Posted in Learning all the time
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I really want to start raising some chickens. I would love to have about 15, 12 hens and 3 cocks. If anyone reading my blog has any experience raising chickens in their back yard feel free to share your words of wisdom and helpful links. I am looking into making my own chicken tractors but it looks like I'll need to make 3 separate ones to hold all 15 chickens. Is that correct? Boy do I have a lot to learn, yet. I grew up on a farm but my parents didn't raise chickens. Well they did when I was real little but they had a chicken house and didn't use them for eggs just selling them and butchering them. Then when a tornado took the house, they never rebuilt it. So I know next to nothing about raising chickens. I am reading several books on it so I am slowly learning. © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
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I changed my other blog, The Tea Room , to be a place where I share my recipes, menus, and write about my journey to a more natural, healthy diet. I'll be posting over there regularly so check there frequently if it's something that interests you. :-) © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
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Ever since I was a little girl I have gone to the Outer Banks of NC each summer. July 1995, dh and I went to Hatteras for our honeymoon and so the tradition continued! We had children and now we take them to the OBX every summer for a weeks vacation. We did miss last year because we went to Lakeside Oh with dh's family but we really, really missed the OBX! This past Saturday we returned from a weeks vacation at the OBX with my family and all my siblings! We had a blast! Here are a few pictures discribing our highlights! The beach house:
The morning cup of coffee! The children catching crabs and other sea critters JT saying, "Look what I found mom! Can I keep him?" We can't forget the delicious grilled shrimp that my dad and oldest brother fixed for Friday dinner! And of course playing in the ocean!
© Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in Exploring Gods Creation
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We took the old weedy messing teabed infront of the barn and turned it into a butterfly/hummingbird garden as part of our botany project. I wish that I had thought to take pictures of it before we even started on it. The boys really got into the creation of it. They enjoyed picking out and buying the plants and as well as planting, mulching, and placing the boarder! It was a lot of fun and we are very proud of the outcome of our work. © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in DT's stories
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The following was a story written and Ilustrated by DT age 9. He did all of it (including the typing) himself. He has been working on it for quite awhile now since he still is learning correct hand posistion for typing. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them for reading) Enjoy!
© Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in Fifteen Friday
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I sometimes get in a the rut of not knowing what to blog about so to help me get out of that rut I decided to start listing 15 things that are somehow related to me. I got this idea as well as the idea of my first list, posting my favorite children's books, from Light In the Sphere. She has a 13 Thursday. I liked that idea but changed mine to 15 Friday! LOL Thanks for the idea Farrah! :-) ((((hugs))))) I love children's books! I collect them and own tons of them and it's really hard to post my favorite! I feel that the wonderful books that I don't mention will feel left out! I'll take that risk though and post my list. You will notice many of which are a part of the FIAR curriculum. (These are listed in no particular order):
Well, there you have it! I could have added many more on as well as children's chapter books. It was hard to narrow my list down to fifteen. LOL Maybe I'll have to do a part 2 sometime! LOL |
Posted in Fun Quizes
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My results didn't surprise me. LOL Dh didn't take the test but he would be opposite of me, I am sure. He is a left-handed techie and when I was filling it out I said, "I am this but dh is that." LOL
http://www.blogthings.com/areyourightorleftbrainedquiz/
© Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows | ||
Posted in Learning all the time
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I believe that we should always be willing to try new things and hone new skills. We should not be afraid to try something we have always dreamed of doing but never tried because we thought it was not a gift of ours. Instead, we should drop all inhibtions and try something new! I am going to do just that! I want to model learning to my boys. I already do that through showing them that learning is what we do from birth to death and willingly saying, "I don't know. Let's find out." when I don't know the answer to their inquistive questions. I want to take it one step further, though. I want them to learn to not be afraid to stick their necks out and try something new even though it may be difficult or a bit scary to them. I have decided to model that. I have always wanted to write poetry and short stories but felt inadequate to do so. I felt that I wasn't talented enough but finally decided to give it a try and created The Tea Room. This is my safe corner to do try my hand at writing. I also hope that it will model to my boys that one is never to old to try new things. I deleted my JTF blog where I was blogging about my weightloss (that was not going very well) and created The Tea Room instead. The Tea Room will be a bit more uplifting for me. It will not be a reminder of my failed attempts to watch what I eat. LOL Shyly admitting that I posted the poem that I wrote in March as my first entry. It's nothing special but my little attempt at dusting off my skills and giving a go at writing poetry again. © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in Contests
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First, I just want to say that I love The Old School House Magazine! It is full of supportive articles and ideas one can use in their homeschool days. I especially enjoy the unit study ideas, the readers comments, and the helpful and informative articles! My boys love the "How to draw" section. It is one of the few magazines that I read cover to cover and one that I always ask to be returned to me when I lone it out so I can file it and have it for future reference. Now about the contest: The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Spring Promo is in full bloom. They are also giving away a $150 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store. All print subscribers (new or renewing) between April 3 - 30, 2008 will be automatically entered into a drawing. No purchase neccessary to win. To enter without subscribing, please send a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and email address to:
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Posted in Learning all the time
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We have been enjoying the spring weather. Last Saturday I got our screens cleaned and put in so now I can enjoy the birds chirping. I still need to get my house decluttered and organized. My goal is to have that huge job finished by the end of may. Tuesday I took JM to the doctor on Tuesday and after his appointment took the oldest two boys to a friend's house so that they could still go on our planned field trip to Hans Herr House. (I was disappointed that I couldn't go because of JM being sick but at least they were still able to go.) Today we went to a Native American Festival. JT is looking forward to going and learning more about Native American's and their culture. Well, I am not really feeling very talkative and also need to run and start my day. Starting a fire:
The boys would like one of these: © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in Exploring Gods Creation
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Spring is officially here at our place. I planted garden this morning as part of our science so it is now official. The boys and I planted 4 lbs of onion sets, regular peas and sugar snap peas, lettuce, spinach, carrots, and radishes. We are so excited to get our food into the ground and growing. Before planting, I walked down to our neighbor's home to see if we could expand our garden. (We use a part of their 2nd garden and they have told us in the past we could use as much of it as we wanted Because all of their children are grown and gone with the exception of one son. I wanted to make sure the offer still stood. As much as my boys have been eating, we need to put up more this summer! LOL) I am really looking forward to this summer. We are going to have a lot of fun digging in the dirt this year and since we are studying Botony, gardening will be extra fun and special! © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
LOL Oh and this will be the first year that we let some of the plants go to seed so we can save seeds for our own seed collections! What fun!!!!Posted in Field Trips and Support Group Fun
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We took a fieldtrip to the MCC Material Resource Center in Ephrata today. MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) is an organization that seeks to demonstrate God's love by working among people suffering from poverty, conflict, oppression and natural disaster. We donated some school kits and had a tour of the Material Resource Center. They ship a lot of things to 3rd world countries and to places that faced natural disasters or are war torn. We saw them making rugs out of denim (they sell the rugs and use the $$ for their relief efforts), we saw the storage part of their warehouse. It was amazing at all the food, clothing, school, health, newborn, aids health (for Africa) kits they had packaged and ready to go. They also had models of the different water systems that they help set up and use in 3rd world countries. They have a tractor trailer truck set up for canning meats that they take all over the eastern half of the US and can meat to send for relief. We saw the piles and piles and piles of that canned meat that was inpected, packaged and ready to ship. The children had fun trying them out. I had my children in a lot of the photos that I took and I only post pictures without my children in them on my public blog. So here are a few pictures that didn't have them in:
We saw them sewing bags for kits, cloth bags that they sell to those who want to use cloth rather than paper and plastic bags for shopping (the money from the sell goes to helping with the relief efforts), ladies quilting quilts to be sold at their auction, etc. They also recycle old books, plastics and other things like that. The money from the recycling projects go to their relief efforts. The boys learned so much and really enjoyed their trip. © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in Mom's Musings
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I wish that I knew more about HTML. I would love to mess with my blog and have a really unique beautiful background. I could learn but with homeschooling, keeping up with my 4 young boys, gardening and all my other activities, I'll just have to be content to put that on the back burner and make little changes here and there. I just added a springtime picture of deer in a meadow so that can be my unique touch to my blog. LOL I am trying to decide if I want to keep the background color yellow or change that. I'll think on that one for a bit. Yesterday the boys disected a daffodil for botony. They kept saying, "Mom, you are making us kill your flowers. Don't you care about your flowers' lives?" LOL Silly boys! I really want to start doing unit studies again next year. My problem is how to do them and yet use MOH and Jeannie's science series. Hmmm, can it be done? I'll need to think on that and see if I can come up with something. Well, I am not feeling very chatty this AM so that's it for now. LOL |
They really enjoy Jeannie Fulbright's books. She really has a gift in writing and is such an engaging writer. The boys love her books and say science is their favorite subject. Posted in Contests
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I have been meaning to start my boys in learning a forgien language but have been having difficulty deciding what to teach them. I know exactly what curriculum I would use when I finally decide on the lanugage, though. It'll be Rosetta Stone! I have heard so many wonderful things about the curriculum and I love that it emerses the children in the language! Here is the contest info from JenIg's blog: Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE! This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian. This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff! |
Posted in Exploring Gods Creation
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We have been really enjoying Botony. DT wasn't sure that it would be fun when he first learned that our study after Astronomy was going to be Botony. His exact words where, "Mom, that is going to be boring! Can't we study sea creatures instead?" I made a deal that we would start out with Botony but if that is really boring and he hates it, we would switch to Swimming Creatures. Well, he is finding out that botony isn't borning and he loves it! His younger brothers do, too! Here is a picture of our light hut. We have basil, lavendar, parsely, and chamomille planted in it. Each boy has row. Well our 2 yo doesn't he has spinach growing on our window sill.
© Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in Art Work
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Saturday, DH took DT, JT, and DA to our church's Pinewood Derby. DT and JT both entered cars in it. JT won a medal for best paint job. DT was disappointed not to win a medal but there were more children in his class. Here are the pictures: Sunday DT (9), JT (6), and I went to see Hal Weber's art show at Garden Spot Village. DT and JT enjoyed viewing the pictures and being able to talk to Mr. Weber and ask him a few questions. They were the only children there and he seemed to enjoy talking to them. He gave them hints on drawing and painting. When we arrived home they pulled out their papers and paints and put to practice what they learned. Here are the results: If you click on their painting to enlarge it, then you may see that they followed Mr. Weber's advice and drew a picture first before painting it. © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in Learning all the time
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We are studying George Washington and the Revolutionary War. Last week we read about the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere's Ride. My boys then started acting out what we have studied in their play. It was fun to see them dress up and act out what stuck out to them. One was George Washington, one was Paul Revere and one was "a Brittish captian who was very angry that they tea got dumped into the ocean." They played like this for hours. It was fun to listen in on their play and hear what they imagined it would have been like then. I checked out some videos about George Washington and the boys really enjoyed watching them, as well. I wish that I had the oppertunity to learn history this way rather than from dry school textbooks. I think that I would have remembered a lot more! © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in DT's stories
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Here is DT's latest short story. Here is the title page: © Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Posted in Language Arts
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Paul Bunyon by Steven Kellogg The Cricket in Rumplestiltskin by Paul O Selinsky The Lame Prince by Dinah Mulock The Adventures of a Brownie by Dinah Mulock The Fir Tree (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks Thumbelina (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) The Bears on Bambi by Felix Salten (Unabridged) The Brave Tin Soldier (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickenson The Family Read-Aloud Christmas Treasury by Alice Low A Child’s Christmas Treasury by Mark Daniel The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Runaway Ralph by Ralph S. Mouse by Stuart Little by E.B. White The Sword in the Tree by Paul Bunyan by Maxine W. Kumin Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl The Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas How to Eat Fried Henry Huggins by Henry and the Henry and Beezus by Henry and Ribsy by Aliens for Breakfast by Jonathan Etra Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry Sea Star Orphan of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry Stormy Misty’s Foal by Marguerite Henry King of the Wind The Story of the Godolphin Arabian by Marguerite Henry James Harriot’s Treasury for Children by James Herriot The Aesop for Children with Pictures by The Ugly Duckling (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) Little Ida’s Flowers (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) The Storks (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) The Money Box (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) The Top and Ball (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) The Wild Swans (From The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Complete Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne Poetry for Young People Walt Whitman edited by Jonathan Levin Poetry for Young People Robert Frost edited by Gary D. Schmidt Poetry for Young People Emily Dickinson edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Lewis Stevenson
History and Geography Books William Penn Founder of the Pennsylania Colony William Penn Quaker Hero by Geoffery Hayes The Farm – Life in Colonial Leif the Lucky by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer! By Andrew Langley Viking Warriors by Tony D. Triggs Pocahontas by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire Celebrate the First Thanksgiving with Elaine Landau by Elaine Landau Landing of the Pilgrims by James Daugherty Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret B. Pumphrey People of the Breaking Day by Marcia Sewall Thunder from the Clear Sky by Marcia Sewall Mayflower 1620 a New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage – National Geographic The Wampanoag Indians by Bill Lund Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas Blue Feathers Vision – The Dawn of Colonial Thanksgiving a Harvest Celebration by Julie Stiegemeyer Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarter by Patricia C. McKissuck and Fredrick C. McKissuck The Story of Christmas by Barbara Cooney Holly, Reindeer and Colored Lights: The Story of Christmas Symbols by Edna Barlin Benjamin Franklin by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire Benjamin Franklin: A Man with Many Jobs by Carol Greene Benjamin Franklin, young printer by Augusta Stevenson Ben and Me : a new and astonishing life of Benjamin Franklin as written by his good mouse Amos edited & illustrated by Robert Lawson George Washington by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire George Washington’s Breakfast by Jean Fritz If you Grew Up with George Washington by Ruth Belov Gross Phoebe The Spy by Judith Berry Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes Abe Lincoln The Young Years by Keith Brandt Abraham Lincoln by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire Meet Abraham Lincoln by Barbara Cary If You Grew Up with Abraham Lincoln by Ann McGovern If You Traveled on The Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine Underground Railroad by Allen Jay If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War by Kay Moore If You Traveled West in A Covered Wagon by Ellen Levine Pioneer Life from A to Z by Bobbie Kalman Frontier Life by Bobbie Kalman The Wild West – American Indians, Cowboys, and the Settling of the West by Gina Ingoglia Famous Pioneers by The Heart of the Old West Westward Ho! By Diana Waring (History Alive Through Music – The songs and the stories behind them)
Don’t Know Much About the Presidents by Kenneth C. Davis (History and Civics) The Presidency of the Running for Office: A Look at Political Campaigns by Sandy Donovan Elections in the Rights and Responsibliities – Using Your Freedom by Frances Shuker-Haines The Importance of Being an Active Citizen by Anne Beier We Live Here Too! – Kids Talk About Good Citizenship by Nancy Loewen Civics by Liz Brown
Science Books Space Books World Book Encyclopedia Presents Space Travel Space, Stars, Planets and Space Craft by Sue Becklake The Glow in the Dark Planetarium Book Saturn by Gregory L. Vogt The The Children’s Space Atlas Mercury by Mercury by Gregry L. Vogt The Far Planets by Robin Kerrod Eclipse Darkness in Daytime by Franklyn Branley The Sun our Nearest Star by Franklyn Branley Mercury by Dennis B. Fradin Uranus by Gregory L. Vogt Pluto by Gregory L Vogt Jupiter by Grogory L. Vogt What’s Above the Sky? By Caroline A Glyman I wonder why Stars Twinkle and other Questions about Space by Carole Stott
Botony Books How Do Plants Get Food by Meish Goldish From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer Carnivorous Plants by Cynthia Overbeck Plants (Today’s World) by Lionel Bender Plant (Eyewitness Books) by David Burnie Health and the Human Body Looking into My Body by Nigel Nelson The Human Body Book by Steve Parker My Food Pyramid – Eat Right. Exercise. Have Fun. DK Book Good Enough To Eat by Lizzy RockWell Eat Up by Candace Savage The Edible Pyramid – Good Eating Every Day by Loreen Leedy Vitamins and Minerals by Dr. Alvin Silverstein Down the Hatch – Find Out About Your Food by Mike Lambourne Bushing Your Teeth Can be Fun by Munro Leaf
Mathematics Books Read/Used Shark Swimathon by Stuart Murphy Safari Park The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz Math Appeal by Greg Tang Pigs in the Pantry Fun with Math and Cooking by Amy Axelrod Exploring Triangles by Jo Phillips The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang Pigs Will Be Pigs by Amy Axelrod Games for Math by Peggy Kaye
Music Book/CDs Used Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton (Read book and listened to song) Christmas Carols – A Treasury of The Heart of the Old West Westward Ho! By Diana Waring (History Alive Through Music – The songs and the stories behind them) Wee Sing Wee Sing Around the World Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Beethoven – Symphony NO. 9 ‘Choral’ Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto NO. 1; Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture Los Bukis – Quiereme The Gipsy Kings – Allegria Phil Keaggy – Crimson & Blue David Meece – Learning to Trust
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Posted in Math U See
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Math-U-See blocks are fun for a variety of things. My boys sit on the sofa with their boxes of Math-U-See blocks pretending they are laptop computers. They also have fun using them for building! I do have a picture of the space ship and Satellite my oldest created using his MUS blocks:
© Copyright 2008 Peaceful Meadows |
Spaceship and Satellite that DT (age 9) made from MUS blocks.
