Monday, August 17, 2009 - First Day of Thrid Grade

I keep forgetting to take a picture of Cameron on the first day of school.  This year, I happened to take a picture but it wasn't because it was the first day of school.

Cameron has found a new passion.  He loves roller skating.  He went once with my mother and now he is hooked.  He's been wanting me to come with him to "check out his skills." 

I also went skating.  I haven't been skating for several years and was a bit rusty.  Rental skates didn't help matters.

Cameron has a bunch of friends at skating.  A lot of them are older and love to help Cameron improve.  Many people came up to me, pleased to meet Cameron's mom and let me know what a top notch boy I have there.  That's always nice for a mom to hear.

Here they are, calling it a night.  I had already given up about 15 minutes before this. LOL

This counts as PE, right? ;o)

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Saturday, June 13, 2009 - Update

School is out and we seem to be busier than ever.  How does that happen?

This next year offers a new challenge for me.  This will be my first year reporting with the state.  But I am truely blessed.  I have friends that have done this before and are helping me each step of the way.

I almost have everything ready to go for third grade.  I've been tweeking schedules, adding subjects I didn't know I needed, writing objectives, gathering resources, preparing paperwork, the list seems endless.

I've also been working reorganizing books.  I have some books for school that we won't need for a few years and I want to get those all in one spot.  I did have them intermingled with all the other books (they were even all alphabetized by author at one point) but there were some there and some over there and a few up there.  I need them all together.  (Especially since in my reorganizing, I found a few that I could have used already.

I'm very excited about this upcoming year.  We have some great things planned for the year.  I'm especially excited about science.  My good friend (you always have to call them good friends when they are so nice to you and lend you their resources without even blinking an eye) LindaI is lending me Exploring Creation with Zoology I by Jeannie Fulbright.  This book is Charlotte Mason friendly so it is right up our alley!

So, right now, Cameron is enjoying Summer vacation and I'm getting ready for third.  Soon, though, we will be starting a few summer educational activities AKA reading and math to keep us fresh.

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 - Sick

It started with Cameron and of course he shared with me.

We have been very sick here at our house.  In fact today is only the second day of school that we have carried a full load.  We went over two weeks at either no school or a very light schedule.

Three tissue boxes, several Epsom salt baths, numerous temperature taking, gallons of water  and copious amounts of vitamin C and medications later we are both on the mend now.

It still amazes me how much mucas a human body can generate.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - Something about Nothing

I think I need to bring pen and paper to bed.  As I lay in bed at night, before I go to sleep, I think to myself, "Oh that would make a good blog entry, I'll do that tomorrow."

Then when tomorrow comes, I have absolutly NO idea what my great blog entry was.  And so I go by another day without putting something up on my blog.  ::sigh::

Here are some random thoughts:

• You know that a day is not going well when your son is sent to his room twice for his bad attitude and one reprimand for back talking and you are still doing devotions. 
• Can your hands get so cold that they become hot?  My hads did today when I went out to shovel.
• You know that it is snowing too much when you have to shovel snow just put the trash out to the curb.
• I think the cat has took and hid the claw clippers.
• She DID take and hid her toy. 
• Cameron really likes to shovel.  Any house we go to, he always seems to find the shovel and "makes the track better."

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Monday, January 5, 2009 - Back to School

It is so good to get back into a routine.  I'm glad that we took off two weeks for vacation.  December always gets so busy with family and friends and festivities that it is nice to not feel like I have to squeeze in school as well.

I got myself caught up on Homeschool Tracker and found that we are at the half-way point for school.  It is crazy to me how fast it goes.  I have some other prep work that I need to get caught up on too.

Cameron got two neat Christmas presents that I think might have been partly for me.  My dad got him a nice microscope! (or eye thing as Cameron called it at first) And my uncle got him a crystal growing kit.  We haven't delved into either of these yet but we are both looking forward to it.

He also got a Kinex kit with a motor.  That was a fun project to put together and we really got a hands on look at gears and how they work together.

Cameron is also learning about responsibility with his new little girl.  He is taking fabulous care of Ruth.  She did find a straw hat that she felt the need to gnaw on and sample, which caused digestive problems.  He has without complaint cleaned up after her mess.

There is much to look forward to this second half of the year.

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Thursday, January 1, 2009 - 2008 Review

I've seen this on other blogs and thought it was a neat idea.  Here is the Title and first sentence of each month's first (or nearly first) post.

January 1 "Remembering Grammie" Today marks the one year anniversary of my grandmother's death. 

It's hard to believe that it has been two years already.

February 1 "All About Me Lapbook"  Our second lapbook did not take anywhere near as long as this one. 

I have had the best of intentions of doing another lapbook but never seem to get around to it.  I think maybe I'll work on that in the next few days.  Maybe even a pre-made kit so that I don't have to "stress" over the planning of it.

March 4 "Father and Son" As many of you know, my husband is in prison. 

Cameron and his father are still writing letters back and forth.  Not as much as I would like but it is a start.  Cameron has also been able to make several visits with me to see his dad.  In fact, we are making plans to go Saturday.  It is funny that I have to "fight" for time to talk to my husband now that Cameron has so much to say to his Dad.

April 8 "This and That" I cannot believe how fast this past year of school has just flown by. 

I can totally agree with this sentence.  We are about half-way through second grade.  It is flying by.  Before I know it I'll be working on getting ready for third grade and all that goes along with state requirements.

May 10 "Observatory" Last Friday Cameron and I went to the observatory with my sister and two nephews.

That was a fun field trip we took with my sister and her two boys.  We were a bit disappointed that it was a rainy/cloudy night so that we weren't able to see through the HUGE telescope.

June 17 "Florida Vacation" We just got back from enjoying our Christmas present from my Dad.

We had such a great time in FL.  Cameron still talks about that trip.  I just heard him telling someone about the trip just this week.

July 7 "Cartoon Science" Cameron gave me quite a laugh today. 

I love it when Cameron makes conections to what we are learning in school to every day life.  Even when it is cartoons.

August 8 "Starting School" Next week marks our third year in homeschooling! 

It is so funny to me.  If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be homeschooling and loving it I would have laughed and said that was something I never could do.

September 1 "Please Pray" A fellow blogger really needs our prayers right now. 

Who can forget sweet little Christian.  This family's testimony has blessed me time and time again.  I cannot read any of Marsha's (Our Homeschool and Other Such Happenings ) posts without getting a little teary and sometimes full blown crying.  But she has such a sweet spirit and what an encouragement in time of trial.

October 2 "Phipp's Conservatory" We had a great field trip to Phipp's Conservatory.

We did have such a good time with friends and looking at the flowers, plants and trees.  But I'm still slightly testy about the lack of pictures that I was able to take.  (Grr)

November 8 "Blogging Blues" I think I have the blogging blues. 

I think I still may have the blogging blues.  Not as much as before but still there. 

December 1 "Thanksgiving Vacation" We took the whole week off for Thanksgiving this year.

We also took off two weeks for Christmas and New Years.  I hadn't planned on it but it sort of happened that way.  But it only puts a week behind schedule.  And we really aren't behind because we were ahead to begin with.

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Friday, December 26, 2008 - Ruth

We have a brand new addition to our family. My dad surprised Cameron with an early Christmas present last week.

Cameron was BEYOND thrilled when we adopted a pet from the animal shelter. I told him he could rename her with any name he wanted.  I gave him several suggestions but he shot them all down.  He came up with Ruth all by himself and wouldn't be talked out of it so I know that it is the name that he really wanted. 

Cameron is in love with his Christmas present.

She's goofy.  She doesn't like to be held right now unless it is like this.  I've had cats that would be held as long as you DIDN'T hold them like this.

She is also my first "climber."

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Monday, December 1, 2008 - Thanksgiving Vacation

We took the whole week off for Thanksgiving this year.  We were all caught up on our schooling and had no plans for the entire week.  A friend of mine had been bugging me and asking me when we were going to come for a visit and was more than thrilled that we could spend Thanksgiving with them. 

It was a nice change of pace.  Cameron was able to play with children almost around the clock. (Well, the fought too but that could be good learning experience as well, especially for an only child.)  It was nice to work along side someone to get meals prepared and clean up afterwards instead of doing it all myself.

It was also nice to play games with someone.  Cameron is not a big game player.  Hopefully he will grow into it because I really like to play games.

I have a really busy month this month, but then again, what December hasn't been jam-packed?  It was nice to have a week of relaxation to prepare for the business of Decemeber.

Onward and upward.

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Saturday, November 8, 2008 - Blogging Blues

I think I have the blogging blues.  I don't seem to have anything to say lately.  Part of it is that, wlthough we've done some blog worthy things, my camera batteries never seem to be albe to hold their charge long enough for me to get a picture of the things that we are working on.  It is quite frustrating. 

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Monday, September 8, 2008 - Foriegn Languages

Babymakers posted a great link to a wonderful online program that teaches you foreign languages.  We needed to add foreign language this year for school.  I wanted for us to do Spanish.  This was a perfect fit for us.     

At first I just wanted Cameron to sit and watch as I worked through the course.  But soon, he was getting involved and actually took over, was choosing the correct answers, and using Spanish words. 

They have other languages and I signed myself up for French.  I took two years in highschool but remember next to nothing. 

Cameron "caught" me doing my French when he got out his bath the other night and was slightly offended that I was doing OUR Spanish without him.  When I told him that I was doing French he was excited to learn that they had other languages.  He wants to work on some other languages too, but for now we will focus on just Spanish. (And French for me)

If you are interested in learning:

• French
• German
• Hindi
• Icelandic
• Italian
• Japanese
• Mandarin Chinese
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Russian
• or Spanish

Let me know.  I will send you and invite. 

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Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - We Say Good-bye

Many tears were shed today as we said good bye to Cameron's Guinea pig, Pinky Dinky Doo.  The death of a pet is always tough.  We worked together to dig her final resting place.  And then, at his suggestion, we placed a heavy rock over her mound to discourage any animals digging her up.

She will be missed.

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Friday, August 15, 2008 - Back to School Shopping

I am so strange.  I love shopping for office, or rather in our case, school supplies.  I was actually kind of giddy at the store today.  I love the back to school bargins!

I love them so much that I already have quite a stack of notebooks.  I said that I wasn't allowed to purchase anymore of those spiral bond.  I have enough to last me for a very long time. 

BUT...

They were only 5 cents!! 

So of course I had to get some.  Oh well, they have no shelf life and we will always need paper.

I spent a little over $12 and got

• 50 folders with three prongs and 2 pockets in various colors (we use these folders for just about everything.  I used some for church things too last year so I wanted to be well stocked)
• 3 composition books
• 4 packages of 100 index cards
• 4 big bottles of glue
• 20 spiral notebooks
• package of erasers
• 64 crayons

I just love back to school shopping!

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Friday, August 8, 2008 - Starting School

Next week marks our third year in homeschooling!  I'm so excited to get started. 

This week I have been preparing: rearranging, pruning, organizing, and brain storming for the coming year. 

All of the assignments are in the Homeschool Tracker.  What a great tool that is.

We are going to use Ambleside Online again.  This year, however, I feel a little more comfortable and we are adding more aspects.  We will add the artist and composer studies as well as the folk songs. 

I am so excited for our nature study this year.  I believe I am better prepared and I was able to get my very own copy of Handbook of Nature Study by Comstock.  I had not seen a hard copy of this book and was in AWE when I first laid eyes on it.  It is 800+ pages, chocked full of nature, ideas for observation, and encouragement.  We've already used it several times.

My biggest hope this year is for reading to finally click with Cameron.  I have plans on reviewing from the beginning and really trying to slow myself down.  I know that we did this last year and the things that we reviewed from the year before seemed to make better sense and come easier. 

I did have a lightbulb moment with Cameron just yesterday.  I realized that he doesn't understand that he will have to really work at some things.  He is just not going to naturally know how to do all the soccer drills.  He is not going to wake up some morning and be able to play the piano.  And it seems that he feels if he can't do it now he will never be able to do it. 

This makes total sense.  He was very reluctant to learn to ride his bike, with AND without training wheels.  Both times I basically had to find a slight hill and push him down.  He has had some really rough moments in school which fall into this mentality.  He has had some melt downs at soccer along these lines.  And of course our ever present issue, learning to read.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to utilize this new information to help me cater even more to his learning style.

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - Another This and That

Things are really moving fast.  There doesn't seem to be a day where the calendar has a free space. 

We have less than two weeks of school.  I am so tempted to just finish it up right now.  But no, we will perservere to the end.  I am not required to count days of school until Cameron enters the third grade but I am "practicing" now.  PA requires 180 days.  We already have 177 days on the calendar! We are coming down the home stretch.

I've already started getting organized for next year.  I will soon have the school shelves reorganized and ready to go. 

This was our first year using Ambleside Online.  I didn't do everything that is suggested for a CM'er (Charlotte Mason) to do but we added a few things and we will add a few more things next year.  I'm very pleased with the way things have gone this year using AO.  I wasn't sure about it at first, mostly because Cameron is slow at learning to read.  But, as many people tell me, boys usually take a little longer and for some, it doesn't click until around 8 years old.  CM is a lot of reading.  But he loves the stories, most of them, and his narration skills have improved vastly over the year.  We went from not doing narration at all to being able to recall details from a retold Shakespeare story several days later.

I am learning too.  I've started my own nature journal which I am LOVING.  I've always wished I could draw and I am pleasantly surprised with my results.  It really makes you pay attention to small dettails.  I'm noticing things in God's wonderful creation that I never really paid attention to before.

This week was also my library's annual book sale.  They seemed to have twice as many books this year as they did last.  I got a few great finds.  I found some classics that we will need for school that were in great shape.  I found a two volume set about composers and their music.  That will be very helpful in the coming years as we study composers.  I got a few books on nature, one of them being a wildflower identification guide.  It is for a specific area, but as I leafed through, most of those wildflowers are in this area as well.  I did pick up a few duds, but they were 10 cents, so I do not feel any great loss and will just give them back for another sale.

Cameron is improving in soccer as is his coach.  Last night we had a practice that was much better than the week before.  Cameron is still not understanding all the in's and out's of the game and doesn't pay attention as much as he should but I'm sure that will improve as we go along.

Well, my early morning quiet has come to an end.  The day must start.  There is much to be done. 

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Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - This and That

I cannot believe how fast this past year of school has just flown by.  We have just under four weeks left.  I'm thinking of coming up with a summer schedule of nature study, math facts (aka flash cards) and reading to help keep those sharp. 

Right now we are enjoying the mild weather.  It is sunny but not hot which in my mind is PERFECT weather.  I will try not to complain when the weather is hotter, at least not complain too much.  Cameron is exploring the great outdoors and comes in each evening dirty, a little sweaty, full of stories of things that he saw, and absolutly happy.  It's so good to get all our school work done before lunch, at least most days.

Cameron started soccer this past Saturday.  He was beyond thrilled when he got to be the goalie, not just once but TWICE.  Can you believe it?  And he only let one shot get past him.  He is learning new skills at practice this year too.  We weren't able to make it to any of the practices last year so this is going to be a great help.

Cameron has also been taking piano from a young woman at our church.  I actually tried to teach him myself but for some reason, I just couldn't do it.  It doesn't make sense.  I teach him for school, I teach him about life, I teach him about the Bible, I've taught him at church and Sunday School at times but I just could NOT teach him piano.  He really likes his teacher.  She does a great job with him.  Now if we can just remember to practice.

I am also participating in the 30 day Bible reading challenge over at Ponderings from my Heart.  I've been a little hit or miss with my Bible reading lately so this was a good reminder.  I am working my way, very slowly through Romans.  I'm in chapter 10 right now.  I'm reading all the notes in my study Bible, looking at some of the cross references (there are A LOT) and taking notes of my own.

At church, I am busy this month with teaching the 2's and 3's during church time.  It has only been a few years since Cameron was this age but it seems vastly different with these children.  I don't know if it was because when Cameron was 2 and 3 I was living with a 2/3 yo and was constantly in 2/3 yo mode. 

I had a so-so first week but now I think, and pray, that I'm back on track.  This week we study how God made the very first man and woman, Adam and Eve, and that God made each of us.  Then we made our own man out playdough.  I made some Chocolate playdough so that we would all have plenty to play with.  The problem...it smells DIVINE!  It looks scrumptious!  It tastes HORRID!!!  (Yes, I actually couldn't resist the look and smell.)  But the children really enjoyed it and it took a long time to lose interest.  Next time though, it won't be chocolate!  I don't remember where I got this recipe, but here it is.

Chocolate Playdough

• Mix 1 1/4 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 Tablespoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 cup boiling water
• Stir quickly, mix well.
• Cook over low heat until dough forms a ball.
• When cool , mix with your hands.
• Store in airtight container.

It will smell good enough to eat but without sugar in it kids (Or adults, like me) will not want to taste it a second time.

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