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I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas season. We had a very blessed Christmas. My husband finally had Christmas off and he took a little extra time off too! It was great. We had some really good quality family time. 

Now it’s time to get back to school!! We started back to school the 1^st of January; however we kept it part time up until this week. So this week we went back to full days.

 Oh, we did have excellent New Years news!! We got those orders to move that we’ve been waiting for!!

 This is our schedule for this week. I did want to post it earlier in the week but my days got away from me. The kids had a good time with the Christopher Columbus craft and I will post some pics of that later.


Mondays we will be taking off for the next 3 months due to my husband’s schedule.

 
Tuesday AM - read books about Christopher Columbus and do a map activity. We may also start the craft project for Wednesday to ensure it gets done.

Tuesday PM - In the EAL book we will be starting with leading and leadership. The first two weeks we will be evaluating what qualities make a good leader. Today we will look to the Bible and discover what guidance God gives us about good leaders and what God says a good leader is. We will then write a short paper on what God's word says and what we think each verse means.

 

Wednesday AM - We will continue looking at Columbus today. I found a great project on enchantedlearning.com. The kids will draw on poster board the area surrounding Columbus' voyage and paint/color the continents green and the waters blue. We will then label the map as well as Columbus' route. We'll make three ships using an egg carton and some other supplies and then trace the route using the small ships! I think we will have to get the map done Tuesday and the ships today.

Wednesday PM - We will contrast the requirements for King of Israel with the requirements for President of the U.S. We'll look at what things God considered and what He did not. We will also "attempt" to dramatize the scene of Samuel anointing David and discuss the differences between anointing and electing.

 

Thursday AM - Today we'll move onto 1497 and take a look at John Cabot. Depending on what material I can find this may be a very short lesson. :) Thursday PM - We will again look to the Bible to find out why our Founding Fathers embraced the idea of representation. We will also look at how the high priest of Israel was a representative for the nation.

 

Friday AM - Move to 1500 and look at Vasco Nunez De Balboa. I am looking for some activities or supplements still.

Friday PM - Spend some time looking at some of Clinton's decisions and discussing if these were wise or unwise. We will also discuss whether past behavior is an indication of a man's character and ability to lead in righteousness.

Posted in KONOS

Sorry I missed a week. I was having technical difficulties. I am ever so grateful for my very best friend Renee who helped me get them all straightened out! J Thank you again Sweetie.

Ok, so last week we finished up our study of the New England region. Wow, did we learn a lot! We learned about the architecture that is specific to the area. I would have never known what a widow’s walk was. We also looked at clap board houses and salt box houses. Very interesting! We also took a look at some light houses and the kids decided to find what they could around the house to make their own!!

Last week we were studying lobsters! We even took the kids out for a seafood meal and tried all different types of seafood. J They were very good sports about it. My son was very sick afterwards so I think he may have had a reaction to the shellfish. So, we may not be eating much shellfish too early in the future but we did buy some crayfish to dissect and take a closer look at. Here are some great pictures of the kids having fun (well sometimes) looking inside the crayfish!

  

We finished last week up with a bar-b-que! We made ribs and made from scratch Boston Baked Beans!! We learned that the Puritans did not work on the Sabbath. They began their Sabbath at sundown on Saturday. The women prepared baked beans on Saturday and simmered them until Sunday.

We simmered ours for most of the day on Saturday and then put them in the crock-pot until Sunday for dinner! We all enjoyed this! Of course the kids always have fun when cooking is involved!! J Oh, we finished up reading Moby Dick!

This week we moved on the Atlantic region! We added some areas of interest to our huge map such as; Hudson River, Erie Canal, New York City, and Philadelphia. We spent time researching coal-mining, and Susan B. Anthony, the Erie Canal, what a spinning jenny is, and of course the Amish group. Today we are taking a look at some differences between the Quakers and the Shakers. The kids had fun working together today to make this replica of the Statue of Liberty!!

   

On Monday we move on to the Great Lake States! I will let you know how it goes. J I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!

Posted in KONOS

We began our study of the states and regions! Last week we didn’t really end up getting much done except a whole lot of revising our map. Finally today I came to the conclusion that I was expecting too much by thinking that my 9 and 12 year olds should free hand this huge map. So I broke down and asked Daddy to do it for us. J He was very willing. He did it in pencil so that the kids were able to trace over it in permanent marker. They were much happier with this plan. J So was I after all the frustration we faced last week. I think I was going to scream if I heard “it’s too hard!” one more time! We all think Daddy did a great job! Here are some pictures!!

Now we just have to catch up on all the activities that we should have gotten done with our map last week. Most of that won’t take too long. We have a states game we’re going to play! I love seeing how much they know in the beginning and then going back after we have been studying so we can all see how much they have learned! Ashlynn is going to map a journey across the U.S.(including any landmarks, animals, scenery, and friends she might see on her way!) and Jonathan is going to research where in the U.S. you might find hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Those are both activities that they want to do. We will also learn the time zones!

We started last Monday by having the kids’ free hand the outline of the United States on a plain piece of paper! We also had a pop-quiz on the state abbreviations as well as labeling all the states on a blank map! I keep all of these so that they are able to see how much progress they have made when we go back and take these tests again. They always enjoy that, it’s a great encouragement to all!

This week we start our study on the New England area! We will start reading Moby Dick tonight as part of our study on the New England area. Some other activities we will do this week include; adding some important landmarks to our map, answering some interesting questions about this area, making a meal that is popular in the area, study some New England architecture, research lobsters, dissect a crayfish, and build a lighthouse!! I think it will be a fun and exciting week! J

I will try to post an update and some pictures at the end of the week! Wishing you all a happy homeschooling week! J

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Here are the pictures of the kids' career day interviews! Ashlynn interviewed the dentist, and Jonathan interviewed the F-15 fighter pilot!! They had so much fun, and both were very attentive while gathering information from their career person.

Here is Ashlynn with the dentist...
 

Here is Jonathan interviewing the pilot...

He even got to try on a helmet...

The pilot was able to get us out on the flight line!!

We were able to gather alot of information...

He told us about lots of different parts of the jet...

We even got to look in the cockpit!!


The kids really enjoyed this unit on Stewardship!!

Posted in KONOS

Well, it has been quite a while since I've been on here. Life can get so crazy sometimes. School has kept us busy, and we love our Konos Co-op!! We are studying careers right and talents right now.
Today we will be able to go meet with an F-15 Fighter pilot!!! My oldest son has expressed his desire to be an Air Force Fighter jet pilot for a very long time. He is so excited about this meeting! He has put time into what kind of questions he wants to ask and what important aspects he wants to know about. I am very excited for him and hope this meeting goes well.
Next week my other two children will be meeting with a dentist for their career meeting. I think it's wonderful that we have such thoughtful people around us that are willing to give their time to talk to kids about their careers.

I will be sure to give an update on how our career meetings go!