A few weeks ago, Wonderworks allowed homeschoolers to come in free up to 4 people in a group.  While they were generous to extend it to us, they don't know the size of many homeschool families (or don't care).  The girls had a good afternoon.

Pulleys

find one little purple bead in the midst of 6 jillion red ones~right.

Inside a spacecraft

Virtual air hockey

Senses your motion and makes the motion show up in color on the screen; you can see Marissa's outline in several different colors in the center of the screen.

Stomp on the floor to change the patterns

BUBBLES!

And, rock climbing

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Hey!  Imagine that.  I'm actually going to blog about homeschooling.   I do that on occasion.  Our homeschool is very simple and relaxed.  We do much of our learning through life, but we do hit the books sometimes, too!  : ) This has been very successful for our family, and it's a lifestyle we love.   We picked our bookwork back up a little bit 2 weeks ago; then more this past week.  Of course, we try to live a lifestyle of learning all the time!

Both girls are working in Developmental Math.  Last year was the first time we'd used this program, and it seems to be working great for them.  Marissa had a very hard time with traditional math books that jumped from one concept to the next.  She needed more time to master one thing at a time, and this program does that for her.   We are also using it for Daniella, and it seems to work well for her right now.   I'm just adding in telling time for her.  I bought a $3ish little teaching clock from WalMart that also has a dry erase spot to write the time in.  We also use large beads from WalMart and craft sticks for manipulatives.  We work at their pace.

Daniella is working on word lists in Alpha Phonics, along with their readers.  It has finally seemed to click a little this week.  She could read some of the individual words, but couldn't put them together.  She is having much more success with that this past week, which totally thrills her.  She also works in a little phonics workbook that came from WalMart or somewhere.  Each week I write a sight word on a tiny sticky note and put it at her place at the table.  She works on it during meals and anytime she's at the table.  She's learned to spell several that way.  Marissa does not have a formal language program right this minute, but I am going to do some looking at some grammar books this week.  Because of her not being able to hear phonetically, traditional phonics and spelling programs have never worked for her.  She has learned to spell by reading and writing. 

Last spring we started a butterfly lapbook that I had intended to finish over the summer.  Summer was just too full of other great and busy things this year, so we picked it back up this week.  They are loving working on them.  It's okay that it isn't spring.  We've seen some cool, big butterflies this week.  Their lapbooks also incorporate their copywork, which also hits on grammar and spelling. 

In about a week or 2, we will pick our history lapbook/notebooking back up.  It's from the Time Travelers, and is on the American Revolution.    Again, this will incorporate our copywork and much in the way of writing~sentence structure, paragraphs, self-expression, etc., not to mention spelling and handwriting (and cutting, pasting, folding, crafting, reading)

Our read aloud right now is Mik-Shrok.  It is the story of missionaries in Alaska before Alaska became a state.  Marissa and I are loving it.  We have the 2 others in the series to read after this one. 

Their dad also reads Nancy Drew to them at bedtime.  Marissa is so very into Nancy Drew right now.  : )  I was at her age, too.  We have quite a few of my old books, and am about to order some more of the "originals".  We actually have one ND that belonged to my dad.  It's an original original!  It has a tweed-like cover.  After we finish the Mik-Shrok series, we will probably read a couple of Box Car Children to satisfy Daniella. 

Science is very eclectic.  Of course, we're doing butterflies right now.  We bought them a great microscope this summer, and their dad helps them out on that.  He does most of their science with them, and it will mostly consist of experiments, projects, and animal studies.  They watch a show on Animal Planet a couple of times each week, and, Daniella especially, is very into learning about animals.  We also do a lot of spontaneous conversations and researching~you know, those teachable moments. 

For Bible we read from The Child's Story Bible, plus verse memorization through Awanas. 

Daniella wants to learn Spanish, so I am posting a new vocabulary word each week for us to work on.  

Marissa also works a good bit, unassigned, in Thinking Skills books and logic puzzle books.  We incorporate lots of puzzles (word and jigsaw) and games.  When a child knows how to think and reason, he has the key to much knowledge and discernment.  They may or may not remember all of the facts we've thrown at  them, even in fun lapbooks and projects, but learning to think and be wise will equip them for life.   

Along those lines, I bought a game that we LOVE.  (Except Briana.  Briana hates it. LOL!)  It is most fun with 3 or 4 people.  Two is not very challenging.

That covers most of the bookwork of our homeschooling.  Of course, there are other things that get thrown in from time to time, but that is the bulk of it. 

Briana has been able to be home this past week for a fall break.  We've loved having her here, of course.  Since her week was pretty much completely free, she has spent some very sweet, fun time with Marissa and Daniella.  Ashley has been able to take a break from her studies here and there, and they have all 4 had some silly sister escapades.  She leaves to go back after lunch today, and Ashley is going with her for 5 nights. 

Letitia

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Hi!  I'm still at the beach......leaving tomorrow (sniffle, sniffle), but I had to post today to ask you all to check out this post!  Nikowa had left me a comment saying that they normally only feature homeschool moms, but after reading Ashley's blog for a while, she just HAD to feature her.  An honor for her and her mom!  Please take a minute to go by and see.

http://heartofthematteronline.com/2008/08/featured-homeschooler.html     

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I think our biggest Hi-Light this week would have to be the Invasion of the Cicadas!  I mentioned them a couple of posts ago~how we could hear them singing, but they've taken it to a new level this week.  We live in the woods, and they have taken up residence in our trees.  They start getting revved up mid-morning, and we can hear a distant whining sound.  As the morning progresses, they start swarming everywhere and get louder.  By early afternoon, it is literally ear-piercing to be outside.  My mom asked if we could hear them in the house~~oh, definitely.  In fact, James could hear them over the lawn mower he was pushing!  They swarm and stay loud until about dusk or a little after. 

(This is not the hand of one of my family members!  Yuck!)

Once we transferred this video, you can't really see them flying, but you can hear them "sing.

These are the 17 year cicadas, and they stretch from Maine down through Appalachia.  They "sing", mate, lay eggs under ground, and die.  The babies will stay underground until the next cycle, then crawl out.  They will probably be here about 2 months total.  We have holes all over our yard where they have come out (shiver).  These are not to be confused with the 13 year cicadas, which are from the appalachia area west.  Aren't we lucky?   We get both of them.

Marissa and Daniella have chased them, caught them in butterfly nets, and delight in feeding them to the dogs.  James read that they are harmless to the dogs, and we'll hope so, because the dogs love them.  Ashley's dog chases them, and she'll only eat the live ones.  Eww.  It's disgusting to listen to her crunch them.  The Yorkie isn't  picky.  He'll eat them dead or alive. 

The girls also saw one squirming out of his shell and unfolding and drying his wings.  They are swarming so much the last few days that the girls are not going out much right now.  As much as they delighted in catching them, they do not delight in having them land on them.

But, ahh, what a learning experience.  :  )

Who is counting down the time until her trip!

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Ellen at ellenfunlearning asked if I'd like to join in her Homeschool Hi-Lights.  If you've never seen Ellen's blog, you have to check it out.  She has the most ideas, at least in one spot.  Fun ideas.  If you are a relaxed homeschooler, or if you need a fun activity to go along with a study, just a break from the regular routine, or something good to fill some summer hours, be sure to go by Ellen's for inspiration.

I'm not sure I'm together enough to keep up with this weekly, but I'm excited to share with you today!  We happened to have had a great week last week, filled with quite a few hi-lights.  Here are a few.

~We're working on the American Revolution study (History Through the Ages).  Marissa enjoys history anyway, but this week was just fun.  One of the projects we made this week was a board game driving home the impact of the taxes the British govt. was imposing on the colonies.  She loved it~we played it 4 times, and it had it's desired effect.  She commented several times about how hard the taxes were on the colonists and how she could understand how they felt.

~About 2 weeks ago, the little girls found a caterpillar dangling from their fort.  They watched and photographed him over the next few days as he formed his chrysilis.  They've babied that little thing.   Saturday they went out to check, and the Red Spotted Purple butterfly had just emerged and was drying his wings.  They were proud mamas! 

~The taxes game I talked about required 2's and 3's multiplication.  My math hating daughter(!), who was doing well with it, had a reluctant "ah-ha" moment. LOL.  She said, "You know.  You're right.  Having your mulitiplication memorized does make things a lot easier.  I have to admit it."  (Said while hanging her head, saying it reluctantly, but yet with a smirk on her face.)

~My history & art loving, math hating, 10 year old daughter : )  has also never enjoyed writing.  Umm.. that's mild.  I stopped trying to make her write anything creative a long time ago.  All of our writing is done in lapbooks, AWANA book, and her own list making.  You cannot imagine my excitement this week as she has sat at the computer typing out a creative writing story all on her on; no prodding from me.  AND, it's quite good.  She's only shared excerpts with me so far, but they are really good~mature phrases that you can tell she has picked up from her reading. 

And, not necessarily a homeschooling highlight, but a highlight none the less, espcecially for Briana~

It's a 2005 Saturn Ion with only 30,000 miles.  She has been sharing Ashley's car, but since she will be going to college this fall, we wanted her to have a dependable, low mileage car.  She will be coming home many weekends.  I prayed the Lord would help us find just that, but much lower priced than everything we'd found so far, and if "possible" that he'd also give her one she really liked.  Not only did he meet the parents' needs and give her one she liked, it's the exact color she has been wishing for the last year. 

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We recently went with some from our homeschool group on a Salamander Hunt.  Two different groups went, and there were 25 in our group.  For those who are familiar with the Smoky Mountains, this is at the Chimney Tops picnic area and the trail just above it.  As you can see, it wasn't the warm sunshiny day we hoped and had been having.  The kids had a blast, though.

James and Daniella hunting for salamanders under rocks and logs.

Found one
See the wind blowing her hair?  It was nippy!

Found a bunch!

The big black one in the upper left corner of that picture above is one Marissa found.  It's called the Imitator.

You can't really see this salamander, but it is called a Red Cheek, and the Smoky Mountains is the only place in the world where it can be found. 

My wildflower photos didn't come out really great, maybe because it was so windy up on the hill where we were.  This is a while trillium.

Duchman's Breeches

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Waaay back in the fall, we started a lapbook on horses from Hands of a Child.  We've just kind of worked on it a little here and there, and didn't work on it much at all Nov. through Feb.  We finished up in early March, so I thought I'd share it with you.  We added some photos of the girls with horses.  Daniella was too young to understand and do a lot of the projects, but I've done a few with her, adapted a few, and made up  one.  Hers is still in progress.

Marissa's cover~picture printed off the internet

Photo of Marissa riding last year on her birthday

back of lapbook~ Photo of Marissa petting some horses and a picture she colored.

Daniella's front cover

Inside so far

Back~picture off the internet and photo of her riding

Marissa really enjoyed the lapbooking.  We are currently slowly working on Time Travelers~The American Revolution.  It has a lapbook, notebooking, time line, projects.....

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Guess what!  We finally got a little snow!!

Guess what else!  We were out of town.  Can you believe it?  Marissa was quite beside herself.  : )  It did snow in Nashville, but most of it didn't stick.  Besides, there's not much room for sledding in downtown!  It was a great trip, even though we missed the snow. 

The sub-committee meeting didn't go as well as it could have (they didn't just drop the bill completely), but there is some hope.  The rep who introduced it, and who talked for 15 min. without saying anything whatsoever, is supposed to be rewriting it to present again in 3 weeks.  I can tell you one thing~ the calls and emails make an impact.  Every rep on the committee commented about the volume of response this bill created.  They all said they received 3000+ phone calls, plus emails!!  One rep said it paralyzed his office for several days.  They were quite put-out with the rep who introduced the bill, and *strongly* encouraged him to work with the homeschoolers and find a solution!  However, there were a few who still want control, so the issue is not dead and still needs to be covered in prayer.  We were able to meet a few more reps not on the committee afterwards and talk with them about homeschooling and hear there opinions.  They were supportive of homeschooling, and were hopeful that this bill will not be passed.

We were at the legislative plaza from 10:40-3:00, so that was quite a long day.  I was very proud of how patient Marissa and Daniella were.  We didn't get lunch until 3:00, which is actually 4:00 our time.  It was snowing like crazy while we were walking through downtown, and there was a bitter wind, but I thought it was pretty fun! 

Unfortunately, by the time we finished lunch and walked back the capital was closing, so we didn't get a tour.  This is the girls at the war memorial in Legislative Plaza.

We drove back to the hotel, and James and I took a short nap while the girls read/looked at books.  They were really quiet and sweet while we rested.  We then headed to Opry Mills Mall.  Those of you who live near big cities are used to these huge malls, but we are not.  The place was huge and even had a sting ray petting/feeding tank.  We opted out of it since we go to the aquarium every month, but it was cool.  There were also several aquarium of tropical fish and 2 carousels in the mall.  We treated the girls to supper at The Rainforest Cafe.  What a cool place.  Unfortunately, we didn't take the camera to the mall.

After packing up the next morning, we went the the Adventure Science Museum for several hours.  The girls had a blast!  It is well worth the money ($9 adults, $7 students).  Marissa was a little grossed out by the human body section, but loved the physical science and music parts.  : ) 

The synthesizer in the background of this picture was one of Marissa's favorite parts.  Daniella loved this floor piano.

This one is reaction time.  She's stepping on buttons with each foot, and has one under each hand.  The other person sends a light path, and she had 3 seconds to guage which path it was going on and push the correct button.  It was tough!

There were lots and lots of cool things there.  Marissa rode a bike to create energy to move an elevator up and down.  They reflected light to a solar panel to create energy to make a toy airplane fly....They also have a "tower".  You climb and climb up all these little passage ways, and have stops along the way, until you reach the top.  Then you can slide back down.  (and, yes, of course, I did it)  It's way up there with a great view of the Nashville skyline at the top.  I don't know if Daniella retained much of the science she encountered, but she had a blast, and got lots of exercise!  By the end of our time there, there were only a couple of other families in the museum, and she went up and down, up and down that tower, then back out to another section that had tunnels and climbing things.  She had the run of the place and took full advantage of it.  LOL. 

After we left the museum, we found a Dairy Queen, because the Blizzards were calling, then hit the road back home.  We got in about 9:30 that night. 

Yesterday, spur of the moment, after Ashley and Briana got home from praise dance practice, James and Briana went to the national park and went hiking.  Briana had spring fever, and was itching to be outside.  I'm so glad they got to go on a little "date".  This trail crossed the creek numerous times over rocks and fallen trees. 

Letitia

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First, I forgot to mention my thanks for all of the encouraging comments on my entry before last, and on the comments of how that entry encouraged some of you.  I really appreciate you guys. 

Also, several people asked for the link on how to make the paper snowflake from my last entry.   It's http://www.wikihow.com:80/Make-a-3D-Paper-Snowflake.  I asked James, and he said it was pretty straight forward directions, and he did it just like they said.  Let me know if anybody makes one. 

This has been a pretty restful week.  Last Sunday really wiped me out~nothing in particular; I just got up and went to church Sunday morning, but I felt really tired and run-down most of the week.  I started feeling better by Thursday.  Thankfully, there was nothing on the calendar for me this week, so it was a nice stay-at-home week.  I promised myself to stay home all week, but ended up going to get my haircut this afternoon. 

James has been out in our craft room at lot working on business, so Marissa has been taking her math book out there with him, curling up in a cozy little corner, and working her math out there with him, asking him questions if she needed help.  This has helped me a lot, because it frees me to concentrate on Daniella.  She tends to get her work skipped some days.  It doesn't concern me for a 6 year old to do that much "school work", but she loves it and is always begging me to "do school" with her.  She's dying to learn to read, so we've been able to spend a lot more time the last couple of weeks doing her Explode the Code book and reading some lists in Alpha Phonics.  She *loves* math.  We've done some hit and miss little workbooks all this year, but I started her in Level 2 of Developmental Math last week, and she loves it.  In fact, she's almost finished with it, so I had to quickly order level 3 yesterday. (I went ahead and ordered Level 4 while I was at it, but I don't know if she'll be ready for adding and sub. 10's yet~we'll see.)  She seems to have a real knack for math at this point.  She already understood the concept of addition and subtraction, and she is quickly memorizing facts, or being able to think them out in her head quickly.  Ashley and I watched her thinking and working the other day, and couldn't help laughing at her because she amazed us.  We've also been working on coins and time, and played Pumpkin Patch Math.  It's a little Bingo type game where you roll three die~ two have numbers, and the third has either an addition or subtraction sign. 

On Thursday I got out the Anagrams tiles (you could also use Scrabble tiles) and let them just spell words with them.  They had a ball.  Anagrams has lots of "A's", so Daniella was able to spell all the short a words she knew.  They've worked quite a few jigsaw puzzles this week, along with a couple of word searches.   Marissa is reading the Kaya books from American Girl, and James is reading to her from Children's Classics or other books at bedtime, while I read to Daniella.  We started reading Sarah Witcher's Story this week, too.   We continue to read (again) from The Child's Story Bible.  This time through, Marissa is able to think through and understand even more spiritual concepts and see how they relate to her life, even in the old testament stories.  We've also been working hard on AWANA verses.  Marissa's (T&T) has had her looking up more verses and answering questions this past few weeks, which I like.  (Not to mention that it gets her writing more.   She hates to write!)  I hope this week or next to start on Time Travelers~The American Revolution.  I've got to get my act together in the next few days and get things printed and gathered.  Marissa likes this era, and I really hope we're going to have a great time with this study.  I just noticed tonight that they have a Colonial study.  She would really like that. 

Wednesday night I had the house to myself, and I scrapbooked for the first time since early November, I guess.  That perked me up, and I had fun.  And, to make matters better, as far as I know at this point, Monday-Friday, I don't have anywhere to go either!!!!  Some weeks are just good!  : ) 

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The Homeschool Blog Awards end on Dec. 15th.  If you haven't voted for your favorite blogs, go HERE to vote. 

I was nominated for Best Homeschool Mom, and some of my friends were nominated for other categories.  Jonatha for Best New Homeschool Blog, and Ashley, who is the daughter of my friend Heidi, was nominated for Best Teen Gal Homeschool Blog.  Tia and AmyBeth ~Best Blog Design, and  Mary for Best Encourager, Best Live-What-You-Believe blog, AND Best Cyber Buddy.  If I left anyone out, I'm sorry, and let me know. 

We've had so much fun the past couple of days.  James, Ashley, Briana, Marissa, and Daniella are ALL in a Christmas Production at our church.  And, it IS a production.  This show compares to shows at Dollywood.  They have a professional set, which belongs to our music director personally.  He bought it from the church he had been with several years ago.  They are doing 4 performances~last night and Sunday night, then next Friday and Saturday.  It is a Broadway style musical set in the 1940's complete with neato costumes and swing dancing (yes, in a Baptist church!!).  I literally spend 2 hours each performance day curling Ashley's and Briana's hair.  Thankfully, Marissa and Daniella are dressed like boys for their biggest parts, so their hair just goes under a hat most of the time.  The show is so fun to perform and watch.  They're all still in bed this morning!!

James has been doing a study on electricity with Marissa and Daniella.  I am so glad for them, because he is very good with science and making it fun and interesting for them.  I'm not!  I found 2 of the Science in a Nutshell Kits, complete, at a used curriculum sale for only $10 each!

Yep, school in her PJs complete with her friends, and look at that snaggle tooth.  : )  "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". 
Daniella's circuit~

Marissa has loved this study and walks around the house giving examples of things she's learned.
Marissa's circuit~

Electricity, a little daily math, cookie baking and decorating, dress rehearsals and performances, daily reading, some jigsaw puzzles and board games have pretty much made up our schooling for the past week.  Briana is finished with her college classes until mid January, and Ashley is in her last week, with 2 finals this week.  Her classes are 8 week courses, so she only takes 2 at a time.  I'm finally getting in the Christmas mood~maybe this show 2 nights in a row did it.  So, I'm really looking forward to the next 2 weeks!

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