Tuesday, February 2, 2010 - Cloth Pads
I’ve been talking for ages about making some mens pads and today I decided to finally do it!
They were easy peasy using the patterns and instructions from Hillbilly Housewife.
First, I dug through my scrap fabrics and came up with some flannel for outer pad cover, and some corduroy and fleece for the inner pads.
The inner pads are made of at least three layers. I did corduroy, fleece, corduroy. I figured the corduroy would eliminate slippage, the color would hide stains, and the fleece would be absorbent.
For the outer pad cover, I used some dark colored flannel scraps I had.
First, a hem is sewn along each side of the cover top. They will overlap slightly to make a pocket. Then I zigzag stitched all around the perimeter of the pad cover. The pads slip into the pocket. For light days, you use one pad, for heavier days, stack more pads. The wings tuck under the panties, and can be fastened with a button or safety pin.
I need to make bunches more; I’m thinking five covers and fifteen pads for each cycle. I plan on keeping two little lingerie bags, one for clean and one for dirties, under the bathroom sink. I’ve heard some gals drop the dirties in a little bucket with vinegar and water.
I’ll tweak the plan as I get used to using them.
Sunday, January 31, 2010 - Reformers - William Tyndale
DD12 is now working through the reformers. She chose Tyndale to study first.
Books she read:
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Video she watched:
Lap-note she completed:
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - Can Math Be Fun?
"Yes!!" says dd10. But she wasn't saying that last week. Last week (and all the weeks for the past year or so) she "hated math". "Why can't we do math like we used to?" she would ask, meaning with lots of manipulatives, games, and living math books. I didn't have the heart to tell her, "Well, because Momma is afraid of gaps, and getting behind, and making you into a math mess, so keep pluggin' away at that workbook..."
But I wanted math to be fun for her. I didn't want her to "hate math"! I believe it was God's providence, when browsing through the thrift last week, that we found "The I Hate Mathematics Book" by Marilyn Burns, for 5 cents!!! She was thrilled to know there were others who also hated math!
So this week, we began our "Fun Math" break from the workbook scene, if only until we finish this book. DD's first assignment was Sidewalk Math. She had a ball, dividing chunks of sidewalk into line segments, to see just how many portions she could make. She learned why not even the best mathematicians out there can draw a line (because lines never end).
The book suggests following up the sidewalk math with making a cake. The idea is to figure out a way to divide the cake into 11 sections, with only 4 straight cuts. She did make a wonderful cheesecake, but didn't want to mess it up with lines, so she figured out how on paper.
Making the cake was a bit of math too. Here is the recipe she used:
For crust, she made up her own, because we didn't have any graham crackers. She smashed up some animal crackers, flour, butter, and a bit of stevia. (math skills - problem solving; logic)
For cake, whip together:
16 ounces of softened cream cheese (had to figure out how many 8 oz pkgs. she needed)
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
Pour mixture over crust and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Shut oven off, leaving cake in oven, until it is nice and golden on top.
Dad hopes DD does lots more "Fun Math"...as long as it includes baking!!
Saturday, January 9, 2010 - Michelangelo
DD12 is working her way through the Renaissance and Reformation. The past couple of weeks she has focused on Renaissance artists, including Michelangelo.
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Read Michelangelo’s Surprise by Tony Parillo. It was about a young Michelangelo, who was commissioned by the Medici family of Florence, Italy to build snow sculptures when the city received an unusual amount of snow.
Read Michelangelo, from the “Getting to Know The World’s Greatest Artists” series by Mike Venezia. This was a cute, informative book, with lots of photos of actual art. Caution: some nudes
Read about Renaissance Italy and the Medici Family in Renaissance and Discovery by Peter Bedrick.
Read about Renaissance sculptures and those of Michelangelo in particular in A Child’s History of Art, Sculpture by Hillyer and Huey. DD gathered some interesting tidbits, for instance, why Moses has horn on Michelangelo’s sculpture.
Read about Michelangelo in Discovering Great Artists by Maryann Kohl. Completed a painting while laying on back, as described in book.
Throughout the week, dd read various books, practiced speaking Italian via Twin Sisters Tape and booklet, and built snow sculptures. She built a wonderful sculpture of dolphins coming up out of the water, but I didn’t get pics before a rain washed them out. L So she rebuilt the sculpture inside, using salt/flour/water clay. She also sculpted itty-bitty tiny cars out of bits of plastic.
DD completed lap-n-note pages, which will be posted on Homeschool Share.
Friday, January 1, 2010 - Renaissance Explorers
My oldest dd’s favorite subject is history, and she likes to study it chronologically. After spending almost a year on the Middle Ages, she is now moving into the Renaissance and Reformation. We read Child’s History of the World (CHOW) by Hillyer together, and then she branches out on specific topics on her own, reading appropriate books and completing a lap-n-note (combination of lapbooking components and notebooking pages kept in a three ring binder).
Up until about Thanksgiving, she completed a study of the Renaissance era explorers, completing these free NOTEBOOKING PAGES for each one. She also completed various activities and worksheets from HERE, and made timeline pieces for our family Book of History.
Books about navigation, cartography, and geography in general she read were:
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Everyday Geography by Kevin McKinney – used this to research general geographic terms
Map Mania by Michael A. DiSpezio – Great book! Used this to research navigational instruments
General Books she read about explorers included:
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Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz – fun biographies about all the major explorers.
Renaissance and Discovery by Peter Bedrick – chapter on Renaissance Explorers
The Explorer Through History by Julia Waterlow – history of exploration
Explorers, An Activity Book by John Artman – brief bios with activity ideas
The Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventures by Russell Bourne – large, colorful book with short bios of many explorers
The Usborne Book of Explorers by Felecity Everett – typical Usborne busyness, lots of factoids and pics.
Books she read about specific explorers included:
Christopher Columbus by Jan Gleiter – narrative picture book about Columbus
I, Columbus edited by Peter and Connie Roop – Columbus’ actual journal entries
Pedro’s Journal by Pam Conrad – diary of a boy sailing with Columbus
Cortes of Mexico by Ronald Syme – about the conqueror of Mexico
The King’s Fifth by Scott O’Dell – about Spanish Conquistadors
Conquista! By Clyde Robert Bulla – about natives first setting eyes on a horse of Coronado
Next she will be moving on to Renaissance Artists.
Thursday, August 6, 2009 - Middle Ages Book List
We school year round, and DD11/12 finished her study of the Middle Ages over the summer. She lap-n-noted through the study, but I slacked off in posting all her pages. However, here is a list of the books she read:
General Middle Ages Books -
Story of the Middle Ages by Michael McHugh
Famous Men of the Middle Ages by John Haaren
The Usborne Book of Living Long Ago
History of Everyday Things, The Middle Ages by Giovanni Caselli
See Through History - The Middle Ages by Sarah Howarth
Craft Topics - Castles by Rachel Wright
A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Other Books in Chronological Order (mostly historical fiction) -
Note: linked books have units and/or lapbooks
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Year |
Title
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Author |
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610 |
Pretzels by the Dozen |
Angela Elwell Hunt
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Margaret Hodges |
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750 |
The Adventures of Wishbone – Be A Wolf |
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781-800 |
Son of Charlemagne |
Barbara Willard |
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1010 |
The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow |
Allen French |
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1014 |
Brian Boru, Emperor of the Irish |
Moran Llywelyn |
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The Moon Singer |
Clyde Robert Bulla |
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Clyde Robert Bulla |
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The Sword in the Tree |
Clyde Robert Bulla |
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1189-1199 |
Margaret Early |
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1200 |
The Lost Baron |
Allen French |
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1255 |
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! |
Laura Amy Schlitz |
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1277-1305 |
Castle |
David Macaulay |
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The Forbidden Castle |
Edward Packard |
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Duchess Bakes a Cake (and other Kahl books) |
Virginia Kahl |
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1285 |
Richard Platt |
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1291 |
Apple and the Arrow |
Mary and Conrad Buff |
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Emily Arnold McCulley |
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1294 |
Adam of the Road |
Elizabeth Janet Gray |
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Fleischman, Sid |
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1348-1352 |
Marguerite de Angeli |
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Plague |
The Iron Lily |
Barbara Willard |
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1400’s |
Bruce Robertson |
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1450 |
Ink on His Fingers |
Vernon |
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The Cookie Tree |
Jay Williams |
Now she will be moving on to the Renaissance and Reformation.
Sunday, June 21, 2009 - The Plague
DD11 continues on with her study of the Middle Ages, studying The Plague.
For her historical fiction selections she read:
A Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli about a young boy learning the ways of knighthood during the times of the Plague. She completed comprehension, vocabulary, and enrichment activities from this Free Study Guide.
The Iron Lily by Barbara Willard about a 15-year-old girl who loses her parents to the plague.
She also read about the Plague in two nonfiction titles:
To review what she learned, she completed a Free Plague Lapbook from Homeschool Share.
Saturday, June 13, 2009 - We got our Goat!
Meet Poncho. She is a three month old Nubian mix. We got her last Friday and it took her about three days to calm down and realize we aren't going to eat her. Now she calls us whenever we walk away, and loves pets and mulberry leaves. We will be getting a buddy for sure shortly, in the meantime the chickens and ducks will keep her company. We are going to let her grow up a bit and just "be a kid" before breeding her, so we should have some yummy fresh milk in about a year!
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Thursday, April 9, 2009 - Quack! Quack!
We got them! Four Rouen ducklings! My dear inlaws brought them for the girls yesterday. They are straight run, so we won't know for a while (how long I wonder???) if they are boys or girls. They are so cute, and messy! They keep swimming in their water bowl, throw their food everywhere, and attack every moving (and non-moving) thing. Fun, fun, fun!
Saturday, April 4, 2009 - Apple and the Arrow
DD11 continued adding to her Middle Ages Notebook, reading Apple and the Arrow by Mary and Conrad Buff. 
She completed a lap-n-note from Homeschool Share (don't go looking for it yet, it will be posted during the BLAST! Details are forthcoming! ;-))
