SL Core D Week 13 "LOW" June 27-July 1, 2011

Monday we had a *special* at the library: MAD Science Spectacular with Sizzling Sam.  He put on quite a show; there was lots of fire and booms and flash (which caused lots of babies to cry, by the way).  He did make science look very exciting; and he filled up the children's area in the library.  That is the only show (at a library) that I had to actually 'stand' through.


Tuesday we had a Messy Science class at the library.  This class was a lot of fun.  Ms Laura did some cool experiments and the kiddo's got to help out.  She had a plate full of Vit D (fatty) milk and put in some drops of food coloring and then put a q-tip in that had "dawn" dish detergent into the mix to see the colors run from the soap.  Then she did the same experiment with Fat Free/Skim milk to see if the reaction would be the same or different--it was the same.
  She also did the exploding egg in a glass jar with a small flame inside the bottle.  When we did ours at home, we had an explosive reaction, but her egg only slide into the neck of the bottle and didn't pop and explode like our egg at home did.  I was glad dd didn't say anything to make Ms Laura feel bad.

Thursday dd has continued on with her Girl's Bible Study at a friends house.  Each week they make a cool craft and also play a game.  This week they glued fabric on a clear glass bottle (think antique milk bottle) and finished the piece off with a nice daisy.

This has been the week of PIANO.  Dd has really enjoyed playing her keyboard-every day!  She has really gotten serious.  I had mentioned that when she really got serious with her keyboarding and reading music that we would think about a violin and violin lessons.  I hope I can follow through with all that and that she can play for more than one week before needing a break.

This week we did two weeks of All About Spelling(AAS), some Teaching Textbooks 4 (TT4), some Math U See -Gamma (MUS), "Sword Fighting" for Bible,  Math U See Songs disc, focusing on learning the 4's skip counting song.  We started back up with First Language Lessons 3 (FLL)and Writing With Ease 2 (WWE).  We also fit in some Reason For Handwriting (RFH); and dd mailed a letter to G&G.

Our weekly books/audio/video:Johnny Tremain : (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur, and finished on Friday)
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes and George Guidall


ADD-In's

Liberty's Kids: Complete Series Starring Jill Anderson (VI), Vincent Lee Alston, Carl Beck, et al. (Oct 14, 2008)  *6 disc's so we have been watching these for the past few weeks*
 

***Welcome to Kaya's World 1764: Growing Up in a Native American Homeland (The American Girls Collection) by Dottie Raymer and Jodi Evert

***Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales & Legends - Davy Crockett [VHS] Starring Mac Davis, Adam Carl, Mimi Kennedy and Michael McKean

***Dear America: The Winter of Red Snow. The Revolutionary War Story of Abigail Jane Stewart (VHS) by Kristiana Gregory (this has been dd's daily reader this week)

Stepping stones (A Beka Book reading program) by Laurel Hicks

Warriors: Ravenpaw's Path #3: The Heart of a Warrior by Erin Hunter, Dan Jolley and James L. Barry

***Time For Kids: Benjamin Franklin: A Man of Many Talents by Editors Of Time For Kids

***Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness

***You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Colonist!: A Settlement You'd Rather Not Start by Jacqueline Morley, David Salariya and David Antram

 

SL Core D -Week 13 "A" June 20-24, 2011

SL Week 13--We've spent 26 weeks on Core 3/D so far.
  Monday June 20, 2011

This is a "LOW" left-over week; and just in time too!

 We were so busy last week with all our activities (and me not feeling well) that we didn't finish up our weeks worth of IG.  We will fit in last week's work that was left undone with this weeks work.  It is very hard trying to keep up our schedule with all the extra's going on.  From gardening, planting, library classes, church activities and our many fun books that we add-in.

 Monday after our lessons, we went to the library for our Travel Club: Germany.  The class was very good; but so far India was my favorite.  We had music, food, pictures, crafts, and a book.

We rec'd our Math U See: Gamma set today from UPS.  Dd is doing TT (Teaching Textbooks 4) already; but I felt we weren't getting enough practice with our basic multiplication drill.  We have used MUS for a few years now; and I have found I appreciate the repetition built into this system.  I am glad we are trying TT; and it is especially enjoyed by Dd.  Dd would be perfectly happy to stick with TT only; but I am not convinced at it's solidness yet.  I think it is going to fast for dd and there is no way to slow it down or repeat items that are more complicated and need further review.  So, I have added MUS back into our school.

 We are still reading Johnny Tremain.  We are getting close to finishing Artemis Fowl; and really enjoying this book tremendously.  We have already had one book club meeting about his book; and will have another in a few weeks.

History ADD-IN's:Dd is finishing up reading (it has taken longer than usual) :
Love Thy Neighbor: the Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson by Ann Warren Turner


The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 (Dear America: A Journey to the New World) by Kathryn Lasky


Monday we watched:

Scholastic Presents Dear America A Journey to the New World The Story of Remember Patience Whipple (VHS Tape - 1999)

Last week we started this series, and it is AMAZING: America: The Story of Us Starring Liev Schreiber (Sep 14, 2010)

We are scheduled to watch this next week, from the History Channel:  

Founding Fathers Starring Keith Arbour, Carol Berkin, Beau Bridges, et al. (2001)


Fun Add-In's:
Warriors: Warrior's Refuge by Erin Hunter, Dan Jolley and James Barry   (for fun)

The Adventure of Abbey Grange (The Graphic Novel Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) - Library Binding (Jan. 2010) by Vincent Goodwin, Arthur Conan Doyle and Ben Dunn

Sherlock Holmes-The Adventure of the Dancing Men;
Sherlock Holmes-The Adventure of the Red-Headed League;
Sherlock Holmes-of the Norwood Builder;
Officer Buckle and Gloria-Peggy Rathmann
The Care and Keeping of You-American Girl-The Body Book for Girls
Artemis Fowl: Book One (for Library Book Club)
Audio:Lamplighter: "The Unexpected Return"

Save the White Whale! (Geronimo Stilton, No. 45) by Geronimo Stilton

I am reading (and enjoying):    
The Relationship Principles of Jesus by Tom Holladay

*a special thank you to my friend for mailing this to me!*

June 16-19, 2011

Jamestown Homecoming Parade and Father's Day at Ted's Montana Grill

June 16th

 We had a lovely time at our friend Mattie's house for a girl's bible study.  Dd also made her father and grandfather "Father's Day" cards that look like a buttoned-up shirt and tie.  We finished up listening to this disc set in the van:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Audio CD - Dec 13, 2011) - Audiobook

Dd read:
The Adventure of the Dancing Men (The Graphic Novel Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) by Vincent Goodwin, Arthur Conan Doyle and Ben Dunn

The Adventure of the Red-Headed League (The Graphic Novel Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) by Vincent Goodwin, Arthur Conan Doyle and Ben Dunn

*Dd LOVES the Graphic novels/Graphic books! 

The Adventure of Abbey Grange (The Graphic Novel Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)

The Adventure of the Speckled Band (The Graphic Novel Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) by Vincent Goodwin


 June 17th Giz and Grampy arrive to visit.  Giz took Dd to the neighborhood pool.  Grampy helps Dh to put up our storm door that we bought back in December!

 June 18th Dd was IN her first parade; atop the float for the Jamestown Christian Church; throwing out candy for the children.  Dd had a fantastic time!!  She was so excited.  After the parade; we drove back to home and picked up a pizza for dinner.  Giz and Grampy had to head back home (with Kate, their black lab dog).

 June 19th Father's Day!  We had a lovely time at church.  We took DH out for lunch at Ted's Montana Grill.  It was a nice day.

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

June 1, 2011

we hs year round. I really didn't want to feel rushed through American History so I decided to add more literature books in to give us more 'meat'. We've added some good books like the Dear America and My America books as Readers for dd. Then, I've added in RA's like: Birchbark House, In The Light In The Forest, etc.

Technically I do Week 1 of the IG; then I take the next week off from the IG and supplement my own bible (Swordfighting), and continue with the RA, Readers, Math, and spend our time this week focusing on either Science or Language Arts. I try to have Science and LA alternate every other week. I am planning on having Art coming in as soon as I can get my act together!

We really enjoy the History and Literature; but haven't focused as much on WWE, FLL, AAS, and Science. I lean more towards the Better Late Than Early style and only started 'spelling/AAS' when dd turned 8. So, we are on AAS 2 currently. We will finish FLL 2 today. We will start WWE 3 next IG week. (I am the geek who can't skip any lessons!)

When I was doing the IG the way we it is written; I wasn't getting my electives in each week. So, I am trying this method so we can build a strong foundation in our LA , Science, and soon Art. I am hoping once we get a good foundation in those areas; and once dd can do some things on her own that we can go back to the style I did with Cores K, 1, and 2 which was 2-3 weeks of IG and 1 week for 'left-overs'.

I can really see a huge improvement in dd's writing, grammar knowledge, spelling..etc. This has actually been a good choice for us; technically for her electives and also b/c we have fit in lots of extra books on history.

It was really good for me to not be a slave to the IG, like I have been. I am beginning to feel secure in my homeschooling choices and for the first time I think I could survive hs'ing without SL; not that I am going to leave SL; but now I don't NEED SL to show me how to do a day. I always figured that SL would teach me how to homeschool; and it actually has! I am thankful for that. As a new hs'er I had no clue what to do or how to do it and SL has mentored me. Now, I am trying to make the curriculum work for me--like I've heard many old timers say!

Gifts from my friend!

June 2, 2011

Lost a tooth!

What a week this has been so far.  Monday we were off for Memorial Day and spent the day with Eric planting our garden.  That made for 3 days off for dd from her lessons; which is never good for her.  She becomes wild after 1 day off!

So Lessons on Tuesday were pretty horrible.  Dd didn't want to behave at all.  We made it through a few things before the collapse.  Wednesday was almost as bad as Tuesday.  We managed a few things before the collapse; but this time she had to do some homework (writing) after Eric came home and we were planting more in the garden.  She didn't dally for long b/c she wanted to plant too.  I also fit in a hair cut for her.  She wanted a new 'bob' for summer.  I did a great job; if I do say so myself.

Today; Thursday we had my doctors appointment in the morning.  Then on our way home we stopped by the library to get some books that were on hold for us.  To our surprise there was a Magic Show that was just about to start.  So, we enjoyed Magic John for about 30 minutes and then came home.  We managed about 2 hours of our lessons before we had to start thinking about our scheduled Canoe Trip with our 4H club.  The 2 hours were not her best; and she was still stuck in her inattentive ways.  But, we had given our word that we would show up for the canoe guy b/c last year no one who said they would show up actually showed up and we had to promise to keep our commitment...so I did keep it; but really dd didn't really deserve it after her poor performance this week.

The canoe trip on Boone's Pond was pretty great.  I remember my last summer with my dad; and how he took a canoe trip with just me and it is a memory I cherish still to this day.  So, I got to get in a canoe and paddle around the pond with my own daughter....nice.

The man that ran the canoe trip gave us all lessons for over 30 minutes.  He did a great job teaching us all the strokes.  Dd and I had a great time finding little coves and exploring.  I spotted quite a few bobbers and fishing lures.  We paddled over into the tall grasses and retrieved the hooks, lead, and all.  We saved a future bird, turtle, or fish from that mess.

It was a very busy day-doctor, library, magic show, lessons, canoe trip, and watering our new seedlings in our garden.  Now, I can't sleep!  I wish I had pictures from today; but I don't.

May 31, 2011

We are on Week 12. We are really enjoying this process of doing one week on IG and one week off to focus on our electives. We did our cores K, 1, and 2 with way less 'left-over weeks'. But, now dd is able to really 'get' her AAS, WWE, SL Science, FLL. Speaking of WWE; we finished WWE 1 last week.

We were really busy last week. We somehow managed to get a ton of our lessons done, add-in's done, and went to the A. Park *Twice* and went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum *TWICE*, and we took dd fishing!

I took "The Light in the Forest" off of dd's reader and turned it into a Read ALoud. We camped in our backyard on Saturday and Sunday and had DH read that book to us each evening. It really gives you a different perspective from the Indians point of view; similar to that of Birchbark House, that we read earlier.

For audio we have been listening to SOTW so much that we needed a break. We started relistening to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and have really been enjoying that in the van. For our inside audio story; we have been relistening to the books from the American Girl Felicity series and are half way through them (books 1-3 completed).

The other fun thing we have done each day is that we start with our audio: 1)the track the IG requires each week, 2)the song of the books of the old testament, 3)the song of the books of the new testament, 4)FLL songs on our grammar terms-articles, conjunctions, verbs, prepositions... maybe a hymn off a cd to start the day with a smile.

We finished one week of SL Science 3 and dd has voiced her strong approval of the new material. I have been looking forward to this level of science. Annie had recommended a stereo microscope from Home Science Tools, and I will buy that next week. Dd contributed all her b-day money b/c she wanted one so bad. So, I contributed all my b-day money and wa-lah we will have it!

May 27, 2011

We have had such a busy week. Mon & Tue we went each day to the library and Arbuckle Park for nature fun. Wed & Thur we went each day to the Indianapolis Children's Museum for science fun.

Wed. we made soap in the Science Lab. The best part was getting to use all the equipment which made it seem more 'science-y'. We used their plastic balance; filling up the cups until we had equal parts. We dyed the soap with green tea so it wouldn't be just plain white.

In the Science Port dd dissected a flower; made slides for viewing under the microscope of salt, sugar, grass seed, tree pollen, vermiculite, sand..., rock art: lentil beans glued in the shape of a bumble bee, oh- and her favorite; she planted one pinto seed into this small little plastic cup with a lid. She used a hole-punch and put two holes into the side and then threaded a string into it; and it became....ta-dah: a necklace!

We went again on Thur. for the class on Microscopes. This is good timing b/c we are researching microscopes right now. I asked lots of questions and learned a bit more about them after the class was over. I want to thank Annie for already answering so many of my questions. I finally decided to get a 'stereo' microscope. Those are the kind that you can put a big bug, rock, leaf, petal...on it and view it. I think we can wait on the compound microscope until dd gets a little older.

We also watched a show on our universe at the Planetarium. It was great to see our universe, lit up across the dome.

We have finished The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I am so happy with how it all ended. All the couples matched up how I had wanted.

I am thinking today we will just stay home and work. We've had such a crazy week. We had Tornadoes touch down; just south of us. The yard is soaking wet with all the rain; and yet it needs to be mowed so badly.

May 25, 2011

I hope you all are doing well this Wednesday. We are doing well. We started SL science week 1 yesterday and dd LOVED it. I've tried the Apologia's Zoology book with her twice and she hadn't been ready to comprehend what I was reading; but she understood all the classifications perfectly yesterday. She said how very exciting this topic is and how much she is liking it....very cool! The last weeks of SL science 2 were covering a lot of machines (planes, boats, ships, combines, tractors....) and I was more bored than dd. I am glad we are back to more naturey-sciency stuff. Dd liked the machines; it was me who didn't.

We went fishing on Sun night; went to a park Mon; and went back to that park Tues. So, we have been face to face with mosquitoes and birds, plants, bugs, you name it. It has been good to be outside. We've been reading our Witch in Blackbird Pond at the park and enjoying it. Dd can play in the stream while I broadcast our book for all to hear (slightly embarrassing).

We are really enjoying TWOBP. I finally had to read the last chapter while dd wasn't looking b/c I just had to know how it turns out. It is really unlike dd to not ask to read extra chapters.

Dd is not enjoying The Light in the Forest yet. If she likes a book I give her as her own reader; she usually finishes it in a few days. But, she says that this one is not very exciting. I think I read or heard somewhere that the beginning is very slow.

I am thinking of reading Calico Captive next. I haven't fully decided. Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare

I have quite a few books that would fit in nicely next. Hmmmmm.

Our library is finally having a book club (I've asked for 5 years) for 3-5 graders. They are doing it on the book: Artemis Fowl (new cover) by Eoin Colfer

has anyone read this?

Well, we are planning on going to the Indianapolis Children's Museum this morning and do some science with microscopes. We will do our lessons after we get back home. We are getting close to finishing our FLL 2 and WWE 1; maybe in the next week or two! I love when we complete curriculum that we've worked so hard for so long on.

May 22, 2011

I forget what week we just finished (maybe 11). Next week is a low-left over's week. We are still reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Dd is way ahead in her readers; so I gave her: Light in the Forest (Paperback, 2004) by Conrd Richtsr


We sold some of our extra/duplicate books at a curriculum hs'ers sale on Friday. I met another SL'er named "IndyMama". She couldn't believe I recognized her by her name. It was good to get rid of some of our boxes of books. Then we went to a book sale to buy some books on Saturday. We ended up spending much less than we made so that is a bonus!

I forgot to mention that 2 weeks ago dd finished her SL Science 2!!! Yeah!! Whistles blowing; cars honking!! I was so ready to finish that one up and move onto this one. We plant and garden so much I thought it would be great to look at our gardening from a scientific point of view for a change. We should be able to get a little science done this week.

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

and The Hedge of Thorns : Lamplighter Theatre (Dramatic Audio) - Audio CD - Audiobook

Our library got them for us ILL (inter-library loan) and they were so great.

May 19,2001

 Thanks for talking about Writing in your homes; it really gives me some ideas. Right now for writing we do either WWE 1 or RFW "T" or AAS 2 or ETC or SL Science! We do lots of narration and discussion about material-verbally. But, I would like to help dd get a little more comfortable with her ability to write. I think doing the AAS has really showed her she can spell more than teaching her to spell. We are on AAS 2 and except for a ramdom word she already knows how to spell these words or can figure it out. The thing I saw, and liked, at the ps was that the kids wrote down ideas with a few words without that being the issue. I've always leaned more towards the "better late than early" mode of thinking b/c they said that the kids would naturally move toward doing things themselves but I really don't see my specific dd leaving her groove!


Today we am off to sell some of my duplicate books at a curriculum sale at a church. I've never done anything like this; but I am tired of all the boxes of extra books in my spare bedroom. Maybe this will be a good start in my pursuit of saving up money for the new writing program! My van is all loaded up; now I have to go wake up my dd who never gets up this early....this should be interesting! But, she made some signs herself that say "books for sale" and she is encouraging me to wander around the sale and she will take care of the business. That is not like her at all! Is she growing up?

May 17,2011

Today we went to the public school for a field trip. I haven't really processed it all yet; but it was very interesting. The teacher was actually great. She goes to the same church our therapist goes to (and the principal too). She treated the kids well. We sat in on "Writing" b/c that is our dd's worst subject currently; and that just happens to be Mrs. Johnson's favorite subject. She did a very good presentation on comparing and contrasting and how as adults we are always trying to compare and contrast to make good decisions. Her example was parents looking at new cars/vans and how we research and research until we find the best one for our needs. Later when the kids went to Recess I asked to look at one of her students writing folders and saw some examples. The folder I read actually had a story that the girl had written about what she would do if *she were President* and the first sentence said how she would make 'all students homeschooled, and they could sleep in until 10 am'!!!! How funny!

This student had written long complicated stories; with great spelling and imagination. I was impressed with her ability. But, the teacher had specifically picked out this student's folder b/c she said she was one of her best students. The teacher said how ISTEP (Indiana's State Regulations of some sort) regulates or requires all third grade students to be able to write for a minimum of 50 minutes without stopping. Yikes, read that sentence again. It must just be me; but I know my dd could NOT do that. I know how she rocks in certain areas (geography, history, bible), but this was definitely a big blow to us. We really need to work on - I need to work on teaching dd how to write stories and/or write her thoughts down. I don't know if WWE and FLL will get us there or if I need to look at adding in another 'extra' that could teach me how to teach this to her. Any ideas here would be appreciated. If any of you have found a good curriculum that helps frame up how to write ideas; please feel free to educate me. I really need some help here.

The teacher had 30 students; broken up into 6 groups of 5 students sitting in a pod/grouping. There would be one 'teacher's helper' in each pod/group that would go get things for the group. When they were working on the writing exercise, the teacher's helpers would go up and get the small dry-eraser boards for the other kids in the group. They did their brain storming on the dry-erase board and wrote down final ideas on paper and put those in their writing folders.

The teacher had a "smart board"; or is it "smartboard"? We actually had just used one at the Children's Museum last week. It is a touch screen on the white dry-erase board. It is like the screen on our computers/laptops but on the board where our teachers use to write with chalk. It was very high-tech and impressive.

I couldn't really say anything bad about the experience. The only thing was that they did a Science class after their Recess class and it was very condensed. She covered some major science topics (force, gravity....) very quickly. I just wonder if that is all she had planned to spend on those big concepts. We would have spent a lot of time going over those ideas at home and she just tackled them fairly quickly.

Dd opinion was that in some areas they are ahead (writing) and in some areas she was ahead. Dd was pretty happy that the teacher told us she hasn't had the time to teach cursive handwriting. That is one area I have really been focusing on the past few months and here these p.s. kids didn't even know how to do it!

Dd said that she thought if she went to p.s. she would probably learn more. Why? dh and I asked-- she said b/c they spend so much more time there than we spend at home on our lessons. We tried to clear that up and also give dd the idea that we would be happy to spend more time each day on our lessons; but she (dd) really has to work on her attitude being more positive.

We didn't get to see any history, math, recess, english, grammar, spelling, reading....She had planned on doing something after her science class; but some schedule got switched around and they had to go outside and do another recess or something like that. If the kids do things right; they get incentives which they can add up to get another recess, or something like that. I decided we didn't need to stay to watch the kids playing when we had a long drive home.

Literally after we had been in the classroom 45 minutes dd was complaining that this seat was too horrible and she really needed to get up. I told her we had to wait; and imagine those kids having to sit there 7 hours a day...yikes. That part was the hardest on her; just sitting. But then it seems like the teachers have that planned out too; kind of; they seem to do 45 minutes intervals of each subject.

I don't know if you all wanted all that detail, but their you have it. The thing I took away from it was that I definitely have to get better at teaching writing. It would be so much easier if dd didn't act like she was having a root canal every time she has to write for more than 5 minutes. I should admit that she is getting a little better about it every week. I do see improvement in the amount she can do without complaining. I also need to work on being more PATIENT with her.

*side note on the therapist-She has NO idea about homeschooling and hasn't been able to help us AT ALL. I wanted to try it and see if it would help; but it hasn't. We did get this public school field trip idea from her and that maybe the only good that came out of the experience. She can't see how us mom's can put on the loving/nurturing hat and then be able to put on the teacher hat too. She doesn't understand it and that makes helping us about impossible. I think that if I could find a local/experienced actual hs mom that has done this longer than me; and knows what it is like dealing with a 'challenging' kid that would be the best way to learn how to improve my teaching and my parenting skills.

May 16, 2011

We had a sickly week, last week. We didn't get very much done; but we managed a little. We went to a used book sale and I got a few more books and some will fit right with where we are right now in history (just what I needed; more add-in's!!!).

We also went to the science museum and had a blast. I won't bore you all with all the details; but the highlights are that we spent about 2 hours in 2 different science lab/science port and made cheese using a pipette! A pipette is this little handheld thingy that you see scientists use on tv and we used it! Plus we had hours of fun in the non-science areas too. They have a Dinosaur area that is amazing. Real paleontologists work there on real fossils; they are behind glass in a lab with the window open so you can talk with them. It is really neat. DD got to go through some rubble and look for real fossils and there was a employee who would tell her what kind of fossil she had found.

We used two different microscopes; one to look at slides and one to look at fossils. Both had the technology to show the image up on a monitor/screen. We are looking for buying a microscope and I was wondering if any of you have one and do you have any 'reviews' for me? dd wants a bi-nocular - the microscope with two eye holes; but that might not be important if we could afford the attachment that shows the image on a screen. That wouldn't happen this year; but we could save up for that in the future.

Anyway-we had a really good time. Our garden is SLOWLY getting planted. We need to get into high gear this week.

We are loving Kit in The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

I am looking forward to hearing how all of you are doing this week.

I also have a prayer request--tomorrow dd and I will go on a field trip to visit a public school for 2 1/2 hours or less. B/c dd has always been such a wonderful, and very difficult child and b/c we struggle so much with getting her to do her lessons we finally decided to go to a therapist. Her suggestion was to go visit a p.s. and let dd see for herself the amount of work average third graders are doing. B/c dd is an only child she feels like she must have so much more work than most; when the reality she doesn't do nearly what some do. She thought this might be a good perspective for her to see.

I am a little nervous about it all. It is over an hour away too and I am not a great directionalist (my word)---I get lost in the brown paper bag type person!

If you have a moment we would appreciate your prayers for this experiment to go well.

May God bless us and guide us throughout this week.

Oh, I've come back to share something you all might be interested in, that we have been enjoying online for months. Here is there website:

www.lamplighterpublishing.com

and they have audio christian stories that are done in a week by week episode or past story episodes too. We have loved the stories so much we have asked (and rec'd) ILL (inter-library loan) copies of the stories so we can listen in our van too. I ordered their catalog so I could have something to look up on paper. But, the stories are old christian character training lessons/stories that build strong christian character. I couldn't give a higher recommendation. I am always looking for good seeds (good stories) to plant in my dd's soil and this resource is free and amazing.

May 9, 2011

We are on a LOW (Left-overs-week). We finished week 10 last week. We really got so much done Mon-Thur that most of Friday we spent at a park with dd in the stream collecting rocks, glass, and mussel shells. All of our experiments have worked and all of our craft projects from Hands and Heart have been fun.

My birthday was on Sat and I had wanted to go to a near park to go for a good hike; but the weather seemed too gloomy to go; so we went on Sun after church. This was the first time our big dog got to go to church. She (Sophie) waited patiently out in our van during the service. She is a very good girl; so there was no question she could behave perfectly. The weather was a bit chilly at 60 degrees; so she didn't get hot either. We had a great time. We changed out of our church clothes in the parks 'restroom'.

On Sat I had to try out my b-day gift: Trimmers/Pruners! So, my River Birch was trimmed and dd took all the long, thin branches and made herself a working bow and arrow. She spent most of the day being an Indian and shooting arrows all over the house. Sun at the park, she blazed ahead of us and shot her arrows at trees. The homemade arrows had a point; but were way too dull to actually stick to anything. She had a blast being an Indian.

This week I am going to focus on LA, Science, AAS, and some add-in books.