Well at our house we’ve been battling colds, sore throats and coughs.My oldest daughter always gets a cough that seems to hang on forever and we usually end up at the doctor’s with a $20 co-payment and a really expensive prescription cough syrup that doesn’t do much.This year I thought I’d seek out another option.
I found this homemade cough syrup.We figured it couldn’t hurt being all natural and she doesn’t like the taste of commercial cough syrups anyway so this couldn’t be worse, right?It’s got cayenne pepper, ginger, honey and vinegar in it.I won’t say it tastes awful but not good either. It sure does open you up!
My oldest son was battling the stuffy nose part and he really liked it for that.
Another thing you may or may not have tried is the neti pot.I know even the name sounds weird but it’s wortha try.I’m not even going to attempt to explain it just click on the site I’ve linked.It really does help.Oh, and neti pots can be kind of pricey but did you notice (if you click on the site) how similar it looks to a personal tea pot like you see at the dollar store?Works for me!
Well despite my efforts I finally gave in and went to the doctor for antibiotic since I do have a sinus infection.Part of the problem I think is that I didn’t start using the neti pot soon enough.I kind of forgot about it until a friend say, “…are you using a neti pot?”Then I remembered but I think it was too late.
How do I forget these things?
Well I hope this finds you healthy but if not give some home remedies a try, it just might save you some time and money!
We woke up this morning to a beautiful sight, the first snow! I've not been feeling good and my throat hurts so I'm not singing but I'm humming and thinking this song:
The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice
He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice
How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God
It sure looks like splendor and majesty to me! God could have made snow dull but I'm so glad he made it beautiful and I'm so thankful I live where I do and get to enjoy it right at my home.
Nov. 14, 2008 - Mystery of History book II, last four weeks
In History this week we did the Aztec’s among other things.My daughter Ariel decieded to do the diorama project of an Aztec home.
At our co-op we also did a little “lapbook” page if you will on Aztecs.Here’s my sample and one of the kids too.
We are finishing our Mystery of History book II after taking a break to cover government and the election.Below is the mom’s page that I do for our co-op with all the links for all of you interested in Mystery of History, it includes the last four weeks of semester II.You can find the rest of the 2nd semester from my previous post, here.
Each week I’ll try and post some of the finished work like I did above so check back if you’d like to see samples.
MOH rest of book II planning
The activities in red are ones we are planning on doing during the co-op and the blue links are optional for more information on your own.NB stands for notebook page.I have most of the notebook pages pdf (they are turned blue within my red, hope that makes sense) and linked but there may be a few I’ve not got pdf’ed yet so check back after those weeks are done and they are likely to be there.
√11/13 lesson 73 Dante Alighieri, poet of the middle ages
√11/13 lesson 74 Aztecs (The Mexica) All eat tortia’s by age and drink Aztec cocoa
ALL Folder book W/ cocoa recipe, sun calendar, codex (for codex cut 8 1/2 /x11 in half long ways then fold twice and refold accordian style, make "bark" construction paper covers) see picture above
Long silence, I know but I have a REALLY good reason!We went to Mexico to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary!Where do I start?
First off I’m filing this one under priorities because this was taking care of one of my top priorities, my husband.Last spring he first started bringing brochures home but I refused to get excited, you see this has happened before and I didn’t want to get my hopes up.I’m sure many of you can relate.
We actually almost booked a trip, I think for our 15th anniversary, but then the well went out or an engine on a car went out, you know something like that and poof the money was gone.
This was really something I had to pray about and gradually and cautiously I was able to give my husband the enthusiasm he was hoping to see.
Well in June we found this fabulous resort, booked it and well now it’s a sweet memory.The resort, beaches, pools, food ,snorkeling etc… was all fabulous but the time spent together was priceless.You see, I always have something on my mind, something I need to do, but there well…we would do anything, anytime we wanted.It really was a little piece of heaven.We got to do everything and spend every moment together just focused on each other, that rarely (if ever) happens at home!
I had really prayed about all the details as this was a big deal for us.We’re not the type of people who get to do this all the time.In fact this was the longest time I’ve spent away with my husband ever.We had gone to St. Thomas for our honeymoon for 5 days and we went to Disney 15 years ago also for 5 days (of course it was 20 hours in the car there and back so technically maybe it was a week?)This was 7 days at a resort plus travel days.
Now, I will say we are very fortunate, over the years we’ve traveled with my businesses or for ministry and sometimes got to add on a day but it’s not the same at all.This was so good.
So here’s a few details to hopefully not bore you but give you a glimpse of our week.At check in we received an upgrade to a beautiful suite.Chris is still talking about how perfect the room was for us.It had a big walk-in shower (which I loved), a huge Jacuzzi tub (which Chris loved), a living room area, king size bed, and beautiful balcony overlooking a quiet pool area.
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The resort had a huge stretch of beach which we walked most days.We collected lots of shells to bring home to the kids.About 100 feet from our room we found a “secret” path to the north end of the beach.It was kind of a cove with 6 or 7 huts with lounge chairs under each.We went out there everyday and we were the only ones there.It was like our own private beach!
Our room was near what they call the swim up pool.It was a very quiet area.Most days we’d spend a few hours here and again we usually were almost by ourselves.Sometimes there would be one other couple besides us at our end of the pool.On our last day the resort was filling up more and they were several couples besides us.What a crowd. LOL.
I can’t even begin to describe the food.It was amazing.They had 7 gourmet restaurants for dinner with no reservations.We tried almost all of them.The Indonesian ended up being our best.It had a wonderful dish called Pad Thai, I have to find a recipe!The Mexican was really good too.There I had something called Mexican Shrimp Risotto.It was like nothing I’ve ever tasted.Oh, and I usually don’t like guacamole.Well, they had fabulous guacamole, now I’m hooked.
Our favorite place overall though was the open air places we ate at for lunch.Our view was amazing!We’d linger there for at least an hour, maybe two.Oh, and each meal you’d have two waiters who kept suggesting and bringing you more.If you’d ask about two things trying to decide they’d just say, “I’ll bring you both!”It was incredible!
One last thing I have to mention was our snorkeling day.We mostly just relaxed, rested and refreshed but one day we took a snorkeling tour with Edventure Tours.It was incredible.We snorkeled in an underground cavern called Dos Ojos.You had to use flashlights to see all the stalactites, and stalagmites.It was amazing.I don’t know how else to describe it.The pictures don’t do justice.We also went to AkmulBay and snorkeled with the Turtles.I got some great pictures there.To finish we went to an inlet cove that was just loaded with fish.I don’t know all the kinds but there were angel fish, parrot fish and tons of others.
So if you’re husband decides to bring home some brochures act excited!It does really happen and when it does it’s amazing.Yes, it was a lot of money, but worth every penny, not so much for what we did and saw but an investment in us, in our marriage.We are pretty determined to not wait so long to do it again.It felt like we were on our honeymoon again only better.
Well we are just about wrapping up our studies on government.We’ve done a trip to our state capitol, mock elections, meeting with a local state Representative, toured campaign offices and worked on a mailing for a campaign.At home we’ve studied various parts of government, checks and balances, candidates, other forms of government, how our government was formed and some of the documents and more.All that we have left is our election night party to watch the returns, play some games and eat pizza.
You know I’m glad we studied it but I’m also glad it’s almost over too.I can only take so much politics.My oldest now thinks this is a possible career choice (well, along with several others at this point…)He heard from the local state Representative all you have to do is get 200 names on a petition and be 18 to be on the ballot.On the way home he wanted to know if I’d sign his petition!
Even though it’s over I did learn a lot especially from the book, Are you Liberal, Conservative or Just Confused?.There’s just so much I was never taught.One thing that struck me in there was taxes.Did you know that until the 20th century when income tax was created all the U.S. governments taxes were from liquor, tobacco and imports?Now only 3% come from these and 97% come from income tax!* No wonder so many people came here!
In that book the kids learned about Fascism, Communism and Socialism.I can’t say that they got it all but at least they have an idea what it means and are familiar with the terms.When we did this section I just had to read Animal Farmby George Orwell to them!I still remember reading it in school and the impact it had on me.I believe it had a similar effect on my kids today.It’s not just about Stalin, Marx and Communism but about knowing what you believe and standing up for it.That was the impact it had on me.
If you’ve never done Animal Farm by all means try it.There are many online study guides that will help you with some of the symbolism if you’ve never done this book before or need to brush up.I even found an online quiz and only got 2 wrong just from what I remembered years ago.So what was that about old timers?
The girls did some notebooking and made a lapbook with some of their information.The boys did all their work in notebooks, paragraphs and reports.
You'll notice the lapbooks are very eclectic. We made the flip books on some of the first presidents ourselves but took a lot of the little booklets from various sources (homeschool share, hands of a child etc...) You can see some of the sources we used for information in a previous blog. We still want to add a booklet on impeachment and do our covers but we may not get to that till at least after the election.
So now after doing Government for the fall it will be nice to go back to our regular routine of History.We were glad to take a break but now glad to return to.I guess it’s kind of like vacation, it’s great to leave but you always look forward to coming home.
* taken from Are you Liberal Conservative or Confused, by Richard Maybury p.89
Way back in August we attended homeschool family camp.For several years now we’ve gone to family camp and loved it but this was the first time we did “homeschool” family camp.You can check my previous blog for all the fun and pictures of the week but the great thing about homeschool family camp is that you also get a great homeschool speaker.
David Hazell from My Father’s World curriculum was there.I think he did 7 sessions over the week and I took lots of notes.There were a few that were very promotional of his curriculum but most had great ideas and encouragement.I do use many of the same resources in my homeschool that My Father’s World has in their plan but there’s others that I feel are better in some areas so we differ a little in our preferences.
At any rate one of the really cute/interesting comparisons he made was in our homeschool choices.This is how he compared them.The words in bold and underlined are his the commentary mine and not necessarily what his take was on it but I liked his analogy.
Read this with a sense of humor and I think you’ll enjoy!
Interstate-School at homeThis is your basic text/workbook basedcurriculums.They are sometimes very useful and the easiest but you don’t want to travel them everyday.There’s no scenery, it’s a very boring drive if you do it all the time.
Route 66-Classical EducationThis is just that your Classical curriculums and schools of thought which usually include Latin, often Logic, Rhetoric, heavy grammar and primary source reading.This method can be very interesting but just like route 66 it doesn’t go everywhere.That road was made a long time ago and the road may be filled with pothole’s where we have much smoother ways with less “holes” now.
Scenic Route-Unit StudiesWith unit studies you find an interesting area and camp out.It’s amazing the rabbit trails you can follow and the trials beside you never knew connected.In the end you learn all about that area better then most of the inhabitants of the area but you don’t get to make many stops this way, it just takes too long.
Residential Roads-UnschoolingThe idea here is taking what you know about and developing it into study.You could spend a lot of time in the backyard learning about the bugs and flowers you see or in the garage taking apart things and fixing them. Everything you see can be explored and knowledge gathered but rarely does anything exotic or different come unto your street.You wonder if you’re missing the big world out there.
A Little of Everything-EclecticNow this is your ticket.You’re going to make the best of all the routes.Some subjects or years you may do the Interstate because the scenery in that area isn’t your favorite so you just need to get through.The old definitely has an appeal but you’re not about to give up you modern conveniences so you just visit route 66 now and then but don’t stay.Once in awhile a very pretty scene catches your attention and you stay for awhile seeing everything there is to see but you’ve got too many places to go to do this a lot.You know there are a lot of things at home that do need exploring and a few days on a project could turn into some great learning.With all these routes you do need to stay pretty current on road conditions so you often find yourself looking over lengthy route guides to see if a new or revised road has been opened.
A Tour GuideForgive me here because if there was some other term besides tour guide I didn’t get it but here’s my take.You decide you love the idea of a little bit of everything but you just can’t make decisions for yourself and how will little old you know what’s best for your own children.This year you have gotten yourself into a lot and you do need it planned for you so you will pay big money and hire someone else to figure out what’s best for your child and which resources you should use.
Okay, I hope you got a little chuckle from some of my descriptions.They were truly mine.The speaker had some similar to mine and some totally different but of course he had his slant on it (as I’m sure mine were too!)
Did you see yourself, could you laugh at yourself?It sure is a journey isn’t it!
For my blogging friends, you know how you see something, take a picture, think about blogging it and don’t get around to it?Well this is one of these from back in the summer.
Only a homeschool mom would do this.Any other mom in her right mind would knock it down with a broom and squash it or quickly run for a can of spray but not a homeschool mom!We found this interesting creature on a hibiscus bush in our front yard right next to our driveway.Now we live in Michigan which is not known for such a tropical looking species. I thought maybe it was something that escaped from the zoo it was so big! I’ve lived in MI all my life and never seen one.
Can you guess what it is?
Of course I did what any good homeschool mom would do, I did an internet search.Turns out it’s a black and yellow Argiope spider. I figured we’d watch it for awhile before I destroyed it.We did for a couple weeks and then it just disappeared web and all!According to the information on the site about it, it’s likely it’s lifespan was over but where is it’s egg sack or sacks?As fun as it was to watch I’m not sure I want 400-1500 babies come next spring!
Here's a site I found with lots of information on this spider if you're interested.
Ariel is reading The Cricket in Times Square and doing the Total Language Plus guide with it this fall.She found a cricket in the yard so we kept it for a day.
The fun of this was that we talked about a lot of the story and her vocabulary words because she was holding and observing an actual cricket.It wasn’t planned it just happened.I love it when school works out that way!I did ask her if she wanted to build a pagoda for it, she declined.
This is Ariel’s first study guide from the 4th and 5th grade “category” (*see note below.)I’ve been very pleased with her transition from the younger (3rd and 4th grade) guides.
Some of the differences:
1) Going from copy work to dictations
2) Grammar moving from being taught to reinforced
3) More and stronger Critical Thinking (called personal thinking questions)
4) More involved enrichments
5) Scripture relevance paragraphs
Here is her very first scripture relevance paragraph.
I think the verses have to do with The Cricket in Times Square because Chester was brave.He was not very afraid.He did not want for much.He was guided safely across that period of time.He over all was very brave and God protected him.
Okay, now she started way too many sentences with “he” and used I but she was asked to show how her dictations from Psalm 23 related to the story.I think she did an excellent job for her very first time at this.It took her a few minutes to get the idea as we discussed it but she got it done without any help from me.We have also been working on restating the question which she did successfully.
Do we correct the mistakes?Personally I think no, not this time.It’s her first attempt and I want to praise her for completing the assignment correctly and independently.We’ll work on those other things in future assignments once she’s more confident.
With correction we have to sometimes remember they are learning and not everything needs to be completely corrected or even re-written.I cringe to think everything I ever write would be critiqued and would need to be corrected and re-written.Of course, some assignments need to be taken to that level and “polished” till they shine but they need practice too.I want my kids to enjoy writing not hate it.
Gina
*Total Language Plus is not a grade level program however there are “suggested categories” in their brochures which breaks the guides into; 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th, 6th-8th, 7th-9th etc…In the “notes” section by each novel additional grades are given that would also be appropriate. Click on Total Language Plus in the links at right to see the website for more information.
For instance the last book my daughter did in the “3rd + 4th” section was Charlotte’s Web.Ariel did it in 4th grade but in the notes it’s suggested 3rd-5th.She’s doing Cricket now which is in the 5th and 6th grade section but the brochure suggests 4th -5th grade.
The bottom line, don’t get hung up on grade level.There is a lot of flexibility in the guides especially once you get to the 4th and 5th grade section.When we did The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (which is recommended 4th-6th) my oldest was 7th.There was still plenty to challenge him and we just chose the more advanced recommendations under the enrichments section.
Last week our local store had 50lb bags of potatoes on sale for $10 and with even potatoes going up in price lately I thought it would be worth it to stock the freezer.Some of you faithful readers may know I regularly do freezer cooking (click categories on right for past articles) but I have to admit this is the first time I’ve done 50lb’s of potatoes!
To start out I chose the smaller potatoes and filled to crock pots full.These I baked all day and then cooled to use for potato’s skins.While they were cooking my daughter Lexie and I peeled like crazy.
We peeled as many of the larger ones as we could stand to and made mashed potatoes.My family loves mashed potatoes but I don’t always have the time when dinner rolls around to peel, cook and whip.They actually freeze very well and if you whip them up a little once thawed can’t even tell that they were from the freezer!If you don’t already know, when you whip your mashed potatoes use only milk (no butter), add the butter just before serving if you like.Adding the butter while whipping can make them not as fluffy.Another thing we like to do is add a little sour cream either instead of or in addition to the milk.Try it, it just adds a little flavor.
We ended up with 4 quart bags of mashed potatoes for the freezer.I know we could use more but we were tired of peeling!
Part of the reason we were tired of peeling is we also were peeling and dicing the potatoes for clam chowder.For this we peel and dice (into small bite size pieces) the potatoes and throw them in a large pot (I use a 5 qt) with water to cover about ¾ from the top.Once you can pierce them with a fork, add chopped onion (probably about a cup), a can of clams drained (or leave out if you want plain potato soup) and crumbled bacon (again probably about a cup).We also add about a Tablespoon of powdered chicken bouillon.Pour milk to fill the pot leaving just enough room to stir without spilling.Once that is heating up again I add cornstarch mixed with a little milk to thicken (make it the consistency of gravy and stir it in.)How much depends on how thick you want your soup/chowder.It will thicken as heats.
We ended up doing three pots of this and took one to a potluck, had one for lunch and have 4 in the freezer.Two pots we left as potato soup (my oldest doesn’t like clams) and one pot we made into clam chowder (my second son loves this!)Really it doesn’t taste much different.If you want more “seafoody” taste you could add old bay seasoning but I don’t.
By this time my crock pot potatoes were almost done and I had other things to do so I cooled them overnight in the fridge to finish the next day.
To make the potato skins we took the cooled potatoes and halved them.With spoons we scooped out most of the potato leaving only the jacket with a thin amount of potato.We saved all the scooped out part and added a chopped onion.I bagged these for fried potatoes to go with eggs for breakfast.We got four quart bags of these.
Once we had them scooped we lay them on a cookie sheet and brush each potato with oil.I usually add a little salt, pepper and sometimes other seasoning to the oil.Then we pop them in the oven to bake in the oil for a few minutes, maybe 10 minutes at 400.Once they come out we drain off any excess oil and top them.We like crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese and chives.Cook them till the cheese is melted then cool and bag them for the freezer.
We got 6 bags of 18 skins from the ones we did.A lot of times we’ll have them with soup or even just as a snack or appetizer.I like sour cream on mine!
Another one we could have done is what we call “mushy potatoes”.For this you take baked potatoes and mash them with a potato masher skins and all.We leave some lumps and add a stick of butter, ½ cup of parmesan cheese and dried chives.
We still have about 10lbs of potato’s left in my regular stash.Think we’ll put some in the crock pot so we can have baked potatoes with our grilled chicken breast tonight!
As part of our government study we took a field trip last week to our State Capitol in LansingMichigan.We had almost 40 moms and kids who made the trip to tour the capitol and then tour the four story MichiganHistoryMuseum down the street.We took time out for sack lunches we brought with on the lawn at the museum.God gave us great weather for the day!
The capitol building was beautiful!It’s all hand painted and they showed us lots of pictures of just how much restoration work they’ve done in recent years.
We got to sit in on the senate in session.One of the younger kids who was with us was appalled at the lack of respect the people were showing for whoever was speaking.If you’ve ever sat in on a similar session you’ll understand what she means.Everyone is wandering around, talking and doing their own thing while someone is at a podium speaking.For me I was noticing how much had changed.
When I was a Junior in high school I had gone on a trip to WashingtonD.C. with a program called Close-up.We sat in on sessions of both the U.S. House and Senate.The State seems much the same only NOW they all have laptops on their desks and voting is virtually instantaneous.It was amazing the difference a little more than 20 years makes.Does that mean I’m old?
After the tour and lunch we went to the Michigan History museum.We had a docent who walked with us much of the time and was very good at using the kids as examples and bringing the various exhibits to life using props and things.There were only a few references to “millions of years” we had to go over with the kids on the way home.(To which they reply, “I KNOW mom!”)After the tour the museum gave each of the moms a huge teacher pack of reproducibles to go with what we saw.Great unexpected bonus!
So if you’re in Michigan check it out sometime.Oh, and it’s free!Can’t beat that!
We have been studying the election and here are a bunch of links I had put together for our group. Also, this first link is to a game that we've had a lot of fun playing. It has three levels which is nice (elementary, middle and high school) and it gets kids to see the election process (primary, issues, electoral votes etc...) So for those of you studying the election I hope you can find something you can use!
Yesterday we had our first meeting for our Government club.We’re doing a variety of things over September and October to follow the elections.The meeting yesterday focused on a mock campaign and election.It was a lot of fun.You might consider getting a few friends together and giving it a try.It really helped the kids “see” the vocabulary words we’ve been studying and think through the process and issues in a tangible way.
We first divided up into a red and blue team with 19 kids ranging in age from 6-16.Each of these teams then were given the task of choosing a candidate.We chose to go with a Biblical Character rather than take a current political candidate.This also allowed the kids to take in consideration who would be the best person to choose for their party.
They needed to consider what they know about the characters’ skills, abilities and experiences in order to choose the best candidate.For instance David might seem a good choice.He was after all a successful King and was a military man, however he had some personal issues (adultery, rebellious son, murderer etc…) that could prove a liability to the campaign.
Once their candidate was chosen they then needed to pick a slogan.On this sheet for the younger kids (age 6-12) and this one for the older kids (13+) I listed a few as examples of slogans as well as outlined their assignments.
After they chose their slogans we split off the older and younger kids (see approximate ages above.)The younger group then worked on ad’s for their candidate and the older group worked on defining what would be their candidate’s issues.See the linked sheets above for more information on that part.
The older group will be researching threir issues in the next two weeks and then we’ll have a mock debate. The linked sheet is to get them started on their research. There is a National debate we’ll be watching next Friday to get idea’s for the format we’ll use for the actual debate.
Our final event for this part of our government club will be a mock election at our homeschool groups’ fall kick off.That’s where the younger group will actually hand out their flyers and carry their posters and the older group will give brief speeches before all members (parents and kids alike) are given an opportunity to vote.
So far it’s been a lot of fun and I think the kids are learning a lot in the process!
This weekend I got to do some much needed scrapbooking! In my bio for my blog it lists scrapbooking, yet I think once in a year and a half have I shared any. Why you might ask? Well, this blog is generally current information and my scrapbooks, well, lets just say they are not quite current!
I completed about 30 or 40 pages. Now, don't be so impressed, I didn't do them all this weekend. I generally quickly lay out the basic pages and then I go back and add titles, embellishments and journaling. So the 30-40 I did were already "started." I'm desperately trying to get 07 completely done.
Here's some I worked on. The first set is from a local Ice Festival we have here in Niles every January. These are actually from 08!
This next set is from Unity Festival 2007 which was held in Muskegon Michigan.
Most of the papers and stamp sets I use are from Close to My Heart. I am a consultant for them but I do very little besides selling to family, friends and myself! If you are interested however, email me privately. It's a great company to use for your scrapbooking!
I'd been asked by a few about my scrapbooking so there you go, there's a sampling. Don't hold your breath for more, although you never know...
In my weekly schedule I have something called individual meetings with each child.These over the last year or two have really helped us all keep on track.The original idea came from just a sentence or two I heard at a convention and my imagination kind of filled in the blanks to form what we do.
As I kept adding kids to the schedule and our work became more intense I found a need to keep track of and mentor/encourage each child.Knowing myself, I need to be real intentional with this or it won’t get done.As they get older my desire is also for them to be more responsible for their own work. The first year I started with just the older children with more of responsibility focus but have now found all the kids want to be included and it’s a time where I can give individual mentoring.
Once a week we set in the schedule a time to meet with each child and go over their assignments and progress.These meetings generally last about 15 minutes per child but can be shorter or longer depending on our needs that week.Each of my children bring their binder so I can look at all their work from the previous week.I check each section to make sure they have completed what they were supposed to and that it’s stored away.
This is my time to see mistakes they are making and read over daily writing assignments.It’s also a time to make sure they are keeping organized.Yes, this is a skill some of mine need to be taught, two in particular.They usually do the assignments but whether they can ever find what they did with it after it was complete is another question.This is how I keep them accountable.If it’s not in the binder they must either find it or re-do the assignment.If I see mistakes they are making, or work that isn’t neat, this is where we talk about it.I may assign some things to be re-written or go over things they missed.
From this I will write out what we discussed and specifically what assignments or corrections I requested by the next meeting.I keep this in my binder.There have been times in the past where I even have the child sign that they will complete “such and such” so there is no question as to what was assigned and when it’s due.
Also, during these meetings I try to find something I really liked that they did that week.So often I think I (maybe you to?) are always having to harp on what they did wrong and we don’t give enough encouragement.I especially like to encourage their writing.I’ll say, “wow, I really like that word you used” or handwriting is another area I like to encourage so I’ll say, “that page looked almost perfect, I love that!”.The smiles beam on their faces!
We also try to brainstorm solutions to problems at this time.Yes, I think we need to teach and model problem solving.If they are having trouble getting a certain subject done we’ll discuss why they think that’s happening.Once we’ve decided on something else to try I’ll write that on my sheet and we’ll talk again the next week on how that change went.Now, sometimes I already know, but it’s good for them to learn to identify it and voice it themselves.
It takes about an hour a week but it helps me keep on track with my goals and helps the kids become more independent and accountable.It helps me give the individual attention and encouragement that I want to but might get neglected if I don’t make intentional time and it keeps me checking their work on a regular basis.Now I don’t sit there with an answer key checking every answer (unless I feel they really are missing the boat.)I spot check and discuss.Most of their work is done by notepage, or paragraphs so I quickly read through and do little correction unless there are obvious things they missed.
Okay, I know some of you started weeks ago but today ends our first week.We did the best we could.I think that about sums it up.
All of us are sick to one degree or another.It started while we were at family camp the week before Labor day my daughter coughed one night all night.She used to have asthma so that’s how she tends to get a virus.I also thought it may have been an allergy, after all it is the end of August, when she usually was the worst before when she had asthma, but no, it wasn’t just Ariel.
Over the weekend others appeared with symptoms and by Tues. the first day of school few were left unscathed.Problem is, it’s one of those, “not too bad” kind of viruses.You can kind of get through it, but you’re pretty cranky doing it.
Let me give you some examples, and I’ll leave out the names to protect the not so innocent!Plus that way I don’t have to own up to anything!We had struggles over silent letter’s like k in knew which prompted quivering lips and comments like, “Why do they even have to put them there…”, followed by outbursts of tears.This was not once but twice.Other’s begged for siblings to hand them books on the coffee table that was less than two feet away because they were, “too weak to move.”Still others were put in their rooms for whining, not so much because of the whining but because others had headaches and couldn’t take it anymore.
We did manage most things at home but didn’t do our fitness class or band this week.We also skipped Latin one out of two days scheduled (seems like that’s the subject that always gets bumped.)Other than that we did “accomplish” school which is great considering!I do have some “flex” time built in but how can you do that YOUR FIRST WEEK!
So why did I write this?I’m not perfect and neither is my family.Just wanted you all to know we are very REAL, just like your house I’m imagining!
How was your first week?I’m hoping for a better second week!
Once again I got sidetracked from my series on planning with all the end of summer "fun" stuff we've been doing! I'd gotten to the point where I've figured out what each subject/child needed to do each week. Now is where I put it (and all the other things we need to do) into our schedule.
Here's what it looks like this year:
It will probably be "tweeked" once or twice in early fall and then we'll stick to it. Like for instance I know we need another workout day at the Y. It will probably be Friday but I haven't got that in yet. I know we also need to schedule a regular library day but I haven't decided which would be the best day for that yet. Thought we'd give it a week or two and see which days seemed lighter. Here's the link to this file in PDF, and in Publisher.
I also do this at a glance subject assignment calendar. This helps me as well as the kids remember which subjects we do each day.
In past years I've had Thursdays as Science day and Fridays as History day (that's where we basically do nothing but Science/History on those days, so that made Mon-Wed. heavy in "Core" subjects) but this year that isn't going to work so this is quite a change for us. With the reading assignments in Mystery of History getting so much longer (from book I to III) it was getting difficult to absorb all in one day (though I much prefer that method!) Also, with science my oldest doing Apologia Chemistry this year needs more than one day to complete science so I thought it was best to just put everyone on that schedule. Here's the link to this sheet in xl if you're interested.
So that's about it on my planning. We started yesterday and things went almost according to plan. I was thinking it was Monday and it was actually Tuesday so I didn't do Science which is scheduled for Tuesday. Oh, well, if mom can figure out the days of the week we'll be all set, LOL!
Gina
p.s. Look in the future for more ideas on weekly meetings and projects weeks which you might have noticed in our schedule. Both of these work really well for us!
It has been a busy August!We just got back from homeschool family camp at Bair Lake Bible Camp .The week was amazing!
I’m not sure exactly why family camp is so great for us but I think a big part of it is that you are there to have fun as a family with no responsibilities!It’s great to be able to “play” all day with your kids and sometimes your husband too and not have to clean up, set up or cook dinner!
So what did we do?For the boys their favorite activity of the week would I’m sure be the paintball.The girls like the arts and crafts as well as the zip line and rock walls.This year they had a new indoor rock wall for us to try too!The big event for me was actually doing one of the rock walls myself!My husband did take pictures but I will spare you those as any of you know who have put those harness on know there is no way to look feminine in those things!But I did it, didn’t think I could but I did!!!!
Let’s see, we also participated in lots of games like scavenger type hunts as well as regular things like volleyball.There were also BB guns, archery, skeet shooting, canoeing, kayaking (my husband got REALLY wet doing this! LOL), BMX bikes, Mini-golf, swimming, Rocket launching, Eating (seemed like all the time and WAY too much, who says camp food is bad?) and probably a whole lot more I’m forgetting.
We’ve been to BairLake several times before for family camp but this was a first for the “homeschool” family camp.It was an added bonus to be with other homeschool families and have a homeschool speaker.I guess you could compare it to camp with the bonus of convention workshops!I got a lot out of that part which I’ll save for another blog.
So if you’re in MI, IN, OH and IL you should really check out this camp and maybe we’ll see you there next year!
Wow, has it been crazy around here lately.Just when we finished up fair we started packing for Cedar Point.Not every year, but twice now we’ve meet my father-in-law in SanduskyOhio.We stay at the Great Wolf Lodge which has a water park in it and visit Cedar Point which is the coaster park mecca of at least the Midwest if not the USA.
I have to tell you I much preferred the water park to the amusement park, maybe I’m getting old?
The day we were at Cedar Point was very hot which didn’t help.I’m not sure what the temperature was but driving at 8p.m. that night we saw a sign that said 88 so it must have topped 90 earlier!We did the water rides which helped cool us off but also kept us wet throughout the day.
At the hotel we could take a more leisurely pace and enjoy all the waterslides.The kids loved it and when we got tired of sliding we enjoyed the adult only area with great hot tubs for our aches and pains!
Oh, and I have to tell you about the God sighting on this trip. When we left Cedar Point to go back to the hotel there were funny sounds coming from our engine. We made it back to our parking lot however before the car was undrivable. It was our serpentine belt. As I called my Dad who does most of the work on my car to see what we were looking at as far as major or minor repair we noticed two guys with a big tool box under a car a couple rows away.
My Dad said we could fix it but we need a tool to do it. Since we just spotted these guys under a car with a tool box we thought we'd walk over and ask! Turns out, the one man was a maintenance employee for the hotel. We had to go get the part and he put it on for us in the parking lot. I don't think he knew it but I think God sent him! Major problem averted.
I hope you’re all making the most of the end of your summer too!I’m not ready for school yet!
As many of you who read this blog regularly know, I am a state representative for Total Language Plus.We started using the curriculum and it made such a radical change in our homeschool that I looked into representing the company.It is a great fit for our family!
When I’m at conventions often the question of planning comes up so I thought I’d address it here for now and future reference.
One of the great things about Total Language Plus is that the planning is so easy.It’s basically done for you, yet with a lot of flexibility.Let me show you what I mean by taking you through my planning this year for my 10 year old daughter who will be doing The Cricket in Times Square study guide.
First, I start with the planning grid which is in the front of each study guide.For Cricket there are six unit’s and 5 sections of daily work (A-E) for each unit so that makes 30 “daily” units of work.Besides the daily work there are choices in the Enrichment Writing section, sometimes we do lots of these and sometimes just a few.If we are planning on doing lots I may take 3 extra days per unit or if we are just doing a few I may only allot 1 extra day per unit.
I also take into consideration my other children if they are doing different studies.Many times we multi-age and are on the same novel but if they are on different ones I look at how many units they have and may adjust one so that we all end together.You wouldn’t have to do this but for us it just makes sense to try and start and end new ones around the same time, especially if the next one we will be doing together.Taking those things into consideration we plan to start the week of 9/2 and end the week of 10/27 taking off the week of 10/20 for a project week.
So the first week on her planning grid I write 1 A-D, 1PTP.That means she’s doing 4 days of “daily” work A-D and spending the 5th day of the week writing her paragraph (PTP) from her personal thinking questions.On the 5th day she would also work on any enrichment/writing that we chose.Some weeks she will have some and other weeks she won’t.I also planned the week of 11/3 to have “off” so we’ll have time to finish project or “make-up” anything we missed.I find it’s always good to have the cushion in there.
Next we look at the overview which is on the next few pages.This gives all the enrichment and writing choices for the entire study.I go through with my highlighter and note the ones we’ll do.Sometimes I decide these and sometimes I let the kids chose, it just depends.Once I have them highlighted in the overview I simply transfer my highlighting to the page/unit that contains what we’ve chosen.That way when my daughter gets there she knows what we decided to do.
For Cricket I let my daughter chose some of the “easier” things since this will be her first book in the 4th/5th grade level.She chose from the projects, #11 eat with Chinese food with chopsticks and #12 make up one sentence fortunes to put into cookies.She chose to do one of the pictures, #3, draw and color a pagoda.For the Pen and Paper exercises she chose #6, to write a news broadcast reporting on Chester’s concert.
We always discuss the Personal Thinking questions as we go through the chapter the question relates to.Each unit she will do one paragraph on a personal thinking question of her choice.My older children are usually required to write two paragraphs per unit on two different questions.
There is no right or wrong way so keep that in mind as you’re planning.This is just what I find easy and works for us.Hope it gives you some ideas and helps your school to flow smoothly.
Gina
p.s. If this curriculum in new to you and you'd like to check it out further go to the link at right under links for Total Language Plus or go to categories at right and click on TLP and literature to see some of the other things we've done with TLP. Oh, and if you want to order, I handle the states of MI, IN and OH. When you go to the Total Language Plus site and put in your state you'll get me if your from those states. if you're from one of the other states you'll get one of my good friends who will be happy to help you. I meet them every January for training and networking and they are all great homeschool mom's that will give you great service too!
Welcome to my blog! I plan my main topics to include Total Language Plus curriculum, using literature in studies, our experiences with homeschool and life, organization, scheduling and balancing responsibilities. From time to time it may also include chickens, Mystery of History, lapbooking, Bible study information, homeschool conventions and who knows what else!
We are finishing our Mystery of History book II after taking a break to cover government and the election.
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