tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15337817491912166082024-03-05T02:26:27.546-05:00Homeschool DaysLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.comBlogger303125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-18289284025858930912015-04-03T00:49:00.006-04:002015-04-03T01:22:06.661-04:00New Printable: Animal Research ReportSome things can easily be found, others must be created. Enjoy this <b>FREE</b> printable <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3ONvKVqnqyNNzVyR0ZqZmI4Z28&authuser=0" target="_blank">Animal Research Report</a>! It's a two page report (including cover) with directions on the third page.<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3ONvKVqnqyNNzVyR0ZqZmI4Z28&authuser=0" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFHXKswy42HjSw1xneQjJYlGDewWX0EyAhDvzy7OxqaDa-h-rrQO7jJegO4VAOuk_bB6MxE5R8YtsPtKL1rHCQyGScCWSPxZynpx2IYb2XhtapYnfgbQ9LfTzaov1B2LeJwR2jyrEp__Q/s1600/Animal_Report_2pg.png" height="258" width="400" /></a></div>
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Blessings,<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-51034654842151354182014-09-10T10:01:00.003-04:002016-09-12T18:29:46.701-04:00An Encouraging Word<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Somebody needs to hear this today:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>"We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The astonishing fact that we were prayed for <i>in detail </i>by Paul, and others, so long ago gives me so much comfort and peace today. I pray it does the same for all who read this. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This homeschooling journey can be tough. I know ours has certainly had its bumps in the road and some obstacles seem impossible to pass. Our hope is in the Lord, as written in the Scriptures. I'm overwhelmed with thanksgiving for knowing that Jesus and his disciples prayed for me! Little me; a daughter, sister, wife, and mother of two girls. They prayed for my work, my labor, and my endurance. Thank you, Jesus! No one knows our needs more than our Creator. And He knew them before we knew them ourselves.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0px !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-10287545017282690842014-08-24T02:37:00.001-04:002014-08-24T02:37:55.171-04:00Not Yet Back to School<div style="text-align: center;">
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Although most of the local schools, and many homeschoolers, have hit the books in their new school year, we have not. We aren't quite ready yet, for a number of reasons.<br />
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1. We just aren't ready to say goodbye to Summer. It seems to pay us such a short visit each year, so we want to extend it as long as possible!<br />
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2. We took a later than usual vacation combined with business trips that kept us away for almost a month. We returned in mid August still unprepared for school.<br />
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3. Due to being away from home, I did not order some of our school books until we returned. No books, no school! Some are in transit now.<br />
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4. We have one more trip planned before we can jump in with both feet. This one is to visit out-of-state family. Before this trip, we will go ahead with a gentle start. After the trip, it's full-speed ahead! At least I hope so.<br />
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There are many changes for us this year. Our oldest is going into high school. High school! My, how time has quickly passed! At first, I was scared out of my mind just thinking about high school. I'm still a little scared, but I am blessed with comfort and assurance. More on that later.<br />
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Since I now have a high-schooler, my kids will no longer be working together, at least not like they were previously. I'm learning though, that in some ways, this is a good thing. Sometimes (maybe many times), I think Emily (my oldest) would much prefer grabbing her history book to read on her own so she can get it done, rather than wait until we are all ready to read it together. <br />
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Katie will cycle back through MFW, and will begin <a href="http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/40/10/0/1" target="_blank">Exploring Countries and Cultures</a>. She wasn't officially in school when we went through it the first time, so it will be mostly new to Katie. I'm planning to include Emily in the geography, but I haven't figured out all those details just yet.<br />
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We aren't using MFW for high school because it didn't fit in with our entire needs package. At co-op, Emily is enrolled in science, ancient biblical history, composition, and a finance class. I couldn't justify paying for a packaged curriculum knowing we wouldn't use even half of it.<br />
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<img alt="Purchase Exploring World History" height="200" src="http://www.notgrass.com/notgrass/images/C/exploring_world_history.jpg" width="150" /></div>
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We chose to use <a href="http://www.notgrass.com/notgrass/Exploring-World-History-2014-Edition/" target="_blank">Notgrass World History</a> (NWH), which happens to be what MFW uses in high school (can't veer too far off the beaten path!). We will not likely complete the literature element of Notgrass since Emily will fulfill that in her composition class at co-op. Based on my overview in the Notgrass books, I'm starting to see how well MFW has prepared us for high school. More importantly, I'm witnessing God's hand in our homeschooling journey. It's so exciting!<br />
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This brings me to mention the blessings of comfort and assurance I am feeling. God has a unique plan in all of our lives, and He reveals pieces of it when He knows we are ready to receive them. It's like putting a puzzle together. Our character is built piece by piece. Sometimes, those pieces fit the first time we try them. Other times, they don't, and we must remove the piece and try it in another spot later on. I'm finding this is true of some books that were introduced last year and prior, that we weren't quite ready for yet. We had the "piece" but it just didn't fit in that place at that time. So, we put the piece aside until we find the spot where it fits. I feel like this is the year that some of those books will fit. Last year, or even just months ago, I felt like a failure for not using those books. Now, I see God's plan with them. And it is good because God is good!<br />
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So, as we begin to begin this new school year, I'm choosing to lean more on God for guidance, support, comfort, assurance, and love, all of which I've relied too heavily on humans, including myself, to provide first.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-46020695623260994562014-03-01T19:16:00.003-05:002014-03-01T19:17:05.764-05:00Science Review, Part 1What a winter we've had, and it's not over yet! Another winter storm is predicted to hit this weekend. If it does, and conditions are right, I hope to go out and play in the snow with my family. I missed out on all the sledding due to illness, and as much as I ache for Spring, it is still Winter so I might as well enjoy it as much as possible.<br />
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Since I haven't posted much this year, I'm going to do a little backtracking, mostly in the way of science, but there may be a few other things sprinkled in here and there.<br />
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In Science, we've done lots of experiments mostly using two books: <i>100 Science Experiment</i> and <i>The World of Science. </i>I'll let the pictures speak mostly for themselves.<br />
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Water expands when it freezes...</div>
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Heat energy and weight cuts an ice cube in half...</div>
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Orange juice slushy...</div>
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Gooey slime...</div>
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Color separation...</div>
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Chemical reactions...</div>
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DNA (<i>Apologia General Science</i> co-op class)...</div>
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The slushy was a big hit and worked so well. I was skeptical because only about half of our experiments pan out. I'm glad this is one that worked for us!<br />
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Isn't science fun? <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-35769216738431247472014-01-25T02:22:00.002-05:002014-01-25T02:22:05.651-05:00Hardly a "Weekly" Wrap-UpSometimes, I wonder if I ran out of things to say. Or, maybe other things just became more important. Time might have been an issue. The fact is, I haven't written a blog post in nearly four months. Four months!<br />
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This blog was born out of a desire to document our homeschooling journey. And if any of it encourages others, that's just icing on the cake. This year, I have written very little. Sure, I still take pictures. And for me, that provides its own level of documentation. But, I enjoy writing about those pictures. At least I am pretty good at organizing them and labeling the folders I store them in on my computer. So, maybe I'll be able to go back and realize that each picture is worth a thousand words, and the words weren't necessary during that season.<br />
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So, what have we been up to? School. Co-op. Gymnastics. Homeschool Swim & Gym. Orchestra. This year is a total contrast compared to last year. So far, it's been mostly good.<br />
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In Science, we've done lots of experiments (I'll try to do a separate post with lots of pictures.) In history, we're finding that the 1850s-Modern Times is an exciting time period to learn about. We just entered the turn of the 20th century. Learning about all the industrial growth and inventions has been fun. There are so many other highlights but in an effort to speed this up and prevent a short novel from forming, I won't even attempt to remember it all right now. Other subjects are moving along slower than I'd like, but I'm learning to try to relax and trust that it will be ok. However, since this is January, I do plan to make some changes to prioritize what I believe is more important, rather than what I find easiest to to teach and assign.<br />
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We joined a new co-op this year. We didn't attend one at all last year, so this is a big change. We're only there for three classes plus lunch. Katie loves her classes, and why wouldn't she? Art, Gym, and Home Ec. What's not to love? The only class Emily likes is science, which came as a total surprise to me. We tried doing the Apologia General Science at home last year and it just didn't fly. When I saw that the co-op offered it as a class this year, I didn't hesitate to sign Emily up for it. She dreaded going at first but found that she loves it. She also has a creative writing class and study hall. Believe it or not, she's not a fan of study hall. She's much too active to sit quietly for an hour. But there were no other reasonable options that hour. She despises the creative writing class. And that may be an understatement. At first, I just thought her dislike of the class stemmed from her dislike of the subject itself. Then, I began reviewing some of the work she does in class, and I'm not crazy about it myself. I expected more writing, and more instruction. It seems that it's a very casual class with very little expectations. I'm not sure how we'll enter this second semester. I've considered trying to switch her to another class, but I'm not even sure that's an option. It's just not what either of us expected, so it's been a bit of a disappointment.<br />
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Gymnastics is going well for Emily. We are trying to adjust to having a new coach. It's not easy after having the same coaches for years. We had four coaches that all left at about the same time. I won't lie. That's been rough. But, we're managing.<br />
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Katie is taking homeschool gym & swim two days a week (swim one day and gym the other), and orchestra one day a week. She absolutely loves them all! She has met new friends and really enjoys the activity. And I haven't really minded driving her to those activities. <br />
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I've spent the past week fighting the flu and bronchitis, so we didn't do much. I'm just now starting to feel better. Since we've had so much snow and cold weather, local schools have closed and delayed a lot, so orchestra was cancelled this week. We skipped swim on Tuesday because I was sick in bed. Hubs has been driving the kids to everything else, which gave him a greater appreciation of all I do. That's not such a bad thing. :)<br />
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We visited my grandma a couple weeks ago to celebrate her 102nd birthday! Yes, you saw that right - 102 years of life! She was so happy that we took time to go see her.<br />
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No doubt, I've left a lot out. But, that's what happens when I try to cram four months worth of living and learning into one blog post. Life happens!<br />
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Linked up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-the-love-languages-too-much-castle-and-new-curriculum/" target="_blank">Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers</a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-24016369418282636992013-09-26T15:15:00.003-04:002022-02-14T22:37:03.318-05:00Parts of Speech PrintableAfter searching the internet for the perfect printable that would show the basic parts of speech, I decided to make my own. I modeled it after a dollar store poster I purchased several years ago that had been long forgotten about but just resurfaced in a closet. Yay!<br />
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Please feel free to download the file(s) if you're interested. Just click on the image below or go to my Printables page to download it. :)<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3ONvKVqnqyNNmZqUzJJWDRud0E/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0--wKE8zt1LoAlhb7C34d1Xg" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPON-p2mDlasa_36-92biAVDwsnDrvVCchQq82y9tv_AY2kiMYbU7rbNNAu_eSKmFQB0dSafTH1SibK0W9a_4qD6SQTDF66d351xhDmWX1D6KSoN2iy7Q8qfugziP1ydbVQlmaJ7oSCfes/s320/Parts_of_Speech.jpg" width="247" /></a> <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3ONvKVqnqyNTm9jM19lNVhvVUU/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-J3qJZlW91GIBpL7mLJvAhg" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jr6lYa-TvywAaHwT0NXYDts7ToRwuSJaJUcFp8saIXThZHHWym-mh-gv6CgPk7-ee4sC49SWV_jmXUoki5mEdhNHEsQ3Ft9ZTbK_l569Llt1eibIPl8IbZDJupcnL273WzUsc1YLdTRx/s320/Parts_of_Speech_BW.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="border: 0px currentcolor;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-4556575835421379152013-09-18T22:10:00.001-04:002013-09-18T22:17:57.222-04:00Wordless Wednesday<div style="text-align: center;">
<a data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=4aAuxBNudJWpnM&tbnid=JpHOqK1nrufquM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zazzle.com%2Fhump%2Bday%2Bcamel%2Bpostcards&ei=h106Urq2Nvig4AOBlICQAg&bvm=bv.52288139,d.dmg&psig=AFQjCNEWz6iqJXpMqgYUEvLA00-KQcu-dw&ust=1379643116912290" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px currentColor;"><img height="324" id="irc_mi" src="http://rlv.zcache.com/hump_day_camel_post_cards-r398a42d0115e4b20ba09fa8dfcebb694_vgbaq_8byvr_324.jpg" style="margin-top: 35px;" width="324" /></a></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/kWBhP0EQ1lA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-89363826610436765142013-08-19T01:00:00.003-04:002013-08-19T01:31:14.314-04:00Weekly Reviews - Weeks 1 & 2We started school much earlier than usual this year. I always try to follow the local public school schedule since there are so many kids in our neighborhood. The public school started a new schedule this year, shifting the school year up a few weeks. Anyway, this is much different than what we are used to, but the first two weeks went fairly well.<br />
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We started My Father's World 1850-Modern Times. The first two weeks of history were spent reviewing some of what we learned last year. Easy enough. And, it was optional, so no pressure for the first couple of weeks.<br />
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We started science right away, using The World of Science and 100 Science Experiments. What great fun we've had already! I have to admit that learning about atoms, molecules, and elements wasn't my favorite in school, but, like history, my interest has grown over the years. And it helps to do all these simple, but fun experiments along the way. Each child is just using a spiral lined notebook to draw diagrams and record experiments. I almost got fussy over this, wanting it to look like a work of perfection. But, I let go of that quickly, and went with simplicity! I feel so free!!!<br />
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We haven't done any art yet, other than the kids doing their usual crafty stuff that always leaves a trail of cut papers, markers, pencils, glue, and more recently, duct tape. The gentle reminders to clean it up have transformed into stern demands at times, but I can't help but to love the imagination and creativity behind their projects. :)<br />
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Reading has really picked up around here, which I am so pleased to report. It's no secret that we have struggled with reading, so this is a celebratory time in our house! Emily has read many books just over the past few weeks - I think she's making up for lost reading time. Katie is becoming more fluent reading her Pathway Readers, and is doing well working more independently in her reading workbook. Yay!<br />
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Math will begin this week. I wanted to do math over the summer, but... well, it was summer, and we enjoyed it!<br />
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My favorite part of the day is when we have Bible time. MFW chose an excellent book to read alongside the Bible this year. It's called <em>A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God </em>by Patricia St. John. We read some in the evenings when Daddy is home, but we mostly start each day with it. It really is a wonderful book.<br />
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Since the weather has been so nice, we have held school out on the patio on some mornings. It just dawned on me (after all these years) that our patio doors are steel, so I can easily use magnets to hang our map for geography. Love that! As far as the CD of geography songs goes, my girls gave me the "you've got to be kidding" look when I played the first scheduled song. But, it was such a catchy tune, that we learned the states in no time. Emily already knew most of them, but Katie only knew a few. So, this has been silly, but great! <br />
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We will have a much busier year than last year. Katie will be taking homeschool gym and swim classes at the YMCA, and she is joining a homeschool orchestra. We will also be attending a co-op this year, with each of the girls taking three classes. Well, one of Emily's is study hall, but she'll have plenty to do. I'm very excited to see some old friends and make new friends. I need more adult interaction with fellow homeschoolers! Katie is very excited, too, and Emily is starting to warm up to it. <br />
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I wanted to post pictures, but I haven't gotten them on the computer yet. So, that will have to wait. I'll try to get to it this week. Hope it's a great one!<br />
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Linked with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-at-the-end-of-the-first-six-weeks/" target="_blank">Weekly Wrap Up</a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-78977937079034813782013-07-24T16:48:00.000-04:002013-07-24T16:48:52.993-04:00Organization: Just Keepin' it Real!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdJJXWXgmeEMp603HNvlyyEkgpe27cV-h87jE7Rc4N-UML0lGtjXSJWvBEmFxd9g38CtBALsw5dfmOEM9p2sIWqzHiKcFJOBbyh3jcV77PcZAiopBDGRBbKCWSswz_VvUYuNfGi9rEhSWD/s1600/shelves1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdJJXWXgmeEMp603HNvlyyEkgpe27cV-h87jE7Rc4N-UML0lGtjXSJWvBEmFxd9g38CtBALsw5dfmOEM9p2sIWqzHiKcFJOBbyh3jcV77PcZAiopBDGRBbKCWSswz_VvUYuNfGi9rEhSWD/s320/shelves1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We've been using My Father's World (MFW) for many years now. Each year, all the books go on the bookshelf to be easily stored during the year. Organization should be easy, right? Yes, if that's all there was. However, I have a plethora of books and supplies that go way beyond what arrives in our box from MFW. (I was so tempted to say "we" have, but really, it's mainly me - ouch!)<br />
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So, I'm sitting here, taking a break from the organization process. It's mentally draining and I really need this break! What to keep and what to toss is mind boggling. We have so many great books, and I hate to toss <em>any</em> of them! <em>(By toss, I mean part ways.)</em> But, do I really <em>need</em> them all? There's only so many things I can assign each year, even though I would love to assign it ALL! I would probably be labeled the worst mom/teacher of the year if I did that!<br />
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The other problem is that our bookshelves are loaded with many things. They house the telephone book (like I really need that, right?), a hodgepodge of spiral notebooks (some used, some new), readers, boxes of CDs, glue, and other supplies, magazine boxes filled with misc. papers (yes, I need to weed those out), some magazines, games, and a small wealth of resource books. I keep telling myself to <em>use it or lose it! </em> But, it's not working this time. You see, I'm down to the nitty gritty here. I cleaned these shelves off a while back and filled two good sized boxes with stuff we weren't using and stuff I knew we weren't going to use. Now, we're down to the harder decisions. Can anyone relate? Does anyone else want to keep it all, but you know it just isn't necessary, and it's just consuming valuable space? Does anyone else suffer from MNIS (<em>Might Need it Someday) </em>syndrome?<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-34416121539394208302013-05-25T23:42:00.001-04:002013-05-25T23:47:30.764-04:00Hello Summer!Our formal school year is officially over. Overall, we had a great year, and for the first time ever, we finished before June!<br />
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We finished strong, learning about the California Gold Rush in 1849. Just a few days before studying it, I stumbled upon these little bags of "gold" at the store and couldn't resist buying them.<br />
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These chewing gum nuggets unexpectedly furthered our lesson. Since gold is so strong and can be hammered flat, I used these nuggets as an object lesson about gold. We all put some in our mouths and took note about how the "gold" didn't break apart, rather it flattened out. Pretty cool, huh?</div>
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The girls got to paint on canvas on our last day. Katie painted a tree (haven't taken a picture of hers yet), and Emily painted a hedgehog. They both turned out very cute.</div>
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Emily made homemade chocolate chip muffins to celebrate our last day. Very yummy!</div>
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Our last day was on Thursday, so we had Fun Day Friday and went to Kings Island. It was a beautiful day!<br />
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Friday night, the girls were doing simple experiments on their own. They made a mixture with vinegar to clean pennies, and put Ivory soap in the microwave to see it expand. Katie even explained to me how it happens. After they pulled the soap out, they crumbled it into a bowl, and now it's ready for me to use with my homemade laundry detergent. Bonus for me! :)<br />
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We will be doing some math and language arts over the summer. I say this every year and we've never met my goals. But, after all these years of spending too much time in the fall reviewing, I'm going to work harder at sticking with my plan this summer.<br />
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My plan is to start <em>My Father's World 1850 to Modern Times</em> some time in August. We are making some changes in math and language arts but I haven't nailed them down just yet. I'm leaning heavily towards using Teaching Textbooks for math. We've always used RightStart, and I still love the program. But, it's teacher intense. Need I say more? I might also add Life of Fred as a supplement.<br />
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I plan to use some materials from <a href="http://www.queenhomeschool.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Queen Homeschool Supplies</span></strong></a> for language arts. I'm pretty sure we'll use the vocabulary, and maybe some copywork. But, I haven't nailed that down yet either.<br />
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For now, we are all looking forward to summer and the warm weather it brings!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
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Linked up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-at-nche/" target="_blank">Weekly Wrap-Up</a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-54143331585227372312013-05-14T17:38:00.002-04:002013-05-14T17:38:47.510-04:00Television<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While I was doing dishes today, I was thinking about how many times I've heard Christians (including myself) say they wish there were more good, quality shows on TV. I had no idea why this thought even came to mind. I really don't watch much TV myself, but I do have those veg-out moments. God spoke to me in a very clear and real way. And that's when I realized the meaning behind my thoughts.<br />
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God doesn't want His children to waste so many precious hours watching TV, even on "good, quality shows." That might be like spending all of our time in church and never going out to tell the world about Jesus. Serving Him and helping others is what God wants us to do! If there were more good, or dare I say great shows on television, we might be more inclined to sit and watch rather than get up and do. Let's face it, television, and other electronics, make us lazy. I don't want to be a lazy Christian.<br />
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So, the next time I flip through channels in an unsuccessful attempt to find a quality show, I hope and pray that I remember this revelation, and will do something to serve God instead.<br />
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<em>"If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." John 12:26</em><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-369306712727743782013-05-09T16:34:00.000-04:002013-05-09T16:34:36.043-04:00Reading and Copywork with McGuffey Readers<a href="http://www.christianbook.com/original-mcguffeys-eclectic-reading-series-teachers/william-mcguffey/9780880620291/pd/620293?product_redirect=1&Ntt=620293&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP#curr" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img height="320" src="http://g.christianbook.com/g/oversize/6/620293o.jpg" width="320" /></a>I'm so glad we finally started using the<a href="http://www.christianbook.com/original-mcguffeys-eclectic-reading-series-teachers/william-mcguffey/9780880620291/pd/620293?product_redirect=1&Ntt=620293&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP" target="_blank"> McGuffey Readers</a> on a regular basis. It took way too long to do this! Since we have some reading struggles, we are taking it slowly. So far, the results have been very positive. <br />
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<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>How We Use McGuffey Readers</strong></span></em><br />
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We start off by reading a story in the book. Katie reads from the McGuffey Primer. Although some may think she is too old (10) for the Primer, I chose it so that she would gain more confidence in reading, and give her more practice in handwriting, spelling, and grammar in a very practical way.<br />
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After she reads the story, I then have her read all the words from the word list that follows the story. We use a separate spelling program, otherwise I would use the McGuffey word list for spelling. Often times, words from her spelling book also appear on the McGuffey word list, so this provides great review and practice. Once she has a good grasp on reading each word on the list, she then copies two sentences from the story and draws a picture about them. We repeat this nearly every day until she has written the entire story.<br />
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<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Modification</strong></span></em><br />
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You can modify what we do to suit children that are less or more advanced simply by reducing or increasing the amount of copywork. The McGuffey Readers are so flexible! If your child is not quite there yet, just work on a portion of the word list until that portion is mastered, then move on. If your child is beyond this, you may want to move on to the next reader. <br />
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<em>Note: When we move on to McGuffey's First Reader, I do not plan to assign every sentence as copywork since the stories are longer. Can you imagine how daunting that might be? So, I plan to choose the sentences that I believe would be most beneficial, and maybe allow Katie to copy her favorite sentences as well. I'll gage that by her level of interest, progress and time.</em><br />
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Katie never complains about her McGuffey assignments. I believe she enjoys them because they are practical and creative (drawing). Next year, we may use the McGuffey Readers for spelling rather than using a separate book. The boxed set includes a Progressive Speller too, but I haven't put much effort into looking at it yet. With some prayer and research, I trust that God will lead us down the right path for us.<br />
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Now, if I could just sharpen Katie's math skills, I would feel much more balanced!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-61175197833133588452013-04-08T01:36:00.001-04:002013-04-08T01:55:46.238-04:00My brain is about to explode!It's late, and I don't think any of my friends or family would appreciate a phone call from me at this hour to release all these thoughts racing through my head!<br />
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We've been away with Hubby on a business trip that took us to southern California for ten days. It was beautiful. We enjoyed great weather and sunshine, unlike the cold air and snow we left behind. Swimming, hiking, shopping, and painting pottery are some of the things we did while we were away. I'll save the details and pictures of all the fun we had in California for another post. Right now, my brain is focused on school.<br />
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As soon as we returned from California, I took a three hour nap after flying the red-eye, and headed to the homeschool convention. I had big plans to attend some speaker sessions, and browse through the vendor hall. I ended up going to just two sessions, of which I only sat through part of each. Why? Because I was so exhausted that I had a hard time focusing. Hmm, how might we relate that to our children and school, whether homeschooled or publicly/privately schooled? We all need adequate sleep to function well. Anyway, I had the same problem as I browsed through the vendor hall. I could not maintain focus long enough to accomplish much of anything.<br />
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The next day was much better. I went back to the convention (later than I wanted to, but at least I went!), attended a couple of sessions, purchased CDs of sessions I wanted to attend but didn't get to, and browsed in the vendor's hall. My time was short and I was trying my best to stay focused. I ordered our books for next year, and found a few other goodies along the way. <br />
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My thoughts began to race when I attended a session given by Cathy Canen who talked about reading and writing to help kids learn better in all subjects. After the session, I spoke with a mom who sat next to me and found that we struggle in the same areas. After talking for a few minutes, I think we both felt encouraged and better guided. I went to Cathy's booth, which happened to be Writing Strands, little did I know! We use Writing Strands and really like it. Interesting how God keeps bringing me back to the same things! I now plan to purchase Reading Strands, and possibly the Writing Evaluation book.<br />
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At the close of the convention, I finally found the ONE BOOTH I wish I had seen much earlier! <a href="http://www.queenhomeschool.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Queen Homeschool Supplies</span></strong></a>. This company developed their own Charlotte Mason style materials, and I love it! I didn't just <em>stumble</em> upon this booth. I believe God led me to it. There was a speaker session I wanted to attend that was given by one of the ladies from this booth. I didn't get to attend that session, but when I read the description of it and visited their website, I knew I had to see their stuff! By the time I found the booth (after jotting down the booth number incorrectly, and spending quite some time searching for it), they had begun packing up. NO!!! They gave me a catalog, of which I've been pouring my eyes over for hours since. It's not your typical sales catalog. It's full of wonderfully useful information about Charlotte Mason's methods, and detailed descriptions of the materials they sell. This is one catalog I will not toss into the recycle bin!<br />
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While there, I remembered visiting this booth at the convention last year! I remembered liking their materials, especially the language arts and copywork. And I wondered why I never purchased them. Then I remembered thinking that I could create something similar. Ha! Could I create it? Yes! Of course I <em>could</em>, but when would I have time? Well, obviously, I never did have time, and had even forgotten all about it. I think God wanted to be sure it would stick this time because I haven't been able to get this stuff off my mind for two days now! And here we are again with God bringing me back to the same place. Can you tell that I don't always get it the first time around?<br />
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I'm most interested in the language arts, vocabulary, spelling, and cursive. They also sell Life of Fred, which is a math series. I really didn't know much about it until I read about it in Queen's catalog. Now, I want to check it out.<br />
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Queen offers two other math books that would make great supplements to any math program. <u>Magnificent Math</u> is a book of real life math in the form of word problems. <u>Math Facts for Copywork</u> is a book that helps students to memorize the math facts by writing them down. After all, Charlotte Mason strongly believed in accuracy through careful work and repetition to avoid incorrect information from being locked into the mind (whether it be math, spelling, or other). Read that sentence again, and let it sink in. If your brain is trained to only see the <em>correct </em>rather than consistently seeing the <em>incorrect</em>, then you will know, without a doubt, what is correct.<br />
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Queen has many other materials available, including games (Manners for Mealtimes is something we could use!), history, geography, science, and living history books. The Living History Readers set would be a nice collection to add to any library. I'm lucky enough to have one of the books in that set, given to me by my grandma. My copy is a very old copy, printed in the early 1900's, and one I would not turn loose to my kids without my close supervision. The title I have is <em>American History for Little Folks </em>and I love it! It's a great addition to any American history program. This one (and probably the others) is available as a free download on Google Books, but if you're like us, we like to have an actual book in our hands!<br />
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Since my mind is racing, and I can't seem to grab hold of <em>all </em>my thoughts, I suggest that you visit <a href="http://www.queenhomeschool.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;"><strong>Queen Homeschool Supplies</strong></span></a> for yourself. Request a catalog, and try not to stay up too late drooling over all that you discover!<br />
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God Bless!<br />
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<em>This is just my personal opinion of things I have learned and discovered. I have not been paid by anyone to write a review. I just wanted to share my findings with anyone who might stumble upon my babble and actually read it!</em>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-84757609130586659112013-03-08T22:45:00.000-05:002013-03-08T22:51:29.708-05:00Revolutionary War Wrap-Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<em><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><strong>History</strong></span></em></div>
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We are finally finished with our study of the <strong>Revolutionary War</strong>. We spent extra time on it because we did so much with it. Honestly, it was too much! Oh well. We sure did learn a lot. We read lots of books, printed and cut lots of lapbook pieces (many haven't made their way into the lapbook yet), started assembling a lapbook, wrote notebook summaries, made a fun timeline, watched some Liberty's Kids videos (and others), and made berry ink. In addition, we had mild illnesses and dentist appointments that held us up a bit, and we had a snow day. My head is spinning!<br />
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Making berry ink and using the quill pen was a challenging activity for both of the kids. But, once they got the hang of it, we all enjoyed it!<br />
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The timeline turned out great, and we included some important Revolutionary figures along with it. These free printables are found <a href="http://livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/2012/05/revolutionary-war-1-war-is-brewing.html?m=0" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">here</span></a>.<br />
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<em><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><strong>Science</strong></span></em><br />
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Our plants are off to a good start. I hope the growth continues. I'm new to this light hut/greenhouse thing. We've kept a plastic cover over the flat and don't know how long to keep it on. I suppose that will require more web searching. :)<br />
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In the process of finding great educational websites and free printables, I decided to create <strong>Pinterest</strong> boards to help me organize these sites by subject. I just love seeing pictures and descriptions of these sites, along with my personal notes about them. What a time saver!<br />
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I'm hoping this is our last snow of the season. At least we built a nice snowman! (Actually, I think she's a snowgirl!)<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/2013/03/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-where-most-of-the-kids-were-sick/" target="_blank"><img alt="Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/kbmomto3/WUHSbutton125-1_zps8fd658d5.png" title="Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-34996209664094457722013-03-01T01:04:00.000-05:002013-03-01T01:11:39.336-05:00Reading : Finding Books that WorkIt's no secret that reading has always been a struggle in our house. I personally love to read for pleasure. I'm slow, but I enjoy it. Hubby, not so much. The kids, not so much! I often wondered if we just hadn't found the right type of literature that suits each of the girls. We tried a number of different types of books for our oldest, and nothing really stuck, except for the American Girl series, of which she still enjoys reading.<br />
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Learning to read has been a very slow process for our youngest. I tried anything from the Scholastic Readers to Bob Books to Dick and Jane to the McGuffey Readers. Of those, the Scholastic readers would be on the bottom of my list. They just didn't do much to help with learning words and fluency.<br />
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Bob Books were great in the beginning. They are simple, and are phonetically written, which helped Katie in the very beginning. She read all the ones we were able to borrow from the library.<br />
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<img alt="BOB Books Set #1: Beginning Readers" height="252" src="http://store.scholastic.com/content/stores/media/products/09/0439845009_xlg.jpg" width="230" /></div>
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Dick and Jane was a flop. Katie quickly got bored with those stories, as did I!<br />
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My sister in-law gifted Katie a book that turned out to be a favorite: <span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>Biscuit</strong></span>. She loved this book! It was a hardback that had many stories compiled in one book. It even came with a CD of the audio book, but Katie never used it. She just loved to read about Biscuit.<br />
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Google Books has been a great resource for downloading old books for free. There's a reader I found to be very effective called<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> Work A Day Doings</span></strong> by Emma Serl. Since Katie prefers to read an actual book, I printed each story and made short story books for her. Sometimes, she dreads reading these stories, but she <u>always</u> enjoys them once she starts. These short stories use animals as main characters - very cute!<br />
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This brings me to the<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong> McGuffey Readers</strong></span>. Wonderful books! We have the original McGuffey Readers, which differ from the revised version. I've read that both are wonderful, but are quite different. I do have the revised version in e-reader format (free from Google Books).<br />
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Anyway, these books are great for teaching new words, and have a word list with each story that could be used for spelling and/or vocabulary, or not used at all. Since we have always used separate spelling books, we have always just used the word list to practice reading. This may change after this year though. I'm a believer in learning spelling through literature - reading and writing. But, that's another post for another day.<br />
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As great as the McGuffey Readers are, the books that have enhanced Katie's reading the most are the <span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>Pathway Readers</strong></span>, which contain stories about family life on an Amish farm.<br />
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Interestingly, these stories also engaged Emily a couple years ago. Reading short stores within one book was less intimidating to her than reading an entire novel. These books are simply written with engaging stories. In the lower level readers, repetitive words have really helped Katie to actually <em>learn</em> the words, and read with fluency. She was so happy tonight when she completed a book. She is ready to move on to the next book, and I think she may be developing a love for reading. Oh, how I hope so!<br />
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There are workbooks that accompany Pathway Readers. Sometimes, I use the workbooks for Katie, but I pick and choose which pages to complete. There is nothing attractive about the workbooks. But, this leaves more to the imagination and reduces distraction.<br />
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I pray for anyone who has struggling readers. It's not easy to find quality books that contain decent stories. Let's fact it. Some books are just dumb! So, when I find good ones, I want to share them with others.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-73085694334574214232013-02-25T00:37:00.000-05:002013-02-25T00:43:05.681-05:00Weeks in ReviewYep. Weeks. Not just one. Who knows how many! I promise to keep it as short as possible. Mostly pictures. Maybe.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">Science</span></em></strong><br />
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We've been using Apologia Botany in science, and it's been great. The projects are doable, fun, and have been relatively quick. The only one that took a little more time is the<span style="font-size: large;"><strong> </strong>light hut</span> for growing plants. I'm hoping we'll benefit from it! We sowed a variety of flower and vegetable seeds. We already have some emerging seedlings!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_CW4zdSSuMeoO_0mrtnnuLn2kvujqlW2wCZ2urzNBOODFrpZ23sq2AdZdfw9YeW1r5XDZgkhaOWZR7QQ_5feExt6GtcvXYE-Aju5tzWnpW8jy5-ZGE25SOX118t7xhOwmAIHFUMmWILO/s1600/Light_Hut_Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_CW4zdSSuMeoO_0mrtnnuLn2kvujqlW2wCZ2urzNBOODFrpZ23sq2AdZdfw9YeW1r5XDZgkhaOWZR7QQ_5feExt6GtcvXYE-Aju5tzWnpW8jy5-ZGE25SOX118t7xhOwmAIHFUMmWILO/s320/Light_Hut_Collage.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>
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As we sowed the seeds, we made a <span style="font-size: large;">chart</span> so that we know what is what. We placed a sticker on the left corner of the tray, and one on the bottom left corner of our chart. This is in case our planting tray gets turned around, we know which way to look at it to compare to the chart.<br />
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Of course, there was a <span style="font-size: large;">failed science experiment</span>. If I had a dime for every failed experiment...<br />
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The carrot was supposed to grow new leaves, but clearly it just shriveled up to look like Beetlejuice!<br />
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We are also working on our <span style="font-size: large;">bean growth chart</span> to see which bean will grow the largest: the one taped to a sunny window, the one inside a dark drawer, or the one in the cold refrigerator. So far, the one in the dark drawer has the others beat by a long "shoot." (haha) <br />
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Here, the girls are experimenting with paper towels to see how<span style="font-size: large;"> non vascular plants</span> absorb water.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">History</span></em></strong><br />
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I must say, I am loving the colonial/revolutionary time period! The kids enjoy most of it, too. Some library books that we really enjoyed reading include: <u>Benjamin West and his cat Grimalkin</u> and <u>Sybil Ludington's Midnight Ride</u>. There was also picture book called <u>The Boston Tea Party</u> that my kids loved because it had little cartoon mice on each page, doing their own thing that related to the story. They just thought that was hilarious! Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the author.<br />
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We made <span style="font-size: large;">Johnny Cakes</span> one day. Katie and I liked them; Emily did not. Nothing unusual! We put homemade chunky applesauce on top - YUM!<br />
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We completed a Daniel Boone lapbook, which I will write a detailed post with pictures on that when I get a chance. And we have all the materials ready for an <span style="font-size: large;">American Revolution lapbook</span>, as you can see here!<br />
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Something I thought would be fun is to get a chest of some sort, and put various history related things into it, when appropriate. The idea is that the girls would open up the<span style="font-size: large;"> history box</span> and pull out a piece of history, so to speak. After looking all over the antique mall, I ended up finding the box below at Hobby Lobby. So, it's not really old, but it looks like it could be, and it was way cheaper than anything I found antique shopping!<br />
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So far, the girls pulled out a draft of the Declaration of Independence, Colonial money, and lapbook elements. I may drop a book or two in there from time to time - whatever will fit that goes with our lessons on a particular day or week. I just love this idea and hope it evolves into greater things! I'm even thinking that some sort of large clay pot would make a great botany project pot! And if you're learning different countries in your history lesson, why not get a suitcase to put fun things in?<br />
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We are plugging away at other subjects, too, but those aren't as much fun to show & tell! Really, how many pictures do we need of our kiddos doing math and doing language arts?<br />
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Last Friday, we went to a production of Rosa Parks, which was well done and very educational. The weather was a little sketchy that morning, but cleared up before we left. I'm so glad we got to go!<br />
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And Friday night, we went to Winter Jam! We got to hear 10 Christian music artists do their thing for God, and tell their stories! It was truly amazing. I wish I had gotten pictures of the girls there. I don't know why I didn't think to take at least one of them. <br />
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Hopefully, I'll get my act together and blog on a regular basis. I really do enjoy writing, and reading other blogs!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
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Linked with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/2013/02/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-the-busy-break-week/" target="_blank">Unsocialized Homeschoolers Weekly Wrap-Up</a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-72433896811578091022013-02-14T23:00:00.000-05:002013-02-14T23:05:54.858-05:00The Best Unplanned Valentine's Day<em> "We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)</em><br />
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I don't think my kids will ever know how unplanned this day was. Somehow, I managed to pull all sorts of goodies out of the magic hat, or shall I say <em>heart?</em><br />
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Last night, I scanned my Valentine board on Pinterest, and found a few ideas I knew I could pull off last minute. One thing that was super quick and easy was a free printable that I placed in a frame on the piano before I went to bed.<br />
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This morning, before the kids got up, I made a batch of puppy chow and mixed in some Valentine M&Ms and sprinkles. I placed it in pink mugs on plates that were hiding in a closet. Perfect!<br />
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For breakfast, I made heart-shaped pancakes colored with red food coloring. The kids thought they were the best ever!<br />
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In the pantry, I found a strawberry cake mix and just the right ingredients for homemade icing. So, I made cupcakes. The big ones went on the cake plate my mother in-law gave me. It was a wedding gift they received many years ago, and now I get to enjoy it.<br />
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The baby cupcakes fit nicely in an old metal heart-shaped pan that I found at an antique mall a few weeks ago.<br />
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I couldn't stop there. I made a quick trip to the store for a pack of Reece Cup Hearts (hubby's favorite), a bag of caramel hershey kisses, and some strawberries. You might have guessed that I made chocolate covered strawberries. Don't they look pretty on my vintage/antique (?) crystal plate?<br />
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I remembered having two Valentine tins tucked away, and paper doilies that I've had for years. I put the doilies inside the tins and filled the tins with goodies for the kids. Hubby's treats went into a red bowl. I made the chocolate hearts out of the leftover chocolate from the strawberries. For the hershey kisses, I stamped some small Valentine images, punched them out with a 3/4" circle punch and glued them to the bottom of the kisses. I also punched some zebra striped paper. How fun is that?<br />
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And here's the entire Valentine treat spread. One would never know that none of it was pre-planned!<br />
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Happy Valentine's Day!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-4644357638903547342013-01-17T00:44:00.001-05:002013-01-17T00:50:16.454-05:00What's Happening?So, it's been a while. Too long, actually. I will look back on this school year and wonder what we did, and when. I will not have many blog posts that document our days, and few pictures. Can you say SLACKER???<br />
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<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Thanksgiving...</strong></span></em><br />
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I'll briefly back up to Thanksgiving. That's about as far back as I can remember! :) We spent several days visiting my grandma over Thanksgiving. We had the best visit we've had in quite a while. She turned 101 today and has had her ups and downs, especially with her mood. So, seeing her in such a great mood and feeling relatively well was a delight, and certainly something for which I was thankful.<br />
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<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Christmas...</strong></span></em><br />
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Christmas came and went too quickly. Why wouldn't it be like any other year though, right? I even did most of my shopping early online, and still found myself out shopping on Christmas Eve. It was just small, last minute stuff that wouldn't have mattered if I had it or not. I'm thinking I won't do that again. It was quite maddening! We were blessed to truly <em>enjoy</em> the Christmas season though.<br />
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The girls dropped a letter off to Santa (Emily snuck one in after she said she wasn't going to!).<br />
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We had a little fun while shopping...<br />
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We made Trix Treats (made just like Rice Krispie Treats, but with Trix cereal instead).<br />
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<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Holly Days...</strong></span></em><br />
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We went to Holly Days at <strong>Heritage Village</strong>...<br />
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The girls each made a yarn doll ornament at the village that day...</div>
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">Creation Museum...</span></em></strong><br />
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Going to Christmas Town at the<a href="http://creationmuseum.org/" target="_blank"> <strong>Creation Museum</strong></a> is something I plan to do every year. The outdoor dramas are amazing! Very well done.<br />
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Eating at the cafe was a treat, and not too expensive.<br />
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And the lights outside were just stunning.<br />
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We all enjoyed the petting zoo, and Katie even took a camel ride!<br />
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We plan on visiting the Creation Museum again in the new future.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">Christmas Crafts...</span></em></strong><br />
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In preparation for Christmas, the girls learned how to make parachute chord bracelets, and gave one to each of their cousins.<br />
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Jason and I made fire cones with melted cinnamon scented candles. The bag is a grocery sack that we rolled inside out to make a "basket" and then we tied a ribbon around it. This made a nice gift for my parents. And Jason actually had fun dipping the pine cones!<br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">Festival of Lights...</span></em></strong><br />
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While my sister in-law was here, we went to the Festival of Lights at the zoo. It was so cold that night, but we made the best of it and had a good time.<br />
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<em><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Our tree...</span></strong></em><br />
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I loved our tree this year.<br />
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We bought it last year after we already had one set up. It's used and I couldn't figure out why anyone wouldn't want it anymore....until...I discovered that most of the pre-strung lights no longer worked! It took four hours for three people to get those lights off that tree! Then, I strung new lights on it (yes, that's my job because I'm picky!) and realized that I put WAY TOO MANY on it. It looked like Clark Griswald's house! Well, maybe not quite that bright, but it was seriously bright! We had to turn the tree lights off before we could use the microwave! Yeah, those lights came off after Christmas. I will format a new plan when Christmas rolls around again. :)<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>After Christmas...</em></span></strong><br />
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We had some snow that the girls had fun playing in.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>New Year's Eve...</em></span></strong><br />
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We did something different on New Year's Eve. We usually go to my brother's to ring in the new year. But, we decided to do our own thing this year. We went out to a nicer restaurant for dinner, which the kids loved, especially when we let them get the sundae bar for dessert! Then, we went bowling. Bowling!!!<br />
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There was only one other time our family went bowling, and we had to leave after just one game because Emily's allergies were so bad. It had been a while since the bowling allies banned smoking inside, but I guess the smoke still lingered. It was awful. This experience was much better, and we all had a great time. We were home to see the ball drop, and the girls said it was the best New Years ever! Can't get much better than that. :)<br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-size: large;">School...</span></em></strong><br />
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We started school back up on January 7, and have already had our ups and downs. It's always hard to restart after a break. After a few days, we reacquainted ourselves with a routine and settled in for the ride. History and science have been going great! I have been pleased with the books used in My Father's World. Emily is doing better in Language Arts, and Katie's reading is slowly improving. Our restart to math was a bit rough, but once we got through some rough waters, we began sailing more smoothly.<br />
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My Father's World recommends that students use Apologia General Science in 7th grade. I finally started it last week, and just have one word to describe it: overwhelming. I read that the first module is the toughest, so if we can get past that, we might do ok. But for now, I put it away. It just doesn't fit with us right now. Maybe soon, maybe later. Maybe never. We'll see. Time will tell. For now, we are using the Apologia Botany book, which is something I can just give to Emily to read on her own, and Katie and I read it together. We all do projects and experiments together. This works for us. <br />
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I'm highly impressed with <a href="http://www.answersingenesis.org/store/product/gods-design-science-curriculum/?sku=40-1-323" target="_blank">Answers in Genesis, God's Design for Science </a>curriculum. We used <em>The World of Animals</em> book the first part of the year, and loved it. We also used <em>Properties of Ecosystems</em> one year and loved it, too. I wish I had used books in this series last year. They are simply written, have nice pictures, some suggested experiments, and suggestions for further study. Best of all, they are based on <em>Creation.</em> <br />
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That's about all the rambling I can do in one night. Hopefully, my blogging will slip back into a routine. :)<br />
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Happy New Year!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-45962605516528713492012-12-01T02:56:00.001-05:002012-12-01T02:57:56.270-05:00PrioritiesKeeping up with blogging has not been a priority lately. It's not that I don't enjoy it. I do. I've just been concentrating my efforts more on school itself rather than writing about it. By the time the weeks come to a close, I'm too tired to think about writing. And when I do think about it, time is too short.<br />
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Having said that, I miss it. I miss reading other blogs, and I miss my readers. And maybe, above all, I have a strong feeling that I will miss having a consistant chronicle of our <em>Homeschool Days</em>. So, this weekend, I will try to write a post to review the last couple of months. I also hope to read some posts from friends I've met in the blogging world over the years.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-47393194465482182012-10-31T00:30:00.003-04:002012-10-31T00:30:38.784-04:00Just what I NeededGrammar is a like a four letter word in our house. It's just not Emily's favorite subject. To her, it is borning and useless. <br />
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Just when I thought she wasn't allowing herself to learn anything "grammer," Emily brought me a story she wrote on her own, in her free time. It's excellent! It had very few errors and she used very good penmenship, which is unusual for her. I'm very proud of her and I praise God for blessing me with renewed hope!<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-60105904444689150152012-10-07T23:21:00.000-04:002012-10-07T23:21:06.210-04:00Week 6: New York, Nine Pins, Tobacco, and BirdsI'll sum this week up quickly. In history, we read about the Dutch people who settled New Amsterdam, which became New York when the English took over and named it after the Duke of York. We also learned about the success that tobacco plantations brought to Virginia and that's when slaves were first used in North America. We found a few good, short videos on You Tube about tobacco and cotton plantations, and slavery.<br />
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We set up a game of Nine Pins, a popular game in Colonial times, and played a few rounds.<br />
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We made a bird feeder:<br />
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Katie couldn't resist hanging around the tree!<br />
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We will spend part of Monday back peddling in science to make sure all pages are in the science notebooks. I just noticed we missed a couple things. I haven't been feeling well, so it was hard to accomplish <em>everything</em>! Well, let's be honest. It's hard to accomplish it all on any given week!<br />
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On Saturday, we went to a Pumpkin Festival and the girls got to paint their own canvas. Saturday Art Class!!! They did a great job!<br />
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Linked with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/2012/10/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-where-i-was-at-the-savvy-blogging-summit/" target="_blank">Weekly Wrap-Up</a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-17777529195392304882012-10-07T02:05:00.000-04:002012-10-07T02:05:37.202-04:00Week 5: Colonies and WitchcraftDuring Week 5 (Sept. 24-28), we learned about the Massachusetts Bay and Rhode Island Colonies and a little about the Salem Witchcraft Trials. I vaguely remember learning these things in school, so the information was interesting to me and I read it all. I didn't feel it was necessary to cover every detail with the kids though. One thing I found particularly interesting is the speculation that the girls who first began practicing witchcraft may have eaten contaminated grain causing them to hallucinate. Whether that's true or not, many ended up confessing much later on that their stories were simply made up. Nevertheless, it's terribly sad that many innocent people died as a result of the false accusations against them for practicing witchcraft. I'm still extremely satisfied with our history books. Sometimes, we don't read all of the content from <em>Building a City on a Hill</em> together. I read it myself for background info and then pick out parts to share if I choose to not read the whole thing. There is a LOT of info in these books!<br />
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We watched the Animated Hero Classics video about William Bradford, which I highly recommend. We also borrowed the movie, Squanto (a Disney film) from the library and watched it.<br />
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Some reviews warned that the movie didn't portray exactly what really happened. Others said it was pretty close. After watching it, I'd say it was pretty close but there were parts that were questionable. Prior to watching the movie, I explained to the kids that this movie is not unlike any other Disney movie that sprouted from a book. Content may not always match up and many details are often lost. Having done that, we all enjoyed the movie and I would recommend it.<br />
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Because books could not be given to each student in the 1600's, they used hornbooks. Pages from the New England Primer were often torn out and glued to a paddle to be used by students. The girls each made a Hornbook that taught the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer.<br />
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Now, as much as I appreciate old books, the New England Primer would be difficult to use in our day due differences in spelling and letter usage (sometimes an 'f' was used instead of 's'). I downloaded a copy of the New England Primer from <a href="http://www.books.google.com/" target="_blank">Google Books</a> for free, just to see what it looked like.<br />
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Science is usually a highlight. Learning about animals has always been fun for my kids, so they usually don't mind the science readings and pages that go along with them. <em>The Complete Book of Animals</em> is still a big hit with Katie.<br />
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Emily's Apologia General Science material just recently arrived so we haven't begun using it yet. I still need to get materials off the supply list.<br />
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Katie's Elephant</div>
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Katie also has a small notebook that she's been writing things in on her own. Don't you love it? These must be the things she finds most interesting. The fact that she does this warms my heart and puts a smile on my face!</div>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-15738391518655208872012-10-07T00:39:00.001-04:002012-10-07T00:39:42.460-04:00Heritage VillageSeptember 23, 2012<br />
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The Heritage Village inside a local park had a Harvest Festival the weekend of Sept. 22-23. We decided to go on Sunday and it turned out to be a beautiful day for it. We had so much fun touring through the village and participating in some of the activities. All of the buildings in this village are authentic buildings that were brought in from other locations to preserve them and allow visitors to tour through them.<br />
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Inside the tepee, we got to see and touch many different kinds of animal horns, antlers, shells, hide and fur, including skunk!<br />
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Outside the tepee, we learned how to start a primitive fire...<br />
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Making homemade applesauce...</div>
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Painting pumpkins...</div>
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The Print Shop...</div>
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The General Store...</div>
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.Can you imagine taking a bath in that tub?</div>
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The doctor's office...</div>
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This is the waiting room at the doctor's office...</div>
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This schoolhouse was recently brought in. It isn't ready for tours yet...</div>
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The Church...</div>
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Village Home...</div>
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The kitchen was in another building...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fjrrI3WSxBF2oRGgUGHe0bvDovhyphenhyphenvMe39AQLSlDQ-ub7i4KnVN3xDPTun_DLsNlm3gCeNVUvS1rmje5V5fM8gL9gHXTpJGslXAwy6q8H9qLDfstCUb1ZYfflSzvGFcLtTWfhGmML0684/s1600/DSC_7237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fjrrI3WSxBF2oRGgUGHe0bvDovhyphenhyphenvMe39AQLSlDQ-ub7i4KnVN3xDPTun_DLsNlm3gCeNVUvS1rmje5V5fM8gL9gHXTpJGslXAwy6q8H9qLDfstCUb1ZYfflSzvGFcLtTWfhGmML0684/s320/DSC_7237.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This was a wooden gymnast toy that kids got to play with while touring through the village...</div>
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Coin hunt in the hay...</div>
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I don't know who this girl is, but she was good at twirling that hoop with the stick!</div>
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Weaving... Love the hands-on activities!</div>
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Train Station...</div>
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Indian Dance...</div>
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The village is in need of volunteers and we would love to help out. I may get more information about it to see if it's doable. They are having a Halloween Haunt and a Christmas Walk, both of which we want to go to. Then, in the spring, they have a Civil War weekend that will probably fall right around the time we will be learning about the Civil War. The village and museum also has various activities and displays throughout the year. Since there is so much to offer, we got a family pass so we can come and go as we please!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-39157692199505115802012-09-23T20:54:00.002-04:002012-09-23T21:15:34.157-04:00Week 4: The Mayflower PilgrimsThe girls finally got to make their wigwams. We followed the directions in the MFW teacher manual and they came out so realistic. They used cut-up cereal boxes for the frame and brown construction paper for the "shingles." After gluing on the shingles, we covered the entire outside with white glue. When they dried the girls cut smoke holes in the top. They looked and felt much like real bark and are very sturdy.<br />
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Both of the girls added their own accessories. Emily made hers from clay and Katie used cardboard and paper. Very creative!<br />
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<em>Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims </em>really touched Katie's heart. Many nights, she wanted me to keep reading so she could hear what happened next. She was very about Squanto's family dying before he finally returned to his village. But she perked up when she learned that Squanto really helped the Pilgrims and considered them his new family. We all had a great discussion about how Squanto's life was in God's hands. Had it not been for the English keeping him as a slave and his inability to return to America, Squanto would most likely have died with the rest of his tribe long before the Pilgrims landed on American soil. Furthermore, Squanto shows us that people of diverse backgrounds can live in peace and harmony and can teach one another many useful things, even how to plant corn and catch fish! <br />
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<em>Almost Home </em>is another great book based on the lives of those who journeyed across the Atlantic on the Mayflower. I particularly love how well the story captures living history in great detail. And the glossary in the back is helpful for some period terms that we didn't know. You may know what a coif is, but do you know what a trencher is? Hmmm...<br />
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To say that Emily doesn't like English is an understatement! It's not my strong suit either. I scored well in English when I was in school, but I remember very little of it. I'm not the most versed writer and I don't have a broad vocabulary, but that doesn't stop me from writing or talking. Much is learned by just reading. Even so, I realize that there are requirements to meet and certain things should be learned, even when they seem boring and useless. So, we carry on grudgingly, trying to learn each step of the way. And I'm right there alongside Emily, learning with her.<br />
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In science, we learned more about mammals. We covered monkeys, apes, elephants, leopards, whales, and other mammals similar to all those. We learned about various ways that people tried to support the theory of evolution and that all have been disproved. I'm thinking that field trip to the zoo is in order soon. :)<br />
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We took Thursday off. My ladies Bible study started this week, which meets on Thursday mornings. Typically, I would require the kids to do school work during that time. But we've been working so hard and were a little ahead, so I was going to just let them play. It turned out, a lady at church needed help organizing toys in one of the children's rooms, so the girls spent most of their time doing that. We socialized afterwards and ran a couple of errands, so we didn't get home until about 3:00. On most Thursday afternoons we will do some school work, unless we go on a field trip or need to run errands. Our leader asked if Emily could help out with the little kids during Bible study, starting next week, and wants to pay her! I told her I'm fine with it and I think it will be good for her.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sphFFj-W3OMLyqC0Jb6ZAdetLhIFoWfWNUVRgaPkZA_YQRwGWeObxJGhamnYE6tCemy1UhYMgG-W5F3FKnsXQ_maV3NKP1ds9KSdGjeerCs2dRq4lK-ruKkMLBbgPb1wVqqRR7nNUYzV/s1600/frog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sphFFj-W3OMLyqC0Jb6ZAdetLhIFoWfWNUVRgaPkZA_YQRwGWeObxJGhamnYE6tCemy1UhYMgG-W5F3FKnsXQ_maV3NKP1ds9KSdGjeerCs2dRq4lK-ruKkMLBbgPb1wVqqRR7nNUYzV/s320/frog.jpg" width="222" /></a>We had a bit of excitement on Friday. I woke up super early - 6:00 AM, which is way early for me! I'm a night owl, not a morning dove. I watched a movie and dozed off for about an hour after. so we were just getting started on school around 10:30 or so. That's about the time when Katie said "why is the lid off Spotty's tank?" (Spotty is our firebelly toad.) I thought she was joking until I looked over and saw the lid sitting on the table. I asked her if the frog was inside. She looked and frantically said "no" and began crying hysterically. I added fresh water to the tank the night before and forgot to put the lid back on! Oops!!! My stomach started turning. It's amazing how huge our house seemed at that moment! I looked in every corner of the kitchen/dining area first, since that's where Spotty's tank is. No luck. We got a flashlight and started looking under all the furniture in the living room. We found other things, but not the frog. Katie was still crying so I stopped, put my hands on her shoulders, told her to calm down, and said "let's pray." In less than five minutes, the frog was spotted in the kitchen! It truly was a miracle! We all took a moment to give thanks to God for allowing us to find Spotty so quickly. Hallelujah!</div>
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Linked up with <a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/2012/09/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-with-the-party/" target="_blank">Weekly Wrap-Up</a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1533781749191216608.post-9805947467568295662012-09-16T18:18:00.001-04:002012-09-16T18:18:25.237-04:00Too much stuff?Too much stuff? Oh yes! Way too much! Visit this blog post at <a href="http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/2012/09/14/why-i-took-all-my-kids-toys-away-why-they-wont-get-them-back/#comment-16045" target="_blank"><strong>Living Well Spending Less </strong></a> to read about what one blogger did and the impact it made on her family!<br />
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I have been on a slow-paced decluttering spree for quite some time, until last month when I spent a considerable amount of time filtering through boxes of misc. stuff. Stray puzzle pieces, battery covers, marbles, doll shoes, socks, screws, candles… you name it! Left to my husband, all those boxes would have just been tossed out to the trash. But I cannot stand wastefulness and I have a pet peeve about keeping sets of things together. With that in mind, I don’t know how so much clutter accumulated in so many boxes!<br />
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Anyway, I set up two card tables in our basement and dumped all the misc. stuff on them. Missing things were found, and puzzles, toy sets and games were made complete. Then, most of it was placed in boxes to be donated. The process was very slow since I had to work on it in between caring for my family and tending to the housework. Then, one glorious Saturday, my in-laws took my kids for the entire day! That’s when the real work began! My girls' rooms were cleared, closets were cleaned out, and stuff was boxed up. I removed so much stuff from Katie's room that she's been able to easily keep it clean ever since. And the stuff that was removed hasn’t even been thought about or asked for! It’s as if it was never even here in the first place.<br />
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We have a long way to go. But this is a great start! And it shows that we really don’t need so much stuff in our lives.<br />
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Hold on to the people, not the stuff! And remember, <em><strong>today's cute is tomorrow's clutter!</strong></em><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/186/27696877D27863EF3B27E56156578648.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17955632440332747542noreply@blogger.com0