our next field trip.

As my children have gotten older I have given in when they complain that they would rather stay home, but a few weeks ago one of my children mentioned that we never go anywhere anymore. At that point I decided we were going to go ahead and go whether they wanted to or not.

We pulled into the parking lot and hopped out. Right at the entrance was the neatest chess set. E-R was out of the car in a flash to check-out if it was there to be used. So much for just wanting to stay home and not visit boring old gardens.

Battling it out!

Next we strolled through the French Gardens.

The center piece of this garden is a replica of the fountain at the Palace of Versailles.

A tiny clue we were headed towards the Japanese Garden.

If you look closely at the left hand side of the picture just about in the middle you will see a brown blob. That brown blob is a HUGE spider that was suspended about 10 feet above the path.

California Mission Courtyard Garden

I was pleasantly surprised to come around the corner and find this diminutive sculpture of Jesus washing Peter's Feet.

At the English Rose Garden E-R fell in love with taking pictures of the roses. She told me that perhaps she wants to become a photographer.

I think she did a beautiful job.

Last but not least was the Roman Garden. I loved it. I could have sat on the bench and gazed at this chain fountain forever. I love flowers and colors, but the only flowers in this garden are the lavender plants. It was so relaxing. Perhaps, I need to think about the color palette in my garden.

Hhmmm...

I think the best part of the day for my kids was the opportunity to be in front of the camera! "Mom, Mom take my picture!" rang out throughout the entire morning.

What did I really learn from this field trip? I learned I need to power through those teenage complaints, moans, and groans that staying home to lounge, watch tv, and play video games would be a better use of time. I thought our visit might be marred by complaints and poutiness, but instead it was filled with charming excited children. I will have my kids help pick the places we visit, but museums, gardens, and all other educational places here we come.

Be sure to check out Anna-Marie's field trip blog hop to see where other homeschoolers are field tripping.

Week 4

2011-09-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

This week was a short, but good week. Tuesday we volunteered at the Bishop's Storehouse. The girls loved it. They got a shopping cart to fill with food. It was like shopping on their own. I packed tomatoes into bags of three pounds each. I also came home with a box of bruised tomatoes to make into sauce. Good day all around.

Thursday was a day off school for E and A-M, so we planned a field trip to a local botanical gardens. .

Math: This week we entered into the realm of negative rational numbers. The girls got the hang of it pretty quickly. They continued to work in their Key to Fractions and Percent books as well.

English: We covered Direct and Indirect Objects. We used

to review some of those pesky punctuation rules that have been a problem for I-E and E-R.

Literature: E-R and I-E choose vocabulary from Black Beauty to learn and took a quiz on those words on Friday. Most of the words were specific to horse care. We've ditched The History of the Horse because E-R and I-E just hated it. Instead they will read the books, pick vocabulary to learn from each book, and complete a final project after reading each book. This week and next week they are reading Black Beauty, and the following two weeks will be project time.

Art: This week was a review of positive and negative space. Working on a collage, E-R was most impressed with the little 1.24 oz glue bottle that came in her art kit.

Sometimes it's the little things in life that are the most appreciated.

Geography: Biblical Lands was the map learned this week.

History: Continuing on with the artists of the Renaissance, we also learned about the Medici family. The Jim Weiss CD "Masters of the Renaissance"

did a beautiful job of weaving the stories of the Medici family into the stories of the artist we have been studying. If you haven't listened to any of Jim Weiss' CDs, you are missing out. Many are available at most public libraries.

Shakespeare: This week the kids played improv games, so the instructors could get a feel for each students personalities and acting abilities. Next week is the big day when the kids find out which play they will be performing. I-E is hoping for a Comedy of Errors. E-R is crossing her fingers for Much Ado About Nothing.

2011-09-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

Why I Homeschool Wednesday

and

Wordless Wednesday

All Wrapped -Up in One

One is never too old for Matchbox cars!

How to Create a Science Course From a Science Kit

2011-09-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

Science kits seem to pop-up just about everywhere these days-- toy stores, book stores, and even the local hardware store. Robots, bubbles, volcanoes, perfume, slime, solar power, gum. There doesn't seem to be any aspect of science study that hasn't been turned into a kit. The varied topics found in these science kits can turn your science studies into an unique personalized course. The following steps will enable you to put together a science course just right for your family.

First find a quality science kit. I've found that price usually matches usefulness of the product. My favorite kits are created by Thames and Kosmos. When my children were younger the Science in a Nutshell kits worked well for us. Over the years we have also tried using lower quality kits, but were always disappointed with the results. It's hard to focus on the science concepts when mom or dad have to take over and jury-rig the contraption to try to get the experiment to work.

The latest kit we've picked

will allow us to build a wind turbine to preform experiments with.

A library of resource books is a must. The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia and the Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedias are my go to books. I also consider our library a source for more specific information.

images courtesy of books.google.com

Determine which concepts the science kit can be used to teach. Pull out the little instruction booklet that came with your kit.

Sometimes manuals provide a bit of background or scientific information, but usually I've found them to be pretty bare-bones,thus the need for additional information to make a kit into a complete course.

Looking through this booklet I see that the concepts of work, energy, wind, aerodynamics, wind power, and windmills are covered throughout the different experiments.

Then decide where, how, and when your students will research these concepts.   Matching up the above concepts with the entries in my Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia and Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedias, I start to see how learning the concepts will take place. The wind entry in the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia will lend itself to summarizing, so I mark down our first assignment as reading the entry and writing a paragraph summarizing the information. While looking through the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia, I come across a beautiful chart explaining the Beaufort Scale of Wind Forces with a list of observable effects to measure wind force, so I include the assignment to reproduce that chart in their science notebooks, and then to make a chart to observe wind force each day through out our study of wind power. Further more I find a website from the Usborne Encyclopedia which includes lots of online activities about what causes different types of weather. Looking up the other concepts, I see that some of the information may be good to memorize while other entries would work for further independent research.

One of the concepts, windmills, is not covered in either encyclopedia, so I head to the library to find some books on windmills. After searching through lots of how-to-books, I found The Wind at Work, an activity guide about windmills as well as a book chock full of pictures and history about windmills. I also came across this gem : The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. I hadn't planned on including a novel in our science studies, but this true story about a boy who makes a windmill out of junk in order to bring food and hope to his African village was just too good to pass up.   I feel my children will benefit from several different character traits shown in this story which is one of the reasons I love being able to put together studies that are individualized for my family.

Next match up the assignments with the experiments in the kit. The wind entry will of course match up with the two experiments on wind. I like to complete our research and reading before completing the experiments as I find it helps my kids to better understand what is happening during the experiment.

Complete the experiments.  The best part of any science course is the experiments! I have my kids complete lab sheets with all experiments. I find it helps them process what is going on in the experiment, and we have something concrete to look back on and discuss after the actual experiment has been dismantled.   Donna Young has several different lab sheets available for free.

Individualize the course for your family.  Science is an opportunity to explore and analyze the world while really making learning fun. There are science kits available for kindergartners through adults. Don't wait until your children are older to start science and don't avoid using the kits yourself because you aren't young. Use young children's natural wonder to jump start their love of learning. Assignments for younger kids may be as simple as a picture drawn to show what was learned. That's okay. The books and assignments I've mentioned here work for my middle school aged children; others may work better for you family.  If science is incorporated throughout their growing up years, investigating, probing, questioning, scrutinizing, and digging to learn more about our world will become second nature to your children.

Be sure to check out what all the other Hip Homeschool Moms are doing at the

and at
http://hammockhomeschool.blogspot.com/

Memory Monday 9.26.2011

2011-09-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

Memory Work Tip

First both E-R and I-E wrote out the quote we are working on memorizing.

The act of writing the quote helped them remember the exact wording for the next step.

Then they both erased two words.

And exchanged white boards. Each girl had to fill in the blank her sister had made in the quote.

As you can see spelling didn't have to be perfect.

This continued until the whole board had been erased and filled in.

Having Miss Kitty Girl snuggled up on E-R's lap helped the process along.

This method brought a bit of excitement to our memory time this week.

What are you doing for memory time?

Link up with your Memory Time ideas and lists of Memories Work.

Week 3

2011-09-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's the third complete week of our homeschool year. One would think I would have it all together and be in full swing. One would be wrong. Perhaps it's the dreary gray days; perhaps it's the lack of sleep. What ever it is, I'm haven't been feeling so motivated. We've plugged along, but not at the pace I had envisioned we would be at at this place in the school year.

English: We finished up our chapter on Punctuation and Capitalization with a test that was not passed with flying colors. I decided we would move on, but focus on one rule at a time with the writing the girls are doing for history. We moved on to the first chapter of our Rod and Staff books and skimmed over the first few lessons on The English Language, Sentences, and Subjects and Predicates. We completed two spelling lessons---have to do a bit better next week. The Sentence Composing Book led the girls through using prepositional phrases to combine sentences.

Math: This week we worked on Graphs of Functions and of course continued working through Key to Fractions and Key to Percents.

Nature Study: We didn't work on any of the challenges at The Handbook of Nature Study Blog; instead I-E created a garden bed. A bit of bloodshed was involved, but look at what she ended up creating!

On Friday she planted some seedlings and carrot seeds.

E-R helped me in my garden. She collected zinnia seeds for next year and harvested some beans which had grown a bit bigger than we like. Opening the seed pods, she discovered these beautiful pink and purple
beans.

Both girls observed an abundance of little lizards. We'll have to look into the life cycle of a lizard and find out when their young are normally produced.

History: History was a slow go this week. The goal was to complete four artist life sketches and place them in our history portfolios with an example of their artwork. E-R wrote one life sketch on Leonardo D'Vinci . So I suppose we need to step up the pace this coming week.

Geography: In geography we learned how to sketch Italy from memory. We also reviewed the other maps (Mesopotia, Nile River region, and Greece) we've learned how to draw. The hardest part of the review is spelling everything on the maps correctly!

Memory Work: Be sure to check back on Monday for my Memory Monday link-up. Feel free to share what is working for you and check out other's Memory work.

I've started to catch up on my rest and am determined to have a more productive week this week.

2011-09-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out my post at Latter-Day Homeschooling about how I plan science.

How to Create a Science Course From a Kit