Just in Case

Wolf

2011-12-11T16:00:00.001-08:00

Pinewood Derby

2011-12-11T15:48:00.001-08:00

We participated in our first Pine Wood Derby this fall with Mstar's girl scout troop. I am so proud of both the kids as they worked so hard on their cars!

leading songs while the crowd waited for the race

the Daddy weighing in all the cars

Mstar's car crossing the finish line!

and she took 1st place!!!!!

Xman's car lining up to race

Xman took 1st place among the boys

Science Camp

2011-12-11T15:46:00.001-08:00

Pumpkin Carving

2011-12-10T16:56:00.001-08:00

This year the kids were so excited to be able to carve their own pumpkins!

Mstar wasn't *thrilled* with the ooey, gooey part.

voila - finished pumpkin!

Glimpse at Week 12

2011-10-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Working on his flag for his Adventure Boys Class


new keyboard!

Measurement in Math

Love the Jump books I got the kids this year for math. We use them as "warm ups" before we do out math lesson. They do a great job of reviewing all the skills in a current grade level.

We are trucking along with our time line cards. We got a new CD recently that is making it much easier - we do love to learn to music!

Camp Rainey Mountain Fall Family Camping

2011-10-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon we headed up to Camp Rainey Mountain for the boy scout Fall Family Camping.

We looked like we were moving out - but really, it was just going to be two nights.

In the mountains.

With lows of 30 at night.

And, rumor has it that Camp "Rainey" moutain is appropriately named.

our tent - home away from home

princess with her favorite breakfast - Honey Comb cereal

Xman with his "adventure stick"

black widow

my little alien

BB gun range

archery

one worn out camper!

Lake Lanier Day 4 - More Fishing

2011-10-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Day 3 Continued - Winding Down

2011-10-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

a little afternoon homeschooling after our full day of fishing

reading his assignment for his Adventure Boys class

Xman playing Circle Solatire

reading Little House on the Prarie - Shores of Silver Lake

relaxing in the hot tub

now that looks like my favorite way to end a long day!

Lake Lanier Fall Break Day Three

2011-10-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

We started our day three at the Buford Hatchery.

What an amazing little place nestled in the midst of suburbia!

We have learned that our kids LOVE to fish - as long as they are catching fish!

Welcome to Buford Hatchery

boys going fishing

hatchery - you could feed the fish - for FREE - each time we threw fish food into the large tanks - the fish JUMPED to eat - it was so much fun to watch

first catch of the day - on his bamboo fishing pole that he made all by himself

first catfish catch of the day

there goes that manicure!

my one and only catch of the day

one last stop to feed the fish

slap worn out!

Lake Lanier Fall Break - Day 2

2011-10-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

M: "Mom - do other kids do school work on fall break?"

Hmmmm...........probably not.

However, I explained that "other kids" don't do Field Trip Fridays. And, "other kids" don't finish an entire school day in a handful of hours. And those "other kids" - don't have recess whenever their brother is having trouble sitting still!

We took some basic school work with us - one of our new challenges is balancing the work load and "due dates" of assignments for our outside classes. I love this new accountability for us - but it is the first time we have written a paper on a vacation!

a little math in the morning


writing

in search of geocache number one

Found it!

beautiful abandoned campground - was a great place for Xman to ride his bike!

Lake Lanier - all of this land used to be under water

Found our second geocache - was originally only accessible by boat but because the water was so low we were able to walk there!

we couldn't get over the tree roots!

In search of our third cache of the day

she got it! No DNF's for us this day!

the kids learned to play solitaire during this trip

Lake Lanier - Day One

2011-10-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

The Coach had a week off for fall break and we were all excited to spend it at Lake Lanier in the Lake Lanier Lodges.

arriving at the cabin - checking out all the amenities - hot tub!

our view for the week

reading the "welcome packet"

snack time

time to go fishing

exploring the cabin grounds

M: "They call THIS a playground?"

relaxing after a long day

Halloween Town - Disney movie, comfy jammies and snacks!

Yankees

2011-10-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

For Xman's baseball team party,we had a pot luck bonfire at Coach Clay's house. Both of Xman's coaches had many flattering things to say about him.

The Coach and I were pleased to hear them refer to him as a "coachable kid" - we always aim for our kids to be good sports and learn from their coaches.

Xman had a great season as catcher and we couldn't be prouder of him!

Pinewood Derby Cars

2011-10-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

We started our first pine wood derby cars this week. I am so proud of both our kids - with the exception of cutting the wood with the saw and attaching the axles - they did all the work on their cars by themselves!

Xman with his cut out car

Mstar with hers

They each picked out their own colors and spray painted them by themselves

Mstar's car - now we wait for it to dry!

Glimpse at Week 11

2011-10-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

We are definitely growing weary as we complete week 11 of our school year! Our new schedule this year has our homeschool academy on the go more than we are at home. While this has added great structure to our academics and allowed the kids and I both to make new friends, it is starting to wear on all 3 of us!

This week we added note practice to our daily school schedule. I printed these "Ready, Set, Go" printables where the kids identify the notes. We have four different ones - two for the left hand and two for the right hand. I rotate them so Mstar and Xman get to do all four over the course of the week. We are finding this is really helping out with our piano practicing!

I fell behind on photographing what we read each week - we are reading, just too busy to take pictures! I did snap one of Xman this week with "Arthur's Back to School Day" before it went back to the library!

We are trucking along on our map practice. Our goal is to learn to identify all the states and name their capitals by next semester.

We purchased a CD to go along with our timeline cards and we are s-l-o-w-l-y making progress!

For our Friday field trip this week, we went to swim, have lunch and visit with Grandma Choo Choo!

We celebrated the end of week 11 with a little family bowling with Nana and Papa.

Mstar danced every time she hit anything!

Rylan Van Dodson

2011-10-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

My sweet nephew was born on May 3, 2011 at Gwinnett Medical hospital. He is loved by many, prayed for by many more, and enjoyed by all who have the pleasure of meeting him.

Rylan in the first few days

Rylan on his Daddy's birthday - May 17

June

July

August

September

October - at HOME!

sweet boy sitting up!!!

playing with his multi level activity that his Daddy built him

Week 10

2011-10-29T05:52:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the flexibility. This week (as we do many weeks) we spent a few hours on Saturday morning working on our school work. Saturdays/Sundays are a great chance for us to do some of the more "fun" applications or extensions of things we are studying that we didn't get to during the course of the week.

Xman is studying Christian Kids Biology Explorers this year for Science. This week he had to choose 3 animals. For each animal we investigated what they eat, where they live, and where they are on the food chain. Saturday he spent some time re-reading his National Geographic for Kids magazine and choosing his animals.

Mstar is making GREAT progress in her writing - I am really impressed with the IEW format and how far she has come. She finished her piece for this week and always loves to make an illustration to go with them!

This week the kids also chose their Halloween costumes - meet Thor, Guardian of Asgard.

The Extensive Journey by Mstar

2011-10-09T09:39:00.001-07:00

TheExtensive Journey

In 1620, English gentlemen, who are now known as thePilgrims, came to the New World to worship God freely. They came on theMayflower. During the journey there was a storm. The men frantically yelled commands. The waves splashed and rocked the boat, and the women hugged others andprayed. The lightning flashed acrossthe black, cloudy sky. The children clung to their parents because the stormmade them feel even more homesick. During the storm, the Pilgrims stayed belowin the gun deck, which was crowded and watercame out the cracks. They were wet and cold since they could all feel hardrain drops. Patiently, they waited for the storm to subside. The Pilgrims werefrightened.

Oneof the frightened Pilgrims named Goodman John Howland furiously frowned fromhis time in the gun deck. He stubbornly decided to climb up to the upper deck.Without warning, the ship rolled, and he fell off. Hopelessly, John screamed. He was now secluded from thePilgrims. As he fell, he grabbed a rope. Waves drenched his cold body. The tough rope scrapped his hands whichterrified him.

Luckily sailors, who saw what had happened, pulled him upwith a hook. Goodman Howland was safe! After being rescued from this perilousexperience, he appreciatively thanked the crew for saving his life. He wasgrateful to be returning to the gun deck, and the Pilgrims praised God forkeeping him safe. They knew that the journey to the New World would be anextensive and arduous one.

Succesful Saturday

2011-10-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

Fall baseball season is nearing an end.I have to say that it has been so much fun to watch the baseball games this season. Xman has truly loved playing catcher.

In Saturday's game, he played catcher through all four innings.

He came up to bat twice. The first time he hit a solid pop up and the pitcher caught it. His second at bat he had a great hit and it was a triple!

After the baseball game, the Coach wasn't feeling well so he went on home to rest. The kids and I headed to Snellville for a little errand running and geocaching. We spent our gymbucks and gymboree and then went out in search of our first geocache. I will confess that yesterday we found that we are not great suburban geocachers. We found only one of the three that we went looking for. Geocaches hidden in very busy public places are typically micros (or nanos) and take some geocaching sixth sense to find!

We were super excited to find this one and decided to treat ourselves to yogurt to celebrate!

Xman has been a hunt for cowboy boots for FOREVER. We finally found one pair in all of Snellville in his size yesterday. I will admit that when he opened the box, I had to stifle a giggle - for the boots are........just a tad over the top cowboy. I think the fake metal chain hanging is what sold him.

With the big success of cowboy boots, we headed home - with one last stop of the day - to fill up the gas tank. Gotta say, that *might* have been the highlight of my day!

Mstar's First Concert

2011-10-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

To Sweet Mstar,

I don't know who was more excited about the Taylor Swift tickets that Daddy and I got you for your birthday - you or me! I knew how very excited you would be and couldn't wait to experience your first concert with you.

We gave you the tickets for your birthday and the original concert date was July 10 - just days after your birthday! Unfortunately Taylor Swift got sick and was not able to perform. You were so worried about her and prayed for her to get well. We got news that the concert had been rescheduled to October 2.

What a long time to wait!

The concert fun began a few weeks before the actual concert when I watched you pour over catalogs trying to decide what you would wear. You had a gift card to Justice, your favorite store, and you spent hours deciding just what the perfect outfit and accessories would be!

Your Aunt Ashleigh was kind enough to volunteer to take you shopping. You had a blast! You ended up going with jeggings (the new popular cross between jeans and leggings), a turquoise sequin top, bright pink scarf, black boots, pink purse, butterfly earrings, sparkling sequin bracelet, Taylor Swift Wonderstruck perfume and to top it off, a fedora hat!

You looked adorable!

Next up, you realized that perhaps I did not own anything concert worthy. You poured over my closet and then on our next Walmart trip picked out a new shirt for me to wear. You laid out earrings, bracelet and necklace for me to wear as well.

On the day of the concert we began your beauty routine of getting ready an hour and half before we had to leave. You started with a long bubble bath. Then, you put lotion on and wrapped up in your bath robe. We painted your fingernails a bright blue that you chose to match your outfit. We dried and flat ironed your hair, and put just a touch of make up on! After you got dressed, you put on your Wonderstrcuk perfume.

And, then we were ready to go!

With your Wonderstruck perfume sample - all ready to go!

Posing for pictures


Here we are in our Mstar approved outfits!

We arrive at Phillips Arena and had the privilege of parking in the back of the Arena. As we talked toward the arena we saw ALL of Taylor Swift's trucks that haul her stuff!

And then we saw her tour buses!

In line, waiting to get in. The doors were supposed to open at 5:30 but they were running a little late.


Once inside the arena, there was Taylor magic everywhere! We had tickets in a section of Phillips arena that they are now renovating. So, we started out by getting our tickets changed out to our new seats. We sat on the second level facing the stage. As we walked toward our seats, we passed Taylor Swift posters, pictures, make up stations, and more!

You had saved some of your birthday money to buy a souvenir at the concert - we got in the t-shirt line first!

You picked this shirt - you loved her sparkly red dress in the picture.

On the back of your shirt, were all the cities on her tour. You couldn't believe that she had been all over the world!

Here you are in your seat! We had pretzels (the big yummy ones) and bottled water for dinner while we waited for the opening bands.

Then, we took some silly pictures of ourselves for fun!

Here you are up dancing to the two opening bands - Danny Gokey and Need to Breathe. Need to Breathe is Xman's favorite band and we listened to see if they would play his favorite song. They didn't but they played a lot from their new album.

And then, she came on - there was massive squealing and screaming and jumping up and down - from you, and the rest of Phillips Arena! Taylor Swift was beautiful and humble and thanked the audience many times for coming to see her perform. At one point, she told the audience how she loved all the sparkly outfits and you just smiled and smiled at your choice of outfit!

She played all your favorite songs and you just loved every moment of the concert. I could hardly watch the concert for the utter joy of watching you!

This rapper gentleman came out and performed a song with Taylor - you and I had no idea who he was! We found out later that he was T.I. and the song they sang was "Live Your Life."

You finished off the evening with cotton candy! And even was sweet enough to think of buying an extra bag to bring home to Xman.

On the way to the concert, we passed the hospital where you were born - Dekalb Medical Center. I remembered so fondly the day you were born - the moment that Dr. Pope said "It's a girl." I cried the first of many tears of joy that God blessed me with you. I will never forget the sweet look on your daddy's face as he held you so gently and how tiny you looked on his shoulder. He was so overcome with emotion that he could not speak. Your Nana with gentle tears of joy kept saying "oh, she's beautiful!" Your Aunt Ashleigh took the very first picture of you. That moment would be much like the next nine years - our little village loving you and enjoying you. Your daddy and I bought you these tickets. Your Aunt Ashleigh took you shopping to pick out just the right outfit. And your Nana (and Papa) came by to take your picture and see you off. Our little village loving you and enjoying you.

As I was remembering that moment, the moment I met you for the very first time - Taylor Swift's song "Never Grow Up" came up on your MP3 player.

And, yes again I cried tears of joy for being blessed with you.

Never Grow Up

Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light

To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

You are growing up so fast - while I can't keep you from growing up, I am so extremely grateful for moments like this one where I can pause and truly enjoy you.

Field Trip Friday

2011-10-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

Friday has become our field trip day - can't think of a better way to end a school week than by adventuring to see, touch, feel, hear, and experience the things we are learning about!

This morning we packed up and headed out for Hard Labor Creek State Park. The kids had two chapters left to finish up their history reading for this week - so they read those aloud on the drive out there! They are reading Revolutionary War on Wednesday, a Magic Tree House book.

The kids started out by riding their scooters around in the boat ramp parking lot while the Coach and I unloaded the boat and got it into the water.

Xman, the Coach and the PaPa have been working on a fishing boat for our family over the last few months. Today was the big day - we put it in the water to see if it would float! We found it floats, but has a few leaks - more work before we will really be able to use it for fishing.

We decided the leaks were small and slow enough that the kids could take a little spin in the boat before packing it up.

It was a beautiful day out at the lake.

In Xman's Nature Notebooking class he has been talking about leaves. Today, both kids went out exploring with the goal of finding 10 different types/colors of leaves.

After a yummy picnic lunch, we were off to do some geocaching. The first one was a quick find - see that lovely painted brown coffee tumbler?

The 2nd cache we could not find, but this third one was the kids' favorite. Can you see it?

Xman went up after it.

Then, Mstar went up to put it back!

Fantastic day all around. We loaded up our leaf collection and headed home. On the way home I read aloud to the kids from our current read aloud (the first Harry Potter).

Educating on the go!

What are we reading Week 9?

2011-10-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

We are reading TONS but I keep forgetting to take pictures. Xman read Body Detectives this week as part of his science lesson.

Glimpse at Week 9

2011-10-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

Each morning I send my students on down to the classroom to write in their prayer journals, clear off their desks and begin their memory work.

As you might expect, each morning when I arrive to school a few moments later - well, let's just say it isn't prayer journals, clean desks or reciting children that greet me.

This week the kids decided to create a skit for me about drinking hot chocolate. I grabbed a chair and was a willing audience. More than once!

After the theatrics of the morning, we get started on our school work. This week we had fall break from our Classical Conversations classes. We certainly did enjoy three days at home in a row in our pajamas! While our CC classes provide great (and much needed) structure to our week - I have missed the long, lingering days at home.

Xman is working on Animal Classification in Science. We printed this dichotomy chart and some animal picture cards. He spent time this week learning how to classify the different animals.

Mstar is working on applying her multiplication and division skills in problem solving challenges.

Xman worked on addition and subtraction with larger numbers. We got out our place value blocks and he spent time working on his place value mat. I love this picture as this is his thinking face- hand on head, intently staring!

Xman's base ten place value blocks.

Xman still loves his center time - one of his favorites is a pattern making peg activity - this week he made a dinosaur!

One of my favorite things about home schooling is the FLEXIBILITY.......you will find my kids doing school work at their desks, at our classroom table, on the couch, on the rug, on the floor, in the yard, .........Mstar is often found standing up and swaying. This week she studied Mercury in her Astronomy book.

Since we had a little extra time this week, both kids spent time making bracelets for each other and for dear friends. Each afternoon at home we have a quiet time. They must stay in their room and do some QUIETLY. Without coming out. Or talking to each other or me. Bracelet making was a favorite quiet time activity this week.

This week in math Xman started greater than, less than or equal to number comparisions. We started out by drawing some alligator cards to help Xman visualize which sign to choose.

Xman played a game where I dealt him two numbers and he had to choose the correct comparision sign. I love index cards! You can take any boring math workbook page and turn it into an interactive activity with one set of index cards!

We ended our school week with a trip to the park for a little scooter riding!

Glimpse at Week 8

2011-10-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

As I sat down to update our blog about Week 8 of home school, I realized that I took no pictures of our school week!

So - here's a bulleted list glimpse instead:

Mstar and I are showing much improvement in our grammar studies. This week we learned to diagram a compound sentence. Most of our setences this week followed this format:

Xman made a 100 on his math assessment this year. I chose to combine Saxon and Singapore for his math this year for a variety of reasons (his learning style being a large one). We have come to a good stopping point in Saxon and will switch in the next week over to Singapore for a while. Xman does best if I do not jump back and forth between books, but rather complete units in one and then start a new unit in the other. We will continue to use the Saxon mental math sheets for review.
At CC this week we learned about spinning and why you feel dizzy after you have spun around. The kids both gave speeches on demonstrations - Xman demonstrated how to put on his catcher's gear and Mstar demonstrated how to hula hoop.
Summit classes are still going really well. In Adventure Boys this week Xman went "camping." His group pitched a tent, roasted a marshmallow and had a blast all around. Mstar's favorite class is the Little House on the Praire Class and this week they made homemade ice cream. The kids are both taking piano lessons and we are just finding our footing with that after a long summer break.

The First Town in the USA

2011-10-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

The First Town in the USA

by Mstar

September 2011

In 1607, scared Englishgentlemen wisely approached the New World in search of riches. They excitedly landedin Virginia, and they named the town Jamestown after theirking, King James. Surprisingly, the frightened men would not work because theywere appalled that the land was swampy. As a result, half of the men died. Change was needed. Cunning Captain John Smithresolved the problem by establishing the reputable rule, “He who does notwork-does not eat.” Thanks to John Smith’srule, the settlement survived. Jamestown,which is still in Virginia today, is famous for being the first permanentsettlement in the U. S. A.

Yankees

2011-10-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Stone Mountain Home School Day

2011-10-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

Friday we took our homeschool classroom on the road again -this time to Stone Mountain Park. Stone Mountain Park had a special Home school day with events, activities and demonstrations with an educational purpose. It also coincided with the opening day of the Pumpkin Festival!

We've arrived!

Hanging out with the Pumpkin camping family

We started out with Skyhike as our first adventure

We ran into several friends - the first was our sweet cousin

Mstar on the zipline

The Rock Wall

Going to the top on the Skyride

Super exciting home school momma moment - Xman has been reading Detective Zach about caves. He just learned last week about erosion. He spotted this spot on the mountain and was so stoked to see erosion in person! The entire time we were at the top of the mountain he kept pointing out other examples of erosion!

on the top of the mountain

Time for a little storytelling - one of my favorites, Curious George

Entering the pumpkin festival

Dress your own pumpkin station

Demonstration about how the Laser Show works - by far my favorite educational experience of the day! We learned that it takes two weeks to create one minute of the laser show. The employees having varying degrees - from engineering to graphic design to more creative fields. A laser can connect 1,000 dots in one second - connecting dots is how they create the laser show. The laser show team works with Stone Mountain Park to design and create the show. They begin with music. Then, they sketch out the illustrations to go with the music. Finally, the program the lasers. It takes 6 employees on site to run the show each night.

We even got a souvenior piece from the laser!

Next, we went over to the Plantation site and began with the Civil War demonstration. This soldier took time to share each of his antique pieces with us and answered the kids' questions.

Touring the Dickey House - an old plantation home from the early 1800's

Colonial Georgia times demonstration - we learned about cotton growing and also about cooking during Colonial Times

Xman feeling cotton off the plant

We stopped off in the petting zoo to see our friends the goats and the sheep

We just learned about George Washington last week and all found this sign humorous!

Mstar teaching us in the colonial times one room school house.

We ended the day in the 4-D theatre and watched Yogi Bear!

Glimpse at Week 7

2011-09-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that we have already finished 7 weeks of school!

A glimpse at this week:

Xman working on his math - loves his algebra pages

Mstar working on her illustration for her IEW piece

Xman coloring his ship for his Boston Tea party history sentence

"In 1773, Colonists dressed as Mohawks dumped tea from the British East India Company into the Boston Harbor."

We dumped tea too!

Mstar working on her IEW piece

Xman and his Explode the Code

Abeka Language and Sounds

Xman working on gluing down the numbers in order on his hundreds chart.

Yankees

2011-09-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

Xman, our little catcher

Mstar cheering on Xman

Apple Orchard Mountain Field Trip

2011-09-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the flexibility it allows us to explore the world around us. This week we ventured into the North Georgia Mountains to tour an apple orchard, Hillcrest Apple Orchard.

As we entered the orchard, we were greeted by the big friendly Turkey - photograph time!


We arrived a little early - Mstar begin the outing by enjoying an Apple Cider Slushie. YUMMY!


Group Photo before we began - our Classical Conversations group

After watching a short video on the history of the apple orchard, as well as how the apples are grown, we headed out to begin our tour.

sipping cider

Milking Buttercup the cow

On to our second informational session - learning all about Buttercup, the cow. Mstar's favorite fact : "Mommy - I weigh less than a newborn calf at birth (60 pounds)."

Onto pig races, Xman cheered and cheered for Elvis!

going on a wagon ride through the orchard

and now, for the Petting Zoo

after the tour was finished, time for the playground!

We left there and headed into Blue Ridge to stop at an Apple Orchard with a bakery. Xman said "Now this is my kind of field trip." - as he picked out caramel apples, apple pies, apple donuts, apple cider and more!

You can't pick your own apples off the trees at the Orchard on week days, but we were able to pick our own from their pickings! The kids filled a 1/2 peck bag to bring home for this week.

Glimpse at Week 6

2011-09-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Glimpse at Week 6

Once a month the kids take classes at Charlie Eliot Wildlife Center where they learn all sorts of good outdoorsy stuff! This month's class was "The Year of the Turtle" - they got to see several different species of turtles, listened to a ranger teach about turtles, watch a turtle race (boy versus girl), and went lake scooping for turtles. They always have the best time!

Xman enjoying some free center time

Mstar's favorite math game is "Survey Says" - I give her a string of math equations to calculate in her head and then she writes the final answer on the board. We play this in our CC Essentials class and she loves it!

more diagramming - this week we added implied pronouns

We are working on multiplication (STILL) with Mstar - I started this year teaching her a new approach to multiplying. I like this method much better as it focuses on the place value of each digit (you know how I am huge advocate of number sense). If you haven't seen this method, this video does a great job of showing this method compared to traditional multiplication.

We are still using the Abeka language arts with Xman (as well as Explode the Code) - we don't use the readers, but do use both the Letters and Sounds and the Seatwork books

Mstar working on her CC charts

Xman is still really enjoying karate

Mstar working on her Quid et Quo - will confess I definitely need the answer key to check that!

diagramming sentences - we do 2 to 3 sentences every day

Xman with his map - I call out the name of the state and they have to find it, outline it, and tell me the capital

Xman is still working on his Pickle Juice Family story - he has finished through "Chapter 2"

What are we reading? Week Five

2011-09-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

Mstar is ALWAYS reading.

I began our homeschooling journey pre-reading everything she read. Then, I decided that I should sleep at night. The Coach and I alternate reading something that she either wants to read or read and loved so that we can chat with her about her reading and encourage her.

I will often find a book on my nightstand with a post it note from Mstar sharing that I should definitely read "this."

The Coach tends to read one book from a series that she enjoys.

We just can't keep up with her!

During our school hours, I choose her reading selections - a sampling of books from our history or science study, a chapter from her Little House on the Prairie book for her class, or a rotation of classics and books that focus on a specific literary technique.

However, in the non school hours - the princess reads voraciously from a range of genres!

Here's a glimpse at what she read in Week 5 of our homeschool journey:

another Boxcar Children graphic novel

a fictitious story that incorporates information about the Jewish faith through the family life of the main character

audio books are big hit with both kids - The Mayor of Central Park

and another Boxcar Children graphic novel - one of the great things about me choosing books during our school hours is that often she will get hooked on either the author, the series or the genre

a MaryKate and Ashley book

a Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel - she has read most of the series - both the "little" version and the regular ones but stumbled upon this graphic novel version on our trip to the BIG library!

a Geronimo Stilton book - another favorite series of hers

Cul-de-Sac kids book - we have the first half of the series - she checked out this one, a later number, at the library

another audio book - Cam Jansen

And yes, she read all that in one week in addition to the hour or so of reading that she did during our school hours.............

makes me think I should be moving through that stack on my nightstand just a *tad* bit faster!

America by Mstar

2011-09-11T16:49:00.001-07:00

America,

Land of …

Peaceful, lovely seashores,

With sand between your toes.

Twisted, puzzling forests,

Where lots of trees will grow.

Sparkling, warm mountains,

Up high for all to see.

Lively, erupting rivers,

There for you and me.

Soft, silent plains,

In the land of the free.

America, land of…

Admirable, friendly people,

Who you can rely upon.

Gentle, kind people,

Who start their day at dawn.

“The free and the brave.”

“God Bless America,

My Home Sweet Home.”

Mstar

4^th Grade 2011- 2012

Native American Poem by Mstar

2011-09-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

Native Americans

Their hair shimmers in the beautifully lit sunset.

Their eyes move and zoom across the empty battlefield.

Their voices scream a call of victory.

I presume they have just won a battle.

Their hands slap the ground,

For they rarely win.

Their body’s dance gracefully,

Around camp in celebration.

Their long legs jump up in the air.

They will remember this forever.

They hope to win more battles.

They are Native Americans.

Mstar

4^th grade 2011

Glimpse at Week 5

2011-09-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

Week 5 began with Labor Day.

We used Labor Day to do massive labor around our house! Just so you don't think I'm totally a "mean momma" - we took a family vote, and the family voted for fun family day on Saturday and chores on Monday.

We tackled cleaning that hasn't been done in...........let's just say a while.

The kids both did great jobs in their rooms - every toy was organized, every trinket cleaned with baby wipes.

However, not having school on Monday this week really through us off schedule!

Our CC classes are still going really well. Mstar and I are learning TONS about all things grammatical.

This was our second week at Summit and the classes, transitions and overall day went much smoother.

Here's a glimpse at our week:

We try to include all kinds of skills into our homeschool day! We are still tweaking our classroom and this week we hung our white boards. Xman was super excited to try out his hammering skills!

I've really struggled with Xman and his handwriting practice. So, we started something new last week that seems to be working well so far. Xman dictates a story to me (2 to 3 sentences a day) and then he copies into his handwriting journal. His journal has room for 2 to 3 sentences at the bottom and then a space where he gets to illustrate his story. He is working a story about the Pickle Juice Family. Who's surprised?

Mstar and I tackled our first Quid et Quo this week - parsing of sentences. We labeled each part of the sentence, worked on identifying various parts and diagrammed our sentences.

Both kids are working on learning the location of all 50 states and the capitals this fall for geography. Each day I call out the name of a state, and they color it in with different colored dry erase markers (labeling the state). Then, they tell me the capital. So far we have learned 15 states and capitals.

Mstar is taking Apologia Astronomy at Summit and has additional assignments for that class. This week she created her own mnemonic device for learning the names of the planets.

7 - 8 Yankees Fall Baseball

2011-09-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday Family Day

2011-09-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than waking up on a Saturday with no scheduled events - no parties to attend, no games to be at, no practices, no necessary errand that must be run, no nothing.

We began our day with a leisurely breakfast and had a family meeting. The Coach and I were considering planning a Disney trip for one of his school breaks early in 2012. In order to do so, we would have to really stick to our budget this fall - and the kids will have to bank their allowance from now until the trip. No spending. Since the princess will be 10 next year (pass the tissues), we wanted to go one more time before Disney considers her an "adult."

It was quickly decided that we will stash our pennies and we booked our trip!

I am already planning and researching! We are all so excited.

Then, we loaded up our geocaching bag, picnic lunch in the cooler and the bikes/scooters and headed out for the day!

We started at a park we have not been to in a while. We fondly remembered as we drove in all the baby gymnastics classes that we took Mstar to in her first two years of life (before the arrival of Xman that is!). We also giggled as we retold the story of the Coach dropping her on her head in one of those classes - whoops!

As soon as we arrived, we grabbed the geocaching backpack and the kids loaded up on bikes/scooters and we headed out!

Xman found our first cache quickly - "Put me in Coach, I'm Ready to Play."

Our second cache, was a little trickier - we're looking...........

and we spot it - Mstar goes up after it!

We ended up sending the Coach up to open the cache so we could sign the log.

Our third cache was a DNF - we searched in the bushes for some time, but couldn't find the micro!

Mstar really wanted to go to the Decatur book festival this weekend. Coach heard on the news that they were expecting 70,000 people to attend. Between it, the first UGA game at the Dome, DragonCon, and a few other festivals downtown, we decided it would be too crowded. So, we took her to the next best thing - the biggest library we know of - the Athens Clarke County public library. We left with four handfuls of books - some for each of us!

The kids new favorite outing is Menchies for frozen yogurt. Our deal is that we can either eat a meal out or dessert but not both. They were happy to pack lunches from home (which we ate at the park) and get to have a frozen treat afterwords! We learned today that if you save your spoon and bring it back the next time that you get 10% off - yes, there are four spoons in my purse!

And, then back home. Xman is doing a GREAT job working on staying in his bed all night. He earned his second reward this week - dinner of his choice and a camp out in the living room! We picked up Rio from redbox and the kids are currently eating popcorn lying in their tent watching the movie.

G-Braves Team Autograph Session

2011-09-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

As a member of the kids club, Xman got to attend the G-Braves team autograph session.

What are we reading? Week Four

2011-09-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

We are alternating between books that focus on the time period we are studying and books that address a specific literature objective I have.

I am so excited that I took the time to organize our bookcase this summer by CC weeks. All of our history books for this time period (and science) are on the bookcase with file folders that divide them into weeks.

So, I was able to tell the kiddos this week to choose a book from the week two stash (it's week two of CC) - and they both quickly chose their favorite!

Glimpse at Week 4

2011-09-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

This week was the first week we had our two "out of the house" days. I will say that while I was uncertain as to how that would go (and we are all very tired from the newness of it all) - we all 3 had a great time at both sets of classes.

The kids and I discussed the differences between the two days today.

Tuesdays are our Classical Conversations classes. They are very academic. In the morning class they work on their memory work, map skills, science experiment, art activity and play some review games. Then, we have recess and lunch with all our new friends. In the afternoon, Xman goes to "childcare" where he gets another recess period outside, is read to (they are currently reading Mr. Popper's Penguins), has a quiet time where he can play games with friends, read, or draw, and enjoys a snack. Mstar has a second academic class. She does 45 minutes of grammar, 30 minutes of math games, and 45 minutes of writing. Our brains are good and challenged by the end of the day!

Thursday we started Summit Academy. Summit Academy is an "a la carte" style homeschooling academy. Unlike CC where we take a specified set of classes, all the same, at Summit the kids and I got to choose their classes. They love "changing classes" like big kids - they carry an index card with their schedule and as each class ends, they rotate themselves to a new classroom! I will confess I was VERY nervous about this with Xman - but he did it! He had to move buildings twice and rooms every class time. Wow!

The Princess is taking:

Astronomy - using the Apologia textbook
Piano
Art
History - Ancient
Little House - based on one of the Little House on the prairie books

The Xman is taking:

Piano
Science - Christian Kids Explorer Biology
History- Ancient
Adventure Boys - literature group
Nature notebooking - art class/nature class

The kids each got to pick two classes of their own choice and then I chose the other two (the piano was a family choice). I chose science and history for both as those are two subjects that we don't focus as much time on at home. Even though we are doing modern history this year at home, I thought it would be good for them to review ancient history through the class offered at Summit. They will be making a timeline in class and that will go along with our general time line study at home.

The Sciences are also not the same science topics that we are studying at home - and I think that gives us some variety! Mstar will read the Astronomy Apologia text at home in preparation for the class.

While they are enjoying those classes, I have the privilege of teaching 4 math classes. I had the best time! Someone even said I was their favorite teacher all day (be still my heart!).

Here's a glimpse at what we did at home this week:

Xman with his All About Spelling lesson - I LOVE this program - and he enjoys getting to spell his words using the tactile magnet tiles

Mstar working on her IEW rough draft for this week

Mstar reviewing her CC memory work

Mstar reading a book about life as a pilgrim to Xman - I must say I was impressed. The book was in her list of assignments. She curled up on the couch ready to read. Xman was interested in what she was reading - and asked if she would read it to him and she did!

Xman was so excited to hear that he was doing algebra this week!

Mstar working on her mastery charts for CC

One of the CC connected perks is that i can print a document with our history sentence on it and the kids can illustrate it each week. We are creating a story notebook with all of our sentences in them!

This week in Science we studied the four bones of the axial skeleton system. To go along with that, we practiced drawing pictures of skeletons.

Mstar has four vocabulary words each week to along with her IEW writing. She also is challenged to use at least one vocabulary word in writing each week.

Xman worked on counting with money

In geography we are learning the states and capitals. We added 5 new ones to our 5 from last week. So, today the kids enjoyed putting together a big floor puzzle of the United States and we reviewed our states and capitals using it!

What are we reading? Week Three

2011-09-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Week 3

2011-09-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

This year is going by so fast - have we really already finished three full weeks of school?

Here's a glimpse:

Mstar typing up her poem. The Coach and I were so PROUD of her finished project. Since writing is a tension point with the princess and I, I supervise her work all week and then she must submit her papers to Coach for editing. They edit and revise together, and then she makes the changes. She then turns her paper back into him with the rubric and he grades and signs off on it. This works well for our family - the Coach is the household master on all things writing, and it gives him a way to be involved in our home school process.

Xman working with his bears. He is reviewing even and odd numbers. He decided to line up the number of bears into two teams. If they are even teams, then the number is even. If there is an extra bear, then the number is odd. He and I both know that he knows even and odd well enough to not need his bears - so, he uses his bears for his classwork and he does his assessments without bears.

One of the new additions to our homeschool year is Classical Conversations classes. In her afternoon Essentials class, Mstar is working to memorize various charts related to grammar. Chart A focuses on the four types of sentences, sentence structure, sentence purpose, parts of speech and the qualities of a good sentence. She copies this chart daily.

We signed up for Classical Conversations Connected. This is an online aspect of CC that allows us access to the memory work on the computer. This is FABULOUS. The kids have learned to sign on, and click through all of their memory work by themselves. They can listen to the songs, access additional information about the topic and review and practice. I am also enjoying all the of "extras" that we have access to. I am able to print reproducibles to go with almost all of our topics.

We are learning 8 new timeline cards each week for history. One of the daily centers is for the kids to mix them up and then try to put them back in order.

Mstar working on her reading.

We studied 5 states and capitals this week: Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. We had highlights books and maps for some of the states that served as another center choice this week.

Xman working on math

Mstar learning to use the online thesaurus as part of her writing process.

Xman learning to spell the days of the week using his calendar.

My class!

Ta Da!

2011-08-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a regular school morning last week it occurred to me that we were driving each other crazy. Well, perhaps that occurred to me midway through our second day of school but last week I realized it was because we were too CLOSE to each other.

When we first moved our homeschool classroom into our basement, what was a playroom because our playroom/classroom. At that time, I left the larger portion of the room as our playroom and converted the smaller portion of the room into our classroom.

Since we use our playroom less now, and our classroom more, it only made sense to flip the spaces.

Here is how it turned out:

view of the left side of our playroom area - the black stand is our listening center, which is on wheels and thus mobile. The doorway acts as our time line and books of the bible chart. The toy kitchen is an old staple.

view of the right side of the playroom - the loveseat is our snuggly reading spot and also where the kids can sit to watch a movie. The bookcase has center activities on it.

looking into the playroom space - you can see the television stand with movies, and the train table which acts as both a train table (the train is in clear rolling box under the table), but also as a play space for other activities and for centers

from the play area looking into the classroom space

bookcase with our themed books - science, math, history, geography - the bookcase also has manipulatives and hands on activities. The white board is mobile - it has our Classical Conversations memory work on it. This door holds our flashcards - stored in a shoe organizer.

my area - the bookcase holds our curriculum, our Classical conversations materials, and our history organized by week. The blue basket is where work gets placed to be graded (oh my - it is FULL!). The yellow basket holds our memory cards for practice. The blue drawer system holds paper, pencils, white boards and other office type supplies.

Xman's space - we put his space closest to me as he needs......redirecting often. He has his desk, a large pillow for when he wants to do his work on the floor, a bookcase for his materials (workbooks, folders, reading books), and his workboxes (which have his center choices for the week in them). On the back of his chair is his pouch while holds his clipboard and a book to read.

when you enter our classroom we placed two crates - one holds our "Tuesday bags" for Classical Conversations and the other holds our "Thursday bags" for Summit

from this view you can see Mstar's area - she also has workboxes with her center activities, her bookcase with her books/folders/resources, and her desk. We used the purple divider to "fancy" her space up a big and also it's large pockets hold her.....collections!

Yankees Game One

2011-08-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

Xman moved up to the next age level this fall in baseball.

With this comes MANY changes.

In 7 - 8, the first two innings are kid pitched. Oh my! The kid pitcher gets to throw until they reach 4 balls on a batter. At that point, the coach comes in and pitches two balls to the batter.

Also in this division, there is a kid catcher. Xman and another kid on his team are both alternating playing catcher.

I will say that I feel like it is Halloween between each inning as I try to get him out of that gear, into batting gloves and a batting helmet, and then out of batting gloves/helmet back into all the catcher's gear.

The Yankees lost their first game by one run.

Xman did a fantastic job catching!

Super Swimming Excursion

2011-08-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility of our schedule. I have to remind myself to say yes to outings and activities that I think will be a blessing to us or others, and remember that there will be many winter days where we will snuggle in and catch up on book school work.

One of the homeschool groups that we participate in has such FUN activities!

This week we were invited to a Super Swimming Excursion.

One of the things us homeschooling folks is enjoy typically crowded places on days when everyone else is in school!

getting ready for round two of the games

spoon race in the water

tug of war

Week Two

2011-08-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

Xman read Curious George Makes Pancakes

Mstar worked on compound words. We made a list of a lot of words and she used the markers to make a compound word.

Xman practicing his spelling words on a white board

Week One Field Trip: INK

2011-08-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

As my children both live in a fantasy world, one of their favorite field trips is to INK: Interactive Neighborhood for Kids.

When you enter INK, you enter on Main Street. As you walk down Main Street, you encounter all the shops, stores and businesses of the "town."

Xman working cash register at the Supermarket

Xman as a pilot - his favorite job

Xman as the Judge - I was found guilty. Rather quickly I must admit.

Xman taking a turn as a juror - "We the jury find the defendant, guilty."

Ahh - there is the princess. She camped out MOST of the day in the hair salon - where else? She enjoyed the receptionist job best - taking appointments and rescheduling!

Xman getting some cash at the "bank" to spend in the town.

All in all, a very fun day spent with friends!

What are we reading? Week One

2011-08-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

We have tried a wide variety of ways to record what we are reading.

For this year, we are going to attempt a digital diary of all the books that the kids read!

The goal is to take a picture of them with the book when they finish it.

Our first read aloud together book this year was Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure

Mstar read several of the Boxcar Children books last year. Her new language arts curriculum suggested we start the year with the original. Rather than re-reading it, we opted to start the year with several of the graphic novels.

The Box Car Children and the Bicycle Mystery graphic novel

for fun - Geek Chic

Even Steven, Odd Todd for our math unit study on even and odd numbers

The Box Car Children Surprise Island graphic novel

Week One - Here We go!

2011-08-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a glimpse at our first week

Xman using alphabet stamps to practice his spelling words

working on odd and even numbers - we used a hundreds chart and clear, colored tiles - he covered all the even numbers

working with pattern blocks - we defined "half" "thirds" and "sixths" this week

Xman hard at work trying to figure out the pattern of even and odd numbers using his hundreds chart and clear, colored tiles

I gave Xman random handfulls of cubes and he had to figure out which numbers were odd and which ones were even by deciding which ones could be divided into two equal towers

Xman journal writing

Mstar's planner - our method of organization this year - we record all her assignments here and her grades on those assignments

coloring an even/odd pattern

Mstar's mini office describing the parts of speech

Mstar working on her grammar

Xman's planner with his assignments and his grades

Mstar working on her vocabulary words with alphabet stamps - she stamped out the word on the front of the notecard, and then wrote definitions in her own words on the back of the cards

Mstar building numbers with her place value pieces

working on expanded notation and standard notation of numbers

All in all, we had a busy yet productive first week of school!

Yankees First Scrimmage

2011-08-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

Xman is playing fall baseball this year - making this our 6th sports season, 5th baseball season.

We got the call a few weeks ago that Xman would play for the Yankees.

There couldn't have been a more..........traumatic moment for a die hard Red Sox fan.

He (and the Coach) wanted to play for the Red Sox this season - or any time except the Yankees.

But, it's the Yankees nonetheless.

So far, he has practiced playing 3rd and catcher.

He's excited about playing catcher (keeps picturing Brian McCann) - and well, we all know how he has always loved to play dress up. The catcher does have quite the outfit you get to wear.

We played our first scrimmage game today - and for the first time he wore the full catcher uniform. He played catcher the whole game.

The newness of the 7 -8 league brings two new positions - kid pitchers and kid catchers.

Should make for a fun season to watch!

Xman at the plate - waiting on the pitcher to get to the mound

in his stance

Xman at bat

We ended the day with some baseball shopping - Xman needed a new bat, a catcher's mitt and........a cup. Yes, for my 7 year old.

Xman's karate teacher had their end of the summer raffle and pinanta party today as well. Anytime you get to hit a pinanta with a sword is a good time. For all.

First Day of School 2011 - 2012

2011-08-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

There are some things I love about back to school.

I love the restore of order.

The return of routines.

The organization of days.

So, today, August 8th, we started our school year!

Our day began with breakfast and our read aloud. We (led by me who is reading The Reading Promise) started a challenge where we are going to read aloud together 100 days in a row! We took out our planners today and marked #1. Only 99 more to go! This morning we worked on finishing a baseball adventure book on Honus Wagner.

After breakfast, it was back to chore sticks. This summer we did "family chore days" where we did all the household chores in one morning. With the fall busy schedule approaching, we went back to daily chores that spread things out. And keep my toilet cleaned regularly. And the piano tends to need less dusting if it gets played daily.

Then, we worked on setting up the calendars in our school room. Mstar and Xman have their own calendar this year (trust me totally worth the $1 for the extra calendar so as not to decide who does what each day).

The Coach installed our very own pencil sharpener in our classroom this year just like his classroom. It got MUCH use this morning.

We began our lessons with Bible. This year we are starting with the New Testament. We read out of a children's bible so we are reading condensed highlights of sorts. We do keep a "real" bible on our table so we can look up verses for clarification. We read one story. In their Bible Journals, they write one sentence to summarize the story. Then, they draw a picture to go with it. This morning we read about the angel Gabriel who came to share that Elizabeth would soon be with child (John).

Xman started his academics with reviewing some phonics from last year. We talked about marking vowels and worked on vowel sounds.

Xman's favorite time of the day is always centers. This year the kids each chose 6 or so activities for center time and placed them in their workboxes. During center time, they work through their workboxes until center time is over. This gives our center time structure while still allowing them to choose their activities.

We recognize that Xman is distracting and combined with the fact that Mstar is easily distracted........well, this year we created her a cubby space to work in. We can enclose her in the purple walls, or open them up depending on her needs.

Mstar worked on clock skills during center time.

Mstar started the 4th grade Singapore books today.

Xman used his abacus to finish up his math page.

In our journals today we wrote about what we were looking forward to this school year. Xman is looking forward to making new friends. Mstar is looking forward to the art class she is taking.

We had make your own pizza lunch and watched an episode of Beakman's World to supplement our science. We ended the day with a little recess - swimming in the pool!

and had dippin dots ice cream (thank you Nana) to celebrate!