We have had a fairly busy 2 weeks with our Tapestry of Grace (TOG) studies.  The topic of Week 5 is the Tower of Babel and Mesopotamia.  Week 6 focuses on the stories of the Patriarchs.  We were assigned chapters 12-50 in Genesis in one week!  Thankfully, we have the whole Bible on CD which we listened to this week or I don't think I would have any voice left! 

Last week we had our 2nd co-op meeting where we finished up discussing Egypt.  The UG kids made pyramids out of sugar cubes.

My kids tend to be slow on doing projects so they weren't able to finish them at co-op. They finished them last week at home.

They also painted their salt dough maps that they made at our first co-op meeting.

My older son has spent 2 weeks designing a Royal Game of Ur game board. It's 99% finished, but I don't have pictures to share of it yet. My daughter made a model ziggurat which we downloaded from here. She also started a weaving project. 

Finally, yesterday I decided to try the no-bake cookie dough map idea.  My younger son made a map of Israel.

My daughter made a map to show Abraham's journey from Ur to Canaan, to Egypt, and back to Canaan.

My older son made the same map as my daughter, but he added flags to identify the cities.

Everyone enjoyed themselves making and eating their maps!

Molly at Counter-Culture mom wrote a good article on the value of catechising children. It was a good reminder for me.  We have been memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism for a couple of years now. Our memorization has slowed down over the summer though and I am planning on working some on it every morning in our Bible time.

I have updated my scripture memory box to include the Catechism questions that we have learned.  I was a few (like 15) behind.  I used the Scripture Memory System from Simply Charlotte Mason to set up our scripture memory box.  The system uses notecards and dividers to organize your daily recitation.  As you learn a passage better, it gets moved to a different level of review.  It's a really great idea.  You do of course have to use the system for it be effective.  We'll be adding our memory box to our routine when school resumes tomorrow morning.

My youngest is growing up so fast.  She will be 2 in October. My son was playing around with the sound recorder yesterday and he recorded her singing.

Click here to listen.

My son finished his creation book today.  Once again, he really got into this assignment and enjoyed doing it.  He even wrote a page on why the days were literal 24 hour days without me asking him to.  (It's not in the pictures though. )

I had such good intentions of writing a weekly report last year that kind of faded with my busyness.  It is nice to have a record so I hope to do a better job this year.

We completed Week 4 of Year 1 of Tapestry of Grace (TOG).  This week we studied Genesis Chapters 1-10 which include Creation, the Fall, and the Flood.  I am really enjoying TOG and so are my children.  My oldest son even said he liked it!  (Last year he told me that he just didn't like history and that I shouldn't try to make him like it.)  Unfortunately, at some point I have to add in our other subjects.  (I do don't I????)  We started TOG because our co-op was starting and we needed to be on the same schedule. It has been such a relaxing first month of school.  Absolutely the best ever and this is the beginning of our 6th year of homeschooling.

One of the assignments this week was to make a Creation book.  I allowed the children freedom to use whatever medium they desired. (Well, except the 1st grader.  Maybe I'll write about my fun challenges with him later.) My oldest son (10) made his book entirely on the computer using editing photos.  It's not quite finished yet, so I'll have to post it later.  My daughter (8)used cut pieces of construction paper.  I think her book turned out cute.

Those red things are birds.

For my younger son I found this mini-book. Here is the squidoo page where I found the link.  There are some really great ideas for studying the Old Testament on the lens. Here is his page before I cut the pages and made it into a book.

Along with the TOG reading, I remembered that I had The Geology Book  (available from Answers in Genesis).  It has a great section on Pangaea (the theory that all the continents were one), as well as major geologic events in earth's history including creation, the fall, and the flood.  My older son began on his own accord sketching a flip book of the continents separating!  (Did I mention that school went really well this week?)

I think we need to start math next week.  Maybe not though.  Maybe after Labor Day.  We'll see.

We have completed, well almost, week 3 of TOG Year 1.  Rather, than focus on Egyptian gods, we focused on the 10 plagues and passover.  I assigned both of my bigger kids to make a book about the 10 plagues.  My daughter chose to make a fan book.



It's a little difficult to see, but you can get the basic idea.  I was happy with the effort she put into it.  I think she really learned the material. 

I'm not super pleased with the way the fan book covers up some of the writing.  We used the octagon shaped fan book (fat) available FREE from homeschool share.  I did have the foresight to have her use the reverse orientation on the last 5 pages, but I think maybe I should draw a line to mark the end of the readable space. It may just be too many pages for a fan book.  Probably a layered flip book would have been a better choice.

My son's book is still not finished.  He is drawing much more elaborate pictures and he paraphrased a lot more of the biblical account for the text of his book.  It will be very nice, I just need to encourage him to finish it TODAY.

I am an organization junkie. (Is that an oxymoron?) Anyway, I do love organizing around the house, and I love to make sure that my days, weeks, and months are planned out ahead of time.  That's why I am so excited about the new Schoolhouse Planner from The Old Schoolhouse magazine.  It is an amazing collection of useful planning forms for your home AND your homeschool.  This dual nature is what  sets it apart from other planners.  It is not just a homemaking planner or a homeschool planner, but it integrates both into one package.

The first 122 pages have single-page calendars for 2008 and 2009 as well as a two-page calendar for each month of this school year. (July 2008 - June 2009).  For each month, there is a theme.  For each of these themes, there is a fact sheet, a resource list from the The Old Schoolhouse, an article by a homeschooling expert, and two recipes.  (These recipes don't actually follow the theme, but they are somewhat seasonal to go with each month.) For example, the month of January 2009, has an article by Terri Johnson (www.knowledgequestmaps.com) entitled "Must I Teach Geography?".  There is a fact sheet listing all the states, capitals, postal abbreviations, and date of statehood.  In addition, there are links to various resources to aid in your study of geography and recipes for Easy Taco Soup and Homestead Originals Chicken Soup.

The next section of the planner contains the homeschool forms.  There are 41 different forms. These range from Annual Plans and Yearly Goals forms to a 12-year plan form.  There are forms to record grades and a form for unschooling records.  Also included are forms for co-op planning, field trip planning, nature study, science labs, books read, and memory work.  The Old Schoolhouse has really gone the extra mile creating a place for recording items that are often overlooked.

The final section of the planner contains 32 forms for household management.  These include several varieties of chore charts and menu planners as well as a page for important phone numbers.  Some of the more unique forms are a garden planning checklist and garden plans, a loaned and borrowed list, directions  to new places, and a pet's health log.

I would consider this planner a hybrid between an on-line planner and a paper planner.  It can be used completely as a paper planner.  Just print the pages you need and write on them.  However, the designers have made this planner so that you can easily add your personal information.  For instance, you can type in important dates on the calendar before you print.   You could make a complete customized grocery list by typing in your staple items to the grocery list form.  There are so many possibilites for making this planner your own.

I have just started putting together my own personal planner using the Schoolhouse planner.  I am excited about combining the tools I need for my two biggest jobs - educating my children and managing my home - into one convenient notebook.  I think the additional organization will help me to run my home and my homeschool more efficiently.  This product would be a benefit to the organizational junkie and the organizational newbie alike.

I am an avid reader.  I have been an avid reader since I was a young child.  I really love curling up with a good book.  I always take a book to the doctor's office, the mechanic, or anywhere where I might have to wait.  I read in bed every night before I go to sleep. I should also mention that I thoroughly enjoy reading The Old School House magazine (TOS) . When it arrives in the mail, I scan through the whole thing as soon as I have a chance to sit down.  Then over the next few days I read the magazine from cover to cover. 

As an old-fashioned reader, I must confess that I was somewhat skeptical about the The Old Schoolhouse Magazine - Digital Edition.  I couldn't imagine actually "reading" the magazine on the computer.  However, I am pleasantly surprised with what I have found.  Reading the digital edition of TOS is not like reading a pdf file.  In the standard view you are able to view a two-page spread.  With the click of an arrow, the page turns. (The edge really curves and gradually turns--a very nice visual).  There is no scrolling through pages and pages looking for the right place.  If you want to zoom in, just  click the page.  Another click resumes back to the 2 page spread.  There is a Table of Contents button at the top to easily manuever directly to the desired article.  You can also view all the pages as thumbnails - another handy feature.

Perhaps my favorite feature of the TOS Digital Edition is the links.   I'm sure there are other people who read an article in TOS and think, "Oh, the author has a blog.  I need to check it out."  but never actually take the time to go to the web page.  How often does someone actually remember to bring her magazine to the computer and check out all the interesting links?  (Maybe if I had a laptop and wireless internet.... but that's another post.) I for one don't.  But with the digital edition of TOS, all the links are built in.  All you have to do is click on the desired link, and you are there.  You can check out the blog written by the author of your favorite article.  You can readily click on the web addresses in the ads. 

I love to look at different curricula.  With the digital edition, I can check out different product websites as I'm browsing through my magazine.  I love this new format and I think you will too.

Some of the many advantages of subscribing to TOS Digital edition are:

1. Now you get your magazine sooner.  No waiting for the mail.
2. Easy access to all those great websites.
3. Less clutter to clean up at home. (Also environmentally friendly!)
4. No danger of losing your copy.  Just log back in on your computer.
5. Saving your copy of the magazine doesn't take up any valuable shelf space.
6. Saves you money. (Just $16.95 for a one-year subscription)

I think you will love the many advantages of this new digital format.  If you really still love sitting on the couch with your paper copy, then you could just do what I've done -  Order both!

Yesterday we had our first Tapestry of Grace (TOG) co-op meeting.  We went over weeks 1 and 2 of Year 1 Unit 1 which is Egypt.  The day went extremely well considering all of us are new to TOG and co-ops of this kind.  We started off with salt dough maps of either Egypt or an imaginary country.







Next, we made mud bricks.  This seemed like a fun idea, but in hindsight it was really messy with not much reward.  Hmm, maybe that's how the Israelites felt. 

My family spent a gorgeous afternoon at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia.  We have been a few times before and I think it is one of the most beautiful places to hike.  The views are spectacular, because after a fairly steep climb straight up, the rest of the hike is along a relatively treeless ridge with large rock outcrops and meadowland.


This is my husband with 3 of our kiddos.


My husband with our littlest one. She has an easy time of it.


Here is one of the views.


My big kids love to climb on the rocks. I don't like it very much. I'm too much of a worrier.

My 2nd son was too busy to try to climb. Did I mention there were tons of juicy blackberries!


Another perspective of how high they climbed.


Another fun thing about Grayson Highlands is the wild ponies.


But not too wild.


This pony was very friendly. He walked with us for about 1/2 a mile.


Then he found a friend.


This colt was shy at first.


But it got over it! Those are my shorts it's trying to nibble.


Here's one last picture of the view on the the way back down.

We had such a wonderful afternoon.
I wish the park were closer. 

Last school year we used Elementary Greek Year 1 with my 4th grade son and 2nd grade daughter. I highly recommend this program for teaching Koine Greek to children.  It is broken down into 5 daily lessons per week.  I did the lessons orally with my kids.  Our oral lesson was followed by a workbook exercise that went with the lesson.  The oral portion takes about 5-10 minutes per day and the workbook can usually be done in 15 minutes.  There are 5 vocabulary words per lesson except for review lessons that do not introduce new vocabulary.  There is a memory verse each week along with reminders in the text to periodically review the  memory verses.   The first year covers conjugating present tense verbs, as well as masculine, feminine, and neuter noun endings, adjective and article endings.  It really is a lot of material in a relatively painless manner. 

I bought the whole set which included flashcards and a pronunciation CD.  The flashcards are really nice cards and it was worth it to not have to make them.  The CD didn't get used a whole lot.  This was mainly because the cd player in my van is messed up and won't skip tracks which would force us to listen to the whole thing. That gets a little old because it starts with the alphabet and each letter sound. My kids using the program were in 2nd and 4th grades, but it would be suitable for an older student just as well.  There is nothing cute or silly about the program. I learned Greek along with them.  We had studied Greek the year before using Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek levels 1 and 2.  Hey Andrew was good for what I wanted to use it (to teach the alphabet well), but Elementary Greek is much more for the money, plus it is much more systematic and logical. The only part that might have been too fast for a younger student was the alphabet, Elementary Greek spends 2 weeks on it.  I have purchased Year 2 for this coming year and am looking forward to it. 

You can purchase Elementary Greek directly from the publisher, Open Texture, here . It is also available through Rainbow Resource and Timberdoodle.

We recently purchased a brand-new resource to use in our homeschool this upcoming year.  It is called Animals in the Bible and is published by Piedmont Educational Services.

The set consists of a 40 minute DVD filled with interesting information and spiritual insights to be gained from the animals in the Bible.  It is a superb DVD and has been awarded The Best Children's Film and Best of the Festival Award at the Creation Arts Awards.

The study guide is a real gem.  There are 2-4 pages of information about each animal.  The information is presented in short segments making it easy to read and locate specific topics.  The book contains both scientific and historical information about the animals.  There is also a short activity such as a word search, code, or scrambled word for each animal.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the study guide is a resource page with helpful websites for each animal.  Included are sites for hands-on activites, free online games, lesson plans, toys and gifts, and additional info. The beginning of the study guide also has 2 pages on suggestions for using the study guide.  It has ideas for using the animal studies as a springboard for writing, history, geography, art, Bible, and science. This guide would be great for planning unit studies. 

The animals included in the DVD and study guide are:

• Ant
• Horse
• Lamb
• Eagle
• Snake
• Deer
• Fish
• Lion
• Dove
• Wolf
• Fox
• Quail
• Camel
• Donkey
• Dog

I'm excited about incorporating this book into our science studies this year alongside Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 3 by Jeannie Fulbright.

I confess, I have always been scared of scrapbooking.  I was scared of the cost, the clutter, the mess, and the overwhelming variety of things to choose.  I have a hard time making decisions and the scrapbook aisles in Michael's make me hyperventhilate. 

So, when I heard of digital scrapbooking, I was a little more interested.  With digital scrapbooking you can eliminate the clutter, the mess, and most of the cost of traditional scrapbooking.  You still unfortunately have the overwhelming variety of options.  I downloaded free digital scrapbook software from here on scrapbookflair.com.  It's pretty nice software.  (Especially for free!)  They also have backgrounds, embellishments, design templates, and designer collections that all can be downloaded for FREE! 

I finally got around to trying it out over the weekend.  I was going to visit both of my grandmothers who live in Tennessee.  They have never been to our house and most likely will never get to visit here because of the distance and their health.  So, I made scrapbook pages of pictures of our house.  Here they are.  I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  I think I may not be artistic enough for this hobby though. 

Wow!  I feel like summer is almost gone!  We are starting our Tapestry of Grace co-op on August 12.  By that time we're supposed to have completed the first 2 weeks!  Yikes.  I spent most of my free time this week preparing for the semi-annual consignment sale I participate in.  I priced a ton of stuff for this sale.  I hope that it does well.

This afternoon, I took some time organize my Grammar plan for school. (To see what I'm talking about you can read here.) I went through the table of contents and made a spreadsheet that matches the lessons in the textbook to the worksheets.  I filled in days for review and tests as well.  If my plan works, I will definitely spend a lot less time planning our grammar assignments. 

We have been using Rod and Staff's English Grammar textbooks for 3 years now and I really like them.  They are thorough, well-organized, with good explanations.  There are more exercises than I feel are really necessary for my children, but I have solved this by not assigning every question in each set.  Doing this took about 30 minutes each week as I planned the lessons for the week and entered each assignment in Homeschool Tracker.

For this upcoming year, we are going to begin using Tapestry of Grace (TOG).  Up to this point, I have tried a couple of writing programs half-heartedly, but mainly I've just had my children do the writing assignments in Rod and Staff.  However,  since next year I'm planning to use the writing assignments with TOG, some of the Rod and Staff assignments will be redundant.  Since I was unwilling to give up Rod and Staff for another grammar program, I first decided to just leave out all the writing assignments.  Then, as I started looking at the number of remaining assignments and the number of school days I had a brainstorm.  I have been purchasing the worksheet books, but rarely using them because there was enough practice in the texts.  For this school year I've decided I'm going to have my chidren read the lessons from the textbooks and ONLY do practice from the workbooks. By doing this we will only do grammar 3 times per week, freeing up more time in our day to do TOG reading assignments.  It will be less busy work for the kids, which they will appreciate, and it will greatly decrease the time I have to spend planning grammar, which is a good thing since I'm going to need it to plan TOG. I'm excited about trying this plan and am anxious to see how well it works.

I finally figured out at least one way to post my schedules here.  I converted my spreadsheets to images and then post just like pictures.

We're home from our wonderful vacation to Atlantic Beach, NC.  We had a fantastic time with fantastic weather.  I don't have time to post too much about it, but here are a few pictures of our trip.