June 14, 2011 Stereo Microscope arrives

Dual Power Stereo Microscope, 20/40X

		Item# MI-447TB10

This National Optical stereo microscope provides you with either 20x or 40x magnification by simply rotating the 2x/4x objective turret. Use it to look at tiny water protozoa, mineral crystals, insects, and more. Everything takes on a new, fascinating aspect when viewed up-close with a stereo microscope. This dual power stereo microscope is designed specifically for educational use. It has all of the features and versatility of larger stereo model in a more compact, student-friendly size. The key features of this scope include a stereo binocular head for 3D unreversed specimen viewing, 360° rotating head for convenient viewing, post-mount frame for maximum specimen flexibility, and top and bottom tungsten lighting to give you the best view. It stands 12" tall. National Optical model 447TBL-10 with a lifetime warranty.

www.hometrainingtools.com/dual-power-stereo-microscope-20-40x/p/MI-447TB10/


Dd was very excited for this to finally arrive.  I tried to post a picture of it; but haven't managed...yet.  I will add a few pictures of her using her new microscope soon.

SL Week 13 June 15, 2011 Books and Audio Compilation

Reading for SL: Story of the USA, Landmark,American Indian Prayer Guide, Bible Acts & Joshua.


Books We've Added-In:
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Salem Witch!: Bizarre Accusations You'd Rather Not Face by Jim Pipe, David Salariya and David Antram

You Wouldn't Want to Explore with Sir Francis Drake!: A Pirate You'd Rather Not Know by David Stewart and David Antram

Dd's Reader: 
Love Thy Neighbor: the Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson by Ann Warren Turner 
Audio: Jim Weiss's "Masters of the Renaissance:Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and more--listened twice through this disc.

Book's dd's Read: Amelia's Best Year Ever by Marissa Moss, Amelia's Notebook by Marissa Moss,

Book's we are currently reading: Johnny Tremain  by Esther Forbes, Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer

Fun books: Amelia's Notebook Series by American Girl-Marissa Moss

Activities:Mattie's Bible Study

June 13, 2011

We had a very busy week; here's a quick summary:
 Monday- Migraine with lessons in bed.  We did SL Science week 2 and lots of audio stories listed on following posts.  Tuesday we went to the BPL and attended Travel Club: Destination: India!  Wednesday we did normal lessons and SL Science Week 7.  Thursday we worked on the church float from 12-3:45 pm.  Friday we went to Arbuckle Park and the Library.  Saturday we went yard saling as a family to look for treasure!  Then dh dropped me off at a new church friends house and he went to a Men's Retreat-Cook out called "Gag Reflex".  Dd and I walked about 3 miles and enjoyed a creek as our final destination.  We stopped along the way at a neighbors house and saw her chickens and ducks.  We also stopped at a old cemetery.  Sunday we went to Jamestown Christian Church and then to a Chinese restaurant.  I have been getting a little sick; so I stayed home as dd and dh went to the Plainfield Water Park and had a fantastic time at the outdoor water park.


Last week we also read: 


You Wouldn't Want to Be a Salem Witch!: Bizarre Accusations You'd Rather Not Face - Paperback (Mar. 2009) by Jim Pipe, David Salariya and

Christian Character Study Ideas for my friend on June 8, 2011

I had started to answer your question about bible / character training a few days ago; but then thought I would wait and see what answers others gave; but here I am....I will offer what we have successfully used and you can see if anything looks like a potential or not. Just thought I would offer up what I had-

Idea One: Egermeier's Bible Story Book - Paperback (July 2008) by Elsie E. Egermeier **Asking the questions that are located at the end of the book for each chapter you read- we made the questions into a contest; of who could answer the questions first and that would be more fun with more kids to compete.

Idea Two: The One Year Make-It-Stick Devotions (One Year Books) - Paperback (Aug. 27, 2007) by Emmett Cooper (my dd really liked this; but I thought it wasn't as 'meaty' as I, personally wanted; but you might find it a good choice.)

Idea Three: The Greatest Stories of the Bible by Thomas Nelson (we did this one too; it was good-simple.)

Idea Four: Sword Fighting by Karyn Henley (I really like this one. Each week you get a new "sword" to fight temptation. The sword is a bible verse that helps you stay strong about that weeks issue. This week we are on 'dependability' and we memorize the 'sword' - and each day we read another bible verse that pertains to dependability from the bible. We read that part from our family bible and discuss the questions. It spends a week on each character trait.

Idea Five: (my computer just ate a huge comment I made about idea five...here I go...again:

www.lamplighterpublishing.com

If I had a group of girls to work with for character training, I would go to my library and ask to ILL:

The Basket of Flowers : Lamplighter Theatre (Dramatic Audio) - Audio CD - Audiobook (2009) by Christoph Von Schmid and John Rhys-Davies

The Basket of Flowers is an amazing story. It has character values coming out it's ears! You could either listen to the audio (which is AMAZING) or read it yourself. You could have the girls each write what lessons they learned from this story. The possibilities are many with this source.

You could go to the website and look at the specific books listed as 'character training' and choose the books or audio's that you think would best fit the girls; and then ILL them for free. The only thing I would be specific about is that my library keeps getting me the book, or another audio company; and NOT "Lamplighter"; which is the specific copy I want to listen to...but, I get it eventually most of the time.


Those are the bible/character/value books we have used the most. We did Egermeier's over and over again. I was surprised that some people never found the quiz questions at the back; which we really liked. Or you could make it very simple and copy the daily bible reading from core 1, or 2, or 3 and just fit in a little bible each day. There is something about just reading simply from the bible without adding anything. Or you could use more than one source..piecemeal it together with different things.

I hope maybe one of these ideas will be something new for you to consider. I am also very curious to hear what other ideas the other SL'ers give to you. I love hearing what bible/character curriculum's other people use. I have tried a few others that I didn't like that I didn't mention.

SL Core D-Week 12 "A" LOW June 8, 2011

Week 12 of SL's IG for Core 3/D:

ADD-In's for Week 12 :
. . . If You Grew Up with George Washington by Ruth Belov Gross and Emily Arnold McCull

Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars: 1689-1763 (The American Story) by Betsy Maestro and Giulio Maestro


Audio:
We are still listening to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the van. This week we rec'd two Jim Weiss cd's from ILL and our library and listened to:

Gone West: Bold Adventures of American Explorers & Pioneers - As Told By Jim Weiss


Galileo and the Stargazers: Including Archimedes and the Golden Crown (Galileo and the Stargazers) - Audio CD (Nov. 1, 1999) by Jim Weiss

fun add-in:
and started our Library Book Club book:
Artemis Fowl (new cover) by Eoin Colfer

 
I had a migraine on Monday, so we did a lot of listening to audio. We also did our lessons in my bed! Dd liked that.

Yesterday our library had a good program which we attended: Travel Club: Destination India. It was really well done-books, music, drinks, food, art projects, jars of their popular spices and foods to smell....slide presentation....really well done. Have I mentioned what a good library we have?!

I ordered our b-day gift today-the stereo microscope from home science tools. Dd and I both put our b-day money together and I researched for weeks and finally ordered it today!

Activities:Library, Jamestown Christian Church, Travel Club-India- America's House to work on float with youth group, Arbuckle Park, and worked in garden 3x.

Artistic Pursuits Grades 4-6 Book 1--Read Aloud
Other Books this week: Sword Fighting -devotional, SL Science, First Language Lessons review

SL Core D- Week 11, 11"A" & 12 May 16 to June 6, 2011

We are on a LOW-IG week 12 1/2 or Week 24 of Core 3. It is hard to believe we could be on week 24 and 2/3 of the way done if I hadn't added in our stuff. I am glad I am taking it slow this time. I usually feel a gravitational pull to finish each core as quickly as we can; and I don't have that this time...what a blessing.

So, this is a left-overs week and we should be focusing on SL science and LA-AAS/FLL/WWE. I have flopped back and forth about what book to add-in next. I thought about Calico Captive or Daniel Boone by Cheryl Harness or Ben and Me by RObert Lawson. ...and the winner is: Ben and Me. I think I should wait another week or more for the Daniel Boone. It is the only library book; so I know I can't put it off for long.

We also need to start Artemis Fowl for our library book club. That will hopefully be a fun book to read.

We went fishing again last night and enjoyed that. We didn't catch anything and that was a little bit of a bummer; but it was nice to be at a pond with all the birds, turtles, and bugs...yes, I am serious. I am weird like that. There were lots of dragonflies buzzing around eating mosquitoes.

Week 11  May 16-20th 2011:
Bible: Luke & Numbers
Landmark, American Indian Prayer Guide, Sing the Word: Great in Council and Mighty in Deed--I always, always forget to write that in here; but we do it about daily,Teaching Textbooks, WWE, FLL, RFH(reason for handwriting), AAS (all about spelling)

Add-In's: The Light in the Forest

Fun Add-In's: Lamplighter: Hedge of Thorns & Basket of Flowers (LOVED THESE).
Dd Read-Diary of a WImpy Kid-Dog Days by Jeff Kinney
*we went on a field trip to a public school for 2 hours....interesting.

Week 11 "A" (LOW-left-over's week):
Added In:
Sword Fighting-devotional
The Book of Virtues by William S. Bennet
The Light in the Forest 

Audio: Felicity's Surprise-A Christmas Story
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

activities:
Library, Arbuckle Park, Children's Museum-made soap in the science lab, microscope fun in the science port, and went to the planetarium.

Week 12 of SL's IG  *23rd week on Core 3/D*: May 30-June 3rd 2011
Memorial Weekend-put up tent and camped in backyard.

Add-In's:
The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter
The Struggle for a Continent by Betsy Maestro *really great!*
Dd Read-A Molly Mystery: A Spy on the Home Front by Alison Hart

Fun add-in:
Have You Filled A Bucket Today by Carol McCloud

SL Weeks 9, 9"A", 10, 10 "A" Core 3/D (4-18 to 5-15 2011)

SL Week 9  

(4-18 to 4-22  2011)

Added In: 

The Mayflower Secret by Dave & Neta Jackson

The Trailblazing Life of Daniel Boone by Cheryl Harness

Our Strange New Land-Elizabeth's Diary-Jamestown 1609

Priscilla Alden and the First Thanksgiving by Alice Benjamin Boynton

Our Colonial Year by Cheryl Harness

activities: Library; Aqua Athlete's, Dentist (no cavities)

Week 9 "A" Left-Over's Week

Added-In: 

If You Were At the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma

Giving Thanks: The 1621 Harvest Feast by Kate Waters

The Mayflower Compact:American Documents: Nat'l Geo:Judith Lloyd Yero

Roanoke-The Lost Colony-An Unsolved Mystery From History by Jane Yolen

John Smith Escapes Again by Rosalyn Schanzer

Who's Saying What in Jamestown,Thomas Savage by Jean Fritz

Daily Life in the Pilgrim Colony 1636 by Paul Erickson

Samuel Eaton's Day-a day in the life of a pilgrim boy-Kate Waters

Sarah Morton's Day-a day of a pilgrim girl -Kate Waters

Top 10 Worst Nasty Pirates You Wouldn't Want to Meet -Fiona MacDonald

Pirates by David L. Harrison

Bones by Steve Jenkins

fun add-in's:

the Witches by Roald Dahl

Rainbow Magic-The Pet Fairies-Lauren the Puppy

Science add-in to SL Science:

kit:

The Young Scientist Series

experiments on Shrimp Brine & Eggs

SL Week 10  

Add-In's:

My America: The Starving Time:Elisabeth's Diary:book two; Jamestown 1609

William Penn-Founder of Pennsylvania by Steven Kroll

VHS:

Keeping The Promise (based on The Sign of the Beaver)

Audio:

Felicity-Tape 1 Meet Felicity

Hands and Hearts: Early American History Discovery Kit:

make & play the Bowl Game

Learn to trade with the authentic trade beads

Rubbings from the Tea Brick

Decorate the Bamboo Flute

Make an Apple Pomander

Week 10 "A" Left-Over's Week (5-9 to 5-14 2011)

Add-In's:

Meet Kirsten -American Girl-book 1 of series

audio& Movies:

Felicity-American Girl- Bk 1,&2 and MOVIE

Molly American Girl Movie

Activities:

Shades Park 

Children's Museum

Vhs:

Magic School Bus-Get's Planted & Busaurus

SL Week 7, 7 A, 8, 8A & Pix of Fishing at Boone's Pond 6-5-11

1.  SL Week 5  Feb. 21-25, 2011
2. Read Aloud-Secret of the Andes and the rest of the IG list of things.  Activities were plentiful-bike rides; party, Co-op Classes, and a Blood Drive, HBHE Gym class
3.  
4. SL Week 5 "A"  Feb. 28-March 4, 2011  
5. Activities: Field Trip to Mc Cloud Park for a Maple Syrup Demonstration  Aqua Athlete's   Library  Plainfield Parks & Rec to go swimming as a family  Dd's Reader (fun) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (and watched old movie) 
6. Audio: One Hundred Dresses (we've listened to this one over and over) - Sarah, Plain & Tall   -Caleb's Story
7. 
   
8.  
9. SL Week 6  March 7-11, 2011
   Read Aloud: Sign of the Beaver  
   Dd's Reader: Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Bulla
   Add-In's:
   Audio:The Secret Garden
   Dd's fun reader: Swiss Family Robinson
   
   Activities:
   Aqua Athlete's
   Library
   LHE Co-op classes
10. HBHE Gym Class
    
12. SL  Week 6 "A" Left-Over's Week (LOW)  March 14-18, 2011
    Science Focused Week (SL Science Weeks 19-21)
    Reading: Sign of the Beaver
    Audio: The Secret Garden & Matilda
    Story of the World-Chapter 15: A new world in Conflict
    Add-In's:
    Dd's Reading:
    The Thanksgiving Story
    
    **We finished MUS Beta this week!!!!***
    
13.   
14.  SL Week 7  March 21-25 2011:  
15. The Secret Garden.  Extra Books: 
16. Good Luck, Ivy (American Girl) , 
17. To Root, to Toot, to Parachute-What is a Verb by Brian P. Cleary;  
18. Little Hawk's New Name by Don Bolognese, and 
19. Sword Fighting as a nightly bible study/family devotional
20.  
21. Activities this week-Plainfield Parks & Rec; Aqua Athlete's, Mad Science Class at Brownsburg Library, Lighthouse Home Educators Co-op classes (Science, Money, and Gym classes), HBHE-Gym Class.

SL Week 7 "A" Left-Over's Week  March 28-April 1, 2011

We are reading a Cheryl Harness book on Miles Standish:

The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish and the Amazing-but-True Survival Story of Plymouth Colony (Cheryl Harness Histories) by Cheryl Harness

Dd is reading The Courage of Sarah Noble and The Matchlock Gun for history. 

For fun she is reading: Meet Rebecca (American Girl), Horse Happy (from the library), 2 Star Wars books, 3 Narnia books, Meet Julie (American Girl).

Audio: Matilda by Roald Dahl  

SL Week 8   April 3-8 2011

 We are reading The Sign of the Beaver.  Dd is reading Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims.

Add-In's: 

The Adventurous Life of Miles Standish by Cheryl Harness

My America: Season of Promise-Elisabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary -Book 3

The Care & Keeping of You by Valorie Lee Schaefer- American Girl Book

One Small Square Backyard by Donald Silver

Sword Fighting by Karyn Henley

Comic Book Bible by Rob Suggs

Activities:

Library

Aqua Athlete's

4H

LHE Co-op Classes

HBHE-Gym Class

SL Week 8 "A" Left-Over's Week  April 11-15, 2011
Add-In's:
Sword Fighting
Teaching Textbooks
Field Trip to Recycling Site- recycled a microwave
Aqua Athlete's
Swimming Class at Clark's Creek Elementary
Library
Planted new flowers--Gardening

May 25, 2011 at Children's Museum

In the Dinosphere at Indy Children's Museum

Add-In's to Core 3 / D

Week 1: I added Indian content: vhs: "500 Nations"-series of videos from our library. We watched #4 "Nations, on American Indians", and watched a video on Christopher Columbus. Books: "The Apaches, American Indians", "Life In A Longhouse Village", "Daily Life In a Plains Indian Village 1868", "Who was First? Discovering The Americas", "If You Lived With The Sioux Indians"

(I own lots and checked out lots of books about this genre; and let dd go through these and read that she wanted; the books I have listed are the ones I read to her. But, she did read a lot on her own that I didn't document or 'count'. We have a 'reading corner' that I put current book ideas for her to look at. I had more of the "If you live with the Hopi" and "If you lived with the Iroqouis" in the stack too. But, I don't count the stack-does that make sense?)

Week 2: I added Columbus, Incan, Mayan, and Indian content. "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich, An American Story: First City, People of the Longhouse, The Lost Colony", "Children of the Wild Water", "Before Columbus, Early Voyages to America" Video: Ancient Mysteries/Mysterious Spirit of the Mayans" Ancient Civilizations: For Children: "Ancient Maya" and "Ancient Inca" and Drive Thru History: Columbus, the Pilgrims, and Early Boston.

Week 3: content Indian related: "Meet Kaya": American Girl series. We've read this series before. I read Book 1 to her again and let her read more on her own. "Little Hawk's New Name". Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, Massachusetts - Rhode Island, 1653 (The Royal Diaries) by Patricia Clark Smith (this is the only book so far that we started; but didn't finish)

Weeks 4-7: our add-in's were not related to history. We added "The Secret Garden" and "Matilda"; two of our favorites. Also not listed is :"The Story of the World 3" we listen to the disc's, color the activity pages, etc. This is ongoing and we do some every week. "The Thanksgiving Story"

Week 8: added in Jamestown: "The Adventurous Life of Miles Standish" , "My America: Season of Promise-Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary Book 3"

Week 9:add in content related to Mayflower-Plymouth content: "The Mayflower Secret", My America: Our Strange New Land:Elizabeth's diary book 1", "Pricilia Alden and the First Thansgiving" , "Our Colonial Year", If You Were At the First Thansgiving", "Giving Thanks:The 1621 Harvest Feast", "The Mayflower Compact: American Documents" "Roanoke:The Lost Colony:An Unsolved Mystery", "John Smith Escapes Again", "Who's Saying What in Jamestown, Thomas Savage", "Daily Life in the Pilgrim Colony 1636", "Samuel Eaton's Day-A Day in the Life of a Pilrim Boy", "Sarah Morton's Day-A day in the life of a Pilgrim Girl", "Top Ten Worst Nasty Pirates You wouldn't want to meet" , "Pirates"

Week 10: "My America: The Starving Time: Elizabeth's Diary, Book 2", *We added in Hands and Hearts:Early American History Discovery Kit and did a different craft each day after our lessons--this is a lot of fun. "William Penn:Founder of Pennsylvania" , "American Girl: Kirsten (we've read this series before; but we just read Book 1 again to get the feel of the voyage over to America.)
VHS: movie:"Keeping The Promise" based on the book:"Sign of the Beaver", dvd: "Felicity: An American Girl"

Week 11: add in related to the new frontier : The Light in the Forest
Audio: Felicity: an American Girl -book 1, book 2, and book 3 (so far) (we've read the series before; but we are listening to it again while working on projects)

Week 12: finished "The Light in the Forest", Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars: 1689-1763 (The American Story) by Betsy Maestro and Giulio Maestro