Sunday, December 30, 2007

100th Post and One Year Blog Anniversary

Wow!  It has been a year since I started my little blog here at homeschoolblogger!  Since this is a special day, I thought I would give you a sneak peek into the next two or three months of our homeschooling.  As I said in an earlier post, we are hoping to homeschool for free for awhile using what we already own.  This does not mean it is going to get boring around here.  I found a lot of stuff that we were not using.  So with the new year fast approaching, here is a look at the new stuff and new ways we will be doing some things.

We will be concentrating more on some fine motor activities.  I realized that my 4 year old is not very good at buttons and zippers and that all the little ones could use more control in their fine motor tasks.  In addition, my ds (5) has very weak muscles in his thumbs due to cerebral palsy.  For a child who wants to draw and write as much as he does, this is frustrating for him.  I went searching through my OT shelves and found these treasures below that had never been used.  We will have lots of fun with these new items.


I also collected all of the books in the house that are FIAR books.  Here is enough to cover the next 2 to 3 months.  Yippie!


I also saw this math set on a Montessori site and really liked it, but it was so expensive.  I made my own using stuff around the house and I think it came out great.  My dear son is already begging to "play with it".  I think it will go well with our Miquon math lessons.


I also found these in my homeschool stuff.  They are safety story cards that help children look at pictures of dangerous situations and figure out what they should do to remain safe.  My dd (7) really needs to think through things like this, because her "If Then" skills do not come naturally.  I am sure it will be useful for all the little ones.  I also like the nice guided questions on the back.



There are a few new things for the big teen, as well.  Our two new literature books are below.  I think he will really enjoy them.  We are working our way through a list of books that really had an impact on my dh or myself.


Also, here are the last two things I have for us to dissect.  I still want to get a fetal pig to dissect with him but this will hold us for the next month or so.  He is almost done with his biology book so this will be a reward at the end.  OK, I hear some of you saying dissecting those things is the reward?  LOL -- he really likes this stuff.  I do need to get my hands on more prepared slides for our microscope, but these can also wait a month or so.



Here are the artists that we still have to complete in our Meet the Masters Program


Since we have many doctor and OT/Sensory appointments this coming month, I decided to revamp how we do school on the road.  In my best estimate, in the month of January, I will have some combination of children in waiting rooms for about 24 hours, barring illness.  In the past, I have lugged our school books to doctor office waiting rooms, but I always think the quality that we get in a waiting room is poorer than at home.  Also, curious people always want to ask questions about homeschooling, and then my lessons go down the drain.  So I am going to make our time in waiting rooms more fun and less teacher directed.  The portable DVD player which we got for Christmas will serve well for watching educational DVDs.  I found some great math and art history DVDs at Blockbusters Online for the big teen.  I have a long lineup of good educational videos for the little ones through Blockbuster Online, as well.  The other items will help the girls with phonics.


Well, that is my sneak peek into what we will be doing for the next few months.   I think I found enough stuff in my home to homeschool for free for several months.  That is very exciting to me.  So what are your plans for the New Year?  Are you making any changes?

Blessings,
Dawn

Friday, December 28, 2007

Goldilocks is 7 years old!!

I can't believe it but my little girl is seven years old today.  We had a nice at-home party with Disney princess plates and accessories.  She had a blast!  She wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and heart candies.  Yum ~ a girl after my own heart!  Happy Birthday, Sweetie!



Thursday, December 27, 2007

Highlights from Christmas!

Christmas went better than we could have imagined.  It was by far the best we have had in 5 years.  As I mentioned before, holidays can be a tense time for my dd who has attachment problems but things are so much better!!  Everything was under the tree unwrapped and fully assembled.  The kids came out and saw what they got and all started saying "thank you!" right away.  They were very pleased to see that they had filled the creche with enough "good deed ribbons" to earn a new doll (representing Jesus and his love of all children). Dh and I opened our gifts the night before so that we could focus on the children.


We counted up the ribbons from the creche and traded them in for quarters.  The kids had earned enough money to buy a week's worth of baby food/formula for a starving baby from the Samaritan's Purse Foundation. 


The kiddos were really hoping for a white Christmas, but no such luck.  So we put "snow" shredded coconut and snowman peeps on Jesus' birthday cake.  The silly snowmen wouldn't stay up so I held them up with toothpicks and told the kids they were skiing.  LOL!  Overall, I think we ended up with a really nice balance between receiving gifts and giving to others.  The kids really got the meaning of the season this year and we managed to shield them from the over-commercialization of Christmas in our country.  YIPPIE!


And now for the crazy part of the post.  Yes, here in Blogdom I will blog about anything, apparently.  One relative gave us some money for Christmas so we bought ourselves a new toilet.  The old one was very unreliable!!  My dh was very proud that he was able to install it himself!  Isn't is lovely?  LOL!!


Anyway, we are really enjoying our break from school, and I am cleaning and re-organizing like a crazy woman.  I am also planning out our next two months of school.  Lots of fun to come!  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

School's out!! Almost ...

Well, just three more hours for the big teen, and we are done until January.  The little ones are done.  We had a good week filled with fun and cooking, but now it is time for me to clean my house and rest.  I also look forward to curling up in a chair with a hot cup of tea and planning our next month of school.  I am going to do something a little different this go around.  I am going to try to homeschool for free the whole month of January.  I will keep paying for my big teen's world history course but otherwise FREE!  I don't think this will be very difficult.  I have been reorganizing our school stuff and toys all week.  I found lots of stuff that I forgot I had.  If it all goes well, I will continue homeschooling for free or with a limited allowance for the rest of the school year.

My big goal for the next year is to be a really good steward of everything that we have: money, belongings, resources and, of course, ourselves.  I have been doing a pretty good job, but there is more that I could do.  I will be talking more about this as I think it out and form a plan.  But the first goal is to homeschool for free in January.  I was raised with the saying, "Live simply so others may simply live".  I would like to get closer to that belief.  This does not mean that I feel we can't have new things or healthy food.  But I want us (my dh and I) to think about and decide if we really need something and if there is an alternative to adding something that I must maintain. 

For example, for the time being, I am no longer checking any books out of the library.  We were getting lots of late charges, and quite honestly, our library system has lost a few books themselves and charged us for them over the last six years.  I am tired of struggling every time something goes missing.  What an energy drain!  We will be going to the library two times a week and we can read while we are there.  Most of the research my big teen does is on the Internet or in the books we already have at home.  If he needs more info, he can copy it at the library.  I have found out that I can order the books from the library and then read them there and leave them there.  No charge for me, but I can still access a particular book for the kiddos.  Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Question ~ Does anyone know how to put a slideshow in my entry?  I have a  new slideshow in the sidebar, but I wanted it in this entry.  I can't figure out how to get it here.  If you know how, would you please leave a comment.

Thanks and have a Very Merry Christmas!

Dawn

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Hot Chocolate and Tomato Staking!


We really had fun with our hot chocolate mini-unit study.  The kids had a blast watching videos on how Hershey makes chocolate and the history of chocolate on the Internet.  They each got to eat a few Hershey kisses while watching, of course.  Then we took baby food jars and but a serving of hot chocolate mix in the jar.  The kids then added marshmallows and closed the jar.  On top they put a Hershey kiss and glued a packaged candy cane to the side.  We gave them to all their medical specialists.  They came out really cute.
 





Then we made chocolate play dough! Yummy, it smelled so good!  That kept them busy for about an hour.  You can find the recipe here.




Here is Tomato Staking at its best.  If you want to know more about tomato staking, read here.  It was so warm earlier this week that I decided to whitewash the fence.  This went much faster with all my helpers.  Amazingly, no one got covered in paint.  Although Goldilocks did forget that she was holding a paint brush when she decided to itch her face.  LOL

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Busy Week

Little Red Ridinghood had her first dance recital yesterday.  She did a great job of watching her teacher and following the dance moves.  They performed in a nursing home.  I am so pleased with the dance school that we found, because they consider themselves a dance ministry.  They concentrate on teaching the children how to dance for joy and to glorify God.  They don't push them toward perfection, and all of the dance moves and dance attire is kept modest.  I love their motto ~ "Let them praise His name with dancing..." Psalm 149:3.





Awww!  I think 4 year olds are so cute (at least when they are dancing)!  I don't think 4 year old attitudes are cute, but we will train that out of her.

In other news, we babysat one of my friend's children last week.  We decided to make a birthday present for my friend, his Mom.  The kids had a so much fun making bath salts.  We mixed Epsom salts, food coloring and perfume together.  It was really easy and quick.





We also had fun doing The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomi dePoala.  The kids made lots of pictures of poinsettias, and we finished the day off with a Mexican dinner.  We had homemade tortillas with cheese, black beans and salsa.  The kids loved all of it, so it was gone really quickly.



Blessings,
Dawn

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Just want to remember ...

My dh is really good when it comes to giving me compliments.  I really appreciate that.  But this morning's compliment really touched me.


As soon as my dh woke up this morning before he had even opened his eyes he said to me, "Honey, you make a really nice home to live in.  Even when you think it is a real mess, it is a nice home, filled with love." 


Thank you, Dear Husband!  I am so blessed to have you in my life.

OK, I am done being mushy!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Lessons in giving at Christmastime ...









I love Christmas and it is important to me that it be kept simple and free from commercialism as much as possible.  We enjoy the simple pleasures, such as riding around looking at Christmas lights and making lots of cookies!  We like to make a cake to eat on Christmas day to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  The kids really enjoy this tradition in particular and have already begun making gifts for Jesus.  They love to set up our nativity and pore over the Christmas books and videos when they come out of storage.  All of these are wonderful, but what we truly want to impart to our children is the love of giving to others.





We want our children to concentrate on giving to others and Jesus' teachings, not what will be under the tree for them.  Our children receive one gift per child from us and a stocking filled with undergarments, special candy and fancy toothbrushes.  They also receive gifts from relatives, but we encourage group gifts whenever possible.  Because we have a child who suffers from RAD, Christmas can be a tense time of year.  (RAD children tend to sabotage special events because of their attachment problems.)  We have worked very hard to make Christmas as simple and old-fashioned as possible.  For example, all of the gifts go under the tree unwrapped.  The "What you see is what you get!"  theory has helped our RAD child get through Christmas much more calmly.  As it turns out, the rest of the kids love it, too; and there is no wrapping paper for me to clean up!


Throughout the month of December, we talk a lot about how to serve others with our time, skills and resources.  The children pick several charities, and we concentrate on how to help them.  One charity we do every year is Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.  To see how we did it this year go here


Another service project that the kids really enjoy is making a creche for baby Jesus.  Then when I catch them doing something good for another in the family, they get a ribbon to put in the creche.  Throughout the month, the creche gets well cushioned, and on Christmas morning a doll representing Jesus is waiting for them in the creche under the tree.  Later in the day, we will count up how many ribbons are in the creche and they will be traded in for money.  (Each ribbon will be worth a quarter.)  The money that the kids have earned through the month with their good deeds will go to feed a hungry baby.  Through Samaritan's Purse Christmas catalog, a baby can be fed for a week for only $9.  This catalog has many wonderful and unique ways to help people all over the world.  If you are interested in more info, call 1-800-353-5957.





(Our homemade creche for baby Jesus.)


The kids have been saving money for months to purchase an animal through Heifer International.  They are hoping to buy a trio of rabbits, but looking at the jar of mostly pennies, I think they have probably only saved enough for a flock of chicks.  The cool thing about Heifer International is that the program gives a needy family an animal that helps them establish a sustainable lifestyle.  Once the family is sustainable, they pass on the offspring of their animal to another family.  In this way your one small donation ends up helping an entire village. To find out more go here


On the local front, our adoption support group is buying Christmas gifts for a foster child, and we will be donating socks to the homeless through our church.  We will also be decorating a tree this year for the birds.  The kids will string popcorn and make bird seed creations and then hang them on a tree outdoors.  The kids will get to experience these things more directly than when I call a 1-800 number to a charity.


We will be schooling through the month, and if you want to see our lesson plans and book list, you can go here.


I hope you have a wonderful season filled with wonder and joy!





Blessings,
Dawn

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Our Christmas lesson plans

My lesson plans are starting to come together for December.  We have about 20 children's books for Christmas, but I will only be concentrating on a few of them formally.  For the little ones, I will be doing four literature-based unit studies based on the theory of FIAR but only taking two or three days for each book.  We will be doing The legend of the Poinsettia by Tomi dePaola, Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto, The Legend of the Candy Cane, by Lori Walburg, and The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg.  I was able to find unit studies already prepared on the Internet for all of these books.  They are  here and here.


I also plan on concentrating on Sandra Claus by Douglas Clark Hollman.  Although we do not do Santa Claus in our family, this book does a nice job dealing with adoption issues and questions that my little ones might have.  I like to throw in an adoption book here and there into our regular reading to give them lots of opportunities to talk about their feelings openly.


Another book that I love is The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado.  This book is wonderful, because it is about a little crippled lamb that can not keep up with the flock and must stay in the stable for the night.  He is very sad that he is left out and an old cow says, "Don't worry, Joshua, God has a special place for you."  Indeed, He does.  The crippled lamb lies next to the baby Jesus to keep him warm.  I love this book and then talking to my children about how they, as we all do, have a special place with God.  God does not make mistakes and my children's disabilities, as seen by us here on Earth, are just part of God's plan.


We will also concentrate on The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciehowski, which does a lovely job of explaining the miracle of doing for others.  As we do service for others, our own burdens are lifted.  Through Jonathan Toomey's work on making a nativity, his world is slowly opened and his burdens lifted.  We will read this several times during the month, including the night that we put up our nativity.  I find that this book helps decrease "the wanties" that commercialized America has bestowed upon our children.


In addition, we will be doing a mini one-day unit study on hot chocolate and making little one-serving jars for our elderly neighbors.  This is a great way for the kids to give to others and be able to deliver their gifts in person. 


We will also do lots of fun science and art projects about Christmas and winter in general. 


The big teen will take part in some of our science and art projects and be reading and writing a creative essay or book reviews on The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, The Shoemaker's Gift: A Russian Tale, and Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti. Hopefully I can find the CD of Amahl and the Night Visitors that is missing somewhere in my house.  He is also busy rehearsing for the church Christmas play.  He is the angel Gabriel this year.


Well, that is the general plan.  I am sure things will be added and subtracted as we go along.


Blessings,
Dawn

Award



I just received this award from westward and denisebp.  Thank you so much!  It was a wonderful morning surprise!

I am going to pass the award onto quietcajun, lahbluebonnets, and tiredmom.

I wish I could give all of you awards, because you are all great blog friends.  However, time does not allow for such fun today.

Blessings,
4sweetums

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Anatomy of our Thanksgiving dinner ...

As you can probably guess, I did not plan on having formal school today.  After all, there were many demands in the kitchen and the Macy's parade to watch on TV.  HOWEVER, those silly homeschooled kids of mine wanted to do school!  In fact, Tom Sawyer (5) specifically wanted to do science experiments on the raw turkey blood, and was really surprised that I had not planned some projects to do.  LOL!!  Well, who am I to deny learning?  So, thinking quickly, I thought it would be fun to look at the turkey blood under the microscope.  Well, that lead to celery, onion, salt, and gravy all under the microscope.  Hence, the title of this entry!  As if that wasn't enough, the kids then wanted to look at the fingernail that fell off the big teen a month ago (why he kept it I just don't know)!








The girls were really helpful at making the cranberry bread from our FIAR book, Cranberry Thanksgiving.  It turned out really well and was gone before I could even take a picture of it.





After our lovely dinner, the kiddos reminded me that I had promised to make hand print turkeys with them.  Since we were doing art, we went ahead and did a silhouette of one of the kiddos for a Cranberry Thanksgiving book activity.  All and all, it was a fun, restful day and I got ART and BIOLOGY done!  Who would have thought it? 





Earlier in the week we did the starch experiment from our FIAR book.  We took a potato slice, apple, bread, celery, powdered sugar, egg, almonds and flour and put drops of iodine on each item.  If they had starch in them, then they turned bright blue.  This was really fun and a great way to learn about starchy foods.





I hope all of you had a lovely Thanksgiving ...


Blessings,


Dawn

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Cooking away!

Well, we got a lot of cooking done this weekend.  Hopefully, this will help us avoid eating out during the busy beginning part of the week.  Also, I got some of the prep work for Thanksgiving done.  HURRAY!!!





I got 3 quarts of cranberry sauce, a gallon of granola for breakfast, and simple syrup made.  We use simple syrup in place of corn syrup in recipes, since two family members are allergic to corn syrup.




I also made 4 dozen sugar cookies, 2 dozen frozen yogurt cups for snacks and breakfast, and 1 dozen deviled eggs.  Also not shown is the HUGE pot of Grandma's homemade vegetable soup.  It is sooo good and should last about 5 meals.


The kids finished their thankful wreath.  They had a lot of fun studying leaves in the past 2 weeks.  We made a fun book about leaves, and the kids had fun making leaf people.  We are working on the character trait, thankfulness, for the next few weeks. 




I can't wait until tomorrow, because we will be starting the FIAR book, Cranberry Thanksgiving.  It looks like a wonderful story, and the science projects are going to be really fun.  Can you tell I love school as much as the kids do?


The big teen did 8 hours of community service with our church youth group this weekend.  He worked at the food bank, preparing for Thanksgiving and helping build a disaster kitchen so that they would know how to make one in an emergency.  Then on Sunday after service, the teens sold food they made in the disaster kitchen to church members to help raise money for relief organizations in New Orleans.  He thought it was a really cool experience.


I have been asked how to make simple syrup ~ Combine 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water.  Cook on low heat, stirring often, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is clear.  Store whatever you don't use in the refrigerator.  I often make soda out of it, since all non-organic sodas have corn syrup and the organic ones are expensive.  Our fave soda is lemon-lime soda.  To make, mix 1/4 cup simple syrup to 12 oz of seltzer water and then add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice.  Yummy!!!


While I was posting the simple syrup recipe, Duckygirl asked about the granola recipe!  LOL.  So here we go.


Combine ~


  • 8 cups of oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups honey
  • 1 cup maple syrup
Mix well and spread on greased cookie sheets.  Bake at 250 degrees for about an hour.  Sometimes after an hour it doesn't seem clumpy enough ~ probably because I have too many little helpers so the ingredients aren't exact.  If this is the case, I add some more honey and stir it around in the pan and bake for 20 more minutes.  Place in big bowl and add nuts and raisins to taste.  I used 2 cups of raisins and 2 cups sliced almonds.

Blessings,
Dawn

Friday, November 16, 2007

Seven weird things about me!

I was tagged by icecastle and 2girlsand2boys for this really funny tag.  Well, at least it is funny if you tag a crazy person like me.  So, here's what you do.


The rules are as follows:

Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.



Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.


Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.


Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


So here we go: 


  1. I love to eat french fries dipped in ice cream.
  2. I also love to eat turkey slices with rice and pickles rolled up on the inside ~ my form of sushi!  LOL!
  3. When I am really exhausted, my teeth chatter and I get very giddy.  My dh thinks it is very funny but sends me right off to bed.
  4. Sometimes when I laugh, I sound like a guinea pig!
  5. I once dragged my then only son out into the eye of a hurricane, because it was a family tradition. My Grandma let her kiddos play outside during the eye of hurricanes.
  6. On very rare occasions, I have been known to start ice cube fights, water fights, party streamer fights, packing peanut fights and even food fights (outdoors).
  7. I once performed CPR on a toad that my day care kids found in the trash can.  After he was revived, we named him Oscar and kept him as a pet.  (Unfortunately, he was retarded from lack of oxygen and truly difficult to feed!)
Well, that's probably enough revealing for today.  I don't want to lose any of my lovely blogging friends!  LOL!  I have no idea who to tag so if you want to do it, let me know you did it.


Blessings,

Dawn

Monday, November 12, 2007

Making time for Mother Culture ...

Westward is hosting the most recent Charlotte Mason Carnival.  If you wish to see more entries, go here.



Karen Andreola talks about Mother Culture in her book, A Charlotte Mason Companion.  I decided that I wanted to talk about Mother Culture, because as homeschooling mothers, it is so important that we take time to implement this habit into our lives.  Mother Culture is taking time for ourselves ~ to follow our own interests and find inner peace, so that we can grow and expand ourselves.  In this way, we become better mothers.  John Ruskin said, "Make yourselves nests of pleasant thoughts, bright fancies, faithful sayings: treasure-houses of precious and restful thoughts, which care cannot disturb nor poverty take away from you, houses built without hands for your souls to live in."  It is especially important for us, as homeschooling mothers, to fill ourselves with new knowledge and pleasant experiences, so that we can have much to offer our children.  What we sow, we will later reap in our children. 
 Karen Andreola suggests that we keep three books that we are reading at any given time.  One should be stiff, one easy to read, and one that is a novel.  I admit I am not great at this task.  My stiff book at the moment is Ourselves Vol. 4 by Charlotte Mason.  I only get through 5 or 6 chapters a year and read it like a college textbook with lots of note taking.  I will be reading this series forever.  LOL!  Can I count the latest Homeschooling Today magazine as my easy reading?  As for a novel, I need to pick out a new one.  It has been a while.  I have been reading classics with my big teen that I never read in school.  We just finished the Old Man and the Sea.


Besides quiet time and expanding our minds through reading, we are encouraged to follow our own personal interests.  My interests are scrapbooking, listening/singing to music, teaching myself a few simple songs on the piano and maintaining this blog.  I find all of these rewarding and they help fill me up, so that I can in turn give generously to my family.  I never thought that I would get so much out of blogging.  I have found that you, my sister bloggers, have a vast wealth of knowledge to share and help me stretch myself so I do not become stagnant in one way of teaching or thinking.  It also has provided a diary of sorts of my family history.  I do hope someday to take up needlepoint and quilting but have found that thus far these do not fit into this season in my life.  I've thought about starting something on a much smaller scale.

I will leave you with this last quote by Billy Graham, "Mothers should cultivate their souls, that in turn they may cultivate the souls of their children." 

Blessings,
Dawn
She also suggests that we find time in the day for quiet meditation or prayer ... if only for a few minutes.  That is very challenging since my house is rarely quiet, but it is much calmer at night.  Although I have to work on this, I understand its importance.  I was raised a Quaker, so I love this quote from William Penn, "In the rush and noise of life, as you have intervals, be still.  Wait upon God and feel his good presence."   I love thunderstorms, and find sitting on the back porch watching God's Glory to be very fulfilling and a tender reminder that there is far more going on in this world than my sometimes hectic life would suggest.  My children are welcome to join me on the porch --if they will sit quietly. 

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Scattered Update ...

We are in the middle of a very busy two weeks!  My Goldilocks (6) has started an intensive therapy called Tomatis for auditory processing, sensory integration and occupational and physical therapy.  She has to go every day for 15 days in a row except Sundays.  Then she will be going every other month for 8 days for a few months.  The boys started this process a few months ago, so now we practically live at this office.  I told the office staff the other day that I really need my own room and parking space.  LOL!  Anyway, the improvements in the boys are really dramatic, so I hope we will see the same in Goldilocks.  Unfortunately, her brain is damaged in a different way than my boys' brains, so it is hard to know how much improvement we will see.  Unfortunately, her behavior is nosediving because of all of the one on one attention from the therapists.  They are giving her too many choices, too much praise, and letting her get away with too much.  The therapists really want to do their best by her and have done an awesome job with my boys, but it is totally different dealing with a RAD child.  It's a learning curve, of course, for everyone.  Hopefully, they will tighten up so she will not be spinning out so much. 


Tom Sawyer (5) is really enjoying the piano more, since I started putting a spoon handle under his palm to provide support.  The spoon helps his hand curve more naturally and allows his fingers to play separately.  The hardest thing for him is remembering to lift one finger before pressing the next one down. 





Tom Sawyer is also doing awesome in reading.  I am so pleased with his progress in 100 Easy Lessons.  He is zipping through it and has started using phonics to sound out words he wants to spell.


Little Red Ridinghood (4) is really loving her ballet, and I can't believe her first recital is just a few weeks away!  She has so many little dance moves.  Also, Goldilocks is doing well in Homeschool Choir and holding her own.  I wasn't sure she would be able to deal with the memorization of songs (since she can't read) but is starting to learn them.  Her first concert is right around the corner, too.


The boys ended up doing the same art lesson on Toulouse-Lautrec the other day.  I am amazed at how well Tom Sawyer stuck with it. This is what they were copying.





Here are their renderings:


The big teen's





Tom Sawyer's





Lastly, the big teen starts rehearsals for our church Christmas play on top of his Internship at the Nature Center, so we are about to become even busier.  In fact, I have to leave the house for 59 appointments/co-op/classes this month!  YIKES!  Talk about crazy busy.


Blessings,
Dawn

Friday, November 9, 2007

The Big Teen's Geography ...

So I am adding this completed course to my big teen's online transcript.  If you want to see all the courses I have posted so far, click on high school transcripts.  The big teen will have completed 28 different courses by the time he graduates, so this list will grow longer.  For today ~ GEOGRAPHY.

In Geography, the big teen took a 16 week class with other homeschoolers, attended a Geography Club once a month for 1 year and attended a homeschool International Night once a year for three years.  Each weekly class, monthly club, and homeschool International Night presentation required an in-depth oral/written report.  (I have all the written reports in his records.)  Also, the yearly event usually takes him about 15 hours of prep work and a large display/exhibit, and he dresses in the appropriate country's costume.

Countries studied in depth ~

  • Chile
  • Russia
  • Ireland
  • Italy  
  • Kenya
  • Haiti
  • Paraguay
  • Norway
  • Egypt
  • England
  • Easter Island
  • Mongolia
  • Antarctica (not really a country)
  • Australia
  • Japan
  • Colombia
He also studied North Carolina and Alaska in depth.  He did 11 written reports and oral reports on almost all the countries, as well.  He played games, such as Borderline Middle East and USA and online geography terms games.  He also studied the Middle East in an attempt to understand what is going on in that part of the world.  He received an A for this course.

Blessings,
Dawn

Monday, November 5, 2007

Operation Christmas Child ...

It's that time of year again.  If you are looking for a fun hands-on charity for your little ones to get into, I highly recommend this one.  My kids have enjoyed making shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child for several years now.  They each decorate a shoebox with wrapping paper (with help from Mom), pick an age/boy/girl and then we go shopping for lots of fun goodies for their "child".  I try really hard to think about what it is like to live in an impoverished Third World country and avoid anything that needs batteries or is trendy.  We try to stick to the fun basics, such as art supplies, balls, dolls, stickers, puzzles, as well as soap and toothpaste.  It's been a great experience for my kids for several reasons.  I take this opportunity to talk with them about how many, many children live without the basics and how we as Americans (generally speaking) are way too wrapped up in our stuff.  We have the Material World book and go through it and look at the poorer countries.  We don't do Santa Claus and we discuss again that he is not a real person, but he symbolizes doing good to others.  Then my kids get to "play" Santa Claus and give these shoeboxes to a child in need. This year went peacefully, but in years past it has been hard for my little ones to part with the treasure boxes.  They had to dig down into themselves and show a little sacrifice.  Anyway, if you are interested in knowing more, Operation Christmas Child is the week of November 12 this year and you can find out more HERE.


writing their letters to their "child"





Choosing for their "child" from the loot





Finishing up their boxes





Little Red Ridinghood wanted to do a baby girl so we made her box for a 2-4 year old.  The doll took up a lot of space in the box, but it will probably be well loved.  I was pleased that Little Red Ridinghood gave up the pretty new doll without trying to claim it for her own.





Goldilocks squeezed everything in for her 5 to 8 year old girl.  (The camera is a toy not real, as the child would have no way to get film or processing.)  I had to laugh because she liked how the box came out so much that she said, "I wish I had nothing so someone would give me a shoebox like this."  LOL!


Blessings,
Dawn

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Our dirty laundry!

My kids love to do SOME of their chores.  Moving the laundry from the upstairs bathroom to the laundry room is their favorite chore.  Of course, it gets a little crazy when they are moving it. 

Step 1 ~ Dump the laundry out in the bathroom!

I love dd's face! She's thinking, "Is there nothing my Mom won't blog?!"

Step 2 ~ Throw it down the stairs and slide down the stairs on it.







Sometimes the laundry wins for a moment or two!



Step 3 ~ Get it to the laundry room any way you can!







Mommy's waiting ~ Where is that laundry?



This was not staged! This really is the way my kiddos do the laundry.  If you thought that was scary, you should see the way they mop floors.  LOL!

Blessings,
Dawn