More or Less Homeschool

Week 4 - Organized Mommy

2012-01-22T19:12:00.005-06:00

Life is starting to take on a normal pace after the month of holiday that we take each year. I finally have my cards finished and now I will implement them completely for the first time this year.

Challenge #4: Papa Blessings

A few years ago my husband was feeling very left out in the family. The kids were so young and demanded 99% or more of my attention. The toys were constantly thrown everywhere. Dinner may have been prepared on time or very late and usually cold. His towel usually had dirty hand prints and he couldn't find his things when he needed them. He wanted a place of his own in the midst of chaos. At first I resented this, especially since I felt that I was doing everything for everyone and getting nothing for myself.

At that time, I was reading Debbie Pearl's book, Created to be His Help-meet. This book sure opened my eyes as to my role as a wife. I wanted to be a better wife but I was so tired and really just wanted some "me" time. But with small, intentional changes, our marriage really took a turn for the better. Debbie says the easiest change to make is to smile at your husband every time you see him. I didn't realize I wasn't smiling. That little expression of love started the changes and grew our marriage. I couldn't believe it was working. We always want to change our spouse but Debbie says we must change ourselves to be what God has called us to be. Boy is she right.

I decided to start a system to help him feel as if he too were important to me. I cleared a shelf in the bathroom cabinet and organized his things nicely. When I showed him his shelf, he was so excited. We don't have room for a man-cave but a shelf seemed to do just the thing for him.

From there, I implemented "Papa Blessings". I made up a list of things around the house that would make him feel special, thought about, and give him a comfortable, peaceful home to come back to each night after a hard day at work. I divided these "blessings" up between all four of us and we start them at 4:00. By the time Papa gets home, the house is straightened, the kids are calming down, and dinner is started.

The change in his attitude about coming home was dramatic. He noticed the change weeks before I told him what we did. I didn't even tell him until he asked. When he heard the name, he felt important again. There was a time when I gave him my full attention, then I didn't have any energy left by the end of the day, now with only a few intentional ideas, he feels validated. That is my role as a wife.

So what are our "Papa Blessings"? Mine will be different from yours.

Papa Blessings

Hang a clean towel in the bathroom

Take out the bathroom trash

Wipe the counter

Light a candle to make the house smell better than dog

Clear the toys away from the entrance of the door on the porch

Straighten the living room and give a quick vacuum

I also read a book by Focus on the Family about the smells of the home. It said do whatever we, as mothers and wives, can do to make memories that smell. How many times do you smell something and it takes you back to a time? Some ways to make "smell" memories are bake bread in the bread machine as often as possible for dinner, light special smelling candles during specific activities, bake cookies on the same day each week while having a game, special talk time, etc. These are only some ideas. My family loves it when I try to make "smelling" memories. I don't do it as often as I'd like but my husband loves this.

So, what is your challenge? Make your husband feel special when he comes home from work by implementing "Papa Blessings". Make a list of items around the house that bug your husband and make an effort to focus on these items each day around 4:00. They don't have to be big or time consuming. You won't believe the joy this will bring him, and you in the end, as well. Then you can just imagine the teachable moment to your daughter about her role as a wife and to your sons about choosing a wife who puts him first, after God.

British History Timeline

2012-01-22T19:05:00.002-06:00

Though we are using Ambleside Online for our curriculum, I've really revamped it for myself. We are starting our Term 2 tomorrow for this school year and focusing on British History with Our (An) Island Story. I found this great link to Timeline Characters of the Kings & Queens of England on fellow AO Mom's blog: Little Homeschool Blessings. I am so thankful for this. I think this will make a great addition to our study.

Kings & Queens of England

Grammarland worksheets

2012-01-18T09:45:00.002-06:00

I've posted before about my favorite book for teaching grammar. I just love GrammarLand by Edith Nesbit.

It's a fun and interesting way to learn grammar. I wanted to share a link to the grammar worksheets you use with this book. Thanks to Jessica Cain for preparing all these awesome worksheets and posting them for all us to use for free.

GrammarLand Worksheets

My chore cards

2012-01-17T21:31:00.006-06:00

I hope you have been able to finish your room inspections and plans. I finally finished my chore cards. Click the picture below and it will take you to my google docs link. I wrote in some of my considerations for each room to explain why I chose specific days of the week or months of the year. I kept November and December free for holiday focus rather than room focus.

If you would like a copy of this in open office, which is what I made mine in, let me know I will email the file to you.

Chore cards 2012

Week 3 - Organized Mommy

2012-01-16T10:44:00.003-06:00

Goodmorning everyone! I do hope you all had a great and relaxing weekend. This is our third week of organizing in 2012. Let's don't give up if we aren't doing as well as we hoped. Our lives are busy but with some intentional changes we will be much farther ahead next year than we may feel this year.

This week's challenge is simple....let's work the plan. If you haven't finished preparing your chore cards, this week will allow you to get caught up. By the end of January, all the cards should be completed and implemented.

You will notice that in preparing the chores last week, that the annual chores were divided up throughout the year. I thought I'd explain this a little more in case it wasn't clear. Many chores don't need to be done weekly, but once a year is not enough. After doing our weekly clean in a room, I like to challenge myself to do one more chore. It never takes much time to do just one more thing. It's when I feel like I have to do everything that I get overwhelmed and exhausted. Well, finish all the weekly chores on your list, then do one annual chore like clean the ceiling fans, wipe the bathroom walls, wipe off the appliances, etc. The chores like changing the a/c filter will go under the bi-annual card since we really only need to change them twice a year.

I have not finished my cards yet but plan to this week. Once they are completed, I will post them here. Good luck and let's get cleaning!

WEEK 2 - Organized Mommy

2012-01-02T15:02:00.005-06:00

I hope you were able to get through all the rooms in your home to list out what you hope to accomplish in them this year. Now, we will take each room and dedicate one day per week as well as 2 months per year for special projects in each room.

Each day, take one of the sheets of paper (one room per day). Underline any chores on the paper that your children are able to do. Even if there are too many chores, underline them all anyway. The ones left will definitely go on your chore list.

Next to the yearly section of each room, write a number 1-4. These numbers will represent the week of the month that the chore will be done. If you have more than 4 of these chores, you may either double up smaller chores or put an "S" for spring or an "F" for fall after the number. This allows you to only do that chore once a month or twice a year.

Decide which day of the week you'd like to focus on each room. I feel better when my kitchen is clean and organized at the beginning of the week since I spend more time in that room than any other. Write that day on the top of the paper.

Below is a word version of my chore list by rooms. Download it and put it in your word program. It will convert into whatever you use. You will see that each card has a date on the top, a room name, and a list of chores. Take the Monday chore card and replace my chores with your room and your list of chores.

Chore cards

Project cards

I hang my cards on a hook on my refrigerator, changing the card to the appropriate date. I keep the project cards on their own hook making it easy to keep these projects in the forefront of my mind. Any time I have extra that month, I try to do one or two projects. If I miss any, that room will come around again in 6 months. I like to dedicate 2 months to the yard and garden because I love to stay outside in the spring. I will admit that I won't spend 2 months in the fall. But this is a good time to work on cleaning the shed, setting up Christmas lights, etc.

I hope this makes sense. Good luck this week!

New Year - Let's Get Organized!

2012-01-02T11:20:00.002-06:00

I will be blogging this year about getting organized in 2012. I decided to post my plan in order to make me stick to it. If I know that other's are reading and working this plan along with me, I will be more dedicated to keep it up. If you'd like to join me and my friends who have already signed up, just read this blog each Monday for your weekly assignment.

HOW THIS GOT STARTED:

Years ago, I read FlyLady's website non-stop. I put most of her ideas into practice and I LOVED it! It worked great and after lots of reading (and I mean addicted reading) I made my plan, worked it, and kept it up. I loved it. After several years, life took over, our business took off, and I wasn't home to work the plan anymore. I had learned a lot from her and I thank her with all my heart! But this time I decided to go even slower and easier. I spent WAY too much time reading that website and neglecting my family last time. I want to be that Proverbs 31 woman but it's very hard. I once saw a speaker at a church who talked on her book which was about the Proverbs 31 woman. She said we don't have to HATE the Proverbs 31 woman. The chapter on her is short but it covers all the stages in her life. What an eye opener that was for me!! Now, I don't HATE her, I just have to read it and see which stage I'm in right now. I can't always be everything but I can always work towards her as my goal. I don't remember this author's name or the name of her book. If I come across it during our book cleaning day, I'll post it then.

I will post short and easy assignments to do each week. We have 52 weeks. There is no need to get in a hurry. After the year is over, we should have a great game plan in action to keep us going in the years to come. We'll see where that leads but for now, it's ORGANIZING our home, family, and life for 2012.

LET'S GET STARTED!

ASSIGNMENT #1 - WEEK 1

Our first project for this new year, to get us organized by the end of the year, is to take a clean sheet of paper to a different room each day of the week. Divide that paper into 3 sections. Section 1 - weekly cleaning, Section 2 - Yearly cleaning, Section 3 - projects for that room, goals for that room, or long term ideas for it.

By the end of the week, we should have a good plan to work with for the year. We'll start putting it together next week. This month will be organizing our ideas and making a plan.

Good luck!

2011-09-02T07:03:00.000-05:00

Calling all Families! Calling all Moms! Calling all Homeschoolers!

Join thousands of families nationwide to see the movie Dolphin Tale on September 23 together. It makes a statement to Hollywood to rally behind movies that “get it right” and tell great stories without all the junk, twaddle, and moral compromise! This movie has all the good stuff we want more of and is truly entertaining and inspiring from ages 5-95!!!
It’s time the conservative Christian Family and Homeschool community shows Hollywood we have a voice. But how? We need a story we can support and get behind, a story that affirms who we are and what we stand for.

Dear Friends, Dolphin Tale is such a story!

This is a family movie that will inspire, instruct, and bring you to tears because of the great story line. This movie even has two homeschool kids who play the main roles! (The casting agents went to a local support group in California and found them!)
The bottom line is that the Homeschool Movie Club wants to show Hollywood that the those of us with Christian and strong family values are a big enough market to support other great movies with traditional, conservative family values. I am hoping you will be a part of this great opportunity with me!

Free book on fractions & decimals

2011-07-26T11:59:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Lisa at http://homeschoolliberalarts.com/ for posting this link for a free book on fractions & decimals. How did she know this will be my math focus this year?! Enjoy!

Gotta love those freebies! Scroll down almost halfway where it says "DOWNLOAD" http://www.schoodoodle.com/weblog/2010/08/10/free-ebook-of-the-month-fractured-fairy-tales-fractions-and-decimals/

Postcardsd from around the world

2010-11-06T14:30:00.002-05:00

Since we are studying world geography this year, I thought it would be fun to get postcards from around the world. I asked friends to talk to their friends and family and we were off and running. It's been very fun. I have recently found two yahoo groups that have really boosted our ability to get postcards from everywhere! You should see the excitement of running to the mailbox to see where our card comes from this time! Check it out! Then drop us a postcard. Www will send one back to you!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canadianpostcards2010/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/postcardkids/

All About Spelling

2010-11-06T13:03:00.002-05:00

Daniel Boone has had the hardest time learning to spell and write. We have tried learning the CM way but it just doesn't stick. Dictation was fun and gave him confidence but days later, all the words would be lost again. I found All About Spelling and I am veery excited about the prospects. It is very similar to the way Rgith Start Math works. There is cry little prep work involved. Just pick up the book, look over the materials needed, and get started. It starts out very basic but I think it will make very good strides in then long run. He finds it boring because we are using small, easy words but I believe we need to start there. We are even using the principles already when writing bigger words during his normal writing.

If you have a child who is frustrated with spelling, I recommend trying All About Spelling. Check it out.

Strugglin' with teaching grammar?

2010-09-28T10:43:00.002-05:00

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This is too funny!!!

School's starting

2010-09-03T23:50:00.000-05:00

Though the summer heat is not over yet, it is finally time to start the new year. Our family has had a very trying summer and I am now working full time with our family business. My wonderful friend has offered to help me out during this season and will be schooling my kiddos on Tuesday and Thursday. What a blessing this is. I have most of my curriculum ready and hope to post it soon. Because of my friend's wonderful offer, I have switched years this year. Rather than moving on to year 4, we are doing year 5. My friend uses My Father's World and she is studying countries and cultures. It was just easier to switch years and study countries along with her than to try to do my year 4 three days a week. Our first week went well. The kids like getting up to go to their friend's house. I like having those days to really focus on work uninterupted. I am able to focus on their education on my schooling days. I am still going to try to keep up with our math at night. We may have some school to do on Saturday which will be new to us but I think it will work out in the long run.

Worm update

2010-06-22T12:35:00.000-05:00

So, it's been 2 weeks and all my worms are alive!! They are getting a little hot in the summer heat so I may need to put more holes in the box. I'm amazed at how fast they eat all the food I put in there. Ok, I do go a little crazy sometimes and blend up the food to make it easier and faster for them to eat. But I need those castings! My garden isn't looking so good. I have BIG hopes for next year's garden though!!

WORMS!

2010-06-04T15:57:00.000-05:00

Each year I try to add something new to our little homestead. Today it was worms!!

I learned how to set up my worm bin from Wormbincomposting.com.

I went to a local worm composting class. Then with some other families, we order 5,000 worms. I got them in the mail today and thought something was wrong. The bag was filled with a peat moss type filling and when I poured it out I found a few worms. They didn't look too healthy. I was a bit discouraged. I kept poking around until I found them. And let me tell you, I'm not afraid of much when it comes to nature. I am a science teacher and I've held a lot of creatures including snakes. But when I found this massive pile of knotted up worms I got a bit creeped out. It looked like a big pile of maggots. They worms are not that large, not like night crawlers. Well, I've put them in their new home and they are getting acquainted now. I have high hopes that they will live, grow, multiply, and provide me with lots of good worm castings for my garden. The kids are even talking about starting a business selling worms if they multiply like they say they are supposed to.

If you want to learn about Vermicomposting, that's was worm composting is called, www.instructables.com has great instructions that will get you started.

Free audio books today

2010-06-04T15:47:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Raising Future Leaders for posting this great freebie today!!

BlueBehmoth.com is offering 2 free audio books:

Providential Battles I: Twenty Battles that Changed the World by William Potter

and

Jonathan Park Volume V: The Explorer's Society by Vision Forum Radio

We're very excited about this last one. I've been waiting for my boys to be older before buying this set. I had to miss our local homeschool conference where I was planning on buying one of these sets and here is one for free!! Go God and thank you for this gift!! And thank you BlueBehmoth too!

Homemade Christmas gifts

2009-12-22T09:18:00.000-06:00

Here are some of my favorite gifts to make and where I found them.

Sock Snowfolk - Grandmothers love this gift!! OK, Moms do too!

The cutest printable gifts you will ever see! Make gourmet popcorn, snowman soup, candy jars, and so much more!

Christmas tree garland. My sister-in-law made this gift for me one year and I made them for many families the next year. They were a big hit! It's also fun and easy for the kids to help. To make it buy a kit of beads from Walmart. They sell a plastic box of colored beads in the craft section for about $8.00 - $10.00. It has more beads than you can possibly use. Also buy thin string and 2 or 3 bags of colored letter beads. Then alternately string a several colored beads and then a family member's name. Rather than stringing 1 long continuos line of garland. We make each line just long enough for the front, exposed side of the tree. My mother and father are one their own line at the top of the tree (because it's the shortest line). Below that is my in-law's line, then a line for my family, and below that is a line for my brother's family. It's so pretty when the lights shine through the colored beads. I'll try to post a picture later.

LindaFaye's detailed booklist for K-6

2009-12-22T09:05:00.000-06:00

I am so excited to have found LindaFaye's booklist in a Word document. Now I can keep up with what I have already have and what I have left to get from PaperBackSwap.

lindafaysKthru6booklist

A real life, not so great, homeschool day

2009-11-03T22:45:00.000-06:00

I read so many blogs about homeschooling. Most of the are homeschooling the Charlotte Mason way. They always seem to have the perfect day. The scene is so sweet. The activities were fun. The kids were excited. The day was great. Well, I'm here to share a real day in our homeschool life that was not this picture. I think it's nice to see both sides of the experience.

Today, our day started out late. This is more common than not since I have emails to check each morning for our business and I tend to allow myself to get caught up on this computer. It's a habit that I need to beak. Ms. Mason would not be proud of me there.

Anyway, my sweet children did a great job getting their chores done on their own and get their books to the table to start school. I came in and made everyone toast and juice and sat down to start reading. All was going well. We read the New Testament for 10 minutes. We read Polite Moments and talked about the character trait of having a good name and how that is more important than riches. We reviewed our CM Motto. We're memorizing this motto this year and we discuss a little more about it's meaning each week.

So far, so good!!

I pick up our American History book and ask "so, what happened last week in American History?" Normally my kids can spout off so much information that I'm left speechless. Today, NOTHING! Not one word. No one had a clue. I knew it was because last week during the reading, they were all very deep in thought about the stars wars scene they were each drawing while I was reading. I try not to get discouraged. The lesson was about James Robertson and I didn't know who he was until last week. It hasn't affected my life up to now to not know who he was and what he did for our country. (I'm not trying to say he wasn't important - just that it's not a battle I'm ready to go to war over.) I start to remind them a little about it and we discuss why no one can remember the details. They understand that they are usually better at remembering than this and that we need to try harder this week to focus.

I proceed with the reading and my daughter begins to be very disruptive. I warn her that she needs to come back to school and stop goofing around. She's trying to make her brothers laugh. I finally tell her that she is not welcome in school if she is going to be disrespectful to me while I'm reading and to her brothers who are trying to listen. She is excused to her room until further notice.

I pick up the book again (at this point, I've read 2 chapters). Now Peter Pan has to go to the bathroom but he doesn't want to call it that because he REALLY has to go. I get the idea and send him off. Daniel Boone and I are left at the table to wait. I decide to take the opportunity to make a Presidential Time Line that I've wanted to make for them for awhile. We're still in the American Revolution and we're about to move on so this is a perfect place to prepare our time line. PP finally comes back. Tinkerbell is ready to apologize and wants permission to come back to school. I tell her I forgive her and she is welcome. She asks can we carve our pumpkins now? (We haven't had time to do that yet.) I tell her no that we are in school now but maybe later today. She gets very sad and comes to the table with puppy eyes that could cut through a steel door. I am getting frustrated at the mean looks and sniffles from my left while I'm trying to continue reading. I tell her that until she can get her emotions under control she needs to stay in her room. Now, she's crying again and the boys and I are left to do History alone AGAIN!

The phone rings and it's a business call that I have to take. So, I'm off to the office for 15-20 minutes. As I leave the room, TB comes our to apologize and wants to return to school. I hug her, forgive her, explain that she can't disrupt school but she's welcome to come back. We're all smiles as we sit to pick up the same book we've been trying to read for 2 hours now. It's almost lunch time and we're all hungry.

I read the last 3 paragraphs. We're finally finished with this book for today! They narrate decently but not great which is understandable considering all the interruptions through it.

We do a small activity and then we sit down to read Seaman. This is their favorite book. The chapters are very long so we try to read a little each day in order to get through all I planned for the week. Each time I stop to have them narrate they get a bit crazy. They are goofy, laughing, making funny eyes. I'm trying to take it in stride because we need to laugh and enjoy school. But I'm getting frustrated each time I look at the clock and we've barely started school.

I finally get to the end of that section and ask for a narration. DB is quick to volunteer as usual. He begins with a VERY goofy narration that is funny but starts to get off course. I do not allow them to add to the narration in order to make the story better. They have to stick to the story and narrate what they heard. I remind him of this and he proceeds to act it out. TB joins in and it's getting very loud in the kitchen. I patiently watch through the whole thing. They did actually listen and they are telling me the story in their own way. But we're getting out of control and they are about to step over the line. I decide to stop it before we cross that line. I ask them to all sit down and be quiet for a minute. They look at me like "boy, we've done it now." They wait quietly and when I ask them to continue with what they heard, it's all over. They can't resist anymore! They are rolling in the floor laughing.

I tell them, this is a good time for a lesson in why we do things Mom's way. I tell DB to get out his dictation, we're going to have his test now. Fear is all over his face. I tell the other 2 to start their copywork. DB brings me his Spelling Wisdom book and prepares his paper and pencil. He's very careful to write neatly because he knows I'm frustrated with them. The other 2 are working very quietly now.

DB can't spell his words. I ask him if he studied them and he says yes. I know otherwise and decide to teach him a lesson here. I ask him to get me his card that I made him that shows him how to study his lesson. He gets it and is thankful he knows where it is. We had that discussion last week. I read it. Number 1 read through the lesson and study the words. "Did you do that?" "Yes" "so you picked up this book and read the lesson today?" "No" "Number 2, close your eyes and picture each word as a picture. Did you do this?" "No"

I'm not going on from here. I explain how it took me 4 days to make his cards that teach him to learn his words in his learning style. I continue explaining that when he doesn't use the cards, he's stealing my time and making it a waste of my time. I tear up the card and tell him if he's not going to use it, there is no need to have it. He has tears in his eyes now. I tell him that he may close up his books and clean his side of the table. I tell the other 2 the same. Their teacher has quit and DB is no longer welcome in the school since he is just going to steal from me and that I don't have time to do things over and over for him. I make sure the other 2 understand that they are only welcome in our school so long as they are ready to work. But for now, school is closed and the lessons will be done on Saturday when they were planning on going hunting with Dad. Now the tears are flowing. I'm not yelling but I do proceed to lecture about how it hurts my feelings to have them tell me how much they don't like school when I work so hard for them to have fun activities to do and fun books to read. I heard this complaint twice right before the last reading. I tell DB that he needs to tell Dad that he's been expelled from school and that he can do 4th grade all over again next year.

I do at this time decide maybe I'm over reacting. I tell DB that if he wants to be readmitted into our school then he needs to write me a paper of why he wants to come to school. I send the other 2 out to work with out neighbor in the yard and I head straight to the kitchen cabinet for my "Happy Pill". I realize that I must be PMSing to be so frustrated at them. I realize that I haven't taken my Evening Primrose all month and that I must really need it! I call this little herb my "Happy Pill". So does everyone else around me! :)

So, the day was not a total failure until I picked up my CM book "Parents and Children". I'm reading Chapter 7 this with an online group. Here is what I read:

"Education is a Discipline. Where his parents fail, the poor soul has one further chance in the discipline of life; but we must remember that, while it is the nature of the child to submit to discipline, it is the nature of the undisciplined man to run his head in passionate wilfulness against the circumstances that are for his training; so that the parent who wilfully chooses to leave his child to be 'broken in' by the schoolmaster or by life leaves him to a fight in which all the odds are against him. The physique, the temper, the disposition, the career, the affections, the aspirations of a man are all, more or less, the outcome of the discipline his parents have brought him under, or of the lawlessness they have allowed.
Discipline is not Punishment––What is discipline? Look at the word; there is no hint of punishment in it. A disciple is a follower, and discipline is the state of the follower; the learner, imitator. Mothers and fathers do not well to forget that their children are, by the very order of Nature,
Vol 2 pg 67
their disciples. Now no man sets himself up for a following of disciples who does not wish to indoctrinate these with certain principles, or at the least, maxims, rules of life. So should the parent have at heart notions of life and duty which he labours without pause to instill into his children.
How Disciples are Lured––He who would draw disciples does not trust to force; but to these three things––to the attraction of his doctrine, to the persuasion of his presentation, to the enthusiasm of his disciples; so the parent has teachings of the perfect life which he knows how to present continually with winning force until the children are quickened with such zeal for virtue and holiness as carries them forward with leaps and bounds.
Steady Progress on a Careful Plan––Again, the teacher does not indoctrinate his pupils all at once, but here a little and there a little, steady progress on a careful plan; so the parent who would have his child a partaker of the Divine nature has a scheme, an ascending scale of virtues, in which he is diligent to practise his young disciple. He adds to the faith with which the child is so richly dowered, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control. Having practised his child in self-control, he trains him in patience; and to patience he adds godliness; and to godliness, kindness; and to kindness, love. These, and such as these, wise parents cultivate as systematically and with as definite results as if they were teaching the 'three R's.'"

OK, so now I'm the worst CM homeschool mother on the planet. I put the book down and just have to laugh. I walk into DB's bedroom and he's struggling with the dictionary to spell his 7th word on the page. That's as far as he's gotten in 30 minutes. 7 words. Poor soul! I sit down with him and we have a heart to heart.

So, he's back in school. Mom should be better in a few days. Things may get better yet. But for now, there's a real life look into a not so great homeschool day.

Holidays are coming!!

2009-11-02T08:06:00.000-06:00

Happy Fall!!

It's crisp and cool outside. The leaves are turning and fall is in the air! I'm searching for ideas to use this fall to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've done so much in the past but I'd like to add some new ideas this fall.

I've heard of making Thanksgiving trees before but haven't. Here's a very cute one at Chocolate on my Cranium.

As I find more, I'll add them here.

"I did it" Chore Chart

2009-10-03T03:39:00.000-05:00

We have used a chore chart called "I did my chores". It has been wonderful. You can see it at: http://www.chores-help-kids.com/chore-chart-information.html.

I made token jars out of old icing containers with a slit in the lid. I let them decorate a piece of paper that I glue to the jar so it's their token jar. I made a "store" that I keep on the fridge to get them excited about what they are working so hard for. There were items like gum and small candies that cost 5 tokens for that instant gratification. Up to items that cost 300 tokens to teach them to save. I've included 2 of the stores we used in the past. You can make the store for anything he is interested in. I also added things like play a game or take a walk with Mom. If they earned this one, then I couldn't say "later". I had to play when they wanted to. They loved this! This is completely separate from school.

Each night, as part of the bedtime ritual, they bring me the cards they have in their "I did it box" and I give them 1 token per chore completed. They have to set up the cards again for the morning. They are colored so it's easy. If they ever lied about doing a chore, it "cost" them 5 tokens. They learned that one quickly. If they ever did a chore incorrectly, like hiding things in their room rather than putting it away properly, then they didn't get a token. In the chores that I knew they struggled with, I always "tried" to check them before they put the chore in the " I did it " box. Any time they "stole" my time to do their chores correctly it "cost" them. The chore program can be purchased at many retail stores. At first I thought it was too much money, and after a year I decided to use Christmas money to buy 3 of them. It was the best money spent that year. It's just awesome and so easy. I didn't like their pictures, so I searched the net for "free chore pictures" and made my own stickers to put on the cards. The color coded program really makes it easy to put them on the chart quickly.

We have changed our program now as I get bored with the same set up but we kept that one for years. We still call our morning chores "the yellows", etc. All their chores are still colored. Our current chore chart has gotten much more detailed. You can see that one under the chores label.

Chore Rewards 1

Chore Rewards

Pledge of Allegiance

2009-09-29T08:07:00.001-05:00

What a wonderful way to remind ourselves and to teach our children what the Pledge of Allegiance actually means. Listen to Red Skelton's story here.

.

Reading, Writing, Typing, Latin and so much more!!

2009-09-24T07:19:00.005-05:00

I have recently come across a wonderful website (www.donpotter.net) filled with priceless information. I wish I had known of these ebooks when we were first starting phonics. I wonder if it wouldn't have been easier for Daniel Boone to learn phonics this way. I'm thinking of printing Word Mastery for the First Three Grades and allowing Daniel Boone to spend 10 minutes a day doing this phonics program to instill these concepts into his brain and making reading easier for him. Don also suggests using The Phonics Page to help older students with phonics work. I'll be reviewing this website this week also.

I'm certainly looking into the Latin ideas here. Today we have downloaded the Read, Write & Type demo from TalkingFingers.com that Don Potter suggests and will try it to see if we'd like to purchase it to learn to type and as a review of phonics rules. I wish we had done this early in my children's phonics lessons. What a great idea to have them learn to type while learning to read and write.

State Fair Photo Entries

2009-09-14T06:53:00.010-05:00

This is our first year to enter items into the state fair. I called this "handicraft" this month. I took the children to the park on our first day of school this year. I gave them my camera and told them to not just take pictures but look for art. Here are their photo entries. I was pleasantly surprised and very impressed with what they came up with!!

Daniel Boone

This poor elephant had a very bad itch. DB took lots of pictures and this is the one he picked.

Daniel Boone

We called this one the "Unseen Execution". Look real close at this picture.

Tinker Bell

"Our dog"

Tinker Bell

"Flowers in Bloom"

Peter Pan

"Worm Wood"

Peter Pan

"Long neck"

This was just a picture of several flamingos to me. I told PP how nice this picture was. He said, "no mom. Look in the back. I took this picture because the water made his neck look so long." What an eye!

Why do I follow HigherUpandFurtherIn's curriculum

2009-08-29T22:23:00.003-05:00

I've been asked why do I follow Lindafay's curriculum when I love Ambleside Online so much. Well, here's the answer...from Lindafay. I just found this on a comment section of her year 3 page and she said exactly what I liked about her curriculum order. I couldn't say it any better:

The major differences between my schedules and AO are that I integrate Bible readings with ancient history and the children also learn US history during these early years rather than British History. They do the British readings, just later in fourth and fifth year. Also, in fifth year, we spend a whole year studying other non-European cultures-Africa, Middle East, Australia, Antarctica, India, etc…using great literature. (places AO doesn’t cover.) Some smaller differences are that I also changed some of the readings because they weren’t spread out evenly and easily for children, imo. I also added a few more items we found helpful.

Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Gift

2009-08-26T09:25:00.003-05:00

Sunday is Promotion Sunday at our church, where our children are promoted to the next grade up in Sunday School. Over at Skip to My Lou's there is a wonderful idea for a teacher appreciation gift that we are going to make this week as a thank you gift to my children's teachers. It's so cute!!! Check it out - 7 Day a Week Teacher Appreciation! She has lots of very cute ideas. I love the Scratch Off Valentine cards!

Making Flubber

2009-08-24T12:28:00.014-05:00

How do you start school fun??? By making Flubber. Do you remember the movie Flubber. Well, this is close but of course not REAL Flubber. We had fun and it gave the kids something to put in their school fun box for when they finish a subject early. Here's how we did it:

Ingredients:

Borax

Glue

Water

Measuring cup

Food coloring

Pour 2 cups of glue in a bowl. Add 1 & 1/2 up of warm water. Add food color at your preference.

In another bowl, mix 3 teapoons of borax with 1 & 1/3 cup of warm water.

Pour the water/borax mixture into the colored glue mixture. Now here comes the fun part. Put away the spoons, take off your rings, and dig in. You have to life up & turn the glue mixture over and over until you are left with about 1 tablespoon of water. The mixture will begin to gel together.

Once you think you have all the water out that will come out, pour the water off the mixture and allow the "flubber" to dry just a minute or two.

It stretches! It bounces! It rolls!

Store your Flubber in a zip lock bag tightly. It will seep out if it can!

Reading incentives

2009-08-21T10:21:00.003-05:00

To help my children learn to read and work on their reading skills outside of our "school time", I would make game boards. I got this idea from Hooked on Phonics (which we loved!!). You can make game boards easily. Go to Donna Young's Game Board page and choose a game board. Each square could equal time increments (we used 15 minute increments) or a single book. I write what each square is worth on the square. When they complete that square, they either color it in or put a sticker in it. There is always a reward at the end. We live within 2 hours of Six Flags and they offer free tickets for reading. So our game board is always for a free day at Six Flags. We usually draw something at the end like "Yeah! We're going to Six Flags!"

We hang these on the refrigerator in plain sight. This makes it easy to remind them to do some extra reading. Also, seeing lots of stickers on a siblings map encourages others to "catch up".

This is a fun way to get them some extra practice. Most of my children are reading well, but we like this and will continue it this year!

The Movie "Orphans"

2009-08-06T19:27:00.003-05:00

I was disgusted when I saw the previews for the movie "Orphans". Then I was so saddened to think that many people will believe this movie to be true. How many children will be affected by this movie? We are to protect and support these sweet children not portray them as evil!! Please sign the petition to bring awareness to the pain and sadness of this movie at: Sign the Petition. You may also go to the link at the bottom of my blog to learn more. Thank you for your loving support of those left behind.

Reminder: World eBook Fair this month for FREE!

2009-07-24T15:38:00.001-05:00

The free month of ebooks is going on now through Aug. 4th, 2009. All of their ebooks will be available to download for free during that month. Go check them out at: World eBook Fair.

Poison Ivy Relief

2009-07-24T15:28:00.002-05:00

I went to an herbal class last weekend and learned a remedy for poison ivy relief....Peppermint Oil. My husband and Daniel Boone get poison ivy so bad that they are covered all summer long. They've tried every known product with no relief from the constant itch....until now. That Peppermint Oil works wonders!!!! I can't believe it. If you know someone who suffers from it too, give it a try. We've just been amazed. My husband even said yesterday that he's so glad to have something that actually works.

We use Nature's Sunshine products but I think any peppermint oil will work.

That's My King!!

2009-07-14T13:07:00.006-05:00

My church plays this for our congregation sometimes. We love it! My daughter walked by while I was loading it and asked if I could put it on the ipod. When I told her it was already there, she was very excited! AM Lockridge must've been an awesome preacher to listen to. And now he's with his King! Praise God! I hope you like it too.

"I wish I could describe Him to you!"

Here's another version:

"I wonder, do you know Him?"

Gettysburg Address

2009-07-01T10:15:00.006-05:00

We'll be studying the Civil War next year and in my preparation I found these wonderful recordings of the Gettysburg Address.

	Johnny Cash - Gettysburg Address

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

There are several more options at AmericanRhetoric.com. My favorites are Johnny Cash's recording and Jeff Daniels' recording.

Summer Vacation!!

2009-06-24T03:57:00.002-05:00

We school all year but I'm finding that taking June off is a great idea! The kids are in VBS at a couple of churches. This gives me 2 weeks of half days to get lots of projects done in our home office. They had swim lessons last week. So much fun! Next week they will all go to day camp Summer Camp. They are so excited and I will get 5 days from 9-5 to plan and organize the next school year. This is the best time of the year for me to plan and prepare. We will start back to school for 7 weeks after July 4th weekend. That will finish out this year of school. By then, I should everything ready for the next year of schooling. We'll take a week or 2 off before starting and have some summer fun.

We like schooling in the summer because it gets so very HOT in the dog days of summer that the kids have a hard time staying outside and end up getting bored and fighting. This way they have a "summer vacation" in June with lots of play time. Then when we start back in July they are ready to work. We'll still go swimming in the afternoons and of course, we have all these animals to keep us busy!!

Dream Schedule

2009-06-04T10:22:00.006-05:00

Many people have asked for my "dream schedule". I call it that because in my dream world, we follow it to a "T". But in reality our home business takes over so often and my schedule falls apart. But on those days and weeks when it works, I love this!! We do school year round. We study 6 weeks, have 1 week for exams (usually after 12 weeks) and take a week off for fun. We also take all of December off. During the exam week we put on plays for Daddy about what we learned, recite for him our poetry and memory verses. We also use this time to show off our school work.

Thank you to who ever designed this format. I have read so many schedules that I don't know where I found it but I love it!!!

Maybe this will help someone else.

AO YR 2 Schedule 2009 AO YR 2 Schedule 2009 stsawyer

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Essays & Theses School Work curriculum schedule

Van Gogh

2009-04-01T10:52:00.003-05:00

We are studying Van Gogh this year very slowly!! We study a new panting each month. I've downloaded some coloring pages off the net to color this month. Someone posted on AmbleRamble this week the following clip. We loved it!! Enjoy!

Pagoo - plankton videos

2009-03-25T10:53:00.008-05:00

We started reading Pagoo this week and I've been searching the net for videos on plankton. I found 3 this morning that we really enjoyed. I a posting them here because of the inappropriate videos on the side bar of youtube. They were fun and we all enjoyed these.

Our favorite:

Another good one:

The kids liked this one:

Now I'm off to find clipart and printables to use in my lapbook for Pagoo....

Dogs meet chickens

2009-03-20T14:36:00.019-05:00

Everyone has so enjoyed watching the chicks!! We have 18 chicks now. Tinkerbell especially loves to hold them. When we had chickens 2 years ago, she was 6. We called her the chicken whisperer. She would walk up to a chicken and just pick it up. It wouldn't fight her or squawk. It would simply sit there patiently until she put it back down. it was so funny! I think she's on her way to that name again.

Just hatched Less than an hour old.

About 7 hours old 1 day old

It was finally time to let the dogs in and introduce them to the chicks. We're hoping that by allowing them to be around the chickens constantly and from birth, they will leave the chickens alone. Our male, who's name is Rooster by the way - so funny, has really taken an interest in them. We're not sure what he's thinking. He watches them constantly. He's even tried to climb into the box with them. Every once in awhile he will try to pick one up. He's very gentle but we don't let him. He's either thinking that is one really cool toy or he is trying to care for them. When they go to sleep and quiet down, he has to go and nose them all to wake them up. I don't think he likes when they are quiet.

Our female, Sarah, acted like they weren't in the room. She completely ignored them. It wasn't until Daniel Boone moved the box into the middle of the room where she has to acknowledge them did she. She slowly walked up to and around the box.

After about 5 minutes of staring at, around, and finally into the box, she became angry at Rooster. She slowly began to show her teeth, then growling softly, then finally telling him in no uncertain terms to get away from the babies! We're not sure if she didn't like them so she didn't want him around them or if she wanted to protect them from that big lug.

It has been non-stop laughter around here.

"WE HAVE CHICKENS!!"

2009-03-18T15:19:00.012-05:00

That is the exciting screams that are going down the halls this morning. We forgot to put the last 2 pictures on our timeline since we were out of the house yesterday and we were very surprised to hear chirping this morning. We did check them every morning and evening to make sure the humidity was increased and the temperature was correct for the hatching this week. But then today we were so excited to see that baby chicken in the incubator. Tinker Bell came screaming down the hall, "we have chickens!!" How fun it has been today. When the one little chick finally hushes you can hear lots of little peeping sounds coming from eggs. Then the chick hears them too and starts chirping and looking for them. It's so cute!! Tinkerbell was listening to music and she noticed that when the music was on the chick chirped loudly. When she would turn the music off, the chick would quiet down. What a science experiment!! They are having a hard time waiting for the chicks. It's taking hours for those little chicks to peck their way out of the egg. They thought it would be so fast. They are learning the great lesson of patience that the Lord wants us all to learn. Here are some pictures from our hatching experience today.

Chicken #1 (Cracker Jack) - it's the black spot in the corner. I'm sorry it's hard to see through the plastic window and the fog:

Listening for any more chirping in the eggs:

Chicken #2 (Annie Oakley) & #3 (Yoda) are working hard to hatch:

Watching Annie Oakley hatch:

We know for sure that there are 4 more chicks trying to peck their way out. We'll know tomorrow just how many of the 36 eggs made it. I hope everyone reading this will try this at some point. It is so fun and a great science class and testimony to God's amazing design and plans.

Gardening

2009-02-27T14:25:00.009-06:00

We have begun working in our garden to get it ready for the spring planting. We use the Square Foot Gardening method but have decided to do a lasagna garden inside each square foot plot. Lasagna gardening is an inexpensive way to build the soil and prepare the bed. We didn't do much work in our garden last year so it really became overgrown with weeds.

This is how our garden looked before we started. We had to pull all the weeds out first.

After the weeds were pulled, we dug all the dirt out of the squares and put it in a wagon.

Once all the original dirt was out, we began to layer. We started with shredded newspaper. For a correct lasagna garden, you should layer wet pages of newspaper to kill out the weeds. We had no weeds since we dug them out, so we shredded it to help the worms in the decomposition.

Next came a layer of leaves.

Then we proceeded to layer the original soil, with peat moss, and compost.

Finally, we covered it with 2 layers of plastic. We should be using black plastic, but we don't have any. This will "cook" the compost to help it to decompose quicker.

We should be ready to plant in about 3 weeks. Next, we need to start the seedlings....

Chicken Study

2009-02-27T07:42:00.006-06:00

Every year we try to hatch chickens. The kids love but unfortunately it doesn't always work. Our only set that has ever made it where all eaten by wild dogs. So, this year we're making changes. We started our incubation this week from eggs my mother gave us. We like the colored eggs so we have about 25 green eggs and about 10 brown eggs in the incubator. We put them in on Wednesday.

I like to make it a fun timeline study while we watch them incubate. There really isn't anything to see so by making a timeline it shows us what is going on in the eggs. I found this idea a few years ago while researching how to incubate so I can't give credit to whomever had this idea as I have no idea where I found it.

(here is our timeline and incubator)

We take 21 plastic Easter eggs and number them 1-21. I look for embryo pictures online and cut them out and put one picture in each corresponding egg. We make a 21 day timeline and hang it on the wall behind the incubator. Every day we open the egg that corresponds to that day and hang the picture on the timeline. No matter how many times we've done this, the kids still love it! Here they are filling the eggs with the embryo pictures.

Here are some really good sites for learning about incubation and for the embryo photos:

Mississippi State's 4-H Club - great site for black and white photos of embryo and lots of great information

Univ. of Illinois - Incubation and Embryology - cute site for lesson plan ideas (we're trying the egg in the bottle trick)

Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln - 4-H Embryology page - some good information but I don't like their embryo pictures

Enchanted Learning - lesson plans, worksheets, embryo pictures and more

Happy hatching!!

World eBook Fair - free for 1 month

2009-02-25T12:55:00.002-06:00

I recently came across the World eBook Fair site online. They will be having a free month from July 4th -Aug. 4th, 2009. All of their ebooks will be available to download for free during that month. Go check them out at: World eBook Fair.

Treasure hunting

2009-02-19T19:49:00.001-06:00

I have recently learned of a fun family treasure hunting activity. It's called Geocaching. You log onto their website at www.geocaching.com. From there you type in your zip code and you will see several locations in your area where boxes are hidden. You take your GPS and go hunting. I found over 15 in my little town. I am hoping to get a little homeschool group together after basketball ends and go on our first hunt. It looks so fun. Go check it out. You'll be surprised how many are in your area. Happy hunting.

Year 2 Schedule Term 1

2009-02-08T22:47:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd show the schedule that I finally settled on. I used several schedules that other AO mothers posted. Thank you to all of those wonderful women who are willing to share!! This is our Year 2 schedule for Term 1. The first 2 are printed portrait style. I "x" off each item as I read them or I put an "x" in the box for each time I read that during the week. I have added Math and Poem study at the bottom in pen and I put an "x" for each time we do those activities to help me keep track of it. The third schedule is my children's check off list. Daniel Boone really likes to be able to see what he has to do for the day so he can see when his play time will be. They are really into Star Wars right now so I found a free color page online and put it on their schedule. They thought I was the best mom every!! How easy is that!! They do the items that are starred with me and I choose what we read. If there is no star they can do it alone if I'm busy or I can help them.

Traci's Year 2 Schedule Term 1

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Spreadsheets

Classical Music and Composer Study

2009-02-07T09:44:00.010-06:00

Recently, we had the great fortune to see Vivaldi's Ring. I ordered the CD from Paperbackswap but didn't listen to it until the day before our concert. Oh, what a wonderful introduction into Vivaldi and his music. I have not been following AO's composer list but using the CD that I find about classical music and the children's versions that tell something about the composer. What joy it was to find that the concert we were watching was the play of the CD we own. It was performed by Classical Kids Live. We were all mesmerized for an hour, including my boys and my friend's toddler. Now, Daniel Boone was sitting with one of his friend's so they had the "I'm too cool for this" look on their face. However, once the music started, they are transfixed. After it was over, they went back to that same cool look. Everything changed when we were in the car alone and could talk about the concert. All three of them, Mr. Cool included, went on and on about the music and what they liked about the play. They were amazed that there were only 2 actors in the whole thing.

I highly encourage everyone to go to their website and see when they will be in your area. I would gladly drive 2 hours to go see another one. You can check out their schedule here and see if they will be near you. If not, then the CD's make a great introduction into this wonderful music. We very much enjoyed:

and and and

Mozart's Magnificent Voyage is by far my children's (and my) favorite Classical Kids CD. I ordered them all from Paperbackswap!! I've seen Beethoven Lives Upstairs on Netflix and plan to order that before the year is up.

After seeing Vivaldi's Ring, I'm going to try to find this CD for us to listen to during school.

I have recently come across this site, Classics for Kids, and I would like to spend more time there and see what we can learn from them.

It's funny to me that several mothers have told me their children just don't enjoy classical music and wouldn't consider sitting through a concert. But, so far, our introduction into classical music has been so much fun. I love to see even my boys asking for it over and over again. I believe it's all in how it's presented, how much you as the teacher/mom enjoy it, and how excited you get over it. I have found that they take that excitement and add to it!

Paddle to the Sea

2009-02-07T09:20:00.006-06:00

He have absolutely loved Holling C. Hollings books. So much so that I ordered his Cowboys and his Indian book this week just to have. Paddle to the Sea has been one of our favorites. I wish I had known of these resources when I first read this book with my oldest two. My youngest read it with us but he was so young that I plan to do it with him over the summer. I thought I'd share the web sites that I've collected to use when we read it again. Thank you to all the wonderful ladies on AmblesideOnline and AmbleRamble for sharing these sites over the last year!

Watch a 30 minute movie and read the book online for FREE (But I love to own this one!!):

Follow Paddle with GoogleEarth.

Play the Game.

Cosee Great Lakes exploration

Vocabulary Lists

Activities for each chapter

Great maps at Goalongs blog

Happy Reading!!

Spelling Wisdom Book 1, by Sonya Shafer

2009-02-03T22:13:00.003-06:00

Our first dictation lesson went well. Daniel Boone really enjoyed it and felt so proud that he printed all the words correctly. It was so nice to see him accomplish correctly spelling all his words. We chose a Psalm that he has been memorizing. It was a short line but he learned to spell it all!! I like to have everything laid out for me so I began to look through our books and compare them to the 200 most used words in the English language. What a chore!!! Then I found Spelling Wisdom by Sonya Shafer. It seems to be everything I was trying to make without all my time!!! I have ordered the first book. I wanted to get started immediately so I wrote to Sonya and she was so kind to send me the first 6 lessons. I can't wait to get the book.

Tree in the Trail - Enhancements

2009-01-29T05:00:00.002-06:00

We so enjoy reading Holling C Hollings books. I always try to add something fun to the activities. I thought today I would share my ideas for Tree in the Trail.

Ch. 2 - make teepees (save for Thanksgiving table). Draw a half circle on a piece of paper, preferably heavy card stock. Allow the children to cut out the half circle, decorate it, then glue straight edges together forming the teepee.

Ch. 3 - play with bow and arrows

Ch. 4 & 5 - read Conquist by Bulla

Ch. 5 - Study tree cookies (cross cut of tree), allow the children to draw their own tree cookie including events of their own lives

Ch. 6 - find a folk story about the Thunderbird in the library, study weather - clouds and lightening, take time to discuss where true power to rule the weather comes from (God)

CH. 7 - Discuss what we learned about beavers from Burgess, look at old maps of plains, get books from library about Plains Indians. We use Dover's coloring book about Plains Indians.

CH. 8 - map the Sante Fe Trail

Ch. 9 - try to find flintlock guns to see in person

Ch. 10 - make arrow out of dowell rod

Ch. 11 - write letter to grandparents

Ch. 16 - study books about tornados, allo children to read Tornado by Byars

Ch. 17 - study oxe yokes, read in the Bible what God says about being equally yoked, recall how Almanzo trained his calves using a yoke (if you've read Farmer Boy yet)

Ch. 18 - look up Independence on the map

CH. 21 - discuss distance and compare to distances the students know, like distance to grandma's house, etc.

Ch. 23 - find books on adobe houses, make bricks out of clay mud and straw - allowing to sun dry

Ch. 24 - find books on desert plants, look up yucca, prickly pear, cholla, and sage brush, discuss prairie dogs, visit priairie dog and see cactus in person areas if close enough

Make sure to add locations on your map as you learn about them, comparing them to a current map.

Have fun! This is a grea book!!

Spelling Lessons

2009-01-27T17:44:00.003-06:00

Daniel Boone has always had a harder time with reading and now that he is reading he is really having a hard time with spelling. I'm looked into many different programs only to be frustrated after a few lessons. So, off to my handy-dandy Charlotte Mason books I go. I only wish I had read them more in depth much earlier. I've been muddling through CM for the past 2 years. Now, I see I have so much to learn!!! Here is what our dear Charlotte Mason had to say about teaching spelling in her book Home Education, Training and education children under nine (from http://www.amblesideonline.org/CM/1_5c.html).

"The Rationale of Spelling.––But the fact is, the gift of spelling depends upon the power the eye possesses to 'take' (in a photographic sense) a detailed picture of a word; and this is a power and habit which must be cultivated in children from the first. When they have read 'cat,' they must be encouraged to see the word with their eyes shut, and the same habit will enable them to image 'Thermopylae.' This picturing of words upon the retina appears to be to be the only royal road to spelling; an error once made and corrected leads to fearful doubt for the rest of one's life, as to which was the wrong way and which is the right. Most of us are haunted by some doubt as to whether 'balance,' for instance, should have one 'l' or two; and the doubt is born of a correction. Once the eye sees a misspelt word, that image remains; and if there is also the image of the word rightly spelt, we are perplexed as to which is which. Now we see why there could not be a more ingenious way of making bad spellers than 'dictation' as it is commonly taught. Every misspelt word is in image in the child's brain not to be obliterated by the right spelling. It becomes, therefore, the teacher's business to prevent false spelling, and, if an error has been made, to hide it away, as it were, so that the impression may not become fixed.

Steps of a Dictation Lesson.––Dictation lessons, conducted in some such way as the following, usually result in good spelling. A child of eight or nine prepares a paragraph, older children a page, or two or

vol 1 pg 242

three pages. The child prepares by himself, by looking at the word he is not sure of, and then seeing it with his eyes shut. Before he begins, the teacher asks what words he thinks will need his attention. He generally knows, but the teacher may point out any word likely to be a cause of stumbling. He lets his teacher know when he is ready. The teacher asks if there are any words he is not sure of. These she puts, one by one, on the blackboard, letting the child look till he has a picture, and then rubbing the word out. If anyone is still doubtful he should be called to put the word he is not sure of on the board, the teacher watching to rub out the word when a wrong letter begins to appear, and again helping the child to get a mental picture. Then the teacher gives out the dictation, clause by clause, each clause repeated once. She dictates with a view to the pointing, which the children are expected to put in as they write; but they must not be told 'comma,' 'semicolon,' etc. After the sort of preparation I have described, which takes ten minutes or less, there is rarely an error in spelling. If there be, it is well worth while for the teacher to be on the watch with slips of stamp-paper to put over the wrong word, that its image may be erased as far as possible. At the end of the lesson, the child should again study the wrong word in his book until he says he is sure of, and should write it correctly on the stamp-paper.

A lesson of this kind secures the hearty co-operation of children, who feel they take their due part in it; and it also prepares them for the second condition of good spelling, which is––much reading combined with the habit of imaging the words as they are read.

Illiterate spelling is usually a sign of sparse read-

vol 1 pg 243

ing; but, sometimes, of hasty reading without the habit of seeing the words that are skimmed over.

Spelling must not be lost sight of in the children's other studies, though they should not be teased to spell. It is well to write a difficult proper name, for example, on the blackboard in the course of history or geography readings, rubbing the word out when the children say they can see it. The whole secret of spelling lies in the habit of visualising words from memory, and children must be trained to visualise in the course of their reading. They enjoy this way of learning to spell."

What terrible habits could we have missed had I only read this earlier. I decided that sine my children were too young for dictation, that I didn't need to read this part yet. There is so much wisdom in CM's books that I get overwhelmed. I hope other coming after me will not make this same mistake. My poor boy has so many bad spelling habits that we need to work on and most of them could've been avoided. I am going to begin a new spelling curriculum for him tomorrow. I will print a sentence for him to study from a poem that he's learning. I will give him 5- 10 minutes to study it. Then ask him which words he thinks he will have a hard time. We will go to the write on board and he will write those words on the board. I will stand right there to quickly erase the words that aren't spelled correctly and allow him to go back and study the sentence again. Then he will come back and write the word correctly. Once he feels that he has the words correct in his mind, I will have him write on the board the sentence. I know his handwriting may not be the best on the board as it would be on his paper, but it's worth it in order to be able to quickly erase those incorrect words. I need to help him visualize the correct spelling and to forget or erase away the misspelled words from his mind. Happy Spelling!!

Chore Chart update

2009-01-12T09:10:00.002-06:00

I saw that many were not able to see the chore chart. I went to Google Docs and published it as a webpage. Try this link and hopefully it will work better. Happy chores!!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p6kIPzgJLoJ6cDo_ATJpNFg

Galations Bible Study

2009-01-12T08:41:00.001-06:00

I wanted to share the revelation that came to me while in Sunday school yesterday. We were asking why Paul talked to the Galations so harshly about the elemental things they were falling back into.

I likened the walk of man kind to the life of man.

During the time of Adam is like birth. God walked with them and provided all they needed as parents of newborns do.

The Mosiac time period is like the preschool and elementary years. We are under our parents rules and regulations. They guide and instruct us so we can be safe and grow into the person we will become. Everything is laid out for us and we are to obey our parents the first time every time.

While Christ was on the Earth is like our teenage years. Our parents are there to guide and instruct us but not with the firm rules and regulations of our elementary days. But with love, encouragement, good teaching, and support.

The time of the Holy Spirit (our time now in the walk of man kind) is like our adult years. We are to stand on our own two feet. Not bound to our parents rules and regulations but we do remember them and head them as good guidelines for life. Our conscience (the Holy Spirit) should be our guide not our parent's rule.

Death is closer than ever before. Not to be gruesome. But adulthood leads no where else. In the history of man kind the end of life as we know is coming to a close. We don't know the day, as men do not know the day of their death, but we know we are closer than ever before.

As for Paul's talk to the Galations, he was seeing that they were not living as the adults they should be but being confused by the rules and regulations of their past. He wanted them to remember the law and know it was good, but it was not their guide anymore. They were to let the Holy Spirit lead them and nothing else. Good reminder for me!!

New Chore Chart

2008-12-19T08:01:00.007-06:00

We've been using the "I Did It - Chore Chart" for the past 2-3 years. We have loved it and it worked great. But lately the cards are missing. The kids say they can't do their chores because the cards are missing. So, I've been searching for a new format. A friend sent me her chore chart. I found several on other blogs and I combined them with what we already use and came up with a printable, check-off list chore chart. This is our first week using it but so far we are happy. We have a few changes we are making but all in all, it's a nicely organized list. I've kept our colored chore cards that I posted before for each room zone.

When they were much younger and just starting chores, I used the "I Can Do It" Reward Chart. This was a great way to start. The I Did It Chore Chart was a great follow up and now we're on to the next phase in training.

You can view our chore chart by clicking here: 2009 Chore Chart

Happy organizing!

Advent Day 1

2008-12-02T10:26:00.003-06:00

We started our Advent a day late. Since we started on Sunday at Church and life got busy Sunday night, we started on Monday.

Advent Activity 1

Gather candles - 3 purple, 1 pink and 1 larger white candle, Candle ring, and Cedar boughs

We sent the children out in the dark with flashlights and clippers to bring back Cedar boughs. We set up the candles and made a ring of Cedar boughs. We discussed the meaning of each candle, the living greenery, and the never ending ring (of God's love. We lit the first candle and practiced our Christmas songs for the Church play. It was a beautiful family time together.

Beautiful Christmas Music and Hymns

2008-11-28T19:39:00.002-06:00

While searching for hymns for our hymn study, I came across a wonderful blog with beautiful piano music. I love both of Joel Rosenberger's CD's. I am putting a widget with his songs on my blog. I hope you enjoy it too. If you are looking for a nice Christmas gift, this CD is it!!! Check out Joel's website: http://www.freshpiano.com/music.html. Happy listening!

The Mom Song

2008-11-26T22:38:00.001-06:00

Oh, my!! This is so funny!! Enjoy Moms!!

Homemade Christmas Gifts

2008-11-26T07:02:00.003-06:00

I've been researching homemade Christmas gifts. I usually try to have something for the children to make for their grandmothers each Christmas. The kids love it and and their grandmothers love to show off what their grandchildren make. In the past we've made:

1. Christmas decorations
2. Every year we make gift tags out of shrinky dinks with each person's name on it that can do on the Christmas tree after that (I'll give more details on this later),
3. Sock snowfolks (my personal favorite!!) - http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11326. My eldest was 6 when we made these and he got very creative and even made shepherds for the nativity scene out of these. They are soooo cute!!
4. This year we are decorating picture frames with sea shells from our vacation to the beach. We took a picture of the kids at the beach for their first time and will put it in the frames. They have been waiting all summer and fall to finally make something with their sea shells.

I just found this wonderful blog that I will be reading more often. It's hard to find frugal, homemade Christmas gifts that are cute and something you'd really like to give. FrugalVillage has some wonderful ideas! I can't wait to make the first 3 ideas. http://www.frugalvillage.net/2008/11/16/creative-homemade-holiday-gifts/

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all!!

Online seminars

2008-10-26T22:32:00.002-05:00

I joined an online seminar that Cindy Rushton put on 2 weekends ago on her site: http://talk-a-latte.com/memory-over-tea/. I had never participated in an online seminar before and I was very much surprised. It was a great time! I love to listen to seminars. I hate going to them during homeschool conferences because I like to window shop and I know everyone is in a seminar and I can get some good window shopping done at the booths. So, I like to buy the seminars to listen to on my own time at home. Talk-a-latte was very fun. There were no booths to visit and take me away from some great talks. I highly recommend these to everyone!! There's a new one this week called: Preparing Hearts for Christmas with Molly Evert. This looks like a good one. See you there!!

http://talk-a-latte.com/memory-over-tea/

King Tut Field Trip

2008-10-24T09:00:00.005-05:00

We made the long drive to Dallas this week to visit the King Tut exhibit. We studied the Egyptian time period last year and we've been waiting a year to go see the exhibit. We all enjoyed it but the children did get a little bored with seeing the same type of vases and figurines over and over again. They really enjoyed seeing King Tut's chair that he may have used as a child. The liked looking for hidden hieroglyphics on all the items and trying to learn or remember what they mean. The exhibit was beautiful and very well organized. There was a dagger that was buried with him that is gold and covered in the tiniest gold beads we've ever seen. The details were just amazing! I was glad that the actual mummy wasn't there but everyone in our group was hoping to see the caskets and they were not there. There is a drawing on the floor of where each box was laid out and the size to really give a good representation of what it was like. We all kept saying how we couldn't believe that people could make items with that much detail by hand. Then we were completely amazed that wood from chairs, boxes, and many other items could possibly be in that good of shape after all these years. To see how much my little students got out of there I'm going to have them draw their favorite items that they saw. They wanted to know if it was right to dig up the grave of a man and display it. It's so hard to answer this as I don't agree with it but I was excited to see it all. The world we live in.......

If you'd like to see it go to: http://dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/View/Tut/ID_224709. It was crowded and we bought our tickets ahead of time. There is a group rate. It's not much but every little bit helps.

Our most amazing item that we saw and all wanted to learn about was: faience. Many of the items on display were a beautiful turquoise blue. We couldn't figure out how they could make this and the color still be so vibrant after all these years. Well, I've looked it up. Here is a link to learn what faience is. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/faience.htm. It is very interesting!

Art Study

2008-10-15T23:05:00.003-05:00

Last year we studied Claude Monet. I've enjoyed looking at paintings but after spending a year really studying Monet, I've come to appreciate his paintings in a wonderful way. Rather than following AO's rotation, I had found a book filled with 10x14 replicas of Monet's paintings for $7.88 at Halfprice bookstore. I didn't think I'd be dedicated enough to download the new paintings, research, and study a new artist each rotation. A year of Monet was perfect for us. Each month, we would gather our tea, snack, and our Monet book. We'd take turns picking a new painting to study. We bought a nice frame and hung it in the dining room (our school room). It would hang there until a new painting was chosen. Each child couldn't wait to have their turn to choose a painting. We would spend some time looking at the painting. We would discuss what we thought Monet was hoping to capture, what he was thinking, how he used his brushes to get the effect he painted, where the painting was painted (adding geography there!) We discuss how it made us feel, etc. It was simple, didn't take too much time, and then for the next month the painting hung on the wall to be enjoyed. Our favorite was the Japenese Bridge:

(Thanks to: http://www.intermonet.com/oeuvre/pontjapo.htm for this picture)

Sometimes I would research lesson plans for elementary study of Monet. I found this one:
http://www.kinderart.com/arthistory/monetandimp.shtml. We really had a ball painting our own Japanese Bridge. We hung the children's paintings under the real Monet's picture for the rest of the year. I finally took them down and put them in their school binders. I also learned of a book and video called Linnea in Monet's Garden. What a sweet way to introduce my children to the love of his paintings.

We saw where a traveling Monet exhibit went to Houston, so off we went. I didn't know if the children would enjoy it or not as they were so young. They loved it!!!

This year, I've decided to do the same type study. Some day I may get organized to join the rotation, but for now I'm happy with this type of study. This year we'll study Van Gogh. I've already found 2 great books to use for our study. We read a page or 2 every 2-3 weeks to get an understading of who he was. We've started rotating his paintings in our frame. My dd has even asked if I'd add this study more often into our schedule. What fun!

How to switch into "school mode"

2008-10-11T10:32:00.002-05:00

I've been homeschooling for 3 years now. The hardest part of schooling that I've found is to change modes from home life, emails, researching, cleaning, preparing for school or dinner, home business, etc. to "time for school". I get busy and I'll look up & it's 2:00. Ugh! Another day without school. So, this year I've added morning walks. At 8:00, the kids don their knee pads, elbow pads, and helmets. The grab their bikes, scooters, skate boards, or whatever they want and we go for a 30-45 minute walk. I turn off the computer and close the door. It's wonderful!!! We get some fresh air, exercise, time to talk or sing to the Lord, and just time to talk. We've been doing it for a month and each day a different child will now choose to walk with me rather than ride. It's a great time to talk and connect.

When we get home from the walk, our minds are clear (especially Mom's), the wiggles are gone, they know to go straight to the table with their books & pencils, and we are ready for school. It's a great feeling!! It helps me keep control of our schedule. We are able to focus and we get more done. Thank you Diana and Katrina for sharing this idea with me. This is my favorite part of the day now!

Let's go for a walk!!

Hard to handle

2008-10-05T22:16:00.003-05:00

I am looking through the net at other AO Mom's sites to get some ideas on American History. I came upon Missey Gray's site. http://homeschoolblogger.com/HeartSchooling. I've read a lot about her on yahoogroups and blogs but I'd never seen her site. I can't describe the feeling as I looking through her blog. I almost feel like I'm intruding on her personal life. I know she posted it all out there to help us newer AO Mom's but it's still hard to handle. I want to thank Missey's family for sharing her with us. Even 2 years after her death she is still giving help and advice to Moms. What a legacy! I've been using a book chart for over a year that I found on the net and couldn't find who created it. Then I saw it on Missy's blog. She made it. Now I know who to give the credit to. Thank you Missy!

Brain in a Binder

2008-08-05T10:08:00.002-05:00

I decided that Cindy Rushton's Binder set is worth it. So, I'm in the process of downloading all her great information. I've been working on a binder for years. I hadn't thought about it being my brain. But what a great idea. I hope that her information will help me accomplish my goal of having a binder with all the information for what I do at our home and to keep me organized. I've been thinking for over a year about if something happened to me, what would my family do? I know God is in control and would care for them. But, is there something I could do to make it a little easier on my husband. He has no idea where everything is and what all I do. I did make him promise to hire a nanny to care and homeschool our children with my life insurance money. He agreed and said that was very important to him. Now, where do I start?

Freebies

2008-08-04T20:04:00.004-05:00

Freebies!

http://homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

I've already downloaded the Numbers Book. What great resource!! I can't wait to print it off and read it with the children.

I'm also looking at the Cindy Rushton's NEW Organized Moms Super Set. I really like the idea behind it but I'm afraid that all it will do is draw me into the computer even more. Now, if they were bound books - that would be different. I know I can print them off, but at what cost. I'm already on the computer way too much for my families sake. It sure looks good though. Check it out!!

The idea of time management for homeschooling got me to searching the net for ideas and I found The Homeschooler's Time Management Toolkit at http://www.wholesomechildhood.com/homeschooltime/. I especially like the book of managing your home office and home. I sure can use that!!

These are my finds for the day. This site was passed on to me by Renae at

http://lifenurturingeducation.com/.

Thank you Renae!!

Watch movies safely with your whole family

2008-07-31T21:00:00.004-05:00

I found a great Dvd player that filters out questionable words and scenes from Dvd's. I ordered it last month and we've been watching movies on it for about 3 weeks. I'm so surprised at how well it works. Rather than bleep out unwanted words, it mutes them. You don't notice it too much unless there is music playing in the background. Then it is more noticeable. To filter unwanted scenes, the machine automatically cuts to the next scene. So far we haven't missed anything in these cut scenes. We've watched movies that we wouldn't dare let the kids see just to see how well it works. I hate movies that use foul language and I've found it bothers me more and more. Even in those movies the children won't watch, it filters them all out. I'm enjoying date night movies more since I don't have to hear all those words.

How does it work? It comes with a USB stick. You load filters onto the USB from their internet site. Take the USB stick to the Dvd player and it loads the filters. I'm on dial-up and it doesn't take too long to do it.

We watched Home Alone last weekend. The children LOVED this movie!! We were glad to watch without the language. Now, I do wish they had filtered a few words that we just don't like such as how the boy's family talked so badly to him. But of course a lot of the background to the movie would be lost without it. That's just me though.

Anyway, I give the Clear Play 2 thumbs up!! I have a link at the left if you'd like to try it. I think it's well worth the price. It's comparable to purchasing a new Dvd player at the store. I bought the 3 year membership so I wouldn't miss any filters. Happy movie night!!

Chores

2008-07-28T07:32:00.007-05:00

Chores are an important training tool to help teach children responsibility, initiative, and respect for one's property. It helps me to remember that we are training future employees, husbands, wives, and parents. I don't want to see them turn out to be lazy citizens. Not only that, but I can use some help around here!!

I did a lot of research to see how other moms organize their chores. I bought a couple of children's chore charts. I spent many hours on FlyLady.com and over a year using her program. I'm sorry to say that I lost the link that helped me make the system that I have now. I combined that link with a FlyLady approach and this is what I came up with.

I have a magnetic hook that hangs on the refrigerator. There are 5 index cards hanging on this hook. Each index card one of the daily chore cards (above) taped to it with large packing tape. This way it is a little water resistant. Each week the children get a different color. They are in charge of doing their color chore each day. By changing colors each week, they don't get tired of doing the same chore over and over.

I found that my children enjoy their chores more when I'm in the same room they are. So, I made my own set of chore cards.

I divided my chores into what needs to be done weekly on the top of the card. The bottom has 4 weeks listed and one extra chore per week. This gets the spring cleaning done each month with little extra work involved!! I made an extra set of cards for me that have a different room on each card. I divided those cards into 6 months and wrote on the top of the card a month and the month that is 6 months from it. For example. Kitchen is February/August. Now, those projects are to be worked on during those months. If something doesn't get done, I know that in 6 months I can try again.

Some weeks when the days slip by and the work doesn't get done, we'll each take 1 room on Monday and spend 1-2 hours to do all that room's chores. The kids really like this for a change because the rest of the week is just keep it clean. I don't like to do this too often but it's really nice to have a completely clean house once in a while.

To make these cards, I took a sheet of paper into each room. I divided the sheet into 3 sections. Section 1: weekly chores. Section 2: monthly or bi-yearly chores. Section 3: Projects I'd like to have done in that room. Armed with a list for each room, I sat down at the computer and made a set of cards for each day of the week (one for Mom and one for the kids). I then made a second set of cards for projects by the month. covered these cards with packing tape for protection and hung them on a magnetic hook.

That's all there is to it.

Homeschool Field Trip and Vacations

2008-07-27T19:29:00.002-05:00

I found a great group that plans homeschool field trips and vacations for much cheaper than we can do on our own. The Carolina Homeschoolers have great deals on lots of trips. I've joined them for our trip to Disney. They made a deal with Disney to get 5 day Hopper tickets and all the water parks for $175. each. That's over half price of their regular hopper tickets.

I wasn't planning on getting hopper tickets but I couldn't pass that deal up. I booked our hotel last year and paid for it when I had the money. I wish now that I had waited. If I had booked with this group I could've stayed in a Disney resort and had the meal plan included for free. Ugh! If only I had known earlier. But we're still getting a great deal.

You can check out their future trips at: http://www.carolinahomeschooler.com/index.htm. I'm excited about their Alaska trip for 2010. I'm hopeful!!

My baby's not a baby anymore

2008-07-27T19:26:00.002-05:00

It's official. I no longer have any children under 5. My baby turned 6 yesterday. I can't believe how fast it's going. I know! It'll only go faster! Wow! We made a castle cake for a Narnia Birthday. I usually go all out for birthdays, but this year we decided to have not big birthday parties. We're saving for Disney!!

My First Posting

2007-06-21T14:52:00.001-05:00

I've stayed away from blogger just because I simply don't have time. But, I've so enjoyed reading Lindafay's blog at http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com. I've learned so much from her and I've really enjoyed seeing the changes she's made to the AO curriculum to better fit her family. I hope that if anyone reads this blog they will learn something to help them along in their homeschooling venture. May God get the glory!