Posted in Fun learning

A couple of months ago I won a 46 ounce "coffee can" full of peridot concentrates. Being the rockhound and prospector (recreational) that I am, I was pretty darn excited to get the can full of concentrated goodness. Not many people can say they get excited about a can of dirt but thankfully I know a few peculiar folks who would do the same.

In prospecting the term concentrates refers to the seperated minerals or ores from rock or dirt. In gold prospecting the black sands also known as "Pay Dirt" at the bottom of your pan are called concentrates. In those concentrates is where the precious treasures never seen by another human are to be found.

To go through the peridot concentrates my children and I needed a flat cookie sheet, white paper towels, and a sieve. My children helped me go through half a can full of the concentrates and like usual I am the one to finish. This indoors type of prospecting kept their attention for only about an hour. I think they like being outdoors digging holes and playing in streams. I can't say I blame them.

The Peridot concentrates where pretty dusty so the best way to go through them was to rinse some off in a sieve with water, then to spread them out onto a cookie sheet that was lined with some white paper towels. Once the dust was off the concentrates the pretty greens started showing up.
***Note: The last picture of the Peridot is only what we found after going through 1/4 of the can. Not bad, I say.***





More on Peridot, USGS.

Posted in Fun learning

If there is one thing that is a constant in our home school routine it would be our daily see-what-happened-today learning. (I don't know what else to call it.) To do this I use various sites to see what happened in history or what "National Day" it is. I try to look in advance so that I can kind of plan a small activity for the kids. Usually it ends up being... "Oh hey, kids today this happened...." and then we either hop on the bunny trail for more learning delights or we just move on to other stuff.

Some useful sites are:

The Monthly Activity Calendar at EnchantedLearning.

BrownieLocks (This is my favorite place to look.)

National Days List

Holidays on the Net

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

Last month I signed my two eldest children up for time4learning. So far I like it and my children like it. It has been a wonderful aid to their learning. It also frees up my time so that I can work more with the younger children and their learning. When I first signed them up we had one computer which did make it a bit challenging as far as how much time each child could spend doing their lessons. I had to assign and split up their lessons to alternate each day.

For example I had them work on Language Arts and Social Studies one day and then the next day they did Science and Math. It worked out doing it that way otherwise they would of been having to take turns on the computer most the day to get all their lessons done.

Through them using the site for some of their learning I have learned that my eldest son loves grammar. He did not get that from me, obviously. His dad is grammar freak, so.... yeah. My daughter, on the other hand is like me and she thrives in science and math.

Thankfully that has all changed since part of Hanukkah this year we decided to invest even more into their education and gave the older two their own laptops. Now I can be the mean teacher and have them do a lesson or two in each subject. As we continue to use this site I'll update once in a while as to how they are doing and if they still like it.

***I am not getting paid for my opinion of time4learning. This is not an official review for any company. I just like the product, so far.***

Posted in Gotta laugh

The guilty party: My three years old.

The Crime:  She had gotten into her big sisters purse, took out her camera and then proceeded to take over one hundred pictures.

The proof was on the camera. Guilty!

Big sisters purse

Camera case

Her feet. Did I mention that she turned three in August of '09?

Her horse

Another horse

The punishment: I blog about it so in years to come I can show her future husband. Bwa ha ha ha ha!

Oh, and she did take pictures of her own hand, but it was too blurry to share.

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

Back in September I went to the Denver Gem and Mineral Show. The focus this year was fossils. I was in fossil, gem and rock heaven. The competition display cases showed beautiful pieces of ancient life - ammonites, dinosaur eggs, corals, leaves, petrified woods, clams. Each piece told a story.

One of the vendors was selling Fossil Grab Bags. Who can resist a grab bag? I couldn't. I bought some for my kids so they could take them home  to see what they have and then try to identify them. Between you and me, I wanted the grab bags for me, but I was a good mother/homeschooler and let my kids play with them first.

The kids opened their bags, and grabbed my fossil books and went to work. I was pretty impressed as to what the bags held. In them were some bones, shark teeth, petrified wood, rodent teeth, ammonites, clams, shells, gastropods and other goodies.

Posted in sewing, knitting, crochet and other crafts

I'm usually excited about Thanksgiving each year. Family, friends, fun and fabulous food is something to look forward to.  This year it's not the same. It may be because I haven't focused on the what to do's and what to makes.  The only thing we've done around here is started Thanksgiving journals. Maybe over the weekend I'll get more excited about the whole thing. I could make some pumpkin bars and some eggnog bread.. that might help my mood.

I think we'll do a family craft together. We've done one when my eldest two where younger. Now that I have five children it will be more fun.

We'll make a Thanksgiving tree.
I'll cut out a tree base out of construction paper and then all my children, my hubbs and I can cut out a bunch of our traced hands in fall colors, and then glue them to the tree.
I think it'll look real neat this year with all the different sized hands.

What about you? Do you do any family crafts together?

Posted in Encouragement

I have had this blog since June of 2005, way back when homeschoolblogger was in beta. I was invited by two dear friends, ByHisGraceInColorado and HomegrownHearts and became hooked. For three years I blogged almost daily or at least three to four days a week. I had many readers and I met a lot of neat like-minded folks. This year was different. I didn't have the energy. I spent my days drained and even though I had creative learning ideas to share I would sit here and stare at my computer. The words just could not flow out the way they used to.

That is changed! I am back. I have my energy back and I feel great!

I haven't thought much about Thanksgiving this year. We will be going over to my grandmothers home. I'm supposed to make mashed potatoes and eggnog bread.

Kids learning: I started my two eldest on Time4Learning. I figure it will give them something different to do plus it will give me a bit more time to focus on my little ones. I have two more that are learning to read.
I'll let you know what my kids think of time4learning in a few weeks when they've been doing it for a while. The nice thing about it is there are no contracts and we can go month to month.

Posted in Fun learning

Here are a few of the Thanksgiving journal prompts I have come up with for my children. I will continue to add to these throughout this month. Enjoy.

What is the definition of Thanksgiving? Write it in your journal along with what it means to you?

Today I am Thankful for...

Look up Psalm 69:30 and write it in your journal. What do you think it means to "magnify Him with thanksgiving?"

Describe your favorite Thanksgiving meal?

Plan a menu for Thanksgiving day. Include recipes. If you can't find a recipe, ask me (mom) to help you find it.

Write about your favorite Thanksgiving memory?

What is something you don't like and why? Should you still be thankful for it?

Posted in Fun learning

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. Today I'm thinking (or attempting to) of things that I can teach my kids that aren't the same-o, same-o. You know, the same stuff we do every year during this time.

Last year the kids made "pilgrim hats". (I'll have to find the post to it. They came out cute!)

I think this year we'll make these turkeys. Aren't they cute?

Maybe, starting today we'll do a being thankful for.. journal entries. I like that idea actually. See what I do when I'm in the zone? Now to name it so that I can get my kids excited about it. Hey, I think I'll even get them their own special journals for this. The easy part is that my kids actually like to journal. This should go over well.
Okay, so each day my kids (myself included and heck, if I can get my hubbs in on this, too) well start off with, "I am thankful for..." or "Gratefulness is..."
If I come up with more Thanksgiving promts I'll post it here, folks. (Which I'm sure I will.

Now that I just had an idea burp, now to think about other things we can do for Thanksgiving.
Please share your ideas with me. I love to hear them!

Posted in Encouragement

Since my husband started his job three years ago we have struggled off and on with routines. He works mostly out of our home, but he is often out in the field working. My hubbs was on a "staycation" for about three weeks. During that time him and I have been able to really talk about how to make our home run more smooth.

First thing we did was go out and got new bedroom furniture and a new mattress. We've been married almost 17 years and never had bedroom furniture. We'll be painting our room her soon, too. We figure that we'll sleep better on a better mattress and if our room is more of a sanctuary we'll want to go to bed earlier and spend more time in there. I tell ya, after getting our new stuff yesterday I was anxious for bedtime. Our old bed left me sore and in pain every morning. My couch was more comfy than it was.
I didn't have any pain last night nor did I wake up with any from sleeping on the new one. Praise the Lord!

Next, in hopes that we get better sleep and we go to bed at a decent hour we'll have more time in the mornings to spend together as a family for breakfast. We used to all the time and we really miss it. It's amazing how your day can go when you start it with a good family breakfast.

We also want to start exercising together. I usually exercise after he's at work and the kids are getting started on "seat work."

Those are at least a start to a few changes around here. I'm  excited about it and I pray that getting us, my hubbs and I on a good routine that our home will start to run smooth again.

What about you? What helps your home run well?

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

One of these days we'll get into a routine again. Well, either that or our routine is trying to get into routine. Seriously, it seems like every time the kids and I get into a learning routine that it gets blown out of the water somehow. Summer and fall was busy with camping, field trips, my hubbs away for work across the ocean and broken bones. Maybe I'll just give up trying to get into a routine... nice thinking, but... no. I have a few children who learn and thrive better when they have a routine. I am very routine driven also. I get stressed when my routine is messed up.

Thankfully through the craziness of our non-routines, the kids still learn. I think that has to be one of my favorite perks to homeschooling. Learning happens whether it is directed or not. Our recent adventure took us away from learning about explorers (which I was going to blog about, but didn't get time) and learned about Japan while my husband was there for two months. We also traveled around Colorado with my mom for a week seeing and learning about various places. 

The week after my husband got home from Japan we didn't do any "formal" learning so that we could enjoy having him back. The second week we didn't get to formal learning due to doctors appointments - one which was a fractured elbow. Here we are at week three and still no routine. My husband had surgery and so I've been distracted with helping him while keeping our home running. Its been interesting.

I'm planning on using this weekend to plan and prepare for next week and get our learning (formal) back on track. Our "school year" starts late October so at least we are still on track.

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

Summer is slowing down a bit. Our activities kind of came to a halt when my six year old fractured the top of his foot last week. Poor guy is in a cast for a total of three weeks and is supposed to keep off of it as much as possible. Uh, yeah...  not easy!

So, since we are home bound for a few weeks we decided to dive into our learning and get things going again. We are a family that loves adventure so we are learning about explorers. Next week as we get into our studies more I'll share what we learn and do.

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

I need to find my blogging groove again. I probably lost it on Facebook or Twitter. 

Summer is slowing down a little bit which means we can get back into the "heavy" learning here again around October. We "school" year round but due to all the summer fun the "schooling" is light.

I recently went through my totes that I keep all my supplies in for lesson plans, resources and such. I added more journals, more books for the kids to read and more ideas. The kids have also cleaned out their cubby holes where they keep all of their supplies.  I think we are ready to "hit the books" again.

Now just to get a new routine down. My kids thrive on routines and schedules which is a challenge for me. I like to be free. Routine, yes... schedule.. no. But, I try in order for my children to be successful and to make my hubbs happy.

Oh, I'll post here again soon.
I haven't been blogging much on any of my blogs due to busy summer months.  I'll post when I can or when I feel inspired.

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

Now that life is returning to normal again I will have more time to devote to this blog. My step-dad recently passed away so I was busy with helping my mom with things.

Today, after almost a month of not doing a whole lot of learning in our home (book work that is), I had expected my kids to just be able to get back into it. That plan backfired like an old truck. The kids could not find their math books or pencils. We forgot where we left off on our units studies. The cubby holes where the kids keep their learning materials were a total mess. I quickly found myself getting frustrated and so were the kids.

I knew if we kept going the smoke from the backfired truck would quickly fill the room. It was time for a pow-wow! I gathered my kids around and I apologized to them and admitted that we all got off to a bad start. We all then decided to take today to organize the cubby's and find their learning materials. We all agreed that it is much easier when things are organized and clean.

I will return to my bloggy self eventually. I have had a family emergency come up.

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

I've been thinking a lot lately about extra things my children can do outside of our "home school walls. You know, like martial arts, sports, art class, dancing or music lessons. As much as I would like my children doing more of those things I also have to take into account the monetary cost. It's not easy during these times in our country.

Besides park and rec. programs, scouts, local support groups or co-ops what are ways that you give your children "extra curricular" activities without spending your milk (or non-dairy) money?

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

Links for Reading Comprehension worksheets and printables.

Reading Comprehension at RHL school. 

ABCTeach

EdHelper

Teach-nology

Posted in Fun learning

I have kept journals for as long as I remember. I enjoy sitting down and just spilling words out upon a blank piece of journal page.

Journaling is something I wanted to pass down to my children. Each year I get them brand new journals. They really like the ones that you can close with a clip or a magnet. Each day we all take time to journal. Myself included which sometimes ends up being blogging or making grocery lists. We've been doing this for at least five years. Even my little ones journal by doodling or scribbling on paper.

My daughter and I also have a journal (three ring-binder) where we write to each other. It's precious.

It always puts a smile on my face when we walk out the door and a child brings their journal.

I have a box of writing prompts that we use each day when we cannot think of something to write about.
Teacher Created Resources Writing Prompts. They offer different grade levels if that is something that floats your boat. Otherwise, if you are not concerned about grade levels then have fun with them. I enjoy them even no matter which grade level we pull from. Journaling is about writing and enjoying it.

Online Writing and Journal Prompts:
Writing/Journal Prompts at CanTeach.
Daily Writing promts at The Teachers Corner
A Goldmine of Journal Writing Prompts

How about you? Do you journal? Do your kids journal?

Posted in Glimpses of our homeschool

Home school to-do list for this week.

• Finish planning this week.
• Think about planning next week.
• Move bookshelves.
  
• Library run.

My eldest decided that he wanted to work on his math everyday at 2:00 rather than in the mornings. We'll see how this works. Hey, if him setting his own schedule for his learning routine helps, I'm all for it. He may be more like his dad and will strive on schedules.