Sugardoodle on Facebook posted a link to a pretty sweet new blog today for LDS Homeschoolers. What a great way to unite more LDS Homeschoolers! There aren't very many LDS who are homeschooling in Northwest Arkansas. Only about half of the families I know of are on our Yahoo Group, where we sometimes have discussions. We get together once per month. The other half aren't interested in getting together socially or don't do email or whatever. It is always great to find an additional resource for us! Yippee!
Check it out!
www.latter-dayhomeschooling.com
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Spring is in the Air!
March 1 - I can't believe it is already March. Things are super busy for our family...I'm starting to see a pattern, here. Every spring is so crazy busy for us! I think it is the population boom we have every spring at our homeschool co-op, spring sports, and going out often since we are sick of being inside from the winter. So, as mom, I feel like I'm treading water. Hopefully I don't sink!
My kids are taking some great classes at our homeschool co-op including Creative Writing, Native American History, gardening, cooking, drama (and a big play production at the end of April), Space, Guitar, Yearbook layout, and Art. I'm teaching Papercrafts and Set Building (for the play). I'm also taking a class this term - North American Herbalism. It is fabulous. I've already made a tincture for the first time (agrimony), and I'm in the process of making a salve with comfrey, lavender, grape root, and calendula.
I was talking with my husband last night about how I wonder if I should buy some boxed curriculum. He said I must be joking since our kids are learning SO MUCH on their own right now...more so than they would in school. He asked me how much I was learning along with them, and I answered, "Tons." What does that say about my own public school education? Well, I was a "gifted" student. I was always in gifted or honors classes. I made good grades. I paid attention. I didn't learn very much! How did that happen?
Our kids get language arts, math, history, and art regularly. Science not so much. That is my fault since I'm not a science fanatic. We have had many nature study lessons, studied various animals, and we have done some astronomy. Last night while venting this all out to my husband, we decided perhaps I should get some general science book or curriculum so that they are least exposed to it. If they take interest in an aspect of that, we'll run with it. We both agree that exposing them to vital information is important, but if they aren't interested in it, they aren't going to want to learn about it. They all love stories, so naturally they are all history buffs. Hopefully we can get them to be science nerds this year, too.
I think we are going to start using our Apologia Exploring Creation through Botany textbook. It has been collecting dust on one of our bookcases for some time. I also decided to go ahead and buy the Apologia General Science text. It is written for 7th grade, but good for 6-9th grade. That will fit my oldest son and daughter, at this point.
I like the conversational text of the Apologia books we have used so far. The books we have gone through so far are the Exploring Creation through Zoology volumes 1 and 2, which cover flying creatures and ocean life.
I have also tried to get my kids to keep nature journals. It seems we start this every spring and then fizzle out the middle of summer some time. I have 2 children that enjoy it and 2 who do not. The ones who do not enjoy it have to at least sit and be quiet and observe and take notes if they do not want to draw something. Sometimes we go out with a goal to sketch something specific. Sometimes, I let them choose what to sketch. I encourage them to date their work and describe the weather and what it is they are drawing on the page of their sketch. I sketch along with them. I LOVE this book about nature journaling:
Keeping a Nature Journal by: Clare Walker Leslie
I'd post a handy link, but I haven't figured out how to do that in a blog post, yet!
It is available on Amazon, and it is beautiful and inspiring.
For our nature journals, I get a piece of textured cardstock for the cover and several pages of blank white paper for the inside. I stack this together and use a long-arm stapler and staple them together in the center. The kids decorate their covers. They are small enough to fit in a backpack when we go hiking, too. We have taken them to botanical gardens, on hikes, and always in our yard.
My kids are taking some great classes at our homeschool co-op including Creative Writing, Native American History, gardening, cooking, drama (and a big play production at the end of April), Space, Guitar, Yearbook layout, and Art. I'm teaching Papercrafts and Set Building (for the play). I'm also taking a class this term - North American Herbalism. It is fabulous. I've already made a tincture for the first time (agrimony), and I'm in the process of making a salve with comfrey, lavender, grape root, and calendula.
I was talking with my husband last night about how I wonder if I should buy some boxed curriculum. He said I must be joking since our kids are learning SO MUCH on their own right now...more so than they would in school. He asked me how much I was learning along with them, and I answered, "Tons." What does that say about my own public school education? Well, I was a "gifted" student. I was always in gifted or honors classes. I made good grades. I paid attention. I didn't learn very much! How did that happen?
Our kids get language arts, math, history, and art regularly. Science not so much. That is my fault since I'm not a science fanatic. We have had many nature study lessons, studied various animals, and we have done some astronomy. Last night while venting this all out to my husband, we decided perhaps I should get some general science book or curriculum so that they are least exposed to it. If they take interest in an aspect of that, we'll run with it. We both agree that exposing them to vital information is important, but if they aren't interested in it, they aren't going to want to learn about it. They all love stories, so naturally they are all history buffs. Hopefully we can get them to be science nerds this year, too.
I think we are going to start using our Apologia Exploring Creation through Botany textbook. It has been collecting dust on one of our bookcases for some time. I also decided to go ahead and buy the Apologia General Science text. It is written for 7th grade, but good for 6-9th grade. That will fit my oldest son and daughter, at this point.
I like the conversational text of the Apologia books we have used so far. The books we have gone through so far are the Exploring Creation through Zoology volumes 1 and 2, which cover flying creatures and ocean life.
I have also tried to get my kids to keep nature journals. It seems we start this every spring and then fizzle out the middle of summer some time. I have 2 children that enjoy it and 2 who do not. The ones who do not enjoy it have to at least sit and be quiet and observe and take notes if they do not want to draw something. Sometimes we go out with a goal to sketch something specific. Sometimes, I let them choose what to sketch. I encourage them to date their work and describe the weather and what it is they are drawing on the page of their sketch. I sketch along with them. I LOVE this book about nature journaling:
Keeping a Nature Journal by: Clare Walker Leslie
I'd post a handy link, but I haven't figured out how to do that in a blog post, yet!
It is available on Amazon, and it is beautiful and inspiring.
For our nature journals, I get a piece of textured cardstock for the cover and several pages of blank white paper for the inside. I stack this together and use a long-arm stapler and staple them together in the center. The kids decorate their covers. They are small enough to fit in a backpack when we go hiking, too. We have taken them to botanical gardens, on hikes, and always in our yard.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Better Late Than Never
OK, so here are some of the Valentines my daughter did last week. She experimented with the cricut cutting out hearts and embossing. I thought they turned out really cute.
The boys...well....the boys weren't as cute. More like a stamp of something and then they wrote their name. They would not use pink or red paper. Only white cardstock. They think Valentines Day is a horrid holiday. They only like it for the candy.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
History
History is one of my favorite subjects. It was so boring when I was in school - memorizing all those dates and people. Now, as I research and teach it to my children, I am learning so much along with them that I didn't get while in school.
Here at home, we use The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. It tells history like a story. I read aloud to all 4 of my students from the chapter book. We read one chapter per week. Then, we look in our activity guide. There are recipes, games, crafts, and other projects in the companion activity guides. There are also maps and coloring pages. I do copy these off for my younger two boys. They color while I read to them and it keeps them quiet! The pages and mapwork then go into a history folder for each student. My older two do take notes as I read, as well. I pause and spell things out for them, as needed. The notes go into their history folders.
When we do come into a time period or subject that is especially interesting, we do take a break from plugging along with The Story of the World and do a unit study. For example, when we get to the American colonization and the Revolution in a couple of months, we are going to spend a month studying this more in depth. We plan to do several projects, cook recipes from that time period, and study the people in places more fully.
We do get together with another family or two once per week to do the activities and hands-on projects. This makes our studies all the more fun to do these things with friends.
We also have the:
Kingfisher Encyclopedia of World History
Usborne Book of World History
The Kingfisher version is much better, I think. It is fully illustrated in drawings and photos and great to use as a guide to gain extra tidbits about the time period and cultures we study. The Usborne version we have is all illustrated in comic book style. While interesting, it isn't as visually striking. The more recent edition may be better.
Occasionally my older two students look up some aspect of what we are studying and do a project or write a paper about it.
We are in Volume 3 of The Story of the World. This week we are on Chapter 4, which is about Samuel Champlain and Henry Hudson.
History has become a subject that my students really look forward to. For a couple of them, it is their most favorite time of the week.
Here at home, we use The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. It tells history like a story. I read aloud to all 4 of my students from the chapter book. We read one chapter per week. Then, we look in our activity guide. There are recipes, games, crafts, and other projects in the companion activity guides. There are also maps and coloring pages. I do copy these off for my younger two boys. They color while I read to them and it keeps them quiet! The pages and mapwork then go into a history folder for each student. My older two do take notes as I read, as well. I pause and spell things out for them, as needed. The notes go into their history folders.
When we do come into a time period or subject that is especially interesting, we do take a break from plugging along with The Story of the World and do a unit study. For example, when we get to the American colonization and the Revolution in a couple of months, we are going to spend a month studying this more in depth. We plan to do several projects, cook recipes from that time period, and study the people in places more fully.
We do get together with another family or two once per week to do the activities and hands-on projects. This makes our studies all the more fun to do these things with friends.
We also have the:
Kingfisher Encyclopedia of World History
Usborne Book of World History
The Kingfisher version is much better, I think. It is fully illustrated in drawings and photos and great to use as a guide to gain extra tidbits about the time period and cultures we study. The Usborne version we have is all illustrated in comic book style. While interesting, it isn't as visually striking. The more recent edition may be better.
Occasionally my older two students look up some aspect of what we are studying and do a project or write a paper about it.
We are in Volume 3 of The Story of the World. This week we are on Chapter 4, which is about Samuel Champlain and Henry Hudson.
History has become a subject that my students really look forward to. For a couple of them, it is their most favorite time of the week.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Love is in the Air
Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching. My younger two boys worked on making mailboxes last week. They aren't quite finished. My youngest is having a birthday this weekend. When that's over, we will tackle finishing mailboxes and making Valentines. My kiddos usually make their Valentines. It is fun and more meaningful. It is time consuming, but I figure we cover arts and crafts for the month of February!
Check out www.familyfun.com for fun and cute Valentine ideas. We have gotten several from there over the years.
Of course, just folded cardstock with a colored paper heart or heart doily on the front looks nice, too.
This year I have some Valentine rubber stamps. My cricut will help with cutting out several paper hearts, as well.
We have 2 Valentine parties to attend this year with our homeschooling friends, so we have many Valentines to make!
Will post pictures of some of our creations next week!
Check out www.familyfun.com for fun and cute Valentine ideas. We have gotten several from there over the years.
Of course, just folded cardstock with a colored paper heart or heart doily on the front looks nice, too.
This year I have some Valentine rubber stamps. My cricut will help with cutting out several paper hearts, as well.
We have 2 Valentine parties to attend this year with our homeschooling friends, so we have many Valentines to make!
Will post pictures of some of our creations next week!
Not so bad...
Well, that storm we had last week wasn't so bad. We didn't lose power. Yay! We were stranded for about 3 days. Our driveway is at such an angle that it does not get direct sunlight. We have to wait for the temps to get above freezing before shoveling through 7-8 inches of snow and about an inch of ice! So, Monday things warmed up a bit and we shoveled much of it off the drive. Good news is that the roads are mostly clear in our neighborhood and through town. The snow plows did a good job.
I have sore muscles that I didn't know existed in my back. Shoveling snow is hard work. My oldest boy even did most of it. Chris did much more than me, too. They aren't sore!
We still have a snow blanket everywhere else. It will be a while before it all melts. According to the weather report, we have more coming next week. We have had more snow this winter than I think we have ever had in NWA. Must be global warming ;-p
I have sore muscles that I didn't know existed in my back. Shoveling snow is hard work. My oldest boy even did most of it. Chris did much more than me, too. They aren't sore!
We still have a snow blanket everywhere else. It will be a while before it all melts. According to the weather report, we have more coming next week. We have had more snow this winter than I think we have ever had in NWA. Must be global warming ;-p
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