What we do-organization

I have been reading about all the different organization systems for homeschoolers. Everything from chore charts to workboxes to computer trackers. Some days I feel like I have tried them all, now as we enter our 5th year of homeschooling (really 5 years- good grief, I could have sworn we just started last year!) I realize that we have a system that works for us.

First we pile. Hey don't knock the pile. Piles can save lives (or take them if they get out of hand)
We pile all our books that we will use that day next to our desks.

Next we pick and choose. I let the kids pick what subjects they want to do and in what order. The only time I have them wait or skip to a subject is if they are going to be doing it together. But even that isn't that often because unless they are to be playing a game together, they can usually figure out what they need without their sibling to help.

After that, the list. For English, the kids have a list of what activities they need to accomplish that week as part of the curriculum. As they work though the list, stuff is checked off. It makes all of us feel better checking things off.

Finally, put it away. As they finish with each subject they put it back in their desk so at the end of the morning (or afternoon) they just have to put their desks away and the living room is neat and clean again for playing Wii or watching TV or playing a game of Harry Potter Legos.

As for how I track what we did each day (because some years I get the awful evaluator who wants proof of "regular and thorough instruction") I have a daily calendar and I make a note as to what was done.

Today's looked something like this:

T-Reading comp. Chap 3
L- Science 43-45
T- Science 44-45
L- Reading comp.
Descriptive sentences
T- IEW Lesson3a

Obviously we did more than this but as an example I'm sure you get it.

February

Here it is, the end of February, and I have plans for next year on the brain. I know it is too soon but I can't help it.

I am working with my local homeschool group to set up a co-op. There is so much to do. Between planning the location, figuring out forms, classes, age groups and rules, I wish it was just planned and ready to start. But honestly I love plans. They make me feel secure. They are like lists but more long term.

So my friends and I have been working on this co-op, which leads me to start to think about next year's curriculum. It is a big year with Boyo going into 4th grade and Girlie in 2nd. We will finally be done with speech (hear the singing? between 1 to 3 afternoons a week have been taken up by speech for the past 4 years!)

Some stuff I want to cover next year:

--I really want to start a good writing program with Boyo. I think by now he really should be writing paragraphs that are more than 3 or 4 sentences. So we will spend lots of time on that next year. I plan on using IEW and Myths and fables or US History.

-- We have been working on a $1 Target book about the states, next year I want to go more in depth and really cement that in. I don't need for the kids to know all the capitals (though that would be cool) but I want them to know all the state names and have a good idea where in the USA they are located. Not sure what curriculum I want to use for that.

--I think we have a good language arts program so we will continue on with that. Queen Homeschool

--Singapore math is working well for Boyo so we will stay with that. We might try a more spiral type approach for Girlie as she is still struggling with much of it, maybe saxon or horizons

--We will continue with Latin as the kids love it, we might add in Spanish but maybe not, it depends on life :)

--I want to do Chemistry next year, we tried it out and the kids loved it so it is definitely on the to do list.

-- History, hmmm, well Boyo has enjoyed the workbook I got for him at BJ's and he won't finish it this year so he is covered for a while. Girlie has enjoyed doing the lapbooks on different topics so we might continue with that otherwise I'd love to do Beyond the Page with her. I really think she'd like it.

Well that is as far as I have gotten. Need to work out the budget, research different ideas, oh and sew for Gulf wars, Celt wars and Pennsic so I can afford these goodies.

Night at the Museum

Lately the kids have been working on a lapbook about the movies- Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum 2. We got it from we3kids. This is a wonderful lapbook with more than just the usual minibooks with a "read and report" mentality. There are informational paragraphs (to save mom much of the research) but there are also wonderful activities to go along with certain topics.

For example in the movie there is an Easter Island head ("Got some Gum-gum, Dum-Dum?") and in addition to reading a paragraph about the heads in the lapbook, the kids are encouraged to make their own.

Boyo's Moai

Girlie's Moai

We have all really enjoyed this unit. Thanks we3kids for making it!

Flats

We have just joined a yahoo group that trades Flat Travelers. These are little cut out "people" who go to different places and have adventures. Sorta like Flat Stanley

Currently we have Flat Baxter, Flat Owen and Flat Nan visiting us. What I like about this idea is that you don't have to plan special stuff to do with the flats, just regular day to day stuff for your part of the world/country. Flat Owen is from Indiana, so while the farm life around us might not be new or different for him, the woodpeckers and squirrls might be. Also it is fun to see how different families work. One family who is hosting a flat drives a 15 person van with 8 car seats.

We will be trading flats back next week so we will get to see what adventures our flats have been on while they have been on vacation and then send them off again.

To join the Flat Trravelers Group- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flat_travelers_homeschool/

It's Magic Try-it Lapbook

Ok first off I am sorry I have been gone so long. We had a huge family vacation and with getting back into the whole schooling thing... well let's just say it took a bit of time.

But for your enjoyment I have finished a Magic Try-it Lapbook. This lapbook is based off the try-it from the River Bluffs Council http://www.riverbluffs.org/PDF_WhatsNew/WhatsUPPatchProgramBooklet11408/ItsMagicPatchProgram11408.pdf

This council is dissolving so it is tricky to figure out where to order the try-its so I will help you out. :) You have to call them directly at (618) 692-0692 / (800) 345-6858 and ask for the store. Then ask for the It's Magic try-it. They currently have them in stock for a dollar and change.

The other council own patches are here http://www.riverbluffs.org/PDF_WhatsNew/WhatsUPPatchProgramBooklet11408/WhatsUpPatchProgramBooklet11408.htm

They will not be available after Oct. so Order them quick!!

I used left over minit books from other projects to create the books for my daughter. So the PDF books might look different.

Here is a picture of the inside Girlie's Lapbook. Picture of the front is at the top of this post.

Here is the link to the PDF for the lapbook and as always I hope you and your family enjoy making it. Please drop me a note telling me what you liked/didn't like.

Magic Try-it Lapbook

First Aid Lapbook

We have completed our first Brownie try-it lapbook --Birds. Girlie learned a lot about them, which I guess is the point of try-its. Sometimes we rush though the activities but I am not that concerned about it since she loves to go back through the lapbooks and reread them. I figure that helps cement the knowledge.

Anyway with the first brownie lapbook completed under our belts I have started to put together resources and activities for the next lapbook- First Aid.

Here are the requirements for the try-it. http://store.gscsnj.org/store/product/14662/FIRST-AIDE-TRY-IT/


Instead of re-inventing the wheel I wanted to see what minit books I could find to fit the requirements of this try-it for free online. I was surprised to find so many of them.

Here is the list of links to what either meets the requirements or is a nice addition to flesh out the unit.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/camping/first_aid_kit.pdf

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/camping/prepared.pdf (Expansion)

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/officer_buckle_and_gloria/call_911.pdf
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/tornado/first_aid.pdf
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/petunia/first_aid_basics.pdf
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/care_and_keeping/Sports%20Safety.pdf (only the sprain minit book)
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/petunia/community.pdf glue in the pictures of who would use first aid
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/petunia/emergency_wheel.pdf (Expansion)
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs54367/leprechauns_dress_weather.pdf
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8271621/First-Aid-minit-Books

Be prepared isn't a requirement but I think it is a good expansion to flesh out the unit, also a good thing to get the little minds working if you plan on taking your kids camping.

The Emergency Wheel teaches about what to do in an emergency so even though it is not a requirement I think it is important.

For the sprain Don't forget R.I.C.E. Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate

The only things not covered by all the wonderful free minit books I found is care for shock and burns and also what things to be aware of in certain weather. To that end I added my own minit books to the list above so that these topics would be covered.

My plan is to work on this book with Girlie over the next little while. I'll post pictures when we are done.

Latin

We have decided to teach the kids Latin. We started last year with Minimus but I got more out of it than the kids. Now we are trying again with Getting Started with Latin. I love the approach that GSWL takes. Each lesson takes a whole 5 minutes and reviewing previous lessons is still in the under 15 minute range. We have knocked though the first 5 lessons on the drive home from speech (10 minute drive).

I love that each lesson is on one thing. Not tons of words or lists of words with topics and confusion but literally 1 thing. Lesson 1 introduces "Nauta," which means sailor by the way, and that is it for lesson 1. By lesson 3 you are making sentences, not great huge things but simple stuff like "Sum nauta" (I am a sailor.) When we combine lessons 1-5 with a couple words I remembered from Minimus we were able to make more sentences.

We are not teaching the kids Latin so that they will get a better grasp of grammar (though it won't hurt I guess) or so they can have an easier time when they move to Spanish (still a good thing). We are teaching them Latin so that they will have a bigger vocabulary and score better on their SATs. Well that and it is more fun to hear Paene advenimus? rather than Are we there yet?

To go with our Latin, I made a notebook page to keep track of the words we learn. It is designed with 2 sheets on one page. I printed off about 10 pages worth of sheets (10 words) and cut them into half sheet pages. Then they were bound into a small book that the kids decorated to give them a sense of ownership. You can do as I did or keep them 2 on a page and just hole punch and put into a binder. Whatever works for your family.

The link to the Notebooking Page:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6533417/Latin-vocabulary-notebook-page

Please if you use my stuff. Leave me a comment so I know it was useful to someone. Thanks!

My sister

For her entire life my sister has had to share her birthday with Willy Shakespeare. Well, being born more than 300 years later will do that, I guess. Really most people don't know that April 23rd is his birthday or that it is also the day that he died, but that is neither here nor there.

For my entire educational career people have told me how great ol' Willy is and how there is no higher literary works that his plays. Ok sure. Good themes but how sad is it when the movie is better than the book? That is just not how it is suppose to be.

That all being said in honor of Willy (a day late because that is just how I roll these days) I would like to share with you my favorite Quote (actually it is the only one of his stuff I like and I recite it for the kids every Halloween)

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

I would like to thank whatever person who decided to print that bit on school folders back in 7th grade. That is the only reason I learned it.

And for my sister, well she is quite a wonderful writer in her own right, not Willy but that just means her stuff is actually good. I invite you to check out her latest work. It is near and dear to me since it is about homeschooling.

Lilka's Dream

Happy birthday (again a day late but still)!!

Girlie Talks

For those of you who haven't heard Girlie talk in a while, Listen to how good her speech has gotten!!

It is a very short clip but her speech is so much better, we still have a ways to go though.

The Quarry

Boyo at the quarry

BFF's middle brother E. overlooking the quarry.

Today we had a field trip to a local Quarry with Boyo's cub scout pack. Girlie and BFF were the tag-a-long Daisy contingent.

It was a wonderful time! The kids were taken to watch the entire rock process. First, we watched them blast some rock loose from the walls of the quarry.

Before:

Notice the 12 holes drilled in formation? The blasting caps and other boom making things are in those holes. Yep, I know, really technical terms. I was wrangling a kid when they were talking about the explosives.

After:

To see it in action- Sorry my camera only shoots for 5 seconds and I am just figuring it out. Turn on your sound. The biggest laughs you hear at the end are Girlie.

After the explosion, we drove into the quarry to get a closer look at the different machines and to watch the guys (only guys, didn't see any female workers) load up a truck full of the rubble from the explosion.

Then we got back into our cars and drove to the crusher (Sorry again, I deleated those pictures by accident) When the rubble was dumped on to huge conveyor belts and moved this way and that to a big orange box that rattled and shook. This crushed the rocks into smaller chunks for landscaping stone. It it also crushed the rocks smaller into aggregate for concrete or asphalt.

We were given a chance to pick though some rocks that were dumped into a special field for us. Many of the boys found Calcite crystals, along with bits of quartz and marble. Some of the boys even found Metabasalt (metamorphosed basalt) which they called coal since it is dark and layered looking, like coal. (Many kids in this area have coal stoves so it is normal for black rocks to be found, they just assumed that all black rocks of a certain size and look are coal. The difference was explained between coal and metabasalt. The main difference being that coal will burn in a stove and metabasalt won't).

Thank you L# Quarry for the wonderful field trip! (I'd put the real name of the quarry but I have privacy concerns.)

Science- Human Body

We have been working on the Human body for Science. So far we have covered blood, lungs and heart. Our project Friday was to figure out how all these different parts go together.

We traced Girlie on some banner paper and Boyo and Girlie colored it. Then I cut of the body parts and name tags for the different parts and the kids worked together to put them all on the body.

And because I didn't show you pictures of Boyo's new hair cut...

Before After

Which do you like better?

Leapster meets Didj

We have been a leapster family for a while now. My dad bought the kids one a while back and since then Boyo has progressed in math by leaps and bounds. Girlie has done well too but it really isn't her medium.

When the kids were little they watched the Leapfrog DVDs and that gave them a good idea of how the whole reading thing worked. The Leapster handheld games did the same thing for boyo when it came to multiplication. When we hit that section in his math book, I was so surprised that he already knew almost all the basic facts that he breezed though the end of the book with no problem.

But like all things, Boyo became too advanced for the Leapster games. So last Christmas I looked at getting him a Didj, being the next step up from Leapster without crossing over to a Nintendo DS which doesn't have educational games. But it was too expensive and the reviews weren't that great and it was too new so there were kinks to be worked out.

Last week when the kids and I were at Walmart (don't judge me it is a small town) we went for a walk through the toy aisle and low and behold- the didj was on sale for more than $40 off!! After a brief chat with Hubby, I picked it up and also an extra game for Boyo.

Boyo spent 3 days playing it consistently before the batteries wore out and had to be charged.

So There is the pros and cons for the Didj

Pro

• Educational


• Great graphics


• ability to go online to change or adjust the level of difficulty on the problems


• adaptable -it can be scaled back to Girlie or made tougher for Boyo


• Lots of different math games

Cons

• Expensive


• not a lot of games yet and most seem to be math games


• Most language arts games are not aimed at boys (Nancy drew is the only spelling game I have found)


• doesn't come with a cover like the Leapster so screen can get scratched up.

All in all I really like the games, I wish that it could use the old Leapster cartridges but I see the difference in quality in the graphics so I understand why it can't be so. I really hope they put out more games and continue with more of the older grades (3+).

Princess Power

Hands of a Child was ever so kind of offer me a lapbook to try out and review. Girlie and I wanted to have a special day with BFF so with this lapbook in mind I called, made plans, printed and cut and got everything ready.

Armed with markers, construction paper, glue sticks and snacks, it was time!

Girlie kept a watch at the window for BFF to arrive, then once she was at the door it was a case of "I want to hide and surprise her." Eventually everyone who was staying was here and those who were leaving left. It was time to start!

Princess power is broken up into 2 mini lapbooks. One is on fairytale princesses and the other is on real live princesses. Since we all know that Girlie is a princess, it was easy to make the real live princess section about Girlie and BFF. The different secions we put on different colored pages.

We read a version of Sleeping Beauty that was different than one the girls had heard before, then we discussed how it was different and filled out the different minit books. After getting though all the wonderful minit books on the fairy tale princess, it was time for a break.

After a snack and some playtime, we pulled ourselves back together and started on the Girlie and BFF part. It was great fun listening to them talk about the different questions,

"Where were you born?"

"At a hospital, I came out of Mommy. But Boyo made Mommy cut open."

Once they finished all the minit books about them, they decorated the books while I fixed lunch. As I set out a lunch picnic in the living room, they finished up and I stapled all the pages together into a book. (we use construction paper pages stapled instead of file folders- it just works better for my family).

The girls played the rest of the afternoon and when BFF's mom came back, the girls didn't want to separate as they had been having so much fun.

I heard later that BFF's dad loved the lapbook, and Girlie was excited to show it to hubby and tell him all about her day.

Girlie liked that she could continue the fun on her own with the puppets that come with the lapbook. The stories that she came up with are incredible.

Princess Power

Hands of a Child has offered me the chance to test one of their lovely lapbooks. To that end, Girlie, BFF and I are going to have a girls day working on "Princess Power." We are going to lapbook about a fairytale princess and then do a seperate section on the little princesses we know (Girlie and BFF). I spent the past day or so cutting out many of the lapbook mini-books and getting everything ready. I hope the girls have a good time with this project.

Pittsburgh

My mom took me and the kids to Pittsburgh over the weekend. It is always such an adventure to go to the big city.

Saturday Risko kept the kids at a yarn store. Boyo has a "job" there pricing balls of yarn. Girlie helped him. From what I understand it was quite an adventure. There was the yarn store, food, parks, and finally back to the hotel. (thank you hotel staff that recognized my kids even if you didn't recognize the woman they were with and let them all back into the room- 2 thumbs up!)

Sunday my mom the kids and I went down to the strip district. It is a great fun sort of place. We explored the green grocer, the fish market, a Pittsburgh Steeler merchandise store (nothing in the kids sizes other wise they would have been sporting some steeler stuff today). Compared to our little town where food is either from the farmer's market , BJ's or Weis, this was a fantastic experience!

Girlie has decided that we should all move to Pittsburgh. She feels a real attachment to the town.

I told her maybe Daddy will take her to visit next time there is a business trip to CM.

Happy Friday the 13th

As I was walking out of work this morning I wished one of my little guys a Happy Friday the 13th and since my kids were there (Hubby is off to Gulf wars), they asked why I said that.

Which lead to a conversation on the Templars, which lead to the King Phillip, which lead to the Holy Grail, which lead to crucifixion, which lead to the Da Vinci Code, which lead to rites and obligations of a Rabbi, which lead to sang rial, which lead to the Pope, which lead to Medieval Homeland Security issues, which ended with "What do you believe?"

And to think our drive home from work only takes about 4 minutes.

So Happy Friday the 13th, may you not have any Kings out to get you. And for the Templars- I'm sorry for your loss.

Owl Pellets and Mr. Bunny

We have had a great homeschool day. Currently Boyo is working on an animal study of animals in the woods. It is handy that we live in the woods, he can just look out the window or explore in the woods to get a feel for the subject.

One of the projects we are doing relating to woodland animals is dissecting owl pellets. Boyo and Girlie have done this before at the library science class. (Best thing ever that the library offers free science classes and runs then twice, once for the general public and once for homeschoolers). Two Christmases ago, Boyo got a owl pellet kit in his stocking. Yes, Santa believes in education. So today we cracked it open and started dissection. It was fun for Boyo and I. (Girlie watched as she ate lunch). We found a bunch of ribs, a couple legs and at least one jaw.

And for those who wanted more pics of Mr. Bunny:

Phenomenon

I had heard of this phenomenon. This older child helping younger child learn. I knew some families depend on it to get everyone schooled or just to survive, but I knew eventually it would happen in my home but I thought it would be later and in math.





But as I sit here loading pictures of our new (first ever) pet into the computer I realize this phenomenon is happening upstairs on the sofa. Boyo and Girlie have sat down together to practice Girlie's reading. I love hearing Girlie read and Boyo is not pushing or butting in. He is guiding and only giving the word if she doesn't know or mispronounces it. I am amazed and feeling the love as it were.

Broken crayons

A friend gave me a great idea of how to use all the broken crayons that breed in our house. She melted them into little patties and they are great for coloring or making rubbings.

Here is how we did it. First collect all the broken bits and peel off the paper.

Then fill a muffin try about 1/2 full with crayon bits and stick it in a 250 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Take out and cool, preferably outside. Once the patties are totally cool they pop right out and are ready to use.

Irish Cinderlad Lapbook

We finished the Irish Cinderlad lapbook in plenty of time to show it off at book reports. Yay Us!!

One of the moms had never heard of lapbooking so for any of you know don't know, lapbooking is using a folder to hold a bunch of little "minit" books. Minit books are interestingly folded bits of paper that ask and answer a question or hold information on a topic. Well that is pretty not clear huh?

Maybe a better explanation is made by using a visual-

Here is the lapbook.


Forgive the data stick. It was to cover Boyo's name.

Here is the inside. You can see all the minit books.

The story summery is a matchbook, The amazing speckled bull is done with a fan fold. Vocabulary and where did Becon find? are both shutterfolds.

Boyo liked doing his book report in this format and loved showing it off to everyone who was there.

For more information on lapbooks, to find free ones, and directions on how to make your own, check out http://www.homeschoolshare.com/