Aug. 30, 2010

It does not seem like Autumn here either...90 degrees here too! I don't think we have had any rain this month. Indiana is on target to break all kinds of records for being the hottest and driest August in ...... (I actually don't know HOW long!) So, I am watering, and watering. But our garden is loving the heat and the daily watering from me. Is it possible for a garden to get spoiled??? If it is, then I am probably guilty this year.

To topic-hsing...we had a well rounded week; last week. Monday was another gut-wrencher where dd was......(you can fill in your own descriptive word that means homework didn't go well). Tuesday, Wed, Thur, & Fri were good. We have had a good roll of great books that I've added in. Did I tell you all how good Crispin (by AVI) was? Fantastic! We listened to that on audio disc. We are still listening to Peter Pan on audio too. Dd & I finished her "Peter Pan in Scarlett", so she wanted to go back and listen to the original Peter Pan. We have one disc left.

We finished "White Stallion of Lipizza" last week & LOVED it. I was so not excited the first chapter and it very slowly built up and then we just loved it....sort of like Red Sails to Capri. I didn't get to finish Romeo and Juliet by Lamb b/c I actually lost the book. I seriously can't find it. That just blows my mind. I never, never loose books. I can't wait to find out where it is that I put it down at....I'll keep you posted b/c it has to be a good spot for me not to find it!

We also finished another GREAT add-in: "I, Juan de Pareja" another Renaissance book to add more depth of the time period. It was also fantastic.

We also finished: Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan-the children's version. Wow, was that great. As a Christian it really was great. We have now started the 'real' version by John Bunyan b/c we loved the illustrated / shorter version so much. I highly, highly recommend this book. I know we will re-read this one a lot. I love that quote (can't remember who said it right now) "It isn't what you read, but what you re-read"!

Dd finished her Readers too. So, we are all caught up on our extra's and will do a regular IG week. We started "The Queen's Smuggler" today by Dave & Neta Jackson. We will also start "21 Balloons" today for our IG. We are a little ahead on our RA.

Last week we did 1/2 week of our Science 2 (SL) and math and Pilgrim's Progress for daily bible and Hero Tales IV for nightly bible....

This is our last week of our neighborhood pool; so I hope to get us to the pool a lot too. I need to get back to our WWE, FLL, ETC and AAS this week.

Oct. 4, 2010

We had a good week last week. We are still reading "The Little Princess". It is one I love and hate to read. I get so upset that Sara is mistreated by Miss Minchin it makes me boil. I hate to have to read how horribly they treat this beautiful, wonderful, special little girl. But, that is me. It is a struggle not to keep reading all the way to the end; just to get to the great ending. I hate leaving her in the awful chapters; miserable in that attic. If I could just finish the book I could leave her happily living with her fathers' friend.

Oct. 25, 2010

My wonderful husband makes me the best b-day cakes!

We are doing fine so far this week. We are on 'week 28' and have already finished our RA for the week and are a bit ahead on that aspect. We are still enjoying our co-op classes. We had a music class this morning at our library. This is the last week for the other group of co-op classes on Thursdays (art history, german, gym).

Nov. 3, 2010

Now for my official check-in. We are doing pretty good. We are on Week 28-29. We have a full week of extra's this week which is so unusual for us. Monday was Early Music Class; Tuesday was an official HS Field Trip (with co-op) to the local Post Office, Wednesday is a Knit/Crochett class at neighboring library with other hs'ers that are not in our co-op. I think that is it besides our IG /daily lessons. Last weekend and this upcoming weekend we go to our farm down south. Dh is getting ready for deer season and we have been building tree stands and the like. Dd loves getting to spend some time with her G'parents. And I got to finish "Emma" by Jane Austin. I had always wanted to read that and hadn't done it yet.

We are reading a great book on the missionary Mary Slessor for our night time bible reading. Dh didn't want to stop reading it last night (just a few more pages...)!

Dd is reading "Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 1" for her outloud reading to me. I am really enjoying it. She has been going nuts reading all sorts of books in her own reading alone time. We have a collection of those Illustrated Classics that are adaptations of classic books. I almost gave them away b/c they are adaptations and I was being a book snob and only wanted her to read the unabridged version. How funny I am! Now she has read quite a lot of them and has truly enjoyed them tremendously.

On the home front we are getting a room ready for new carpet. Our cat "Chuck" had peed and sprayed in his room and we couldn't break him from this bad habit. So, he went to live on the farm about a year ago. We have rug doctored and tried and tried to get the smell out of that room to no avail. Finally we have taken up the carpet, and pad and KILZ'ed (paint that encases odors and stains) the whole floor. It has been quite a job. The good news is that we have decided to turn the room into our Homeschool Room/Library. We have book cases everywhere and our kitchen table is always full of books/globes/crayons/lego's/starwars people/etc.etc. So, once the carpet arrives and gets installed we will move most of our book shelves to that room and make it an official library/study room. I hope it works out. Especially after all the work it is going to take to move all the book shelves...ugh; but maybe joy! I am going to plan for it to be a success. Here's hoping!

Nov. 8, 2010

We are finishing up Week 29 today and should start Week 30 tomorrow. We had a great weekend at our farm in southern Indiana. Dh is getting ready for deer season; so we built new tree stands and blinds. It is a dream come true to see dd loving nature as much as her mother. I have walked her in those woods ever since her first days alive. I used the baby bjorn baby carrier and would her up to three walks a day. She was happiest outside in the woods. The things changed, when she was 4 & 5 years old she wasn't happy to take long walks in the woods. But the last few years she is liking it more and more and once again wanting to go out with me.

We are doing good in all areas right now--for the most part. She is still working on doing her lessons without a fuss; but I've begun to see that as a part of our daily life (unfortunately). I am hoping for slow, gradual improvement on that front. She can earn a marble for a good day's work, but hasn't earned a marble in over a week. Fifteen marbles and she earns a Star Wars figurine or the like.

We finally have our new carpet in our "library". We have moved in our immediate needs while I configure what and how to do the book shelves.

We are reading "Kildee House" and "Gladys Alward" right now during our lessons. We are still reading "Mary Slessor" at night. She is reading Christian Liberty Nature Readers for official reading and everything she can get her hands on other times. She has been on an increased love of illustrated/graphic books. She has a lot and has always liked them; but the last 3 weeks she is really going through them fast-it is amazing how many good books they have converted to graphic style. She is reading "The Wind in the Willows" in graphic format. I've read her that book (the real one by Kenneth Graham) twice b/c I love it so much. Anyway reading is going well.

Math actually has made some headway too. She has asked for extra problems. Can you believe that? My kid? Geez. Wow, is right!

Next week (Nov 13-23rd) and a half, we will be back at the farm. No t.v.; no cell phones, and no computer access. It will be official DEER season. We will do our lessons still, but I won't be able to check-in. I will miss hearing how you all are doing; but will still pray for our group.

Nov. 22, 2010

Last week went pretty well. We finished Little Riders, and have one chapter of Gladys ALward to finish today. Oh, and we finished Kildee House. KH was very, very good. We have started "And the word came with power" and have also started re-reading "The voyage of the Dawn Treader". We have read the Narnia series before, but want to re-read this book before we see the movie that is coming out on Dec. 10th.

On our drive to our farm in southern IN. we have 2 hours each way to listen to audio so we have been enjoying "By The Shores of Silver Lake" by LI Wilder. We had somehow missed listening to this one. I thought we were just going to listen to it again; and then we realized we had never heard this one. We listen to this series or read some each year and each year I am so impressed with this series. I have a bit of a wild, independent, stubborn child that I am wrangling and hearing all the good examples set by Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace are so welcome here. These books (or audio) are great character training IMVHO.

We are moving right along - we are in week 32- getting close to the end. I am gathering up books for Core 3 to add-in to our core stuff. I am really considering trying Teaching Textbooks for math. They have finished Grade 3 and are offering it. We are 3/4 of the way finished with Beta. I am in a self-imposed time out right now due to dd being a "Bubba" and refusing her math right now. So, I thought I would check-in with you ladies and get a breath of fresh air to figure out how to work with my little darling. She is a great kid-she just HATES math. That is why I am considering TT. Anyone tried this yet?

Oh, and from last week-I did read everyone's entry. And I have to put a great big vote for The Railway Children. We loved it so much! (see my siggy)

I look forward to hearing about how you all are doing this week. We head back down south for Turkey day and more (gulp, more) hunting this weekend. Dh hasn't gotten any deer yet.

Nov. 30, 2010

Sophie

We are dragging along. Luckily we had already completed part of week 32, so we managed to get 'technically' get through another week. So we are on week 33. My dh thought it would be a good idea to turn our old, unused spare room into a library/lessons room; but I can't get dd to go in there to do her work. Before I just would sit down across the table from her while she was eating and just start right in with bible and prayer. Now I have to get her to go upstairs, down the long hall and into a room that just spells "work" in her mind. Even at 2 y.o. if I wanted dd to put on her coat to go, I would say 'whatever you do DON'T put on your coat' and she would jump on that and do it. She has had a problem with authority since day one. The type of kid that happily does the opposite. Somedays it seems impossible to get her to do what she should. How in the world do you all do it? What am I missing? I can't tell you the HOURS we've spent talking to her (especially referring to how God wants her to behave) and working out rewards and consequences- year after year we go through this dance. Last night, like many nights before she tells me she is sorry and doesn't understand why she just doesn't do it. But, then in the morning--we are back to the kid who is a diversion expert.

Dec 6, 2010

Always cooking!

Well, things went well last week after my pitiful post on Monday. We ended up getting 2 weeks of IG done in 1 week. We are on Week 35. It is looking like we will finish Core 2 before Christmas. It is a great incentive for dd to work hard so we can focus on Christmas and making gifts before Christmas. We didn't get any science done; but that is okay. I can make that up later. Our SL science isn't on the same week schedule as our history IG.

We got our Christmas tree and our decorations up last week too. It was 7 degrees here today and lots of snow; so it is looking a lot like Christmas here already. Saturday we went to Butler University to see our yearly "The Nutcracker Ballet" performance. It wasn't as good as usual; but we had fun. Don't tell, but dd actually wore our Christmas tree SKIRT as a cape on top of her outfit and coat!!!! She is really funny sometimes and she has no clue how funny she is. She really is a jumble of everything in style. It is funny how some kids really wear the most crazy outfits and they think nothing of it.

We are enjoying "And the Word Came with Power". I had a nightmare after the first chapter, but dd is okay with it. It is a bit surprising how REAL it is. If your children are sensitive; you might pre-read this one.

Dd is enjoying learning about WWI and WWII (which reminds her of Narnia!). I didn't prepare to be learning about the WW's during this Core and am a bit surprised how we are fast forwarding into so much history here in Core 2. I didn't think we would get this far into history.

Dec 7, 2010

At the Zoo

Susan said one of my favorite things about why I homeschool. As much as I love seeing my child grow and learn I also think that I am giving my child the gift of me. As a person who grew up with a deceased father and a hard working mother & step father; I really felt alone in this world. My child will know that I put her as our priority; not work. I have memories of my dd throughout her life and she will have millions of memories of us taking care of her, loving her, and showing her the way.

Dec 13,2010

Meercats at the Indy Zoo

Well it is so very "winter" here. Snow everywhere and way below freezing. It is absolutely beyond me! I wouldn't drive out in this for the world; but dear, dear dh went off to work as if it were no problem! What a great man!

We are on our LAST week of Core 2. So hard to believe. We finished "The Word Came With Power" last Friday. DD said it was her favorite book of this core. Wait until you all read this one (if you haven't already). I was really changed by some of my beliefs after reading this. I would love to have a book club for that book. As an adult I really want to dissect it and discuss it and verbalize all the different aspects regarding this book. It was really a mover and shaker mentally; as a christian regarding evil spirits. Geez. I will stop rambling now.

We are really behind on our science; but I plan to make that a priority after Christmas. We finally finished moving all the bookshelves and books to our new library on Thursday. I bought new curtains and put them up on Sat. We are basically moved in. I can't believe how the Lord has provided us with our own special 'library'. It truly is a blessing. I just love books! Of course most of the books are old, used, ex-library books but I still love them all the same. I have been collecting books for core 3 and core 4 (American history) for 2 years now. I have a whole big bookshelf just for core 3. I am positive I have too many books for us to read for core 3 (on top of the actual core books assigned). I do plan on taking a long time to finish core 3.

This week we will probably be snowed in most of the week. We are reading Catching Their Talk in a Box. I don't know anything about this one and am curious to find out all about it.

Dec 28,2010

Merry Christmas Ladies! I should be trying to multi-quote but I woke up with a headache. We have been enjoying this week off. I had been wanting to make some paper crafts; and dd surprised me by wanting to do it with me. We have made about 25 paper cranes and some paper snowflakes. Each evening dd and her Pappa have been baking cookies. He gives cookies to his co-workers as their Christmas gift. He makes about 8 different types of cookies/fudge.

Dd finished Llama in the Family on Monday. We are still reading "Mary Slessor" as our nightly family reading book. I made a comment about how few pages dh was reading and he took the hint and has started to read a bit more each night. He is not an 'night owl' and he starts slurring his words. Bless his heart, he really tries!

I am reading a bunch of parenting books. I have read them over and over. It amazes me how much I drop as the months/years go by. But, I am looking forward to getting back to my Jane Austen series. I'd never read her books before. We just have rabbit ears as our t.v. reception, so we don't have many channels to watch. Last year I saw PBS' series "Emma" and loved it so much I got our library to order that version. So, I decided to read it; and you guessed it--it was even better than the movie. Since we are totally snowed in I ordered some movies from our library and watched a few of the recent J.A. movies. And I threw in "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens. Dd is enjoying along with me. It is a nice winter diversion.

I am trying to figure out how and where to organize my core 3 books. I wish the IG had a good time line for me to use, so I could see where my supplemental books fit in. I went a little crazy getting books to add in to this core. Anyone have any ideas for how to prepare before hand? I have always just jumped in with no pre-prep.

Dec 29,2010

We are on break and enjoying dh home all week. No formal work; but lots of fun games and reading. We finally finished our night book on Mary Slessor. She was a missionary in Calabar/Nigeria in Africa. We will start Sword Fighting by Karyn Henley tonight. Dd thought the book was actually about sword fighting! LOL! It is a yearly devotional for all of us at bedtime.

I am moving again this morning. Yesterday I had a really horrible migraine and was in bed most of the day. Today my whole body is sore from not moving all yesterday and from being in pain.

Today we are planning on seeing the newest installment of the Narnia movies; The Dawn Treader. Dd wanted to see this even more than the Nutcracker ballet! She did enjoy the ballet; but is really excited to see the movie. I think the last movie we saw in a theater was "UP". So, we don't get out often obviously.

Jan 2, 2011

Today we start Core 3. My dd is excited to learn American History; and to start some new readers. She has been reading some chapter books of "The Young Indiana Jones" series. It is so funny to see what books she chooses on her own. I don't have much to add yet; but wanted to take advantage of dd still being asleep to check-in. We saw The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a few days ago. It was pretty good. We didn't go to the 3D version; just the regular movie screen.

Jan 11, 2011

We finished our first week -last week and managed to do a week of SL science. We also made a trip to The Indianapolis Children's Museum. They have a cool science lab and daily experiments. We did the 'hand washing' experiment and looked in the microscopes. It was a really fun time. I could go on and on; but I bet it is sort of like showing people your vacation photo's!

This week we are doing our 4 R's and lots of add-in books about Native Americans. I really want to cover Native American lifestyles and culture before we move on to Christopher Columbus.

I also (finally) did a good job picking our family/nightly devotional this year. Last year's book was pretty shallow. This year I chose: Sword Fighting by Karyn Henley.
It is really good and I have high hopes that we will memorize a lot of bible verses as a family together.

We are doing pretty well. We did another 'week' of SL science yesterday. I am really behind (in my own mind) with our science work; so I am wanting to fit that in more. Dd got some different science kits for Christmas and I am wanting to do those too. I love science and want to pass that on to dd.

We are really enjoying Walk The World's Rim. We should be done with that pretty soon. Then I think I am going to fit in: The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich Has anyone read this? If you have read it; do you think this would fit in here well?

I am still reading Jane Austen's books (finished 3 so far) and currently Charles Dicken's "Little Dorrit". I never read Austen and have really enjoyed reading her books to find out what all the fuss was about! I have been enjoying myself greatly!

Jan 3, 2011

Giz made this dress

Today we start Core 3. My dd is excited to learn American History; and to start some new readers. She has been reading some chapter books of "The Young Indiana Jones" series. It is so funny to see what books she chooses on her own. I don't have much to add yet; but wanted to take advantage of dd still being asleep to check-in. We saw The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a few days ago. It was pretty good. We didn't go to the 3D version; just the regular movie screen.

Dd got some cool Christmas gifts that she is loving. It would be interesting if anyone wanted to share the gifts that their dc loved the most- especially if they are educational. For example, dd got: Snap Circuits SC-300 by Elenco Electronics Inc and she and Dh have been really enjoying all the various experiments together. It is easy and fun and educational. Anyone else have a successful/educational gift that was a hit?

Jan 22, 2011

Today is our "Picture Day". DD decided today (for some reason) would be a great day to take pictures of her doing her lessons with her AG dolls. She decided on Mon or Tues and has planned all week. All her dolls had to get on their original dresses and have their hair done. She wants to videotape parts of her lessons so she can watch this video in the future to remember what books we were reading; etc. etc. She woke up today "It's Picture Day! It's Picture Day!" How funny!

Dh and I are still getting over our bug; but it is sooo much better. Health is such a huge part of our lives. We finished Walk The World's Rim on Wednesday and started Birchbark House. We really have been putting in a lot of extra books this week. We have read and are listening to SOTW and I checked out The American Story from our library. I read the first few chapters to see how we liked it. I've seen this book on lots of hsing curriculum catalogs.

We rec'd 6 inches of snow last week, and 6 inches yesterday. This is a very snowy year for us. I am still reading "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens; and am enjoying it very much. I read some to my dd; she is interested too but it is too long of a book to read the whole 800+ pages outloud! It would be a good audio purchase.

I didn't mention we started Rosetta Stone this week. DH, DD, and I have all set ourselves up and are going to learn it together. I learned Spanish in HS; but DH learned French. Can you guess what DD wanted to learn? French, of course! Then we took a German class with our co-op and she changed her mind to German. She had wanted to learn French for 2 years and in a matter of a few weeks; had started to change her mind. We bought French and she is extremely happy--she wants to do German next...good compromise! It seems like a fun, good program. We are going to aim to have a "French" night when we all get good enough to do that.

We were studying the Inca's and Mayan's this week and watched two video's on Mayan's and DD said: "Annie and her family might be at any of these sites!" So, we have thought of Annie on her trip and prayed for her and her family each day. I can't wait to hear all about her trip. That would be so very cool to see those places. I've always liked Machu Picchu, the Incan site and would love to go there too.

Jan 21, 2011

Barclay, My Sweetie!  Who's Cute?!

Another idea that I do is:"Left-Overs Weeks". I take a week off the IG and do bible/math and .........whatever I want to focus on (usually science). I will still do our basics and take a whole week to focus on something different. Then I go back to the IG the next week. In Core K, 1, and 2 I would have a "left-over week" about once a month. But for Core 3 I plan on having a lot more breaks to focus more on the areas that we are behind in. We love history and our IG material more than math and other extra's and we need to get caught up on.

Jan 27, 2011

After months (years) of fighting dd with math; I think I am ready to give TT a try. I asked about placement in the Math Forum; but thought I would ask here too. I have been looking at the placement tests for TT and the level 3 is very, very easy but has multiplication questions. The level 4 looks pretty easy, but has much harder multiplication questions. We are finishing up Beta and haven't learned ANY multiplication yet; so I don't know which level to order. Anyone know if the TT 4 teaches multiplication in the beginning so I can order 4. The level 3 seems below where we are currently at. If it wasn't so expensive I would go ahead and get it so she can wiz right through it.

I hope Steve Demme can forgive me; I like his program so much!

Jan 26, 2011

We are on a "Left-Overs Week". I am reading "The Birchbark House" aloud to dd, and dd is reading "Pocahontas and the Strangers". She liked "A Lion to Guard Us". We had a rough Monday (a theme I think) and just got our basics in. Tuesday got back on track and fit in Science. We also had a fun extra-a planetarium! At BUtler University at their planetarium/observatory. It was a lot of fun even if the huge telescope wasn't used due to all the clouds. We saw a show in the dome by college students about all the planets in our solar system. We can go back and visit again on clear days; which I never knew about this resource.

Jan 31, 2011

This is Barclay in our backyard from 2 years ago.  She died this Fall 2010.

We are expecting a nasty storm here in Indiana; so we did our driving today. We went to the library and park this morning. It was nice yesterday too; so dh took us to a park close to our home that we hadn't been to yet. So-two nature hikes in two days-two different parks!! My favorite activity is hiking, so I am smiling.

Last week was crazy for us too. Monday and Wednesday were very difficult with dd; but the other days we actually got a lot done. It was a 'left-overs week'. We have been really doing a lot of science and LA. It is easier for us to follow the IG and do those activities than fit in science and LA. So, I am forcing more 'left-over weeks' into my schedule to try and catch us up to where I feel we should be. Also, by doing this I can fit in many more extra resources.


We are watching more of the "500 Nations" videos this week; that we checked out from the library. We are 1/2 way through "The Birchbark House". We are on Week 3 of the IG; but have already finished "Walk the World's Rim" and dd is ahead in her reader too. So, I will have this week to finish up The Birchbark House. I am thinking of next reading aloud:
Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, Massachusetts - Rhode Island, 1653 (The Royal Diaries)

I should have probably read this first b/c it is early in the time period.

Feb 6, 2011 Quotes about raw milk and wheat from SL forum

M said:I'll tell you that I have been lactose intolerant my entire adult life, but I can drink Christina milk just fine. I don't know if it's because it's raw instead of pasteurized, or because it's Jersey instead of Holstein, or because it's pasture-fed instead of confinement fed, but it's a *big* difference.

K said: We have NEVER been able to drink milk...not even the Organic or Lactose free. Kids and hubby would get really sick. We have been drinking RAW milk...(unpasteurized, unhomogenized) milk and we are BETTER with allergies and sickness actually! IT IS SOOO GOOD! And it is good for you because you are getting the natural bacteria that you are supposed to get. They also rigorously check about every 3 weeks for e-coli testing at the RAW milk farms. At the factory farms almost not ever...(I have learned from research about it).

So yes, Mia I think it has a LOT to do with grass fed cows too. I mean think about it...the corn that they feed the other cows isn't natural because they modify it...and the hormones they give the cows to "bulk up" harm us as well. It just isn't natural! I also think it has a lot to do with the beneficial bacteria though that get taken out that helps our bodies absorb the milk.

Our family can't eat wheat...I researched that too...I mean why if God intended for wheat to be eaten, and bread is talked about a lot in the bible...then many people cannot eat it? Well, I discovered that we don't take the "whole part" of the wheat (there are 3 parts). They started "modifying" it around the Cold War to stretch it and they continued to do this. (The modified corn and corn syrup GMO's also around this time.) Our bodies were not made to eat it without the whole parts taken from it...so that is why so many people are allergic to it now...(I think).

April 1, 2011

We had a great week!.....April Fool's!  Actually it was pretty tough.  Last week we had so many activities our lessons were pretty short each day.  This week I hoped to try and make up some of the lost time; but that didn't really happen.

We did rock on our Science 2.  I think we finished 5 weeks of it.  We are reading : The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish and the Amazing-but-True Survival Story of Plymouth Colony by Cheryl Harness.  It is a really good book with cool illustrations.

Larkin read a few different books: Happy Horse, American Girl: Meet Rebecca, American Girl: Meet Julie (her second time reading this), The Courage of Sarah Noble, The Matchlock Gun,...she is always reading something.  I try to remember what I see her with and write it down somewhere; but it is hard keeping up with her.  She will read different books throughout the day.

She is on her third or fourth week of trying Teaching Textbooks 4.  She has used Math U See for 2 years now and I wanted to try another program incase it is easier for her; or at least easier for me.  It is funny b/c we didn't fight about math all this week; and yet it was a very bad week.  She is mostly complaining about how much she has to write; especially with science, spelling, and handwriting.  But, I think we may stick with this math program.  Our 30 day trial is about up and I was hoping we would be able to get into some new material instead of just reviewing material that Steve Demme had already taught her; but that isn't going to happen I see.

We did get to Plainfield Parks & Rec twice this week.  I did a Water Aerobics class and another Spinning class.  I couldn't walk up or down the stairs on Wed. and Thu.; luckily today I am almost as good as new.  Puddin didn't get to swim in her Aqua Athlete's class this week b/c it is Spring Break and the pool was too full to allow her class in.  She was fine with it b/c her class had a lot of fun in the gym.

We are moving ahead in our AAS, Science, and Handwriting after the rough week.  Pappa had Puddin do some lessons at the dining room table Wed. night and Fri. night after having a bad attitude during our day.  I am hoping it will encourage her to be nice.

I am tempted to do another LOW week to keep working on our science and read through our Myles Standish book that is so exciting.  We will have to see-

Feb 16, 2011

We are on week 4 of the IG -Week 7 of Core 3. This is an "IG" week. We are reading Secret of the Andes and enjoying it. We are pretty busy with co-op activities this week. Today we go into downtown Indy to "The Learning Curve" at the 'central' library. It is suppose to be a really fun time. We have co-op 2 hours on Thursday and a different co-op on Friday for a 1 hour Gym class.

We had our MIL and FIL spend Sunday afternoon to Monday evening with us. DD did her math page with them. She showed them how she does Rosetta Stone. We all played a money board game (Money Bags) and Scrambled States of America board game. Then MIL and Dd played piano/gave piano lesson and sang together. So for a day that I thought was going to be "un-educational" it turned out VERY educational!!!

We are still reading Weetamoo- the Royal Diaries book. We got sidetracked with a new book that DH read to us each evening the last two weeks. We are still really happy with our nightly devotional (Sword Fighting).

I think that is about it. We are busy-for a big change! We are usually only balancing our lessons. We have co-op activities for the next 6 weeks and then it is back to famine! Right now it is feast time! So funny how that works. But, maybe God will bless us with some local friends for DD to have playdates with often.

Feb 21, 2011

We are doing pretty well right now. We are on a "Left-Overs Week" this week and hope to enjoy extra science and LA. We have almost completed The Secret of the Andes and we are really liking it. We are ahead of schedule; but it is too good to stop reading on!

Feb 28, 2011

We are working on Week 5. Having every other week as a "Left-Over" is a work in progress b/c we finish our Readers and Read Alouds way before we are suppose to. I am not sure how I am going to tweek this to work for us. But, it is working in the fact that we are working on our Science more and that is something that I wanted to do. We did two weeks worth of Science last week; plus bible, math, handwriting, and a little history, and finished Secret of the Andes on Tues.

We are still pretty busy with our co-op classes. This week has no co-op for some reason; but then we have three more weeks left. We signed up for another once a week class- a Swim & Gym class. It goes for 8 weeks. I am NOT use to running to places and doing so many activities. It is really hard for me to juggle this! So, I have lowered the bar of what I usually want to get done. This is especially important for my dd; as an only child she doesn't get to play and interact with other children as much as she probably should. So, I am trying to be as flexible as I can in order to let her have this time to play.

March 6, 2011

I forget which week we are on-5 or 6. It is a "IG Week" this week. We have been doing one week on IG and one week 'off' to focus on our electives that have gotten behind schedule. We have really been hitting the FLL hard the past weeks. I can't seem to get myself to skip any lessons; so we are still on Level 2 and will be for a while. I have been able to get 2 days of FLL into one day; which seems to work well for us.

We are still doing lots of co-op activities for the rest of this month. We have been here in Indy for over 5 years now; and finally got accepted into some christian hs co-ops (2). After all these years of about 2 activities a MONTH; we now do that, or more, each WEEK! What a huge shift for us. I have to say; it is so nice to see dd have friends. It is truly a blessing for her. This week she has a Gym & Swim class today; a co-op on Thurs. morning, and a Gym class on Fri. This makes me especially glad we are going at 50% on our IG currently.

She is doing great on her reading. She is ahead in her Readers, and is reading a bunch of other books that are all over the place. I have taken the past 2-3 weeks off Charles Dickens (Great Expectations). Christie recommended Beth Moore and I am enjoying that.

I have a question; speaking of reading. In Incans Aztecs Mayans, our book keeps referring to God as "Yahweh". I am totally ignorant of why? Could someone explain this to me? As we have been searching for a new church; one place we went also called God "Yahweh". I understand it is the Hebrew way to say "God"; but it isn't as common to me as saying "God". Anyone know? Anyone else notice that?

C said: I don't have much time to chat but I wanted to reply quickly to your question about Yahweh. Dr. Elmer Towns states, "LORD (all four letters capitalized) is pronounced "Yahweh" or "Jehovah." There are no pronunciation marks in the original Hebrew, so we do not know how to accurately say it. Out of reverence, many Jews would not write or pronounce the name." This comes from a Bible study My Father's Names and you can access the study guide online by clicking the title. I just wanted to comment on that question because it was something I also wondered about.

This is another book that A read to AJ, so I never got to see the reason given in this book. I am certainly not offended by the question, I also had the same question and never REALLY felt like I understood this fully. What I do understand is that different names for God given in the Bible describe the attributes of God, for example, Jehoviah Jireh means the Lord provides. Yahweh, means I AM. This points to the eternal existence of God, that He is, was, and always will be - has no beginning or end. I like this website which talks about the names of God. It is so beautiful to think that God knows we will have a difficult time understanding exactly who and what He is, so He goes to great lengths to describe himself with names that show His attributes so we can understand. This website also has a good description. In other words, one would normally use Yahweh, or Adonai, or another descriptive word for God other than just the name "God" to subtly point out the attributes of God. I am also careful when I hear other names for God used and do not like to take that lightly. It is always best to research it, in my opinion, than to just take it at face value and someone tell you - oh, it's just another name for God... 

M said: Yahweh is the English pronunciation for the Hebrew YHWH which is an abbreviation of what God replied when Moses asked for a name and God responded, "I am who am." Jews (and ancient Hebrews) never utter the name of God (2nd commandment), and often wouldn't even say God, instead using "Lord." Why different Christian traditions prefer "Yahweh" to God or Lord, I don't know.

March 14, 2011

We finished Week 6 last week. This is a "Left-Overs Week" for us. We focused on LA (FLL/WWE) the last LOW; so this week will be science. We are still working on SL Science 2. We have read about half of The Sign of the Beaver and are really enjoying that. It is a really easy read.

We have 3 activities signed up for this week. I am not sure how many weeks we have left of our co-op classes. Two co-op's goes for 6 weeks, and one class goes for 8 weeks. We are over half done. It has been a lot of fun and I am so glad I let go of our normal schedule to try some new things. We have Aqua Athlete's on Tuesday that is 1/2 Gym and 1/2 Swimming, co-op science, money, and gym on Thursday all morning, and a quick one hour Gym class on Friday.

We are probably on our last week of MUS Beta. DD wanted to do 2 pages a day last week to finish sooner. These last pages is reading gauges and is very easy. I've ordered TT and thought we would give it the 30 day trial to see if it right for dd. I hope it is a good solution; but I won't be sad if we go back to MUS. That is such a great program; if only Steve would intermix the concepts to always keep them fresh. He does such a good job covering each concept; but then drops it to learn a new concept. I know my dd would benefit from having more 'review' pages- a lot more review pages actually.

March 17, 2011

We finished Week 6 last week. This is a "Left-Overs Week" for us. We focused on LA (FLL/WWE) the last LOW; so this week will be science. We are still working on SL Science 2. We have read about half of The Sign of the Beaver and are really enjoying that. It is a really easy read.

We have 3 activities signed up for this week. I am not sure how many weeks we have left of our co-op classes. Two co-op's goes for 6 weeks, and one class goes for 8 weeks. We are over half done. It has been a lot of fun and I am so glad I let go of our normal schedule to try some new things. We have Aqua Athlete's on Tuesday that is 1/2 Gym and 1/2 Swimming, co-op science, money, and gym on Thursday all morning, and a quick one hour Gym class on Friday.

We are probably on our last week of MUS Beta. DD wanted to do 2 pages a day last week to finish sooner. These last pages is reading gauges and is very easy. I've ordered TT and thought we would give it the 30 day trial to see if it right for dd. I hope it is a good solution; but I won't be sad if we go back to MUS. That is such a great program; if only Steve would intermix the concepts to always keep them fresh. He does such a good job covering each concept; but then drops it to learn a new concept. I know my dd would benefit from having more 'review' pages- a lot more review pages actually.

Week 7 Core 3 / D March 21, 2011

Happy 2nd day of spring everyone. We are expecting snow this week here in Indiana. I will remain optimistic until it actually arrives!

We are on Week 7 (I think). We finished The Sign of The Beaver and dd finished The Thanksgiving Story last week. Since we are ahead, and this week is way over-scheduled; I think we may put off starting a new RA book. But, I almost find it impossible to not be reading a RA. DD has been enjoying the TT so far. She has done the first 7 lessons, and the Ch. 1 quiz. It has been a very easy review so far; so there isn't a reason for her to not like it yet. I am hoping she will get to some of the harder work before our 30 day trial is over! But, so far it is promising.

We started the audio version of The Secret Garden about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I couldn't have timed it better. There is the build up for spring to arrive; then the huge moment when spring has arrived!!! And it is such a big deal! And as we are listening to this each day; we have been also building up for spring to arrive and it has arrived here as well! My dd is the one who picked out listening to this story; not me. I have lost count how many times we have listened to these discs; over and over! Another favorite has worked itself out again: Matilda. We just love hearing this one over and over; but it doesn't have the significance of being spring related.

We planted spinach seeds this weekend; but still haven't gotten to the lettuce yet. But, our garden looks ready to plant and is all worked up. Last year we didn't do it early and it rained and rained and ruined our schedule. THis year, we are ready!

We have a big week scheduled again this week. It is our last week for one of the co-op groups. There is only a few more weeks of activities and then we will be back to normal. I am hoping some of the friends will stick and we might have playdates during the summer. We have something planned everyday this week.

The Incans, Mayans, and Aztec's book is a long, hard read (to me). I wish we could have had a more exciting book. I guess it is difficult to cover so much material in a short way. It is odd how as I'm reading along; out will come some sentence about bloodletting and human sacrifices; as if it were a list of items and not a huge concept. I am blessed to have a few good picture DK/Eyewitness type books with lots of big, colorful pictures from each of the three different groups to show to dd to add in some visuals to go along with the book. Anyone else not so impressed with this book? I guess I am happy we are reading it; but am a little disappointed that the book isn't more engaging....b/c the material is.

March 28, 2011

We are on a LOW (Left-Overs Week). We had a huge week, last week and didn't get as much done as we normally do. We had lots of activities to do and enjoyed each one. I slept 12 hours on Saturday! This week we should have a much slower time. It is 'spring break' here, so one of our co-ops (where we have a 1 hour gym class on Fri.) is taking the week off. So, we only have 1 class--Aqua Athlete's on Tue. Dd is really enjoying herself in this class; I wish it went year round.

I am not sure what our next book will be. I haven't decided if I should fit in another book, of my own choosing, or move to The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I have a week to fit in something; so there is a chance I could fit in something extra. We finished listening to Matilda (Roald Dahl), but still have 1 disc left on The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett).

This week is suppose to be some science, the 4 r's (reading, 'riting, 'rithmatic, and religion), and hopefully more AAS.

I have been memorizing The Lord is My Shepherd and finally got it last week! You wouldn't believe how long it took me to memorize the 23 Psalm.

April 21, 2011

I decided to put Daniel Boone off for a bit longer b/c we hadn't really gotten all we could from Jamestown/Roanoke/Mayflower/Pilgrim experience yet. So, this week we read:

The Mayflower Secret: William Bradford (Trailblazer Books #26) - Paperback (May 1, 1998) by Dave Jackson and Neta Jackson

Priscilla Alden and the Story of the First Thanksgiving (Let's Celebrate Series) by Alice Benjamin Boynton and Christa Kieffer

Our Colonial Year - Hardcover (Dec. 6, 2005) by Cheryl Harness

I don't want to jump too far ahead in our time table and miss out really understanding the first parts of our history. Last night I learned something new. Did you know that Massassoit sent over one of his warriors (Hobowok-sp?) to camp by the Plymouth settlement? I had never heard that before. It was pretty interesting listening to Myles Standish's version of being on the Mayflower and then to hear Elizabeth Tilley's version this week.

We went to our 4H office yesterday to pick out some projects for dd to work on. She is pretty excited about it. I hope I can figure out all the dates and deadlines for her. I've never done anything like this. I think the things she signed up for are: fun for sewing, sewing, food, gardening-veggies, and arts & crafts--fine art.