Well, today was our first day of Five In A Row (FIAR). I know...It's the middle of the year...and haven't I been homeschooling long enough and I'm just NOW getting around to using FIAR? Yes, finally my 5th child gets to have a little fun. Even if we started a day late.
We started at the very beginning (a very good place to start...and I could go on singing "Doe, a deer...", but I won't)..with The Story About Ping. Personally, I thought it to be a very boring story, but I can see why it was chosen. And my 6yos loved it and all the activities we did today...especially counting all of Ping's relatives (68 in case you were wondering). So I guess it doesn't matter if I think it's boring.
I haven't printed all the lapbook activities...actually, I've printed none of them, but we'll be using the one from Homeschool Share. Nothing like a free lapbook...that I don't have to make. I'm looking forward to doing some of these books. The Night of the Moonjellies looks really interesting, especially since we live near the ocean. We may just have to take a field trip...every day that week. Which reminds me...My kids found a Portugese Man O' War on the beach Sunday. I am so amazed that something so tiny can do so much damage. I was stung by some tentacles years ago...that were no longer attached to the Man O' War and I ended up on steroids to get the swelling and pain to go away. If you ever see one, keep away from the tentacles, even if you think it's dead. There's still poison in them thar' tentacles. I digress...I had to remind my kids if they had to touch it, to only touch it on the "sail"...or the top, squishy, bubble-looking blue part. That's the "safe zone." I did get a picture of it, but it's on my cell phone. I can't figure out how to get those pictures off yet. I know there has to be an easy way, but I'm not cell phone tech savy.
Speaking of pictures...I wish I had some pics of what we did today, but I was busy trying to help my 6yos while trying to guard the counting "chips" from my 3yos. It was so cute. First both my boys snuggled up and listened to the story. and for some reason the doorbell rang once and the phone rang 3 times while I was trying to read (hadn't had any interruptions all day up until then). But we were able to get through the book quickly even with the distractions. My ds learned how to count by 10's today too. I showed him it was easier to count the group than it was to count each chip individually...not to mention that I really didn't want to sit around while he counted the chips...and lost his place a million times...and then had to start all over....all million times. So he knows how to count to 60 by 10's now..and he surprised me by counting to 8 by twos...no idea where he learned that, but since he has 4 older siblings, I suspect that has something to do with it.
Tomorrow we talk about the Yangtzhe River. I really love geography. Almost as much as history...actually, I keep my maps close by when we're studying history because I like to see where it happened. I'm a bit of a nut that way. Love my maps.
Gotta get ready for tomorrow's "fun." My kitchen counters SHOULD finally be fixed and installed. I really hope it happens this time. But what's a few more days. I haven't had a kitchen for a month now so a few more days won't make a huge difference in the "big picture."
I love this time of year...The hurricane season is almost over. The leaves are changing colors (in other parts of the world). It's starting to cool off to the lower 80's. The pumpkins and Indian corn are in the grocery stores...
...AND It's time for the Homeschool Blog Award Nominations!
I love this time of the year because I get to bestow on my fellow bloggers the honor due to them for sharing a bit of their lives throughout the year. I could go on and on about my favorites, but you'll probably find a link to them in the right sidebar under "Friends." If you've never nominated someone, I highly suggest you run over there and do it. They may not win their category or even be a finalist, but they will get warm fuzzies just by knowing that someone out there loves them.
And if you should just happen to want to nominate me (no...I wouldn't be dropping hints...really!), I might point out that I just redesigned my blog. (No hints meant to enter me for the Best Blog Design..or Best Artistic Content...or even the Best Variety...or the Live-What-You-Believe...or whatever...really...I'm not hinting. )
You can see the categories at the Homeschool Blog Awards website (There are 24 of them..and no, you don't have to nominate someone for each category). I'll only give a few hints about who I nominated.
...Someone who reminds me of fine China...
...Someone who runs a Station...
...A Cannon...
...Someone who makes me think of Scarlett O'Hara,...
...among others... (Have fun figuring those out. )
Please check out the Nomination Rules if you want your nominees to count. (Especially, to include the "http:/" in your link to the blog and the location of your favorite Geographical blog)...There's nothing worse than taking the time to nominate your favorites just to have the nomination D-Q'ed by missing some little thing the guidelines. (But I know all you women out there do in fact read the directions. )
...Looking forward to seeing who gets nominate...and voting on the finalists.
I just found this great website that has penmanship animation to help your kids learn the order of strokes. Only the basic manuscript and cursive are demonstrated (Zaner-Bloser)
I was looking over geology websites for some help...if you read my last entry, you'll see that I am NOT the person to come to when you can't identify a rock...10 times out of 10...I won't be able to identify it either...unless it's in the form of a countertop.
" It is not easy to tell the difference between rocks & minerals because there are so many kinds of them. It takes years of study to be able to accurately identify a mystery rock and even then rock hounds want to know where the specimen came from."
YIPPEE!! It's not just me that has no clue what I'm looking at...neither do geologists...*ahem* "Rock Hounds"
[OK, I know that's stretching it...but let me feel a little smarter for a few minutes before you burst my bubble. ]
I just stopped by the Huber Hof Academy blog and wanted to spread the word on a free giveaway she has. I'll let her tell you in her own words...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay I'm back and I've got 2 fun giveaways for you :) First the goodies:
I have a copy of Pirateology ~ A Pirate Hunter's Companion by Candlewick Press and this is one of my sons all time favorite books! It's written from a pirate hunter's point of view and is packed with all sorts of little tuck ins. There are ships logs, navigation, written letters, all sorts of pockets to open and find treasures, knot tying lessons with leather ropes to practice on and so much more. It will keep them reading for hours if not months! It's also perfect for reluctant readers as they make it so much fun to explore the life of a pirate that they just have to read it *grin*.
Now for all of you mama's out there! I've got a fun 8" x 8" scrapbook kit for you :) It includes a 4 ring chipboard binder that is a completely blank canvas so you can decorate it to fit any type of photos you want to put in it, acid free page protectors, double sided patterned paper, textured card stock, alphabet and number stickers, 2 sheets of die cut chipboard and ribbon. This would be perfect as a school album for all of those great photos and artwork I just know you are going to collect this coming school year!!
Now the rules:
For one entry to win the above prizes please sign Mr. Linky with your name and blog address so that I know you want to be entered in the draw. Non-bloggers can leave me a comment but make sure you leave me a way to contact you in the event that you are the winner!
For a second entry spread the contest fun and write an entry about it on your blog and then come back here to sign Mr. Linky again but please link directly to the entry about the contest this time or it won't count!
Contest closes at 11:59pm PST, Friday August 22nd. Winners will be announced the following day. "
I just found this on Dawn's page. I had to grab it for mine (not because I wanted to be a copy cat, but because I thought it was so good, I didn't want to lose it ).
"I look forward to the day when people who want to homeschool don't need to submit a letter of intent. People who choose to send their children to school would sign a waiver saying they wish to give up their rights and responsibilities to educate their own children and would like the state to do so for them instead."
Hey...I just wanted to mention that ENDING TONIGHT is Amy's giveaway for free tickets to Heart of the Matter's Homeschool Conference. In her words...
"How to enter
Leave a comment with a good I’ve-been-doing-long-division-all-day-and-now-you-people-want-to-eat recipe, a kid funny, or some pep talk for me. Two entries for you if you use a Bible verse that isn’t in Psalms. (Oh Lord, how long?!) Three entries if you link on your own blog. We’re like the only people on the planet still doing school, and I need to feel the love. Don’t make it complicated. Something like, “Hang tough, Amy, and eat ice cream,” works completely. Contest ends at midnight Eastern this Monday, June 23rd."
Hope you get the other 2 free tickets that I don't win. Just kidding.
This is a funny little thing I heard today. And the funniest thing is that I recall my dad saying the same thing to me a ka-jillion times when I was in school. I was reading a discussion on a local homeschool egroup about homeschooling, why we do it and the topic of socialization came up. One of the responses was "I used to hear a million times from our teachers in school...'You're not here to socialize. You're here to learn!' So why is it now that schools are for socialization? Are they not for learning any more?"
I had to laugh!! How many times did my dad say those exact words to me when I was growing up? " You aren't going to school to socialize. You're in school to learn." Ahh...the memories...the laughs...the irony... At least with 6 children, my kids have plenty of friends to "socialize" with and they don't even have to walk out the door.
She has compiled lots of great links on just about any subject you can think of...from math to science and even special needs children and parent helps...unit studies and state homeschooling laws. It is not just compiled links...but also MOM-TESTED links. Sounds like a great site. She also has a contest for a free $25 Amazon Certificate going through April 11. See her blog for more details.
Welcome to my blog...Why "gidget"? Well...my husband tried to teach me how to surf before we were married. I was lousy at it, but he called me his "gidget" and the name stuck.
Why "Treasure Trove"? I love sharing about my sweet little "treasures"...and God has blessed me beyond measure....and no, I didn't mean that to rhyme.
Even if we started a day late.
I'm looking forward to doing some of these books. The Night of the Moonjellies looks really interesting, especially since we live near the ocean. We may just have to take a field trip...every day that week. Which reminds me...My kids found a Portugese Man O' War on the beach Sunday. I am so amazed that something so tiny can do so much damage. I was stung by some tentacles years ago...that were no longer attached to the Man O' War and I ended up on steroids to get the swelling and pain to go away. If you ever see one, keep away from the tentacles, even if you think it's dead. There's still poison in them thar' tentacles. 
I digress...I had to remind my kids if they had to touch it, to only touch it on the "sail"...or the top, squishy, bubble-looking blue part. That's the "safe zone." 
Love my maps.
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