Our homeschool group had a small turnout for our People & Places fair.  However, it was great.  I learned something about each state (Indiana, Hawaii, Oregon, Georgia & Texas) and about each person that was studied.  I even learned about someone I've never heard before! 

Savanah (8) chose to study Hawaii.  It was much more fun than we thought it was going to be.  My oldest wasn't that interested, so I didn't push the issue.  We studied the volcanoes, geography, animals, tree, flower, flag, history, food, culture and more.

We made a Hawaiian Ambrosia and Volcanic Punch.

Here are those recipes:

Hawaiian Ambrosia

8 ounces of crushed pineapple, drained

11 oz of mandarin oranges, drained

3 1/2 cups of cool whip

2 cups of mini marshmallows

2 cups of shredded coconut

1 cup of maraschino cherries

Mix all ingredients and chill an hour before serving.

Volcanic Punch

3 cans of frozen fruit punch concentrate

1   64 oz. can of pineapple juice

2  2-liters of Ginger Ale

ice cubes

Pour ingredients in, one by one.

Enjoy!

If you would like to make a homemade volcano like we did, here is the website we used:
www.spartechsoftware.com/reeko/Experiments/volcano.htm

Here are some great photos:

Our presentation:

Savanah in her Hawaiian clothes:

Our erupting Mauna Loa:

We did a quick science experiment today. 

We put red food coloring and even some chocolate sprinkles to represent dirt.

I am so thankful for the days that we stay home.  We get so much accomplished.

There was a conversation this week, between some ladies on our homeschool group about not getting much done when we have to leave the home.  That is us too.  We just have a hard time getting "school work" finished if we have been out earlier in the day.

We weren't able to participate in our local homeschool group "Around the World Day".  This is why.

We are currently studying the Civil War.

Last friday, we went to Hodgenville, KY.  Why you ask?  To visit Abraham Lincoln's birth home.  My dad lives about an hour and half from there.  We first stopped at the Lincoln Museum.  They have a gift shop, wax figures to show important highlights of Lincoln's life, memorabilia, pictures, documents, timelines, a video and lots more.  I was leary of the "wax figures" at first.  I'm not sure why.  I guess it just sounded silly.  BUT, it really brought a lot of Lincoln's life, to life for us.  It helped us to see the big picture.

Here are a few pictures of that:

Abe writing the Emanicipation Proclamation

Abe giving the Gettysburg Address

The end of the civil war

"The Surrender"

Here is Abe and his wife at the Ford's Theatre

We picked up a few gifts from the gift shop.  Alexis wanted the Dover coloring book of Abe Lincoln.  It was really hard to let her just color in it!  Those coloring books are nice.  Savanah wanted a few pencils and a trivia book.  Alyssia bought a trivia book and some Confederate replica money.  She is really into coin collecting, so this was right up her alley.

We left and then went to the Abe Lincoln park and birth home.  Here is a picture of the Memorial building where the replica log home is stored.  I wanted to take a picture of the log home, but no photos were allowed inside.

Yes, I take pictures of these.  I like to remember what I see!!

Here is the Sinking Spring, where Abe drew water for his family in the 1800's.

It looked more like a cave. 

His boyhood home was nearby, but we were hungry and tired by this point!!

The kids enjoyed it more than they thought they would.  :o)

Our area (north GA and southeast TN) is very rich in Civil War history.  We have a few more field trips that may also span to Knoxville and Atlanta.

We'll see........

This was an up and down week.

We didn't have speech therapy this week because the schools were out on fall break.  That was a plus.  It gave us time to do other things.

Then I had to decide NOT to participate in the farm field trip (really wanted to go!!) and to NOT participate in our homeschool groups Around the World Day (ATWD).  Our family was presenting France. 

However, we did make it down to the river to see the Nina.  www.thenina.com

Savanah really, really liked it.

My husband went out of town and took the three girls. 

I love my girls, but it was a nice break.  I went shopping with Douglas and my mom.  My mom bought me clothes and took me out to dinner!!

Then on saturday, Douglas and I had a nice day to ourselves!!

He is starting to talk.  He can say no, dog, nana, mama and dada.

He's such a sweetie!

Next week, we are going to see my dad and to visit Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home.  That should be lots of fun!!  I just hope I remember to charge my batteries for my digital camera.  I forgot to charge them for the Nina.  Oh well.

I was able to visit a friend that I don't get to visit very often.  She has moved and is closer to me know. 

We are supposed to be receiving a flat traveler soon.  The girls are excited about that.  However, we are having a hard time finding other families to host ours.

Hope everyone has a great school week!

Homeschooling that is.

I think (ok, I know) it's because I relax a little more every year.  I started homeschooling when my oldest started 2nd grade.  That year, we did about 9 subjects DAILY.  Yes, seriously.  The morning started with prayers and pledges to the flag.  Then we did Bible, Grammar, History, Science, Spelling, Journal/Writing, Math, Health, Art, Reading, etc.  And yes, I had a boxed curriculum for that.  Now, I'm not trying to insult those that use a boxed curriculum. 

I'm just saying those didn't work for us.  This year, the only curriculum we use are for math and grammar.  We do use the Explode the Code for phonics.

 

Now, I have my second oldest in second grade.  And wow, what a difference.  She enjoys learning.  She begs to learn.  Yesterday we read, "Christopher Columbus" by Helen Olds.  She absorbed so much of that book.  We talked about what a biography is and different words, such as mast.  We also finished up the "Flat Stanley" book.

We will be making our Flat Stanley's soon and can't wait to send them out! 

 

 

I'm so glad I read the "Managers of Their Home" before school this year.  I don't have a schedule (yet, maybe one day) but I gleamed so much from that book.  I actually feel as if I get things accomplished during my day.  My laundry is staying caught up, my kitchen is cleaned, dishes are washed, floor are swept most of the time and beds are made.  This is among homeschooling three children, speech therapy, music lessons and homework, Pathfinders, managing a fund raiser at church and teaching a class every week at church.  My plate is full and I have said no to a lot of things lately.  I don't feel guilty about it.  I know what I can handle and what can not fit into my day.  Now, I just need to get my house more organized !

We started back to school last week. It was a later start than I wanted, but at least I can say we've started!

I've been reading "Christian Unschooling." It's a great book and was recommend by a few friends of mine. I haven't finished it, but it was an eye opener because it showed me that we are "unschooling" and didn't even know it.

I have agreed with all she said except the math.

Here are some happenings that have been going on in our household:

• Speech therapy for Alexis will increase. This is what dh and I both want and feel as if she needs
• We have 2 eastern tent caterpillars in captivity. I'm wondering if we should set them free, instead of trying to watch them spin their cocoon? The reason being, they seem to make LARGE tent like cocoons and I'm afraid our jar won't be big enough for them, and we don't want them to die. Any suggestions?
• Ball season is keeping us incredibly BUSY! Alexis is a blast to watch! She hits the ball and runs right for center outfield! ha ha ha....guess we will be working on what the bases are for. ;o) Opening Ceremonies are this Sunday.
• Music class is almost over. That is bittersweet. Savanah (and me too!) have learned tons about music that we did not know. Next week, they will be having a musical performance and her class is doing the play of Little Red Riding Hood. We can't wait. I love watching the children play their instruments and sing! I really enjoy the dulcimers for some reason....
• Douglas is officially crawling and pulling up on anything and everything! I can't believe he will be one next month!!!
• One thing we learned about coyotes that we thought was really fascinating...We were afraid the coyote we saw was hurt. It was limping around. Well, while reading through our books from the library, we learned that mother coyotes will "limp" around acting hurt to distract any predator she thinks may hurt her baby pups!

We've been keeping busy for sure. Tuesday, we left home around 11 a.m., went to the library, stopped by Pizza Hut to pick up our free pizzas from the book it club and then meet our homeschool group at the park for a couple of hours. From there we went to the Creative Discovery Museum. They have a great exhibit on "Children Like Me." They have 12 children from all over the world to learn about. I plan on going back when we have more time and having the children learn more about them. From there we stopped by the Aquarium to play in the water, then it was on to the ball fields.

We have been on the road a lot going from here to there, and one thing we have enjoyed is listening to audio CD's. We've listened to lots of the Magic Treehouse stories. Anything from the Civil War, Revoluntionary War, Dingoes, Earthquakes, Tornadoes, etc. We just picked up The Little House in the Big Woods from the library and so far we love it too!

I think I could go on, but I need to jump in the shower and get ready for speech therapy, then it's on to the ball fields later...............