Hi! Welcome to my blog! My name is Jane (PlainJane) and I am the blessed and happy wife to Jeff and doubly blessed mama of two perfectly wonderful daughters. Please join me as I share our Lifestyle of Learning through Christian homeschooling and homesteading on our little hobby farm with our prairie girls.
Bookworm is our dd14/9th grader.
Our perfectionist and over-achiever. She loves reading, playing violin, her Paint horse, Annie, being a farm girl, and History re-entacting.
Ladybug
is our dd11/6th grader.
Our "girls just want to have fun" girl. She loves to play and has a great sense of humor, but also likes reading, music, her Quarter Horse, Kitty, and History re-enactment.
We are finished reading
the Moody books
By Sarah Maxwell
and HIGHLY recommend them
Please click on images for
information
~ I am a part of... ~
he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you -- THEY ARE YOUR LIFE. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." Deuteronomy 32:46-47
Aug. 16, 2008~ US Geography ~
I guess I'm just thinking out loud, but thought I'd record my plans for US Geography for this coming school year and the next. We did World Geo. a few years ago, and Bookworm had US Geo. in co-op six years ago, but since we are finally about midway through the study of American Colonies, I thought we better get started on this, so here are my thoughts and plans...
We will study the states in the order of statehood (I think). Every couple of weeks each of the girls will be given a state to study (I will put two states' names in a cup and they will draw which one they get), so the first week they will have Delaware & Pennsylvania (the first 2 states into statehood). Each girl will have a different state that they are to become the EXPERT in (they like this idea). Then they have two weeks to do a map and thorough study of that state using books from home and the library. Here is what I want from them:
Each is expected to trace their particular state on typing paper; write the names of the states and/or bodies of water that border that state.
Locate the state capital with a star (sticker) and locate certain better-known cities for each state as listed in U.S. Map Skills book.
Label major lakes, reservoirs, rivers, national forests, mountain ranges and the like on their map as given in U.S. Map Skills book and make a legend.
Locate special Points of Interest as listed in U.S. Map Skills book such as Washington's Birthplace or Mt. Rushmore.
Be able to define any geographical vocabulary words associated with that state such as crater or portage.
Know the state's postal abbreviation.
Cut out state clip-art and label with abbreviation & year of statehood and place on timeline (clip-art found in U.S. Map Skills book).
Be able to list one to three products the state is known for.
At the end of two weeks the girls will give a report on their state to the family (after supper) explaining their map as well as giving other interesting facts and perhaps showing pictures from library books. They will also each make one or more dish(es) from "Eat Your Way Through the USA" for dinner that night. Following their presentations and wild applause, they will draw for their next state and start all over again.
The US Geography Books that we have and I really like are:
U.S. Map Skills, a gem of a little book that only costs $2.49 from CBD. It teaches geography how I learnt it, and then some. Highly recommended!
Eat Your Way Through the USA, a yummy way to learn some gastronomic differences between states and make daddy smile in the process.
MAPS! The World and United States, I guess I like this book over the more well-known map book choices because it has nice bold outlines of the states - making it easy for the child to place a sheet of typing paper over the state and trace the outline without having to hold it up to a window. It just has the outline with a star for the capital - leaving it for your child to put in bodies of water or mtns. and cities. I might have found my copy at a teacher supply store, but it's at Amazon too.
Cantering the Country, I love this book! One could do a whole year of unit studies with just this book. We won't be going quite that indepth.
The Complete Book of Presidents and States, I got this book at Walmart a few years ago. It's more colorful than most geo. books and easy to read (for grades 4-6). Available through Amazon.
Rand McNally Kid's Road Atlas, or any good US road atlas where the children can get good practice looking up & locating cities on the map using the index, finding state parks and points of interest. I got my copy for $3.99 at Target of few years back.
So there you have it, we will probably tack on time to work on US Geography after US History each day - just 15 minutes a day will add up over two weeks. There are a lot of fun books & websites/blogs with fun crafts and lapbook ideas that we could do along with this, but since the girls are older now and we have more than enough to do with crafts & lapbooks with Early American History, this will have to suffice. The girls are really looking forward to doing this - being the experts, each doing their own thing, cooking, and doing research. They can hardly wait!
I see some of you are posting your plans for the coming school year and with some of our friends already starting school, the talk around our house has turned to, "When are we starting school?". That's a good question! Traditionally, most schools in MN have always started on the day after Labor Day, and we usually have as well. This year has just been one big question mark; we follow more the agricultural season here ~ starting school after most of the harvest is complete and our last day of school just before planting. So with such a late spring, it's been questionable when the bulk of harvest would be - it still is. So the answer to when our first day of school question is "maybe Sept. 2nd, maybe not." Although I am busy canning and with just the right amount of sun & rain our garden has caught up and seems to be on schedule, I'm still not in the thick of things with harvest ~ we've got time yet. Additionlly we want to do a bit a camping & maybe a surprise trip for the girls, so we will see - school may not start until much later, or perhaps we will start with several interruptions. Stay tuned :). Anyway, here's our plans thus far (I've already made some changes since last posting on it)...
It has always been my desire to have a truly "Biblical Education"; not a packaged "Christian" curriculum with Bible verses thrown in here or there, but a very Bible centered-curriculum where the Bible is our sole/main textbook and perhaps some living books thrown in here or there. For the last several years I have been working towards that end, and this year I think we are pretty close to achieving that goal. If you recall in a previous post, I had decided to go with the Student of the Word (SOW) curriculum which is very good, but after studying it over, I found that it didn't quite fit for our family's needs. For instance, SOW is a 6-yr. plan, we needed 4 since Bookworm will be in 9th grade this year; I also desired a well-organized Bible reading/study plan where we will be reading pretty much the same amount of Scripture daily, covering the entire Bible, and a good study of God's providential hand in history and science as well. I began rewriting the scope & sequence and before I knew it, it had very little resemblence to SOW ~ more the Farmer Jane's version. Additionally, I also learnt of the Bedell Curriculum and the Balancing the Sword books, which would tie in very nicely to my new & improved (for me) plan. So here is a quick rundown of my plans...
4:30 am
Mom & Dad get up; Mom sends dad off to work; has devotions & a little computer time
6:30 am
Girls wake up; have personal devotions & get raedy for the day
7:00
Barn chores
7:30
Eat breakfast; mom cleans up
8:00
Finish getting ready
8:30
House chores
9:00
School starts with opening time: Prayer (M-F); Pledges to American Flag, Christian Flag & Bible (M); Sing the books of the Bible songs & Sword Drill (T-TH); Hymn Sing (M-TH); Today's Vocabulary Word(s) (M-TH using Vocab. Cartoons; Idioms; Eng. from the Roots Up; & Words a High Schooler Must Know) (Note: Fridays are our light/catch-up day)
9:30
Bible Reading (approx. 52 verses +/- a day; Discussion as we read; Prayer
10:00
Scribe Memory Verses (Penmanship) & Work on Bible Memorization
10:15
Make an Illustrative Outline or Lapbook about today's Scripture Reading
10:45
Setting (draw a map); Vocabulary (on Bible words); Archaeological; Timeline - do one or more of these items on today's Scripture Reading as applicable
11:00
History/Science - Doing the applicable Bedell Curriculum Lessons that go with today's Bible Reading
Literature/American History/US Geography/Science - Additional reading I have chosen for these subjects. We will be reading "Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation" for a Creation overview & finishing up our Weather Lapbook this year; We will also keep plugging away at our American History Lapbook & using other living books. Fridays will be project day where we work on a bigger craft or project related to our studies.
1:30
Topical, Character, Creative and/or Commentary Writing based on today's Scripture
2:00
Ladybug has English based on Scripture & BJU Spelling; Bookworm has Christian Light Home Ec & Life Skills
2:30
Music Appreciation (M); Art (T) - finish Watercolors for the Artistically Challanged & do God & the History of Art; Typing (3x/wk) using Bible-based Computer Typing Curriculum and Mavis Beacon; Ladybug also has Abeka Choosing Good Health 6 (approx 12 pgs/wk) and Maps Charts & Graphs when she is done with Health
3:00-4:00
Music Practice: Bookworm practices violin 5 days/wk, lesson every-other week; Self-tuaght piano. Ladybug has self-taught piano; guitar lessons via dvd.
Times will vary, we will really not follow the time slots exactly as some things will take less (or more) than a half hour - perhaps good times for short breaks. This is just a preliminary plan subject to tweeking. We also need to fit in our horsey training; Ruby Girls Bible Study, and misc. ministry somewhere. I really don't like to be held to time frames - these are just to give you an idea of approximately when we will do things. And of course, this is the plan for perfect days with no interruptions - we have those -- occasionally
As most of you know, I'm a big fan of the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach and keeping the Bible first and center in home educating. But I just wanted to pass on another curriculum that you may not be aware of which also adheres to a Bible-centered philosophy...
Student Of the Word (SOW) is VERY Bible based, and for those of you who would like a little bit more structure and guidance with teaching in a Bible-centered format, this may just be the one for you.
I was recently made aware of this curriculum from my friend, Christina, and love many of the neat ideas it has to offer -- so much so, that the Lord willing, I too plan on implementing many of their ideas in our own homeschool next fall. I'm just sorry I didn't know about it sooner.
I invite you to check them out at their website and/or receive their free brochure. SOW offers a 30-day money back guarantee, less S&H.
"...I am new to HOW [Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach] and I am gleaning so much from your site. I am planning on starting next year using many of the HOW philisophies. My children will be in 5th, 3rd and K next year. Could you please give me an idea of what you planned for your first round of Chronological history. We haven't done this in prior years. I waited upon the Lord to lead me to a Godly curriculum and not a Christian/Pagan one. Currently, I am using KONOS and will be using a little of this too with our chronological history."
Thank you for your sweet comment Amy, I'd be happy too. When first starting out on this whole new way of educating, it can become a little overwhelming and hard to know where to begin when there is little or no packaged curriculum out there that satisfies us who what to teach chronologically AND eliminate the pagan content. I commend your waiting on the LORD for His leading! I pray this will be of some help to you and others.
My Story
We had been home educating for a couple of years before I first started teaching history in chronological order. Robin Sampson's (of HOW) first book, What Your Child Needs to Know When, had not yet been published, and it would still be a couple more years before I discovered (through Divine intervention) this wonderful like-minded lady. So, you might say, I was already following many of the principles of HOW before HOW existed. Rob & Cyndy Shearer of Greenleaf Press helped pave the way as far as thinking chronologically and with biographies, but at that time much of their material was too "old" for my little 2nd grader & preschooler. I later discovered Diana Waring's Ancient Civilizations Activity Book, which was very helpful to me (love her fun songs), and still later much of the My Father's World (MFW) material was very good. We spent wayyy too long in Old Testament History floundering to find a good curriculum. Unfortunately in every case, eventually (especially when you reach the study of Ancient Greece & Rome), the curriculums would spend far too much time on the study of mythology, false gods, and pagan "classical" writers and philosophers. This teaching went against my conscience as I firmly believe that God does not want us studying such. ( Ex. 23:13; Joshua 23:7; Deut. 12:30-31; Matt. 6:33; II Cor. 6:14-18; Duet. 18:9-14; Jeremiah 10:2-6).
In Exodus 23:13 we read, "And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect [cautious, watchful on all sides]: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth."
That's pretty clear to me! Proponents of studying such will have to answer to God some day and I really don't see how their arguments will hold water when it comes to this verse and others.
Just about the time I had resolved that I needed to write my own God-honoring curriculum, the Lord lead me to Robin Sampson and her writings. Praise the Lord, I didn't have to re-invent the wheel!
Well, now we are finishing up our 9th year of homeschooling and into American history, but if I were to do over again (and boy do I wish I could), here is what I'd do - a bit of what we did do in the past -- but with a lot more insight...
First I must say to those who are not familiar with Robin Sampson or the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach -- get the book!!! You'll be glad you did. But in a nutshell, for the first year of teaching history in chronological order, here are a few ideas:
(Note: Depending on how fast you wish to go, you will be studying history in cycles, taking 4 or more yrs. to go completely from Creation through to today. The first years your children will probably be young and you will go light on some content, and in the following cycles, the content will become progressivly more indebth - studying all of histroy 2-3 times throughout your child's school years).
Year 1: Old Testament History:
Adam to Abraham: (or Adam thru Jacob) Creation; the Fall; Noah; Babel; Abraham; Lot; ...pretty much the first half of Genesis (or all of it). Read directly from the Bible or The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order and do something with what you learn. We loved creation and the girls really enjoyed making artwork reflecting the 7 days. Then, what really was the funnest of them all - was I let them each use the camara and take photos (1 picture representing each day of creation). For instance, when we talked about the sea, they took a picture of the goldfish we had, and for the day of rest, they took eachother's picture "sleeping" in bed. They loved that! We also went out in our field and stepped off the size of the ark - huge!
Mesopotamia & Ancient Egypt: Here we get to study about Baby Moses in the bulrushes; the Plagues upon Egypt; celebrated the Biblical holidays; the Ten Commandments (great lapbook projects); The Wilderness wanderings & the miracles; Moses sees the Promised Land; The fall of Jericho. We did some fun things with this -- made a flour & water relief map; wrote on papyrus; sugar cube pyramids, wraped ourselves like Egyptian mummies with toilet paper; made unleavened bread; and marched around a stack of sofa cushions (Jericho walls) playing kazoos & then knocked them down.
Of course, we also studied about Samson, Saul, David, Solomon & the Temple, the Divided Kingdom (good kings/bad kings chart), Jonah, Babylon, Esther, Alexander the Great, and the like.
Ancient Greece/Rome: Here is where I have to deviate from most curriculums because of the extreme attention they place on the humanism then. I would just explain to the girls that back then the Greeks often worshiped false gods, idols, and the created (like the sun) rather than the Creator, now isn't that silly (and sinful) - and back it up with Scripture and leave it at that. We focused more on what the clothing, homes, and food were like of that time. We had a big Roman feast at the end of our study with friends over. The girls presented a little program about what they learnt, we ate chicken wings and the girls were permitted to thow the bones over their shoulders onto the floor (just like back then - I have a tile floor) and they cleaned Ancient Roman coins and took them home as hostess gifts.
The Messiah: The life, death, burial, resurrection of Jesus.
In The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach book are a lot of great suggestions for studies and great book recommendations in the back. Some of my much-used favorites for this time period were:
The study of History is such fun - it's easy to make up notebooks, lapbooks, scrapbooks, timelines of people and places, and just do a lot of great hands-on projects. Many of the companies I have listed on my left sidebar have lots of fun things to suppliment our studies. Starting out my first year of doing history chronologically, I really didn't have a plan, I just followed the Bible and added fun things as we went.
Year 2: Early Church - Middle Ages. Here of course is the book of Acts and much of the New Testament. Track Paul's missionary journey; Vikings; Middle Ages (I used "Story of the Middle Ages" (Christian Liberty Press), read "The Door in the Wall", portions from Usborne "Medieval World"); Renaissance (went through this quickly talking about Leonardo Da Vinci and art of that period) & Reformation (This I want to do over again and do it justice - read "Fine Print: A Story about Johann Gutenberg" and all the Louise A. Vernon books about the great reformers. We did spend some time on Martin Luther and others, can't wait to go more in debth), LOVE the book, "Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History" by Richard M. Hannula.
Year 3: Early America - American West: (We are actually taking about 3 years to complete this). Exploration (if I had to do over again, I'd use the Homeschool In the Woods Time Travelers Study); Pilgrims to Colonies - using a lot of the same Time Travelers Colonial Life and have TONS of books at home that we are using (I'm taking too long but fun). This is where we are right now and I have/use many of the books found in the back of the HOWTA book. Also use "A Child's Story of America" by Christian Liberty Press as a main textbook and a lot of "If you..." books. I think I have a long list of books if you click on my "History" curriculum on my left sidebar.
Year 4: Industrial Era (1700-1900) - Year 2008: Have yet to write this out but will continue to use "A Child's Story of America" and also DK's Smithsonian Children's Encyclopedia of American History (has great photos).
So there you have it (very concise). So many homeschoolers worry about learning gaps, but I believe public education is really the one with the gap issue as how many of us studied ancient history from Creation through the Old Testament, or the New Testament. My, I don't even recall learning anything about the Revolutionary War, very little about the Civil War, nothing about WWI or WWII or the Depression, or the Dust Bowl - Yikes. I'm learnig so much now, it's wonderful!!!
Note: If you live in a state that requires yearly standardized testing, when doing history chronologically, your child will find some questions on the test that they will not study for a couple of years or so - like the Alamo. That's okay, they will get it later. In our state, we are required to test yearly, but in areas that we don't test in, we must evaluate our children in other ways - so we just do the CAT test that covers math & language arts and we evaluate history by other means.
I guess that's all I can think of for now - probably more than you wanted. lol My husband & I love history, so our girls get a ton of it and I make it fun with a lot of crafts, so they love it too. We do a lot of field trips and the girls love historical reinactments - they would love to be costumed tour guides some day and love to daydream and play of living back then....just like their mother.
Taken, by permission, from The Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons Vol. 1 by Todd Wilson www.familymanweb.com
It's that time again, when our MACHE (MN Assoc. of Christian Home Educators) Conference brochures arrive in the mail. Our Conference is held every Spring in the middle of April at one of three locations: St. Paul, Rochester, or Duluth. This year it's on April 18-19 at my favorite venue -- Duluth. We have a pretty good sized Conf. turnout, with about 8,000 -10,000 persons yearly, and over 110 vendors. This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Jeff Myers, and special guest speakers Steve & Teri Maxwell (Titus 2 Ministries) as well as Dianne Craft (Learning Specialist). We can hardly wait! I'm to the point where I really don't need to buy any curriculum; I have been going to these Conferences almost without fail since 1999, but now I just go as a volunteer or to hear certain speakers. This year I'm very excited to be able to hear one of my favorite homeschool families, the Maxwell's.
Excitement abounds at our house! I made the hotel reservations yesterday. When it is just in the Twin Cities, I usually just go alone and drive home each night, but when it is in Duluth, we make a big family todo out of it. Jeff hangs out with the girls both days, throwing rocks into Lake Superior, visiting the Lake Superior Maritime Center, shopping (esp. in the doll house store), walking to the lighthouse, watching the big ships go in and out, and of course, one of Jeff's favorite, shopping at the Duluth Pack Company (camping store). This year, Lord willing, it will extra special for us as we are going to meet up with friends of ours, staying at the same hotel - the dads can visit and the kids can play together (hotel has a waterpark), and we hope to all tour the Glensheen Mansion (my favorite) together. There is just so much to do up there, we can hardly wait! I'm torn between going to the Conference or playing with the family - I'll have to squeeze in both (we are staying an extra day). Now all's I have to do is lose some weight before I'm seen in a swimsuit with people I know and care about.
Jan. 2, 2008~ What We Do For Homeschool - ART & MUSIC ~
Getting back to my series of posts on "What We Do For Homeschool", today we tackle Art & Music...
First I must confess that Art & Music are at the end of our daily schedule, so they often get left out. But here is what we "try" to do...
ART
So far, this year we are doing Art on Wednesday and Fridays. It was so much easier in past years when the girls had art from a wonderful Christian teacher at Co-op, but we don't have that this year, so it's up to me. We have used some great books in years past for Art (and haven't finished them - but plan to pick them up again later).
Don't worry, the above picture I took of several things we have used in the past as well as now, but these are ones I like:
Visual Manna's Complete Art Curriculum by Richard and Sharon Jeffus (pictured with Mona Lisa). I like this curriculum with all the small art prints and brief paragraphs telling about each piece - something our children would not be othewise exposed too. Lord willing, we will get back to it. I had stopped it because I had just found out about the next Art curriculum that I just "had" to buy...
God & the History of Art by Barry Stebbing (shown open to "American Gothic"). I love this huge book too! It gives over 260 fun art lessons as well as a very excellent history of art in chronological order. It would be good used alone or in conjunction with your history studies. Again, I hope to get back to this soon. Ladybug really liked this study!
Last year we did (hit & miss) The Wonderful Art of Drawing Horses by Barry Stebbing. I thought it would be fun for my horsey-lovin girls. Bookworm enjoyed it, Ladybug - not so much! To be honest, we only got to page 15. I think if I had been more diligent in doing this book once or twice a week, it would have been a bigger hit.
This year, I decided to take a more relaxed approach to art and just have fun with it. Doing something where there is no right or wrong to it - letting our creativity flow -- so we are using the book, Watercolor for the Artistically Undiscovered by Thacher Hurd and John Cassidy (a Klutz book). And I must say, all 3 of us girls are having fun with it. For one thing, it's okay if we put it away for a month and then pick it up again; and it's relaxing! Something I have learnt so far is that it makes a difference in the quality of watercolor paints and brushes you use -- the little cheapie sets you find at Walmart just don't cut it - spend a couple of dollars more at a craft store.
Here we are today experimenting with watercolor.
MUSIC
Genesis 4:21 states: "And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ." Jubal was the Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Grandson of Adam. He was the "father" of harp and organ - as in, he didn't have to take lessons - God gifted him. Isn't that neat?
The Bible is packed full of verses stating we should sing (or make music) to the Lord. Music and worship are important to God, it is important to me too!!!
Neither my husband nor I are trained or gifted in music. Oh, I did take piano for six months as a young adult, and wish I did have more training, but that is about it - just enough to help the girls out when they were starting out with music theory. But I do greatly appreciate good music and wanted to encourage our girls as God sees fit. Thankfully, our girls have taken to music like ducks to water and it is such a blessing.
Bookworm has been taking violin for 7 years and loves using her gifts in ministry. We are so blessed that her instructor lives only 1/2 mile away where she learns both classical and fiddle. And she practices about an hour a day, 6 days a week.
Ladybug also took violin lessons for a couple of years and enjoys playing for her own pleasure, but is now starting guitar (got a guitar for Christmas) and is so excited about it. We have ordered her Christian Guitar Lessons via DVD by Jean Welles and she has already learnt one song via their e-newsletter. Her sister is also sneaking in and learning guitar too! :) And both are teaching themselves how to play piano via some Christian instruction books I have. (Keys for the Kingdom Series and Alfred's All-in-One Sacred Course).
Both girls were also involved in our church's bi-annual Kid's Choir musicals (K-5th grade). Ladybug has one more show and then she is too old. Bookworm LOVES drama and bemoans the fact that we don't have any decent Christian drama opportunities she can be involved in - we are still working on that one.
So as you can see, I guess they are not lacking in music instruction. In addition to their instrumental instruction, someday, I hope to start using some of this stuff...
Otherwise, we do a few field trips to the orchestra, plays, and the such as long as it is not offensive in our Christian walk (which can eliminate a lot of things).
That's all!
This concludes the 8th post in my series of "What We Do For Homeschool". I have one more to go -- Home Economics/Life Skills. Please stay tuned.
Nov. 26, 2007~ What we do for Homeschool - Science ~
Continuing on with my series of posts on "What we do for Homeschool", today is Science!
Science is another one of those subjects where we have soooo many good books already, that it is just a matter of writing up my own curriculum plan and using what I have.
We study Science in accordance with God's Word and God's World in the order of the Creation days and ahere to a young earth, literal 6-day creation:
Day 1: Light, Energy, Motion, Matter (Physical Sciences)
Day 2: Air, Water, Weather (Chemistry/Meterology)
Day 3: Rocks, Minerals, Plants (Geology/Botany)
Day 4: Sun, Moon and Stars (Astronomy)
Day 5: Birds and Sea Life (Ornithology/Marien Biology)
Day 6: Land Animals and Human Body (Zoology/Anatomy)
We did get a bit out of order a couple of years ago, the girls were anxious to study Astronomy (because I found a neat build/paint the plants kit they wanted to do) and we did it with the Apologia Elementary book and made a super lapbook, but now we are back on track.
This year we are studying weather, which is really up my alley. Jeff & I are trained storm spotters, love weather stuff, and have lots of books on the subject.
Here is what I am currently using as my main text...
"The Weather Report" is a gem of a book, written by Meteorologist, Mike Graf, for teachers, this book is great - but out of print. I had a lot of fun tracking it down, and found it at Second Harvest Curriculum and since found another one at Half Price Books as well, both under $5.
"Exploring the Sky by Day" by Terence Dickinson (copywrite 1988) - Dispite it's age, this is a SUPER book. It asks good questions, like, "Why are clouds so puffy?" and then explains the answers. I found this book at a library sale for 25 cents.
"Can it Rain Cats and Dogs?" is a fun Scholastic book with interesting facts and pictures.
"The Weather Book" by Michael Oard is such a great Christian book. I Love all the Wonders of Creation series.
"Skywarn Spotters" by the National Weather Service is a nice newsletter by the National Weather Service.
Other books I use for reference....
The Weather Wizard's Cloud Book
Hurricanes! by The Weather Channel
Storm Warning Tornadoes and Hurricanes
The Margic School Bus Inside a Hurricane
Weather Wise by Judy/Instructo
Bill Nye The Science Guy's Big Blast of Science
Usborne Weather & Climate
Usborne Stormes and Hurricanes
The Weather Book by USA Today
Weather by Kids Discover
Weather wise Magazine
Space & Earth Science by BJU
And of course, I am always making notebooks or lapbooks...
For Weather, I have:
Extreme Weather by Hands of a Child
Weather by Science Scribe
Hurricanes by HLN (Homeschool Larning Network)
Meteorology by HLN
Tornadoes by HLN
Earthquakes by HLN
Volcanoes by HLN
And we do a lot of weather related fieldtrips at museums and to NOAA. Every Spring the the National Weather Service has a local Storm Spotters class. I think this coming spring we will be attending as an entire family.
Next year I have a really neat book to tell you about for Geology.
That's all for Science.
I am almost done with this series. If you would like to see my previous posts on other subjects, please click on a subject under "Our Curriculum" on my left sidebar. Next time ART & MUSIC.
Wow, I really can't believe it! I've been nominated... out of a total of 964 blogs that were nominated, "only" 285 made the finals. The competition is stiff, for sure. I have been nominated under the catagory:
Best "Live What You Believe" Homeschool Blog
It really doesn't matter whether I win or not, the nomination alone is such an honor and there are many deserving bloggers out there. I truly do hope we all live what we believe! I guess for me, my personality type sees things either as black or white, there is no gray -- which I believe is how God's Word views things as well. Some may think I'm too opinionated, perhaps; I prefer to think of it as principled, conviction, belief (thank you thesaurus). I'm not the most eloquent, but I pray that in all my words, may they aline with the Word of God, and be given and received in grace and love. May the Lord find us faithful.
I want to deeply thank those that nominated me!!
Voting doesn't officially begin until December 3rd, but please take this time to browse HERE through the nominees and pick your favorites.
If you are blessed to have Preschoolers running around and are always on the lookout for fun ways to keep those busy bodies busy, learning, and having fun; then here is a wonderful list of ideas from my friend SchoolinRhome!
Oct. 24, 2007~ What We Do For Homeschool - HEALTH & PHY. ED. ~
Today's post is pretty easy -- I'm not going to show you a ton of books or anything complicated.
Simply put, for Health, we use Abeka. We don't often use textbooks, but for this one class, we do. I like how these books often cover things I may forget to cover and just sometimes, it's nice if what you want to teach your children comes from a different source other than dear ol' mom. We just use the books as independant reading - the girls do not fill in the occassional blanks, nor do we use any supplimental teacher key or quizzes. I just figure out how many pages a day they will need to read to finish the book by around the end of February (this year it's about 4-5 pgs. a day/ twice a wk). I want Ladybug done by the end of February because then she will switch over to her Maps, Charts & Graphs book - so she can get that done by May 1. Note: We only do grades 1-8 of the Abeka health books, beyond that, what I want them to know (safety, first aid, courtship, etc.) is covered elsewhere. They also talk alot about the body and it's functions, so I figure it's "good enough" for biology since we are not doing the college route. :)
For PE, oh my, we don't need a separate course. The girls are sooo active and petite/as thin as rails. They each use to be in gymnastics when they were younger and are forever doing handstands & cartwheels in the family room; they both love swimming and waterparks - not to mention Minnesota's 10,000+ lakes; rock climbing; they both use to be in soccer; and they are always riding their bikes, scootering, rollerblading, jumping rope, running foot races to the barn and back, dancing around the house, and you name it. Exercise is not an area of concern here. I was planning on going to the local motel pool for open swimming more this year - but then the motel changed it's open swimming $ rates, so that will only be on occassion now. Additionally, we have horses you know and barn chores to keep us hopping. Sometimes during their studies, they just seem to need a stretch break, so I will sometimes tell them to run around the house in-between subjects or go do 5-10 minutes of exercise like jumping jacks. :) We are not in any extra-curricular sports as they get plenty of exercise at home or hiking as a family.
This has been the sixth installment in a series of posts journaling "What We Do For Homeschool."
Our God is a God of great order and precisness; and the knowledge of basic math skills is very important to function in everyday life. So why then is it so hard for so many? Math just seems to be one of those subjects where it is hard to find a "one-size-fits-all" curriculum. What works for one family, may not work for the next and even within our own families, what works for one child may be totally wrong for the next. (sigh). Our family is no exception!
I believe I have posted about this before, but our first born, Bookworm, is very bright in math. She has inherited my and my daddy's math gene. We can all figure out math problems quicker in our head than on paper -- but...my dear daughter is also an "intense personality child" (diagnosed as such from the doctor & I believe due to some nerve damage from vaccinations (a whole nother subject)). Anywho, even though we have a very bright mind for math, we have had extreme problems with doing math workbooks. Oh, we did fine up through 3rd grade math, it was all very easy. But come around 4th grade, the popular math curriculums that are often geared for Christian schools suddenly get harder and move along VERY quickly. A child is just barely introduced to one concept, and then is moved on to the next. They are not given a chance to live with any particular concept very long to really LEARN it.. And herein the problem lies for us -- my daughter has a very hard time with change. She is a perfectionist and wants to really know & master something before moving on. We quickly went from a "I LOVE MATH" attitude, to daily tears and hating math. So I searched and searched. My search went something like this: Horizons K, Abeka (4 yrs), Horizons 5 & Math-U-See, Kitchen Math (we enjoyed that) & just math drills, and finally Systematic Math.
For Bookworm, Systematic Math has been the lifesaver that has brought her back to loving math again. I know it is not a well-known curriculum. It is by a man who teaches math the way it use to be - long before new math. VERY PRACTICAL!!! The classes are on dvd and the worksheets are all printable from CDs. What is nice too is that each main concept is in a different module/CD and sold separately, so you can try out a module for very little cost. We have the following modules: Labeled Quantities, Using Rational Numbers, Working with Fractions, and Shapes & Sizes. Bookworm will watch the lesson for the day, and then usually take 1 - 2 days to complete the worksheet. There are usually not a ton of problems on a worksheet, but at her level, often there are a lot of steps to get an answer, so it takes longer. There are also supplimental worksheets on the CDs if she wants more practice. It has slowed down the jumping from one concept to the next and every concept builds upon the next. She now has a far better math education than I ever did. I do have to say that the teacher is not a dynamic, exciting, flashy teacher. You will not find fun & games & puppets to entertain your scholar here. On the dvd, he is talking to a very small homeschool co-op class with some interaction with the students, but else it's purely a typical math class. But, it works for us. Also I have to say that boys may find some of his math problems more to their liking than girls as he sometimes uses construction or aircraft terms that I have to explain to my girly-girl. :) But she will know how to measure for carpet or figure out square footage for her dream home by the time she is done. :)
Jeff & I are very much for the practicality of course work, we don't want to waste time with teaching things that won't be necessary in the future. As keepers of the home, I don't believe our girls will need the advanced math that some think you have to have - so we won't be going into teaching algebra, geometry, calculus or trig. beyond the basics of what is needed in everyday life. If our girls would need it in the future (doubtful), they can pick it up then. So following the modules Bookworm is now working on, we plan on moving on to stewardship & consumer math - mostly with Math-U-See & tapes; and then business math with Crystal Paine; and learn Quicken for computer bookkeeping -- teaching them how to start & run their own cottage business.
Of course, our little Ladybug has a totally different learning style, so that has been a challange too. Ladybug is our girl of action and an audio learner. She likes to speed through things and just get it done so she has more time to play. That is, just get the blanks filled in - no time to care if they are correct or if we understand it. (sigh) With her, we have done the following: Horizons K, Abeka 1, Horizons 2 & Math-U-See; Math-U-See & BJU 3; Math-U-See for 4th grade; and now ACSI with other stuff. She loves the fun, colorful workbooks, but doesn't like to take the time to actually learn the material. A couple of years ago I began to see a problem - she was relying on counting on her fingers way too much. Her answers were coming too slowly and often incorrect. That is when I stopped the workbooks, and backed up with some of the basics with Math-U-See. Math-U-See is good, but I think it's best when you use it closer on-grade, otherwise it was slowing us down/holding us back too much. It helped us get rid of the finger counting, but we are still playing catch-up in math. However, I am confident we will be up to speed by the end of this school year. Currently Ladybug is using the brightly colored ACSI math workbook that she loves (I am skipping any lessons she already knows) and drilling times tables will be a priority this year. We use lots of games & hands-on for her. We really like Times Tales! Also, I have math wrap-ups, flashcards, and the like. We also play games that involve money like Monopoly (ours is Dogopoly) - Ladybug likes to be the banker which helps her math skills a lot. And on Fridays we try to do a lesson from Money Matters for Kids adapted from materials by Larry Burkett and we play store. I give each girl some play money and they either have to buy things in our house or go through newspaper ads/catalogs and shop. They have to give me the right amount without going over their budget - and then we trade, and they have to be the store keeper and make change. They love that!
A few other things that have worked for us are: The Judy clock; Abeka fraction felts; counting bears (fun to play with any time); dominoes; counting rocks or marbles; popping popcorn - to "invision" 100 & sorting them in groups of 10; cooking (fractions w/measuring cups/spoons).
That's all I have for math!
This has been the fifth installment in a series of posts journaling "What We Do For Homeschool."
Today we will take a look at Language Arts. Please note, we do not do all our Language Arts in one big timeblock, but for the purposes of simplifying this catagory, I will bunch them all together here. Language Arts too is where I digress from the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach a bit as I am lacking in this subject and wanted a bit more sturcture to learning/teaching Language Arts. You can integrate all Language Arts into your history & science unit stuides, but I haven't gotten there yet - but am gradually working to that end.
First, finding that "perfect" language arts program may be a process of great triaI and error. :) You will probably find that if you ask 10 different homeschool moms what they use in Language Arts, you will most likely get 10 different answers; and what one person just loves, the other will hate. What I am journaling on this and other subjects is our personal choice of what works for us - but it doesn't mean that it is the only way. I will talk about what we are doing now, and some on what we have done in the past or will do in the future and give some tips that I believe can work for most. Each of your children has his/her own giftedness. Some will be very early readers/writers, while your next child may not start reading until they are in 5th grade and never like writing. It is all okay -- it's how God made us and that's the beauty of homeschooling - gearing your studies to fit your child. Also, if your child is struggling with the language arts, you might want to just observe your child for a season -- perhaps they need glasses, perhaps they have dyslexia or some other similar dysfunction, perhaps they are having difficulties in hearing and that is why they aren't sounding out words correctly. Your child is not dumb and it's probably not an attitude problem, at least it wasn't one to begin with until they became frustrated. The key is to discover the uniquness of each child and find a way to help them blossom. Our girls are both terrific, best of friends, and yet complete opposites in so many areas. They both love to read and write, but it wasn't always that way. Here's what we do...
Jeff Reading to 2 wk. old Baby Bookworm
First as a little background: Both Jeff & I are readers! We love to read and naturally model reading to our children. We are a very quiet family and our idea of a good time is spending the evening reading. Even the few date nights we have ever been on (perhaps 4 in the last 13 years), we would go out to dinner and then head for the book store. Gifts and special birthday outtings usually mean a trip to the bookstore. We have always read to our girls. We have a pretty fair library started with 6 book cases full of quality books and I'm always on the lookout for yet another book (or bookcase). So natually our oldest was begging to learn how to read real books by the time she was 4, but because I was new to homeschooling yet, I made her wait until the following year when we "officially" started kindergarten (poor child). Back in 1999, we used the OLD Horizons program for phonics, spelling, & math for both girls. When I say the old program, I mean, when it was owned by Mile High Publishers, before they sold it to Alpha Omega. In my opinion, IT WAS THE BEST! Very intense, it was like kindergarten & 1st grade combined, and to give you an idea how good the program was (not bragging here), our girls could read better then my 6th & 7th grade Awana girls by the time they finished kindergarten. Alpha Omega changed the curriculum dramatically and I don't really know how the new Alpha Omega Horizon's phonics stacks up to the old, but I doubt as well. I have toyed with the idea of perhaps someday writing a really good phonics program myself.
Today, both our girls enjoy reading. Bookworm LOVES reading and ALWAYS has her nose in a book. Ladybug had a few difficulties at first in reading - skipping entire lines or words, but we soon found that she just needed glasses. She also enjoys reading - that is, when she is sitting still. Incidently, Ladybug is also our auditory learner, so she often hums WHILE she reads (I don't know how she does it). :)
So without further ado, here is our coursework...
Our Language Arts Books
Reading: Our first "class" that our girls do on their own. They both enjoy reading so much, that it is a fun, calm way to start off their individual studies. Our phonics program had their own excellent readers, but since growing out of the phonics stage, we have used Abeka and then switched to the Pathway Readers (a Mennonite Publisher). We like the Pathway Readers best (We just read the reader & do not buy the workbooks or teacher guides)! They go through 8th grade level (but I have read that the 8th grade level is really more like college level). Anyways, Bookworm has completed all the Pathways and currently spends about 20 minutes of school time a day in a book she has chosen from my 3-paged "Super Kids Reading List" of mommy recommended reading. She is currently reading Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secrets, but spends probably a couple of hours - at least - a day with her nose in other books as well. Ladybug reads approx. 6-9 pages from the 5th grade Pathway reader each school day. She will finish long before the school year is up, and then will choose a book from this list as well (my list of great children's books and missionary stories). She will also choose other titles (usually animal or historical fiction) to read in her free time.
Literature: Just a word (several actually) about our philosophy on choice of literature: First and foremost, we read the Bible, in personal devotions, family devotions, and we start each school day with reading the scriptures - as well as it is a part of EVERY subject. I believe reading the Scriptures out-loud with our children is soooo good for them. Not only does it help them know God's Word, but it also helps greatly with their vocabulary - hearing and being familiar with words that one wouldn't normally find in a normal children's reader. Secondly, we are a NON-CLASSICAL family. Therefore, we do not read any Greek mythology, nor do we read/study the "classics" by hellenistic pagan intellects of old. To learn more about why we are adverse to Classical Education, please read Robin Sampson's excellent article on Classical Education. Also, I believe the following Scriptures speak for themselves: Exodus 23:13; Deuteronomy 12:30-31; Deuteronomy 18:9-12; Joshua 23:7; Psalm 1:1; II Corinthians 6:14-18; Matthew 6:33.
Additionally, I was recently discussing with a friend about the study of literature as a high school course. Here, in part, is an excerpt from what I had said.... "I think that the study of literature is a holdover of classical education, embraced by educators & intellects, yet with little eternal value. I know that goes completely against the grain of what the world deems important. Colleges often stress that one should have a year (or at least a semester each) of American Lit. & British Lit. credits to be accepted into their college {of which, most high school literary selections are non-Christian at best, and often an abomination. I just cannot imagine our Holy God idly looking on and nodding his head in approval of our choice in books on the grounds that it was "well written", "a classic", or we are using our God given time to study "great works" from a critical viewpoint to teach our children about the negative influences of these books. Senseless! When a person is taught how to be an expert in finding counterfeit currency, they are saturated into looking at and feeling real money, not looking at a bunch of counterfeit. When one knows the real thing - it's easier to spot a fake. So it is with literature, we must saturate our children in the highest and best literature - God's Word. When a person truly knows God's Word, it becomes easier to "spot a fake".} The world seems to have a double standard on literature -- they applaud the idea that to get a child to read, a child can choose whatever he/she is interested in (like Harry Potter), just to get them reading - yet I’ve heard that the HP books are VERY poorly written from a literature standpoint. I prefer to think of Sarah Edwards, who trained her 10 children with basically only a Bible and from the 729 descendants: 300 became preachers of God's Word; 65 became Bible college professors; 13 became university presidents; 60 were authors; 3 became Congressmen; 1 was a Vice-President of the US; and none were Public Offenders.
One of my favorite stories, one you probably have heard before is this:
In the Talmud there is a story of a progressive young rabbi who wished to study Greek on the grounds that he had mastered the Law. An older rabbi reminded him of the words of Joshua, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night." "Go then and consider, " the elder rabbi said, "which is the hour which is neither of the day, or of the night, and in it thou mayest study Greek wisdom."
That is my philosophy on literature in a nutshell. So I just try to saturate the girls in as much Bible as possible and also supply them with as many good books from our library collection as possible." Not to pick apart and study, but to enjoy and let it be a natural model for good writing. If you need a literature credit for college, how about studying the Bible - it fits nicely under "Ancient Literature".
Okay, sorry, I'm stepping off my soapbox now. I'm not preaching to anyone really - I don't even know if any of you subscribe to a classical educational philosophy, this is just what the Lord has laid on my heart and what we adhear too.
I just wanted to mention I also like for beginner readers, the Rod & Staff Publisher preschool & early readers.
Penmanship: This is a subject that I believe is purely objective. We have two types of writers, so let's just say we have tried a lot of handwriting programs! We first began (after Horizon) with Abeka, which was good. My only issue was that they really stress cursive, practically exclusive of manuscript. I felt I needed to teach our children both. Bookworm has always excelled in penmanship and after a couple of years of Abeka, we switched to Portland State's italic handwriting for another couple of years, and then that was it for her - she has better penmanship than I. Our little Ladybug is quite the opposite. She has always perferred to write fast and messy, never reaching her letter to the middle and upper lines, and well, causing me a few gray hairs. But now, this year - in 5th grade, she is suddenly blossoming in this area. Much improved - but I must keep reminding her that we want our best work always. Right now, I don't think she will ever be known for her flawless penmanship. :) Ladybug is currently using "A Reason For Handwriting" Book D and it is going very well this year.
English/Grammer: Both girls are/have used BJU through 6th grade (Ladybug is in 5th Grade this year). Bookworm completed this two years ago and has been doing creative writing ever since. Ladybug just works in her workbook daily and asks when she has questions. I do skip some lessons that I don't feel are necessary or she already knows. After sixth grade, Ladybug will be doing creative writing as well.
Spelling: Again, they both have BJU Spelling through 6th grade, and then we just discontinue spelling. They get plenty additional spelling through vocaublary and doing their lapbooks and other writing. Note: the BJU book suggests 3 spelling tests per week - we just have one at the end of the week. Both are good spellers.
Creative Writing: Oh my, what an evolution we have experienced in the area of writing. I remember the early days, when I asked Bookworm to write a sentence about ________, and she would freeze with fright and literally crawl under her desk and bawl (loudly) for 45 minutes straight. And now, she writes long stories for the fun of it and perhaps would like to publish a book some day. What changed? Well, partly - she grew up. Secondly, I took baby steps to help her realize that it wasn't as hard as she feared. First, instead of saying, write "a" paragraph. I began to give her exactly what to write (copywork). Here I would like to recommend "Journal and Language Arts Program for Grades K-5" (Love to Learn). It gives a treasure trough of useful gems. We would use paper that was lined on the bottom half and she would copy a simple poem or famous quote or Bible verse and then illustrate it with colored pencils on the top half. We made a journal! This was such a break through for us. Later we also began to write with more purpose - having pen pals and now blogging. She loves to write! I learnt from my experience with Bookworm, and things have gone more smoothly with Ladybug. She loves blogging and also writes stories all on her own. This year, in addition to keeping up with her blog friends, Bookworm is reading selected sections from Writer's Inc and finishing up "The Exciting World of Creative Writing" by Ruth E. McDaniel (from last year's studies). Ladybug is just keeping up with her blog and pen pals and they both have writing with their history.lapbooks. They each have a time slot in the school schedule to work on pen pal letters once a week, but will also do it in their free time. In a couple of years, when Ladybug is finished with BJU English, we will then be writing books together using :"Written & Illustrated by..." by David Melton. Our co-op used this book several years ago to have a book-writing class and the books that came from this class were sooooooo neat! Our girls were still young and not quite out of the "I hate to write" stage, so we will do our own class.
Speech & Debate: I can see the benefit for speech & debate classes, particularily for young men. However, in our paticular situation we are training up Godly young women to be keepers of the HOME, as in - staying at home. So that draws the questions, is giving speeches in front of a large group a skill that they will likely used? Probably not. And even if they did, are they capable to do so without such a class? Probably. That is not to say that we want them to be socially inept. Like I said before, we are a quiet family, therefore it is easy to understand that our daughters naturally are quieter, less gregarious than most. They have many friends, but usually aren't the leader of the pack, if you know what I mean. They are learning how to communicate through their writing, however, and will also increase in their speaking skills through our Bible study group - learning to share their testimony and lead a small-group young ladies' Bible study. Bookworm has also begun the Art of Eloquence books, "Say What You Mean For Teens" and will follow that with "Know Your Audiance" and "Defenders of the Faith", all by JoJo Tabares. We are just to week/lesson 4 in the first book, but so far we like it. Ladybug will do the same in about 3 years.
Typing: Both girls study from "Computer Typing Curriculum" - a Bible-based, self-pased spiral-bound book that I LOVE! (I could no longer find a link for this book, but if you are interested, email me and I can give you the phone number). Ladybug just started the book this year and Bookworm is almost 2/3rds of the way through the book. They each do typing 3 days a week. I also let them use our Mavis Beacon Typing Deluxe (Version 16) CD about once every other week (or if they want to use it during their free computer time). The CD has several fun arcade-like games that build speed & accuracy. They are allowed 45minutes/day for blogging or computer games in addition to the typing school work. Both are doing very well on the keyboard.
I just want to encourage you to not give up on a child's current lack of skill (or interest) in Language Arts. My girls & I (and perhaps you) are living proof that things can change -- some of us are writing and/or speaking in ways that would shock our former English teachers. I never thought I would ever write anything more than a simple letter, nor speak to groups, but I now do both. You just never know, your child may too!
Ahhhhh, we're done! If you read every word, you get 2 gold stars for patience!!! Congratulations.
Next time, Math
Blessings, Jane
This post is linked to our dear friend Mary. If you would like to participate in Show & Tell Friday, click here!
Oct. 3, 2007~ What We Do For Homeschool - HISTORY ~
Okay, History is my BIG section - mostly because both Jeff & I love His Story and we have bookshelf upon bookshelf filled with great history books.
Just as a little background:
My teaching philosophy is Bible centered (Solo Scriptoria) in all subjects, not just Bible. My teaching method closely follows the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach that is: Bible First!; a Return to Biblical Hebraic Education; Delight-Directed; Charlotte Mason/Living Books; Unit Studies; Lifestyle of Learning; Writing to Learn; Notebooking/Lapbooking/Scrapbooking; and using the 4Mat System of Excite (create interest), Examine (instruction), Expand (do something with what you have learned), & Excel (student shares material with others). I HIGHLY recommend the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach for all homeschooling parents.
In History, we study all history chronologically and once we have completed from Genesis 1:1 - today, we start over again. Currently, we are in Early American History and the Providence of God. I do not follow any curriculum at all, but with the help of a time line, and using all the great books and material I already have, form my own curriculum, taking it one bite at a time. My planning begins with combing through all my material and scratching out a basic outline as to what we study when, from there I just go on a week-to-week basis of planning out on the weekend what we will study the following week.
The first thing that is really key is my timeline....
Our house has a very open floorplan with lots of big windows, therefore I have very little wall space and NO room for a timeline like I would like (I personally perfer big timelines where you can see everything at a glance vs. the book timelines), so I had to improvise - making something that resembles the big wall timelines, yet can be put away - so here is my solution. I bought 3 colorful foam boards at Walmart and taped them together with the clear/heavy packaging tape - leaving approx. 1/4" or so space inbetween boards so they work as a hindge - taping them well front and back. Next for the timelines themselves I measured and drew with pencil the lines (3" apart) and covered the lines with white cover-up tape. My timeline goes from Years 1,000 (Leif Erikson) - Today. And then I just typed dates in 25yr. increments (ie 1000, 1025, 1050, 1075, 1100) and glued them along the white tape lines.
Most of my actual timeline figures came from The Learning Calendar. I had bought 3 of them that were seconds (hole punched wrong) or back issues at $4/each and then went through them and cut out all the figures I wanted and store them in envelopes in chronological order, checking each weekend if there are any timeline figures we will need to add for the next week. I believe The Learning Calendar has now gone out of business, but I do highly recommend checking out Homeschooling in the Woods and Hold that Thought's figures, or you can also print out things from the internet or just have the kids draw the figures. When the timeline is not in use, it folds nicely into thirds and stores in my little classroom closet.
Next was the question of, "With all the books I have, what would be my primary text?". Well, I do have some favorites that I'd like to share...
In God We Trust, by Crater and Hunsicker
The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History by Curtis, Lang, & Petersen
I Pledge Allegiance by June Swanson
The Scholastic "If You" Series. I have:
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620
If you Live in Colonial Times
If you Grew Up With George Washington
If you Lived in Williamsburg in Colonial Days
If you Lived at the Time of the American Revolution
If you were there when they Signed the Constitution
If you Grew Up with Abraham Lincoln"
If you Were a Pioneer on the Prairie
If you Lived when there was Slavery in America
If you Lived 100 Years Ago
Daily Life in the Pilgrim Colony 1636 by Paul Erickson
Daily Life on a Southern Plantation 1853 by Paul Erickson
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon by Paul Erickson
Pioneer Projects by Bobbie Kalman , Crabtree Publishing (a book I found at a historical museum)
19th Centruy Girls and Women by Bobbie Kalman (book found at historical museum)
Welcome to Felicity's World 1774 by American Girl
Sarah Morton's Day by Kate Waters
A Pioneer Smapler By Barbara Greenwood (for the crafts only)
Landmark Series Books:
Abe Lincoln - Log Cabin to White House
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Hear that Train Whistle Blow!
Gettysburg
The Story of Thomas Alva Edison
William Penn Liberty and Justice for All by Janet & Geoff Benge (YWAM)
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
George Washington's Rules of Decent Behavior
Jean Fritz Books:
Where was Patrik Henry On the 29th of May?
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution
Will You Sign Here, John Hancock?
Why don't you get a horse, Sam Adams?
George Washington's Breakfast
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
George Washington by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
Lincoln A Photogiography by Russell Freedman
The Story of the Gettysburg Address by Kenneth Richards (old library book)
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
Sarah Whitcher's Sotry by Elizabeth Yates
Paul Revere's Ride - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (old library book)
Lewis and Clark ont he Trail of Discovery * A Museum in a Book* by Rod Gragg
Kids Discover Magazines:
America 1492
Civil War
American Revolution
Pioneers
Colonial America
America Land I Love by Abeka
The History of Our United States by Abeka
Our American Heritage by Abeka
Smithsonian Children's Encyclopedia of American History
Trail Guide to U.S. Geography
Cantering the Country by Loree Pettie and Dari Maullins
And of course, who can forget the Little House Series (we did that in the past)
Additional High School Books:
Exploring America by Ray Notgrass (2 volume set) with accompaning books: The World's Great Speeches; A Documentary History of the United States; and 101 Great American Poems).
So there you have it. Somebody stop me least I buy another history book! Yes, I have spent a lot on History, but most I did not buy new & this has been an accumulation over the past 8 years, and some of these one can find in the library. Obviously we don't have time to read every single word in all of these books, some, like the Abeka books I use just as reference guides. And some of the secular books like the "If You" series and Jean Fritz books are more for fun -- we read/learn from a Christian source and discover truth before we read these so we know truth from fiction.
We are making several Lapbooks for History since we have soooo much good stuff. We will probably put our first in the series together soon that will span from a brief look at the Reformation (someday I'd like to just do a indepth study of the Reformation) and Exploration through the Pilgrims and then start up the next Lapbook with the 13 Colonies.
Here is a sampling of a few of the projects that will go into our Lapbooks...
By far, the award for the Best projects must go to the Time Travelers/Home School in the Woods CD. Here we did 4 Colonial people and made 4-page overlays that describe the layering of the clothing worn in Colonial Times and we are currently doing a very fun, very cute model of the Jamestown Settlement.
Our history program is certainly not the speediest, but we have a lot of fun and LOVE HISTORY!
Sep. 29, 2007~ What We Do For Homeschool - VOCABULARY ~
This is the second of my series on "What We Do for Homeschool" and the next subject we tackle after Bible according to our schedule. Actually, I call it "Opening Time & Vocabulary". Bible is first and foremost in everything we do around here - so our opening time has to come after it...
Opening Time: This we don't do every day (we use to when the girls were younger), but we now occassionally still do the pledge to the American flag, the pledge to the Christian flag, and the pledge to the Bible. The pledge to the American flag is not repeated nearly enough now days and it is amazing how quickly our children can forget the words. I have fond memories as a child reciting all three pledges at VBS and at the Christian high school I attended.
Next the girls take turns writing the vocabulary word for the day on the white board and the date (one writes the word, while the other writes the date).
Vocabulary: IS done every day. Our vocabulary word of the day comes from Vocabulary Cartoons. We take one word a day, write it on the board, and then read all the corresponding page in the book has to say about the word -- which gives a pronounciation, a brief definition, a silly "sounds like" and a VERY silly cartoon using the word in a mnemonic way. It then gives three very good sentences using the word. I really like this book! Then both girls will give me a sentence using that word.
I know I have posted about this before, but for those of you who are just tuning in, as an added incentive to increase their vocabulary and retain what they learn, we PAY for using vocabulary words. We don't give allowances, but for every vocabulary word our girls use correctly (up to 5 words a day, minus Sundays), they are paid a nickle a word. When they give me a sentence correctly using the word, they can then put a hash mark on a vocabuary chart I have in our schedule notebook. Then from time to time, I will pay them 5 cents per hash mark.
We also learn about idioms from the book, Mad as a Wet Hen!, usually taking a page a day and just reading it and discussing/laughing about the silly phrases we sometimes hear. This I think is important to learn. It perhaps isn't used as much in our generation, but over the past 100 years or more, these expressions were used quite often and I remember hearing them VERY OFTEN when I was part of the business world. A good thing to know and understand.
We also started using English from the Roots Up . Taking a Greek or Latin root a week (see whiteboard photo) and learing it together to better our grasp of the English language.
Lastly, our oldest daughter has 2 additional vocabulary words to learn a week as part of her high school curriculum.
I found 2 pages from Inge Cannon's excellent course, Mentoring Your Teen, that gives over 250 words that are ""Must Know" Words from College Entrance Exams (in order of frequency)." Although we are not going the college route, I believe they are good words to know no matter what path one pursues. With learning two words a week from this list, she should complete the list by the time she graduates. With these words, she writes them on the board, then reads them audibly to me to make sure she is pronouncing them correctly. Then she will write them in a special vocabulary book she has made...
with rainbow-colored paper and colorful alphabet tabs. She then has all week to look up her two words in a dictionary, write her own simple definition that will help her remember the word, and give me a sentence using each word. Tthese words are also included in the money incentive for learning vocabulary words.
I also included in the photo The Words You Should Know by David Olsen. Another great vocabulary book that deserves honorable mention. I bought it with good intentions, but honestly not sure if I'll ever find time to fit it in to our curriculum.
I know this seems like a lot of vocabulary & perhaps a little complicated (I hope it made sense). Maybe it is just because of my own deficiencies in grammer/vocab. that I tend to over-compensating with my daughters'; or perhaps because I belive that a good deal of what is taught in language arts today is soooo unnecessary that in the areas that I do deem important, I get a bit carried away :); however, in today's world, a strong working knowledge of a broad vocabulary is of much benefit.
Sep. 28, 2007~ What We Do For Homeschool - BIBLE ~
Today I am starting a series of homeschool posts called, "What We Do For...", giving you a glimpse into what our school days look like...one subject at a time.
I guess when talking about anything, it's always best to start at the beginning, so above is a copy of this week's school schedule. I have been making up this type of schedule for probably about 8 years now. One page per week. This year (and it is rather hard to tell from this photo), I have the courses that the girls do together in purple type, the courses that Amber (Bookworm) does in pink, and Anna's (Ladybug) is in blue. I diligently make out this schedule every weekend for the following week and the girls check off each subject as they complete their assignment. The girls take turns picking out what the color pencil of the day will be. :) You will also note that I don't have blocks of time assigned for each lesson. For some, writing out the times works; for us it doesn't as it tends to stress us out and we become more of a slave to the schedule. Just know that currently on a perfect day (wink), we start school at 8:30 a.m. and finish around 2:30 p.m. This allows for a long lunch & some breaks when needed and I hope that in a couple of weeks, as we get more acclimated to getting into the routine again, the school day may shorten a bit. Then after the school year is complete, I file this sheets along with some samples of what each girl does - just in case I ever have to show our work.
So, the first subject you will see on the schedule is BIBLE.
We put Bible first, so should the day fall apart, at least the most important subject was covered. So here is how it would look:
We first begin with prayer and Bible reading. We are currently going through The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order as recommended by Robin Sampson in the Heart of Wisdom teaching approach. We only do this on school days, so it is taking us over a year, but may finish our first time through before Christmas. I haven't decided yet whether we will start going through it again when we reach the end or if we will just take turns reading from our own Bibles. Usually, I read the daily portion of scripture while we are sitting in the family room, the girls listening quietly while working on some of their handiwork (sewing). Sometimes one of the girls asks to read. Also note, the girls each have their own personal devotions each morning as a part of their morning getting-ready routine (both girls prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior at the age of 5 1/2).
Next we read through in unison our memory verses for the month. This month we are memorizing I Corinthians 13 (all 13 verses). I had found in the Christian high school I attended that if you just audibly read through a good portion of scripture every school day, by the end of the month, you have it memorized with basically no effort. Each month we will have a portion of scripture to memorize like this that will either relate to the character quality we are studying, or to the month it is (ie. Luke 2: 1-14 for December).
Then we do Character Study. This month is "Love". My main text is the Bible and The Po
But in a nutshell, for the first year of teaching history in chronological order, here are a few ideas:
This year, Lord willing, it will extra special for us as we are going to meet up with friends of ours, staying at the same hotel - the dads can visit and the kids can play together (hotel has a waterpark), and we hope to all tour the 
We have used some great books in years past for Art (and haven't finished them - but plan to pick them up again later). 
