I didn't get first day pictures of the kids.... Not sure why.  It was a couple days later when dd14 asked why I didn't.  So, they were a couple days late, but I did take pictures of them doing their studies.  It's always neat to go back from year to year & see how they've grown.

dd14 is enjoying this year so far.  She likes the independence that Lifepacs has provided for her.  She has suprised me the past couple of months.  She loves to read, but the last few books she has been choosing to read are biographies.  Not because I told her to read them, but because that is what she picked out!  The first two were on Beverly Cleary. (one on her younger years and the second on her older years)  The one she is reading now is on Bach.  I guess, it makes sense because she loves to read about peoples lives.  I'm not sure, but I would guess that this has stemmed from her really enjoying reading about Eric Liddell last year in her Learning Language Arts Through Literature studies.  Here is a picture of her on the computer.  We don't do too many things on the computer for school, but occasionally they need to look something up online when they just can't find it in the encyclopedias. 

DS13 wasn't so excited about starting school this year.  However, I think he is doing well.  He's not so sure that he likes the Lifepacs.  Although, he's doing well with them.   He isn't as crazy about school so it's kind of hard to judge with him.  He'd find something wrong with anything!  lol 

My last entry was on dd8's studies.  I spend more one on one with her because she is younger.  However, this year I do see that she is becoming more independent in her math & writing.  So, that is a plus.  I can work on a few other things while she works on those subjects. 

This morning there was a breakfast at the church for the women at 8:30am.  This worked out perfectly because dd14 had practice at 10am. So, we went to the breakfast.  DH thought he was going to spend the day at home, until he found out that a friend was putting on a roof.  He had told him he'd help.  So, he dropped dd8 off at church with me.  This worked perfectly because I wanted to take her to yard sales with me.  We dropped dd14 off and went looking for yard sales.  We found some good deals, but dd8 was most happy with hers! 

She loves to wear hats!  She found this cowgirl hat at a friend of mine's sale.  She has been wearing it all day!  We came home and decided to work in the garden & dd8 was right there with.  Oh... she had to change her clothes to make them look more like a cowgirl with boots too! 

Watch out!!!  She may get ya!  lol  She had fun.  (don't tell her it was work!)

When she was playing with the water she discovered that if she would do it in the right direction of the sun she could make a rainbow.  Saturday... and we did school?  Earlier we were wiping the patio table off that was covered with pollen!  This opened the discussion of trees and bees, etc.  How cool is that?

The past few days we have been studying about the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Tuesday the kids experimented a little with breads.  We have a bread machine, so the older kids are used to making breads and dough that way. 

Weaver recommended making some unleavened bread.  ds12 decided that he wanted to try this. (Actually, we ate the first batch down so he made another one for his dad later)  We found that we liked this unleavened bread especially with powder sugar and cinnamon!  I'm sure the Israelites would have enjoyed it that way too.   It kind of reminded me of pie crust... it was flaky. 

dd14 and dd8 worked together.  Weaver had recommended on making a starter for sourdough.  However, the recipe included unpasteurized milk... not very easy to get here on the spur of the moment.  (I'm a wing it kind of gal!)  Soo... I went searching on the internet to find sourdough starters and instead found Amish Friendship Bread.  The point was for the kids to experience the batter fermenting. 

Weaver also had suggested visiting a factory that makes tortilla's.  I was excited, because we have talked about doing this for a few years, but haven't done it.  So... I called & was extremely disappointed that they don't give tours!!! 

The holidays are approaching quickly.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  My parents came and stayed with us for several days.  My brother and his family came and stayed for a day.  Mom and I went out Black Friday shopping... which is my favorite day of the year!  We were walking into the first store around 4am.  We came back home around 2 in the afternoon.  We were able to get a few deals... but not as good as we have in the past.  I think they are getting a little tighter with their specials.

Weaver is going well.  We are in Chapter 5 of Volume 2.  This is a white unit... which is not my favorite.  I have chosen for the kids to do a notebook, so any ideas are welcome.  We are looking at Leadership and the character trait Sensitivity.  The week leading up to Thanksgiving we read "The Light and the Glory for Children" By Peter Marshall and David Manuel.    What a great introduction to this chapter. (I didn't know this, but God did!)  I really enjoyed this book.  It took us from the year 1271 (Marco Polo) through 1789 when Washington took his oath into presidency.  When I was in school, I absolutely dispised History.  "I couldn't understand why we needed to know about all this stuff.  It was in the past and all those people were dead... what did it have to do with me?"  Now... I really enjoy learning about history.  It makes everything make more sense.  This book definitely was a great eye opener to how God has a plan for the United States.  How important it is to keep God in our Country... I knew that before, but this really made me see how God's hand was on all that had happened. 

Now in chapter 5 we are focusing on different people through U.S. History.  We looked at Christopher Columbus and how God blessed him... while he was focusing on God.  However, Columbus became more focused on fame and gold... God no longer was his priority.  Unfortunately, he never knew that he discovered the America's... he still thought he was in India when he passed away. 

This coming week we will be looking at William Bradford & the Mayflower.  We got a movie in from Netflix, "Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower".  I'm not sure how it will be... It came out in 2006.  I wonder how much focus, if any, will be on God's providence. 

Well, the house is calling my name.... It's in desperate need of cleaning.  dd7 is just itching to get the decorations up sometime soon.  I wont do it until the house is in order.  Have a blessed weekend. 

With Weaver we have creative writings that they suggest in the Day by Day.  We do these... most of the time, but not all the times.  It depends on what other writing they have for the day whether we do one or not. 

I get frustrated with their wordings or their lack of creativitiy.  DD14 seems to have a lot to say, but needed help with words.  She has the ideas, just can't seem to express herself.  The other day, out of pure frustration, I decided to have a writing lesson.  DS12 sometimes needs a fire under his butt to get him to write... lol  Once he starts he does a pretty good job, but needs creativity too. 

So, we did this short paragraph (5 sentences).  I had them pick a favorite thing.  (dd14 picked food, ds12 picked activity, & dd7 picked friend)  They had to write a topic sentence, then 3 supporting sentences & finally a concluding sentence.  Once they were all done (except for dd7) I had the older two get their thesaurus out.  We picked several words for them to find more "interesting" words.  We also looked at their sentence structures and revamped a few sentences that needed improvement.  They found this to be a lot of fun & their paragraphs sounded so much better. 

I got a good laugh this morning when I was looking through the kids work from yesterday.  DD14... I said, I knew she had the ideas, but sometimes her writings lacked something.  Here is her creative writing from yesterday... The topic was: "The way I learn the best".... she asked if she could write about her favorite subject, which I approved of.

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Language Arts

     Everyone has incomparable plans of understanding subjects.  I enroll best by accomplishing matters on my own.  Independent is my centermost autograph.  When I am perusal, I need to reread the subject.  A sizeable behalf of the elements come savvy to me.  Schooling is incomparable to everyone. 

     My most popular study I enjoy is Language Arts.  The section of language arts I adore is the gifted literature part.  I additionally adore the reading of books.  The single elements I turn off is poetry.  I dislike poetry so much because, I personally can't stand reading it.  A good half of poetry is fine.  I personally don't understand the meaning.  Language Arts is a riot!!!

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I laughed... it certainly was a change from her prior writings.  She wrote another one today, that I found to be just as funny... if not more.  I didn't want to steal all her glory in her new found writing... so, I'll let her post her other writing on her blog.  I told her it definitely is a good change!

We've been studying the Animal Kingdom... & looking a little closer at the mammal.  I was completely fascinated when I was reading about the kangaroo.  Maybe most of you know all this stuff... but I don't ever remember hearing about it in school.  Then again, maybe it just hit a little closer to home because I am a mother now.  lol  Of course, I knew that it is a marsupial... meaning it has a pouch where it keep its young... BUT

Did you know... that the gestation only is about 27-40 days long.  When they give birth to the little joey it is still undeveloped and only measures about 1 inch long!  It then will crawl up into the mother's pouch where it will stay until it's approximately 6-10 months old... depending on the type of kangaroo.  It then will only leave for short periods of time.  When it crawls up into it's mothers pouch immediately after birth it will attach itself to her nipple.  The mother cannot touch the baby because it is so frail.  It will lick a path in her fur to make it easier for the joey to get into the pouch.  The nipple will actually swell and the joey will not be able to remove itself.  The joey is unable to suckle or swallow, so the mother is made to pump the milk down the joeys throat.  The joey woud be at the stage comparable to humans baby at 7 weeks gestation!  It would not be able to survive without its mother. 

Immediately after they have given birth to a joey they will mate again.  They can become pregnant, but the embryo will delay until the first joey has left the pouch or if it for whatever reason dies.  Once the first joey is gone, in about a day she will give birth to the second one and the cycle will start over again!  So, the mother can continously be pregnant except for about a day in between each joey! 

Absolutely Amazing!!!!  & people will try to claim that there is no God!  

We are moving into vol. 2 chapter 3 - Deserts-Humility.  Our memory verse for the first couple of days will be to review the days of Creation.  On Wednesday, I had the kids make a type of collage... drawing a picture to represent each day of creation to help remind them of what was created on each day.  It's always fun to see their creativity. 

We are going to be studying Moses' life as a Shepherd.  Also, we will be studying Psalms 23 in detail.  I have started reading the book "A Shepherds look at Psalm 23" by Philip Keller.  I'm finding it to be very informative & it's bringing a whole new meaning to Psalm 23 and shepherding. 

We started Day 1 yesterday.... In our Bible lesson, we read Exodus 2:11 - 3:1.  Moses would have been around 40 years old.  He was in Egypt and at this point he commited murder & then fled to Midian (present day Saudi Arabia).  I found it to be fascinating how although Moses commited this sin... that God still had a plan & wanted to use him in a very miraculous way.  Each thing that Moses had endured at this point would be used in God's ultimate purpose for His will.  He has a plan & as long as we are willing and availiable, God wants to use us... no matter what our past may have been.  Amazing!  & what a relief!!! 

That means God can use me???  Ahhh, God can use me, but I have to be ready, willing and available for what He may be asking.  This has made me go back and look at the road of my past... to bring me up to present day.  I remember years ago... I never dreamed I would be homeschooling.  It was through the different events of my life that God was preparing me to do His will.  I can now look back at the different stepping stones and growing points where God was bringing me to get me where He wanted me.  Slowly, my heart was changing. 

Now, I have to remember that even the things that I am going through now... are more stepping stones to what He has for me in the future.  Exciting!  It also has reminded me that I am just a tool (or a vessel) to bring my children (HIS children) to where He wants them.  It's exciting to think that He has something in store for them.  What He is planning for them and their lives... Homeschooling is not about me, but rather what God's will is & we are just a micro-part to His Ultimate Plan! 

Today was the introduction to our new Unit on Family and Responsibility.  We will be studying how children are a blessing from the Lord.  In our studies we will be looking at the birth of Moses, the plants of the Nile River, Weaving, Oil Formations, Family life, Responsibilities.... (a few items off the top of my head)

Today the kids each started a basket.  dd7 a more simpler construction paper basket and she finished her's today.  The older 2 are weaving baskets from rope and yarn.   This one is more complicated & the kids have a ways to go.  Should be interesting to see what they turn out like.

 Here's dd13's coil basket... still in progress

ds12 is still working on his basket too.

dd7 finished her construction paper basket. 

This unit is only a 5 day unit.  I'm not sure how I will actually get all the information done in 5 days!  I don't think it was that bad before the supplement.  Now that we are using the 7th - 12th grade supplement there is soo much more for them to learn!  WOW!  I don't want to cram so much down that they don't remember any of it.  So, today I decided to just do an introduction.  I had them fill out a family tree chart, start weaving their baskets, define 1/3 of their vocubulary words & read a section from a bible encyclopedia about Egyptian History.  It worked out well... kind of reviewed last chapter, but gave an introdcution to what we'll be learning in the next two.  It also freed up some of the things for tomorrow. 

 It's been a long, busy day.  The house is quiet... everyone has gone to bed.  I think, I'll head there myself.  Have a pleasant night. 

We had our first day of School today.  It went pretty well.  In Weaver Volume 2 we will be studying character traits.  Our trait for this Unit is Respect.  Our memory verse is 1 Peter 2:18 "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh."  I'm excited about working on our character. 

dd13 is reading a book on Ancient Egypt... doesn't she look thrilled?

ds12 is working on his Apples Daily Spelling Drills.  This is the second version. 

dd7 is doing her writing.... A Reason for Handwriting.  She even brought me carrots this morning.  She said we didn't have any apples! 

Let's see... Oh, I took a couple of pictures of our school room.  This is where we do most of our schooling, although we will spread out to other rooms occasionally.  Last year the kids found that they liked doing majority of their individual lessons in their rooms... however, this year I've asked that they do their work primarily in the school room.  I'm hoping it will help them to stay more focused and more productive.   (neater too!)

They each have their own desk in the school room.  I really love that everything is here.  It'll be great when eventually the bathroom will be done down stairs!  I picked this room out the first time we looked at this house for the schoolroom.  It works perfect! 

I suppose I should go and look over my lessons for tomorrow.  dh and the kids are watching "the Crocodile Hunter".  It doesn't interest me too much... so, it gives me time to get some things done.  Have a blessed evening. 

I'm excited... I believe I just ordered my last thing I "need" for this coming school year.  Things have been coming in here and there, which is exciting.  The kids have been asking how soon we are starting school!  I've been watching Ebay and VegSource pretty continously for the past week or so!  I'm forever amazed at how people will bid higher than the item is worth.  It must be the excitement of getting the bid.  Just crazy!  Sorry... I go there to get better deals, not pay more. 

So... we will continue with Weaver, starting this year in Volume 2.  I love the unit studies where we can all work together for bible, SS, and Science.  We will do Learning Language Arts through Literature again this year.  The kids enjoyed this program very much last year.  We decided to go with Math-U-See this year.  I'm going back a bit... but I want to make sure the kids get a firm foundation in math.  My goal will be to go through at least 2 levels this year... possibly 3.  We loved using Apples Daily Spelling Drills.  I think it helped the kids to reinforce their phonetic skills & I seen an improvement in their spelling, especially dd13.  I purchased the 2nd edition this year.  Then a few odds and ends... but that is basically our plan.  I also ordered God's World News for current events.  I'm not big on the "news", so this will give us some insight on what all is going on in the world.  I love the fact that it's Christian based vs. secular.

I went and visited my Grandparents today... which was a nice visit.  (Love you guys!)  Then after supper I worked on cleaning up the School Room.  There's still lots more cleaning that needs to be done, but you can actually see the top of the table now!  We had all our things in there for the yard sale & so, the mess built up. 

I'm tired today.  I'm trying to get myself used to staying up after dh goes to work (5:30am).  SInce the summer has been here, I've been in the habit of crawling back into bed.  How nice it was!   I'm going to be babysitting starting this week and getting him early in the morning, so this will make me stay up.  I'll  watch him for the next few weeks until he goes back to school.  dd7 is looking forward to having him back again.  She enjoys his company. 

Well, I need to get going.  The family is watching a movie.  DS12 is having a friend over for the night.  I'm going to go and look over school materials.  It's a never, ending process!    It's also thundering and lightening out, so I need to shut the pc down and unplug it.  Maybe, I'll go sit out on the porch instead!  I love to watch a storm. 

What kind of a family do you have?  We have been learning about family life... and the way God intended it to be. 

I remember at the beginning... dating my husband.  We agreed that we would do all things equal... everything was going to be a shared commitment.  Of course, we weren't living a Christian life then either.  I had come from a single parent home (most of growing up) so I lived under a matriarchal family... and my dh came from a rather large family... he was the baby of 12 kids.  I would probably say that his family was a Patriarchal family.  I don't think that the Equalitarian family worked for us...(how can you compare what is equal anyways??? who compares?) it seems as though I took on the leadership role and therefore we became a Matriarchal family. It wasn't a decided thing... it just happened. 

When I devoted myself back to the Christian living and rededicated my life to Jesus, I have seen that God is calling me to follow my husband, not lead him.  I have found this to be difficult, because my personality wants to take it all over and run with it!  Of course that is what I'm used to doing.  The part I don't like is having to make all the decisions... I would like for him to do the deciding.  So, I'd say we are a Matriarchal family striving to be a Patriarchal family.  It's coming... slowly, but surely. 

I'm so excited when I see dh taking on some of the roles that he's never done before.  My old nature sometimes wants to kick in... and I have to remind myself that God has called me to follow my husband.  I have to learn to trust that he will make the right decisions... and even if he doesn't that's okay.  We live in a society that Patriarchal families are becoming extinct.  We need to fight for families to be what God has called them to be.  

I'm so excited to have found an answer for my son's question.  We do our studies with Weaver and we are on Volume 1 Chapter 12 Human Body, Life Cycle, and Family.

DS11 was wondering if boys had one less rib than girls.  It's frustrating not being able to answer his question, but in return I told him that I would be interested in finding out that answer also.  As usual, God is so faithful.  I had to run to the store today and happened to listen to a short program with Ken Ham.  They had said about a free pamphlet on creation... which I thought might work good with our unit.  So, I came online to check it out.  Low and behold I seen the free article on Adam's rib.  Check it out here. Absolutely amazing... I never heard of periosteum before.  I never heard that our ribs could grow back.  How interesting is that???  I liked his original answer also... I don't know why I didn't think to say to ds11 that he was created having one less rib... but God had taken that rib from him to create Eve.  Thus, when his children would be born they would have all of their ribs. 

I have soo much to learn.  Thank you Father God for continuing to teach me in ways that I can learn. 

I started looking through to plan the kids LLATL programs... So, now I have a few questions.  Any advice, I would surely appreciate.

We have 7th - green, 6th - tan, and 1st - blue...

First, dictation... I realize that dictation means to read aloud and they write from what you read.  Do you do this?  the 7th grade level only has 12 lessons for the year of dictation, where the 6th grader seems to have this at least once a week.  Can you give me any suggestions, or how this has worked for you?  I have a 6th grade boy who is a reluctant writer.  Just seems like this will be torture for both of us.  Could he do this as copy work or would that be going against the purpose?

Secondly, 1st grade - She is not reading.  We had started "Teaching your child to read in 100 easy lessons"... is this going to cause confict?  We just finished lesson 16 today... Should we quit the 100 easy lessons?  Or should I continue that and hold off on the LLATL?  We haven't started school... I had just been doing this in our free time and when we were able to.  I really like the method of 100 easy lessons.   I thought I was prepared and found that I'm now more confused.  I'm a little worried because I have never taught anyone to read before and I want to make sure I do it right.  Last year we tried Hooked on Phonics and we just wasn't making much progress with it.  My older two were in PS up to 3rd and 4th grades, but I have found that they really are lacking in phonetic skills.  Their spelling is not good... but making progress.  They are in 6th and 7th grade and I still have to tell them sound out your syllables.  Could be genetic... their dad and grandpa are both terrible spellers.  I'm just hoping to make this easier for the youngest one.

Any other advice I could get would be greatly appreciated.  This is only our second year to homeschool them... we tried a cyber school their first year out of the PS.  Last year, I felt we were lacking in grammar, spelling and math... So, I really want to work harder in those areas this year. 

I have been enjoying learning with them...