Week 22 of School

We made it more than half way through the year already! I stand amazed at how much ground we have covered and how few funks we got into. I am very thankful for a first Semester of Excellence and I am looking forward to these next few months!

This week we started back on Saturday. We did several hours of Math drills. The boy's followed this up by heading out to their Grandpa Marks for a wonderful and fun filled few days. While the boys were gone, the girls and I got down to business.

Let me tell you first, we have begun our Science lesson in Biomes. I do NOT want to post or really even take pictures until we have them all finished because I would like for them to be presented together. You wont see very many science pictures this week.

This is a rare site. We seldom do any work at the kitchen table anymore. That is why I have a classroom. However, it was the weekend and I just let things fly. Isn't it nice, all 4 of them diligently working? AT THE SAME TIME?

Our Christmas Blessing! WOWSERS! We got over 40 Science books from our wonderful neighbor Lamar! He is a teacher in a public school here in Kansas City. He also worked for the NASA space program and has an incredible love for teaching what he knows about it. I am so very thankful for Lamar. He is such a blessing to my family and myself! Let me also add that he is sweet enough to fix my computer problems when I am  having issues! We LOVE YOU Lamar!

Small changes to the workbox system. I moved Hali's boxes off the other shelf and put them on top of Abby's. I also removed boxes #10-12 because they are rarely used due to the fact that most of her assignments are on the computer. I moved all of Abby's manipulatives and supplies onto the shelf now. I am not very pleased with their location but it's currently working.

Our computer stations got a good cleaning and decluttering! Ready for another semester. I am praying for flat screens soon!

I LOVED playing this game with Hali. Sometimes it's hard to grasp what a Simile is and honestly, because they are not black and white, but rather abstract they can be confusing. This board game I found online, and the only addition I had to make to the rules is that we went around the board until all the cards were used. You can find this game and print it off yourself here. If you are looking for some awesome free resources this is one link you don't want to loose!

Dolch word tic-tac-toe with Abby was a nice work box additive. We had not visited this game in a couple months.

Then there is the unit study of the Geography of the United States. I have one whole 500+ page workbook on this subject and also printed off some fantastic unit studies for both Hali and Abby. Whats better yet, I dusted off  "Singing Around the World" and we learned some new songs to help us keep track of where states are located.

We had ONE minor meltdown this first week back to school. Abby worked through it and it lasted all of about 2 minutes. She decided that she was going to continue her work on the floor.

This semester we are doing the book of Virtues. I am picking and choosing what I want to include for each girl according to their age. I did however LOVE the beautiful quotes of worth that were available. If you would like a free copy, see the link a few posts down.

We also revisited this ole' favorite! Fishing with Ole' Rover. This is a phonics and reading game.

Hali's United States Abbreviation workbook.

Sequencing and life cycles of frogs, butterfly's and spiders.

 

 

We brought our pals back out for reviewing!

Worked on Camouflaged animals.

 

A few more samples of Abby's beautiful handwriting.

And yet more science~ Categorizing animals according to fur, feathers or scales.

 

So that's some of what we have gotten finished over the last 3 days. It has really been a good week back to school!

Missouri's New Laws Call for Portfiolio Maintance Part 2

Did I mention how much I absolutely LOVE learning how to do things I have no clue about? Yep, my friends will all tell  you that while I may be quite proficient at it, it's something I almost dread doing. I think there is something that worries me about it turning out wrong, or not quite understanding what is expected.

Now that this deep seated confession is exposed, let's continue with pictures of Hali's Portfolio!

Beautiful is better... These are about 16x22 inches. They are actually designed to be scrapbook portfolio's. I wonder if the manufacture would like to market them this way?

One of the very consistent things I try to do in my classroom on a daily basis is something I call Creative Word Prompts. I believe that writing should be fun. I also believe if  we stifle our love of writing by doing too many reports, worthless information gathering and redundant repetition then we fail. All of my kids are fantastic story weaver and LOVE standing  up when it's time for sharing to recite their story for the day. I always tend to pick a topic that will spur their minds into digging deep. If you have problems with a child learning to write, creating a story or expressing themselves articulately, may I suggest  you try this every day for a year?  I PROMISE you will raise a talented writer!

So this picture is the bundle of short stories I asked Hali to choose. I asked for three and her response was "Only Three!" No problem with sharing our creativity here.

I added a couple samples of Spanish. This wonderful program was created by my friend Heather from the Homeschool board. Don't you wish you had friends like them? Heather even created a whole alphabet for me to hang along the classroom ceiling for our exercises!

Unit study on the Solar System

Unit study on Rome. I plan to include a few of her Roman projects and pictures with this unit.

All of Hali's spelling tests are excellent! How can a homeschooler NOT make a perfect grade? You simply repeat until it's correct!

Another spelling test

Unit study on Fire Prevention. I will be including pictures of her at the fire station and doing the activities here in the classroom.

Math, math and more math. I have included about 60 pages so far.

and yet MORE math!

I see that I am lacking dearly in photos! Oh well. It's late and I still have one more post to do. Like I mentioned in the post with Abby's portfolio, I am sure to change this several times so I will be sure to share more photos then!

Missouri's New Laws Call for Portfiolio Maintance

One of the joy's of home educating my children is making sure I stay up to date and in the "know" of the homeschooling rules and regulations. Missouri is a great state for the most part to home school in and we have simply the best advocates for us up on the hill.

With that being said, there are a few new rules that were added this year. I have had the joy and experience of knowing other home educating mommies in other states. The idea of a portfolio is not at all new to me. I just haven't participated in this very stressful affair before!

So welcome to a few posts from me that will focus on WHAT IS SUPPOSED to be in these things? Honestly, I have no clue since there is no precedent this year that I know of. I am just gathering things and adding them like a mad woman to be sure I am covering the basis!

Please keep in mind that I have already doubled the amount of things in these. You might be amazed at the number of worksheets, projects, unit studies and lap books you acquire in a semester!

Side note on lapbooks here... I love them and we do a ton of them (in my humble opinion). The problem with lapbooks and adding them to my growing collection is they are SIMPLY TOO BIG!
I came across a fantastic sale on lap books at the thrift store! A corporation had donated several boxes of super sized folders still in the box. The file folders themselves are 18" x 13.5" closed. When opened they are 27"x24". You can add a ton of things inside one of these awesome do-dads. I may have to rethink my sizes once I run out.

I did manage with the help of my fantastic online homeschooler board, a way to make their presence known. In the front, behind the lovely typed information I find necessary to include I will attach the completed list of topics covered and pictures of them!

I also plan to print off the thousand and one trips we take to the museums, Department of Conservation outings, historical landmarks and various places of interest.

Now, why do you need to know all of this? You might not, but someone surfing for the answers to this issue may!

Abigails Beautiful Binder (I refuse to work with boring)

 The assessment test I gave her during the last part of summer.

 

                                                                  Science projects

 

 

I did add several more pages of worksheets on each of these so they could see where the information was coming from and that she did "seated" work also.

Unit study in fire prevention. I plan to print off pictures of her at the fire station also.

I added about 50 sheets of math exercises. I will also print off the pictures I have taken of our hands on math fun.

Making sure to show her work.

Skip counting is a pre multiplication program a friend of mine created.

A couple of unit Studies for History and Geography. I plan to add her "extra" pictures of her crafts and native replicas she has created.

More unit studies about the first pilgrims. I do plan to include reference to the living books we read, wrote by the early settlers. We found their life in Holland absolutely fascinating and  I think all teachers should share this information!

This is one of the few animal fact mini books that we actually could fit in the portfolio.

Manuscript samples from both quarters and I will add more this semester.

Cursive sample

More cursive

I got these out of order a bit, but this was 1st qtr.

I have been digging through folders this week. I will honestly say it is not easy picking and choosing which items you want to include.

No doubt, I will change this a million times before the end of the year.

The book of Virtues

I wanted to share this information because I feel that it is an awesome resource for anyone who is bringing up young ladies.

We are incorporating this study into our homeschool and would like to encourage you to take a look at the material yourself.

The download is absolutely free, and may be given away to anyone as long as there is NO charging. The lady who created this unit study specifically asks this of us.

If you follow this link and scroll a ways down, on the right hand side is the official download. This is a HUGE 19.93 MB unit study. I believe it has something like 999 pages! If you have a slow connection you can download individual files.

I hope this unit study is a blessing to you and  your family!

Unit Study For WWII

This next semester we are going to delve right into a pretty extensive study of WW2. I am absolutely amazed by the information and the integrity of the people of this era. Their backbone and resolve is what has shaped the better part of our nation today.

This Unit study will include both History & Geography, maybe even a little Lit too.

We are starting out by reading the Biography of Anne Frank. You can find information and links about this precious young lady right here.

We also will be learning about Corrie Ten Boom. Born in a Christian Home in Holland, this family gives it all, including their lives to help the Jews. Here is a short excerpt from the ten Boom website:

Four Ten Booms gave their lives for this family’s commitment, but Corrie came home from the death camp.  She realized her life was a gift from God, and she needed to share what she and Betsie had learned in Ravensbruck:  "There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still" and "God will give us the love to be able to forgive our enemies."  At age 53, Corrie began a world-wide ministry which took her into more than 60 countries in the next 33 years! She testified to God’s love and encouraged all she met with the message that "Jesus is Victor."


This is the kind of people I want my children to know about in history! You can visit the Corrie ten Boom site from this link.

We will be adding a lovely lapbook to this study so we have an efficient and organized study took and reference when we are done.


Now, the biggest part of this unit study is on Israel. As a Christian household I feel it's very important to pray for the Nation. I also believe that my children not only need to know the beginning of God's special and chosen people but need also to know the ending. By studying Revelations and being able to discern the "signs of the times" I pray that my children will be well equipped to stand for their faith and know what it is they truly believe.

If anyone has terrific information, websites or a recommendation on this unit please let me know!  

I have been gathering a few links (Thank you to my girls over at No Place Like Home).

Israel's Flag 
Info on the flag 
Outline map of Israel 
Homeschool Share general info on books and Israel 

Passover information 

Academic list of to do's

Every quarter I evaluate where we are at and where I want to go. I am not talking about driving directions, but rather what I feel is important for each of my kids to learn.

In the large world of academics there really are many different and wonderful things to learn. I don't believe it is possible to teach my children everything there is to learn, nor to I feel it does them justice to try to cover a subject in 15 minutes. I believe strongly in child led interests but being a realistic mom who has a son graduating this year, I also know there are standardized tests that expect my kids to know SOME of what has been hailed as "Need to know" information.

With this in mind I try my best to include not only fun and interesting topics, along with hands on trips and activities but also a few of those "need to know" topics.

For those of you with younger children my daughters' ages, let me encourage you strive towards perfection in all you teach and have fun! One of the biggest blessings to me is that I get to learn a whole bunch of "stuff" all over again! You never know when this might come in handy. Perhaps on some TV game show?

Here is my master list for Science. I have one list for Abby, one for Hali and one I feel that BOTH of them could learn in tandem. This is in addition to our Core Switched on School House, which we do all 5 subjects in. You can find out more information about SOS Here.

Science for Hali:
Intro to Chemistry:
Physical properties
Chemical properties

Science for Abby:
Spiders & Insects
Animal life cycles
Fur, feathers, scales
Camouflaged animals
Parts of a plant (Yes, again because we are growing more in the spring)
Life cycle of a plant
Life cycle of food
Eating plants: Leaf, root, stem
Body parts
Sun, Earth, Moon (We did an unit study at the beginning of the year on the solar system)
Energy

Tandom lessons to be taught:
abiotic & biotic organisms
Material & non material resources
Renewable & Non renewable resources
Reduce, reuse & recycle
Humans and habitat extenction

Biomes:
Grassland (tropical & temperate)
Deciduous forests
Coniferous forest
Tropical Rain forest *** We will be doing an in depth unit study and lapbook for this topic.
Tundras (arctic & alpine)
Desert
Aquatic (freshwater & Marine)
Estliaries

Inherited traits of Humans
Inherited traits of plants

Species: (We have done multiple units on these, however this is an overview)
Reptiles
Amphibians
Fish
Birds
Mammals
Insects

Vertebrate
Warm blooded
Endoskeleton
Exoskeleton

The Universe: ** We have done this unit in the past, this one in a bit more in depth**
Astronomers
Galaxies
Stars
Comets
Asteroids
Meteroids
Planets
Solar System

So this list wraps up what I want to do with the girls this next Semester. I am praying I can make it through all of the material in a way that isn't pushing and that they absorb all there is to learn at this level.

Pray for me!
 

Annual Christmas Pictures

My dearest Hali came to me a couple days after I returned home from Arkansas. The complaint: We have not taken a Christmas Picture yet. So in the bitter cold and biting wind, I convince the other siblings what a GRAND idea this is. You see we ALWAYS take our Christmas picture in the fall. Somehow it just got over looked with all the things we had going on around here.

I didn't get very many pictures, and really only one of them I REALLY loved... but considering I got as many clicks as I did in the 8 minutes we were outside I consider my endeavor a success. I plan to send these out next month, when I send the letter announcing Nicks Graduation date.