To All Of the Moms

This is a GREAT video. We hear it all of the time on a kid's radio program on Sat mornings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM&feature=related

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish each of you a VERY Merry Christmas! Thank you for reading my blog/s!

Mama Grinch

It's the first day of Christmas Vacation for the public schools here and probably all over America. Here at our house...We are having school (part of the time). I know, I know. So for the next two weeks I am the Grinch!! They will have days off, just not a full two weeks.

So in honor of my Grinchiness, here's a song for ya!

You're a mean one Mama Grinch.

You make your kids do school.

How could you be so evil.

How could you be so crueeeelll!

Mama Grinch!!

As you know long division has been a bit of a bear for DS. I have tried many different things. Anyway, the light has come on!!! I believe he's gotten it! Here he is working out the problem.
Notice it's money...which used to throw him.

Did I do it right?.....

YES!!!!! This makes it all worth it!

In other news. My dear friend, Anne wanted to to print out the Word by Word Story that the kids and I wrote.

The Mad Scientist Strikes Again

Today when I opened the window I saw that our yard was very, very strange. A man was wearing a purple hat, with a bag that stunk up the whole neighborhood. He was standing in a boiling pool from sobbing because he lost his book about bombs. Then he started banging on our door. I did not know why he was doing this thing. My dogs and the neighbors had noticed the smell and came to my rescue. When they came they captured the strange man. he went to the kitchen to tell why he had put the bomb in the tree to see what would happen. He was sorry that he was going to blow up the tree. We invited him over for chicken. The End.

This is what happens when you put a 10 yo boy, 12 yo girl and a mom together to write a story! LOL!! Again, this game is only to get the kids to love, interested in writing. we didn't correct spelling, etc.

We just did another writing game. The name escapes me.

Here's how it works:

Everyone thinks of something (animal, place, food)

Then we ask each other questions that can only be answered with Yes or No.

For example:

Subject is places. Q. Do you have to fly to your place?

Subject animal: Q. Does your animal have fur?

They wanted to do this game for awhile. We did 3 subjects.

Next we may try an arguing game. (Which they've been doing lately.)

In this game you have to argue your point. There is a judge.

You pick a topic ex. why Dogs/Cats make a better pet.

Then each of you write down 10 or so reasons to prove your point.

The judge then picks the winner.

Using the Force!!

The kids and I did our first "Nature Walk" yesterday. It went okay. They were not all to excited about it. I am slowly implementing the Charlotte Mason Method. Anyway, here's a photo I took of the Sleeping Indian. We also collected seeds that we will put into our nature book today.
Onto math. I am going to order Math-U-See for both kids today!! DS is really having a hard time with long division. So I took a step back the other day a went back to simple division. But this time we used the "force"!!! Haha! We used Legos and Star Wars Legos as manipulatives. He had a blast. I told him that there were so many kids and there was so many Legos. Divide the legos amongst each kid. We did have remainders too.

Icing & Icicles

Here's another one for you. Ok, here's a photo of the cake C made for history. It's called Yogurt Cake with Honey frosting.

It is the last piece. It went fast. J wants me to make it again. It's different but really good. It really sticks on you...all the honey!

Oh, do you have any ideas for photo series you'd like me to do?? Please tell me and I'll do my best.

Icicle

Okay...the dog is not part of the series, but he's just too cute not to show off. No this is not our dog. I need to remember this photo when I think it's too hot where we live! Yikes!

New Series

Some of you have mentioned that you liked my clothesline series. So, I've got another for you. Icicles.

A Few Projects to Do!

We are still here! I haven't forgot about you. I wanted to show you a few projects that the kids just did. The first one is a homemade Planetarium. It was for C's science but J wanted to make one too. Here's what you need:
Empty/clean salt carton or hot cocoa can, etc.
Nails of different sizes
marker
Hammer
Flashlight

Draw the constellations, stars (dots) on the bottom of can. (If using salt carton, you'll have to cut one end off.)
Use hammer and nails to make the hole for the stars.
When you're done shine the flashlight into the can. If using metal can you'll need to shine the light to the side of the can.

Was great fun. We're going to save it for a show and tell with other homeschoolers.

Next is a writing game.
It's called Word by Word. I got the idea from a library book.
Here's how it works. This is only to encourage kids to write so don't correct the spelling.

Works best with small group.

You'll need:
Writing paper
Pencil
Die

You start off by picking your title. Helps keep you focused on what to write about.
Each person takes turns rolling the die.
Whatever number you get is the number of words you can write.
So, J rolls a four, he writes four words. C rolls a one she adds one word. Then I roll a six and a write six words. Clear as mud?

It took us two days to write our story...The Mad Scientist Strikes Again. J had great fun and rolled right along with it. C who is 12 wanted to write her own thing. So she had a bit of trouble with being limited to what and how much she could write.

And last but not least is Solomon's Temple, made only as a ten year old will, with LEGOS!! What else is there?! This was for history. Picture by J too.

Oh, C made a very yummy cake (milk and honey) for her history project. I need to take a picture for you before we eat it all!

Weekend Clotheslines

They do laundry in the Bahama's?

Looks like they haven't used their line in a little while.

We interrupt...

We interrupt this scheduled clothesline post o actually talk about homeschool! We have changed things up a bit since vacation and it's working out great! Before we tried to do all of the subjects each day. Now we are doing "Block Scheduling" and really like it. So, every day we do Bible. M/W/F is Math and Lang. Arts, T/Th is Science and History. Doing math & science on the same day was too much. We do more work on each subject and everything is running very smooth. J actually is looking forward to doing Math and LA tomorrow! WOW!

Also, for his science we started a sketchbook. He had a hard getting a lot of the last few lessons. So we are doing a major review. So instead of Q&A he is making a book of his science facts.
Ex. Science (ecology) is the Web of Life, so he made a big web with yarn in his book. He has a chart of decomposers, consumers, producers & predators, etc. You get the idea. He LOVES it!


C is learning astronomy, and the night sky has been neat to watch. With Jupiter and Venus lined up under the moon. She is tracking star patterns in her book right now for about 30 days. We will check the same part of the sky every ten days to see how it changes.

Now, I must get off so I can take pics of them making their gingerbread house!

Here's one to hang your clothes on...

I love the colors here! This jumped right out at me! And notice there are no clothes pins...must be a dry, warm day...ahhh... Either they have a bunch of kids or don't eat much! LOL!

A thing of Beauty!

I love looking at photos of everyday things. When I looked up clothesline for an idea I had I was surprised to find so many beautiful photos! I'm going to share these with you. Hopefully you won't get bored!

I love the simplicity with this one and love the colors.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are going out of town for a bit more than a week. So, I wanted to wish you all a

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Best All-around Husband

My husband never ceases to amaze me with his sense of humor and his stability. He is a hard working man who loves God and us!

Best Avoid the Camera Gal

Our Daughter does not like to have us take her picture. But our camera is full of self portraits by her!! LOL! She is a very responsible young lady who is a BIG help around the house!

Best Smile, Cuddler

You can sense that my DH's funny gene got passed down. Our son is always there to make you smile and to give you a hug!

A Few "Myths"

Since, we've started homeschooling we've come across some misconceptions about homeschooling life, albeit, most of them honest. This by no means is a rant (though I wanted to at times), only a clearing up of sorts. I totally understand that HSing is still very new to a lot of people.
1. No, our kids do not wear their pj's all day.
(I know some HSers do.) They have to get dressed before we start school. I am in my pj's for the first half of school...long story.
2. Yes & No, our kids get to sleep in. On most days I get them up at the same time. If they are sick or had a late night then I can let them sleep in a bit as needed.
3. Yes, we go to the public library to check out books. Someone, honestly, asked if for our library days we check out books from our own bookshelves. Honey, we are at the public library that they know us by name!
4. Yes, we get done most days by noon.
5. Yes, our kids get out and are able to socialize.
6. Won't it hurt them being around "Mom" all day? Our son benefited from being at home with "Mom" all day. When we brought him home from public school he actually became more boyish.
7. "Wow! I wish I was homeschooled. So I could play all day." Our kids have heard that more then once. For the record, they do get to play more then they did when in PS but they also have more chores and they have a full school load as well.
8. No, they don't have homework. Or you could say, it's all homework.
9. Yes, you can get an F. But it is rare and we can go over it right then and there, take time to relearn it. You do have to score higher the get A's, B's, etc.
There is probably more, but I won't labor you any further!

Do I have to...

"Do we have to do school today?" says Mom, in her head.

DD woke up on the wrong side, spilled breakfast...

Laundry's piled high on the couch...

I am fighting a head cold...

Time is going by fast already...

It's Tuesday and all I can think about is vacation...

I just want to curl up on the couch and read today...

But we need to do school, though I totally feel like this baby!

My "Mom" help - HS Memoirs #13

This is response to a post at The Homeschool Post.

Sometimes people ask me how do I do it all. Do I get tired of being around the kids all day. (Not most of the time.)

I am a person who loves her alone time, so is was an adjustment to bring the kids home from public school to homeshool. But the benefits far outweigh the price.

I do need to have "me" time. What do I do to unwind? I Digiscrap!! And I blog. Digiscrapping helps me create memories and it has really become a big hobby of mine. Blogging is like keeping a journal. Helps me "talk" and get my thoughts out.

For this assignment we were to also tell what scripture helps us. Gosh, where do I start? So here are a couple!

Each from Psalms

3:3-5 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.

16:5 O Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.

And Psalms 91

Have a Great day!

Woo Hoo Wednesday!

Okay, I know today is supposed to be "hump day" and that I would like to have some sort of "themes" to my posts. Soooo...I changed up Wednesday a bit. It was Web Wed. where I'd give you a cool web site...well, I don't know enough sites. LOL! So, (for now) I'm going to try to have jokes, quizzes, news tidbits, whatever, etc.
I found a quiz for you!
It's called Average Middle School U.S History
It's pretty easy.
I got a 9 out of 10 and the one I missed, it was like "Oh yeah!"
Good luck!
We don't have much going on today. So we are going to "hit" the books hard. I do need to run to the store for milk and the like. Church tonight! Have a great day!

Happy Veteran's Day!

History Alive!

We had a long day today. Really needed to get things done. The kids are still working on history. (it's 1:40) We are at the end of Egypt & the Exodus. Here are a couple of shots of them working on history. J's painting the parting of the Red Sea.

(sorry for the slant here.) C is doing a comic strip on the confrontation between Pharaoh and Moses.

I will post pictures of the finished products.

They have also been studying presidents. We found a great book at the library. They each picked one newer/older president and tell me about them. This is not for grades, just for learning, familiarizing, etc. I want to them to learn to learn, if that makes sense. Just knowing facts is one thing, but if you know how to learn then you can learn anything.

I think J is really getting the concept of multiplication!! Seems like we have been doing so much that our brains hurt!

History Comes to life

***Added note at the bottom***
We are learning about Egypt and the Exodus in History. The kids got to pick their project. They picked Unleavened bread. They followed the recipe and pretty much made them their selves. They even took these pictures. Not bad, but we are still working on photography.

Unleavened bread tastes similar to tortillas.

***We tried these after a few days, and they were really hard to eat. Much better out of the oven. They got the feel like they were microwaved a few times. In the lesson, we were told not to complain, like when God gave His people manna!***

A Site for Ya

I wanted to share a nice site for all of you fellow homeschoolers. You may already know about it. It The Homeschool Lounge. I started going there a little before this school year. There's tons of helpful ladies. It's basically a place where you can go and ask questions, get encouragement, encourage others, read reviews, etc. Time doesn't allow me to go there often, but when I can it's always worth it. I also have a page, a "nook" there. It's not very active, but it's F5 The Refresh Button. Let me know of you go and check the site out!

Class Pictures

We got some pictures taken of the kids for "School Pictures". Here is our "class" picture. I don't want to show you all of the photos...you may get some for presents!

Our Schedule

I know that every HSer's schedule is different, but I wanted to share ours. It is not a shedule that is on the dot. So keep in mind that the times are more on the -ish side! LOL!

We are on day 49.
Start @ 8:00 am
We almost always do Math first.
8:30 - 9:00-ish we start Language Arts
I try to get into the shower no later than 9:30. Sometimes it doesn't happen until 10:00.
During my shower Jared practices his drums for 15 min., 10 min break & then reads out loud to C. C reads and prays during that time until J gets her to read. He'll read until I'm ready to start back with school.
10:00-ish We start science or finish LA if needed.
11:00 is lunch.
the time for lunch break varies on how much we need to get done that day.
After lunch we do history/bible. Sometimes we are able to start this before lunch. The kids will sometimes work on their history for more than an hour, when they have projects. They love doing these.
Most days we are done by 12:30 - 1:00

Every other Wed. we go to the public library. Every other Mon is grocery/errand day so we have a much shorter schedule, usually just math and LA. We throw other things in there too.

Visual Velcro

I wanted to give you an update on how the Right Brain teaching is going. I am still learning how to teach the right-brainer, but here's some spelling tips. These have made a HUGE difference. It's all called Visual Velcro.

Here the words that J has gotten wrong are spelled out on old church concert tickets.
The letter he got right are in black.
The letters wrong are in green (whatever color you want.)
The sneaky, tricky, silent letters are given drawings, more colors, etc. to make them stand out.
As you can see above refrigerator has many different things going on. We started out with a little bit of visual velcro, and have added as needed. The green are the misspelled letters, the blue wavy lines are cold air under them. The red divides the sections of the word. The red around the "ator"are supposed to be lips "eating" that part of the word "ATE or". J drew the gator - ator. The orange are the letters he kept forgetting time after time.
Any visual velcro you can think of helps. J comes up with his own many times. Right Brainers are very visual and take pictures with their brains.

Also, here's how we practice. After writing the words. I hold them up. (My elbow is on the table, my hand is up in the air.) "Look and the first and the last letters and any funny letter." I instruct. After a few seconds. I put the card down. J keeps looking up at his "screen" to see the word in his head. We do this up and down with each word until he gets it. (Usually now more then five times.) We try to do this with each word everyday. The words that he doesn't get right I keep in and the right ones I take out at the end of the week.

These spelling words are kept in a baggie clothes pinned to our dry erase board. We also keep our Sentence rules, -ing rules there too. We use some visual velcro here too.
I hope this has helped. It may seem like a lot of work on your part, but it is fun and they really get into it. You won't have to do this forever. They will start to get it and make pictures for themselves in their mind automatically.

We have done the visual velcro with C too. She uses it a lot in test taking, review.

Tiny "Miracles"

I must say that today was some what non-typical. However, one thing that stood out is our son. Normally, he doesn't want to read let alone out lout. Today in history, we had to read the Bible. He volunteered right away. He read a whole chapter. And he read really good. I love these "small" miracles!

Substitute Teacher

Man, it's been awhile since I've blogged on this blog. Sorry! I have been busy. Right now DH & DS are gone they went to a men's discipleship class, out of town and DD is playing with friends. Onto school. Today DH played substitute teacher for me for a few of the "classes". He worked the night shift, so he was home today. I had errands, grocery shopping to do and he offered to help me out. What a swell guy! You know as I was putting on my shoes to leave, I was listening to DH in the kitchen teaching our children. My heart fell in love with him even more. Here's a man dressed in grubbies getting ready to work on the truck (again), with his "do rag" on and yet he stops to take time to teach our children and to help out his wife. I am truly blessed. I won't be forgetting today for awhile!

Sorry to get all sappy on ya!

Check out my other blog.

Just wanted to let you know that I have three Hot Air Balloon stories on the Coffee, Tea and Me blog. You might want to check them out.

Brain Test

Here is the TEST to see what side of your brain you use, if you wanted to take it!

My results:
You Are 60% Left Brained, 40% Right Brained
The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Right-Brained/Left-Brained

In my pursuit to teach our kids the best I can teach them, I do a good amount of reading. I read more about HS and teaching then anything else, after the Bible. Long story short, I believe I have found out some of DS problems. He is a Right-Brained learner. DD is a Left-Brain learner. Which leaves me going from teaching right to left, right to left...equals tired brain for mom. I have found some info on teaching the Right-Brained learner, and am praying that it helps. Most of the world, curriculum is set up for Left-Brain learners. I took a quiz to see what type of learner I am. The results say that I am 60% Left-Brained and 40% Right-Brained. (I guess all of that teaching back and forth is balancing me out!) I have a lot of reading to do the next few days. I will let you know how it goes.

PE

As you know, I've been starting to run. Which is no small task. Our kids take after DH. So they are natural runners. Anyway, today I actually fit in PE. I took them on my usual run aroung the neighborhood. I just have to tell you, I did better than them! So, I will try to add more PE days in here.