Reflection

You will notice it has been some time since my last post. This is because our family has been super busy preparing our home for visitors. My sister brought her 3 kids out for the summer so combined with my adult nephew and my own children I now have 6 monkeys swinging through the jungle here. Schoolwork has been set aside for now needless to say. The timing worked out well though as the other mom's in our PP co-op group needed a break for life activities as well. We are planning to resume in July and the extra monkeys will have the option of joining in with us. I'm thinking by then they will enjoy being around a new group of kids. So besides going crazy and cleaning 80 times a day what have I been up to? The first order of business was to catalouge all of my storage books. I had 5 big Sterilite tubs full of books in my garage that aren't immediately needed. Using an online program- GuruLib I entered the books into my online library by their Isbn #'s. I love that I managed to get this accomplished, though I do intend to get the books on the shelves in my living room entered soon too. As I catalouged I did a quick sort as well- weeding out books I had duplicates of or didn't think we'd use. I plan to sell/trade/ and give away these books at future HS events. Now all I need to do is log-in to my Gurulib account and I can immediately see which books I have, where they are located and additional info such as a summary of the book with used and new prices which is perfect if I decide to sell  any of them. There are other features available but I will let you check them out yourself. Here's a link to this program which I feel every homeschool family should use http://www.gurulib.com/
I have also been trying to decide on curriculum for next year. This has been made more difficult as my son announced a while back that he may like to go back to P.S. next year.*sigh* This is something my husband and I are allowing him to decide on his own. We feel he is old enough to make an informed decision and know we always have the option of bringing him back home again if necessary. I have conflicting emotions about this. I'm sad because I have really enjoyed having my son around more. We reconnected on a level that I think most P.S. moms don't get from son's his age (12).Also, this would mean my daughter would be by herself during the day. I know she will miss him,too. On the other hand it may be good for my daughter's sake. She has always been a struggling learner and I am beginning to think she has some learning disabilities. I have had a hard time getting her to stay on track with any work and it constantly interferes with my son's work. I need time to devote to her to figure out what works for her individual needs. I am also worried. His previous PS experiences were not always positive- in fact he pretty much hated school. He would be going back to seventh grade and I personally feel that middle school kids are the cruelest beings out there very judgemental. My son's self esteem has improved so much since he "dropped out of PS". I would hate for all that hard work to be trampled on. I also worry that he is not up to par academically. I am the first to admit that so far I haven't given him enough in this department. I know that I haven't really "failed" him as there are so many other things he gained during this past year and a half -but the school system will not care about his improvement in self esteem, or about his transformed family bonds. They won't even think of his spiritual growth or his newfound maturity. No notice will be given to an increased sense of accountability and responsibility. In short, his character does not matter to them. Test scores and group think are what matters. He will be one of  hundreds of kids. If he dares to suggest that maybe a particular method of teaching isn't the best way to learn will he be scolded by his teachers? If he doesn't wear the right clothes or say the right things will he be ridiculed by his "peers"? If so, has he learned enough about his self this past year to be able to handle it? So, yes, I worry. I have always said I would never send my kids back to P.S. but this is not my choice, it's his. I know he is struggling with indecision and I can't say much for fear of swaying him one way or the other. That will defeat the purpose of giving him the choice. So, for now, all I can do is pray that God will guide him to the right decision for him. In the meantime, I have been concentrating on my daughter's curriculum for next year. So far here are my tentative choices:
Phonics- Hooked on Phonics program. We tried this before but were not consistent with it. I am going to make this an everyday activity
Reading- Abeka Readers.- I have this set and am going to give it a go- I love Abeka's wholesome stories but am not sure about implementing it with her. She is not a good reader and from looking over the curriculum it seems a bit rigourous. If it isn't  working for us by November we will be finding a different program.
English-Rod and staff third grade-Beginning Wisely. I love the layout of this curriculum. It is a no nonsense book with what I consider a "just-right" amount of work for this age level. It's also a Christian curriculum which I like. I don't HS for religious reasons but we are Christians. If I can find a book that appeals to me on an academic and spiritual level it's a bonus! The student textbook is visually appealing to me although I am not sure it will be for my daughter. There are pictures but they are black and white which lend to a "clean" look overall.. I like this because my daughter is easily distracted when reading and has a tendency to get "caught up" in the pictures. The Teacher's book also provides clear instructions on how to use the curriculum which is a requrement for me this year!
Literature- We will continue following the Prairie Primer for this portion of Language Arts.
History-Mystery of History Volume 1- I am in love with this curriculum and I hope my daughter will be too!  It is a multi-age curriculum with a classical approach to it. This is awesome to have if my son stays home because they can do this together at their own individual levels.There are so many benefits and features but here are some of my favorite things about it-
1. It has audio cd's of the text- we are constantly in the car headed somewhere. the kids and I enjoyed listening to Story of the world cd's as we went places just for fun. They begged to listen to the "stories". Also, Denim is definately an auditory learner so I want to capitalize on this as much as possible.
2. It gives secular and biblical history in a chronological order! Again- a bonus for our family
3. I love the hands-on ideas suggested including the awesome timeline figures to use with it which is from Homeschool in the woods.
Science- This year we will be trying out Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space Science. This is also a christian, multi-age, classical approach curriculum that I like for the reasons stated above. It follows a day by day format which seems like it will be easy to follow/use/implement. It is full of hands-on experiments and even has coloring pictures incorporating each unit's theme. I will allow them to color a picture during lesson time and each new unit's picture will go in each child's picture frame hanging in the school area. I hope this will increase ownership of their work.
Math- we will continue using Math U See and this year we will be consistent! I LOVE this curriculum's hands on approach and she loves it, too. Last year we got caught up in too many projects which kept us from following our plans. Next year I can't allow this to happen.
 That is her basic Curriculum for next year. In addition I am going to implement a lot of "centers" to encourage independent learning. I did NOT like the way centers were used in her P.S. in First grade but I can see the benefits for our HS. At P.S. the teacher was busy with other students and couldn't watch each child to ensure they were working rather than playing. Some kids naturally did what they were supposed to do. On several occasions I saw my daughter flat out doing whatever she wanted to during this time, rarely did she complete what she was supposed to be doing and several days never even attempted to. At home, though, I can keep a watchful eye on her to see she completes each tasks. There will be some "I must" center activities which she will be graded on and some "I can" activities that she can do when the I musts are completed. I have been collecting ideas so watch for updates on our "centers" later in the summer. I am also gathering ideas to make our school area environment more inviting and functional. I am so jealous when I see the inviting spaces featured on other HS moms blogs. I want the children to feel there is a space for everything. It's hard when you are trying to keep your home from LOOKING like a school room. Organization is the key here I think and for someone who thrives on clutter this is difficult to get the feel for. Thankfully, there are  organized people on the internet who are willing to share their secrets so watch towards August for the Grand Opening photos of our home-school. I am planning to  have Dad take the children away for a day or two when I am setting things up so it will be a complete surprise to them when they come home. I will also have "raffles" for neat new school supplies (think scented markers, cute erasers, colored writing paper ect.) and refreshments for those I invite to come celebrate with us. I want them to take pride in our school. I'm also hoping it re-inforces the idea that homeschool is still school and should be taken seriously. That being said I want it to be fun for them, too! Anyhow, that is what we have been up to lately. I will try to continue posting weekly. Please check back next week- I am planning a post where I will share some of my favorite links with you!

Prairie Primer-Big woods- week 4

This week we learned about the California Gold Rush. We read the book By the Great Horn Spoon. This was nice for a "Boyish" aspect. I know Sky has really enjoyed this story. We used a lapbook from Hands of a Child. The kids aren't really loving the lapbooks but we pushed through- I will update a picture later of the completed books. We ended up playing North to Alaska for lack of a different game which inspired me to create one. When I finish it I will upload the files on here. At our co-op Ms. Alicia led the kids in a fun Trivia game covering different topics in the Big Woods book. The kids remembered alot! she also brought some yummy pumpkin bread and the gold rush bars featured in the PP. I thought it was delicious but my kids weren't too keen on it. I had the kids do a "gold nugget" hunt. These were yellow Easter eggs with scraps of paper in them. The papers either had an amount of ounces written on them or said Fool's Gold. When they had collected all of them each child totalled up how many ounces they had. We then figured up how much their gold was worth in 1849 and today. Sky had the most ounces and was the richest man so we dubbed him Sam Brannon. If you don't know who Sam Brannon was he was the man who made the most money off of the Gold Rush. He wasn't a miner but was very clever! Sam Brannon is actually the one who started the Gold Rush when he ran screaming through the streets that gold had been found at Sutter's Mill. John Marshall and John Sutter were trying to keep it quiet! Sam Brannon was clever because before he made the announcement he bought every piece of mining equipment around. Then he re-sold the items at a higher price. Sky was cracking up when he heard that. Anyhow, this unit study also sparked a mini-lesson about the law of supply and demand. Now, even Denim understands the concept :)
   We had two outings this week in addition to our studies. On Monday we went on two tours of the Blue Bell ice-cream creamery. It was so much fun and a perfect introduction to summer ahead! It was also an easy field trip to host. We had such a great response to this trip that we ended up doing two tours. In all there were about 60 people who went with us for this. It was only a dollar per person, too, so it was very affordable. Here are some pics from our trip

We are planning to do this trip again this summer when my niece and nephew come down to visit. I think they will enjoy this as much as we did.

On Wednesday we were supposed to go see a beekeeper as a follow up to our unit on Bees. Something came up so we ended up going Friday evening. This man was so patient with them. The kids really enjoyed processing the honey and have decided that now they need to begin beekeeping! They are already planning on buying the stuff to get started. Here are some pics from that trip.

Prairie Primer Big Woods -week 3

The following pictures are not scenes from a bad dream LOL.  These are pics of Denim acting out the chores of a worker bee. A very smart mom from our co-op suggested I have her act things out in an attempt to improve retention. So, as our Prairie Primer studies this week focused on bees we gave it a shot. Here is a "Picture-Play: of the worker bee's jobs starring Denim.



A worker bee helps to build a cell



If the cell is damaged a worker bee will help repair it.

Worker bees also help keep the cell clean.



"nurse" worker bees feed the larvae in the cells
(the plate is supposed to represent larvae)







Worker bees cap the cell with wax just before the

larvae turn into pupae.





In some of the cells the worker bees will store the food.



If a cell becomes too cold the worker bees will form a blanket of bees to keep it warm.





If the cell gets hot the worker bees will drop water on it and fan it with their wings to cool it off



The worker bees also help take care of the queen and will even lick her clean

"Guard" worker bees defend the cell at all costs.

The enemies of worker bees are doomed- the bee will attack and sting!

When a worker bee stings- it suffers a worse fate as it will lose it's stinger and die

"forager" worker bees bring the food back to the hive

There are a few other jobs worker bees do and we acted out many, many scenes.  I asked her afterwards about some of the things we learned- I was quite discouraged. We did have a good time doing this but the point of the whole thing was retention. However, the kids and I played a beekeeper game from homeschool share which you can find here:

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/beekeeper_game.php

Denim and the bee game we played- this game is so much fun they want to play it everyday!

I was amazed to find out- she really remembered a lot! I'm not sure why she couldn't immediately recall the information but acting it out seemed to help her in the long run and that's what I'm after!  If you are studying bees this is a great asset and a lot of fun! We also inspected a honeycomb- the kids were really impressed with this.

We happen to be oh so lucky (not!) to have a bee and wasp problem in our backyard right now. They aren't honeybees but they were there so we checked them out, too.



There's a tiny bee in there.



We learned so much this week about Bees. I think our greatest source of information came from the book Questions and Answers About Bees by Betty Polisar. This was a fantastic resource! It is jampacked with information and awesome illustrations. You can find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Questions-Answers-About-Polisar-Reigot/dp/0590321331

  We also have an unexpected field trip next week to meet a bee-keeper and help process honey! I was speaking to a few moms on Sky's baseball team and they happen to know a very passionate beekeeper who lives nearby. I contacted him and he's willing to let the kids come on out Wednesday so look for an update on that next week!

Baloo at St. Augustine- May 4

Boy is Baloo getting around!
 Leann left a note that he was able to enjoy a little relaxation at the beach on Saturday, Sunday, and a little bit of Monday before heading back home to Huntsville, Alabama.

She also sent back this beautiful picture of Baloo on the beach. That water looks so inviting right now! Did you know that St. Augustine, Florida is actually the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent? It's true- apparently it was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts! If you're interested in learning more about this here is a link to the page I obtained this tidbit from:
http://www.oldcity.com/history-information.cfm
Have I piqued your interest yet? If so why not visit easy fun school and check out their Florida unit study! http://www.easyfunschool.com/Florida.html

In addition to easy fun school check out the Interactive Lesson Summaries from Houghton Mifflins Florida Studies textbook. http://www.eduplace.com/ss/socsci/fl/books/bkd_fl/index.shtml This site provides support for the taxtbook but has value without it- maps, organizers, and more! This map came from the children site for that textbook. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/fl/books/bkd_fl/

The map below shows Sir Francis Drake's attack on Saint Augustine, Florida, on May 28 and May 29, 1586. Also, the interactive maps on the children's site would be great to use with a Florida unit study!

Geo-Bear Baloo update 5/3/11

I recieved the following information in an e-mail from Baloo's current guardian Leann.

Well, as you probably know by now, Baloo did not get to see a shuttle launch on Friday. The launch was scrubbed about 3 hours prior to launch due to an Auxillary Power Unit heater not working. The heaters must work to keep the hydrazine warm in the cold of space. Engineers and workers are working to resolve the problem. The next opportunity for launch is Monday afternoon.



So we made the best of the day and visited Lighthouse Point Par at Ponce Inlet, FL. Here is the site where you can learn more:

http://www.ponceinlet.org/

The lighthouse is 175 feet tall and is the tallest in Florida and the second tallest in the United States. Construction was completed in 1887 and has a Fresnal lens light that has been restored and works today. Here's a photo of Baloo and the lighthouse.
On Saturday, we moved up the beach to St. Augustine, FL. St. Augustine is one of the nation's oldest cities, with Spanish explorers arriving in 1565. There is a ton of historical things to see here but, since we are traveling with our dog (ZZ), we won't take advantage of many of the things to do. But we (and Baloo) are staying on the beach and enjoying a little rest and relaxation. If you want more information about St. Augustine, it can be found at http://www.augustine.com/.
 
Thanks for the links Leann! All I can say about the ponceinlet link is WOW! There is a wealth of information here. This site is perfect for homeschoolers wanting to do a unit study on lighthouses, Florida,  or Ponce de Leon. Just click on the educational resources link on the left sidebar and you will have access to everything from Vocabulary to building a potato powered lighthouse. This is a great educational find! We went to the site and did the virtual tour. I think if we're ever down in that area we will have to stop in and do a real one! In the meantime, I think the kids will be doing that unit study this week! Thanks Leann and Baloo.

Prairie Primer Big Woods: week2

This week has been a slow week for us. Sky has been sick all week with strep-throat. Also, Benji came home which always throws us off schedule. We managed  to do a few things,though.

First we made some more butter- this time trying the carrot coloring. It worked but wasn't quite the color I'd have liked. Here's Denim helping to grate the carrots. She really liked that part. Afterwards, she was being silly and ate a few of the leftover pieces of carrots that we'd cooked in the milk. According to her they were very tasty.

Next, they measured out the cream

After we'd shaken it while listening to our lesson we had to wash the butter.

The butter turned out great. I'm thinking from now on I'll start letting the kids make real butter on holidays as a way to let them help with dinner.

We also tried the Molasses on Snow candy.



Denim helped by keeping the molasses mixture stirred



We found the molasses at a local grocer. When I was asking for it the older lady was like Wow, we haven't had anyone ask for that in ages. Now, I'm not big on molasses but I have to say I really like it on biscuits. The kids tried it but weren't fond of it either. Still, they wanted to make the candy.

Using the snow cone maker Sky made some shaved ice for our "snow".

We drizzled the molasses mixture on the snow, it was very hard to make squiggles and curlicues though.

I think we drizzled it too thin. Also, it didn't harden well so I think either we cooked it too long or the snow wasn't cold enough. It didn't turn out well. The kids were able to taste it though and said it was disgusting.It made them very grateful for their modern candy!

Finally, we made little tin candle shades like the ones Laura spoke of. She was fascinated by how pretty the light shown through and so were Denim and Sky!

Denim was pounding her nails into her tin.

A finished candle shade.

Hopefully next week we can be more productive.

Baloo and Leann

Hey everyone, I have a note here from Leann. She writes..

"Just an update on Baloo.... We made it through the storms and tornados in North Alabama fairly well. Baloo is now on a road trip to see the last Shuttle launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Hopefully we will see it tomorrow. Stay tuned!"



We're glad to hear they made it through ok. We are praying for the victims of the storms and their families.

Baloo's Pics

Hey everyone! We have some Pics from Baloo and Leann here. Looks like Baloo is having a great time! Here's the info she sent us on the pics :)

Here are a couple of photos of Baloo so far. The (first one) shows Baloo with Labyrinth (my monster) on the trip from Mobile, AL to Hunstville, AL. They were sitting on a pillow but had to be buckled in. They got along just fine for the whole trip. Labyrinth is my monster who travels with me everywhere I go. He's been to Washington, DC, the Grand Canyon, and Disney World. He liked to travel also but he wants to stay with me.

(This one) shows Baloo with Smith Lake in the background. He visited the lake from Friday, April 22 until Sunday, April 24. It was a beautiful day and he enjoyed relaxing on the deck.

Thanks for the pics Leann!

Prairie Primer: Little House in the Big woods:week 1

For our summer curriculum we have begun using The Prairie Primer by Margie Gray with two other homeschooling families. If you aren't familiar with the Prairie Primer, or PP for short, it is a unit study based on all nine books in the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. You can find out more about it here:
http://www.cadroncreek.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Pioneer
I have to say this is a great addition to our homeschool. The kids are enjoying learning about how they did things in Pioneer times.
This week for our home studies Denim learned all about Bears. We read several books on the topic and watched some Nat.Geographic videos on Netflix. She also learned a little about habitats , in particular, bears' habitats. We colored pictures of different habitats and mounted them on cardstock backgrounds. We will be using these for a Bulletin Board that we will be using throughout the PP. As we come across different animals Laura and her family encountered we will place stickers of the animals on the correct habitats. We will also study different animals. We will  incorporate writing into this as she does reports on the different habitats, food chains ect. Denim is definately my nature and animal loving child so this is right up her alley. She is also learning how to spool knit as her handicraft.
Skyler learned about the different methods of food preservation in Laura's day and has begun studying about bacteria. He did a pop up page showing how the food was stored in Laura's attic and combined that page with a mini book showing how Pa smoked the meat in a smoker made out of a tree.

We got the pop up sheet from
http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/a-3-dimensional-model-of-little-house-in-the-big-woods/

This mom did an amazing job on this! The smoker came from an online source as well but I can't remember exactly where.

 We have a science kit he is working on for some hands-on learning. He also will be doing a biography report on Louis Pasteur. He focused this week on firearms and as we cleaned his gun we talked about the differences and similiarities between his and Pa's weapons and methods. He is also taking the online portion of the Alabama Firearms training course and working towards getting his hunting license! This is a picture of Sky with his gun which is a Rossi 22/4-10 matched pair.He got it for Christmas when he was 10.

He also began working on a paper debating weather or not college students should be allowed to carry concealed handguns on campus which is a very controversial topic right now. We focused on format and vocabulary choice during this. He was actually really motivated during this which surprised me because he hates to write. His opinion differs from mine which isn't what I expected. When he finishes it I will try to remember to post it on here for you to read. He is doing an amazing job!

At co-op it was my turn to do a lesson and activity with the kids. I gave a short lesson on our respiratory system and how it works together as the PP suggested we study lungs and breathing. I also gave a mini-lecture on the dangers of smoking which I feel I was highly qualified to present as I am a smoker who regrets ever picking the first cigarrette up! I led the kids in a pledge to myself and their parents that they would never smoke. I pray that they keep that pledge.  For the activity portion the kids made interactive models of their respiratory systems using patterns from The Scholastic Body Book. This is an amazing resource for the homeschool library and has models of all the body's systems you can assemble! We will be using this a lot during the PP. I will try to post some pics of their models this weekend but in the meantime here's link to check out this book- I highly recommend you purchase this book if you have a tactile/kinesthetic learner!
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Book-Grades-3-6/dp/059049239X
I also brought some headcheese (Souse meat) for the kids to try. Needless to say we had a lot left over LOL I was pleased that they were brave enough to try it but don't blame them a bit for spitting it out. I've tried it before and I, personally, think it's disgusting!
Ms. Ann, another co-op mom, was kind enough to bring in some of the other foods mentioned in The Little House in the Big Woods. She brought in some delicious venison cooked in Lard as well as a sample of lard. The children seemed to like they butter the best though as she taught them to make it and they were all able to take turns shaking! I must admit- I loved it, too!  Thank you Ms. Ann!
In addition, each child got a turn to speak about what they learned at home. I think they had the most fun with this during Gabriels survey game on the different animals mentioned in Big Woods.
Overall the kids and adults had a great time. I love how well we all get along and for me the co-op also keeps me accountable to staying on track!
*****UPDATE*****
Here are some of the pics from Co-op where our girls were trying some of the foods!

YUMMY!

Also, here is a pic of the respiratory track project that each kid did.