My friend Esther is leading the charge as we start a homeschool gym class with about 12 kids.  We had our first meeting last Friday, and the boys had a great time playing soccer skill games.  We started with a warm up and then two 'laps' around the field we were using.

     DH has given us a great idea to incorporate dynamic warm up exerices instead of the traditional "warm up" that most of us are used to from gym class.  Dynamic warm up exercises increase your body temperature and warm up the muscles without the potential bad-effects of warm up stretches.  I decided to post the link to the Youtube.com video showing a variety of warm up exercises that he recommended:

     DH suggested the following order for the warm ups, from lightest intensity to hardest intensity:

Arm Circles (forward/ back, little/big)
Walking butt kicks
Fast butt kicks
Walking hi knees
Fast hi Knees
Hi Knees with skip
Toe Walking
Heel Walking
Walking Lunges
Reverse Walking Lunges
Single Leg Deadlift Walk
Stiff Leg Raise and Rotation
Grapevine (l/r)
Side lunges/ lateral shuffle (l/r)

     He also sent me to this site at Center For Athletes which explains why you want to do a dynamic warm up vs. a static stretching-style warm up.

     Apparently, I'm the winner this week.  I'm the last healthy one standing, but it may not last long, as I've got swollen glands.  But, at least I'm still here.

     Despite sickness, we are chugging along.  A couple things popped up that I'll journal below:

History: We studied about Martin Luther this week. ("Is the the one who said, 'I had a dream?'")  We giggled as we read SOTW's little poem to remember the number and outcomes of Henry VIII's wives:

divorced, beheaded, died

divorced, beheaded survived.

I don't think I'll ever forget this piece of trivia!

Science: Noeo's got this great book scheduled about the scientific method. 

It does a great job of explaining the scientific method and possible biases scientists might face as they interpret their results.  Towards the end of the book, we'll be trying to design an experiment to answer a question and walk through the scientific method setp-by-step.  Unfortunately that won't be for another week or so;  we're going to focus on History next week because we'll be studying the Renaissance, and there is so much to cover that Hugs is going to love.

Latin:  I really think Latin is an important subject.  I'm very pro-Latin in our homeschool, but just having a hard time getting to it daily.  We did complete our Lesson 16 this week (names of some of the constellations), but I'm just not excited about it like I was last year.  I'm trying to figure out why.  My first inclination is "go shopping" and buy a new curriculum -- something with a  WOW factor in it.  I'm considering either Lively Latin or Latin for Children.  Both seem to have a variety of learning activities in them, which I think is what we need. 

Language Arts: I've really stepped up the pace of All-About-Spelling.  He doesn't need all the foundation that is covered in Level 1.  Certainly, he needed the phonogram information, something we'd never covered before, and just slowing down to segment words into their phonograms was a helpful review.   I suspect we can finish level 1 next week and move on to level 2, which will give us more on the syllabication rules, which is what we need for spelling and reading.  Hugs is a good reader, but I think his difficulty with longer multisyllable words (words he's never seen before and words of 4-5 syllables) are holding back his comprehension. 

     AAS and FLL-3 are really my time drains right now.  They just suck a bunch of time out ofmy morning and make me feel like I'm neglecting the other two boys.  So, I don't know that we'll stick with AAS as Hug's main spelling program.  I will need to reassess after we finish AAS level 2, which hopefully will be by Christmas.  If we can go back to our ACSI Spelling program, or return to Spelling Workout [we finished B mid-2nd grade] that would mesh better with the needs of the other boys.

     In other news, we are tracking my mom's Asian cruise on our wall map, we missed CBS this week (because of all the sniffles), but did go to our first homeschool swim lesson and gym class!  Both those activities were well received by Hugs and Smiles;  Giggles not so much since he didn't get to do anything.

     After dinner tonight, I had a big "duh" moment.  I've just tonight gone ahead and transferred our Bible verse memorization lyrics into Start Write software and we'll use those for our handwriting practice rather than the Reason for Handwriting verses.  This will help with memorization and handwriting at the same time.  Two bangs for the buck.  Exactly what I need right now.

     I've also decided I need to do more  in the kitchen with the boys.   This week, they were in charge of peeling the carrots.  I'd like to get them more involved with some meal prep, so I'll be looking at ways to encourage their help

    I haven't had a chance to write about our field trip on Saturday to the U.S. Army's Spirit of America show.  A brief review:  It was fabulous!

    The show presents a brief (hour long) review of the history of the army, starting with the Minute Men and Paul Revere's ride to the current conflict in Iraq.   My boys really enjoyed seeing the Army men in all their different costumes from the different periods of time: Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Operation Kuwaiti Freedom and the Iraqi War.  The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corp performed and did Pershing's Own, the primier army band.  The boys loved the music, but I think they liked the drill team best.  I was amazing to see the skill and control the men had with their rifles.  Oh!  Giggles' favorite part was when the men rappled from the top of the arena;  this happened at least twice, and he keeps talking about it, even a week later ("army men"   "down" -- he's in the telegraphic speech phase right now).

     Personally, I thought it was an amazing show, and certainly makes me feel very proud to be an American.  I am so thankful and grateful to the men and women who have committed their lives to serving our country, so thankful for their dedication, selflessness and bravery.  I'm also so thankful for their families and for the sacrifice that they must live with everyday when their loved ones are in harms way.  Because of their service, I'm able to worship at the church of my chosing, blog and speak about what I want without fear of arrest, educate my children at home, teach them the truths of the Bible.  I'm very aware of how blessed we are to live in freedom and am thankful to those who defend and preserve it.  So, if you have a son, daughter, husband, wife or other family member who is serving, please thank them for me.  And thank you, too, for supporting your family member as they serve our country. 

God Bless America!

I've decided to write how we use our mp3 player for school.  I purchased a Creative Zen V from Audible.com with some birthday money I received in May.  With it, I got a $50 gift certificate to audible to purchase and download audio books.  They had a deal going at the time (don't know if it still going on) where the first 3 months were $7.99 and included a free audiobook download.

One of my homeschool yahoo groups has quite a few technologically savvy people on it, and they've been using ipods and mp3s to supplement and expand their homeschool.  Here's how our mp3 works for us.

Latin:  I've transferred our Prima Latina audio CD to the Zen so that we can take our Latin prayers and vocabulary with us.

Memorization:  The Zen V has a microphone so you can record yourself!  This is a great tool for us with poetry memorization, as I just record myself reading aloud our current memorization passage (We're working on True Nobility by Edgar Guest right now instead of FLL3's first poem, The Land of Nod by Robert Louis Stevenson).  I've also got our Bible verses on there, too. So, when Hugs gets to the point in his day when we work on memorization, he grabs the Zen, goes to the "Memorization" playlist and listens to the tracks that he's supposed to.  I've decided to keep our previously memorized verses in this playlist so that we can review easily.

     I'm also going to be adding songs from our Geography CD to the memorization playlist, but that won't hit full gear until after Thanksgiving;  we've got the period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to do a big geography review.

Read-Alouds:  On our vacation this summer we listened to Because of Winn-Dixie.  There are also tons of other online places to get audiobooks.  In My list of friends' blogs, look for ltjewel;  she has written tons of reviews and has links for Ipod School.

Car School:  I've found a couple fun podcasts that would be very apporpriate for middle to high schoolers:  Grammar Girl, who produces a great 5 minute podcast on improving grammar skills, and Princeton Review's Vocabulary Minute.  The Vocab. Minute podcasts I've listened to would be excellent for students as they prepare for their SATs!  I have put several of them on our player, primarily for discussion starters with Hugs about our Latin (I try to pick and chose ones that have a Latin focus).

     Check your library for their audio books and online audio book downloads. Our library just added this online feature, and they have LOTS of great audio downloads for language learning -- for adults and kids!

I hope we're saying goodbye to tears during math drill time.   I just placed an order at Sonlight for the Flashmaster math fact product.  A couple entries ago I mentioned that we were using Dr. Aardsma's Math Drill computer program.  It is a fine program, but I am bothered by a couple features:   (1)  I don't care if Hugs doesn't know "subtrahend" or "addend" -- at least not right now;  (2) I also don't care if he doesn't know how may quarts are in a gallon, or pints in a quart (hey, I'm 40 with 2 advanced degrees, and I didn't know how many quarts were in a gallon until we started this math drill last spring!).  Again, at least right now.  Those questions are getting in the way of the facts that I really want him to know right now:  5x6, 11x4, etc.  I'm excited because the Flashmaster is portable and can go with us in the car.

Now, I realize there are other issues of character that need to be addressed because we have tears during math drill (perseverance, putting forth all your effort, etc., obeying authority), but I'm hoping that at least this one change can help us -- both of us -- work on those issues of character together rather than tearing each other apart. 

Just some random comments about our first day:

• Go to bed on time. Go to bed on time. Go to bed on time.  I got sidetracked last night because I found out that friends from church are in the Ukraine adopting their 7-year-old little girl.  So, I couldn't resist reading all about their adventures and patient waiting.  At least it is a decent excuse, right?
  
• I highly recommend a slow start to the school year.  We are not adding in all our subjects this week, but by the middle of Sept. or so, we'll have added all we plan, and (hopefully) have gotten used to all the new routines around here as I intentionally start homeschooling Luke and including Levi in more purposeful activity.
  
• I measured the boys' height on the back of the door for posterity.  Please, Lord, let us live in this house long enough to see them grow !!   Here's a picture:
  
• We're back to using Dr. Aardsma's Math Drill.  I need something that is a no brainer for math fact drill, and this is what I have for now.  It is basic, but I think it is effective.  The program factors in accuracy in answering the problems and speed, and gradually increases the number of problems the child must complete daily.  I'm also going to take a look at Big Math Time to see if that will meet our need for math fact drill practice.
  
• Shhh! We never finished the last couple weeks of Noeo Biology I, so I'm making Hugs do the reading by himself and looking up the internet links.  I don't really care if we finish it, honestly, but it is giving him some purposeful activity so that I can be with the other two.
  
• One thing I'm really being purposeful about is placing our priorities first.  I actually got up with enough time to read my Bible devotional, shower, dry my hair (mostly), and eat breakfast.  WooHoo!  Also, the boys and I sat in a circle after breakfast and sang a couple songs for Giggles (fingerplays that he enjoys, and I'm teaching the other two about keeping the beat in music).  I've found most of our Band in a Box instruments, so I'll add those in to our morning as well.
  
• Oops!  I forgot our memory verse for today.  We had to run to the LL Bean store, because apparently the lime green backpack I'd bought for Hugs is too "girly."  Who knew? Anyway, we listened to a couple of podcasts I'd found at itunes, but I forgot about the verse.
  

True Nobility

by Edgar Guest

Who does his task from day to day

And meets whatever comes hi way,

Believing god has willed it so,

Has found real greatness here below.

Who guards his post, no matter where,

Believing God must need him there,

although but lowly toil it be,

Has risen to nobility.

For great and low there's but one test,

'Tis that each man shall do his best.

Who works with all the stength he can

Shall never die in debt to man.

DH is participating in a men's group called Raising a Modern Day Knight to help him/ us prepare our boys for Christian manhood.  When I was reading Trivium Academy's blog earlier, Jessica posted this poem that she's using as a theme for her school year.  I thought it was a fab idea, and decided to use it as well to meet our family's needs (Thanks Jessica!).S o, I've put together a "contract" of sorts to discuss with Ben on Monday, August 20, our first "official" day of 3rd grade:

Ben’s 3rd Grade Year

July 2007-June 2008

I will:

1. Work diligently;

2. Put forth my best effort;

3. Be willing to try new things without grumbling, arguing, and complaining;

4. Show trust and honesty to my parents; and

5. Remember to ask for help.

 _________________________________

I will:

                1. be prepared to teach Ben his lessons;

                2. be patient, gentle and kind;

                3. promise to have fun, laugh, and tickle Ben whenever he needs it .

 ___________________________________

As you can see, we both have some character issues to work on.    (Whoever said homeschooling is "only" education for the child?  I find that I am learning just as much about myself as the children are learning about God's creation!) 

Finally, Jessica and another wonderful hsing mom on the Well Trained Mind   boards posted a planning grid.  I did one of these for 2nd grade, and found it hugely helpful for getting the "big picture" of how we could progress through our studies during the year.  It ended up not being very accurate because we moved during the middle of the school year, so much of what I'd planned to do didn't get done when I'd wanted it to.  Anyway, I have made a 3rd grade grid, and it seems much more doable.  I've planned in frequent "breaks" and -- praise God! -- our History studies will fit into the plan and new "school year-round" plan easily!  Woo-hoo!

[Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to post this on the blog.  But, trust me, it is in color, looks good, makes sense and is such a help!]