Jun. 24, 2009 - Some pics of our last trip to our farm in MN....
Well, I have not been very good at keeping up with new entries, but at least I can add a few pics of our last trip to MN.
Sitting in our new sunroom
Anni visiting with some new Jersey calves
Tristan riding our friend's horses
A pic our our beautiful barn with fresh paint and new windows....
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Mar. 8, 2009 - A long outdated update...
We are now on week 33 of 36 of Sonlight Core 3. We are loving it so much! I never knew American history could be such a joy to learn. I bough Core 5 used and am really excited to start that next year. So many fun book to look forward to...
They older boys are halfway through Math U See Epsilon and Daine (7) is almost ready for Gamma. Annika is learning blocks and numbers.
For Language Ars we are using a mix of Sonlight LA and Queen Homeschool LA.
We also just got back from a week-long stay at Disney World. It was exhausting but incredibly fun. We had the meal plan and the active duty military discount. Since we had paid in advance it was wonderful not having to worry about money and meals while we were there.
Disney Monorail
Zurg's Jail
The only Princess the boys really liked . :)
Annika in Princess Land
Planet Hollywood our first night at Downtown Disney
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Dec. 18, 2008 - Starting Sonlight...
We have started Sonlight 3+4 over the past two weeks and LOVE it. We have always read out loud a lot in our home and it seemed a natural thing to progress to a curriculum where someone has actually put a great set of books with a schedule together. We use CM methods here and are CMizing this core, but really it has been no problem as it is all very CM friendly anyway.
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Sep. 20, 2008 - My Plug for (What I Consider) the Greatest Christian Unschooling "Curriculum"!
If you are Christian school-at-home family and yet you really would like to relax and have fun more with your children I have a great suggestion. I have been using the Bedell Curriculum for years now and it has fit my relaxed style better than anything else I have tried. Now before you go saying I have forgotten what unschooling is, please consider for a moment how we use it.
I pretty much let the kids immerse themselves in whatever they like for most of each day. I do have bedtimes (more for my sanity than anything) and Bible time is something we all do together at meal times. This is where Bedell comes in. At each meal we read a lesson and learn all these fun scientific and historical facts that are derived from the Bible text. I ask them to narrate or to tell me what they remember. That's it, but they really REMEMBER a lot. My youngest son (7) just came out of bed and expained that Calvin and Hobbes were talking about taste buds and he remembered how they worked from our bible lesson. Neat huh?
Bye the way, Calvin and Hobbes IS there major "curriculum" at the moment. All three of my boys have pretty much trashed four different books because they drag them absolutely everywhere with them.
Just one more thing about the Bedell books. We are personally reading through nearly all of them every year. Just by repetition they are gleaning so much more than if I did any kind of formal testing. Also, they cover Genesis to Revelation so the whole book is covered along with copious amounts of the science and history that stem from the verses.
We love it!
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Sep. 18, 2008 - What My Kids Chose To Do Today:
I have been trying to get pictures to upload without having to edit every one--Oh, soo soo time consuming, but as you can see my kids kept busy in spite of my photographic preoccupation.
I am being called to perform the task only I seem to be able to do--prepare lunch. :) Funny, they can make food any time OTHER than meal times. Hmm, makes you wonder...
Chester Comix, American Symbols
Spelled ANTICOMMERCIALISM in Bananagrams
Played with the FREE Air Hockey Table!!!
Played with Muggin's Number Neighbors
Anni can count to 10!
Teaching Textbooks and Typing
Watched a House Get Demolished
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Sep. 2, 2008 - Japanese Cooking or Yeah!! I Got a Rice Cooker :)
I got a rice cooker over Labor Day weekend. I have never felt giddy over and appliance before. Strange I know. You see we have many beautiful (and thin) ladies of Oriental heritage working or living here on our military post. I have avoided making some of their scrumptious recipes because I really dislike making rice and keeping it from over cooking or getting rock hard. I even have 50 lbs of Japanese Nishiki rice in my pantry. Well,they happen to sell the cadilac of rice cookers at our Px.
I read this great book over the weekend:
I really liked this book. It struck me as a very, very practical book. It contains real recipes for real people and not really fancy-shmancy ones. I am going to the Asian Market today here in town to get some of the more unusual ingredients, but fortunately our Commisary has most things.
My oldest son is relatively obsessed with Japanese anything so this is right up his alley. He even did his own unit study on Japan, without any input from me.
So I LOVE my rice cooker and my sinuses like it too. I don't do well with a lot of wheat (allergies), but they like rice just fine. 
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Sep. 2, 2008 - Organizing our Unschooling Math
How to Handle Math?
Today I let the kids just go and do what they wanted. Turns out they did a lot! One of the things they decided to stick with was math. We were playing Monopoly and we had to figure out percentages of their total money and so we went through a lesson online about percents. Well, my oldest looked at me and asked if this was going to be covered in their regular math lessons (Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra). I said yes and they unanimously decided they would prefer to watch the lectures and do the practice problems in order instead of skipping around and only learning about the things they need at the moment. They reasoned it was just plain easier that way. So, I guess, math will stay more "schooly", although we all decided that they need not do all the practice problems unless they feel they need it.
I am happy with this as most of the Pre-Algebra course is the common, daily used, sort of math. Frankly, I have been shocked at how they diligently use and learn math when they need to...i.e. "you can have the shoes but you have to figure out what the 30% off equals and add on the 8.5% tax"... All of a sudden math becomes the sole focus of their otherwise sporatic attention. Hmm.
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Aug. 30, 2008 - Christ-Led Unschooling?
I have been pondering this idea for some time today. I have admitted many times in the past that I am a complete and hopeless curriculum addict. However, over time I have also realized that part of this obsession has less to do with my children and more to do with my insecurites as a teacher placed under restrictions set forth by our state and national goverment. How would I be if there were no guidelines? I can sum it up in one word (for me at least): H-A-P-P-Y.
Most of my own education was useless. The things that I learned well were the things I chose and pursued on my own. Piles of books littered every corner of my room, but none of them were text books. In fact, the only things I really remember are those things I applied myself to outside of school. Maybe it was the general apathy of the teachers or the fact that I couldn't see a reason for much of it, but as I look back on it all now I only see a black hole, surrounded by the light of the things I cared about. All this is even more alarming because I had an expensive Christian education. The trouble is it was a reformatted public school education, text books and all.
What were the few things that stuck with me and I was glad I was forced to learn? Hmm....
Typing. Yes, I was happy they made me take typing for a whole year. Everything else was not fun except for the things I CHOSE to do, like choir, band, art, plays, musicals and the volunteer work I did. I also loved my jobs. Working as a waitress in high school and as a day care worker in college was FUN because I liked having money, but more importantly loved the work.
Oh, and most importantly, I was happy they forced me to memorize scads of Scripture. That was probably the best thing. Now having someone constantly giving their opinion on that Scripture was a problem for me, but it was a great service to me nonetheless.
So based on the scenario I realized that having my children memorize lots of Scripture was A-OK and that all my shelves filled with wasted curricula was not. I have a scary admission to confess. I really, really, want to have a Christ-led unschool. It's scary because in order to do this I must give up what I want and direct consistent prayer EVERYDAY in this area. It also means that I cannot lean on a curriculum to ensure a gapless and complete education--which is a fantasy in it's own right. It means that the wisdom of man must fall by the wayside along with the countless educational theories.
Why am I rambling? Because I have started to see that glint fading away in my children's eyes. They are exhibiting the same symptoms that I did way back when I was in third grade. Now is the time for me to actually listen to them and prayerfully find a way to lead them toward their goals.
So here I go... I am going to prayerfully start each day and try to be the educational facilitator and less of a drill sergeant.
I will keep posting and hopefully, this will open up a new peace and happier students.
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Aug. 25, 2008 - On MMS or the Miracle Mineral Supplement
I have been a little frustrated lately. I have been actively searching and experimenting with alternative health therapies for about 12 years now. I am NOT an expert. Lately, I have been experimenting with MMS or chlorine dioxide made from sodium chorITE. I have both the MMS drops, citric acid 10% solution AND the DVD/book combo.
Being a homeschooling mother and a natural foods fanatic I am always seaching for safe and effective things that will prevent or help keep our family healthy. The MMS was something that a NASA engineer showed me and so I felt relatively safe experimenting with it. This is yet another tool in my home arsenal of go to remedies.
Pros: It is really, really inexpensive and can kill most any pathogen. It can also help to build the immune system (please refer to book or movie for specifics).
Cons: Herx reactions are common if you do not follow the directions and it smells really, really bad.
Pros: Very inexpensive, apparently very effective.
I have been using this product for about three weeks now and am just now reaching the recommended 15 drops without reaction. My hay fever (very intense) has lessened substantially and my energy level is much better. I have noticed that "layers of an onion" reaction too. If you have ever heard that healing often happens from the inside out and the top down, you may know what I am referring to. Basically, you may re-visit symptoms that have plagued you in the past and the most obvious symptoms may not be the first to disappear. I have had a returm of PMS symptoms I haven't had in over a decade, but I was kind of expecting this and I take it as a good sign, albeit not the most fun.
What has me most frustrated is, IMHO, that in order to reap the benefits in the book you MUST read the book cover to cover or watch the DVD all the way through to understand the how and why of this product. I have read all over the internet about people using MMS, but not following the directions exactly. If you don't, you may end up with a massive die off reaction and be very miserable for a few hours to a few days.
On that note here is the link for the author's homepage with the free ebook:
If you like to read about inexpensive alternative health products you may really enjoy hearing the story behind MMS and its various uses.
As with anything, do lots of research before jumping head long into the unknown.
I know many homeschooling moms who are like this sort of thing and may enjoy researching it further.
If you have any experience with this please comment here. I would love to hear what others have experienced, especially with children. Again, I wouldn't remcommend using it until you fully understand how and why it works.
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Jul. 24, 2008 - The Day I Cut OFF the Cable
I did it. I FINALLY did it. The cable guy came and took the box away this morning. We are not abandoning movies --as long as they are pre-approved by me. :) Now we will have more time for great stories and family games, without constant competition.
I am going through withdrawl. I admit it, I loved Food Network.
Here's to good stories!
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Jul. 24, 2008 - FREE Christian Phonics Lessons!
This was a really great find. I was on the Peterson Directed Handwriting site (another wonderful resource!) and that site linked to www.thephonicspage.org . What an amazing site. I have wanted to review phonics with my older kids and work more with the younger ones. This site not only teaches phonics as we all know it, but also teaches correct left to right tracking by the use of archaic English words that require syllable by syllable concentration. This was exactly what the doctor ordered for my read-by-memory kiddos.
The lessons are all in Quicktime format and by the end of 22 lessons you can read the book of Romans!
This site is most definitely a Christian resource and a great ministry tool for encouraging literacy toward the goal of Bible reading.
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Jul. 18, 2008 - I LOVE fingermath!!
We (mostly me) have been reading through and practicing finger math for a few days now. I was fortunate enough to get this book for $5 at our local homeschool consignment store (yeah!!--I also got the Institute for Excellence in Writing program for $12, but that is another story). Since we have used the Japanese abacus quite a bit in the past, this seems to be equally as fun, but much more practical. The abacus can work much higher numbers, but the same can be accomplished here if you add a pencil into the mix.
Now that I am about 3/4 through the book I can now begin to train my kids in the art of using their fingers in a most appropriate way for math.
This is definitely a fun find and I couldn't be happier. I had found it on Amazon, but it was either really expensive or unavailable. I you are fortunate enough to find it cheap--it is so worth it. :)
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Sand Adventure!
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Jun. 30, 2008 - Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso...
We had to drive to El Paso (1400 miles one way!) so that my husband could meet with a man about a possible job. I wanted to see tthe city first hand. We have moved our household 11 times since 2002 and I appreciate my dh including me in the process.
We have been studying the desert and ancient Eqypt for the last month with A World of Adventure. It has been so much fun. It was especially nice to be able to actually go to the desert as a final field trip!
Sand Dune sledding in White Sands, New Mexico!
Meteor crator in TX and some real desert pictures for our desert unit study.
A BEAUTIFUL sunset at Fort Bliss, TX.
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Jun. 4, 2008 - Making Ancient Egypt Barley Cakes
We are in the first unit of A World of Adventure (AWOA). I think this is going to make for a very fun year! Today we made barley cakes from whole barley grain.
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Apr. 25, 2008 - Our Backyard Aquaponics system is growing!
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Apr. 8, 2008 - Building Our Aquaponics System!!!
We are trying a very small aquaponics system before we move back to Minnesota where we plan on building a really BIG system. Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (soilless plant growing).
In this small system we are going to have lettuce and goldfish. At home we plan on raising fish to eat and all the veggies we can.
Lava rock for drainage.
Two rubbermaid agricultural tubs--50 gallon and 100 gallon. The fish will go in the bottom tank which has a pump that will pump the poo water up to the header tank. A siphon will then dispense just the right amount of water to the growbed. It floods for a minute and then will drain back to the fish tank.
We used a half piece of tile to guard the drain holes.
This is the inside of the header tank. the hose comes from the fish tank and the PVC is the back of the siphon.
Here is my daughter with the completed system. We have to wait two weeks before we add fish. We also need to get some good bacteria started in the growbed before adding fish and plants.
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Mar. 3, 2008 - Homemade "Earth Boxes"
Today we also made two homemade earth boxes out of Rubbermaid-type tubs. The kids did a lot of the sawing and drilling. It was quite fun, but a lot of work.
Cutting the fill tubes.
Drilling aeration holes in the part that will hold soil above and water beneath.
Drilling holes in the "wicking bucket". This bucket is filled with soil below the water line. It will wick water into the rest of the soil in the box.
Completed, but empty, growing boxes!
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Mar. 3, 2008 - Making Essene Bread
We made Essene bread today. This bread has nothing but sprouted wheat in it.
Sprouted Wheat
Ground sprouted wheat for 2 - 3 minutes in the food processor.
We kneaded it for 5 minutes or so to make sure the gluten developed.
This is the finished loaf. It has to sit in the fridge for a couple of days. This will make it nice and moist.
We have six cups of wheat sprouting for the next batch!
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Jan. 30, 2008 - History Lesson For the Day
As tax day looms I once again watched this movie and wondered if the truths found here will ever reach enough people to really ELIMINATE the IRS. What would happen if 200 million of us knew the truth all at the same time?
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