Homeschooling at its BEST!

We have crossed a threshold of sorts! We have struggled with this homeschooling journey for several years now. There have been ups and there have been downs. Some times I was most grateful for what they "weren't" learning at public school....since they didn't seem to be learning a lot here at home. Still we pressed onward.

The last few days, we haven't done much school. I have been busy and dh has been working on the new well house. The boys have helped with the building of the well house....and that is a positive.

But in their spare time...they have built a two-seater bicycle! Yes, a bicycle built for two and it WORKS! Mind you, they built this from scrap pieces of old bicycles. (Our scrap yard of bike parts is nearly as bad as some of our other junk!) I am so proud of their imaginations and creativity!!!

Not only that, since we haven't been doing "school" per say during normal school hours, now they want to read at night! What???? What's with this? Usually, I have to fight to get them to read! And the one who is the hardest to persuade to read, has started reading the Hardy Boy series on his own! Huh? I am not kidding!!!

So, the lesson here....is never give up! It will happen and once their creative minds take hold, watch out!!!

Later, I will do a follow up, complete with pictures! First, I need to pickup batteries for the camera!

Memory Verse

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. ~ Psalms 100:4

Happy Almost Thanksgiving

We are busy getting ready for the holidays and I am sure you are too! This week, we are working on mastering a new book, reading from a previous book (depending on which student you are), working on the memory verse, along with math, geography and American history.

On the computer, we are still working on Auto Cad and Teamer is making great strides. They have also discovered a number of other sites, besides ebay and Amazon on which to spend their allowance. (Oh yea!)

We completed our Christmas mugs we decorated last week, except we need to take the art work (insert) and have it laminated before we start using the cups. They came out very nice and the boys were pleased.

Incase you haven’t seen these cups, they can be found at most craft stores, along with Mardels in our area. The cost is only 88 cents! Truly a great buy for something the boys have enjoyed making. They come with four different insert designs, which is great as everyone’s is different.

Later this week we will begin decorating pine cones and making bird feeders from some of the cones. (Unless it rains!)

This coming Saturday, I will be teaching at ECU. We will be preparing a Thanksgiving Day dinner. I haven’t decided if the boys are going along to help, but I am considering just that. It would be a great experience. They haven’t done any demonstration type activity since during the summer and this time it would be for adults, which would be good practice. Hoping granddaughter, Gabby, will be here, too.

In the meantime, I am trying to get organized so we won’t spin out of control before Christmas arrives!

You can read my latest post at www.dailyjesus.info if you would like.

May you Thanksgiving table be blessed.

Cheryl

Is It Really November?

I can not believe how fast the year is passing! October passed in a big orange blur! I apologize for not posting!

In an effort to get caught up and keep granddaughter, Gabby, happy (or quiet) I am going to make Tuesday the day I post here. At some point, I will try and turn my schedule upside down and wrong side out and post here sometime between Friday and Monday. That would indicate we know what we are doing, before we do it, instead of after the fact. Not that I want to mislead anyone!

We have found two very cool sites that are really spicing up things around here! And when the boys are working on the computer, it gives me a few minutes to do something around the house that needs to be done, or get caught on the phone. Still, there are some very good math and spelling exercises on these sites.

http://www.coolmath.com/

http://www.spellingcity.com/


Also, we have been given a huge sack of pine cones. Never mind the fact we have a number of pine trees and I’ve been too lazy to have the boys pickup the ones that are on the ground. It made a friend very happy to donate these to our little school. Someone had given them to her and she never got around to using them.

For our Thanksgiving project, we are going to coat pine cones with peanut butter, then sprinkle with bird seed. We will then hang them with yarn (hopefully high enough the goats won’t get them). I know, everyone has probably done this at some time or another. Still, the birds appreciate the effort and it will be a nice activity.

With Christmas just around the corner, we will also be decorating with pine cones. We will use some to make miniature Christmas trees, make a few door decorations for gifts, and some we will spray with gold glitter and add to other things from nature’s bounty.

Liz, thanks for the pine cones! We will use them in several art projects between now and the end of the year!

BTW ~ I will be teaching at the college (ECU) Saturday, November 21. We will be preparing turkey with all the trimmings! The class is called, “Talking Turkey.” Come by and see us!

Enjoy the season!
Cheryl

The Little Red Schoolhouse

This little red schoolhouse actually belongs to a friend of mine and it is no longer used for a schoolhouse. If I told you what she used it for, you probably wouldn't believe me! You can try and guess! Just post your answers in the comment section. What I love about it, is how peaceful it looks. Oh! And if you guess the correct answer you will win an age appropriate prize!

Today is September 10, 2009! This is the first time I have posted about school in two weeks. I'm not sure where the time goes, but it seems we are busy all the time.

The older boys are working on their cursive writing, math, geography, reading, and computer science. Jailen is studying typical first grade work and he loves it. Together, they are about half way through the set of Liberty's Kids dvds and are memorizing the 91 st Psalm. We started with verse one this week.

Gabby, Joey and Michaela spent nearly three weeks with us! During that time, we planned many craft projects for Christmas gift giving, but we did not get much done in the way actually making those items. Gabby will be coming back (hopefully) in mid October. While she was here Gabby was a great help in the kitchen and we started a cookbook for her and her cousin, Chasey.

Joey and Michaela, now 5 y/o and 4 y/o, both mastered the art of bike riding! Way to go, guys!

We also acquired a pen pal. A young lady in California. This is her first year to be home schooled! Hi, Ashlyn! We hope to learn many interesting things about the area where Ashlyn lives.

Hope to visit with you next week!

Until then,
Cheryl

Sarah, the Fastest Mammal on Earth

Meet eight year old Sarah, the fast mammal on Earth. Sarah lives in Ohio at the Cincinnati Zoo. She recently beat the 2001 record set by a male cheetah in South Africa. His time was 100 meters in 6.19 seconds. Sarah has been timed twice and beat the old record both times. Once she ran the 100 meters in 6.16 seconds, once in 6.13 seconds.

The Week that Was!!

I know, I promised to come back and post what we would be doing this week. Only now it is Thursday and we only have one day of school left this week. One of the reasons why I didn’t get back is because of the animal in the above picture.


“Trigger” as he is affectionately called, got out of his pen yesterday and we had a “slow speed” chase going on! It took some searching, but he was finally found in the neighbor’s pasture socializing. It took a little longer to persuade him back to his home turf and he invited friends to come along. (Why do we have a horse who acts like a teenager?)


Trigger is now back home and the fence is repaired.


The cold, hard facts are - one day was dedicated to animal husbandry, life skills, and fencing. Interruptions are a part of life. Sometimes, you just have to deal with it!

The picture is my friend Frannie’s schoolhouse. Cute, isn’t it? I love it!

When we haven't been chasing animals or running errands, we have been studing words that rhyme, the five senses, graphs, along with reviewing math and reading skills. One afternoon was spent on computer science and we finished gathering all the materials we need to complete our paper making project.

This afternoon, Papaw is going to give a demonstration on changing inter tubes in bicycle tires. We will double up on kitchen duty tonight in preparations for having all eleven kids here tomorrow night.

We also have the materials Gabby needs for her primative doll making project and the earth provided us with an earthquake late last night/early this morning, so we will be taking a look at earthquakes and how they are measured in intensity. Here is a really great site for information written on a level that is easy to understand.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids/

Next week, I will try to do better!

Until then,

Cheryl

This Week's Memory Verse

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. ~ Proberbs 3:5

Poetry

This past week we read some poetry, including one of my favorites, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. I read the poem, the kids illustrated what they saw (in their minds) while I read.



My question is, how do such smart kids end up drawing apple trees, complete with apples, when listening to:


Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.


My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.


He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.


The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


Then I remembered, besides being 90 plus degrees outside, they had been picking pears the evening before!


Maybe we will give this another shot in January!! For now we will stick to "that dirty little coward, that shot Mr. Howard. And laid poor Jesse in his grave."


I'll be back to post about the coming week.


Until then,
Cheryl

The Coming Week ~ August 17 to 21

I am sitting here preparing for next week. Usually, I am not so efficient. Many thoughts are running through my mind, some of which will find their way into our homeschooling experience.

Will Rogers along with Wiley Post died 74 years ago today, on August 15, 1935, when their plane crashed near Barrow, Alaska Territory. This coming week we will be studying a little about Oklahoma’s favorite son.

We will also continue to look at the sky and how the moon affects life here on Earth.

We have two projects lined up for the next few days. First we will be dying T-shirts with a little help from the sun and then we will begin the process of making paper.

Our Liberty’s Kids dvd’s arrived, which we will begin watching and part of our reading will be the American Adventure Series! These two studies will go hand in hand and I am very excited about both. Also, we will be studying England and why people wanted to make that dangerous move in coming to America. Tea and cookies, anyone?

Our world map is now hanging and the boys are anxious to play “Geography Bowl.” This involves a bowl (surprise!) containing note cards. Each card has the name of three countries or two countries and an ocean. The deal is for each student to pick a card (randomly) and see who can find the places listed on their card first.

To the above mix, we will add our daily math assignments, penmanship, commuter skills, and a little cooking. And we will be memorizing The Lord’s Prayer. Elijah is ready to start writing the book he has been planning. The other three still need to select a special project they would like for individual study.

For now, this is a glimpse of what we will be working on in the days ahead!

May you studies, whether at home or in a public school setting, be blessed!

Until next time,
Cheryl

Quote for the week ~

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

This week's Bible verse:

As for me, I will call upon God, And the LORD shall save me. ~ Psalm 55:16

Happy Birthday, Michaela!!!

Spirograph Nebula

A dying Star. Only God could something dying so beautiful. It almost looks like a beautiful rose, doesn't it?

Greetings!

We are nearly at the end of our second day of school. We are beginning to find our rhythm, even though yesterday was a bit unusual.

We really enjoyed viewing the meteor shower yesterday. It was certainly worth the effort of getting up early. Some things are better experienced, rather than to merely read about them.

In keeping with this weeks memory verse (Psalm 19:1) we are continuing to fine unusual things in the sky to learn about. I thought I would post a few to share with you. The above photo is a picture of the Ruby Galaxy or Messier 83. The picture was taken by the ESO/MPG 2.2-meter (7.2 feet) telescope in Chile's mountainous Atacama Desert on August 25, 2008.

Enjoy looking at the pictures and if you would like more information, be sure and leave us a message in the comment(s) area.

Blessings!
Cheryl

This week's Bible verse:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19:1
David had quite a way with words!

Quote for the day ~

“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” ~ Shakespeare (Maybe he was home schooled!)

School begins promptly at 5:00 a.m.!

Rise and shine! Tomorrow, Wednesday (August 12, 2009) beginning at around 5:00 a.m. will be the best viewing for the Perseid Meteor Shower. What better way to begin our study of science and astronomy, then to view 100 meteors flying through space!

Up to 100 meteors per hour are expected to paint the sky with fiery streaks as the Earth passes through the dust trail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1862 when Abraham Lincoln was president. The display could be the most vibrant in years.

The comet is a giant iceberg made up of ice, rock and dust particles. Dust particles the size of sand slowly have been eroding away from the comet every time it approaches the sun, leaving a trail of debris that the Earth's orbit intersects once every year.

Praying for clear skies!