. I have two of my sons very excited about a book! We are reading Bud, Not Buddy the story of a 10-year-old orphan boy trying to get by in Flint, Michigan during the depression years. The boys want to read this all the time and although we have enjoyed many good books this year, this one has really captured their imaginations.
I am thinking...
About Calvin who starts his first day as an EMT today! After three months he will have full medical, dental and vision which will be a real blessing for our family. He will also only have to work three days a week (12 to 14 hour shifts) to be considered full time - so he wants to hold on to his job as a lifeguard as well. It's just very exciting for me to watch him take those first steps out into the adult world.
From the learning rooms...Putting the finishing touches on CLEP test preparation for Sam. I am going to work on more writing skills with the other kids this week. It's funny how becoming good readers, doesn't necessarily equate to being good writers - although when I told the kids, "write something that you would like to read!" I saw a few light bulbs in their minds go off!
From the kitchen... Very low key this week with Ash Wednesday and then first Friday in Lent. I will say though Tuna Helper was on sale this week and when Mr. Pete saw it he snapped it up - he just loves that stuff!! We use low fat milk and margarine to mix it up so it's not that bad calorie wise and it tastes pretty good too - but I just chuckled because Mr. Pete was so happy with this find! I've got a tasty bean soup planned for Friday.
Around the house...Get ready for lent! I have new purple table cloths!
A few plans for the rest of the week:Celebrate fat Tuesday! and then really get the kids into the spirit of lent
A picture I am sharing:
This is Sam practicing on Saturday for his Sunday Debut. I'll be blogging more about that later. It was amazing to see how far he has come since starting organ lessons last August! He actually plays the pedals with his feet - which is amazing to me anyway, but to watch his long size 15 feet fly over the pedals like that was really something to see. I have new respect for organists - I think you have to have pretty strong ab muscles to be able to hold your body weight off of your legs to move your feet so fast!
Since my kids KNOW the other kids don't have school today they were balking a little bit about having to do school themselves! But I tried to make this morning fun. First of all, I had a contest. However could name the first 22 presidents in order, from the beginning could have today off.
Noah won!
But all is not drudgery. I found this web site with all of the photos and information about the presidents. For example here is the biography of Ulysses S. Grant.
I copied each picture into my computer, reformatted it, and then printed them out where we cut them out and then put them onto our time line! It was fun and I think gives the kids a better understanding of who goes where and when!
From the learning rooms...CLEP for Sam, and a lot of emphasis on writing this week. He finished Moby Dick last week and has to get going on Uncle Tom's Cabin. He also has to finish watching the Civil War Documentary. The other kids and I are starting Minn of the Mississippi and learning about the great state of Minnesota. Also Gabe and Noah will be starting Bud, Not Buddy.
I am going...to battle of the bands tonight! Six high school bands are playing and Gabe and Sam are the "crew" but they want to be performers next year!
Reviewed what the children remembered about Our Lady of Lourdes. We had watched Song of Bernadette in the past and they still remembered many parts of it. Probably the most memorable part was the scene when Bernadette starts digging in the mud and after getting thoroughly dirty, the spring finally comes forward! Izzy also remembered how diseased Bernadette's knee was and yet she didn't complain. We of course, made a white cake to celebrate the feast day!
What we read
We finished Stuart Little! Gabe and Noah started "Bud, not Buddy."Izzy read the story about staying A Funny Animal in her Pathway Reader
We Wrote:
We didn't right much this week, but the kids did review their spelling words and are finally moving a head with some of their spelling demons.
Math pages
Izzy learned the 3 times tables and learned about right angles, parallel and perpendicular lines. Noah and Gabe did math, but I have to check which chapters. Sam started on Mr. Drexler's assignments.
Social studies/history
We watched a PBS DVD on the life of Frederick Douglas. We also watched episodes 4 and 5 of the Civil War. I cannot believe how much watching that affected me! I just sobbed through Gettysburg and the Gettysburg address.
Science
Have to get back to that next week.
Art/music
Sam and Noah had excellent piano lessons! They are getting ready for the ribbon festival. Gabe is progressing on drums and Sam and Gabe's little rock group is starting to sound pretty good! Izzy finished her art class and brough home a lovely book of prints!
Teachable moments
In the Frederick Douglas movie, they talked about what a free spirit he had had up until the age of 6. At 6 he started being treated as a slave and was assigned to be the companion of a little white boy. Interestingly, in Bud, Not Buddy, Bud talks about how life gets hard, at 6! he also mentions how scary it is to have your (baby) teeth fall out and no adult to tell you whether this is alright nor not!
I was web surfing this week and found a college program for American History! As Sam and I have been hitting American History hard this year, I wanted to check it out and was surprised and pleased that they were using many of the materials I have been using with him, including the The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns So regardless of how Sam does on the CLEP test, at least I know he has gotten a good education on the subject.
After six months of organ lessons, Sam's teacher thinks he is ready to play a prelude or a postlude at the February 22 mass. I'm thrilled and nervous for him at the same time.
On my homeschool wall I have a big timeline that I bought at a homeschool convention years ago. It mostly goes ignored except for the time and attention I choose to spend on it. Recently, Sam was sitting in the t.v. room and said, "Mom, you know that timeline you have on the classroom wall? I never really cared about it before, but that's actually pretty neat. I've been paying more attention. Good idea mom." And although it is now probably apparent to my dear blog readers that I will cry at just about anything this side of a Hallmark Greeting Card, this one left me too dumbfounded to speak let alone cry!
I am thankful for...my mom, and all that she did to raise me and my sister. As the years go by I appreciate all of that more and more.
From the learning rooms...CLEP for Sam, and a lot of emphasis on writing this week with Noah and Gabe. I gotta get Sam through the Civil War this week! Sam and I worked a lot on the pre-Jacksonian era last week. I wish he would buckle down and JUST STUDY THIS STUFF SO HE COULD TAKE THE TEST AND WE COULD MOVE ON! The other kids and I are starting Minn of the Mississippi and learning about the great state of Minnesota. Also Gabe and Noah will be starting Bud, Not Buddy.
In preparation of Sam's Clep Test, I made this one up from questions I found on a number of sources Including Instacert. It's made up mostly of questions I was unsure of or didn't know!! We'll see how he does!
What happened FortMcHenry during the War of 1812._____________________________________________________________________
Andrew Jackson fought the British and won at the Battle of ____________ two weeks after a peace treaty had been signed for the War of 1812.
The first protective tariff in US History was passed in the year _________.
What as The Rush-Bagot Treaty?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who led an army into Spanish-controlled Florida and occupied Pensacola, violating international law in 1817?
True or False:The Adam-Onis Treaty stated that the Spanish surrendered their claims to Florida in return for $5 million from the US government.
Fletcher vs __________ was the first time a state law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
_________College vs Woodward limited the power of state governments to control corporations.
McCulloch vs __________ established that the state does not have the power to control a federal agency.
What is Gibbons vs Ogden in 1824?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who was Robert Fulton and what did he invent?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The _________ Road, which connected Cumberland, Maryland, and Wheeling, Virginia, linking the Potomac and OhioRivers, was built in 1818
Who was Samuel Slater and what did he invent?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1828, the first organized _________ occurred in New Jersey.
In 1805, History of the Revolution was published by ___________.
What is the Second Great Awakening?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
John Calhoun, John Quincy Adams' vice president (and later vice president under Andrew Jackson), anonymously published _____________ Exposition and Protest.
The ________ system was President Andrew Jackson's belief that government offices should go to faithful supporters.
Circle one:
In 1830, there was a debate between Senator Hayne or Calhoun, and Daniel Webster. The Senator spoke of South Carolina's right to nullification.
With the development of the ____________, traffic on western rivers, especially the Mississippi River, increased dramatically.
___________ became popular because the transportation they provided was so cheap.
____________ was the belief that eventually the United States would stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
General ____________ led the largest force of American soldiers into Mexico during the Mexican War.
What did the 1828 presidential election demonstrate?:
that supporters of common people would have difficulty being elected.
that the new political parties were strongly sectional in their sources of strength.
that first-term presidents usually can be reelected.
that New Englanders would never vote for a southerner for president
Andrew Jackson's Specie Circular sought to?:
pay off the government debts.
replace the Bank of the United States with an independent treasury.
end the financial panic of 1837.
establish the free coinage of silver.
slow down speculation in public land..
The political purpose for proposing the Tariff of 1828 was to?:
"get even" with the New Englanders for the Hartford Convention.
secure the support of the shipping interests of New England by depriving manufacturers of the protection they desired.
assure the Jacksonians of Southern support in the election of 1828.
gain the favor of producers of such raw materials as wool, hemp, and flax.
discredit the administration of President John Quincy Adams.
he Whig Party turned against President John Tyler because?:
he was felt to be ineffective in pushing the Whig agenda through Congress.
he spoke out in favor of the annexation of Texas.
he opposed the entire Whig legislative program.
he criticized Henry Clay's handling of the Nullification Crisis.
Outside my window..
I think it is actually going to be blue skies and warm today! Maybe into the 30s?
I am thinking...I am very brave trying to take all the kids to Mass this morning for Candlemas. Not that they're not good kids, but Sam and Gabe can be crankly teenagers in the morning and Rosie will be a cranky toddler. Still, this is how memories are made - good ones and bad ones! So I'm going to do it!
From the learning rooms...CLEP for Sam, and a lot of emphasis on writing this week with Noah and Gabe. I gotta get Sam through the Civil War this week! The other kids and I are starting Minn of the Mississippi and learning about the great state of Minnesota.
I am hoping...to manage to get the kids to the library today!I also want to study plant parts with Izzy and Noah.
I am hearing...my normal low ear buzz. Rosie is having a yak attack. I swear that baby wakes up talking and goes to sleep talking. she talks ALL THE TIME! Even when she is by herself.
Around the house...Cleaning up the classroom - again.
A few plans for the rest of the week:Start teaching the Angelus Prayer. Get to mass for Candlemas and Feast of St. Blaise to get our throats blessed. Exercise, and catch up on the laundry.
A picture I am sharing:A glimpse of our homeschool including the garland that is coming down today!
Was mainly Music Day! Sam and Noah went to their piano lessons in the morning. Sam went to organ lessons at 1:00 and then Sam went to his guitar class at 7:00. Sam and Gabe had choir practice at 7:00!
Movies or other learning activities
Mom took advantage of Sam's organ lesson to hit the library and get some books for next week's homeschool!
Learned about St. Thomas Acquinas including some cute stories about the great saint.
What we read
We read The Automobile in Stuart Little.Izzy read the story about staying overnight at Grandmother’s House in her Pathway Reader
Math pages
Izzy learned the 3 times tables. Noah and Gabe did math, but I have to check which chapters. Sam got a break- because of the snow day his tutor, Mr. Drexler couldn’t come.He is going to e-mail him a lesson.
Science
Gabe re-read Chapter 3 in General Science
Art/music
Noah, Gabe and Sam practiced their instruments.Izzy is decorating cookies.
Movies or other learning activities
Sam FINALLY finished the Mexican American War DVD by PBS.
I am thinking... Sam and I have a lot to do to get ready for his CLEP test. I also really want to work on the kid's reading and writing today. Lastly at mass I decided that I am going to just focus on the Lord and not to be too anxious about the times we are living in.
I am thankful for... the good friends in this wonderful neighborhood. We have been very blessed.
From the learning rooms...CLEP for Sam, and a lot of emphasis on writing this week with Noah and Gabe.
From the learning rooms...Still getting back on track after a two week break... ugh! Everyone did reading and math every day last week and that was quite an accomplishment! We also did a free write which was enjoyable! I hope to post Noah's soon - it was hysterical!
From the kitchen... Turkey and green bean casserole tonight!
I am wearing...Green pants, brown sweater and a read sweater because I am still freezing!
I am creating... a new schedule and new files for my new computer!
I am reading...The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Sam and Stuart Little with the Gabe and Noah. I have to pick a new book to read after Johnny Tremain!
I am hearing...my teenagers practicing their "rock band." They have one song that they keep playing incessantly! However, they are starting to listen to one another and they have moments when they are actually together and it sounds pretty good. I want to suggest to them that they learn something easy and slower, maybe an old Elvis tune with an easy drum beat, and simple guitar and base, like "Wise Men Say."
A picture to share!
This is the gingerbread house Izzy made before Christmas. It really isn't made of gingerbread but cardboard instead. It's lovely!
Outside my window...it is really cold! Not bitter cold like yesterday, but cold enough that I feel chilled all the time. At least the sky is blue.
I am thinking...That Mr. Pete and I made it through the holidays again! woo hoo!
From the learning rooms...Getting back on track after a two week break... ugh! My main goal has to be getting Sam ready for the CLEP test at the end of the month!
I am reading...The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Sam and Stuart Little with the Gabe and Noah. We HAVE to finish Johnny Tremain (although we did watch the Disney movie- which was okay but not nearly as good as the book!)
A few plans for the rest of the week:Buckle down with that exercise program. I have exactly six months before the big birthday! and I am determined to be in shape for it! Also, keep up with all of my work and homeschooling this week.
Pr 1:8 -
Hear, my son, your father's instruction And do not forsake your mother's teaching;
Ohio Law says: "An academic assessment report of the child must be sent to the superintendent annually. This report can be the results of a nationally normed, standardized test or it can be a written narrative indicating that a portfolio of the child's work has been reviewed by a certified teacher."
This is our "on-line" portfolio! I hope to turn this into our chosen certified teacher, Dr. Karen Holinga, for her to review for the end of the year assessment.
the story of a 10-year-old orphan boy trying to get by in Flint, Michigan during the depression years. The boys want to read this all the time and although we have enjoyed many good books this year, this one has really captured their imaginations.
So regardless of how Sam does on the 
